Mom and I got up at 3:30 am in the morning to watch the sail in to Sydney. It was very cold and windy during our sail in with 60 degrees and winds of 20 mph. Slowly the city came into view with the Sydney Tower being the first object visible. Within the hour, at 4:30 am, we were docked right at Circular Quay (pronounced Circular Key). After docking, we went back to bed, and at 7:00 am, woke up and ate our final breakfast in the Windjammer. When breakfast was done, we left the ship and went through customs and immigration with our luggage. Customs was extremely EASY to get through, and took about 1 minute. After that, we boarded our taxi ride ½ mile to our hotel (which cost us about $20). We were checked in right away and relaxed in our spacious room at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel and then we checked out the malls (Westfield, Queen Victoria Buliding, Pitt Street Mall). The malls are REALLY much better than the one's we have in America. First, the food is Amazingly fresh and delicious, and there is just so much variety in everything, from clothes, to shoes, etc. After checking out the malls, we went on the I'm Free Sydney Tour. This tour is absolutely free and is done daily by college students who want to show people the city without paying the high costs for a tour. All they ask, is a gratuity in the end to help keep them operating. During our tour, we saw a lot of protests from the Occupy Wall Street Movement. The tour took us all around Sydney and left us at the pier where we sadly saw our ship for the final time. With the tour done, we went to our French Dinner at Bistro Papillon... Delicious, but EXPENSIVE! Finally, we went back to our hotel (after walking 10 miles since leaving the cruise ship) and went to bed. What will happen tomorrow? Stay Tuned to find out!!!
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| Sydney in the Distance! |
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| Getting Closer to Sydney |
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| Opera House and Harbour Bridge at night |
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| The Sydney Opera House and Surrounding City |
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| Circular Quay at night |
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| Sydney Opera House |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
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| Grand Suite on Radiance of the Seas |
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| Bathroom of Grand Suite |
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| Premium Toiletries |
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| Our Room at the Radisson Blu Plaza Hotel in Sydney |
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| Another view of the room |
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| Our Bathroom |
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| Other side of bathroom |
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| Exploring Sydney |
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| A pizza bar at the Westfield Sydney Mall |
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| The Westfield Sydney Mall |
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| Look at all the Food! |
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| Sushi! |
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| The Sydney Tower |
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| Queen Victoria Building |
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| St. Mary's Cathedral from Hyde Park |
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| Another view of the Cathedral |
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| Sydney Tower |
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| A GIGANTIC former Post Office (now it's an apartment building) |
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| Facade of our Hotel |
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| Business Man Statue |
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| We got some FREE milk that this dairy company was giving away (they only do it once a year, how lucky for us!) |
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| Our Cruise Ship and the Opera House |
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| Harbour Bridge, Opera House, and the Radiance of the Seas |
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| Bye Bye Radiance of the Seas |
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| Sydney Harbour Bridge |
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| Another View of the Radiance and Sydney |
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| Cruise Terminal where our ship docked at |
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| The Last View of the Radiance |
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| Sydney Opera House |
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| Lots of Seagulls surrounding Circular Quay |
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| Didgeridoo Player |
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| Where we ate Dinner |
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| Inside the Restaurant |
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| Baguette and Olive Oil with French Onion Soup... Delicious! |
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| Back to the Hotel for the night! |
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