Australian National Maritime Museum

While in Sydney, I visited the Australian National Maritime Museum, located at Darling Harbour. It was a filthy day and, while I was there, there was a colossal thunderstorm which caused flash floods in and around the area. By then, I'd seen all I wanted to but stayed put until the worst of the rain had stopped, lurking in the shop. The shop had a decent selection of books and some pretty good ship models too but I refrained from buying any because of budgetary restraints as well as considering the fact there was a possibility my baggage could end up exceeding the airline's restrictions (Malaysia Airlines only allow 20 kg of checked bags and a measly 7 kg of carry-on luggage if you're in steerage class).

I paid $27 to go in, which allowed you to visit the ships they had on display, including HMAS Vampire, a Daring-class destroyer, and HMAS Onslow, an Oberon-class submarine (if that sounds familiar, the Royal Navy had Oberon-class subs until the 1990s).

I visited HMAS Vampire first, because there were some threatening clouds coming in from the Pacific Ocean so visiting the ships first then heading inside looked like the best option.

Other ships

A few of the inside exhibits

A model of SS Orcades

Surfing - Australia is one of the word's foremost surfing locations.

A former RAN helicopter

Cruise ships at Sydney

In March I went to Australia for a three week trip. It wasn't a ship spotting or photography trip but there were some to photograph and, frankly, it would have been rude not to. As well as the cruise ships and ferries at Sydney, I also went up the NSW coast to the port of Newcastle for a couple of days and photographed the bulk carriers, and tugs, using the port. First, here are the cruise ships I saw. The bulk carriers, tugs and ferries will be in separate posts.

Here's Sun Princess departing from Sydney in the late afternoon on 20th March. I'd literally arrived in Australia that afternoon but decided not to give in to jet lag. I photographed her against the light on a very sunny, hot, afternoon, hence the contrast. Not among my better photos but I didn't have much choice, really, as I was using the Opera House as my vantage point. The Opera House, by the way, is a great place to watch the ships in the harbour.

The following day, I photographed Carnival Spirit alongside Circular Quay...

...and departing in the early evening

 

...but, before Carnival Spirit left the port, Pacific Pearl had sailed

Rhapsody of the Seas on 28th March

And Pacific Jewel, photographed from the fast ferry Shane Gould as we sailed into Darling Harbour (I'd done a trip to Cockatoo Island earlier).