SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 19TH

Our first port in Australia was Sydney, arriving later than when we were here in 2016, around 9:30 a.m.  Although the region has been populated as early as 30,000 years ago, Sydney was officially established in 1778 as a British colony for convicts.  Sydney is located on Australia’s southeast coast on the Pacific Ocean in a coastal basin with the Hawkesbury River to the North and the Blue Mountains to the West.  It is the state capital of New South Wales and is one of the largest ports in the South Pacific.  Population is approximately 2.8 million people.  English is the main language and currency is the Australian Dollar (AUD).  I received 125 AUD for $100.00 US.  

There is a tradition onboard the Pacific Princess (and perhaps other ships as well) to have the Princess Choir sing on deck as we enter Sydney Harbour with the magnificent Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge as a backdrop.  They’re called the “Bathroom Brigade” and I remember in 2016, the singing began way before 9:30; I remember this because a friend we met at that time, Doris, was part of the Choir and I was up on deck to support her.  Michael, on the other hand, remained comfortably in our bed.  This time, because of the lateness of the hour, he was on deck to enjoy our entry into the Harbour.  

We started our day very differently than our usual days in port.  Right before I left home, I experienced a problem with my tooth and saw my dentist before we left and was given a clean bill of health.  It wasn’t much of a problem at the time, just a bruised ligament resulting from, no doubt, biting down on a too-hard pumpkin seed and was told it might take a few days to heal.  All was well when we left.  Unfortunately, it didn’t get better and by the time we were in New Zealand my discomfort became so regular that I finally decided to ask about seeing a dentist.  I came to learn this is not an unusual occurrence on cruise ships.  I was one of three people who saw the dentist in Sydney.  The ship contacts the port agent who, in turn, makes an appointment with a local dentist and then we’re given the appointment.  In the meantime, I was taking a combination of Tylenol (called Panadol in this part of the world) and Ibuprofen (a combo, supposedly, as effective as oxycodone but not addictive.  I’m not quite convinced.) 

Before we were able to disembark, however, we had to go through immigration and customs.  Keep in mind that we had already purchased visas online before we left which were somehow linked to our passports.  We were required to fill out “Incoming Passenger Cards” swearing that we weren’t bringing in firearms, pornography, steroids, illicit drugs, etc. and that we weren’t criminals.  We were given a designated meeting time which changed because of my 11:30 a.m. dental appointment, disembarked the ship, met with the immigration person who confirmed the visa on our passport, went through customs (without the necessity of presenting our “Incoming Passenger Cards”) and we were on our way to the taxi stand. 

(It always amazes me that we, as part of a 650-passenger cruise ship filled with old people, already in possession of a visa which we paid for, with every intention of getting back on the ship because we’ve paid for our voyage, and the fact that we’re in port for less than 12 hours, still have to have a face-to-face meeting with immigration officials.  I’m not saying I have any objection to such an interview.  I think countries have the right to know who’s coming in;  I just don’t know why people object to our country  knowing who is entering our country and that illegal immigration seems to be a “right” afforded to millions of people.  We’ve had to purchase visas for three different countries and the ship will arrange for our visas in several others and we will still have to meet with other immigration officials along the way.  I’m curious if we’ll meet with officials in the other two Australian ports, Cairns and Darwin.) 

At the taxi stand, we were informed to head towards the front of the line because another couple was also on the way to the same dentist.  When we reached them, they were discussing the ride with the taxi driver who didn’t seem all that keen about taking them or us to the dentist’s office in the middle of the city on Pitt Street.  (Apparently, drivers want to take nice long rides to the airport.)  Anyway, after a minute or so, the 4 of us piled into the car with the expectation that it would cost between 30 and 40 AUD.  When we arrived at the location, our fare was 24.50 and we and the other couple each paid 15 AUD and not unhappy.  (When we arrived at the dentist office, another passenger said he believed he was “taken for a ride” because of all the construction going on in the city and when we asked how much he paid, he said 15 AUD!  Seems like we were the ones taken for a ride.)

