Ah, Sydney. Even entering the harbor was fun.

Turns out my ship, the Silver Whisper, and another Silversea ship, the Silver Muse, both were arriving in Sydney at the same time. Our captain said that it has been 20 years since two Silversea ships were both in Sydney at the same time. The Silver Muse entered first, but we passed them near the Opera House and went under the Harbour Bridge first. Unfortunately, the weather was poor this morning.

The Silver Muse is a larger ship, carrying 200 more guests than my ship. As we passed them Norman, our Hotel Manager, waved hello…

A few minutes later the Silver Muse responded. Their red hand is at the front (bow) of the ship, third deck from the top. I think it’s kind of cool that both ships had such props already made.

As we passed them, I had a chance for my Opera House photo shot. I was fighting the fog and drizzle all morning, and constantly wiping drops off of my lens. The pink thing at the bottom right is a pig, as it is Lunar New Year (year of the pig).

Since it was my first time in Sydney, I did the standard “Sights of Sydney” bus tour, and we spent two hours at the Opera House. I loved the detail of the tiles on the sail-like roof. It seemed very Space Shuttle to me.

And I don’t know why, but I was struck by the wooden slat walls.

Outside I got my view of the Harbour Bridge. They wanted $400 for me to hike to its top. I hiked enough when I was in the Army.

Ironically the Ovation of the Sea from Auckland was also here.

From the Opera House we traveled to Lady Macquarie’s Chair, and I took my first cell phone panoramic picture. You can see the OotS between downtown Sydney and the Opera House.

Sydney is a proper city, with over 5 million population.