Our arrival in Sydney on the 2nd of February 2019 was different from previous approaches: this time, the weather was not good and the skyline with its 2 world known landmarks - the beautiful Opera House and the Harbour Bridge - didn`t look nice at all but everything looked grey and sad. It started to drizzle, and by the time we sailed underneath the Harbour Bridge, it became heavy rain. At the same time of our sailing into Sydney`s big natural harbor, another Silversea ship arrived as well - it was the ‘Silver Muse’, one of the newest ships of the fleet - and we got a rather close look when overtaking her.
Unfortunately, we were not docking at our favorite spot right downtown (at Circular Quay, where we had docked before and which had been so wonderfully convenient) - another, much bigger cruise ship had taken „our“ spot (it was the ‘Ovation of the Seas’, which we had met in Auckland a couple of days before). The bigger cruise ships cannot make it to the 2nd harbor behind the Bridge - they are too tall to cruise underneath.
When it had stopped raining, we headed out for some strolling thru the city; to get there, we had to take the shuttle, which was another boat ride of approximately 20 minutes, and it took us to Circular Quay, right downtown. Along the quays, Sydney was celebrating the Chinese New Year and had set up the Lunar Festival. Big colorful blown up animals were put up all over, which brightened up everything and were fun to look at. We walked a bit thru the busy streets and found a few nice things to buy, but headed back to the ship in the early afternoon, cause I wanted to relax and freshen up before I was to follow Silversea`s invitation for an evening at the Opera. Got to see and listen to Puccini`s ‘La Boheme’, which I enjoyed very much.
Next morning, the weather was as perfect as can be: blue sky, no clouds and bright sunshine. Went downtown again and everything looked so much more friendly and colorful then! And when we sailed out at 6 p.m. that Sunday, it was the perfect view of Sydney!
