Year 2 –29 January 2024 -Exploring Sydney – The Barber of Seville

We woke at a reasonable time and it was rather grey. We had breakfast and Malcolm and I went into Rose Bay to collect the laundry and to get some more wine etc. Trevor and Mark stayed behind and repaired a small leak in water system and also Trevor cleaned the last set of battery terminals. He had done most of them the day before. This is a good idea so they do not get corroded etc. When we returned to the boat the heavens opened and luckily we were not far from a building which have us some shelter. We stayed there for about 15 minutes before it stopped and returned to Stormbird  thankfully dry!

We were going to the Sydney Opera House that evening to see The Barber of Seville and everyone I think was quite excited about this. Trevor had bought a new shirt and Mark wanted to get some long trousers. We had ordered some parts for the heads (toilets) from the chandlers at Rushcutters Bay and I rang about 12.00 noon to see if the parts were in. They were, so Mark and I headed off by bus to the chandlers. We collected the parts and Mark looked at the trousers there but they were far too long. We returned and went into a clothes shop in Rose Bay. They had some nice trousers which were also too long but the fabric could be turned up and would stay although the lady in the shop suggested the launderette would turn them up. We went over there and they said come back at 4.00p and they will do it quickly.

We went back to Stormbird and had some lunch and rested. We then changed for the Opera and went ashore where had a quick drink whilst Mark collected his trousers which looked good. We were all therefore as smartly dressed as we could be and caught the ferry to Circular Quay and then we walked to the Opera House. The picture of the day is us standing outside before we went to collect our tickets – excited in anticipation.

We collected our tickets and then waited until 6.00pm when we could go to the Overture Dining Room which overlooks Sydney Harbour as we were having a 3-course dinner with wine pairings before the Opera. The meal was very good and  civilized and we all enjoyed it and the wines were not bad either. This was a good start to the evening.

After dinner we went to our seats in the stalls and we had a great view of the stage. Trevor and Mark have never been to an Opera before so this was their first time and what an Opera House to see your first opera in. The architecture is very simple and attractive. I hoped that my suggestion of the evening would not feel wasted on their part.

The opera – The Barber of Seville is my favourite and I must have seen 4-5 other performances in London. For those reading who have never been to an opera I would recommend going to this one. It is fun and a comedy and you may enjoy it more than you think. I took my team many years ago and they had never been to an opera and enjoyed it. It was written by Gioacchino Antonio Rossini – a giant of the Italian Opera world. It was first premiered in 1816 and the opera contains some of the most familiar opera music in the world and is the seventh most performed opera around the world. It should be on your bucket list of things to do.

The opera was very well done and contained a number of new things in the performance which I had not seen before. The music was great and the singing and acting was excellent.

The performance ended and to my relief both Mark and Trevor had really enjoyed it and said they would go again!! Malcolm has been to many operas and enjoyed it too. It had been a very special evening and a great memory of our time in Sydney. We managed to catch the last ferry to Rose Bay.

Sydney looked good in the dark with all the lights on the Opera House, Harbour Bridge and city. We managed to get some good night-time photographs. We got back to Stormbird in the dark and hope that the electrician is coming tomorrow and that we can get things fixed and then we plan to move on to Broken Bay some 18 nm up the coast. This will be our start of moving up the Eastern Australian Coast.     

Need/Opportunity Year Two

I am in need of more crew from April to September so if of interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

In year two I will be going from New Zealand to Sydney and hen up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and then through Bali, Singapore and on to Thailand to end year two about the end of November 2025.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com