Mercer | Captain, who's driving?

I write as we head north, paralleling the east coast of Australia towards Townsville, Queensland. An unimpressive morning, having experienced torrential rain since departing Sydney, the wind is strong, thankfully however it is coming from astern and giving us a nice push.

(My) Tuesday morning and an early call for our arrival at this port. Normally I time our ETA to the pilot around sunrise, this so guests have the best possible view of the sail-in to this city. Not so on this occasion, having been told to be the ‘first duck in the row’ and had to be at the pilot for 4:30 a.m, 2 hours before sunrise. We would be followed by the “Sun Princess” and the “Radiance of the Seas”; most of the harbour being transited in darkness.

The days of berthing at Circular Quay, (or the ‘Overseas Cruise Terminal’ as it is now called) are long gone, only the larger, higher ships that are unable to pass under the Bridge use this berth now and we are relegated to White Bay Cruise piers. We go to #4 berth, while the Sun Princess goes to #5 and once she departs that evening, we move to #5, complicated isn’t it?!

White Bay, once a Container-ship berth, has been remodelled to handle Cruise ships. #5 berth has a Cruise terminal, complete with jetway and a large, glass building to house officials and designed to embark or disembark passengers. On the other hand, #4 berth is a large (permanent) marquee, which is used for in-transit passengers such as ourselves. Once the “Sun Princess” had sailed, we had to shift to #5, this because this berth has to be occupied when there is a cruise ship in White Bay. I don’t know who thought this one up, we were quite happy on #4, however we had to move to #5 at 6:30 p.m. and tied up by 7 p.m.

White Bay is overlooked by houses and Noise Abatement is in full force, dire penalties including fines or, God forbid, banishment from the port being enforced on any miscreant, one feels permanently under scrutiny, not a pleasant situation. One always worries that someone might use the PA system, or a similar ‘noise’ situation arise.

The approach to Sydney

The harbour, the entrance through the “Heads” is upper right.

Our route, passed Fort Denison and under the iconic Bridge

and the final section, a turn into White Bay, a swing and astern to the berth.

Time lapse

Now some photographs of the arrival.

White Bay with Darling Harbour ahead

On the berth, the “Sun Princess” approaching #5 berth

One of my video attempts 🙂

The day was spent catching up with email and paperwork before trying to get some sleep, not very successfully, unfortunately. The ‘ladies’ had decided upon going out for a meal in the evening and I joined them. Going to a Chinese restaurant in the up-scale Woolamoroo district. Surrounded by yachts way beyond my pay-scale, the restaurants were packed with people enjoying cuisine of around the World. No camera I’m afraid, cameras and chopsticks don’t mix……..

Having departed Sydney in daylight, the rain having temporarily abated, the decks were full and a sail-away party in full swing, (excepting on the Bridge, of course :-)). High winds were forecast and I was thankful that they had not yet appeared, weather reports from 40 miles south of us indicated winds of 50 mph, so getting out in good time was a priority. I had my camera handy, seizing the moment every now and then to capture some of the sights and my GoPro was ‘blinking’ away too, indicating the time-lapse was running.

In White Bay, the Bridge and, in the foreground, the Bangaroo Reserve

Almost out of White Bay and about to make the turn under the Bridge, the pilot boat is ahead of us, “ploughing the road” for us and keeping small boats away from us.

Sydney Opera House as we are about to go under the Bridge (with 3m clearance)

In the middle of the harbour is Fort Denison, or ‘Pinchgut’ as it was known. Built as a fort in 1841, it had a history of also being a prison.

Sailing is a popular pastime in Sydney and we always seem to have to negotiate through a race, this time is no exception

Ahead of us, the “Heads’ and the open sea.

We are scheduled to arrive in Townsville on (our) Saturday morning. A port we visited in 2016 when we had to cancel our scheduled port; we were the first-ever cruise ship they received. While in Sydney, I took a few photos of the interior of the Amsterdam, some readers have asked about the new decor and while these photos do not do it justice, it will perhaps give you some idea. There has been a vast amount of new carpeting put down in the interior and staterooms have been upgraded too, (no photos ‘cos they’re all occupied :-))