We are indeed home, and have been in LA since last Wednesday night (March 18th). After I wrote my last post, things continued to change rapidly in Australia. Originally, our cruise company (Regent Seven Seas) was going to have us come into the Freemantle harbor and drop anchor for a couple of nights while we waited for the QE2 to leave her berth. Later that same day, we got our travel arrangements, which had us disembarking the ship on March 18th, and then flying home on the 19th (arriving the 20th).
However, the morning of the day we were steaming into Freemantle (March 16th), the Captain announced that the QE2 was going to pull out the following day (Tuesday), and we were going to be allowed to dock there, but had to immediately disembark passengers. Since they had already made flight arrangements for us to fly home Thursday, this meant that Regent had to redo everyone’s flight arrangements a second time. It was a little bit of a bummer for us because they had originally had us flying from Perth to Dubai and Dubai home on Emirates in first class!
Our re-routed flight had us flying Perth to Brisbane and then Brisbane to LA on Quantas in business class, so not a horrible outcome!
On Tuesday when we got off the ship, all the kitchen, dining room, bar staff and the housekeepers all lined up on the deck and waved and cheered each and every passenger off the ship. It was very heartwarming, especially since none of the staff knew at that point what would be happening to them and how they would get home.
Farewell to our new friends, Jim and Pat Biddle!
Regent put us all up in the Ritz Carlton in Perth, which looks right out on the Swan River and the promenade surrounding it. We thought Perth was beautiful, and would have liked to explore it, but it was pouring down rain the whole time we were there. With the cancellation of the last three port stops on our cruise, we also missed going to the Margaret River wine area, so we will surely have to return here.
Jim enjoying what will surely be our last cocktail in public for the foreseeable future!Views from our room in the Ritz Carlton, Perth.
When we left, Australia wasn’t really experiencing the pandemic yet. In fact, we sat in the airport lounge listening to Scott Morrison (the Australian Prime Minister) pontificate about how harmful it would be to shut down the Australian economy by enacting the social distancing measures other countries had. Suffice it to say, they have revisited that consideration in the last week.
All of the airports we traveled through were virtually empty, which was a great relief. However, even though we dreaded coming back through LAX after seeing all the crazy crowds in Customs just a couple of days before, the Customs Hall there was very empty when we arrived. Of some concern was the fact that there was NO screening of anyone on our flight we we came through Customs, and the CBP officers were not even wearing masks!
We’re at home now sheltering in place. Ryan had very kindly stocked our refrigerator for us before we got home (even though he had to go to six different stores to get basic supplies). I hope we all make it through this global challenge together. One thing is for sure, by the next time we can travel, we will appreciate every minute of those travels, as well as the daily lives we all take for granted. Stay safe!
Jim and I have been riding a wild roller coaster of uncertainty here aboard the Mariner off the southwest coast of Australia, looking at the port of Esperance. Yesterday, we got the unhappy news that our cruise was going to end in Freemantle/Perth, and all passengers would be disembarked (even those who had embarked in Miami and San Francisco for a round the world cruise). Jim and I had even decided to stay on the ship to Miami on a much changed itinerary, but that was not to be.
We pulled into Esperance this morning to high winds and seas, although the skies were clearing. I had really looked forward to visiting here as it is the home of Cape le Grand National park with beautiful sand dunes and beaches in turquoise coves. Probably all those pictures you’ve ever seen of kangaroos on Australia’s beaches were shot in Cape le Grand (most likely at Happy Bay).
The Captain had suspended tender operations hoping that the winds would die down some when he got orders from Regent’s home office to proceed immediately to Freemantle where we will be disembarked. We should be in Freemantle by tomorrow afternoon. Jim and I don’t know anything about our flight arrangements yet as Regent is handling those, and I think their team just had to go change them all again because we weren’t supposed to leave the ship until March 19th previously. Things are changing by the hour around here, but we’re comfortable, if a little bummed that we couldn’t stay on the ship for the next two months while this virus madness runs its course at home. Until I can get a decent Internet connection, I probably won’t post again, but I promise to go back and post on all the remaining ports. Keep us in your thoughts!
