Day 1 (At Sea)

Our first full day at sea. The waves and swell was up a little overnight but has eased off today. The Pacific Dawn handles the seas magnificently and most of the time today we hardy notice the movement. When the sea is causing the ship to pitch and roll a little, perhaps our greatest challenge has been to walk down the corridors in a straight line.

Which brings me to my significant discovery for today - the distances we need to walk to get from one place to another are enormous! I’ve come to the sudden realisation today that the number of stairs and the trek from one end of the ship to the other all points to this holiday (selected by Helen) as being designed as a walking holiday (even more than a than camping and bushwalking in a National Park!) I’d tell you how long the ship is but if you don’t believe me I’m sure you’ll go to the Pacific Dawn http://www.pacificdawn.com.au/html/ site and check it out.

Caribe Deck Corridor – runs the entire length of the ship

So as if to confirm my suspicions, we were out of bed and up to the walking/ running circuit on Deck 14 to go walking before breakfast. With the prevailing weather this turns out to be more challenging than it sounds. On the forward facing side of the circuit the 75 km / hr breeze (30km trade wind and 35km/hr ship speed) makes walking forward quite a challenge. Then once you round the corner to head towards the stern the wind nearly lifts you off your feet towards the stern!

Walking Track – much later in the day

The rest of the day was made up with eating, relaxing in the bars enjoying performances of piano (2 pianos in separate areas of the ship) plus an Australian guitar / keyboard Duo called Inertia and discovering areas of the ship we hadn’t found on the first night. Before dinner there was a comedy routine by a new Australian stand-up comedian and after dinner we headed up to the Dome for a bit of dancing and watching the teens and many others enjoy the impromptu dance lesson and several competitions interspaced with more dancing.

It’s felt like we’ve done very little but we finally collapsed at around 1am.


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Embarkation

Boarded after the usual Customs and Immigration checkpoints and some more forms at the Tax Rebate Desk. Then onto the wharf and have our pic taken by the ships photographer then suddenly we’re on board!

Our cabin is more that we could have imagined with a huge porthole – Helen is very pleased.

A Room with a View

Feeling at home already

There’s time to explore a bit of the ship before Emergency Drill. The view of Darling Harbour from the front windows in the Dome is nothing worth getting excited about. Better start reading all about the activities for the rest of the day.

Pacific Daily – when is the first Art Auction???

At 4:20 we slip away from the wharf in steady rain - passengers (including us) huddle out of the wind and rain on around the pool on Lido Deck to the sounds of "Love Shack". The weather is so lousy that the cloud has enveloped the tops of Centrepoint Tower and the other tall skyscrapers in the city.

 

View from Caribe Deck towards Goat Island and the Sydney Ports Auth Tower

A few brave passengers out in the rain

Get a big wave from the bridge climb groups as the ship passes Luna Park. At least we were have some cover compared to these guys. Dropped off the pilot as the ship rounds the last channel mark and heads into the Pacific Ocean. We’re finally at sea about an hour after pulling away from Wharf 8.

Goodbye Sydney

We settle into some deck chairs to watch the coastline disappear amongst the showers and cloud until the cool breeze chased us inside. So much for a summer holiday!

Discover the Piano Bar on Plaza Deck and celebrate our escape with a pre-dinner glass of champagne - feeling very decadent. Wondered what the "poor" people were doing back home (NOT) ;-)

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Welcome to Sydney

The planned trip out to Bradley's Head was a sensational experience but was almost a complete disaster. As expected, the ship's Webcam was temporarily switched off when the shipgets within range of terrestrial wireless internet services.

I got up at 4:30am so it was impossible to how close the ship was to the coast. I arrived at the locked gate to the headland just before first light to be suprised and delighted by Pacific Dawn sliding almost silently through the water just off the headland. Less than 2 minutes later I would have missed it!

If you've never been there, Bradley's Head is a narrow headland protruding from the north shore of Sydney Harbour just south of Mosman. It's close to the Sydney - Hobart yacht race starting line and just down Military Road in Mosman. The nearest neighbour is Taronga Zoo with stunning views of the city, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Bradley's Head (centre of photo)

It's location for watching and photographing all the the shipping and boating activity of our beautiful and spectacular harbour is unparalleled.

After running the last 100m (after realising that Pacific Dawn had almost rounded the headland), I watched this beautiful white ship from the HMAS Sydney foremast (monument) "appear" around the point and get so close I almost could have called out to the passengers up on the Lido Deck making the most of the last few minutes of their "Summer Sessions" cruise.

The plan was to take some photos with the new camera. With low light, no tripod, heaps of wind and a ship moving away quite quickly (sounds like I'm inventing lots of excuses) a great photo was pretty much impossible. Might have to come back and try again next summer.

Pacific Dawn approaching Fort Denison

We arrived at the passenger terminal around 10am and sailed (ha ha) through checkin as the crowds don't arrive until later. Time for drafting and uploading this blog before boarding at 12:30.

Arriving in style - not our Limo :-(

Pacific Dawn waiting for us to board

More latter.

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