Wow, that is cutting it really close! Although worst case, getting to Melbourne wouldn't be too bad. Still, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you! :angel2:

Yikes, Ngaire, you are braver than I. Amazing that you have never missed the ship considering how much you sail.

Well the 2nd batch of Dingbats should be landing about now. My alarm on my calendar rang to tell me

We are anxiously awaiting your arrival. The Reef Rats are returning to Sydney this morning. Hate to leave such a paradise but it's time to get out of the humidity....at least for me. So happy we made this side trip even if I turned myself into a bump on a log in the cool of the condo. Beth and Crystal are the real troopers. They did it all.

Betty neat thing about traveling with friends is all go at their own pace - here's to boarding the ship

Have a great time everyone.

Sounds like Ngarie and Ken are doing their usual thing, showing up at the last minute, but since it has always worked then it should again.

Won't be long Joanna until all of you are heading out for KANGAROO. Lots of good seamail to come from all these groups.

Betty, I wouldn't expect less from Beth and Crystal. To me, they are the ultimate travelers after hearing their adventures last year! We are mere neophytes! No matter, we all have a good time! Can't wait to hear more from all of you!

Won't be long Joanna until all of you are heading out for KANGAROO. Lots of good seamail to come from all these groups.


OHHH M Gosh...not till late February that is sooo far off -

We arrived this morning and followed Lee's advice and took the ferry to Manly. We wandered on the beach and then returned back to Sydney. Whatxa pretty city...kind of a Seattle / Boston harbor feel. The architecture is a mix of late 1700 British colonial, mixed with gothic, provincial and italianite, with stunning modern skyscrapers shooting up behind. The Hyatt is set right next to the cruise terminal and inbetwee the Sydney bridge and the Opera House. A stone's throw away are the Shangri La, Four Seasons, Marriott and a lovely Holiday Inn. There are also local, charming looking older hotels surrounding the harbor. The oldest area in Sydney is the area called The Rocks, where the Sydney Bridge is
located. It is the area that was first settled by 1000 British criminals in 1788. Within a 5 minute walk is Circular Quay where all the ferries leave from. The Opera House is about 5 minutes more.

All went smoothly with our flights except Doug and I came down with food poisoning which we trace back to our AA flight. It was a miserable flight for us. However, all of the Aussies, from our stewardess to the customs officials to the hotel staff, have been warm and friendly.

Our room wasn't ready when we arrived but the hotel arranged a room for us and sent in tea and coffee.

Hmm... My iPad wouldn't let me edit....

We wandered the Street markets before heading over to Manly enjoying the wonderful warm weather and blue skies. There are brides everywhere, along with stores selling opals and others selling Uggs. The art museum and Sydney Museum are free, so we'll take those in when the weather becomes inclement on Monday.

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get Doug to walk the bridge. We have a morning walking tour as well. We may also do a harbor tour. There's so much to see and do. Let's see how our stamina holds up.

Safe journeys to all those who haven't yet left and we look forward to seeing everyone soon.

Betty, Crystal and I are back in Sydney after three nights in Palm Cove. Crystal and I went snorkeling with Posiden tours on Thursday and took the Scenic train up to Kuranda and the Skyrail back down yesterday. It was a great day. We all loved it in Palm Cove and didn't want to leave this morning. Now that we are back in Sydney we can't wait to see the city with Lee. Tomorrow we are going to take the Coffee Cruise in the Harbour.

Hope to run into some dingbats around the city the next few days.

You may see us. Doug is tall and I am short. That's on our plans too!

Joanna - how true, what was I thinking????? Too many glasses of wine I guess. I was thinking of FUN2, which is much closer.

So what I meant to say was, "won't be too long Joanna until many of us head out for FUN2, so lots of good seamail to come from all these groups." After FUN we can anticipate the Feb seamail. :o

This trip sounds wonderful. Safe travels to all! Beth, Crystal and Betty, i googled your little piece of paradise. How fantastic. Like Olivia said, Beth and Crystal are two of the best in the adventure travel game! Miss you girls!

Have a great trip everyone. Let us know if you find any good restaurants in Sydney. We went to Rockpool (near the Hyatt) and to Wildfire (in the cruise terminal) last time we were there. Both were excellent but also verrrrry expensive. It would be nice to find some places that are a little more reasonable.

I second Peggy's request - we're partial to Italian and/or seafood places but not break the bank type....anyone finds cute Mom and Pop type spot let us know!!!