We’re home from our trip for over three weeks now, but I’m going back to finish the posts I didn’t have a chance to do before the trip ended abruptly.
March 8, 2020:
This morning we docked on another clear day in the port of Portland, Australia. Established as a settlement in 1834 (one year before Melbourne), Edward Henty and his family settled in the area to run cattle. As the only deep-water port between Melbourne and Adelaide, its harbor provides welcome shelter from the rough seas of the Bass Strait. The town grew originally as a port to service whalers, but then grew to be a prime fishing port. Today, the town of about 10,000 residents is home to the third largest aluminum smelter in Australa.
Some of the old Victorian buildings in Portland
We drove south out of the port town, which still hosts some Victorian era buildings along its main street. Along our hour drive to the southwest, we observed many installations of wind turbines. They are manufactured and installed by the company Vestas Portland, which operates four wind farms along the southern coast, and is considered to be a very successful enterprise.
Cows and wind turbines-two of the main industries here in southwestern Victoria
Our first stop of the day was in the quaint seaside holiday town of Port Fairy. It is located not quite 300 kilometers west of Melbourne, and seems to be a very popular location for Australian visitors. Sitting right on the Moyne River, it has its own small harbor, and some lovely parks and an RV park within walking distance of the main street in town. Today, it is playing host to the Port Fairy Folk Festival, which is contained in a whole complex to itself featuring entertainment (mostly folk music with a strong Irish influence), and food and drink. Unfortunately, we’re only in town for about an hour, and you can only buy a full three day ticket costing about $100, so Jim and I passed on that. Instead, we walked the main street of town, where there were plenty of arts and crafts vendors in tents, and sampled some of the local artisan ice cream. Yum!
Entering Port Fairy Port Fairy harbor and the outlet of the Moyne River to the sea.
Then we travelled back towards Portland, stopping to do some wine tasting at Basalt Winery. Right away, you could tell that the owner, vintner and farmer running this operation is quite a character! From the fact that he was wearing a straw hat that looked as if a goat had eaten part of it, to the fact that he somehow made the decision to start a vineyard on the cold and windy cliffs of this area when there is not another vineyard within 100 km, you could tell right away that it was going to be an entertaining tasting session! He explained that this area of the coast was settled mostly by the Irish, and they had historically used the area for farming and ranching. His family had been in the area for several generations.
Welcome to Basalt Vineyard!Our host and vintner, Shane Clancy
Then we started the tasting. The Riesling was our first sample, and our host was proud to tell us that it had won best in show in 2016. I found it very dry and citrusy; and I didn’t care for it.
The vintner told us that this year, they had had a very cold spring and summer, which had delayed the harvest by over a month. Then our second wine was the Drumborg Chardonnay. He explained that the round logo on bottle depicts the extinct crater of a volcano called Round Hill, which is in this area. It was OK, but lacking in complexity.
The vintner told us that this year, they had had a very cold spring and summer, which had delayed the harvest by over a month. Then our second wine was the Drumborg Chardonnay. He explained that the round logo on bottle depicts the extinct crater of a volcano called Round Hill, which is in this area. It was OK, but lacking in complexity.
The third wine is the Great Ocean Road Pinot Noir- Jim and I both found it surprisingly, very good, with a great aroma. The initial taste was fruit-forward, but with a low alcohol content. In 2016, it was the runner-up to best in show at Royal Melbourne Wine Show.
For our next wine sample, we had the the Bream King Tempranillo, which won a gold medal (95 out of 100 points) from James Halliday (Australia’sversion of Robert Parker). The taste was fresh, but somewhat tannic, and it did not have a long finish. Our host explained that all the wines from this area have a high natural acidity because it the coldest wine growing region in Australia. Some might question the decision to grow wine grapes here, but not our host.
The final wine is an unoaked Shiraz called Basalt Shiraz. It was grown in the Grampian area, which is about an hour inland from here, without the sea breeze influences. Even that wasn’t enough to save it. The fact is that it is just too cold for Shiraz here! Entertained, but empty handed, we left Basalt and returned to the ship.
Jim and I are excited to do some proper wine tasting when we get to Adelaide! Although we arrive late tomorrow afternoon, we won’t be going on our wine adventure until the 10th. Stay tuned!
