Sydney day 2

Since we turned off the lights early last night, we were up early this morning. Bob was up at 4am and I made it till 5.   We dressed and headed out for breakfast. Starbucks was still closed so next stop was MacDonald's. Here in Australia they have a limited menu. No egg white deluxe so I had to get an egg McMuffin instead. Bob tried the Aussie Brekkie.  Lots of meat and no egg.  Interesting.

After eating, we walked to the Quay and watched the Carnival Spirit dock.  We walked up the stairs to get a better view.  And then we headed back to the hotel.

Our hotel is in the center of this picture.  The Four Seasons.  Our room has a view of the city.  Not the best but if we wanted a water view, we would have had to pay an additional $200.00 per day and we are not here to look out the window.

On the way back to the hotel, we got a great view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  When we were here several years ago, Bob walked the bridge tour.  But not this year.  When he did it, it cost $85.00 and today it is about $300.00 to take the tour.

We have a tour today. We are going up to the Blue Mountain.  We were bus number one.  The bus was not full so Bob and I spread out.  The ride to Blue Mountain took about two hours.  Our first stop was at Echo Lookout.  Here you can see the valley and the Three Sisters.  We only stayed here for about a half hour and then on to Scenic World.

 The Three Sisters are the three rock formations behind me.

 A better view of the Three Sisters.

Here we took the Scenic Railway to the bottom of the valley.  It is a ride at 52 degree incline.  It is the steepest passenger train in the world.  We walked the boardwalk in the valley and then took the Scenic Cableway back up to the top.  This is Australia's biggest cable car.  It carries 84 persons and travels 545 meters up or down.

The Scenic Railway travels at a speed of 5 MPH or so.  A slow ride but steep.

The tracks of the railway.  You might get an idea of how steep it is.

And then to get back up we took the Cableway.

The outside of the hotel.

The dining room of this hotel.

We then headed to the hotel for a lunch.  We sat with Phil and Naomi from Park City, Utah, Dawn and Mike from Pittsburg, PA, Ken and Ann from England, and Ira and Bobbie from Hilton Head, SC.  Lunch was okay but the conversation was great.

After lunch we walked about the town of Katoomba. Bob and I visited a church.  St. Hilda anglican Church.  Here were three very nice ladies to talk to us about the church.  Now we need to research St. Hilda.

On the ride back to Sydney we took a different route and this time crossed the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

We headed back to the room for a short nap and then out for dinner.  The restaurant the hotel suggested was Wolfies at The Rocks.   So we walked over to this area and while we were walking, the Carnival Spirit blew its horn to let us know it was leaving.  So as we sat at this outdoor restaurant, we got to watch the Spirit leave.  This is a fairly big ship and it looks like it takes up the entire harbor as it turns around.  A little while later, the P&O Dawn came from under the bridge.  It was docked where we will be docked.  Our dinner was okay.  Prices here in Sydney are really high.  Will be great to get on the ship and not have to worry about how much we are spending, having already spent it.

Travel day

Today is the official start of our vacation.   We flew from Jacksonville to Dallas on American. Here in Dallas we have a 5 hour layover. The Quantis lounge opened at 6pm so we had  some time to kill.  Found outlets so we charged our electronics.

When the club opened we headed up to get something to eat. And some red wine.  Now reading, knitting, surfing the net, anything to pass the time.

Well we finally arrived in Sydney on Wednesday morning.  The flights were fine, smooth and long.  Both Bob and I did get to nap some but on a 15 hour flight, you need more than one nap.  We first landed in Brisband where we got off the plane and went through security.  We headed up to the lounge for a coffee and some toast.  When we got back on the plane, they served us breakfast.  So we had three that day.  So no lunch.

We are staying at The Four Seasons Hotel.  Our room was not ready so we sat in the lobby for a while until it was.   We are on the 19th floor.  Bob thought we were high until he got in the elevator and saw there were 35 floors.  This is high enough for me.  

We unpacked our carry ons and then took another nap.  Now we are getting ready to head out and explore this fine city.  The weather is hot.

We met several couples that are on the cruise with us in business class.  One couple from Hilton Head, Ron and Pauline from Omaha, Debbie and Bill from San Antonio, and Doug and Elaine from Omaha.  Then when they put us on the bus, there was lots more from other flights.

Tomorrow we have a tour that looks interesting.  Will tell you all about it with pictures.  Till then

We got up from our naps and dressed and took a walk by the Circular Quay.  This is where there are many ferries that take the people across the water to their homes.   We walked to the Sydney Opera House and then back to the hotel where we had dinner.   Both Bob and I had the Barramundi fish.  It was wonderful.   When we were just about finished, they sat a couple at the table next to us and we got to talking with them and they are Linda and Larry from Lexington, Mass.  They are also on the cruise but as with all of the couples we have met so far, only going to Singapore.

We came back up to the room and watched a bit of TV until we could not stay awake.  Bob faded at around 8pm and I made it till 9pm.

Passage Through History

This is the start of the blog for our next cruise.  It is titles "Passage Through History".  We will start in Sydney, Australia and end in Rome, Italy.  The cruise is 106 days long.  This will be the longest cruise we have ever taken.  We are really looking forward to it.

On Tuesday, Luggage Free, picked up our four bags and we hope to see them in our suite when we get on the Regent Voyager.  We are in suite 878.  This is a Penthouse C and on the aft of the ship.  We have a corner suite so we think our balcony wraps around the corner.  At least we think that is the way it is as we had this very suite on a cruise we took several years ago.

We fly to Sydney via Dallas on Monday afternoon.  This weekend we will visit Katie and her family to say our goodbyes.  It will be quite some time before we see then again, but with Face Time, we will connect every so often.  And will try the same with Heather and her gang.

Since we are staying in Sydney for three nights, we do need to take one smaller bag to check with our liquids, etc.

Right now we are trying to tie up loose ends.  Like who will watch the house, get the pool pump fixed, holding the mail, etc.  There really is a lot to do before you leave for such an extended of time.  Thank goodness for the internet.  Not sure how people managed this before.

So my next entry will probably be from Sydney or on route to Sydney.  I hope you all enjoy reading about this trip and might think about a cruise for yourselves.  We really enjoy this way to travel.