Bart Bear's Blog

Manly has been a holiday suburb of Sydney since the mid-1850s. There are some great examples of colonial architecture in the suburb, like the council building near the wharf and the police station in nearby Belgrave Street. There are 2 streets where tourists spend most of their time. The Corso runs from the ferry wharf to the beach, and the Esplanade runs along the beachfront. The Corso and some of the side streets are plazas (no cars allowed) and have a good mix of shops. In the afternoons and evenings there are usually buskers performing here. My 2 favourite places are the Ivanhoe Hotel where food and drinks are always available, and Anita's Gelato (the best I have tasted on my trips around Australia). The shops along the Esplanade are a mix of cafes and surf shops. My favourites here are Hemingway's cafe where we had breakfast, and The Pantry (right on the beach) where we had lunch with relatives. Hot weather and beaches = drinks; I have had some comments about my drinking, but this small bear is now 20 (above the Australian drinking age) and know how to hold my liquor.
 

Labels: NSW, Sydney

What a long break. I have been away from the keyboard for 9 weeks!! I was overseas for 5 of those weeks, 16 days in Hawaii and 19 cruising back home; reports and images of happenings during that time to come (Dad has just finished archiving the images and videos of the trip). However, fun things have been happening since we got home. Last weekend we went down to Sydney to see Bro Trent and Unka Nathan off on their first cruise, on the biggest ship operating out of Australia, "Ovation of the Seas". This is twice the size of the ship we cruised back from Hawaii on, "Radiance of the Seas". I was really impressed with the size of their ship, and would like to see it alongside the largest one I have sailed on, "Queen Mary 2"; it would be an interesting comparison between a giant cruise ship and a giant ocean liner. While we were waiting for the ship to leave, we went on a cruise around the harbour. This is something we do every Sydney trip so that we can keep up with the new buildings and parks around the foreshore. Sydney harbour is the prettiest one I have sailed into/out of.
Yesterday was my 17th birthday. I don't think the Saturday night fireworks near our hotel at Darling Harbour was in my honour, but it could have been...

Labels: boats, buildings, Sydney

One of the things that we do during some Sydney stays is to take the ferry across to Manly. The ferries all leave from Circular Quay, so there is always a chance of seeing large cruise ships docked at the passenger terminal next to the ferry wharves. The top one here is "Queen Elizabeth". I have not been on her, but did meet up with her in Sydney Harbour when I was on the "Queen Mary 2". The smaller ship is "Explorer of the Seas" and I have cruised on her sister ship "Voyager of the Seas" a couple of times. When these ships are about to leave in the late afternoon the top decks are usually lined with passengers watching the departure. Several times we have stood on deck and noticed an interesting balcony with lots of people waving back to us. So Mum did some searching and found out that the balcony was part of a restaurant called Appetito. This time it was us on that balcony, drinking Chianti and waving to the passengers on the Queen as she departed. Mum lived in Manly until she was nearly 5 and we keep an eye on how the suburb changes. It is all plazas and tons of tourists in the town centre now. The flat where her aunt lived is still there, just a few streets back from the harbour. The beach is still one of the best in Sydney, not as big and crowded as Bondi. In my opinion it is better than the Hawaiian beaches, but there is a link to Hawaii here; this is the beach where Duke Kahanamoku introduced surfing to Australia. There are more photos of Manly in earlier posts if you want to use the search box.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Last weekend we took Dad to Sydney for a real flash 3-day celebration of his passing the 3/4 century+1 birthday. There are loads of pictures of Sydney on the blog, so here's a few different ones. I like the look of the city at night, buildings like the Town Hall look great with the lights giving them a glow. Of course, it is ideal if you can sit with a great building in the background and a cocktail in the foreground. The building is the Queen Victoria Building, a restored heritage shopping mall, and the cocktails are in the Glass Brasserie, one of the top restaurants in Sydney (we fed the man steak, of course). Our hotel had an interesting spiral sculpture in the foyer and if I could have found a way to get to it I would have loved to tackle the 4-story climb to its top. The Oldies spend a bit of time shopping. I usually go with Dad as his idea of shopping involves hobby shops, much more interesting to small bears than the shops Mum goes to. Hobbyco is our favourite one in Sydney. We usually stock up on plastic kits, but have hit the stage where we have built all the interesting ones. So we started our collection of 1/76 scale fire engines. There is always something new to find in "the Big Smoke" and we thoroughly spoiled the Old Bloke.

