Friday 22nd February
(Afternoon)
The weather is rather cloudy this afternoon but a very pleasant temperature particularly for sightseeing. Right next to our ship is the Rocks area of Sydney. This is where the First Fleet landed and started the colony. It is the most historic part of the city. The row of houses in the picture were built in 1844 by an Irish immigrant and are now a museum. They were lived in until the 1990's - we had a guided tour and the museum is trying to show domestic history. We heard about some of the different families who rented these houses over the last 150 years. It was a very interesting tour. We then went to the botanical gardens which was right next to the Rocks. The gardens are very old and a lovely green spot right next to the city. Government House is here but wasn't open by the time we got there so we couldn't go inside. There were lots of unusual birds in the garden - saw one that was very colourful. We walked back passed the Opera House and stopped at the lively Opera Bar overlooking the harbour for a glass of sparkling wine - very pleasant! This evening we are going to eat in the restaurant on the open back deck of the ship. It should be lovely as you can see both the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House from there. Hopefully there will be time for a stroll ashore after dinner.