We’re home from our trip for over three weeks now, but I’m going back to finish the posts I didn’t have a chance to do before the trip ended abruptly.
March 7, 2020:
Today has been a really magical day, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it! As you can see from the map, Philip Island sits just outside Philip Bay in the Bass Strait which lies between mainland Australia and Tasmania. It’s so close to the mainland that a bridge connects one end of it, and connects by highway directly up into Melbourne.
I’ve wanted to visit here sine Jim and I first visited Australia in 2012. The island is perhaps most famous for its resident flock of penguins which make a nightly pilgrimage out of the sea after sundown and back to their burrows. Since there are about 30,000 nesting pairs of the penguins, this makes for quite a spectacle, which the locals call the Penguin Parade. Visitors literally come from all over the world to see this spectacle, and finally, we’re going to get to join them! Did you know that a group of penguins at sea is called a “raft”; while a group of penguins on land is called a “waddle”? The penguins in question are referred to interchangeably as fairy penguins, little penguins or blue penguins, and they are the smallest species of penguin in the world (standing only about 13 inches tall).
One of the great explorers of Australia was Mathew Flinders who sailed from England in 1795, who was the second to circumnavigate Australia (Abel Tasman was the first in 1642-43). With Flinders aboard the Reliance was George Bass. He was trained as a surgeon, which was his position on the Reliance, but he became a great Australian explorer in his own right. Bass brought a small boat with him on the Reliance (which he called the Tom Thumb) and he sailed it out of Port Jackson up to Botany Bay. In 179&, without Flinders, Bass set off in an open whaleboat with six men to explore the southern coast of Australia. He theorized that there was a strait which separated Van Dieman’s Land (now called Tasmania) from the southern coast of Australia. Bass sailed from the Sydney area as far as the mouth of Philip Bay, right next to where we are currently anchored. In 1798, Flinders and Bass reunited on the Norfolk and sailed it down to circumnavigate Tasmania, thereby proving Bass’ theory of the existence of the strait, which became known as Bass Strait in his honor, and he also discovered Philip Island. In short, Bass Strait lies to the south of us, and if you kept going south, you’d hit Tasmania.
Phillip Island Rhyll HarborLocal musicians playing Irish jigs to welcome us to the island
We have a very full day planned today. Our first activity is spending the day with one of the rangers of Philip Island National Park. She took us first to the Koala Reserve, where you can walk along elevated boardwalks among the eucalyptus trees housing the koalas. Naturally, most of them were sleeping because they sleep about 22 hours a day. But still, it was nice to be so close to the cute little critters. As an added bonus, their enclosure is also home to a large group of swamp wallabies (a group of wallabies is called a “court” or a “mob”).
We caught one awake! Swamp wallaby
Then our ranger took us down to the harbor, where we had a high speed boat ride along the northern coast of the island to the some islands called “the Nobbies” off the southwestern end of the island. This area is home to Australia’s largest fur seal colony. The seals are so numerous and friendly that they swim all around the boat and sported in the waves. Did I mention the waves?!!! The boat was kind of a modified RIB (rigid inflatable boat) fitted with a cover and rows of seats, but the waves were incredibly huge, and we had to wear seat belts not to tossed out of our seats as we banged our way up and down the coast. It was nice to see the seals, but most of us were glad we hadn’t had lunch yet before the ride. In addition to the seals, we were able to see the main town of Philip Island, Cowes, from the sea, and world-famous surfing beach, Cat Bay. As we approached the Nobbies, we could also see a huge cave called Nobbies cave, and all of the paths carved into the cliffs by hundreds of years of penguins coming back from the sea to their burrows.