Labels: models, New South Wales, Sydney

No matter where we travel and how much fun the trip has been it is always good to be back in Australia. The prettiest homecoming is sailing into Sydney harbour at the end of a cruise. The ships usually enter the Heads just before Sunrise and the view is one of the few things that will get the Oldies out of bed early. The first things that you see are the blinking lighthouses at Hornby and Macquarie (search earlier posts for photos of them). The first photo is South Head and if you look carefully you can see the light from Hornby. Near the city the first ferries are starting out past the Opera House. The ship passes Fort Dennison just as its small lighthouse turns off. Smaller ships like Sun Princess pass under the Harbour Bridge to White Island Terminal, and by the time disembarkation begins the Sun is risen. A great way to return to Aus.

Labels: boats, cruising, Sydney

Well, I am back from another cruise to New Zealand on "Voyager of the Seas". We got back a week ago, but I have been so flat out helping the Oldies unpack and catch up with loads of email that I have just gotten around to the blog. No worry, there will be lots of photos and info from the cruise over the next weeks. We spent a couple of days in Sydney before joining Voyager. We stayed in a great room overlooking Circular Quay. Scruffy, Milkshake and I spent most of the time on the balcony looking at the endless stream of cruise ships, ferries, yachts and small craft. The top left image is not Voyager of course, it is one of the Holland-America Line ships. We were awake just after sunrise on December 18 to watch Voyager arrive, very pretty in the dawn light. Unka Mark and Aunty Vicki arrived a couple of hours later and we embarked as soon as possible. Voyager has changed a bit since our first cruise in her. More cabins have been squeezed in and some of our favourite spots for listening to live music have gone, but it is still a great ship. Late in the afternoon we cruised out of Sydney Heads, past Hornby lighthouse (Mum's favourite), transferred the Pilot back onto his launch, and settled in for a couple of days crossing the Tasman Sea.

Labels: boats, cruising, New Zealand, Sydney

The day before we sailed off to Noumea, we had lunch at one of Sydney's best ressertorraornttz (I just can't spell restaurant). It is at one of the best-known of the world's beaches - Bondi. The eatery is attached to the Bondi Icebergs Club and has spectacular views over the beach. Actually, Mum thought she was booking us into the Bistro, which is cheap club-type food, but when we got there we found that we were actually booked into the non-cheap high-class place. So the Oldies decided that a 5-star lunch would be a good thing to do.  While they were demolishing some incredible fodder, I sat quietly on the patio with a glass of the good white stuff and watched the action on the beach and in the ocean. The Icebergs are a club of people who swim every day of the year, including mid-winter, except when the sea is so rough that the pool is unsafe. The super-storm that hit Sydney early this week stopped them for a couple of days, but you can see some of them in the pool in the first image. There are usually surfers, both board and body, in the water. This day had good sets of waves coming in and you can spot surfers as well. Bondi is a good beach, but Dad says that the NSW north coast beaches are better and Mum prefers Manly. I think they may be just a wee bit biased; I like Bondi.

Labels: beach, New South Wales, Sydney

We just finished a cruise on the best ship we have been on so far. This small bear thinks "Radiance of the Seas" is just about perfect. The happy and efficient crew made for a happy trip. Not a long cruise this time, just 7 days to Noumea and Isle of Pines and return. In case you have been watching the news about cruise ships not being able to get into Sydney for the past 2 days, due to horrendous weather, we actually docked a day before the harbour had to be closed. We had good weather for the whole cruise. Radiance is not as big as Voyager or QM2, but I liked not having to walk so far to get from our cabin to where things were happening, and there was always something interesting happening. Sailing out of Sydney is always special, it is a truly beautiful harbour. At the very start of the voyage Mum took a great picture of the Opera House. We have many pictures of it, but the angle from the top deck gives a more 3D effect than you get from the ground, and the lighting makes it really pretty. Lots more pix of ship and shore posting soon.

Labels: boats, cruising, Noumea, Sydney

Last week we ducked down to Sydney for a couple of days. There were two reasons why Mum wanted to make the trip. Firstly, she wanted to take us to see an exhibition of paintings by a guy called Pablo Picasso at the Art Gallery of NSW, and secondly she wanted to take us to a concert at the Sydney Opera House. Well, I have to admit that I really can't see why some people think Picasso is so great. To me it looks like he draws things the same way as I do when I am mucking around with Dad's model paints. Some of his drawings look like he has cut them into small pieces and reassembled the bits in random order. Mum really liked the exhibition, Dad and I liked some of the other paintings in the rest of the art gallery. The concert was by Il Divo. They were OK, but we were totally impressed by the Opera House Concert Hall. Superb architecture and acoustics. Do experience it if you possibly can. For me, the highlight of the trip was where we stayed. Mum found a great deal in a place near the Opera House, right on Circular Quay. From the balcony I could see all sorts of boats, from small ferries to big cargo ships. Moored on the other side of the quay was the cruise ship "Pacific Jewel". I was able to watch the passengers go on board and the tugs backing her out to set off on a Pacific cruise. And guess what? From the Art Gallery cafe we could see our favourite ocean liner "Queen Mary 2" moored at Garden Island. I could even see the cabin we were in last year. It really is time that the Oldies got the necessary cash together to take us all on another cruise (Dad take note).

