Sydney / Fri & Sat Feb 8 & 9

After leaving Auckland we had two days at sea. We've met a lot of people on the ship and have become friendly with several couples. It's been fun to join them for dinner and some of the tours. Last night we were invited to celebrate the birthday of a new friend. He definitely enjoyed the evening!

We sailed into Sydney Harbour at 2pm on Friday Feb 8. Weather was beautiful and so is the harbor.

We've been to Sydney several times before and done a lot of the sight seeing people normally do including a tour of the opera house, a cruise in the harbor, trips to Manly and Bondi beaches, walks around the Rocks and the botanical gardens and more.

The ship is staying in port overnight so we have almost two full days here. It turns out that we've arrived in time for a couple of large festivals - the Chinese New Year and Sydney's Lunar Festival.

Friday evening we had hoped to walk around the Circular Quay area and the Rocks but there was a huge rain storm that lasted several hours. The thunder and lightening was amazing. It was like watching a fireworks show. Needless to say, we decided to remain on the ship. We had a great view of all the sailboats returning to the harbor during the storm.

The Sydney Lunar Festival runs from Feb 1 - 10th. It's a vibrant arts festival with over 80 cultural events, markets, tours, exhibitions and entertainment. Saturday the weather in Sydney was beautiful. We walked around the Circular Quay and the Rocks enjoying the Lunar Festival displays and vendors.

Last time we were in Sydney we did the Coastal Walk from Bondi to Coogee. Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to take the walk again. It's great exercise along a very scenic route. We took a bus to Bondi Beach then started the 5+ mile walk.

Here are a few other photos from the day -

Today is Sunday and it's a sea day. The water is choppy and the Captain said that between the wind gusts and the ship's speed it's close to minimal hurricane levels.

Tomorrow we dock in Hobart which is the capitol of the Australian state of Tasmania.

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Hobart / Mon & Tue Feb 12 & 13

We're docked in Hobart for a day and a half. Hobart is the capitol and largest city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. It's also the second oldest capitol in Australia. Yesterday we went on a private tour with Karin and Joe - a couple from Georgia that we've gotten to know. We took a hike in beautiful Mt. Field National Park, went to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and saw a number of other scenic and historical sites. To get to Mount Field National Park we drove along the Derwent River. The National Park was quite scenic. We took a long walk and saw some beautiful waterfalls, huge trees and the random wallaby (small kangaroo). Russell Falls After Mount Field we had lunch at a cute local restaurant located on the river. Our waitress had an interesting story to tell us about a Zombie Run she'd taken recently in Auckland. Crazy! After lunch we spent a bit of time looking for a platypus. Our tour guide found one in the river n...

Busselton / Tue Feb 19

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels. We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character. After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!

Travel Clinic

It's Thanksgiving week and we've traveled from sunny, warm Florida to cold and snowy New England to spend the holiday with family. On Monday we flew to Connecticut & then drove to our condo in Vermont where we arrived after dark. It snowed all day Tuesday - very pretty but very cold. On Tuesday we had an appointment at the Travel Clinic at Dartmouth Medical Center. The purpose of the visit was to find out what shots and medications we'd need for our upcoming trip. We anticipated a relatively short visit but two hours later we left with our heads spinning from everything they told us about how to stay safe and not get sick. We were give a large folder full of information with promises of even more that would be mailed to us in the near future. We also expected to get some shots during the visit. Larry had 2 and I ended up with 4! You can see them all lined up in the photo below. They included Hepatitis A, Typhoid and Tdap ( a combination vaccine that protects ag...

Opals and Romeos

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