The town of CowesCat Bay The Nobbies Ocean Discovery CenterThe Nobbies colony of fur seals The NobbiesAustralian Fur Seals
After we got back to Rhyll harbor, we piled into a bus and drove back to the southwest end of the island where there’s a penguin center (Nobbies Ocean Discovery Center) and pathways on the coast overlooking the Nobbies. We had lunch at the center, and then went out to walk the pathways to see if we could see any of the fairy penguins in their burrows. Even though most of the penguins are still out at sea during the day, there are some who still remain in the burrows during the day. Our ranger explained that right now, several of the adolescent penguins are molting, so they can’t go out to sea until their new coat of waterproof feathers come back in. We were fortunate to spot a few penguins in their burrows, and a couple of molting youngsters. We also saw about four of the local copperhead snakes. That was reason enough to stay on the raised walkways, even if it weren’t forbidden to venture off!
Looking offshore on the Nobbies islands fur seal colonyLooking back towards Cat BayA molting penguinPenguin trails up the cliff Copperhead Snake-venomous and with no known antivenin Mom and baby in their burrowOne of the man-made burrows Cape Barren gooseMolting penguins hiding under the boardwalk
Our day with the ranger was coming to an end, but first she had our bus drive through the area which has now become the exclusive preserve of the penguins. However, she one more interesting story to tell us. Apparently, this area was once the site of a housing development, but the residents kept unintentionally killing the penguins when they drove to and from their homes in the dark. Finally, the residents agreed to let a national park be formed, and to sell their homes back to the government, which then razed them. The deal was struck in 1985, and the last resident just moved out a couple of years ago, all that remains are some deteriorating asphalt roads. The area is crazy thick with wallabies and Cape Barren geese, which is somewhat humorous in itself and the Cape Barren geese is the second most endangered species in the world. On the way, she showed us the beach where the penguin parade takes place, and the viewing stands.
The site of the former housing development with a wallaby grazing in the field.The beach where the penguins come homeThe viewing stands-every seat was packed later tonightLow tide in Rhyll Harbor with gigantic black & white pelicansand a couple of black swans thrown in for good measure
After a quick trip back to the ship for a snack and a change of clothes, we returned to the harbor about 7 p.m. for the crowning glory of the day; the Penguin Parade! Every evening after the sun sets, thousands of fairy penguins return from fishing at sea to their burrows. Thousands more humans flock to the area every night to witness this spectacle. Basically, they took us back to the penguin preserve area on the southern coast of the island near the Nobbies Ocean Discovery Center where there is a viewing pavilion consisting of acres of raised wooden boardwalks spread among the thousands of penguin burrows, and concrete viewing stands on the beach where you wait to see the penguins come ashore. There we waited in the extremely cold sea wind for over an hour until full darkness fell, and the penguins felt safe enough to come ashore. They are so small, that they can be easily picked off by larger seabirds. Even after dark, they wait in the surf line until a large enough group forms (usually 6-20 penguins) that they feel safe making the break across the open sand to get back to their burrows. We learned that last night, over 1400 made the trip in from sea. Although this colony boasts of over 30,000 nesting pairs of penguins, they can remain at sea for up to six days, so they don’t all come back at once every night. As Jim and I were sitting in this huge mass of people, all we could think about was what a great place this would be for the coronavirus to spread. The only mitigating factor was that most of us were bundled up from head to toes to stay warm.
Wallaby grazing among the penguin burrowsOne of the many viewing boardwalk;ks within the penguin preserve
In any event, it was very cute to watch these tiny birds braving the challenges to get home. Then we walked back up through the pathways. Honestly, the viewing is even better on the pathways because the lighting is better, and you can see wave after wave of penguins strolling along the paths and doing little dances outside their homes. Sadly, everyone is forbidden to take pictures, so these photos were downloaded from the Philip Island Parks website, where you are encouraged to download and use their photos. All I can say is seeing this spectacle was well worth the wait!
We’re home from our trip for over three weeks now, but I’m going back to finish the posts I didn’t have a chance to do before the trip ended abruptly.
Mar. 6, 2020:
This morning, we are docked in Geelong Harbour, which is one of the suburbs of Melbourne ringing Port Philip Bay. Our explorations for the day will take us through the Bellarine Peninsula, which guards the entrance to Port Philip Bay; visiting the communities of Queenscliff, and wine-tasting at two different wineries in the peninsula.
Geelong and the Bellarine Peninsula-credit to Google MapsAll of Port Philip Bay and Melbourne at its north end.
