My going-in plan for Sydney was to visit the Sydney Zoo on our second day. Then I found out that the ferry over to the zoo doesn't start until 10:45, and the trip is 45 minutes. On-board time was 1:30 pm, so that seemed like a bit too close for comfort, and my time at the zoo would be limited to less than an hour (I like to leave at least half an hour margin for comfort). So David and I went shopping for a few toiletries that were running out faster than expected (like toothpaste and sunscreen). We found a chemist near the pier but the prices were too high for us (about three times what we pay in the States). So we walked into downtown Sydney in search of a cheaper source. We had been told about a Woolworth’s near the Queen Victoria Mall, so that was our goal. We never got as far as the Woolworth’s but we did get to Queen Victoria Mall, and also found a post office where I bought some stamps for our postcards. We did find a cut-rate drug chain that had what we wanted for only about twice what it would cost at home, and bought the things we needed.

The sail-away was an amazing experience: the captain had another surprise for us. The first recorded European contact with Australia was in 1606 when the Duyfken, a ship commissioned by the Dutch United East Indies Company set sail to discover "the great land of Nova Guinea and other unknown east and south lands."  Skippered by Willem Janszoon, and with 20 crew on-board, the Duyfken started out from the Indonesian Banda Islands and explored and mapped the coastline of about 350 km of what is now the Cape York Peninsula. However, they never realized either the full extent of the land they had touched, or that it was a formerly unknown island, so they did not claim it for the Netherlands. Some historic buffs in the Kon-Tiki tradition have created an exact replica of the Duyfken, and used it to re-create some of its historic voyages, thereby proving them possible. The Amsterdam got in touch with the owners of the Duyfken, presented them with an authentic Dutch flag, and arranged for the Duyfken to accompany the Amsterdam out of Sydney Harbor, thereby having the two Dutch ships sail together for the first time ever.

Add to that the fireboat that accompanied us spraying great streams of water in all directions, and the helicopters that followed us (apparently to get footage for the nightly news), and the brass band that stayed on board to play us out of the harbor (and then had to be off-loaded into the pilot boat, an interesting sight), and the natural beauty of Sydney Harbor, and you have a truly unforgettable experience!

As I took pictures, I said something to the man standing next to me about “Can you imagine going to sea in a ship that small to discover Australia?” and he replied that not only could he imagine it, but he had sailed in that very ship (the replica Duyfken), and although it is tiny to us, it was actually pretty normal sized for its time. He went on to say that the Duyfken didn’t really discover Australia because they only knew they had encountered land, and didn’t really realize what they had found (they thought it was just another island in the area), and a whole lot more of the history and geography of the area. I was listening fascinated, when he finally said, “Not to be a know-it-all, but I do know quite a lot about this area and its history. I’m the pilot you took aboard to get you through the Great Barrier Reef to Cairns.”  When I indicated that I found his lecture very interesting, he continued to regale me with facts and figures until it was finally time to go to dinner.

That night we had Australian Night on the Lido deck, with Australian wine flowing, an aborigine didgery-doo player, a hoe-down band and genuine cruise director grape stompers adding to the fun. Genuine Australian eats, too, including exotic fruits and vegetables, and Australian Rock Lobsters and mussels. We really pigged out and had to cut way back on eating for the next two days (it didn’t really matter, we were still full).