Day 66, 12.12.2018 , White Bay, Sydney Harbour
Arrived. Sailed by the iconic Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge.
230 years ago, the First Fleet arrived in Australia with 1,500 scoundrels, ruffians and ne’er-do-wells, taking 252 days to get here. Voyages have got quicker.
It was slow processing by Immigration and Customs in White Bay. But at least they didn’t squirt anti-bio-fouling chemicals into our external flanges, which is what happened to me the last time I arrived in Australia by boat.
H and I took a taxi to the Opera House where we had some drinks with sprigs of mint and lavender sticking out the top, and some nice bar snacks.
Day 67, 13.12.2018 , Botany Bay, Australia
I picked up a rental car in Sydney. It was fairly straight forward apart from the car rental company office having moved a block or two down the street without telling anyone. I found it eventually.
We finished packing, said our farewells and left the ship. We had a couple of hours looking around the old Rocks area in Sydney between the bridge and Circular Quay. Then it was a drive out to Bondi Beach as the weather was looking up. H had a swim. The amazing thing about Bondi Beach is that 99% of the people you see there all look to be the same age. About 25 years old, which is a bit spooky when you think about it.
Then off to Sydney Airport at Botany Bay. All went well until AirAsia cancelled our flight. A storm, so they said. Expecting lengthy delays on a bus full of fellow refugees, we took a taxi downtown to the Mercure Hotel where the airline would be paying for the night.
Day 68, 14.12.2018 , Kuala Lumpur Airport
After a lot of shouting and pushing we eventually got on a flight to KL. We arrived too late for the connecting flight to Sandakan so we got yet another hotel inside the airport.
Fortunately the airport seems to be a 24-hour operation and dinner at the airport was nasi goreng and durian ice-cream washed down with coconut milk. We are back in the tropics.
Early flight to Sandakan, Borneo.