The harbor area is really welcoming, and we entered the port through the Geelong Yacht Club. As we passed through the downtown, there were several old wooden bollards painted like various characters. They had once been part of the municipal pier, but were repurposed by a local artist when the pier was torn down.
Bollard art — who knew that was a thing?!
As you can see from the map, the Bellarine peninsula sits at the mouth of Philip Bay. There is a very narrow opening at the mouth, which the locals call “The Rip” because of the treacherous tides that run through it. We drove all the way to the end of the peninsula, to Queenscliff Harbour, where there is a ferry which crosses The Rip to the little town of Sorrento, which makes an easier drive up to Melbourne for the locals who live down the bay.
Scarecrow contestWine growing regionSome of the old homes in QueenscliffThe lighthouse and the fort
Sadly, it’s a wet, blustery day, so I wasn’t able to catch any really great shots. However, we did stop for a proper British tea (or at least the Aussie version of one). Then it was time to do some wine tasting.
Downtown QueenscliffInside the hotel where we had tea.
Jim and I are a little skeptical about the wines of the Bellarine Peninsula, since we are surrounded by really low marshy ground; not exactly the best environment for growing wine grapes. Our first stop is at a really pretty “cellar door” called Scotchman’s Hill, and the tasting room and grounds are lovely. The hostess told us that the Bellarine Peninsula is a maritime vineyard area, and that Scotchman’s Hill is one of oldest wineries in this area.
At Scotchman’s Hill
We were given five wines to taste:
The 1st wine is Swan Bay Cuvée Brut, a sparkling wine made of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. In addition to those varietals, they also grow Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, and Shiraz. Candidly, it was too acidic for both Jim and my tastes. The 2d wine is a Sauvignon Blanc and I didn’t think it was very good because it had heavy citrus notes and tasted too grapefruity. The 3rd wine is the Cornelius Chardonnay.
It was made using malolactic fermentation, and was oaked. Normally, that combination would have been a winner for me, but this wine was still very citric, and finishes long and bitter. The 4th wine is the Cornelius Pinot Noir, and we found it still pretty bitter with heavy tannins, as it was aged with lots of new oak. Possibly, this wine could mellow with further aging, but generally did not seem to be a good bet. The fifth and final wine was the Scotchman’s Shiraz. It was probably the best of the lot; earthy with some fruit notes, but doesn’t really compare well with the great Australian Shirazes from warmer areas. After this tasting, we were semi-dreading the next cellar door visit, but continued to Oakdene Vineyards, where we had a completely different and better experience!
For one thing, Oakdene is a far more casual set up than Scotchman’s Hill, and they’ll let you taste anything they produce. Oakdene is owned by two brothers, both of whom were working in the cellar door when we arrived, and they were both prototypical Aussies; laid back and fun!
One of the brothers, bad picture, but a good guy!
They started us off with good sparkling Blanc de Blanc, which was made from their Pinot Noir grapes (I think). Oakdene produces two lines of each grape varietal they produce, which consist of a basic drinking wine (or as our friend, Mark, likes to say, “a good backyard wine”), and a more upper end wine. Each line is excellent, and several times, we preferred the entry-level wine over the more oaked and aged flagship wine.
I next tried the oaked Sauvignon Blanc in the flagship line, and found it had a very pleasant honeysuckle aroma; and I was pleased that it was not citric at all. For my third taste, I tried the entry-level Chardonnay, which was aged with just with 19% new oak- it was lovely! Jim was already into the reds by this time, and at his suggestion, I tried both the Pinot Noirs. We agreed that the entry-level Pinot Noir was very similar to the Oregon pinots we love with nice berry notes, while the flagship Pinot was more similar to the California Pinots grown in the Santa Rita Hills AVA with drier notes of leather and tobacco. I liked the first best, while Jim preferred the latter. Finally, we finished our tasting with the excellent Shirazes produced by Oakdene. Our consensus was that while both were good, there was no reason to pay the premium for the flagship wine, when the Shirazes produced in Vicoria and South Australia were still better wines for the price. Then, it was time to head back to the ship.
Tomorrow, we’ll be docked in Rhyll Harbor on Philip Island, and it will be a day of wildlife extravaganzas. I promise!
