 |
| Another new friend |
 |
| Harry! |
In the last few days Sydney has been
inundated with boats, small and large from all over the world. The special
occasion is the 100th birthday of Australia’s Navy, officially
called the International Fleet Review.
With tall ships and navy boats galore a few
trips where made to check out the sights. First adventure was to brave
torrential rain to see the tall ships arriving. Along with a couple of hundred
other soggy onlookers. The most exciting bit was when one of the boats set off
a cannon and the kids in the crowd cheered as they thought it was Captain Jack
Sparrow. Otherwise it was pretty dismal.
On Saturday the main event was the fleet
review with lots of pomp and ceremony but most important of all Prince Harry
flew in to be part of it. Boats where anchored all around the harbour. We found
a spot on the north side of the harbour. Big navy ships came in a line from out
to sea past all the vantage points. Helicopters and planes in formation entered
from the heads and went down the harbour. All very exciting.
The formal part of the event was the
Governor General, Quentin Bryce travelling around the harbour on HMAS Leeuwin,
reviewing the fleet. With Prince Harry on board! Swoon……. As the boat past using
my binoculars I provided fashion commentary on what the dignitaries where wearing
and tried to figure out which one was Harry. In beautiful sunshine on a
beautiful harbour it was a great day to be out and about.
On the way back to Circular Quay we went by
India’s boat and it had men in black with big guns standing at guard on all points.
This looked pretty strange in Sydney Harbour. The only disappointing bit to the
day was the yanks sent only one boat, a piddly little guided missile cruiser,
USS Chosin. I am sure it is a very lethal boat however last time we went to one
these events the yanks sent an aircraft carrier. That day we saw aircraft
taking off and landing on the carrier as we went by on the Manly Ferry a pretty
awesome sight that we will never forget.
Final event was today, on way to meeting at
North Sydney, quick check of the Tall Ships app showed them all tracking up the
Harbour. The view from the train was a perfect line with blue water and sunny
skies, framed by the harbour arches. After all the effort of trying to see the
tall ships arrive in dismal
weather, this was the icing on the cake.
A special shout out to my cousins, Bill and
Tony who served in the RAN.
