It seems like it is coronavirus all the time lately and it is tempting to write about nothing else. But that is boring and it is not something I really want to write down so that I can remember it in the future in excruciating detail.

As I think I wrote earlier, we hardly ever stepped on a ferry during the Amex Era. It just wasn’t convenient and driving in Sydney was not as daunting and crowded then. It’s a bit surprising, in retrospect, since infant Alex would have loved taking the ferries and was a fan of “Ferry Boat Fred”, an Australian Broadcasting Company knockoff of “Thomas the Tank Engine”.

For the past five weeks or so, we have relied on the Manly Ferry to get to and from downtown Sydney and to otherwise get around. It’s a nine mile trip and takes about 30 minutes if you take the regular ferry, operated by the Transit Service, or 20 minutes if you take the privately-operated “Fast Ferry”. The Fast Ferry is about A$2.00 more per trip, at least during off-peak, when I usually ride. Both ferries take the Opal card, the Sydney equivalent of London’s Oyster card. You preload it at a station and then tap in and out when you take any form of transit and your fare is calculated and deducted. The Fast Ferry is a little smaller and a bit plusher and has a bar that serves bottled beer from 4-8 PM. Makes for an especially pleasant commute home from work. You can get a ferry within 15 minutes at most times during the day. After about 8:00 or 9:00 the Fast Ferry stops running and the regular ferry goes to an every 45 minute schedule. (If we just miss one of those late ferries, we often just take an Uber or a taxi home.) Lately the ferries are increasingly empty, as the tourists are gradually disappearing and more people are working from home.

I was a little concerned about all of this boat riding when we first got here, as I have a tendency toward sea sickness. As it turned out, the ride is pretty smooth within the harbor. However, when you go past the heads of the harbor, the opening to the open ocean that is said to be a mile and a half across (although it looks shorter to me), there is definite swell and the boat heaves about for a few minutes. This varies and it can been more extreme if there is storm at sea or something. The Fast Ferry is less affected since it is a catamaran and is going faster and just bashes through the waves more efficiently. Here are some photos of the heads from the ferry.

It is hard to adequately describe how spectacular Sydney’s harbor is and photos don’t really do it justice. It is surrounded by hills with either houses or parkland going down to the water. As you go from the heads towards the CBD and Circular Quay, the houses are replaced by larger buildings and, as you turn a corner, the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House suddenly come into view. The ferries turn left just before the Bridge to pull in the Circular Quay wharves and you cruise right past the Opera House. Some photos at the end of this blog post will give an idea of the ride.

Back in the Amex Era, the Harbor was more commercial, with big container ships and tankers going through to dock. In the interim, a deep-water port was built at Botany Bay (South of Sydney, where the First Fleet originally landed before deciding to move up to Sydney’s present location), so those big ships are no longer around. There are huge (and I mean huge) cruise lines that come to Sydney every day. You see them either at the terminal in Circular Quay or waiting in the Harbor to change places. There was different cruise ship docked every day we have been here. But that has all changed with the virus and they will be prohibited from landing soon and some are already barred. We’ve seen a few anchored in the Harbor, which must be frustrating if you are a passenger. (Although if you are a willing passenger on a cruise ship right now, you have too be nuts.) In addition to the cruise ships, the Harbor is filled with other ferries, party boats, sightseeing cruises, water taxis and lots of sailboats. At one point, part of the Harbor was shut down for a big yacht race, featuring these incredibly fast catamarans, which can reach 60 miles per hour and are the ones now used for the America’s Cup. We watched them practicing from the ferries and they literally scream along as they make this high-pitched noise when they rise up onto little hydrofoil things. They barely touch the water.

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