The TV screen in our cabin was tuned to the monitor that told us we had arrived in Sydney.  It was still dark and we did not see the harbor as we traversed through it into Sydney.  The trip across the Tasman Sea was rough, as it often is and my roommate was feeling seasick.

She was overjoyed when the boat stopped and we looked out on the sunrise over the Sydney Opera House

The shipped docked the morning of February 27th and we stayed overnight on board disembarking on February 28th for our stay in Australia.  Customs were quicker than expected and we were greeted on shore by a rainbow as the rain stopped.

My cousin met us and brought us Opal cards that we could use to ride the Ferries, the bus and the trains.  Traveling around the city with these amazing tap on tap off cards was very easy once we got the hang of it.

Tall buildings and concrete has replaced the habitat of many birds.  My cousin brought us to an art installation between the buildings that demonstrated this.  Hundreds of bird cages are suspended between two buildings. It also had recorded sounds of birds, but the city noise was so loud we couldn’t hear even the recorded sounds:

We found our way back to the harbor and to the Royal Sydney Botanical Garden as lovely  calm place of nature.

While walking in the park we came across a possum hiding in a large gum tree:

We found the museum and a wonderful fountain.

We went back to the ship for our last meal on board.  Our dinner companions were continuing on board they were on the around the world voyage that they had started in Southhampton.  We had a birds eye view of the city lights from the Queen Elizabeth that evening:

We left Sydney soon after that but returned a few weeks later to attend Carmen at the Opera House.  We got to spend a week living and exploring the city from our room on the 26th floor of the Adina Apartment Hotel Town Hall.  The view from our room was fascinating to watch and listen to the city and the school just across the street from our room. Below daytime and night time view from our balcony:

We found out how to take the bus, and the train down to the rocks and get to the Opera House for the performance of Carmen above.

The next day we discovered the Queen Victoria building.  One of the most elegant buildings in the world to eat and shop in was just a few blocks from our Hotel:

We found we could walk from our hotel down to Darling Harbor and catch the ferry to other parts of the city:

We got on the Ferry and went to Manly Beach:

The ferry stopped by other fascinating places that we didn’t have time to go to like the amusement park:

But the crowds on the ferry at the end of the day were unbelievable:

My Melbourne cousins say they love visiting Sydney, but they’d hate to live there.  Just too crowded.