Australia

We left the South Pacific Islands for the final leg of the cruise, to Australia and New Zealand. The cruise from Vancouver to Auckland is a “Collector’s Voyage” by Holland America Lines. That means that there a number of cruises that could be enjoyed independently that have been joined together into the one longer voyage we are on. It was interesting that on the Vancouver to Sydney cruise, most of the cruisers were Canadian, or, from the UK, even though we did pick up quite a few Americans in Astoria and San Diego. The ship held a special night to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with all our favourites on the menu. Once we got to Sydney about half the passengers, 900, got off and 900 more got on. This new group is mostly American and now we are celebrating Halloween and other American things on board.

Although this last two week leg of our voyage is described as an Australia/New Zealand cruise, we only stopped very briefly at three cities in Australia: Sydney, Melbourne and Hobart, Tasmania.

First stop was Sydney. The harbour approach was as exciting as everybody says it is and the harbour remains Sydney’s most outstanding feature. That first glimpse of the Opera House with the Sydney Harbour Bridge (a.k.a. “the coathanger”) in the background was stunning.

Most cruise ships dock at Circular Quay, right in the centre of town. The Noordam is the largest ship that can fit under the Sydney Bridge (with only a metre to spare!), so, we went under and onward to White Bay. Passing beneath a bridge in a boat where the air draught is tight can be a heart-stopping experience (been there, done that!). Although I was sure the Noordam crew had done their sums correctly, the passage under was still exciting and seemed very close.

As we passed under the bridge a train went by overhead. Above the train there were a bunch of bridge walkers on a span. Can’t really see the appeal to this, but, it’s a popular tourist activity and quite expensive. You get strapped in and walk to the top of a span.

There are many attractions around the harbour.

Once ashore, first impressions were very positive. The weather was cooler, but, thankfully less humid, the sun was shining brilliantly, the blossoms were out (it’s spring here) and everything seemed new and spotlessly clean. It all seemed familiar except once in a while something different would present itself just to be sure that you knew you really were somewhere different. Like this very large, exotic-looking bird that just swooped down onto a city square outside the library to pick up a morsel. Nobody paid it any attention, they’re probably like city pigeons to Aussies, but, to us, it was something really special.

Our short visit was spent mostly in the library using the wifi to try and book ahead for activities beyond the end of the cruise. The library was an attraction in itself, very old and lovely. After the library, we were able to walk around Sydney for a few hours and that was the extent of our visit. We are hoping to spend more time there in future. The departing skyline view was almost as good as the approach.

We also visited Melbourne. When we’d booked the cruise, we were offered a ‘free’ shore excursion in Melbourne and we took it. It was a wine-tasting tour which may seem weird for a couple of teetotallers, but, there was also a city tour involved, a drive out to the Yarra Valley wine country and a nice lunch at the winery as well. It was a good day out away from the ship and the city. The other participants said the wine was good too!

Melbourne seemed very like Sydney, but, with a less impressive harbour. It was also a nice mix of old and new architecture, very clean and we were blessed again with gorgeous weather. The day was full-on with a visit to the Queen Vic market, the Melbourne Museum and then out to wine country. Melbourne seems sports-mad, they have a whole area of the city devoted to stadiums, different ones for different sports. I remember the brouhaha when Toronto wanted to build a single domed stadium. This town has multiple domed stadiums, with many others under major renovation and it just seems an accepted part of city life.

Our last stop in Australia was Hobart, Tasmania. Tasmania is, of course, the large island just off  the south coast of Australia. Hobart is the capital with about 200,000 residents. It was another hidden gem. A beautiful old town, very reminiscent of England and we felt right at home. We were lucky to be there on a Saturday, market day at Salamanca Market. It was a really great market, no tat, just a full quality array of foodstuffs and craft goods. The town  was bustling with lots of great restaurants and cafes.

A walk up the stone Kelly’s Steps to the historic Battery Point area made for a nice stroll. The residences were mostly small, old cottages, beautifully kept with pretty spring gardens on display.

There were a number of touchpoints about Hobart, a few we knew about and one unexpected surprise. We knew that Sir John Franklin (of North West Passage lost Franklin Expedition infamy) was the governor here when it was still known as Van Diemen’s Land. We also knew it as the finish line for the classic Sydney to Hobart yacht race. We found out that there is also a Melbourne to Hobart yacht race which is actually a longer and harder go as it traverses the western side of Tasmania instead of the more protected eastern side.

After our walk through the Battery Point area, we headed back down to the waterfront through a somewhat industrial area. We turned a corner and there he was, again, Roald Amundsen. There were five bronze busts of the Norwegian explorer made and we’d already seen four of them. Two in Norway: Tromsø in 2010 and Ny Ålesund, Svalbard, in 2011. The third was found in 2014, in Gjoa Haven, Nunavut during the first leg of our North West Passage transit. The fourth was found in Nome, Alaska when we completed our NWP voyage in 2015. Now, in 2016, through serendipity, we'd come across the fifth, in faraway Hobart, Tasmania. We’re not intentionally following Roald around, but, it’s starting to seem that way!