After steaming for thirty-six hours, our ship reached the north side of Tasmania, where we anchored in the town of Burnie. It was a somewhat rough crossing of the Bass Strait, which lies between the south coast of Australia and Tasmania, but then, it usually is. Jim and I have long wanted to explore Tasmania, which has a reputation for gorgeous forests and wildlife, as well as being an emerging wine area of some repute. Burnie’s economy has long been-based on heavy industry, timber and farming, but you get the sense that much of that is in the past. The pulp mill in town shut down, as have many manufacturing plants. Today, Burnie is trying to market itself as a city of “makers” highlighting locally produced foodstuffs and crafts. Some of the most popular tours in the area focus on tastings of cheese, chocolate and whiskey. Jim and I have other plans, though.
Driving into the Tasmanian countryside
Today, we’re going to travel out into the countryside and see a wildlife park that rescues and rehabilitates wild animals, followed by a visit to the Gunn Plains Cave park, where in addition to the usual stalactites and stalagmites, they reported have glow worms.
Farms as far as the eye can seePart of Tasmania’s growing blueberry industryGiant for trees in the interior forests of TasmaniaGunn Plains
Our first stop was at the Wings Wildlife Park, which evolved as a family operation of the Wings family of farmers in the Gunn Plains area. Mom and daughter started rescuing injured and orphaned animals, and then their wildlife park took off. I’m very excited because it will be an opportunity to see some of Australia’s rarer animal species!
As we ented the park, there were a series of indoor habitat areas which held some cool animals. In particular, the park had some potoroos, which are a rare species of animal that looks like a mini-wallaby, and an echidna (which looks like a cross between a miniature playpus and a hedgehog). Sadly, I couldn’t get decent photos of any of these, but when we walked outdoors, I fell in love!
Say hello to Molly, the wombat!
There was an enclosure where three young orphaned wombats have been raised by the Park staff. They are named Molly, Matilda, and Mr. Wilson. I think they most closely resemble giant guinea pigs, and they were very curious.
Matilda and Mr. WilsonMolly
Next we walked by two large enclosures with the iconic Tasmanian devils. I think if you crossed a dog, a small bear, and a wolverine, you would get something that looks very close to a Tasmanian devil. We actually got to witness them getting fed, and they pretty much lived up to their fierce reputation for indiscriminately eating.
First Tasmanian devil sightingsI don’t think I would volunteer for this job feeding a wallaby thigh to a pen full of Tasmanian devilsFood fight!One of the devils grabbed the meat and ran around the enclosure with the others in hot pursuit
We also got to visit a pen of kangeroos, which love to be fed by hand and patted.
Kangaroo selfie-cam
There were lots of interesting birds and small mammals scattered throughout the park, including a koala. Inexplicably, there was also a pen with a meercat colony. I never did get the story as to how they ended up in the park.
EmuI’m not really sure why there are meerkats here since they are NOT native to Australia, but they were cute, so I snapped their photo!The resident koala, who obligingly woke up for us
Finally, the best experience was that I got to hold one of the wombats, Molly, and learned she loved to be scratched under the chin. That was it; the day was perfect in my book!
However, before we headed back to the port, we visit the Gunn Plains Cave Park. This was a pretty good spelunking experience, but if you are at all claustrophobic, this is not the place for you. Ditto is you have knee issues, because there are a couple of levels of ladders which need to be negotiated. They save the area with the glow worms for last, and I have to admit to being underwhelmed. I think we saw less than 10 faint worm glows in total (and weren’t allowed to photograph them). Apparently, New Zealand has much better glow worm caves, but our tour guide was very friendly and funny, so she made up for the lack of worms. Then it was time to go back to the ship.
This structure is called “the wedding cake”You can see why I gave the knees advisory. Looking down on the wedding cake.
We had a very rough pull away from the island, but Jim and I both agreed that there’s a lot more of Tasmania to unpack, and it definitely warrants a longer visit. Tonight, we sail back to the southern coast of Australia, and the day after tomorrow, we will be docked in Geelong Harbour, which is one of the suburbs of Melbourne ringing Port Philip Bay.
