A Walk and a Float 2025: South Pacific Float - days (-4 ish) to Zero (Sydney)

Due to request, I have revived the blog for this trip. We are embarking on a 28 day cruise, starting in Sydney, Australia, and ending in Aukland, NZealand. And hitting a bunch of ports/islands in between.

Our flight left Portland on Dec 31. To San Francisco. And then to Sydney.
Because Sydney is 17 hours ahead, and the flight is almost 16 hours, our flight from SF left on Dec31, and landed on Jan2. No NY day for us. About 2.5 days in Sydney before getting on the boat.

Maybe some ominous portend as to what is to come... *After* we had landed. And *after* they turned off the seatbelt sign. And *after* they had opened the door to the plane to start the exiting procedure "Ladies and Gentlemen. Due to weight concerns, we did not load any checked luggage onto the plane. Please see the help desk in baggage-claim for details. Your bags may arrive in 24-48 hours, or may take longer. Please enjoy your stay in Sydney."
I am guessing they were holding the news for the last possible second to avoid a passenger uprising. But an intercontinental flight with zero luggage is stupid. United is not our friend.
Fortunately, each of us did pack *one* pair of socks and *one* pair of underwear into our carry-on backpacks.
After more than an hour in line (and we were in the first half of the line...), after getting our info, the guy at the luggage 'help' desk said we were maybe entitled to two $50 vouchers for our inconvenience. And if the voucher didn't show up in our email, we could go through a claims process with United, and it is possible we might be able to get the $50, but he did not sound hopeful. And I am happy to state that the Passenger Bill of Rights that might have helped us has now been revoked due to Anti-Wokeness, so recourse against the airlines for baggage delays have been weakened.
I am glad we scheduled 2.5 days for Sydney...

It is now 1/4. And we board the ship in a few hours. And just now one of the two bags just arrived at the hotel (mine). Jana's is still 'in delivery'. In solidarity, I am continuing to wear the same clothes (other than sink-washed undergarments) that I was wearing when I left Portland.
I can't imagine what will happen if it misses. I guess it will have to catch us in two days in Brisbane?

Sydney (Day 1). After getting to the hotel at about 9AM, the goal was to stay awake. So we walked from the hotel to the Opera House. Got lunch. And walked the Botanical Gardens. A fistful of new birds. All the birds in Australia (so far) are bigger than US. Between robin and crow-sized, or larger. A lot of them are black-and-white. Some are quite noisy. A lot require good visuals because Merlin sound-ID has only about a third of the birds here. Fortunately, got a few reasonable pictures.

Sydney (Day 2) - took and hour ride on a ferry to Olympic Park to an estuarial birding hotspot to get in some steps and find some new birds. Ferries in Syndey are part of public transport - so the round trip, including a couple of stops, ended up costing US $0.67.
Success in the bird-finds. Success in about 8 miles of walking. Success in not being bitten by land critters or too many insects. Pictures will follow.
Airline confirms that bags have landed in Sydney, but the pickup desk at the airport is already closed (closed at 3PM) and they might take up to 24 hours to deliver to the hotel...

Sydney (Day 3) - we leave for the boat at noon. It is currently approaching 9AM. I think we are going to mostly stay around the hotel waiting for the 2nd bag.... And at 10AM, the mall opens.

Photos:

At the Sydney Opera House. And the Harbor Bridge, called the Harbour Bridge.