SYDNEY

Three sea days from Auckland in the Tasmanian Sea.  We expected the waters to be rough and we find them quite bumpy although seasoned travelers say it's the smoothest they've encountered.

SYDNEY -Day 23.  Pop - 4.6 million.  Highlights - one of the most beautiful harbors in the world.  Sydney Harbor Bridge nicknamed the coat hanger.   Sydney Opera House - world class performing arts center and is an UNESCO World Heritage site.  Other tourist attractions - the Blue Mountains, an area called The Rocks which is home to 5 star hotels, pubs, shops, galleries and museums, and Bondi beach.

We dock at White Bay cruise terminal.  It is a 20 minute shuttle ride to Darling Harbor - this must be in the middle of the night as it took us over 35 minutes to return to the ship.  It is the newest cruise terminal and terribly inconvenient.  There are 3 ships in port - Carnival got to dock at Circular Quay  Seaborne and Princess are in White Bay.  All passengers require a visa to enter Australia so we all have to clear customs when we arrive.

Darling Harbor is a tourist trap - many restaurants and expensive stores.

We did a walking tour from just outside Darling Harbor through several parks, past museums, past hidden bars, down to Circlular Quay and The Rocks.  Our guide was an Aussie girl who, with a partner,  formed the tour group.  Her mother is from Calgary and one cousin is currently working for some construction company on Lethbridge.

I can't think of any city we've visited that is as busy as Sydney.  It doesn't matter what street you walk down it is packed with pedestrians.   Everyone is talking or texting on their smart phones and paying no attention to where they are going.  There also seemed to be  more smokers than in the US or Canada.

Pictures are of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera house as we sailed in around 6 am

Vancouver and San Francisco are beautiful ports to sail into but Sydney I takes the cake.