A Never-ending Friday

Friday has gone on forever.  I left Sydney on Friday evening at 5:45 pm and after 24 1/2 hours travel arrived in Salt Lake City at 7:45pm the same day!

I'll spare you the details of the journey. It was long, mostly on time and reasonably comfortable.

The weather here in Salt Lake is unseasonably balmy but there's quite a strong breeze tonight. Hotel checkin was pleasant, I asked for a front room and the receptionist obliged by putting me on a high floor. On opening the curtains I was greeted by the familiar sight of the State Capitol and the lights of  the Temple in Temple Square. I will have to wait until morning to see if the mountains that ring the city are snowcapped.

Night lights.

Having dumped my bags in the room I had a tough decision, should I satisfy my hunger or have a soak in the tub, the stomach won. I slinked into the restaurant and took a table for one.  Before I even saw the group of geneastars sitting across the room  I heard one of them sharing a story. It was the effervescent Cyndi holding court. I was pleased to meet Michael Lacopo (left of photo), author of the Hoosier Daddy blog (Read it). Although I was asked to join the group I politely declined as I knew I was really in need of a bath.

Geneastars at Dinner

Among the jobs I have on my list for tomorrow are: buy snacks and bottled water, locate some more genies, prepare my schedule for the week, blog, visit the FHL, research, break for retail therapy (thanks Cyndi for the discount coupon - the 20% off will make up for the fall in the Aussie dollar) and retweak my Rootstech presentation. My last job of the evening is to decide which bed will have the pleasure of my company.

Pre and Post Cruise Accomodation

I posted this information for those who were joining the 3rd Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise in Sydney last year and, as it is useful for those joining the 4th cruise, I am reposting it with a few amendments (in italics).
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I received a message from a genealogy contact " XXXXX has asked me for suggestions re accommodation in Sydney before and after the above cruise. His preference is downtown prior, and maybe near the beach after. As I am more QLD'er than NSW re this thing, if you could offer him some suggestions, I would appreciate it."

Rather than just sharing my ideas with one person I said I would put some thoughts in a blog post that may benefit others.

For someone with an unlimited budget who has never been to Sydney there is one standout option. It is the Park Hyatt on the Harbour Foreshore in Sydney Cove in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge. I stayed there once for a birthday treat and it was awesome, I was able to repose on the bed, sip my Moet, and look across the bay to the Opera House while watching the Sydney ferries coming and going. An added bonus is that this is just a short walk from the pier where the ship berths.

The view I had from my room at The Sydney Park Hyatt

The Sydney CBD is dotted with hotels with most of the major international chains being represented. I have stayed in a dozen or more city hotels and serviced apartments ranging from 3 star to 5 star and they 
have been fine except for a couple. A free city shuttle bus, Route 555,  is available during the day, 7 days a week so wherever one is in the inner city one can avail oneself of free transport. The main areas for hotels are the CBD, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Railway Square. There is more chance of getting a view in Darling Harbour or around the Quay but also note that the City Centre is a few blocks uphill from Darling Harbour. I would give the area around Railway Square and Kings Cross a miss. B&Bs can found in inner city suburbs a few kilometres out of the CBD. 

Sydney City (Darling Harbour is bay at bottom left)
From Google Maps

For the budget conscious traveller theTravelodge Sydney Hotel is a 3 star property that I have stayed in. It is down a side street just a couple of hundred metres from Hyde Park. The Travelodges at Wynyard and Phillip Street are also conveniently located. 

The cruise departs before the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival commences on the 12th February and schools resume at the beginning of February so there is no need to book a hotel way in advance. There are many hotel rooms in Sydney.

Tripadvisor has reviews of Sydney Hotels but check where the hotels are on a map before proceeding with a booking so as to avoid the more dodgy areas of the city. Lastminute.com, Hotels.com, Wotif.com and similar sites offer great last minute offers. Audrey Collins, on her recent trip to Sydney, snagged a room at the Radisson with a partial view of the Harbour Bridge at a really great rate. 

When the cruise returns to Sydney the Mardi Gras will be in full swing so hotel rooms may be in shorter supply. The problem with Sydney beaches is that many of them, especially the Northern Beaches, don't have good hotels nearby. B&Bs can be found in beachside suburbs but I don't know about these. It depends on how far from the city the visitor wants to be. Coogee is a nice safe little beach (not good for the serious surfer) not too far from the city (8 km) that has a Crowne Plaza and Medina Serviced Apartments. There are plenty of restaurants and the Coogee Bay Hotel Beer Garden is a local institution. Nearby world famous Bondi isn't too well served with accommodation. Manly on the northside has both a surfing beach and a harbourfront beach. Cronulla in Sydney's south (29 km from city) has a beautiful beach and some good accommodation options. 

