We made it to Australia, arriving in Sydney on February 22nd. The first thought you have as you view port is how incredible of a skyline it is – the view both with the Sydney Opera House and without it. John snagged some of these epic photos as we were arriving into port. Aren’t they spectacular?
Fun fact – the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the widest long-span bridge and the tallest steel arch bridge in the world. You can actually pay money to climb to the top of the bridge. We did not do it, though there were some on the ship who did it and even said it wasn’t nearly as scary as you might imagine considering how strapped in and secure you feel while doing it. So maybe next time… To get a feel for the size, it took 272,000 liters of paint to cover. I include that fact for John, as he spent a lot of time staining our deck before we left so I figured he’d appreciate this.
The Opera House is the quintessential structure of Sydney. You can’t miss it. While on a harbour cruise, we learned that the construction costs for the building ballooned from an estimated 7 million Australian dollars to 102 million Australian dollars—largely paid for by a State Lottery. The lottery part is important because it makes it a public building, which they said means you can wear whatever you want to an event there. John could wear shorts to an opera! We were bummed we hadn’t thought of seeing an opera while here, especially after learning that.
I mention the Harbour Bridge and Opera House right away because they are what you are greeted with as you pull into port, so no matter what you have exposure to them. We saw much more of the city by taking a “City Sights and Harbour Cruise” excursion, which took us around the city by motorbus and then on the water with a mini cruise. I’ll say that Sydney has a lot to see, so this was a good way to get your bearings.
The motorbus took us all over the city. We saw the cobblestone lanes and heritage homes of the Rocks (a cultural hub with a long history in the center of the city), drove through some wealthy areas (with very narrow lanes that our bus driver circumnavigated somehow to our amazement), and went to Bondi Beach, where we swung into the teeny Bondi Brewing Co.
We also saw and learned about the Crown Casino (stunning building where Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce were apparently staying while Taylor was on tour in the city… something I think I heard repeated at least 10 times… sigh). The best view of the casino was from the water, though you can’t miss it when on land either.
The harbour cruise showed us all the sights from the water. The views of the Opera House were incredible. John and I both agreed that we had a case of the Mandella Effect in that we had always thought the building was solid/bright white. So seeing it in person was eye-opening. It truly is remarkable and worthy of seeing at least once in one’s life.
From the water we got a great view of Luna Park, a tiny amusement park that is reminiscent of Coney Island, complete with a creepy giant face that you walk through to enter the park. The tour guide told us that people built condos next to the park (after the park was fully operational for years) and then made noise complaints and tried to get the park shut down! And at one point a real estate developer tried to burn the park down to get access to the land for more condos. Can you believe it? We contemplated going to the park on our second day but there were thunderstorms in the forecast so we didn’t mess with it.
Between the motorbus and harbour cruise, we saw quite a few things and in some ways felt a bit overwhelmed. It was clear that is a lot to do in the city and definitely worth another visit in the future.
A few other quick things: my camera failed to work despite my attempts, but Ryan got a haircut while in Sydney (finally!). We also attempted to get Matthew’s phone screen fixed (he cracked it a couple weeks ago and although he says it’s fine it really bothers me). No luck on the phone though given they couldn’t fit him in. John got some good Wi-Fi at a local brewpub while the boys and I relaxed. So – not just sightseeing… also some “real world” stuff while in Sydney. 😊