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

Here's a couple more photos of the old dockyard on Cockatoo Island in Sydney Harbour. For nearly a century this island was Australia's main shipbuilding and repair centre. Now it is deserted and falling gradually into ruin. Some of it is being restored as Museum exhibits, but the large things are beyond it. The top photo is of the turbine workshop. This used to be full of huge machines that could make or repair anything in a ship's engines. Some of the gigantic machinery is still there in the side bays, but the smaller stuff has been sold to other factories. It is sad and a bit spooky to walk through this huge building. The bottom photo is of one of the dry docks (full of water ) where Australia's O class submarines were refitted and repaired in the 1970's and later. At the end of the dock is the headquarters building for the submarine repair depot and it has the nose of a sub coming out of the lawn in front of the building. There is a large camping area on the island. It is on the area where the metal shop used to be. Other big workshops have been removed as well and one of those areas is used for concerts and stunt shows. That's one use for the island, but to me Cockatoo Island is a sad reminder of the way that Australia was once almost self-sufficient and of the industries we have lost.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

Remember that I said it was rough the day we sailed outside Sydney Heads on the "James Craig"? Most of the passengers were sea-sick and the top picture may give you an idea why. The camera was actually held horizontal, not aimed at the top of the waves. Those waves are the result of a 5 metre swell and they are higher than Dad, let alone me. The ship handled it fine, only a couple of really big swells actually came over the deck. There was a lot of spray of course and it was raining a bit as well, so everybody got wet. The really sick passengers were taken down below deck and put into hammocks. The thing about hammocks is that they swing and can take some of the motion of the ship away. The problem is that if you keep your eyes open you can see everything moving in different directions to you and that can make you feel even sicker. Scruffy and I weren't sick. Small bears are immune to sea-sickness. We did want to see how it felt to be swinging in the hammocks though, so we grabbed an empty one and tried it out. We liked it, but were quickly removed to make way for the next sick person. Old sailing barques are great ships, but they are rough on passengers when the seas get rough.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

When we visited Cockatoo Island there was a very interesting exhibition there. It was all about the remarkable inventions of Henry Hoke, Australia's most forgotten inventor. It is an exhibition full of strange things, like the barbed-wire watering can, the excuse generator, chain saws (using different sizes of dog chain), red and green oil for port and starboard lights, short and long weights, and dozens of other unlikely things. I really liked this one. It is Hoke's Learning Curve and, as you can see, I am definitely further up the learning curve than Scruffy. Actually, Dad says that Henry's family name gives away the joke about the exhibition. It is great fun and if it ever comes to a city near you, make time to visit it and have a good laugh. You can see more about the exhibition at http://www.ibys.org/shed/?page_id=16

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Here we are on "James Craig" setting out for our sailing adventure. The sails are being set and Scruffy and I are on the wheel. There are crew up in the rigging, but they are hard to see. The water inside the harbour is nice and calm. That changed rather dramatically as we cleared Sydney Heads, and the passengers changed from a happy mob of sightseers to a green-tinged group desperately hanging on to anything in reach while the crew spent hours turning the old square-rigger around and getting back into calm water. There's nothing like a 5 metre swell and strong winds to test people for sea-sickness. Actually, us small bears thoroughly enjoyed the experience. We never get sea-sick and we learned a lot about ropes and sails and just how tough it was back in the days when big sailing ships were the main means of transport.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

You have probably heard about the Princes in the Tower, well here are Scruffy and I playing Bears in the Tower. The tower is the Martello tower in Fort Denison in Sydney harbour. This tower is the only Martello tower in Australia and the last one built in the British Empire. It has a small lighthouse on top of it and used to have cannons inside it. You can take a guided tour with a park ranger, but aren't allowed inside it on your own. Well, that's a challenge to adventurous small bears, so Scruff and I set out to see if we could see what was in there. The tower is made out of sandstone blocks and they have enough hand and foot holds for small critters. For once Scruff climbed faster than I did and reached the window opening first. You can see him giving me a hand up the last bit of the climb. Guess what? The window was closed and the lights were out inside so we couldn't see anything in there. The view across the harbour was very good though. We were just getting ready to climb back down when Dad found us and lifted us down; sometimes he comes in handy. The big difference between us and the princes is that we were trying to get into a tower and the poor little princes couldn't get out of the one they were in.

