Yesterday was the last day of our first cruise, so a lot of people headed for the airports and other destinations this morning. New passengers who will be visiting southern Australia and New Zealand with us on our next cruise are coming aboard. It’s been a busy day for the ship’s staff.

Ted and I, on the other hand, had no plans, so we took the cruise-provided ferry shuttle from our port to the Circular Quay, where the Harbour Bridge and the Sydney Opera House are located.

When we got off the ferry, it was immediately obvious that the Circular Quay (pronounced “key” in Australia) is a happenin’ place.

The Circular Quay is exactly that–a circular shaped body of water with an open end. At the end of one arm is the Harbour Bridge, spanning the passage between the Circular Quay and other parts of the harbor; at the end of the other arm is the Sydney Opera House. There’s a great view of the Opera House from the bridge side of the Quay. . .

. . . and a great view of the Harbour Bridge from the Opera House side of the Quay. For $174 AUD, you can do a “bridge climb” and walk across the upper framework of the bridge span. If you zoom my bridge picture below, you’ll see bumps at the top of the span. Those are braver people than I.

We wanted to spend our time at the Opera House and were obviously not the only people interested in doing so.

Here’s my trusty scale figure, Ted, standing beside one of the Opera House “sails” so I can take his picture to show the tiles that cover the Opera House roofs.

And here’s a distance shot of Ted in the same place, to give you an idea of the scale of those sails. Look for Ted’s dark shirt at the bottom of the intersecting roofline.

Sydney is a world-renowned New Year’s Eve destination. Workmen were setting up scaffolding for stages, and other things for the big show coming up in a few days. It looked like the performances will be done at the foot of the Opera House stairs and people will sit on the (hard) concrete stairs as an amphitheater to see the show. Fireworks are launched from the Harbour Bridge.

As we were walking down the stairs from the Opera House, I spotted this flower bed (center, yellow) in the Royal Botanic Gardens. I’m not sure why the gardener decided to send this message.

When we felt like we’d seen all we needed to see of the Opera House and the bridge, Ted and I walked around the downtown area and visited some of the shops. Sydney looks like a very nice city and we’re glad we’ll be returning to it on January 12. Our Newcastle friends will pick us up at the airport and we’ll all spend the night and the following day in Sydney before we go to their home in Newcastle.

Before going to our stateroom tonight, Ted and I took a walk around the deck to see Sydney at night. It’s beautiful.