Sydney, Australia

Australia- It’s always the first place we see fireworks on New Year's Eve, it’s a country place I visited as a kid with my mother who took me to meet the nuns who raised her at Loretto Convent and her school friends who became friends for life. It’s the iconic Opera House we all think of when we think of Sydney and it’s a seriously long flight from the USA!

So getting to Sydney was pretty special. I think it was the furthest point away from home on our trip.

Apparently it was top of Andre’s bucket list. So he got his wish come true.

While the two days we spent there were amazing- I won’t lie- Australian customs and immigration combined with the utter lack of MSC cruise operations organization- between the 2 getting off the ship was no fun.

We had planned to spend the two days in Sydney with our friends The Lees. We picked the Island Shangri-la for the night because it had the best views. I planned a few things for us to do once we arrived- starting with a tour of Sydney seeing the opera house up close, Mrs Macquarie’s Chair. A chair that was carved out of a sandstone rock ledge by convicts in 1810. Specially commissioned by Governor Macquarie for his wife Elizabeth who was known to love the area as it has the best vantage points to view the sights of Sydney Harbour!

Video Credit: Colette Lee

We then took a ride around Sydney with its impressive buildings and so much greenery. We were dropped off at the famous Paddy’s Market where 80% of the retailers were Cantonese speaking. So Erik and Colette got to see me use my Cantonese to bargain on souvenirs and a necessary beach blanket for all our upcoming beach stops!

Starving, we found a dim sum restaurant in the same building and like people who hadn’t eaten in days we scarfed down the most delicious fresh dim sum. More Cantonese was used and It’s So funny how a language I use rarely comes right back. It’s always fun to watch Chinese people hear me speak- they turn whiter than the Gweilo I am!

After lunch Dre wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go to the hotel and Erik wanted to walk and Colette and I wanted to go back down to the market so the boys left and we left. So imagine my surprise when Colette and I, who had left them well over an hour ago, logged onto Wifi and saw messages from Erik saying they were 20 minutes away from the hotel- twice. Then came the video Erik sent us that looked like a hostage demand clip of him and Dre walking (Dre looking like he had been kidnapped and was blinking for help) and Erik saying they’d be back soon! It was a zillion degrees outside so that combined with his not feeling well- Dre looked like shit.

When we all got back to the hotel the bed/AC and shower were much welcomed but even better was the view from our rooms. The Opera House and our ship and the traffic of a very busy Harbour!

We had plans for a private boat cruise for 2 hours but my body was in so much pain I asked the Lees if they’d mind giving me an additional hour rest and just 1 hour on the water- they happily agreed. Erik and I have both slept miserably on the ship's bed- hard as a rock and the hotel's 100 layer mattress pad was like floating on a cloud.

So… rested we made our way to the wharf where our lovely Italian boat and captain mark were waiting. The funniest thing was where we met him was literally just under where our cruise ship was parked. Like if I threw something out the cruise ship balcony it would have likely hit the boat below.

Side note- back in Rarotonga I had stepped on a rough piece of coral that had cut my foot and heel to shreds- and it wasn’t healing well at all. After our first day in Sydney it was really painful so just the walk to the boat tour from the cab was like razors in my foot. We will come back to “Footgate” later!

Mark took us out as the sun was setting and on a Friday night. The Harbor was BUZZING! I’ve never ever seen so many recreational boats in a harbor ever- even compared to Hong Kong. We watched as a P&O cruise ship swept by us (uh they had a slide/Jumbotron/and better Wifi which we could have joined!), sailing boats with red team shirts, boats anchored and having a BBQ, a couple on a rock getting their wedding photos take - we all yelled “congrats” and they definitely heard us. Boats who apparently did not know the “rules” resulting in a few middle fingers from us to them and them to us. As the sun continued to drown into the ocean- We passed a Ferris wheel all lit up! And an amusement park named Coney Island. Erik was like a kid having the absolute time of his life! He was so so so happy to be on a small boat/chatting with the captain and Colette got incredible video footage! I tried to video call my mom and a few others so I could share the view but she was busy in a meeting and no one else picked up but it could also have been the time difference! Mark drove us by homes along the waterfront that ranged from 50-180 million dollars. He also told us he does daily transfers with Ryan Gosling to his movie set from the hotel. He showed us a castle from Scotland that was dismantled and reassembled on the Sydney Harbour. I yelled hello to a few owners of these big homes returning from tennis or playing cards on their decks. I’m sure they LOVED that. For 50 million you’d expect some kind of tourist ogling ban!!!

