Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand 2019 - November 27th Header

Gene & Lee's Tour and Cruise

November 27th to December 24th, 2019

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

Nov 27   Los Angeles to Sydney

Nov 28   Sydney

Nov 29   Sydney

Nov 30   Sydney

Dec 1   Sydney to Brisbane

Dec 2   Brisbane

Dec 3   Brisbane to Cairns

Dec 4   Cairns

Dec 5   Cairns

Dec 6   Cains to Sydney

Dec 7   Sydney Embark

Dec 8   At Sea

Dec 9   Melbourne

Dec 10   At Sea

Dec 11   Hobart

Dec 12   At Sea

Dec 13   At Sea

Dec 14   Milford Sound

Dec 15   Dunedin

Dec 16   Christchurch

Dec 17   Picton

Dec 18   Wellington

Dec 19   Napier

Dec 20   Tauranga / Rotorua

Dec 21   Auckland Disembark

Dec 22   Auckland

Dec 23   Auckland

Dec 24   Auckland to Los Angeles

This morning our plan was to take a leisurely walk along the harbor. Early lunch first though. Harry's Cafe de Wheels is an iconic pie cart located in Woolloomooloo near the Finger Wharf. They are best known for their dish "Tiger Pie", an Australian meat pie topped with mashed potato, mushy peas and gravy; named after the pie cart's founder Harry "Tiger" Edwards. Harry’s Café de Wheels has served customers for over 80 years, with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Sir Elton John and Prince Harry having been some of the many to enjoy a ‘Tiger’ pie.


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Our first stop after our early lunch was the Finger Wharf which is a heritage-listed former wharf and passenger terminal. The wharf has been redeveloped as a fashionable complex housing a hotel, restaurants and residential apartments. Notable residents in the apartments include actor Russell Crowe. It is also known as Woolloomooloo Wharf. The structure is the longest timbered-piled wharf in the world. During its working life, it mainly handled the export of wool, but also acted as a staging point for troop deployment to the World Wars as well as a disembarking point for new migrants arriving in Australia.


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Our next stop on our walk along the harbor was the Fleet Steps, which offers a magnificent view of the Sydney Harbor Bridge, Farm Cove and the Sydney Opera House. These steep and long stairs at Mrs. Macquarie's Chair were built to celebrate the arrival of the Great White Fleet (American peace time fleet) in 1908.

    
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Carrying on to Mrs. Macquarie's Point, we arrived at Mrs. Macquarie's Chair itself which is an exposed sandstone rock cut into the shape of a bench. It was hand carved by convicts in 1810, for Elizabeth Macquarie, the wife of the Governor of New South Wales.

    
    
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At 3:00 pm, we had arranged to take part in a one-hour Sydney Opera House walking tour which included dinner before tonight’s performance. This was a go-behind the scenes at the Sydney Opera House and providing access to off-limits parts of the house. After the tour was done, and before the show, we sat down for a nice dinner in the Opera Bar.

    
    
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Tonight at 7:30 pm was going to be the highlight of our visit to Sydney. We had tickets to see the opening performance of Sir Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker opera performed by the Australian Ballet, accompanied by the Opera Australia Orchestra. It was a magical evening.

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