Lee warned us about the high prices, but even us NYers are a bit shell shocked. We ate at Pony last night and it was good -- not as expensive as most, but not cheap. Desserts are $15 dollars. Even if you consider tip and tax included, it is expensive. We have been told that fish and chips kiosks are the best deal and are as good as that in restaurants.

Take the ferry to Watson's Bay and eat at Doyle's, a great seafood place on the water. It's reasonably priced. Kingsley's on the Woolloomooloo pier is a great place for dinner. Go before dusk and watch the flying foxes (huge fruit bats) fly away from their tree roosts in the Botanical Garden across the water.
Jim

Pony was very good, but pricy. The Barramundi (spelling?) was very good as a main at $35 AUD. Oysters seem to be $3.50-$3.90 AUD at most places.
At place where you can see water is about $5 AUD more a plate.
As Sedona said, Tax is included and tipping is not required (but accepted). Even so, they beat NYC prices.
Oddly enough, the wine lists are filled with Australian wines! Haven't had a bad one yet. So I must keep looking!

Doug

We've done okay so far with eating at little cafes and the hotel bar. We figure we can dose up on nice restaurants when it comes time for Compass Rose and Prime 7.

As the others have noted, we had to tear ourselves away from Palm Cove and the Reef. Wishing we'd given ourselves more time there.

Thanks Karen for the login info. As you can see, I'm back to being myself.

I agree with Crystal - save the fancy meals for the Navigator.

You'll have to check with your concierge if these are open for dinner and how to find them as I don't eat in the city at night, but a few cheaper suggestions are:

The Bowlers Club in York Street, just around the corner from Market Street - lunch buffet (all you can eat) for about $25.00.

The Tattersal's Club in Pitt Street between Market and Park Streets - two choices of prices here.

Art House Hotel in Pitt Street (near the Marble Bar which is worth a look)- it's next to or part of the Hilton Hotel. Mains at night are about $25. You order and pay at the counter and they deliver your food. Not sure how the wine is priced.

There are lots of pubs at The Rocks which are not too pricey.

My mind has gone blank as I have to shoot through to meet the girls. I'm sure your concierge can help you find somewhere to eat that's not so expensive.

Lee

I'm at the Admirals Club at DFW waiting for the first leg to LA. So far, very smooth. Security was quick and grope free! In less than 24 hours I'll be saying G'day to OZ!

Thanks all for suggestions much appreciated - loving your sea/land mail and more to come, hopefully

Happy flying Lauri, it won't be long now !

CLEO is calling you!

Doug and Andi, if you have time left, I do truly recommend the beach board walk toward Bondi Beach! I did it last time I was there, it winds around the rocks overlooking the water, just one of the best walking things I have done anything on all of my pre-cruises with wonderful photo ops. Tamarama trail or something? I am surprised Lee did not recommend this. It was the best!

Not long now. The ship is showing up on the live AIS. Just off Port MaQuarrie.

First leg complete! Now for the big jump across the big pond !

We ran into John Travolta yesterday morning at the Hyatt, but it was even better running into Mark and Cheron this miring in the same location. Had a wonderful tour of The Rocks this morning and afterwards went to buy tickets for a sightseeing cruise. Who do we run into at the ticket booth? Lee, Betty, Crystal and Beth. It turned out they were on our cruise. Waiting at the pier to board, we saw Fred and Pat. Sydney can't be too big for us Dingbats! Mire later....

Had a great day in Sydney especially meeting new LCTers and fellow dingbats: Andi and Doug and Fred and Pat. We had to go half way around the world to meet people who live on the same continent as we do. Looking forward to meet more of you here and on the ship. Here is a picture of the six of us on the Coffee Cruise with the Opera House in the background.



Had fun surprising Lee with a birthday lunch.

We've now spent two days in lovely Sydney, I'm past my jet lag and whatever creepy crud I had. In keeping with my bathroom fascination started in Cairo (where I flooded the airport bathroom), I became closely acquainted with the lav upstairs in the bus class 247 we took. Sadly, the 380 we were scheduled to take from LAX was still grounded. Once on board, I was a bit disappointed at the menu, which had minestrone soup as an entree. Doug opted for the sea bass which he said was good. Once we took off, food was the last thing on my mind. The flight was uneventful otherwise. Customs and gathering our luggage was quick--a breeze really--(luggage carts are free and readily available), we queued for a taxi (all which seemed to take credit cards) and arrived at the hotel less than an hour after landing.