We got back to shore and grabbed a cab to the Sydney Towers Sky Dining Revolving Room- at this point my foot hurts so bad I don’t know if I want to pee from laughing so hard or crying from how bad it hurt. We agreed that Colette and I would gobble our way to the restaurant on the 82nd floor and Erik and Dre would find a pharmacy and grab me some more gauze and wrap and a steroid pain relief cream for my foot. So off they went and off we went- our ears popping as the lift went higher and higher. When the men got back the bag was larger than I expected only to have Erik excitedly show me a massive roll padding of what looked like a feminine maxi pad but 10 feet long. Cream, bandaids, you name it. So here I sat wrapping my foot which ended up looking like a club foot and wouldn’t fit back into my shoes in a revolving restaurant where food was served buffet style! I personally thought the funniest thing was putting my purse on the ledge only to watch it float away as that ledge revolved! As usual we had a great time- loved the lights and view and had a truly perfect day in Sydney. Knowing how bad my foot was I told all 3 of them I might need to miss the Taronga Zoo which we booked for the next day- a VIP behind the scenes look at the animals. You’ll never know how bummed I was as I’ve told you in the room on the ship there’s a channel dedicated to nothing but animals and there’s a show specifically about the zoo at Taronga! I’ve seen giraffes born, sea lions have teeth pulled, Tasmanian Devils being returned to the wild and flamingos get an ultrasound because its voice box was sounding off pitch! Let’s just say their animals have top of the line in animal technology and are better equipped than most hospitals I’ve seen.

The next day my foot was no better/ I stayed behind while they went to the Zoo. They said they had a great time and the behind the scenes part was well worth it! What made me the most upset was they got to see and feed a Quokka!!!!!

Only found on the island of Rottnest- the Quokka has been all over social media as the smiling selfie animal of Australia! I looked to see if Taronga had one but it said no- had I know.. I’d have dragged myself to that zoo club foot and all. But nope! They got to see one/feed one- and I’m so so jealous. And apparently Dre got a zookeeper to reenact Meryl Streep’s “a dingo’s ate my baby!”

Needing to be checked out by 11am- I wondered what to do when I decided to grab a cab to Kmart which btw is owned by the same people who own Target in Australia and it showed. It was the nicest Kmart I’ve EVER been in! I grabbed two cheap mattress toppers for Erik and I and scrammed/hopped back to the hotel. I mean how can you go from cloud to prison bedding? And for $25 each it was well worth it!

We met back at the hotel and grabbed our bags and headed to James Squire’s for lunch - he was apparently a convict turned Australia’s first brewer!

Before we knew it - it was back on board! Sydney was incredible- taking a moment standing in front of the Opera House and taking it all in was really memorable.

A hell of a long way to get there but worth a visit. The only downside was I had planned to see a very very very old friend in Sydney. His mum and mine were at boarding school together and grew up together in Hong Kong. I was so excited but he had his hands full with house renovations and work etc and was unable to make the trip (he planned on coming to Sydney from Melbourne while i was in the country) - it was so disappointing. Maybe he will make the trip to the USA someday cuz it’s doubtful I’ll be back. Glad I saw it while I can and with Dre who apparently had Australia on top of his bucket list!

My friend Colette has been making these incredible videos of each stop. I’m going to start sharing them in my blogs. Follow them @thewanderlees

Here’s her video of Sydney https://youtu.be/CgLpet5vAQU

PS: Big HUGE shout out to Jason, Daniel and Colin the Concierge team at the Island Shangri-la. As you read in a previous post about this color hair shampoo only available in Australia and New Zealand that I am obsessed with! I tried contacting the manufacturer to see where in Sydney I could buy it/I even tried emailing a few beauty shops and hair salons but with our Wifi as bad as it is- it was not only frustrating but resulted in nothing. The hotel Concierge team located it for me at a salon 5 minutes from the hotel and went and got it for me (8 bottles to be exact) and had it waiting at the hotel for me! Now THAT is customer service!!!!!

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