A Trip to Australia and New Zealand
Sydney
- Circular Quay
Our ship, M.S. Volendam, landed us at Circular Quay in the morning while the crew started cleaning the ship behind us, then boarded a new set of passengers that same afternoon, welcomed them with a briefing and a lifeboat drill in the middle of the afternoon, fed them a delicious dinner in the early evening, and smoothly departed port while the newcomers were enjoying an after dinner drink - and the entire crew was cheerful while doing it! I've said it a dozen times before, but Holland America really has it's act together.
The Sydney Ferry system is fantastic. The service dates back to the founding of the city at the end of the eighteenth century when the Rose Hill Packet operated out of Sydney Cove. Today, it operates at a phenomenal on-time schedule to virtually any point in the sprawling city that can be reached by water. Apparently the system is criticized for an occasional accident that rarely hurts anyone and the less than modern nature of the fleet by Sydney residents, but us tourists love it. They may not be modern, but these little ferries look like ferries should, the views from the deck are magnificent and we never tired of gawking at the Opera House, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, The Rocks, the Skyscrapers, other boats in the harbor, and all of the various communities on the way to wherever we were going that day. The fresh breeze was nice too.
