Arrival in Sydney Australia, Dec. 11th 2014

We left Papeete and flew into Auckland and stayed overnight to make a morning connection to Sydney.  We lost a day, with the dateline, and arrived bright and early in Sydney. We were so looking forward to meeting up, and spending time with our cruising buddies Rich and Jan from our sister ship Slip Away.  We first met up with them in San Benitos, Mexico in late 2004...our first port in that country.  We've been travelling together, crossing paths, and keeping in touch ever since!

 The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Ralph considered climbing over but it cost $250 and then something like $40 for the first photo, and $10 for any others.  And, get this, you can't even take your own camera with you.  So, we gave it a pass.  We didn't walk across either as it was terribly hot!

 So great to meet up with Jan and Rich!

No title needed.  We had a great tour here with a great guide. 

 Before the tour we had a walk along the harbour boardwalk and a bite to eat.

It's an impressive building!

 There's an unbelievable amount of wood inside. Our guide said the different types of wood were all used strategically for their ability to absorb or enhance the sound within the concert halls.

 This is the tallest structure in Sydney, and will continue to be so as nothing can be built with more height than this.  This tower has a revolving restaurant and the centre of the structure is full of water to help with stability and wind resistance.

 This statue of a boar is a copy of one in Europe...you rub his nose of good luck!

 This alley was full of empty bird cages...it's an art display.

This is a shot for Sarah and Jeff...they have a light fixture just like this over their dining table!!

 We went off on the ferry for a day to Manly beach.  This is the view leaving Sydney Harbour.

 This is what the ferries look like.

Manly Beach...pretty rough with lots of surfers!

It was a pretty busy day there...but it is School holidays.

 We had a trip to the Botanical garden and a very long winded tour.  We were an hour in and only 12 feet from the start...I got a bit worried then!!  It was a very hot day!

We did see some beautiful flowers and plants, though!

 One of the most beautiful hydrangea colours I have ever seen!

 After the tour, we were fortunate to find that we were just in the right place at the right time.  They were having some extreme sailing race heats.

 We've never seen anything like this before!

This is not quite the way we sail!

I don't like being close to other boats, so this wouldn't suit me at all!!  We couldn't believe how close they come to each other not how fast they go.