We drove through the Historic Rocks area and saw Lord Nelson's pub, the oldest pub in Austrailia. When Dan Quayle visited while Vice-President they created Quayle ale in his honor. (The guide told us it was appropriately 'ordinary'). We saw the Garrison Church. The 2nd oldest pub, Hero of Waterloo, had white rectangles painted to look like windows to avoid the British glass tax. We learned where the term "shanghai-ed" originated as men were plied with rum and when drunk, carried out a back door to wake up on a ship already out to sea on the way to China.
We passed Goat Island, where the cause of the Bubonic plague was identified and told the nursery rhyme, "Ring and the Rosie" was about the plague.
Tom Cruise's residence when in Austraila was pointed out on one of the wharf houses converted into housing units. We learned that "When Tom flicked Nicole, we (the Aussies) flicked him." Our guide mentioned several US film celebrities and their flat locations while we were touring, always being proud to mention any who were native to Australia.
Next we drove to the Royal Botanic Garden's to see. Mrs. Macquerie's chair. Lachlan Macquerie, her husband, was governor around 1800. The story goes that Mrs. Macquerie was not happy in Australia. Her husband had a chair carved out of stone so she could sit and watch the ships coming and going and wish she were on one heading back to England. The park there also had a great view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the iconic Sydney Opera House, so of course we needed to have a picture taken there. We talked about walking across the top of the Harbour Bridge, but balked when we were told that it would take about 3 and a half hours and cost us over $200 AUD.
We also found several ibis roaming around the park. The ibis isn't native to Sydney, but apparently some Egyptian ones that were in the Sydney zoo weren't being watched carefully and escaped, mated and now their offspring quite enjoy the neighborhood. 
We also learned that Sydney school children had their own form of "MISSISSIPPI" to learn how to spell. 
Bondi beach, a beautiful golden sand beach, was our next stop. Bondi is aboriginal for "water breaking over rocks". We walked the boardwalk watching surfers and sunbathers soaking up the sunshine (some of them soaking up a lot of sunshine!) and sea breeze. We could have lunched in one of the cafes in the pavilion, but opted to walk the beach knowing once on the boat we would do a lot of eating.
After the beach, it was on to a tour of the Sydney Opera House, another World Heritage site. What an amazing building! It is certainly impressive from the outside, but equally as impressive on the inside. The construction methods for the "shells" (the roof) were groundbreaking and ingenious, especially for the 1950's and 60's.
We toured a small performance area designed by the original designer and architect Jorn Utzon, who was selected as the architect after an international competition in 1957. The room has a large tapestry on one wall and a wall of windows looking out on the bay opposite the tapestry, the only performance space with windows.
The engineering of the shells in ribs was fascinating. What seems so simple now took Utzon only minutes to conceive on a "napkin" practically, but took many months of contemplating to actually figure out how to engineer them so that they were practical.
Construction took 14 years and over $100 million, opening in 1973, though Utzon had originally given 3 years and $7 million as the cost estimate. Utzon was not there to see completion because the Australian committee lost faith in him and stopped paying him, so he returned to Denmark, never to see the completed project in person.
There are two main, large halls: The concert Hall, and the Joan Sutherland Theater, used primarily for opera. The interior of the building was finished by a committee of Australian architects and has been modified several times since opening. Later Utzon was asked for and gave his ideas for some of the performance spaces. We also toured another small performance space and the concert hall. Other spaces were off limits due to rehearsal and other work in progress, including the drama theater that we were in the night before. 
We toured more of Sydney, mostly downtown, on the way to the boat, but frankly, we were overwhelmed by what we had seen and about to embark, and didn't gain a lot. When we got to the pier in Cockle Bay off Darling Harbour, the process for boarding was pretty smooth. Customs was easy, and getting to our room was straightforward. Our luggage was already there, so we took off in search of some food. Unfortunately, we learned that there isn't food service between 4 and dinner (starting at 6), so our plan to get a snack as soon as we got on the boat didn't work well. We took some time to do a little exploring and get back to the room to unpack and unwind a bit.
We joined the party for the ship leaving Sydney by going to the upper deck to take in the city skyline and more pictures of the Opera House, this time from the water.
We went to the Grand Dining Room for dinner, and had a lovely five-course meal--appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert. A basket with a variety of breads and tea are added in as well. Needless to say, we aren't going hungry! This night, our main course included scallops for Joyce and New York Strip steak for Alan.
We ended the day with the nightly entertainment in the Marina Lounge. The first night included the resident company singers/dancers, the Cruise director, and Hayden Smith, a saxophonist/vocalist. It was a very full day and we were ready for a good night's rest.
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