F1 Season Starts This Week

Well, here we go again. The start of the F1 season is upon us with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend in Melbourne. Last year I was able to attend and have a lot of great memories.

Newcastle Australia

Christ Church

One of my favorite stops on our cruise was Newcastle, Australia. We didn't have an excursion planned and decided to wing it in the city.

Newcastle is a city on the east coast of Australia with a beautiful inner city, small city vibe and long beautiful beaches with a bluff looking down on the beaches.

We started the day in the inner city walking the main shopping area and then made our way up a hill to the Christ Church. It is a nice walk from downtown and on the way there is a cemetery where you will find grave sites from the convict era. It was interesting to read how some had died and their ages. The church itself is a Gothic style and being up on a hill stood out as our ship arrived. You can tour the church as I would recommend.

After touring the church we wanted to get some lunch and took a taxi to one of the beaches for food and drinks. The driver recommended the Merewether Surfhouse at Merewether Beach. The restaurant sits on a bluff overlooking the beach with incredible views. Also at Merewether Beach you will see the Merewether Baths. The baths are swimming pools built into the beach. There are filled from the ocean during the tides and provide a safe place to swim where you don't have to worry about rip tides and sea creatures. I found the best part of Newcastle to be their beaches. I also learned that Newcastle is a port city where coal is exported to other countries, mainly China. From the beach you will find ships lined up waiting to be filled with coal.

After lunch we did something I like to do in a city I have never been to before. I did it in Rome and it really worked out. So after lunch we had the same taxi driver take us on a tour of the city. It is fairly inexpensive and if you get the right driver you will get a flavor of the city you won't get on a normal tour.

After the tour it was back to the ship. I really liked Newcastle. It does not have the big city feel and is the type of city I could live in.

Merewether Beach

Merewether Surfhouse Restaurant

Cruising Australia

After spending the first 5 days in Sydney, with a one day excursion to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, we boarded our ship for an 8 night cruise up the east coast. Our ship was the Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas which left from Sydney harbor. I would say it is a mid-size ship with a capacity of about 2500 passengers. There were 13 decks with deck 10 being the highest for cabins. Above that there was the main pool and buffet on deck 11, arcades, kids pool, fitness center on deck 12 and the Viking Crown Lounge on deck 13.

We had a Junior Suite on deck 10 that was plenty big enough for us with a nice balcony. The bathroom had a combo tub shower for plenty of room and the walk-in closet allowed us to put all our clothes away and still had room to store the luggage out of the way. The room also had a sitting area which made it nice when our friends came over for a drink. For on-board activities I would suggest going to the nightly show. We saw everything from a magician, comedienne, tango show to a tribute to the band Queen. We had the late dinner seating and we would hit the show before dinner. Also there were movies, the pool and we also took a behind the scenes tour of the kitchen which included an awesome lunch. There is something to do for everyone. You can be as active as you want or just grab a book and relax. My wife did a spa treatment which she really enjoyed. It was such a pleasant experience she would have gone back if we had the time. She also purchased a lot of the products they used on her. 

For food, we really enjoyed the main dining room. Our service was great and the food options every night were perfect. One night we opted for reservations at the steak house. The food was great as well as the service but we missed our servers in the main dining room. For breakfast we had the option of the main dining room or the Windjammer Buffet. Both were great. Sitting in the main dining room was good and if you had an excursion and were in a hurry the buffet was perfect. There was also the Windjammer Cafe for lunch or many other options for a quick snack. 

We opted for the unlimited drink package which we got our monies worth. Enough said there. We also brought 2 bottles of wine with us but with the drink package I thought it was a waste bringing our own wine.

I think taking a cruise is a great value for what you get. If you can do it reserve a suite. Our Junior Suite made the cruise very enjoyable. My only concern was the amount of food we ate. Food is always available and it is too tempting.

Royal Caribbean is a great cruise line to choose.

Sydney Opera House

The Four Seasons Hotel was in a great location and was within walking distance to the Sydney Opera House. In fact you could see it from Sue and Marks room. We had the hotel book us a tour and walked from the hotel. The walk is easy from the hotel and passes the ferry terminals and harbor cruise ports. Once you get to the far side of Circular Quay the walk is lined with bars and restaurants. 

You can argue that, along with the Sydney Bridge, the Sydney Opera House is the most iconic site in Sydney. It was designed by a Danish architect, Jørn Utzon, who had his design selected in 1957 and was completed in October, 1973. We learned that the reason it took so long was that the original design was not engineering sound and it too years to find a way to build it. Of course that caused cost overruns. The original cost was set at $7 M and the final cost came in at $102 M. During construction the architect resigned and went back to Denmark and never saw it completed. Eventually the architects son was brought back to complete the project.  Later more work was done to allow more natural sunlight to come in. 

The Sydney Opera House is not one venue but is made up of many venues all within the building. That way, during a typical day there could be a school play, major concert, play, recitals, etc. There are over 1500 events and 1.2 M people there each year along with 350,000 people taking the guided tour.

If you are in Sydney the tour is a must do. The guides add a lot of color and perspective to the tour making it very enjoyable.

Airport Hotel, Sydney

On a recent trip to Australia we needed a hotel close to the Sydney airport for an early morning flight home. Doing some research I picked the Rydges Sydney Airport Hotel. The hotel is practically attached to the international terminal and is an easy walk. If you have a lot of luggage I would suggest grabbing a cart from the terminal and taking it up to your room.

The hotel is very nice with clean modern rooms. The staff is great and checkin/checkout is easy. For food and beverage, they have a coffee bar, sports bar and restaurant. They also have a rooftop bar where you can have a drink while watching the planes take off and land.

If you need an airport hotel option in Sydney flying international I would recommend this hotel. If you are flying domestic I understand they have a shuttle service to get you there.