35 Days in Australia - February 2025

 

I'll be posting updates about our recent Australia trip over the next few weeks.

A Summary of the Journey

We arrived in Sydney, with our next door neighbors, on January 17, 2025. My last visit to Australia was in August 2013. On this 2025 trip, we had two days to explore the city before boarding the Viking Ocean Venus for a 32 day circumnavigation around the continent of Australia. This trip also included an overnight night stay in Bali, Indonesia.

Despite jet lag, we were able to visit the Sydney Fish Market,  Australian Museum's Machu Picchu VR experience and Exhibit of Early Inca artifacts, Royal Botanical Garden and Queen Victoria Building (QVB). The Sydney Fish Market was great place to view fresh fish markets and have lunch at one of the many food shops. We picked up a delicious lunch of sushi and fresh fruit.

At the QVB, I purchased a pair of RMWilliams Comfort Craftsman Chelsea Boots made in Australia. I had my eye on a pair of these boots before our trip and realized that the best price would be found in Australia rather than in the US.

During our brief Sydney visit, we visited a couple of restaurants for dinner. We enjoyed excellent dinners at "Fish At the Rocks" and the Indian dishes at "The Grand Palace." Generally, reservations are recommended for many Sydney restaurants. We also found that advance calendar planning is helpful as many restaurants are closed on Sundays. We didn't realize this issue until Sunday morning.

Port Stops of the Viking Venus Circumnavigation Cruise

• Sydney
• Brisbane
• Whitsunday
• Townsville
• Cairns
• Darwin
• Rinca Island (Komodo National Park)
• Bali (2 days)
• Fremantle/Perth (2 days)
• Busselton
• Albany
• Adelaide
• Melbourne
• Burnie
• Eden
• Sydney

In between our port stops, we had 14 at-sea days. For many of these days, the ocean and wind cooperated. However, there was one day when the waves ranged between 17 and 24 feet - not great for the unsteady or those prone to sea sickness. 

The Viking Venus offered many activities during the at-sea days. These ranged from lectures, movies, gym and yoga sessions, ship tours and some gastronomic food events, including flambe desserts, seafood specials, lunch extravaganzas and even a tomahawk steak dinner. If you haven't cruised with Viking Ocean, the Chef's Table dinners offer a set menu focusing on a regional cuisine - very creative and delicious.

Viking Ocean has become our favorite cruise line. The stylish and comfortable guest cabins and lounge areas, spa offerings, lecturer quality, dining options and very friendly and helpful staff members make this a great cruise experience.  

Flight Back to California

On February 20, 2025, we disembarked the Viking Venus at 8:30am. After a seven hour layover at the Sydney airport, we boarded a 13 hour Qantas flight to Los Angeles (LAX). A brief Southwest flight returned us back to Northern California.