It was already 87 degrees at 9am. I must say upfront we are delighted with the Park Hyatt. Driving to the hotel, we passed the impressive Four Seasons skyscraper and charming local hotels. Pulling up under the beginning of the Sydney Bridge (also known by locals as the "coat hanger"), we came to a motel looking hotel whose front faced an alley. I dragged myself inside (still feeling ever so awful) and was ushered to a chair at one of the two reservations desks. There are no lines here. I looked around, waiting for Doug, and was quite pleased with the understated modern elegance of the modern lobby. It was a stark contrast to it's exterior. We were informed that our room was not yet ready and there was no chance that our platinum status would land us an upgrade. The hotel was completely sold out. As he uttered those words, Doug nudged me and said "isn't that John Travolta?" It certainly was, all attired in a Qantas pilot's uniform. I remembered reading that he was the honorary spokesperson for Qantas' birthday celebration, since he owned a Qantas jet and had piloted it over. Our view would be of the city and harbor- no opera house view. The reservations manager offered us use of a private "lounge" until our room was ready. We readily accepted as I needed to lie down. We were ushered into a windowless room, which had a couch and a table, a private sink and toilet room and a shower room. The manager found me medicine for my migraine, sent in a hot pack and tea and coffee. We took showers and crashed for a couple of hours. At 11, our room was ready. It was a 45 meter room, with a comfortable layout...just like the picture on the website. The marble bathroom was huge and elegant and there was a large walk in closet. The room was equipped with a flat screen tv, a leather lounge chair with an ottoman, a desk with a very comfortable high back desk chair and another guest chair at the desk. There was very ample storage-- not only the closet, but there were drawers in the bedroom and bathroom as well. the bathroom had nice toiletries, toothbrushes for two, shower cap and a band for a ponytail, a loofah, sewing kit, bath salts and shaving kit. fresh fruit, complementary drinks in the bar, coffee/ tea in the restaurant, bottled water and a coffee / tea machine was part of our welcome. There were three full length mirrors and sliding doors to a very small balcony. This was my only disappointment. I had hoped for a larger balcony with a view of the opera house.

The shower, meds, hot pack had somewhat revived me and Doug and I left to wander about. The location seemed ideal, with the cruise terminal in plain view as were the Sydney Bridge and Opera House. We wandered the area, which reminded me a bit of the Boston Harbor area. There were interesting shops and restaurants and a street market (crafts), a couple of museums and the ferry terminal all with a 5-10 minute walk.

We decided to take the advice of a local friend and grabbed a ferry over to Manly. The ferry ride was delightful and the fresh air really revived me. We arrived at a beach town. We looked for a place that would neither tax the budget nor our weakened guts. There was mainly fried foods, so we opted for a Moroccan restaurant, where we could eat more lightly. We wandered around a bit, astonished by the largest coleus, oleanders and hibiscus plants that I have ever seen. We noticed folks swimming in netted areas, which I assumed were to ward off jellyfish (we later found out that they were shark nets). After a pleasant few hours, we boarded the ferry home. We found out that we missed the open Pacific Ocean and watching the surfers.

Later, we ate at a restaurant called Pony, which served eclectic cuisine. In this restaurant you are seated family style at long tables. We were seated outside next to a charming couple, with whom we had a delightful evening. We learned that they live in the suburbs with two little ones and this was a night in the city, at the Four Seasons, paid for by their private health insurance. It seems, in an effort to get you out of the hospital, you get a voucher for a free night to be used anytime within a year.

We said our goodbyes around 11 and went back to our room to crash. We noticed that our AC wasn't working terribly well before we left, so we cranked it up before dinner. We returned to a room without AC. We called the front desk and they gave us some instructions for fixing it, which didn't work, so they moved us for the night to another room. We packed up some necessary items and the night manager apologized profusely and offered us food...beverage...anything to make up for the inconvenience, so we took his offer of breakfast. Night passed quickly, with the alarm going off before 7.

The next morning, we wandered down to breakfast and the manager recognized us and offered us a new room. This one a deluxe one, albeit no view. The one we used for the Night had an obstructed view resulting in seeing nothing. We said we'd go to breakfast and let him know. Breakfast was very nice, but the bill for the buffet came to $90! We were glad it was comped. Upon leaving the manager offered another room, one with a view. We accepted and packed up our things. Nothing is too much service-wise for this hotel.

