Sydney Ferries

 As long as we were at the harbor, we hopped on a ferry.  Ferries are the working horses of Syndey's commuter system.  On a workday they are crowded, but on weekends we could enjoy a quick mini harbor cruse.  

here comes the Victor Chang

This route went from Pyrmont Bay (next to the MU-SEA-UM) to Bangaroo on the opposite shore of Darling Harbour, then to Balmain East, and on to two stops on the North Sydney coast before heading under the Harbour Bridge and back to Circular Quay.

The UK boat

Bangaroo, we discovered, was HQ for the Grand Prix sail race.  These are 50-foot "hydrofoiling" catamarans that can reach speeds of up to 100mph - the aeronautical design allows them to lift off the water with only a tiny portion of the foil still on the surface.  

With the weather cancellation, these boats were just for show.

We got an up close look at the glass tower we had seen earlier.  It has a different look from each side.

from the south

from the east

from the north

As we headed to North Sydney, we got nice views of the Harbour Bridge.  This time I was able to get some close ups of the crazy people who pay to climb it.

We landed just alongside Luna Park, a long-running North Sydney amusement park.  Friday night we could see the lights of the ferris wheel from the opera house/

the ferris wheel

Luna Park's entrance

crossing under the bridge

As we headed into Circular Quay we got a great up close view of the Opera House.  You can see the areas where we were on Friday.

the Sutherland theater is just above
the square doorway seen at the left

Circular Quay from seaward

prime seating on the stern of the ferry
(good practice for our stateroom on the ship's stern)