Sydney

Sydney, Australia – March 5, 2014

Ahhhh….Sydney!!! Queen Victoria nestled into her berth in the heart of downtown Sydney….right between the iconic Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

The magazine Conde Nast Traveler named Sydney as the world’s favorite tourist destination ahead of Paris, Florence and San Francisco. Oh, to have more than a day here!

It was a glorious day for a ferry ride to Watsons Bay and lunch at Doyle’s on the beach. We had no idea what kind of surprise we were in store for!! As we waited for our food, who came strolling into the restaurant but our friends Don and Marilyn! Yes!! The same Don and Marilyn who had been on Pitcairn Island since right after Christmas! And it gets even better….because they are traveling back across the Pacific with us on Queen Victoria!!!! So our “tribe” is now eight members strong! We all traveled together on Queen Victoria’s Maiden World Cruise in 2008 and it is so fantastic to be sharing fabulous memories at the same time that we are making new ones.

The Rocks is one of the liveliest and most colorful precincts of Sydney. It is the area where the city was originally settled by the convict colony that fashioned Sydney’s sandstone rock into buildings along the shore. While this historic area has been beautifully restored with charming boutiques and restaurants, history recounts it as “a most unsavoury part of town, a haunt for seafarers, prostitutes and street gangs.” Sounds like the perfect place for our band of eight to enjoy one last toast to Sydney before our sailaway at 9:00.