I and our taxi mate, Lou, were both scheduled at 11:30 but he had a cracked tooth and I had just a “weird” thing happening.  The dentist, Dr. Robert N. Grinbergs, decided to see me first.  Nice enough doctor, listened to the timeline of my discomfort (which I had written out the night before at Michael’s insistence to keep things succinct for the dentist – by now, you know I’m a woman of many words), and he proceeded to check things out.  Well, first of all, I can’t remember in which decade I last saw a spit bowl at a dental office.  It was all very sanitary but I just haven’t seen one in many years because my dentists have all had the little vacuum thingie that sucks up saliva, etc.  Unfortunately, gentle, Dr. Grinbergs was not.  But he also wasn’t going to take the most aggressive action to relieve whatever my problem was.  He found an easy, simple, solution to fix the dental “erosion” across my tooth bordering on my gum by filling it with a polymer and setting it with a low wave ultra-violet lamp.  My dentist at home has done this but has given me an anesthetic and is always extremely gentle.   It’s been about 48 hours and the jury is still out whether or not the problem has been resolved.  The dentist had to poke and prod and found the extremely sensitive area and I think I’m still experiencing the effects of the assault in my mouth.  I hope all will subside in another day or so.  If not, I’ll continue with the medicinal combo.  In the end, it cost 285 AUD or approximately $201.00.   (By the way, Lou, on the other hand, was extremely happy with the result he received as was the other gentleman who I’ve yet to see on the ship.) 

Leaving the office just after noon, we stopped for lunch at the food court in the building.  I had a falafel sandwich on pita bread and Michael had a chicken gyro costing a total of 17 AUD.  Adding a water and chips would’ve added 5 AUD and we already had water with us.  Everything is very expensive here.  One of the crew was given 5 AUD by a passenger and she couldn’t even get an ice cream on her one-hour break because one scoop cost 6 AUD. 

We walked a couple of blocks to Hyde Park, a lovely area in the middle of the city, where men were playing chess with huge chess pieces on the ground, people were having lunch on the grass and in the bistro in the park, a peace demonstration was about to begin by a group of, what looked like, Asian students carrying flags with “peace” and “love” on them, a fountain, and a spectacular view of St. Mary’s Cathedral.  Rather than risk crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, we walked to the corner and there was an underground express walkway that got us to the opposite side of the street to visit the Cathedral and light a candle.  A Mass was going on so we had to enter by the back entrance so as not to disturb the participants.  I loved the sign in the walkway that directed pedestrians to an area in the city called “Woolloomooloo.”  What a great word. 

The streets of Sydney are bustling at this time of day, lots of workers out during lunchtime, lots dressed in black (a most popular color for clothing here and in Auckland it seems), the Sydney Sky Tower looming above us and lots of traffic.  We walked through the Strand Arcade (this is the word I was trying to think of when I was writing about Auckland) and bought some exquisite note cards from Bespoke Letterpress, designers and printers of fine stationery in Bowral, Australia.   Michael was able to get a picture of a most unusual looking BMW that was driving away which looked like it was, I’m not kidding, gold plated.  I’ve never seen a color like it.  

Again, the streets were lined with upscale stores and we didn’t see many souvenir shops until we got back to Circular Quay where our ship was docked.  There we sat and enjoyed the view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which spans from the central business district to the North Shore, is the world’s widest long-span bridge and tallest steel-arch bridge, and nicknamed the “coat hanger.”  Richard, a fellow passenger, did the bridge walk to the top and I have to remember to ask him how exciting it was.  

After dinner onboard, we took some beautiful pictures of the iconic Sydney Opera House which we had a pleasure of visiting back in 1999 and saw our favorite opera, Turandot.  Although not as impressive during the day, it is truly magnificent in the evening.  We’re on the starboard side of the ship and decided to return to our cabin for the “sailaway” and enjoy the magnificent view of the Opera House.   The end of an unusual day, one that will not be easily forgotten. 

MICHAEL’S OBSERVATIONS:  The first thing I noted was the proliferation of cellphones.  They are everywhere and as someone will note, the young people seem to have an incredible ability to look at their cellphone screens, text and walk without ever looking up or crashing into other fellow pedestrians.  It’s amazing how cellphones have changed our world.  As noted by Leona, Sydney is a very expensive city to live in and it appears that the population uniform is black and white.  It reminds me of New York because the sidewalks in the midtown area were also very heavily traveled.  On our walk back to the ship, you could see a transition from the expensive stores and sophisticated young people dressed in their black suits and white shirts to the area closer to the ship which featured the tourists and cruisers in their shorts and t-shirts.  We did have an opportunity to stay in Sydney 20 years ago at the then very new hotel near The Rocks.  Things have dramatically changed in those years.  As most big cities, Sydney experiencing massive congestion; it is transitioning to light rail which accounts for the long taxi ride we experienced in order to avoid all the construction.  It was a pleasant experience when we were in midtown as the weather was very cool.  Funny.  As we approached our cruise ship, the temperature seemed to increase.  I have no idea why.  It was very nice to return to our air conditioned room after enjoying an iced espresso drink onboard.