Sydney - April 4

April 2 and 3 were sea days. The 2nd was rainy and cold, the third was sunshiny and warm enough to sit outside. I found a nice spot in the aft lounge to read and watch a TV show while it was cold. The next day I read at the pool and had a Woodford bourbon tasting in the afternoon. The first two days on the cruise I played trivia. I played alone the first day just to see what it was like and if it was like some online sites, I did not wat to embarrass myself in front of others. Alone I placed 4th. The next day I played with one other person, she was of no help, so I tied for third by two points. The third day I was at the Bourbon pairing and missed the game.

There was a "Block Party" one of the evenings where everyone came out of their room to meet and greet the neighbors. Too loud and too crowded for my.

April 4 we pulled into Sydney harbor around 8 AM. It was cold with light gale force winds and a bit of sprinkles, but many of us were on the top deck to see the sights.

Everyone was required to leave the ship for immigration and bio-diversity checks. Since would not be allowed back for a while I chose to walk around the docks area. There is an area called the Rocks that has a weekend market. Streets are closed and there are pop-ups of many art related items. That was a great way to kill 2 miles and a couple of hours they released everybody back to the ship at the same time, so that was 15 minutes of line I will never get back, I had time to drop my shipping spree and get the ticket for my excursion for the afternoon.

We got on a bus and toured Sydney until we reached Bondi Beach. Because of the weather it was nearly deserted, but the waves are what I had hoped to see and it was enjoyable to walk around the area. Back on the bus and a trip to the Sydney Opera house.

My tour of the Opera House was next. We learned its history, the history of the architect and the story of the engineering that went into building it. We got to see two of the performance stages, as the other two were in use. When I walked into the first, my thought was it looked like a Gymnasium, and that is how the guider referred to it. A wooden floor with seats all the way around for 2 levels, and seats at ground level on one side (think under the basket) that can be a wall or come out like bleacher seats.

The symphony hall and the other performance stage was in use, so we got to see the Opera House. Having been theaters around Washington, D.C., Atlanta, New Orleans, and Las Vegas it was nothing special as far as I could tell. Yes it was acoustically well planned, but aren't all modern theaters? Back to the ship to miss another night of trivia followed by dinner, and the 9:30 PM show.