Sector 3
It was 5 a.m. on Saturday that we came in to the harbour. I wasn’t quite expecting it to be as beautiful. Sydney has been off our radar, probably because it was such a long distance away and we hadn’t envisaged travelling here – long tiring flights being the main reason. But here we are moving along at a leisurely pace with no jet lag. We were up and taking pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the dark and then again at different shades of dawn. It felt very very special, and hasn’t disappointed in any way since. Straight off the ship into the hubbub of a happy, multi-cultural harbour, Aborigine displays of dance, song, percussion and the “Didge”, along with some beautiful stories about the land. We did a little shopping and quickly managed HSBC for cash, and Dimmocks for art materials. We had nearly run out of Aqua Marine and Crimson, and as soon as sector 3 starts we’ll be back painting.
And today we were awake again at 5 a.m. to feel the ship
move away from the wharf and anchor about 10 minutes away to avoid congestion
as another big one (Voyager of the Seas) was coming in. Tenders were lowered again to take us over to
the Opera House from where we walked past the Botanical Gardens and up to the
Harbour Bridge. So happy we walked both
ways across the bridge today, and then walked some more. Comfy 26C, good free wifi so lots of new
pictures on Facebook.
It was 5 a.m. on Saturday that we came in to the harbour. I wasn’t quite expecting it to be as beautiful. Sydney has been off our radar, probably because it was such a long distance away and we hadn’t envisaged travelling here – long tiring flights being the main reason. But here we are moving along at a leisurely pace with no jet lag. We were up and taking pictures of the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in the dark and then again at different shades of dawn. It felt very very special, and hasn’t disappointed in any way since. Straight off the ship into the hubbub of a happy, multi-cultural harbour, Aborigine displays of dance, song, percussion and the “Didge”, along with some beautiful stories about the land. We did a little shopping and quickly managed HSBC for cash, and Dimmocks for art materials. We had nearly run out of Aqua Marine and Crimson, and as soon as sector 3 starts we’ll be back painting.
The rest of Saturday went something like this – Circular Quay, Ferry to Manley, rest, Lunch, Beach, Art gallery, Ferry back to Sydney, short walk, back on board, swim, dinner, Aborigine Cultural Show ( longer and deeper than earlier, quite moving) then sleep.
Now we are back again having eaten and sailed away, ready for our sea day tomorrow on the way to Brisbane.
Since we arrived in Sydney we have moved up a loyalty tier!
We have now cruised with P&O for more than 50 days (the total number of days
cruising since our Med Cruise from 2009 and this one) and this means we had a
visit from crew last night to deliver a mightily prestigious “Atlantic Tier”
Lapel badge and an even more highly sought after voucher for a complimentary
bubbly or alcohol free elderflower presse at the sail away parties, the
redemption of which started with great enthusiasm tonight.
As I am writing this Khachik is doing some housekeeping,
i.e. throwing away all of the Horizons from 6/1/2015 to yesterday, in anticipation
of packing at the end of the cruise. Ah
well, you can never be too early with packing preparation. Let's hope my memory is better than of late.
Today here it is 22nd February, so that means
that it is almost 6 years since we were all waiting for the arrival of our
beautiful Isobella Rose, who has made our lives so much more than we could ever
have imagined on 23rd February 2009.
We love you so much Izzy, and look forward to seeing you or speaking to
you very soon.
So now it’s nearly bedtime, so I will say bye for now, and
get back to you again tomorrow.
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