Cruise to New Zealand and Australia

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Friday, 14 February 2025 - Arrived in Sydney after a sunrise at sea, steamed into Sydney Harbor past Fort Denison and The Gap, photographed the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, toured the Botanical Gardens observing Australian White Ibis and giant Fig Trees, then continued to Bondi Beach and Mackenzie's Point despite a brief rain shower, enjoying panoramic views of the harbor and coastline.

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Sunrise steaming toward Sydney.
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A military ship follows us into the harbor.
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A lighthouse on the south side of "The Gap." The Gap is the harbor entrance, very descriptive name.
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The observation deck is very crowded as we enter Sydney harbor. Sydney downtown, the Opera House, and Harbor Bridge. We head toward the Harbor Bridge.
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Fort Denison. This fortress features a distinctive Martello tower, the only one ever built in Australia and the last one constructed in the British Empire. A Martello tower is a small defensive fort.

In the beginning, the colony of Sydney, designated this small island as a prison.
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Harbor Bridge is the tenth-largest arch bridge in the world and is the tallest arch bridge, measuring 440 feet high.

This bridge is photographed many times on our trip.
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Another much photographed icon, the Sydney Opera House.

The construction began in 1958 and was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973.
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Two flags at the top of the Harbor Bridge, the New Zealand flag and the Australian Aboriginal flag.
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A ferry crosses in front of the Sydney Opera.
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The arch is composed of two 28-panel arch trusses; their heights vary from 59 ft at the center of the arch, to 187 ft at the ends next to the pylons.

The arch has a span of 1,654 ft, and at its summit is 440 ft above sea level; expansion of the steel structure on hot days can increase the height of the arch by 7.1 inches.
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The rising sun behind the Sydney Opera House.
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One last shot of the Sydney Opera House from under the Harbor Bridge.
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Goat Island, used for various purposes, including a gunpowder magazine and shipyard.
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Mrs. Macquarie's Chair is an exposed sandstone rock cut by convicts in 1816 into the shape of a chair.

As the wife of Major-General Lachlan Macquarie, Governor of New South Wales, folklore has it that she sat on this rock to watch the ships from Great Britain sail into the harbor. She was known to visit the area to enjoy the panoramic views of the harbor.
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The Naval docks are just to the west of the downtown area.
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The Opera House from the shady path of the Botanical Gardens.
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Beautiful lawns and flower beds throughout the Botanical Gardens.
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Flowers cluster around a statue.
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Australian White Ibis were everywhere searching for bugs.
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This statue looks a bit embarrassed along our path.
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There are several giant Fig Trees with their unusual multiple trunks.
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The Sydney Opera house up close.
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It is possible to climb the Harbor Bridge. The guide explains there is a wide path and it is not dangerous.

Shortly after this picture, it begins to rain.
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We travel to Gap Park. The "gap" is the space between the north and south cliffs of the entrance to the harbor.
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The branches of a Norfolk Island pine have unusual shapes.
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The cone of a Coast Banksia tree. In between the brown walls are one to two seeds. A widespread tree on the east coast of Australia, we often see them on our hikes.
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The view of Sydney from the beginning of Sydney Harbor. It is a rainy foggy day and clouds hang over the city.
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The high cliffs forming the southern wall of The Gap.
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The Bondi Icebergs Pool perched on the edge of the ocean. Established in 1929, the pool and has strict membership requirements to ensure its members swim regularly.
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Bondi Beach is popular with surfers, swimmers, and sunbathers alike.
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Mackenzie's Point is on the coastline south of Bondi Beach.
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