Tasman Sea and Sydney

Saturday
Of course as soon as we left the Bay of Islands the Captain put his foot to the floor and we hummed along at 21kts.  The weather remains mainly overcast and a bit chilly.  There is a little swell and movement felt, but I think know he is trying to make time/distance, so has not had the stabilisers out.  Neither Benjamin nor Madeline are feeling very bright and Benjamin has spent most of the day in his cabin.   Fiona & Vivian however have had a very active day with Napkin folding, Tai Chi and then line dancing  (all before lunch).  Vivian also found people to play bridge with in the afternoon.  All too much for me.  Oops, sorry forgot Happy Hour!

Formal night tonight and this was preceeded by the Captain's Circle Cocktail Party.   How strange to have all Gold to Elite and barely fill a quarter of the Vista Lounge.  For a change the are only 49 Elites and the most travelled  (a Ray Chapman from Auckland) had just 350 days.  Farewell dinner was really good and I had 2 servings of the Lobster (everyone else had Beef Wellington, except Madeline, who is enjoying the Kid's menu).  Once again, I must comment that the lobster was really good and 100% on the Sun quality.   The adults did the Song & Dance show after dinner, but really the children are not coping very well and spent the whole day in their cabin.

Sunday
A lot more movement in the sea, but not enough to put us off our walk around the deck before coffee.  Fiona joined us and Richard came down too.  The children are still not good and Fiona was going to get them up to have something for brunch.  Vivian has line dancing at 12.30 and although Fiona was going to join her this did not happen ☹  They went for a pizza and when it arrived, Madeline went pale and then Benjamin vomited.  Oh dear.  To explain, between about 11.00 to 3.00 we went through a frontal system with a reasonable swell coming side on, so the ship certainly had lots of movement - even Vivian's line dancing was cut short.

I am writing this at 6.30 pm and there is barely a swell and the sun is shining but that is what happens at sea,  I do feel sorry for those who are unwell, particularly the ones disembarking who have to have their bags out for collection in an hour or so.  And they have had such a good cruise all the way until this little outburst.  No, the children did not come down for dinner but then we did not do the show tonight,  as potentially we have an early start tomorrow.

Monday
Woke up around 5.30, probably because I heard noise from the pilot boat.  Sure enough we were quietly sailing up Sydney Harbour in perfect dawn conditions (for the Dawn Princess! ).  Really great to see.   We were being followed by the Celebrity Spirit and as we went under the bridge, she went to the OPT.  Darn, it would have been a lot more convenient- not to mention cheaper if we had been there, rather than way out in White Bay.

Usual breakfast routine followed by coffee - no walk as I am sure we will have enough plenty of that later.  Left the ship around 9.15 and made our way through Immigration.  One of the annoyances as a transit passenger is that we must just line up with all the disembarking passengers - and that took some time.  Still, we were not in any hurry.  The taxi rank was highly organised and we were in a maxi taxi in less than a minute.  About 20 minutes later & $42 lighter, we arrived at Circular Quay.  A bit breezy but nice temperature.

Our tour of the Opera House was not until 11.00, so took our time.  The tour was great,  but a little disappointing that 2 of the 3 theatres were in set construction mode, which meant that photography was prohibited.   That said, very interesting to see around and up close.  The tour finished promptly at 12.00 and, no, we declined the $50 photo package and booklet!

While we had been waiting for our tour, we saw "Choo choo train", which run some through the Royal Botanic Gardens adjoining.  This was an excellent way to get around (part of) the 75 acres and in the heat, we certainly would not have walked very far.  Very good value and we enjoyed this too.  Looking for food however proved to be a little more difficult.  In the end we elected to go back to the ship.

The HZ was absolutely crowded with all the new arrivals,  but we were fortunate to find tables outside.   Despite my known aversion to the HZ, I must admit that the food was very good.   Vivian sussed out the NZ Ice Cream- 1 clip on the coffee card, but I elected to skip this as I am trying to be good........

Just as we were about to leave, the Captain made an announcement that because of the extreme weather system in the Tasman this week, we will NOT be going to Fiordland,  but rather setting a more northerly course to go through Cook Strait  (which will be interesting!)  and down the east coast of the South Island to still reach Dunedin on Friday.  Very disappointing, as this is the second time we have missed the sounds due to weather,  but at least we are better off than those who have travelled from far & wide.  On that, while we expected to board mainly Australians, there are many travellers from all over the world - particularly Asians & Americans.  There are also plenty of kids on board.  We have been told that there are over 400 registered with the various Kids Clubs.  I think that our grandchildren are going to participate on this sector.  Yes, a day on shore and some food seems to have brought them back to life 😀

Tuesday
A day at sea and yes, grandchildren are all go, Vivian has had line dancing and bridge and I have had a day of updating this blog.  The sea is pretty calm and we are steaming along at 20 kts.  Sun is shining and everything is good.

Photos
*  Ladies on balconies en route to Sydney
*  Early morning arrival in Sydney  (2)
*  Madeline & Vivian and a wave by Opera House
*  Opera  House  (2)
*  Train (3)