Seabourn Sojourn 2014 World Cruise Los Angeles to Venice January 4 to May 1, 2014
Segment 2 Sydney to Hong Kong (Page 1)
February 8, 2014 We entered Sydney Harbor early Saturday morning. 169 passengers disembarked and 168 new passengers boarded for the Hong Kong segment of the World Cruise. The day was sunny and pleasant. We walked around the harbor before lunch and then I went out again in the afternoon for some photography. We were in Sydney in 2000, just before the Olympics and were impressed with the city at that time. We enjoyed walking around the Harbor.
February 9th Of all of the ports we have been in during our various cruises, Sydney is without doubt the most beautiful as far as we are concerned. We enjoyed our second day as much as the first.
February 10th Eden is about 200 miles south of Sydney and is primarily a fishing and agricultural area. We enjoyed a trip to the Potoroo Palace Wildlife Refuge, about an hours drive from Eden though a beautiful countryside dotted with small farms.
February 12th We have many pleasant memories from our previous visit to Tasmania, especially the time we spent at the Cradle Mountain Lodge. On this visit we were docked in Burnie which is a busy industrial port, and not particularly picturesque. We participated in a tour that included a drive through the countryside and visit to Wild's Wildlife Refuge which had a wonderful collection of Australian animals and birds. On the return to the ship we drove through the town of Burnie which appeared to have a nice high end shopping district and several museums, one of which was exhibiting a collection of Leonardo da Vinci's machines.
February 13th Melbourne is located at the northernmost shore of Port Phillip Bay. Because of brush fires in the countryside north of Melbourne the city was encompassed in a cloud of smoke and the air quality was pretty bad. Melbourne was recently named the 2nd most livable city (after Vancouver, Canada) in the world. We did not find it nearly as scenic and enjoyable as Sydney. We took a tour of the city which included a cruise on the Yarra River in the morning. We were treated to a special program about the wildlife of Australia and Aboriginal Cultural Performance.
February 14th Geelong is located in Port Phillip Harbor to the southwest of Melbourne. The port is industrial, but it does have a very nice shopping district. We took a harbour cruise which was not particularly scenic. The air quality was poor due to the fires in the north.
February 16th We had a wonderful tour on Kangaroo Island to some spectacular lookouts and to Seal Bay. We would definitely plan to stay on the Island if we return to Australia for a land based visit. It is easily accessible by ferry from Adelaide.
Feb 17-18th Adelaide is a beautiful city and we were pleased we had a two day stopover. We enjoyed a tour to the town of Hahndorf where we had several hours to spend walking around this German Heritage site
Feb 19 - 21st Sea Days. Once again we were fortunate to experience calm seas as this area can get very rough.
Feb 22nd We can now say we have been to Bunbury which is located in the southern part of Western Australia. We are amazed at the wonderful volunteers that have greeted us in the ports we have visited and Bunbury was no exception. We enjoyed a boat tour of the bay which is inhabited by a large population of Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins.
Feb 23-24 Fremantle is the port that services Perth which is the largest city in Western Australia. Fremantle itself is well preserved with many buildings considered World Heritage Sites. On our first day we took a tour to Perth which included a stop at one of the beautiful beaches that line the ocean between Fremantle and Perth. On our second day we took the shuttle bus to the center of Fremantle and enjoyed walking through shops.
Feb 25th Geraldton is a small city with a population of about 35,000. We took a shuttle bus to the center of the city and enjoyed looking through the boutique clothing stores. I bought a nice shirt and Eleanor purchased two dresses designed by Australians. At this time of the year this part of Australia is hot and dry. Temperatures regularly reach 100 degrees, but there was a nice breeze during our visit which had a noticeable cooling affect.
Feb 27th Exmouth is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, approximately 800 miles north of Perth. It was at one time a base for the US Navy, but is now a popular spot for fishing and water sports. Humpback whales and whale sharks are common. It appeared to be undergoing a major growth in Holiday Homes. Exmouth has a population of about 2200 which swells to 6000 during the Australian winter. It was over 100 degrees during our visit, but very dry with a breeze. We took the shuttle bus to an area with several stores and saw a number of emus grazing along the highway. A number of passengers went snorkeling and reported a fine time with lots of fish, rays and even a small shark.