December 19th, 2010 – Sydney At Last!

There are no words to describe the scene, the feeling of awe and the thrill of arriving by yacht into Sydney Harbour for the first time. None.

As we passed through the Heads (South Head & Quarantine Head), and entered the vastness of the harbor, I felt an incredible sense of smallness. Where is the Opera House? Where is the famous Harbour Bridge? Frank laughed and said, "Barb, it's a big place and we have about an hour yet to go". It is a remarkable feeling looking around with childlike wonder, tensing at the busy, busy traffic and noting all the things there are to see both on land and in the water. Sydney Harbour, AKA Port Jackson is tracked with its famous Wedding Cake Lights. They look like miniature lighthouses fixed throughout the port they are solid white and layered as a wedding cake.  Beautiful. There are countless little and not so little islands littered throughout. Ferries, from very large to small fast cats threw us in their wakes. Kayakers, fishermen and dinghies bobbed about. Are they nuts? There are so many bays, anchorages, inlets and coves that it is like a city in the water. Then of course there were the sigh-seeing tours and the cruise ships. This was larger and busier than Auckland by far, but even so more majestic in our minds. I was looking at the chart book to try to figure out where we were at any given time and noted some interesting names and found my favorite among them:  Woolloomooloo Bay.

Finally as we rounded Farm Cove the magnificent Sydney Opera House came into view. Just beyond it stands the notable Harbour Bridge. I scrambled out to the toe rail to get a good enough picture and cursed the ferries and other boats that kept getting between me and my photo op! I looked back at Frank and thought I'd never seen a happier smile on my captain's face. We just got to put one more big check mark on our Bucket List. Yes, we did it! We had sailed into Sydney Harbour on our own yacht. This was a special moment for the two of us. How many people get to say that?

We entered the small (very small) anchorage at Blackwattle Bay, where Wasabi awaited our arrival and pointed us to a spot near them. Frank popped his celebratory beer and I saluted him with my bottle of sparkling water. Big smiles all around!