Saturday, 2 March 2013

Sydney day 1

27th February – Sydney Day 1

We were up early at 6.15am to view the beautiful sunrise as we sailed in to Sydney Harbour.  The views were amazing and the weather beautiful (in contrast to Brisbane).  After we berthed we had magnificent views of Sydney Opera House right opposite our balcony, really stunning.  After breakfast we took a stroll around the Promenade Deck to take in the fantastic views of the city.



As we had spent some time in Sydney 2008 we decided not to do a shore excursion but to do our own thing.  We jumped on a ferry that took us round to Darling Harbour, where we walked to Cockle Bay passing the Sydney Wildlife World and said good morning to the Koala.



After visiting the Harbourside Shopping Centre we walked past the various fountains and Exhibition Centre to Paddy’s Market, which was a covered market with hundreds of stalls selling everything from fruit and vegetables, clothes to fine jewellery.  



After the hustle and bustle of the market we decided to go to the tranquility of the Chinese Garden of Friendship, where we had a light lunch, the gardens were as magnificent as we had remembered them from our previous visit.  We had an enjoyable hour and a half strolling around the gardens.



We then left the tranquility of the garden to board the overhead monorail for a trip around the City, finally getting off at the City Centre.  After a trip to David Jones (a department store), we took a ride to the top of the Sydney Tower for a birds eye view over the City.



We finally returned to the ship at 5.00pm and decided to find a nice restaurant ashore for dinner, after which we strolled round Circular Quay to the Opera House so that Geoff could practice his night photography.



We finally returned to the ship late and very exhausted.

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