Voyager of the Seas Picture Review Dec 2012 Australia & New Zealand Cruise

[Iluvcruising2]

Interesting boat.

 

 

There was a maritime museum nearby, but we didn’t go there.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

We had read good reviews about the Sydney Wildlife park, so that would be our first stop.

 

http://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/

 

The location was very convenient.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Australian animals – can’t find them anywhere else in the world.

 

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Ok, ok, I won’t mess with this spider.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Yikes, I won’t mess with this chap either! RUN!

 

[Iluvcruising2]

You’re still here? This is why you ought to believe me when I said run!

 

Edited January 4, 2013 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

On the way, we passed Queen Victoria Building (QVB).

 

 

Inside Queen Victoria Building. We just walked through it, a bustling place.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

From QVB, we just walked south along George Street to reach the Chinatown/Paddy’s Market area. It didn’t take us very long, about 15 minutes at a leisurely pace.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

We had dim sum at this restaurant on the Chinatown street. (I think it was Little Hay Street) We didn’t read up on the restaurants, so we relied on the usual method of looking at various menus (to check the prices) and to see whether there were any patrons (especially locals) in the restaurant. In this case, this restaurant looked to be very well patronized with many locals (both Asian and Caucasian) having their lunch. The dim sum here was quite authentic.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

A view of the Market City and Paddy’s Market (which is right beside the Market City) from across the road.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

We would spend the next hour at Paddy’s market. It was a fascinating place that offered many souvenirs and other interesting items. Prices were very good. Much cheaper to get your souvenirs (e.g. magnets) here than any other place we have seen.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Thereafter, we decided to walk back to the ship. We would head north on George Street, before turning into Liverpool street and then walk north via Elizabeth street. The plan was to visit Sydney’s Hyde Park.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Where are or were the Grand United Order of Oddfellows?

 

[Iluvcruising2]

For some reason, I took this shot at an angle.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Archibald Fountain.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

We continued our walk up Macquarie Street, walking past the Botanic Gardens and many interesting buildings. If we kept walking, we would have reached the Opera House. But we decided to head back to the ship (Circular Quay) as by now it was past 5pm and we wanted to be back for dinner. We found this staircase that brought us up to the overhead roadway (Cahill Expressway), walked along the bridge and there were two lifts to bring us right down to the Circular Quay area.

 

This picture shows the harbour ferry we took earlier in the day, wharf number 5.

 

[Iluvcruising2]

We took some more photos and got back to our ship in good time for dinner. In summary, we took the harbour ferry from Circular Quay to Darling Harbour, visited the wildlife park, walked to QVB, then along George Street to Little Hay Street for Dim Sum lunch, then spent an hour at Paddy’s Market, and then walked northwards (George Street, turn right to Liverpool, then walk north along Elizabeth street. Visited Hyde Park, including Archibald fountain, kept walking north into Macquarie, then cut over to Circular Quay shortly before the Opera House and back to ship. We left the ship at about 10:30am and got back to ship by 5:30pm.

[will773]

This review is awesome!

[Sydney32203]

We had dim sum at this restaurant on the Chinatown street. (I think it was Little Hay Street) We didn’t read up on the restaurants, so we relied on the usual method of looking at various menus (to check the prices) and to see whether there were any patrons (especially locals) in the restaurant. In this case, this restaurant looked to be very well patronized with many locals (both Asian and Caucasian) having their lunch. The dim sum here was quite authentic.

 

 

Good choice. This restaurant has been around for many years and it's one of the better restaurants for yum cha (that's what we call dim sum over here) and good fresh seafood. How do you find the prices here? When I go back to Singapore and Malaysia (which is not very often at all) I pig out and eat non stop because it's so cheap over there and I miss the food!

[Sydney32203]

Is the entire ship non smoking? What about the open areas like on the pool deck etc?

[Sydney32203]

Possibly some sad news for you ILuvCruising in light of your recent trip to tasmania where you hired a car and drove to Port Arthur.

 

Southern Australia (the states of Victoria, tasmania and South Australia) have been having a heat wave the last couple of days with temperatures up around the high 30's and low 40's degrees (around 105 degrees fahrenheit).

 

Well today bush fires hit the Tasman Peninsula hard particularly around the township of Dunalley which you would have gone through (it sits at the head of the Peninsula) - early reports show up to 65 buildings destroyed including the local school, homes and a petrol station.

 

More in these papers (one a Melbourne paper and one a Hobart paper).

 

http://www.theage.com.au/environment/weather/bushfires-gut-tasmanian-town-20130104-2c8j1.html

 

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2013/01/04/369647_tasmania-news.html

 

Just goes to show, how things can change overnight and particularly Australia, while people enjoy good weather and heat it can also bring tragic results in the blink of an eye. :(

 

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have lost their homes and business or livelihoods. Even higher temperatures predicted next week. :(

[6andy6]

Where are or were the Grand United Order of Oddfellows?

 

 

http://museumvictoria.com.au/collections/themes/2784/grand-united-order-of-oddfellows

 

Bit of a brief history here.

 

We still have organsiations here...IOOF - Independent Order of Oddfellows - they operate one of our larger investment and investment advice companies in the country. Also Australian Unity is born out of a similar organisation and is now one of our largest private health insurers - basically they began as mutual and self help societies plus also having a social aspect ( much like the Masonic Lodges and the Masons which also operate large hospitals and retirement villages in this country)

Edited January 4, 2013 by 6andy6

[Iluvcruising2]

Day 14 - Dinner menu. This was our final MDR dinner onboard the Voyager of the Seas for this cruise. Now I am really going to cry.

 

 

 

[Iluvcruising2]

I tried Samuel Adams beer that evening. I liked it!

 

[Iluvcruising2]

Moroccan spiced chicken salad