Our second day in Sydney was our debarkation day from the Seabourn Sojourn so I woke up early to take advantage of what part of the day I did have. I got breakfast with my closest crew buddy from the Sojourn, Sebastien, and then decided I would try and get to church since it was Sunday. Hillsong is a very famous church that has written tons of worship music used all over the world and they have congregations all over the world as well, but it was all started in Australia, so I thought it would be fun to go to a Hillsong service if I could. I had looked up information to see about going and went to catch a bus. As I was walking onto the bus I actually ran into Tonyia from the cast and convinced her to stay on board and go with me to church! We went by bus and then taxi and eventually reached the church and had a fantastic time worshiping and being with the church body there. I loved imagining that halfway around the world in a few hours time so many of my family and friends would be singing and praying, too. It made me feel that much more connected by such a big God to those I'm missing from home.
We got back to the ship in time to get all of our luggage plus the 7 large suitcases filled with costumes off the ship and onto a coach bus. The driver sort of chuckled. He said he thought he was doing a pickup for 7 people and that it would be so quick and easy in his huge coach bus. Between all of our bags, though, the ENTIRE luggage area was full. Thankfully Sergii, Dustin, and I are pretty quick by now at throwing those bags around. We eventually got to our hotel and headed right back out to enjoy Sydney. We were hoping to catch the sail away of the Sojourn, but had missed it. Seeing that harbor empty was really strange. It almost felt like we had been left behind or something. Anyway, following a recommendation from another of my friends, we headed to the Glenmore Hotel in the old harbor area known as The Rocks. The Glenmore sits right up under the Sydney Harbor Bridge. It's a very old hotel that now serves as a bar and restaurant. From the looks of things we knew we were in for a treat right away with lots of young people flooding out. We found a big table and got some great drinks to enjoy on the roof deck that overlooked the harbor. It was such a nice night.
The next morning I went into the city from our hotel on the subway and met up with some of the cast who had been skydiving very early that morning. We shopped a bit on the main street in town, George Street, and then Dustin, Keri, and I found a really great lunch at a combination wood-fire pizza/small batch coffee roasters. It was delicious and the afternoon was topped off with a walk all around downtown, through a nice park and eventually to Darling Harbor where we sat around and did some people watching. This city is great for that! The view is usually pretty great.
My friend, Leanne, from my neighborhood growing up that currently lives in Sydney, invited me to dinner that night. I was so excited to head a bit out of town on the train and to a suburb and a real HOME for the evening. As I got off the train I ended up borrowing a stranger's phone to call Leanne and we quickly found each other and started catching up. She's always been so fun and funny, so we had a great time. It just so happened that her mom was in from Kentucky visiting also, which was a great coincidence. I had a blast being in a house and meeting Leanne's husband and awesome daughters and filling my belly with truly outstanding home-cooking! I think that was the best homemade lasagna I've ever had! I really did have such a great time. It was a highlight of my time in Sydney to see them. Traveling as much as I do and living so much in temporary housing, it's a treat to spend time in a home where people have loved and laughed and cried and worked so hard on such a beautiful meal. It was such a blessing.
The next day was embarkation day to our new home away from how, the Holland America Amsterdam! We got on board very early and had to stay on board all day waiting to get our crew badges. During that time we got to know the ship, which seems HUGE compared to the Sojourn and is just so different. The way things are laid out, the style, the food, the way things are run… it's all completely different than what we're used to, so it was quite a shock! Eventually we were able to get off the ship and head into town with our two new dancers that we added to the cast for the bigger stage, Sasha and Phil. We headed right into Circular Quay and had a ball getting to know each other with the opera house in the background. They are both so kind and generous and incredibly talented. Already we feel like they've been part of the cast from the beginning and they are working extra hard to catch up and fit right into the shows. Total professionals.
Our last day in Sydney I had one more mission to accomplish. I wanted to climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. This was something that I had heard a lot about, but didn't know if it was worth the money, etc. After doing some research I found out we could do the bridge climb for a 50% discount with our crew id's! Unfortunately because we were switching ships, we only had our id's for this one day, so I was hoping they could squeeze us into a climb. We headed to the bridge that morning and they got us hooked up right away. It was a really fun time to see the bridge in a whole new way and I particularly enjoyed the part of climbing a bridge that felt so against the rules. Ha ha! We were climbing around and under things, going through gates and ducking under beams. It was really fun. To see that massive structure so up close and personal was also really great. Our guide shared tons of information about the bridge, the harbor, the city, etc. and we had a blast trekking our way to the top! What a way to say goodbye to shuck a fabulous town and a great few days of exploring. Sydney was a really fun stop and seeing it from that bridge was the perfect farewell image to leave with.
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| Made it to the top! |
A few more ports in this great country to follow soon…
Tripp
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