Sydney 11/29/25

 

It's here - the last full day on the Viking Venus.

Neither one of us had booked an excursion. Back in 2022, we had spent 4 days in the area of the Opera House, the bridge and The Rocks.  Our friends were meeting with people they had met on a different cruise, and they invited my sister and I to join them.   My sister accepted but I declined due to being tired of the heat.

Instead, I stayed on the ship and did laundry.  doesn't that sound like fun?  😏

I really wanted to get up on deck early to see everything as the ship sailed into the harbor.  That was to start at 6:30 am so I got up on deck at 6:15 only to find the commentary already underway.  

Looks like I hit it about right though as we were just at the head of the harbor.  This is South Head with Hornby Lighthouse. 

Rounding Green Point with the community of Watson Bay coming into view. 

On the north side of the channel is Georges Head, with the Sydney Eye Tower towering above the other structures

The ship was following the pilot boat.

This is the Western Channel Pile Light. It marks the western end of the Sow and Pigs Reef.  

Interesting structure overlooking a cliff.

I couldn't decide if it was a house or not. 

Shark Island.  The white thing on the right is a lighthouse.

Still following our pilot boat into the harbor as we round Bradleys Head

Pilot boat. 

Bradleys Head Fort (built in 1840) occupies this point.  The grey tower is the mast from the H.M.A.S. Sydney I.  It serves as a memorial for this naval ship from World War I. During late 1917, the Sydney became the first Australian warship to launch an aircraft, and the first warship to do so from a rotatable platform.  The cruiser was decommissioned in 1928 and broken up for scrap. 

What everyone was waiting for - the first glimpses of the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

Kayakers enjoying the calm seas off Bradleys Head. 

The population isn't all on the south side of the bridge.  This is a view of the development north of the bridge.

Kirribilli House is the Australian Prime Ministers second official residence after The Lodge in the capital, Canberra.

On the south shore, Garden Island is the home of an Australian Navy base.

This is Fort Denison. Once a 49' high sandstone islet, the rock was levelled by convicts to construct nearby Circular Quay.  Although known other names by the aboriginal, the British used it as the location of a gibbet to hang convicts of the late 18th century penal colony. One prisoner's skeleton hung there for 4 years.  Fortification of the island began in 1841 but was not completed until 1857. 

Next up on the south shore is the Sydney Opera House.  Home of a 2,679-seat concert hall, the Joan Sutherland Theatre as well as three more theaters configured for stage plays, film screenings, and smaller musical performances.  Read more about it in my 2022 blog posting about the building tour.

Back on the north side of the bridge is Admiralty House, the secondary official residence of the governor-general of Australia.

Between the Opera House and the historic Rocks district, is Circular Quay.  Now I always pronounced it "kway", the cruise director and lecturers all said "key".

Sydney water ferries are in and out of Circular Quay all day transporting people all around the harbor.  Circular Quay is also the starting point of scenic harbor cruises. 

This is the area known as The Rocks.  It was the location of the first British penal colony in 1788.

Down by the water, The Rocks is home to the cruise terminal for large ships.  It's amazing to see one docked there.  The red circle is The Rocks YHA where my sister and I stayed in 2022.  The yellow encircles about where our room was located.  We had fantastic views, and I even got a photo of the Opera House with Queen Elizabeth displayed on the fins.

Flying atop the Sydney Harbour Bridge is the Australian flag and the Australian Aboriginal flag, which first flew in 1971. It features three colors: black, representing the Aboriginal people; yellow, symbolizing the sun; and red, representing the earth and the connection to the land.

The bridges SE pylon hosts a great museum on the construction of the bridge. See 2022 post for more information.

Going under the bridge, something the large cruise ships don't get to do. 

Looking back, we see the west side of the Opera House

There are even train tracks on the bridge. 

The penthouse of this skyscraper became the most expensive residential real estate in 2025 when it sold for 141 million Australian dollars. 

 The Walsh Bay wharves were completed in 1920 on five piers built on land reclaimed from the harbor.  The warehouses were linked by bridges to the land.  Considered obsolete after World War II when container ships, large passenger liners and planes became the primary means of moving freight, the warehouses were boarded up in the 1970s.  These wharves now contain hotels, the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct and residential housing. 

Still following the pilot boat, the ship turns left around Miller's Point.

Nawi Cove

Darling Harbour, home to Wild Life Sydney Zoo, the Sea Life Sydney Aquarium, the Australian National Maritime Museum, and much more. The white building is the Maritime Museum.

  Sitting in front of the maritime museum is a replica of the HMB Endeavour.  This was the Royal Navy research vessel that Lieutenant James Cook commanded to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia on his first voyage of discovery from 1768 to 1771.

Viewing platform at Peacock Point with Anzac Bridge in the background.

The ship takes a right into White Bay.

The White Bay Cruise Terminal appears on the north shore of White Bay. 

Jones Bay Wharf was completed in 1919 and served both freight and passenger liners as well as being an important embarkation point during World War II and a major arrival point for immigrants after the war.

Pirrama Park 

Looks like the lower part of the building has a grass roof.

Viking Venus approaches the White Bay Cruise Terminal

While I stayed onboard doing laundry, my sister and our friends took an Uber to The Rocks.  This sculpture created by Lindy Lee was erected in 2020.  Located at the harborside entrance of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, it is called "Secret World of a Starlight Ember". 

At the right angle, you can see the Opera House through the hole.

Historical places abound in The Rocks.

Campbells Cove as seen from the cruise ship earlier in the day. 

Outside the Museum of Contemporary Art

Quay Quarter Tower

Luna Park on the north shore of Sydney Harbor.  First opened in 1935, it has gone through closures and name changes before being reopened in 2004.

The next few photos are the views from the ship. 

Every day since before we arrived at our first Australian port, we have heard this announcement at every port of call, at port talks and on signs located on the World Cafe tables.  I heard people moan when the announcement would start over the loudspeakers.   You might have to click to enlarge for reading.... or not

Last night's dessert. 

We ended our night on the Aquavit Terrace to see the Sydney night lights.