Sydney

(We were too busy to write anything while in Australia, so these ports will be out of order. Now you will have our last and first ports.)

Leaving Auckland, we sailed one day on the South Pacific Ocean and then one day on The Tasman Sea before entering the magnificent Sydney Harbor. It has to be the most beautiful in the world, capped by the stunning Opera House. It was barely dawn when we were greeted by helicopters, water cannon, a flotilla of small boats, kayakers, and people on the shore. We sailed past the swimming club where there were already people swimming laps as the sun flashed brilliantly off the glass on the skyscrapers. TV cameras were on the shore and in the helicopters overhead to capture our arrival. The Queen Victoria arrived ahead of us and had taken the best berth, so we were pushed and pulled by tugs into a secondary spot, which was still close enough to the sights to be fun.

After docking and breakfast we took the free shuttle to the center of the city, determined to find a place to buy both phonecards and pay phones to call our families. We were successful, but it wasn’t easy. It is always hard to figure out how technology works in other countries and Australia was no exception. The phone ate the first card so we had to buy a second one. While I was at the store making the purchase, Jerry found someone who had an iron grip and was able to pull the card from the phone. So we then had plenty of minutes on 2 cards and had a wonderful time throughout our stay in Australia making calls to family.

We rode the hop-on hop-off Explorer bus all morning covering the route of the downtown city area – casino, Queen Victoria Mall, gardens with palm trees, the State Library, churches with ringing bells. We passed Darling Harbor with the Maritime Museum, aquarium, and shops. After lunch back on the ship, we walked the long, long way to get back on the Explorer Bus, rode to the Train Station, and switched to the other route for a ride out to the suburbs and Bondi Beach, famous for white sand covered with people and large waves filled with surfers on their boards. At the beach, the bus stopped for 10 minutes so we were able to walk along the sand, see the surf and take a few pictures. Along the way we passed hordes of fans in their team shirts, cheering madly on their way to football games at the stadium. They were very intense, shouting cheers and waving to all of us on the double decker bus. We drove in and around Fox Studio where they shoot films.

The welcome we received in the morning paled in comparison to the fanfare surrounding the departure of Queen Victoria and the QE2 moving from the first berth to the one right by the Opera House where the QV had been. There were an estimated 400,000 people on the shores and a hundred small boats to witness the only time the Queens had ever passed going in opposite directions. The turnout was evidence of the great love people throughout our travels have for the ship.

The second day in Sydney we walked near the ship to get a close look at the Opera House inside and out and the area called the Rocks where there are many tourists, historic buildings and stores. We are able to restock Jerry’s bar in the cabin with quinine water for vodka and tonic with a piece of lime. Late in the afternoon, the QE2’s sailaway was hailed with more crowds of people lining the shore, on rooftops, and boats. As we sailed away, there was a blast of her magnificent horn, one not to be confused with the paltry tweet of any other vessel. It was a magnificent sight for the QE2’s final departure from Sydney, never to return again. There was again an array of boats, planes, and people eager to cheer the much-loved vessel out of the harbor.