I was early to rise this morning, before the break of dawn in fact. I wanted to try to capture the entry into Sydney Harbour so I left the cabin at 05:30 to catch the 5:45 sunrise. I was surprised by all the people on deck. It really is quite a sight to pull up on the city skyline, Harbour Street Bridge and Opera House all in one fell swoop.

I guess that I was eager to get to Five Star Camera Repairs to see if they could replace and repair the mirror on my 7000 as I had been told in both Adelaide and Melbourne that there was a SFA chance of any type of repair, even in Sydney. After a quick bite for breaky, we started the trek on foot to Five Star and found it to be on the top floor (13th storey - bad luck ?) in a tiny little office. It didn't look good at first sight, I thought to myself. After the explanation, he told me that he could MAYBE have the camera repaired - that I'd have to leave it with him and if it was fixed it was fixed - if not, then not. Customer service certainly wasn't his strong point. After some negotiation we agreed on 1:00 p.m. and $280.00 but at least there was still a chance that it could be repaired.

Deborah and I had 3 1/2 hours to kill, walking around Sydney which is not that much of a task. Five Star was in the CBD (Central Business District), right in the heart of the downtown core so there were hundreds and hundreds of people out and about on the sidewalks. Another thing that I can't seem to get in my mind is that I need to walk the sidewalks opposite to what I normally do in North America - it would help me stop bumping into people coming towards me in what they consider the "right" lane.

After a brief stop at St. Mary's church and Hyde Park we searched out a haircutting place for me. Deborah said that I was starting to look like a hippy. We found a place on one of the main street, I can honestly say that this trim was the shortest cut that I've ever had in my life in the quickest amount of time. Thankfully it will, I hope grow back.

Back to Five Star with my fingers crossed - 12:50 p.m. and what do you know - SUCCESS. All fixed, cleaned and polished - we're back in the game for New Zealand photographs. We headed back to ship by way of THE ROCKS - a great old shopping and dining area that runs alongside where the ms Maasdam pulled up to dock so it was very convenient. I have been dreaming about McDonald's fries, so that too is now off the list. We're here only for the day, with lots of new passengers getting on for this 14-day portion to Auckland. Our first stop will be Eden in New South Wales. We're also excited that Ian and Wendy are now on board so our party just jumped up to six for dinner tonight. Renetta is apparently feeling a little better which is positive, however the ship doctor told her that she needed to rest and not overdue in the immediate future.

The weather is tremendous with temperatures in mid 85's and nothing but bright, blue sky. Hopefully that's in the cards for the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned, I hear New Zealand is just gorgeous, so hopefully with my new and improved camera I can capture some of the beauty that may be just around the next bend.