New South Wales, Australia

2/15/2023 - Eden -- Docked for the day in Eden, a small town on the far southeastern coast. After practically decimating the whale population in this area, Eden is now a protected home for the whales when they return to Twofold Bay in the late spring. This bay is the third deepest natural harbor in the Southern Hemisphere. Of course, they’re all down in the Southern Ocean right now, but we had a great day seeing the area and learning about its history and future plans. After a quick walk into town, we headed out with a like-minded group for an outdoors day. Our guide, Jules, took us first to the other side of the Bay to visit Beowa National Park. Beowa means orca or killer whale in Thaua language, the Aboriginal group from this area. Formerly known as Ben Boyd National Park, we got to see Ben’s tower that he erected for himself so that he could (hopefully) have a lighthouse just for his ships. The local government declined his application. Ben could have allowed it to be used for all ships at sea, but he refused, and so the tower sat empty and was never used for anything. Hmmmm. Then we went back to the other side of Eden (Mike says it must be “East of Eden”) to see where work is being done

to protect a very small colony of Little Penguins in hopes of increasing their numbers. Beautiful views and weather and such nice people.

2/16/2023 – Sydney Day 1 -- Up at 5 am to witness our entry into Sydney Harbour. What a thrill to see Sydney this way. We left early, at 7:30 am, for a 3 ½ hour scenic bus tour around the area. A bonus was crossing the Anzac Bridge. What a great way to see glimpses of the city and many of its neighborhoods. In addition to great views of “the” Harbour Bridge and Opera House from all over the place, we stopped at several bays and overlook points, including Mrs.

Macquaries Point, Woolloomooloo wharf, Double Bay, Rose Bay, and Bondi Beach, where Mike got his toes wet. Unfortunately, we did not see Russell, or Nicole, or Hugh, or any of the rest of our favorite Aussie movie stars. In the afternoon, we set out with our guide and 18 others for a pub crawl in The Rocks. We had a great walk around the area and visited four pubs: Harts Pub, The Australian Heritage Hotel, The Hero of Waterloo, and The Lord Nelson Brewery Hotel. Our favorite snack of the afternoon was the Pepper Kangaroo pizza (native pepper kangaroo, roast peppers, cranberries, paprika mayo). Lots of pale ale and IPA served, which was interesting, but Mike was happiest when stout was available.

2/17/2023 – Sydney Day 2 -- Because the ship was sailing at 6 pm and we didn’t want to miss it (!), we were on the first shuttle bus at 7:30 am to Kings Wharf. Due to construction, there was no ferry service from our ship, docked at White Bay Cruise Terminal, across to Circular Quay. So, we had a shuttle running every 30 minutes from the ship to Kings Wharf. From there, we walked the mile or so over to Circular Quay, where we boarded the ferry for Manly, a suburb of Sydney reached in 20 minutes by ferry or who knows how long by car. Once there, we walked across to Manly Beach and headed along the coast, passing Fairy Bower Beach and Shelly Beach, before heading up the rocks and trail to pick up the Bluefish Track, where we saw a beautiful pond of fresh water. We trudged, I mean walked, on

through The Barracks Precinct and out towards Fairfax Lookout. The actual lookout was closed for renovation, but we got pretty close. Then we headed back down to Collins Flat Beach, where we dipped our toes in the water. Finally! A little more scenic walking brought us to Little Manly Beach and then back through civilization to the Manly Ferry. It was a least a 10-mile day with beautiful weather and nice breezes. Yes, we made it back to the shuttle with plenty of time to spare and, after a shower and nap, were ready to say good-bye from our verandah, this time seeing the “other” side of the Sydney Harbour.