Labels: climbing, New South Wales, Sydney

When Cockatoo Island dockyard closed in the early 1990s, most of the machinery and instruments were sold and removed. Some of the really big machinery that ordinary industry didn't want are still there. This huge lathe is slowly rusting away in one of the big workshops. How big is it? Well, it could handle the complete propeller shaft from a battleship. You can get an idea of the size by comparing it to the size of the small bears in the inset image. Scruffy and I are about 17cm from head to tail (not that either of us have much in the way of a tail) and, as you can see, that is not much bigger than the length of one of the bolts that are lying there, and smaller than the diameter of the wheel in the foreground. I would love to have seen this huge machine in action. Maybe someday it will find a new home.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

Cockatoo Island was Australia's most important dockyard until its closure in 1992. Hundreds of ships of all sorts were built and repaired there. Today the dockyards are empty of life. No ships are there. The big dockyard cranes are slowly rusting away. Submarines used to be built in the dock near the closest crane in this photo. A visit to the island is a sad experience, seeing the wreckage of what was a busy industrial site. Fortunately, some of the people who used to work there have started a preservation group and they are slowly saving and repairing some of the equipment. The small crane in the bottom picture is one of the current projects. It is a steam crane. The big silver tank at the back is the boiler which used to provide the steam to power the lifting bits and the wheels. Scruffy and I had a good climb around the crane and if all the bits were connected up and the boiler had steam in it, we could have driven it around and shifted things. Can you see us in the photo? The little inset may help. We love old machinery and are really happy that lots of people are helping to save important bits of our history.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

Scruffy and I are examining the binnacle compass on the "James Craig". In the days before GPS and radio compasses, these compasses were the main way of navigating a ship. Because the ship bounces and rolls in the waves, the compass is mounted inside a pair of hinged rings that let it stay level all the time. The compass body is made of brass. If it was made of iron it would muck up the magnetic compass needle. In fact all of the metal in the ship has an effect on the compass needle, so it has to be carefully measured and balanced out. The two metal balls on the sides of the compass stand are part of the magnetic balance system, making sure that the needle always points north. Scruff and I figured out how this one worked and had a bit of fun balancing on the moving rings as the ship rolled, but eventually the helmsman (who was a lady) made us get down so that she could see the compass without a small bear being in the way.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

Scruffy and I were always ready to help the crew of the "James Craig". Up to the time things got rough anyway. Here we are standing by some ropes as the ship is getting ready to leave the wharf at the National Maritime Museum in Sydney. Actually, we weren't sure just what these ropes did, but we were ready to haul them in or let them loose whenever we got the command. The big wheely-thing behind us is one of the pumps. If water starts to come into the ship, sailors slip handles onto the square ends of the axle and turn them as fast as they can manage. The heavy wheels store energy and keep spinning during the short times that sailors are changing over. We didn't have to do that during our trip, but there were times when huge waves looked like they were coming over the deck so it was good to know that the pumps were ready. How did Scruff and I cope with the big waves? We settled down in Dad's backpack and let him worry about them.

Labels: boats, New South Wales, Sydney

This crane is on Cockatoo Island in Sydney harbour. Cockatoo Island was picked as a convict prison in 1839 and a lot of the buildings and the dockyard that the convicts built have been preserved and are on the World Heritage List. From 1847 onward the docks were busy repairing Royal Navy ships, and shipbuilding started there in 1870. In 1913 it became the dockyard for the Royal Australian Navy. It was at its busiest during World War 2, repairing damaged Allied ships, building new warships up to destroyer size, and refitting merchant ships for troop and supply carriers. The first "Queen Mary" was converted to a troopship here. Cockatoo Island was the major shipyard in Australia until 1992, when the dockyards closed, most of the machinery was sold and lots of the workshops and wharves were demolished. Today, the island is managed by the Sydney Harbour Trust. You can visit it by ferry and spend many fascinating hours examining the remaining docks, workshops and machinery. Lots of the machinery is slowly rusting away, but some, like this small crane, has been restored. If Scruffy and I could have figured out how to get it running we would have had a great time using it to pick up some of the big chunks of machines that are scattered around the island. If you have any interest in industrial history then make sure that you visit Cockatoo Island when you are in Sydney.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney

I've shown you photos of Fort Denison in previous postings, but here's one from the inside. On our last visit to Sydney we went across to the fort for lunch and a look around. It is an amazing place. The convict labourers did a really good job when they built it. You can just wander around most of the fort, but if you want to see inside the round tower you have to have a guide. That's because the stairs are narrow and steep and if you try really hard you could even get lost in there. I would like to try that. Anyhow, up on top of the lower buildings is a series of gun mountings and some of them even have guns still mounted on them. These two are part of the Battery that guarded the inner harbour. Scruffy and I had them lined up to blow any invading pirate ships out of the water, but no pirates tried to invade the Opera House while we were there. Lucky for them. There is still a gun working there; every day at 1 pm it is fired as a time signal for ships to set their clocks by. We weren't expecting it and it scared the heck out of Scruff and me. We thought pirates had sneaked up behind us.

Labels: New South Wales, Sydney