Deb here. We woke up early to watch our approach into Sydney and it was thrilling to pass the Sydney Opera House and go under the Harbor Bridge. The weather was cloudy, as seems to be the case in the morning, but a pleasant temperature. The ship docked at White Bay Cruise Terminal, meaning not right in the heart of the city but not too far off. We grabbed some breakfast and then got ready to disembark and hop on a shuttle to King’s Street Wharf.
Once dropped off at 8:45 or so we first walked to the old part of town, known as The Rocks. We had a coffee/tea and walked around the peninsula, enjoying the views of the Opera House and the buildings.
Next up was a walk to the Sydney Zoo, a small wildlife park right in the middle of downtown near the aquarium. This was a great move since this zoo (much smaller than the Taranga Zoo on the outskirts of the city) was a greatest hits of oddball animals, birds and reptiles particular to Australia. We had a chance to see a cassawary, wombats, kangaroos, wallabys, etc. I think our favorite was watching a platypus dart around underwater and we both said it reminded us of watching an otter swim.
By this time it was around noontime and we headed toward the Australian Maritime Museum and a lunch stop. We decided to eat in the museum cafe, which turned out to be just okay, and then we toured the museum. We’ve become fans of maritime museums, but this one didn’t hold together as some of the others we’ve seen. There were some great playspaces for kids, but the exhibits seemed a little scattershot, lacking the continuity. Listen to me, critiquing maritime museums! The highlight was a wander around a full scale replica of the HMS Endeavor, Captain Cook’s boat when he discovered Australia. Milo met his match with a volunteer on board the ship who was more than willing to explain and discuss maritime history.
By this time we were museum saturated and headed back to our shuttle. A bus was right there waiting and we were back on the ship by 4:30. Rest time before our dinner at Aqualina, one of the 2 specialty restaurants, at 6 p.m. Aqualina was excellent, with a 4-course dinner of Italian specialties. Great salad, soup, beef tenderloin, Eggplant Parmesan.
No comments:
Post a Comment