What I did on my day off (another clever title).
10 February 2008
Sydney, Australia
I have port manning today, again. But this time it’s not such a problem and there are a couple of reasons for that.
Firstly, it is the second day of two that we get to spend in Sydney and I got to spend the day out yesterday, doing a tour in the morning and then wandering the streets in the afternoon and evening. If I am to have port manning then having it as one of the two days in an overnight port at least opens up more opportunities in other one off ports .
Secondly, I’ve been here before and there was a strange feeling of it being nothing more than a standard day off work that I used to have before I started this cruise ship thing rather than an exploration of a new and exciting place. While New Zealand may have had a strong sense of familiarity, stirring memories somewhere deep in the back of my mind, Sydney has a sense of familiarity that is much more immediate.
We have docked at Circular Quay and I wonder if there are any cities that will provide us with a better place to park our ship. Standing on the deck you can look across a short space of water and have a view of the Sydney Opera house that is clear, uninterrupted and stunning by night. Looking the other way and slightly up you can see the Harbour Bridge arching above the port buildings and watch tiny figures roped together in a crazy pursuit called “climbing the bridge”. We are close enough to make out the details of the Australian and New South Wales flags flying from the top most point. We are also a couple of minutes walk from the ferry terminals which give access to many further flung points of the city by water and the CBD area and Darling Harbour are an easy walk away. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what a room in hotel with this location would cost and we have simply sailed up and parked ourselves here. Such is the life of a cruiser.
My day began a little early yesterday, especially given that I was on the late finish the night before (or morning of to be more accurate), and I had to be up, showered, shaved and teeth brushed to escort another tour. I think this is my fourth and I’m starting to get the hang of it. I no longer worry quite so much about what is happening and am more able to enjoy the ride itself. The transportation and organisation have also improved greatly since Tonga, making it easier, although in some ways that rustic, death defying charm did make for a much more interesting story.
Being crew I got to skip all of the customs and immigration dealings and simply had to exit the port building and wait at the door of my appointed bus holding up my number six sign. Having learnt my lesson I was prepared with a bit of warm clothing and quite thankful for it as the weather was grey and threatening rain and the temperature was very un-summer like, even for a part of the country outside of sunny Queensland.
The tour was a Sydney highlights one and although there are normally a couple of stops we ended up not making as many as usual as the rain started soon after we began moving and it was only a handful of hardy souls who got off the bus when we did stop. As a consequence we got to see a bit more of the city than we might otherwise have since the driver had the time to take a more convoluted route. Even the guide exclaimed at times that it had been years since she had been up or down a particular road.
It was a nice tour and despite the weather (have I mentioned that grey is never any places best colour?) Sydney did put on a good face. Being a Saturday the traffic wasn’t too bad and as we made our way through various suburbs we would get panoramic views of the city skyline; the unmistakable icons of the Opera House and Bridge usually visible.
We also had a half hour stop at Bondi Beach, a place I’ve never been although it was immediately recognisable to me from all of the pictures I’ve seen. In fine weather it is an almost clichéd scene of Australian beach life, the white sand, rolling surf, crowds of people and surf lifesaving flags being observed or ignored. In our case it wasn’t quite as picturesque as it may have been , the rain keeping all but the most rugged of beachgoers off the sand, although there were a number of surfers out and the sight of waves crashing onto the rocks at the southern end of the beach was impressive. I had time to buy a chicken roll for breakfast and was able to eat it while staring at the water. The rain was only a fine mist at this point, not enough to worry me but enough to keep the majority of people hugging the sides of buildings as they made their way about and giving me almost uninterrupted use of the boardwalk. I can see how this would be a Mecca for so many and understand why it’s a symbol of Australian beach culture.
The tour ended back at the ship and after returning my paperwork to the excursions office I was able to head back out on my own. I spent the rest of the afternoon wandering the CBD in search of a book. This may sound strange to those who don’t know me but is very much me to those who do. I had no real plans for exploring the city as such. The locals were simply another bunch of Australians and the city was one I was familiar with. Instead I took the opportunity to do something I enjoy and looked in book stores. Eventually I found the book I was after in a smaller boutique shop, along with its sequel, and they happily went into my pack along with a few more magazines I had picked up. I had to move my camera to get the books in and to be honest this was the only time I even really remembered I had it.
I spent the afternoon walking around, eating lunch in Darling Harbour and later having raisin toast and a pot of earl grey in a little coffee shop on an upper floor of the Queen Victoria Building.
Heading back to the ship as the sun sank I dumped my purchases and went out again in search of more food. I had intended to find a restaurant somewhere but ended up sitting on a bench at the edge of the water with take-away fish and chips and an amazing view of the Opera House as the sky slowly got dark and the lights of the city came on. I walked around Circular Quay for a while, alive with buskers and people on their way out for a Saturday night on the town and then walked back to the ship where I had offered someone who had port manning the latter part of my day ashore.
Having a quick read over what I’ve written so far it sounds more like a list of the things I did for the day than offering any real descriptions or insights into Sydney. For some reason it feels as awkward doing it as it would be to describe my own backyard or the neighbour’s garage, but not attempting it does Sydney a disservice. I have a sea day tomorrow so I might try and do a better job than this. Australia really is a nice place even if it is full of Australians (he said tongue firmly in cheek).