Michael and I left Boulder, Colorado Friday, January 15th at 1:00 p.m. We landed in Sydney, Australia shortly after 7:00 a.m. Sunday, January 17th. There was no January 16th because of the International Dateline. We left cold and snow on the ground and landed where temperatures were in the 70's and sunny. I have never taken such a long journey. I was able to sleep maybe two hours on the plane. Otherwise I was awake for something over thirty hours. Jetlag, I know thy name!
Fortunately we were able to check in to the Marriott hotel on Circular Quay in Sydney shortly after 8:00 a.m. A shower and a 20 minute nap and I was ready to go.
I had spotted our ship, the Silver Whisper, sailing into Sydney harbor just as our plane was descending for landing. Michael was most relieved to see the ship berthed at the quay on our arrival at the hotel. Even with jet lag and unknown allergies kicking in, I think we made the most of our two days in Sydney.
We took a number of ferry rides, walked around a lot, rode the train across the harbor bridge and rode the monorail around the central business district. We had a wonderful lunch of fish and chips, very fresh, at a little shop on Manly Beach. Dinner was at a very modern Thai restaurant at Darling Harbour. I had chicken and beef satay and spicy soft shell crab. What a treat. Much of downtown Sydney reminded me of New York City. There is a lot of colonial British influence as well. We stopped at a shopping mall built in the 1890's and remodeled in the 1980's.
Thanks to Michael's large number of days cruising on the Silver Seas line, we were able to embark early on Monday. By 11 a.m. we were in our cabin. Michael gave me a tour of the ship and we then had a lovely lunch in the ship's main dining room. The Silver Whisper is like a luxury hotel only it floats and moves from place to place.
After lunch we were back to sightseeing. A walk around the Circular Quay got us to the Sydney Opera House where I took a lot of pictures.
The Opera House adjoins the botanic gardens. We saw a small trackless train taking people on tours. We got there just as the last tour of the day left. There was an empty train waiting to go back to wherever they are stored overnight. A wonderfully accommodating guide offered us a ride at no cost back through the botanic gardens, but no tour. It was fun trying to follow the map and figure out what we were seeing. We ended up at the succulent garden and walked back through rainforest, herbs and other assorted displays. At one point there were signs warning patrons not to touch the "flying foxes," actually large grey bats. They were infesting a stand of trees and causing a lot of damage. They also carry diseases. The botanic garden staff is trying to discourage the bats from roosting without killing them. On the way out we passed a sundial that appeared to read backwards – it was set up for the southern hemisphere!
Back on the ship we enjoyed a gourmet dinner. Afterward we went out on deck to watch our departure from Sydney. It was magnificent in the dark with all the city lights sparkling as the ship made its way down the harbor to the open ocean. The sky was mostly clear. I saw the Southern Cross, the star Canopus and the constellation Orion upside down. It was my first view of the night sky from the Southern Hemisphere.
Today is a sea day so there has finally been time to write down my impressions of the trip so far.
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