Jim and I flew back into Sydney on Friday afternoon (Feb. 28th), and had drinks on the 35th floor of our hotel overlooking Sydney Harbour. We even saw a sister Regent ship, the Navigator, sailing out under the Harbour Bridge.
The Navigator going under the Harbour Bridge.
Jim and I spent the day Saturday (Feb. 29th) just wandering around Sydney. We walked through “Chinatown” up into the Broadway neighborhood to visit a mall with an Apple store. Then we returned to “the Rocks” area near the Circular Quay and wandered through the street fair they have every Saturday and Sunday. We capped it off with a fantastic dinner at a nearby restaurant called 6 Head 1788 (referring to the six head of cattle imported into Sydney in 1788 which have now become the backbone of the world-famous Australian beef industry).
An ibis in the park
After a leisurely breakfast yesterday, Jim and I boarded our home for the next two months, Regent’s Seven Seas Mariner. Many of our friends and family have openly said we are nuts, but Jim and I are still optimistic that we will still get to visit many interesting stops along the way, including some major bucket list destinations. As I wrote earlier (you can chart the destination changes in this earlier post: https://vayacongringos.wordpress.com/2020/02/22/departing-into-the-unknown/), the itinerary for this leg of the journey has changed from a Sydney to Singapore routing to a Sydney to Perth routing with many stops along Australia’s southern coast. After a great evening back aboard the ship, Jim and I took a shuttle back into the Darling harbor area, and then walked over to the Circular Quay area, where we have a great adventure planned.
View out our hotel window across to White Harbour, where you can see our ship, the Mariner.
Today, we are going to do the Bridgeclimb, which involves a very technical climb up the highest point on the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We’ve really lucked out today, as the weather is very clear (and warm), so we should have terrific views from the top of the bridge.
Harbour BridgeFacts about the Bridge.
There are three main routes to climb the bridge, but only two of them actually go to the top. Jim, naturally, has chosen the longest climb, about which I’m beginning to have doubts as the heat just keeps rising. However, as we get into it, I realize that you don’t spend the entire time climbing on the iron bridge. Instead, at least the first 45 minutes are spent garbing up for the climb. You are not allowed to carry anything with you which can fall off, because any item falling from these heights would either kill a person or busty a car window. Instead, you are required to strip down to your underwear, and you are provided with a jumpsuit, and a hat, which clips onto your harness. You have to take all watches and jewelry off (except wedding rings), and I even had to take the clips out of my hair. Then you are fitted into your harness, which attaches you to a steel cable for the entire time you are on the bridge. Finally, you are given a headset so you can hear your guide at all times over the wind. Everything is locked down onto your harness, including your sunglasses (“sunnies”, in the Aussie slang). The climb wasn’t really that bad, but there are a few sets of stirs about the wide of a submarine ladder, so if you have knee issues, this probably isn’t the activity for you. Most of the actual climb goes up a very gradually rising set of metal steps. For those that are afraid of heights, you might feel slightly more comfortable knowing that there is solid metal plating underneath the steps, so you can’t see how high up you are with every step. The pacing is pretty measured, with lots of stops for the guide to take pictures of each couple. Since you are forbidden to bring your own camera or cellphone on the climb, Jim enticed me into going by buying the whole photo package as part of the deal.
The Queen Elizabeth is moored in Circular Quay.The views of the Opera HouseIm pointing at the Mariner moored in the harbor behind us
The views are absolutely amazing, and you have probably the best views of the opera house in the city! However, you should take the climb operator’s advice to hydrate yourself liberally and eat before you go, because you are really spending at least 1 ½ hours doing the actual climb. One woman on our tour became dehydrated, and had a medical episode at the very peak of the bridge. Fortunately, there were medical staff positioned at the top, but we did have to maneuver a bit to get our cables undone and moved so we could move past her. We were happy to see that she did recover and was able to get back down off the bridge. I hope you enjoy the views.
Standing at the top!
Later this afternoon once we were back on the ship, the winds really blew up and the skies scudded over for our sail away. But we’re off on another adventure, and our next port of call is Burnie, Tasmania!
Vaya con Gringos 