Our first day in Sydney was packed to the gills with one landmark after another.  My first glimpse of the city was at daybreak as we were sailing into the harbor.  What a great start to the day!  I don't think I need to tell you that Candice missed this magical moment but I guess she can watch us sail away at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow night.  Now I'm no early bird but I do know how to get up and catch the good stuff while it's happening. 

After breakfast we first hit "The Rocks," because that's where the first settlers landed, and saw the oldest building in town, the Cadman's Cottage, which was built in 1816 by John Cadman.  He was convicted and banished for life to New South Wales for stealing a horse.  Only 1,000 people survived the trip from England on 11 boats in 1788.  Most only stole a couple loaves of bread and some had committed no crime at all but volunteers were in short supply.  Seems this entire area was later a caldron of disease and the seedier side of town but as usual if you wait long enough the property values come back up.  Today it is far from disease infested and property is selling for a pretty penny.

Then we headed up to the Harbor Bridge and took a walk out to the middle for some awesome pictures.  This is the largest steel bridge in the world, 8 lanes of traffic and was built in 1932.  People at that time mocked it as 'the coathanger' but today they are proud to call it their own iconic symbol.  Seems the people also didn't care for the Opera House either when it was opened in 1973.  We walked all the way around the Quay, pronounced 'key,' to get a couple of great pictures.  Then up to Mrs. Macquirres Chair overlooking the outer post of harbor.  Then we traversed out to the center of town for some shopping, hopped the train/subway out to Bondi Junction and caught the bus out to Bondi Beach.  Bondi is just a feast for the eyes.  Very large circular beach with big white waves crashing in various sequences across the half mile beach or better.  Surfers were out in full force and Tony Hawke is in town for a skateboard event on the beach.  It was definitely time for a Coke and a smile!

Ten hours of walking and touring a city this big is enough to make your feet pulsate even at rest.   So after making our way back to the ship for some dinner, we told our room stewart that we were going back out for some more punishment, that we didn't get enough.  He laughed but we braced ourselves for our next venture.  We walked over to the ferry terminal and took the 9 p.m. ferry over to Darling Harbor.  Got some really good night shots of the city skyline from the water.  We walked around the Darling Harbor checking out the nightlife and worked our way back to ship by foot.  This whole city is one big mecca for nightlife and restaurants.  Reminded me of one continuous Downtown Disney but with no Mickey Mouse.

Sydney is  great place to visit and they claim it to be the best harbor in the world.  I use to think they just said that because of the landmarks and the icons that surround it but it really is the best harbor because it winds and twist and juts and recedes for miles which makes it a great geographical area.  Every point, cove and harbor throughout the waterway has a 'New York City' siting right next to it.  Just when you think there can't be another financial center, shopping center or city center, another one pops up around the corner.  This place is huge and covers more miles than I care to walk!

Our second day was a little more slower paced than the first.  Today we took the ferry over to Manly Beach and checked out the area.  Manly Beach is just about as fantastic as Bondi.  It has a big sweeping beach too but just a half mile long.  Wonderful surf, plenty of surfers and swimmers out even though the dangerous undertow flags were flying.   We also got to see a sailboat regatta taking place on our way to and from Manly out in the harbor between the Sydney Harbour Heads.  We were camera free today since our batteries were drained so we didn't get any pictures of Manly.  Back to the ship for lunch and listening to the Aborigines play the didjeridoo with techno music behind it on the pier.  Jack, you would have loved it.  Seems some of the magic of the moment escaped once we saw him talking on his cell phone!  Ha, ha!  Out for a little shopping and internet time and we set sail at 6 p.m. tonight.  Let's hope the place we have picked out has faster uploads on the pictures than McDonald's.

Until our next port, 

Sandy