The Queen Victoria dropped anchor in Sydney Bay just off the famous Sydney Opera House as there was a Carnival Cruise Liner docked at the cruise terminal across the harbor from the Opera House. The plan was that we would tender ashore until the Carnival ship left at which time the QV would dock in that berth. However, instead of going ashore in the ship’s tenders (relatively small covered and motorized life boats), we would be taken ashore in double-decker ferries. Thus speeding up the process of getting everyone ashore.
Since this was our fourth trip to Sydney, we were keen to see some parts of the area that we had not seen before. Two years ago we had done an extensive walking exploration of the harbor. So, on day one we go tickets for the Big Bus (Sydney’s version of a hop-on-hop-off bus) figuring that we would get to see more of inland Sydney. Typically, the hop-on-hop-off type bus is great for sight seeing. The second deck is open air which is perfect for viewing and taking pictures. Also, they provide ear buds so you can listen to narration of your tour in any one of several languages and they provide a map detailing all of the significant sights on the bus route. As the name implies, if you come to a sight that you want to explore further, you are free to hop off and explore. You can hop back on the next convenient bus
Sydney’s Iconic Coca Cola Sign 
Sydney Cove 
Vertical Building 
Sydney Tower 
So, we rode the bus around around the harbor and downtown Sydney. We passed the Sydney Tower, the Star Casino, Circular Quay, Chinatown and the Chinese gardens, Darling Harbor and the Rocks (the area first settled by British convicts). We then decided to hop off at the Central Railroad Station and then switch lines. Sydney’s Big Bus has two lines: the Red Line which covers the harbor and downtown and the Blue Line which goes out to Sydney’s most well known beach, Bondi Beach.
We caught the Blue Line bus after wandering through the Central Station and we rode through some very nice residential neighborhoods: Rose Bay, Double Bay and Bondi. However, just as we came to Bondi Beach, disaster struck … it began to rain. It poured. Everyone in the open air top deck of the bus scrambled for the shelter of the lower deck. From this vantage we could neither see much nor take pictures. So we headed back to the ship. The QV had not docked. So, we took the ferry back.
The bright side of being back early was that we got some great shots of the Sydney Opera House as the QV sailed passed at about 8:30 pm.
