Sydney, Australia

 March 10, 2026

We were scheduled to dock in Sydney this morning at 10:30.  Tim set his alarm for 8:00 hoping to be up to see us sail by the Sydney Opera House before docking at our pier. We were awakeneed at 7:00 with the Captain on the speaker announcing that do to a medical emergency on board the ship had increased its speed and would be arriving early. Tim hopped out of bed and went to our balconey and got his first sighting of the Opera House. Tim spent 20 minutes on our balcony taking pictures and admiring the beauty of the building. Like the Guggenhiem Museum we saw in Bilboa, Spain last fall, great architecture can be a work of art  to be savored. After showering and dressing Tim discovered we were docked and our bacony  looked out over the Opera House. Tim is in seventh heaven.

Our excursion this morning was a leisurely  bus tour of Sydney. The first half hour or so the bus drove around Sydney's  city centre. Sydney  was built on land that was primarily sandstone, thus most of the buildings were made of sandstone.  In the mid 1900's as the city grew many of these original buildings were torn down to make way for larger more contemporary buildings. By the 1980's a few visionary politicians realized the historical significance of the destruction of these old builldings and passed laws preserving  these old buildings.  As a result Sydney is a clean, vibrant city with a pleasant mix of the old and the new. The bus continued east into the suburbs where the homes became larger and more expensive with the views over the ocean more impressive. Along the way we stopped at a lookout on Watson's Bay where we had a photo op of particularly spectacular views. Our last stop of the tour was Bondi Beach, a beautiful and popular beach on the eastern coast of Australia. Unfortunately, Bondi Beach was also the site last December 14 of an antisemitic attack of a large gathering of Jews celebrating the start of Hanukkah that resulted in at least 16 Jewish deaths. Our drive back to our ship was through a decidedly more middle class area of Sydney that still remained clean and vibrant.

Wednesday  morning's excursion was one we were really looking forward to, a tour of the Sydney Opera House.  Unfortunately,  bus parking near the Opera House is impossible so we ended up with a long walk to the venue. We were unable to keep up so Lynda told Tim to go ahead and we would meet after Tim did the tour. When Tim's tour group entered the Opera House, it was a zoo. It took a while, but our tour guide got us hooked up with the Opera House tour guide. From there everything went well. First, a brief history lesson. In the mid to late 1950's several movers and shakers decided that for Sydney to grow as a world class city, a world class concert hall was needed. With a friend in government offering help, a call was made for archetectural drawings to be submitted. Over 200 drawings were submitted with the winner, a Danish archetech, Jorn Utzon being named. With land for the facility acquired progress was slow in the building of the Opera House. While the design was spectacular actually realizing the concept was problematic.  It did not help that government interference not only slowed down progess but also led to changes in the plans. Also, a change in the party in control of the government  not only led to further delays but ultimately the firing of Utzon. Three Australian archetechs who had been working with Utzon were given control of the project. They secretly continued to confer with the Dane and the project was finally completed. Queen Elizabeth II attended the first concert in 1973 but Jorn Utzon was not invited.  Sadly, he never saw the finished building in person. Ultimately the venue consisted of two performance halls under the outer skin of the building. The sail like outer skin is supported by concrete and cable. The two concert halls are built with wood that is indigenous to Australia and provide excellent acoustic properties. The Concert Hall is the largest of the two with a capcity of 2000 people. The Opera House holds 1500. Tim's tour group visited both performance facitities but was unable to take pictures as there were workers setting up the Concert Hall for a performance and there was a rehearsal for an upcoming opera going on in the Opera Hall. The two halls are very different.  The Opera Theater has a Percenium stage. That means there is an arch that defines the stage while the front of the stage curves out into the audience. This provides a more intimate setting for both performers and audience. The Concert Hall stage is much more open and provides greater flexibility for more diverse preforming groups. It was a fascinating tour with Tim being mesmerized the entire time. Pictures will be posted on Tim's Facebook page.

We have just left Sydney. Tomorrow will be another day at sea. Our next port of call is Mooloolaba where we will take a bus into Brisbane. We'll post again on Friday.