I started the day by going back to the opera house. Tours of the building were supposed to start at 10:00 but by quarter past the guides still hadn’t shown up. As I had other things planned for the day I gave up waiting and had a coffee in a café near the Opera House. Wandering back to the hotel I met up with my friends. Nicole was going to meet a friend of hers who now lives in Sydney so me and Jason set off for the National Maritime Museum that we had seen last night.
The indoor displays were interesting with more of a military aspect than the Auckland maritime museum. We got to sit in Blackmores First Lady, the yacht Australian Kay Cottee sailed to become the first woman to sail solo, non-stop around the world in 1988. The yacht was so small to have completed the journey, it was cramped with people in it.
Also interesting was the huge lens from the Tasman Island lighthouse. Hanging on a wall is the Spirit of Australia, the world’s fastest boat. This jet engine powered craft set the record at 317 miles per hour in 1978.
The original lens from the Tasman Island lighthouse. It was used from construction in 1906 until the lighthouse was automated in 1976
The world’s fastest boat, the “Spirit of Australia”
It’s the ships outside that really interested me and Jason. HMAS Vampire, the last large, “all-guns” destroyer built for the Royal Australian Navy (subsequent designs were smaller ships armed with guns and missiles). Visitors have got full access to most of the upper parts of the ship. I found the bridge and the operations room the most interesting. Most worrying were the warnings painted around the two radar dishes - “Don’t stand here for more than 20 seconds when the radar is operating”! I guess it acted as a gigantic microwave oven.
The sterns of “HMAS Vampire” and “HMAS Onslow”
“HMAS Onslow” and “HMAS Vampire” tied side-by-side
HMAS Vampire’s two forward 4½ inch gun turrets
Tied up alongside HMAS Vampire is HMAS Onslow, a submarine built in England for the Royal Australian Navy in 1968. She left service only a few years ago and still looks quite modern inside. You enter the submarine via the forward torpedo loading hatch and walk through the boat to the stern. It was a shame that it was stiflingly hot inside the hull as I would have liked to have spent a bit more time looking about.
HMAS Onslow’s twin diesel engines
Berthed alongside HMAS Onslow is the lightship Carpentaria. She was built in 1917 and in used in various locations until 1983. I was amazed to discover that even ninety years ago there was technology available to automatically turn the light on when it got dark and back off when it got light. Thus the Carpentaria could be left anchored in position and only visited for servicing and refuelling.
The lightship “Carpentaria”, quite a dumpy looking craft
After recovering from the heat of the inside of HMAS Onslow with an ice-cream we climbed up the preserved Cape Bowling Green lighthouse. Despite the dire warnings posted at the bottom of the steps the climb up isn’t too difficult. From the top you get a good view of the museum’s ships and Darling Harbour. We saw our cruise boat from last night coming back in after another tour.
The balcony on the Cape Bowling Green lighthouse is 15 meters high and gives a great view out over Darling harbour
From the maritime museum I hopped on the Sydney monorail for a sightseeing circuit. As the train was so wonderfully air-conditioned I stayed on for several circuits! I got off at this city centre stop and headed back to the hotel. For the last night of our holiday we returned to Darling Harbour and had dinner at an Italian restaurant.
