We were off the ship this morning at 8:15 and headed immediately to a little cafe we had spotted last time we were here. The reason for this particular one was because of the gluten free options that were available. I have to say it was the best breakfast I’ve had in weeks and Nicole’s wasn’t bad either.
Because of Nicole’s recent ailment we had decided to take it as easy as possible so the obvious choice was the Hoho bus which as it happens was only a short walk from our breakfast venue.
There are two circuits within the price of a single ticket, one going round the city and the other going out to Bondi. Both tours are 90 minutes long and today we just did the city one as after the first 90 minutes we were all bused out and needed to do some walking.
The weather was perfect for a stroll and with Nicole feeling reasonably OK we headed for the Royal Botanic Gardens where we walked at a very gentle pace so as not to tire the patient out too much. It’s a super walk and it offers some fantastic views across the harbour and city. There were some amazing trees and we spotted loads of different types of birds. The only grumble I would have was the amount of joggers running all over the place, it reminded me of the push bike’s in Amsterdam.
We covered quite a bit of ground and Nicole managed to make it all the way round to Mrs Macquaries Point where we found the stone bench which was carved in 1816 for the then governor’s wife. A very popular spot for having your photo taken and I gave up trying in the end and just settled for an empty seat.
After a couple of hours we headed back to The Rocks for a quick bite to eat and a drink before making our way back onboard ship. Being a back to back cruiser meant we already had all the paperwork done and it was just a case of a new photo for our seapass. The whole process took under 5 minutes and even better the photographer’s had moved on elsewhere so no delay there either. No health questionnaire to fill and do wonder what the response would have been had we actually been to the medical centre for Nicole.
Back in the cabin we relaxed for an hour before we had to attend the muster yet again. The third one in 25 days which is a bit annoying but I suppose it’s always good to have a refresher and just to add insult to injury the video wasn’t shown in all the muster stations so we had to watch it all over again.
Nicole has coped really well today and despite still needing to keep her Paracetamol updated has really enjoyed the day. She is very tired tonight but well on the way to full recovery.
Sydney has so much to offer and on our two turnaround days we just touched the edges.