"Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi"...Sydney, Australia

           

Sydney Opera House with one of Many Ferries

As we sailed from New Zealand to Australia, or "crossed the ditch" as Kiwis and Aussies say, preparations began in earnest. 

First step was battening down the hatches. The Tasman Sea is known for its rough waters and the forecast was for 20-foot waves. Our first day of travel from New Zealand began with winds and waves. Ginger and green apples were set out for seasick guests. The outside decks were closed and the swimming pool roped off. People walking down the hallways would lurch to the left and then to the right, in what seemed a perfectly orchestrated dance. Grabbing onto handrails was the thing to do. Then just as we feared the worst, the captain reassured us we would have smooth sailing the next day, and sure enough, overnight we could feel the rocking lessen.

A Pre-Opera Drink or Meal

Next step was to learn opera etiquette. Besides the usual port talk on history and highlights, Heather, our cruise director and opera singer when not sailing, gave a lecture on the Sydney Opera House… how it was built, building layout, and what to expect. She described the three operas including the composers and why they were written, the main characters, the plots, and even showed scenes from each. We were told when to clap or, yes stamp our feet,  and if a song was spectacular, to shout bravo for a male singer, brava for a female. By the end of the lecture we felt able to handle ourselves properly if ever at an opera.

A bit of history…Sydney was “discovered” by Captain Cook in 1760. Five hundred aboriginal tribes had been there for over 35,000 years (some say 65,000), but since they didn’t understand land ownership and weren’t considered human by the British, the land was claimed for the crown, fences built and the people pushed off their land. With the influx of people to the cities during the industrial revolution, times were tough in Britain…overcrowded, unemployment, child labor, etc (think Oliver) ...and punishments were severe. One could be hanged for killing a rabbit or for stealing anything over forty cents. When laws finally became a bit less harsh, more room was needed to house convicts so they were sent to the colonies, especially Maryland and Virginia where 1 out of 4 colonists came as prisoners. Our school textbooks called these people who would work for seven years and then be given their freedom indentured servants, but they were actually from prisons in England. After the Revolutionary War, Britain began using old battleships to house convicts, since the colonies were no longer an option. In 1784, they began sending them to Australia. The youngest sent was an 8-year-old chimney sweep, and the oldest, a 74-year-old woman, both had been charged with petty theft.

Our ship sailed into Sydney Harbor, the biggest harbor in the world, at 5:30AM anchoring at a wharf across the bay from downtown. We took the first ferry from our wharf to downtown’s Circular Quay and bought hop on-hop off ferry tickets, heading first to Watson Bay.

Watson Bay Pier and Favorite Seafood Restaurant

Watson Bay had a beautiful green space on its bay right in the middle of town and just two blocks up the hill were the tall cliffs overlooking the Tasman Sea. With ponchos on and intermittent rain, we walked the South Head trails. We saw cameras, boards with Helpline info, and phones and later learned that sadly, these cliffs are the #1 spot for suicides. A neighbor has taken it upon himself to watch for people with a characteristic walk and has saved hundreds of people with an invitation to his house for coffee and conversation.

Tasman Sea and Cliffs of Town of Watson Bay with
North Head in Distance

Our second stop was Manly, named by the discovers who thought the native men looked big, strong and intimidating, very “Manly”.  Four blocks across town down the pedestrian-only street, lined with shops was long sandy Manly Beach…Sydney’s favorite, although not as famous as Bondi. Here grade schoolers were having their Friday physical education day…some surfing and some playing volleyball in school uniforms which included the required sun hats because of the ex-Brits fair skin (highest skin cancer rates in the world). The next day we saw this same place on the news. 

Physical Ed Day at Manly Beach

Typical Old Fashioned School Uniforms

A group of surfers, there for a surfing competition, did a “paddle out” to honor and mourn the victims of the recent massacre of Muslims in New Zealand by an Australian terrorist. All flags in Australia were at half-mast and people were in shock.

Maritime Museum at Darling Harbor

We took our third ferry ride over to bustling Darling Harbor with the Maritime Museum, an aquarium and hundreds of restaurants and upscale shops. Winding our way back to the gardens, we discovered some of the many underground “tunnels” built throughout the city, filled with shops and eateries.

New Barangaroo on Darling Harbor

Government House at Royal Botanical Gardens
Flags at half mast for NewZealand Shootings
Aborigine Flag with Yellow Sun

Our destination was the Domain…the most incredible park and Botanical Gardens…Japanese, ferns, succulents, tropical, wild flower field, and even a carnivorous plant display. The birds were amazing…loads of black-billed ibis, cockatiels and so many others native to Australia. This park was set up by Governor Macquarrie back in 1810 for common folks. In England gardens had been only for the rich.

Macquarrie wanted Sydney to become a thriving city rather than just a penal colony and he did a fabulous job making this happen.

He had Greenway, an architect/convict design over 250 beautiful sandstone buildings scattered around the city. One of the most beautiful was Queen Victoria Building, QVB, built as a market and now a fancy mall.

