Over the years I have read and heard that there’s nothing quite like sailing into Sydney Harbour (that’s how they spell it). Indeed, our cruise director, who has done it once before, called it a life changing experience. That’s a lot of hype, and while everyone knows how scenic the Opera House and Harbour Bridge are, some of us were speculating that maybe we’d been oversold a bit. I mean, iconic landmarks or not, it’s still just a harbor (harbour?), right?
Wrong. Words cannot possibly convey what it’s like to approach, enter and wind your way through one of the world’s great harbors. It’s more than just seeing, because there’s an accompanying feeling that you’re doing something really big, something that reaches you on an emotional level. Part of it was the sense of shared excitement among the passengers, as hundreds of us were crowded onto every forward facing deck area, much as we were entering Paradise Bay in Antarctica. The other thing is that the harbor unfurls in slow motion. It takes some time to reach the harbor terminus, where the bridge and Opera House are, and it just keeps getting better as you snake your way in, with the anticipation and excitement continuing to build. My photos are good, but they’re only photos, and they can’t impart the emotional element, just what I saw. All I can say is that if you ever get the chance to sail into Sydney Harbour, do it.
With that as preface, I’ll share what we saw. The first thing was the Sydney skyline, gradually exposing itself in the distance, Oz like, through the morning haze. Sydney is a city of more than five million people, and it has a big skyline, which served to generate a lot of excitement, as everyone knew we were nearing the harbor. As we got closer to the coast, we saw that we were approaching cliffs, and big ones at that. I had no idea that the entrance to the harbor was a gap in the cliffs, and sailing through it made for quite a dramatic opening act.
Getting through the cliffs, though, was only the beginning. While the city skyline continued to grow closer, we were blocked from seeing all the way in by Bradley’s Head, a large green land mass jutting out from the right. Ships entering the harbor thus have to turn left after passing between the cliffs, and sail around the point of Bradley’s Head before turning right and sailing on in to the city.
Rounding the point was both agonizing and thrilling, as little by little the city’s downtown opened up, and we all craned our heads to get our first look at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Finally they came into view, the Opera House first and then the Bridge, and I was transfixed, silently saying, “pinch me, am I really here?”
From that point we came straight on in to our tender spot, near both iconic structures, where we anchored temporarily until a Virgin cruise ship vacated our dock almost exactly halfway between the Opera House and the Bridge. What a location! Adding to the scene, the inner harbor was quite busy, with ferry boats and tour boats crisscrossing and taking passengers to and fro, and I could have stayed out on deck taking it all in for hours. However, we needed to get ready to hop on a tender and go ashore to take a morning excursion, so I reluctantly went back inside and returned to our cabin to grab my gear.
Tendering in was fabulous, because it was basically the equivalent of a harbor tour. Michele and I were able to get seats on the top deck of the tender, outside, so we had an unencumbered view as we transferred from our ship to the shore. We went directly past the Opera House, under the Harbour Bridge, and across from Luna Park, an old fashioned harbor side amusement park, before docking at Ives Steps, almost directly under the Bridge. Wow.
In my next post I’ll describe what we did in Sydney, because we had a long and very full day in what may be our favorite port of the cruise so far. I can’t wait to tell you about it, so stay tuned.
Approaching the cliffs that are the entrance to one of the world’s great harbors.
The cliffs were really quite impressive. I had no idea that the entrance to the harbor was this dramatic.
There’s the skyline, but we still have to navigate around Bradley’s Head to reach the city.
Rounding Bradley’s Head, we got our first glimpse of the Opera House. You can just see it around the tip of Bradley’s Head.
The Opera House and Harbour Bridge now in full view.
Lots of tour boats and ferries wer constantly plying their way around the harbor.
Boarding the tender boat for the ride into the city.
Heading in on the tender. Very happy that we were able to get a seat up top.
One of the many ferry boats.
Of course we needed a photo with the Opera House and Bridge in the background.
One of my favorite photos. I took this from the tender as we passed the Opera House.
Luna Park. I didn’t know there was an amusement park right on the waterfront.
We just went under the Harbour Bridge on the tender and are preparing to dock.
Climbing down from the tender at Ives Steps, right next to the Bridge, and the Opera House just a short walk away. Can’t wait to tell you about our day ashore. It was amazing.
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