Unlike yesterday when there might have been a remote possibility of city travel in less than a life time – today was Monday morning travel at it’s worst.
the skies were clear as we caught the first shuttle out of the terminal to cross the Anzac Bridge (see pix above) and head into the city. Of note for the regular cruisers on the list: Windstar doesn’t charge for shuttles. Unlike several other lines I could name…)
So off we went to the city on the early shuttle since the last one back was going to be at 1330. The way in was a maze of roads, buildings, traffic circles, and confusion. Traffic was insane and it took about 3x the amount of time you would expect to go what my maps app was telling me was a very short distance.
From the drop off point, we walked to the Queen Victoria Building, a favorite of mine, especially before the worst of the holiday shopping crowds hit.
from the stained glass windows to the clocks –
there is obviously a lot of care that goes into maintaining the building. And no, high end shops of which there are dozens, do not particularly interest me. It is the architectural details that are fascinating.
the talking dog fountain outside the Queen Vic.
I made a quick and very disappointing stop at Morris & Sons. If they are the premier purveyors of knitting and needlework supplies in NSW, I am sad. It is a clean, well laid out, and extremely boring store. I remember it from 2013 when it was on two floors overflowing with yarns downstairs and needlework upstairs. The shelves are color and yarn weight arranged with standard brands. Unlike the shop I found in Melbourne on a previous trip, there are no local yarns (except for the Morris house brand) and certainly no indie dyers wares featured). The needlework section consisted of mostly needlepoint kits, a small section of stitching fabrics on bolts, and a few random kits, mostly featuring cute critters having nothing to do with Australia.
From there, I took my weary body back to the shuttle stop
via a number of fountains
and an amazing number of bin chickens.
We sailed out relatively early. – Past the P&O rather large Pacific Adventurer that displaced us at dock in the middle of the night.
and after passing under the bridge –
we passed the Carnival ship docked at the Quay, the Opera House, the Navy Base, and the old prison (now apparently a restaurant) on our way back out to sea.