Statue of Queen Victoria
 in Front of the QVB

Inside the Queen Victoria Building

Ready for Sunset and Opera House Light Show
 from Macquarrie's Point

The Macquarries were good to the ex-convicts, setting them up after serving their term with land and seeds and also helping the Aborigines in many ways, though they never got to vote or hold land and were not considered equals. He also let in the first Catholic priest and gave land for the first Catholic Cathedral much to people’s dismay since Irish Catholicism was feared.

Flying Fox

Walking to Macquarrie’s Point, with flying foxes hanging in trees and flying overhead (3-foot wingspan), we sat on Mrs. Macquarrie’s Chair, carved, by convicts of course out of sandstone for her to sit and enjoy the views. By law, she wasn’t allowed to speak to any women convicts and was lonely for her homeland.

Mrs. Macquarrie's Chair

The Sydney Opera House is the city’s pride and joy and focal point of the harbor. We didn’t attend an opera even though we knew how… but we enjoyed our guided tour of the opera house entering several of its six theaters and learning its history. 

We loved the atmosphere and people watching and spent two evenings there, thankful that the rain held off for the light show of Aboriginal art displayed on a section of its iconic roof.

Concert Hall...the
Biggest Venue in Opera House

Day two we took a free (just tips) city tour. Our young guide was loud, lively, and full of fun facts about the city, so we were happy to revisit many of the places we had gone to the day before on our own.

Coat of Arms at
Martin Place Pedestrian Street

We learned the Australian national animals on their coat of arms are the emu and kangaroo because neither can walk backward… and Australia should always go forward. We walked down an alley with bird cages hanging from wires, and Australian bird names etched into the stone pavers. As you walk through the alley, different birds sing corresponding to the time of day they would be heard in the out of doors.

Bird Cages in Alley

St Mary's Cathedral Behind Fountain at Hyde Park 

St. Mary’s Catholic Church had been left unfinished for 150 years, and therefore did not have to pay property tax, but when the 2000 Olympics came to town, it suddenly was completed.

We walked by the oldest standing building in town, the Mint, which had been the doctors’ residence when an oversized hospital had been built for the new city. The builders were paid by getting exclusive rights to manufacture all the rum in town, hence it was called the Rum Hospital.

The Mint, aka Old Doctor's Building,
aka Old Hospital Wing

Another historic area of Sydney is a neighborhood called the Rocks where the first convicts were told to put up tents next to a large sandstone wall. In 1901 the bubonic plague hit Australia and since the first death was in the Rocks, the government took over the whole area and some buildings were condemned.

Narrow Lane at the Rocks

Monument to Soldier, Convict, and Free
Persons who Started Sydney in the Rocks

All its property is now owned by Sydney, and previous owners were paid a nominal amount and now have to rent instead. In the 1960s, the whole area was saved from demolition for new high rises by a massive protest from the locals and of every union required to destroy and develop the land. It is now a vibrant neighborhood with its old feel of narrow lanes, markets, shops and Sydney’s oldest pubs, right in the shadow of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Redeveloped Warehouses in the Rocks

We couldn’t resist walking the beautiful sandstone lined path from the Rocks back over to Darling Harbor, not quite as bustling due to pouring rain. Our hop on hop off ferry had stopped our route at 3:30 PM on a Saturday, so we walked across the city center to get back to the Circular Quay to catch another ferry to our ship.  

With it raining, we walked into an underground metro station and found a whole new part of the city underground, connecting bus stations, ferry stations, metro, and over 1000 shops...pedestrians completely dry and enjoying the rainy day.

Our final day in Sydney we took Viking’s included bus tour. It rained buckets, but our guide talked nonstop for three hours and was a wealth of knowledge, so it was wonderful.

Rainy Day at Bondi Beach

At Bondi Beach we were the only ones who wanted to get off the warm dry bus into the windy downpour to see this famous surfing beach, although a few reluctantly followed.

We passed through ritzy suburbs where homes cost 40 million and saw young women walking their dogs with yoga mats to “doga”. After class they go for an Aussie favorite…avocado on toast topped with an egg and bacon, and flat white coffee. Their dogs get dogacinos, and any babies get babycinos (whipped milk only)…some people have too much money for their own good.

Kings Crossing was a neighborhood, which used to be the red-light district, and now has legalized prostitution.  Also, this area has been a heavy drug district with overdose deaths in the past. Now they have “shoot up” clinics where addicts can bring their own heroin and inject themselves with a nurse and doctor on location, for potential overdoses. It started as a 6-month trial and has been so successful that it is now on its tenth year. Crime has decreased in the area thanks to better monitoring including heavy camera surveillance, and police presence, although we didn't see it.
 

Lighting of Opera House

As we sailed out of Sydney Harbor, our Captain made a 360 under the bridge for a final view of this magnificent city. Our chef treated us to fresh mussels and oysters from the market, and kangaroo sliders made the Aussie way with egg salad, onion/ jalapeno chutney, and spinach leaves. We slept well that night, rocked to sleep by the waves of the Tasman Sea.