I haven't really given any clear advice in this post just a few pointers. I would be happy to field questions about Sydney from any other genealogists who are joining the cruise.

Hairpin bend

Our room at The Fairmont Hotel in Monte Carlo is labelled as a Hairpin Bend Room - in other words it does not have a panaromic view of the Mediterranean but a view of one of the tightest hairpin bends on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit so at that time of the year it would be a premium room. Presently it is just an ordinary room that they try to make sound special with a bit of marketing spin.

It was just a 90 minute flight from London's Gatwick Airport to Nice Airport where a quiet young man was waiting with a nice car to whisk us to our hotel. Gatwick which we reached in 35 minutes on the Gatwick Express train was a much quieter and less crowded airport than Heathrow. In Nice we were greeted by brilliant blue skies and a comfortable temperature of 19 degrees.

Already we have met some of our fellow cruisers and all are enthusiastically looking forward to being collected at 12:15 pm tomorrow for delivery to our ship that is moored just near our hotel. Our first job when we get on board is to find the laundry and wash our clothes; some of them are suffering from being washed in washbasins and baths for the last five weeks. A woman's work is never done!

There is a wedge of waterview from The Hairpin Bend Room

The Monte Carlo Casino is right next door 

The artworks in the hotel remind me of someone

Spied our ship as we had dinner in the hotel lounge

It was easy to choose a bevvy to accompany dinner

As we get ready to go to bed Monte Carlo is waking up

Pre and Post Genealogy Cruise Sydney Accommodation

It's great to hear that some people from overseas are joining the 3rd Unlock the Past Genealogy Cruise next February.  I received a message from a genealogy contact " XXXXX has asked me for suggestions re accommodation in Sydney before and after the above cruise. His preference is downtown prior, and maybe near the beach after. As I am more QLD'er than NSW re this thing, if you could offer him some suggestions, I would appreciate it."
Rather than just sharing my ideas with one person I said I would put some thoughts in a blog post that may benefit others.
For someone with an unlimited budget who has never been to Sydney there is one standout option. It is the Park Hyatt on the Harbour Foreshore in Sydney Cove in the shadow of the Harbour Bridge. I stayed there once for a birthday treat and it was awesome, I was able to repose on the bed, sip my Moet, and look across the bay to the Opera House while watching the Sydney ferries coming and going. 

The view I had from my room at The Sydney Park Hyatt

The Sydney CBD is dotted with hotels with most of the major international chains being represented. I have stayed in a dozen or more city hotels and serviced apartments ranging from 3 star to 5 star and they 
have been fine except for a couple. A free city shuttle bus, Route 555,  is available during the day, 7 days a week so wherever one is in the inner city one can avail oneself of free transport. The main areas for hotels are the CBD, Circular Quay, Darling Harbour and Railway Square. There is more chance of getting a view in Darling Harbour or around the Quay but also note that the City Centre is a few blocks uphill from Darling Harbour. I would give the area around Railway Square and Kings Cross a miss. B&Bs can found in inner city suburbs a few kilometres out of the CBD. 

Sydney City (Darling Harbour is bay at bottom left)
From Google Maps

For the budget conscious traveller the Travelodge Sydney Hotel is a 3 star property that I have stayed in. It is down a side street just a couple of hundred metres from Hyde Park. The Travelodges at Wynyard and Phillip Street are also conveniently located. 

The cruise departs before the Sydney Mardi Gras Festival commences on the 12th February and schools resume at the beginning of February so there is no need to book a hotel way in advance. There are many hotel rooms in Sydney.

Tripadvisor has reviews of Sydney Hotels but check where the hotels are on a map before proceeding with a booking so as to avoid the more dodgy areas of the city. At present the number 1 hotel on Tripadvisor is at Potts Point (Kings Cross area)! Lastminute.com, Hotels.com, Wotif.com and similar sites offer great last minute offers. Audrey Collins, on her recent trip to Sydney, snagged a room at the Radisson with a partial view of the Harbour Bridge at a really great rate. 

When the cruise returns to Sydney the Mardi Gras will be in full swing so hotel rooms may be in shorter supply. The problem with Sydney beaches is that many of them, especially the Northern Beaches, don't have good hotels nearby. B&Bs can be found in beachside suburbs but I don't know about these. It depends on how far from the city the visitor wants to be. Coogee is a nice safe little beach (not good for the serious surfer) not too far from the city (8 km) that has a Crowne Plaza and Medina Serviced Apartments. There are plenty of restaurants and the Coogee Bay Hotel Beer Garden is a local institution. Nearby world famous Bondi isn't too well served with accommodation. Manly on the northside has both a surfing beach and a harbourfront beach. Cronulla in Sydney's south (29 km from city) has a beautiful beach and some good accommodation options. 

I haven't really given any clear advice in this post just a few pointers. I would be happy to field questions about Sydney from any other genealogists who are joining the cruise.