February 27th
We actually slept in this morning, not getting up until 7:30. I guess both of us were tired. 280 people were getting off the ship this morning, so the buffet was crowded so they could get their last meal. They were off the ship by 9:30 and then we were allowed to go ashore.
We decided to spend the day near the ship in a area called the Rock’s. Since the craft market was closed today we checked out the area and found some very interesting stores. One was filled with antiques that were nicely priced for purchase but then again the cost to get them home would prohibitive. At noon I decided to go to lunch and headed to Hart’s Pub, part of the Rocks Brewing Company. It boasted that it carried 12 rotating micro brews, so I ordered a pint from the Rock’s Brewery called Hangman Ale and Betty got a coke. Bill was $16.00!! Then we ordered lunch, Betty had a crocodile wrap and I ordered a BLT. Betty enjoyed the croc (tasted like chewy chicken) and the BLT was basically a ham sandwich as they do not not know what bacon is. Total bill for both was $34.00. Like I said previously it is very expensive here. The beer there was excellent but not at $11.00 a pint. It was also very strong in alcohol, I was very dizzy when I left the pub. We then walked back to the harbor area and spent the afternoon people watching.
We returned to the ship and went to the buffet and had a light dinner, then went to our cabin and sat on the balcony doing more people watching. At 7:15 we had a General Emergency Stations drill, the ship wanted us to attend but it wasn’t required so we opted not to go. With all of the issues Costa and Carnival are having we probably should have! At 7:45 we backed out of berth and headed back out the way we came in, the Opera House now on our side of the ship. I got some nice pictures of it, the Sydney Bridge, Amusement Park and the city at night. We sailed back out into the Tasman Sea and began our passage north along the coast to Cairns, Australia. (Pronounced ‘Canes’, why can’t they just spell it correctly!) What a great time we had, always need more time here. It was sad because this will probably be the last time we will be in Sydney, but we’ve said that before.
We have three days at sea, but we need the rest plus we will sailing right thru the Great Barrier Reef. Ga’ Day, No Worries! (Australian speak!)