We headed out for some new adventures bumping into travel friends in the lobby and meeting more of them at the sightseeing boat ticket office. We took a very interesting walking tour of the Rocks area, where the hotel is located. We learned that the Rocks area was the oldest area in Sydney and had experienced opium dens, ladies of the night, bubonic plague, slums and had been the home to the banished British criminals, the infamous captain Bligh and wild sailors. The most interesting takeaway for me was discovering something about America. It seems that 40000 criminals were previously sent to the United States (this explains my hubby's, Doug, heritage) prior to 1775. The revolution brought an end to the exportation of criminals to the US so Britain decided to send them to "the other side of the world", Australia. With 160000 criminals along with an 8 month journey, Sydney was founded. It was a settlement comprised at first of tents and wooded shacks, giving way eventually to limestone houses about 1816.

Much of the architecture is an attractive hodgepodge of English Georgian, Flemish, art deco, and Italianate dating to the 1800s coupled with stunning skyscrapers. Somehow it works. The streets today are mostly asphalt, but some cobblestone remains. We learned that the most resilient road material was, however, wood, and a very small section remains,

We met our fellow cruisers-Beth,Crystal, Betty and Lee (who is a Sydney native) for an afternoon sightseeing cruise to learn more about the city- its beaches (some nude), it's expensive waterfront homes (2-60 million dollars), and its more seaside life.

We then went downtown on the Free Bus to look for Birkenstocks. We learned this city is well laid out and accessible from almost any point. There is the waterfront harbor, the George Street shopping area, which leads to the downtown. You really can't go wrong wherever you stay. While a great city, the selection of Birkenstocks was weak. I came back without Birkenstocks but with something else.

I got Uggs. Now, I learned something else today. Uggs are everywhere. The name either stands for Ugh or is short for ugly. Uggs originated for sailors and then were picked up by surfers in the 60s. They were not a fashion statement. Lots of companies in Australia popped up making Uggs. They were not a branded item. Blue Mountain Uggs were one of the first Uggs manufacturers. It seems that the American company, Decker, bought the trade name and manufacture Uggs. In 2005, they came into Australia and tried to shut down all the local Uggs makers. While succeeding in some areas, they have not been successful in Australia. learning this, I realized that I'd probably do as well at home on price with the Decker Uggs, which are everywhere. So, I bought real Australian Uggs, which don't differ from the Decker Uggs. Did you know you are supposed to wear them without socks?

Just prior to dinner (7:50) we looked up, outside the Hilton, and there were about 200 bats flying overhead from the botanical gardens next to the Opera House. They flew in groups of 4-10 to hang out above the lights on the Sydney Bridge. They have wing spans of about 3 feet and were fascinating to watch. At 8 pm, Holland America's Amsterdam, pulled out of the port and we headed off for dinner at Cut. This steak out serves fancy cuts of beef...including flights of filet minion. So, that's our first two days and now shall go off to dreamland.

Wonderful seamail Andi! Hyatt sounds lovely and so nice to have use of private "lounge" while waiting for your room. A shower and some down time nice after your long flights. Love the picture Beth - everyone looks so happy and why not??? Sydney is so beautiful -

The Sydney Hyatt has this "room" that allows people who have checked out already to freshen up before flying home. I think it is a brillant idea. I am sure that is what Andi was able to use. Years ago I toured the hotel and saw all the different rooms some on the corners (suites) with the view of the Sydney Opera House were fantastic.

I am packing right now. Ken is at the office optimizing all the girls computers and checking all things technical and backing up all the files and data base so I have it on the ship.

We leave the house to go to the airport at 4.45 pm. My only worry is a fairly short connection in Brisbane with customs and immigration to complete and then a road transfer to the domestic terminal that is 2 kilometers away. Lets just hope there are no delays on the Qantas flight or you may leave us behind.

Safe travels, Ngaire and Ken and have a wonderful cruise! You sound so calm, cool and collected.....I love it!

Kathy

I'll be anxiously awaiting news of your timely arrival - bet it all goes smoothly!

Navigator has just arrived in Sydney..

Here's a few more photos of her arrival in Sydney - bet you DINGOs (or is it Dingbats??) are excited!

Cindy and David, great stalking!!

Thank you stalkers! Neat pixs -

I'm here! The park hyatt is in a spectacular location. I have a nice view for the opera house from my room as well as of the Navigator! My luggage managed to get on a different flight than mine, but it was handled well by qantas and we have been reunited. The only downside is that it is rather overcast and lightly raining so I think I'll head to the aquarium and wildlife world. More later...