Lunch Cruise and More

Day 5 - Wednesday, Dec 24 – Cognitive Dissonance

We had an easy morning getting up and out of the suite [Did I mention that we are staying in suites that have a kitchen, washer/dryer, and all living facilities?]. We did some shopping along Circular Quay and took some pictures by the Opera House. The main event for the day was a Long Lunch Harbor Cruise that started at 11:00AM. We didn’t know fully what to expect, but we boarded a private boat at Circular Quay to find that we had our private captain and a concierge who took care of us along the way.

 

 

 

We left on time for our first destination on the east end of the harbor – the famous Doyle’s Restaurant. It was about a 45-minute cruise through the Harbor with our concierge pointing out the highlights along the way. We got some history and some local knowledge. Of particular note was the amazing houses along the Harbor shoreline with incredible views up the harbor and into the city, the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. I asked if the houses were in the $10-20 million range. Silly me!!  He pointed out houses that, on the smallest and lowest end of the spectrum, were $13 million. Many ranged in the $40-50 million range, including one that was formerly owned by Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise. On the top end, the most recent documented sale of one of the big houses was $130 million with another currently for sale at $200 million!!!

We arrived at Doyle’s and had a table in the open-air right on Watson’s Bay and beach. Beautiful! At this restaurant, we were each allotted 1 appetizer and a drink – any drink. The kids were less interested in the seafood appetizers (we got an order of chicken fingers and chips), so Monica, Barry and I had our seven choices from a menu of fifteen appetizers. We got scallops, prawns, oysters, salmon paté, bay bugs (mini-lobsters), rocket (arugula) pear salad, and calamari. Wow! It was spectacular. It was so good that even Carter tried the calamari (those in the Ruberg clan who read this know how amazing that statement is, given that Carter eats mac and cheese, chicken fingers and fries). We had an hour to eat our appetizers before heading to our next food stop in Balmoral on the north side of the harbor. We also enjoyed watching the pelicans wandering on the sidewalk nearby and swimming in the harbor waters.

 

After a 30 minute cruise past the mouth of the harbor that opens into the Pacific Ocean, we docked at Balmoral and went to the Public Dining Room. Yes, that is really the name of the restaurant. You can look it up. Rather inauspicious. Here we were allotted a main course and two drinks – again, any drink. Again, the kids were less enamored with the seafood entrees and ordered from a separate menu – chicken fingers and chips, but Evan did order the pasta alfredo with parmesan. The adults ordered barramundi and snapper. Once again, the food was exceptionally good (as our concierge promised). Even Evan (or is it … Evan even) loved the pasta. The wine and cocktails were also delightful. We had 1.5 hours to eat our main course as we looked out over the bay at Balmoral. It was a truly lovely open-air setting.

 

    

Back to our boat for the cruise back to Circular Quay. Along the way, we saw a very large sailboat practicing for the Hobart Cup that starts on Dec 26^th with competitors sailing to Tasmania over the course of a couple of days. The all-black boat and sails was cruising quite fast with its two large sails, and then we saw the name – 007 with the signature James Bond Walther PPK pistol.

 

After landing at Circular Quay at around 3:30PM we were stuffed and decided to cancel our dinner reservation. We could not imagine eating another meal at 7PM. So, it was back to the hotel for some swimming and hot tub maneuvers. We also realized that keeping everyone awake until 10:30PM Christmas Mass at the cathedral was a lost cause. So, we found an 8:30PM Mass at St. Patrick’s church, which was only one block from our hotel. It is the oldest Catholic Church in Sydney. So, we had a bite of Sal’s genuine New York style pizza, which the Helfrich love NY style pizza having been NY and experienced the real deal, cleaned up at the hotel and went to Christmas Mass. There was a choir caroling before Mass and we had an excellent service, albeit the hottest I have ever been for Christmas. The old church was not air conditioned, had no pen windows or doors, and was the evening of an 85 degree day. Whew, it was a bit steamy. Despite her best efforts, Ruby couldn’t keep her eyes open and she fell asleep during Mass, although she looked super-cute in her red Christmas dress and blonde wavy hair.

After mass we went to the hotel for some Christmas pictures. Then it was “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”

  

 

OK – why the cognitive dissonance title? All day, we saw people having Christmas celebrations. At the restaurants, there were clearly large family gatherings for a big Christmas meal. Some of them clearly had grandparents, their kids and grandkids. There were people wearing Christmas red hats like Santa Claus. Decorations abounded for Christmas as well as Christmas music about snow and cold weather. And yet, it was sunny and warm. Our brains just could not wrap all this together, and we all agreed that it felt weird or not easily reconciled. Hence, the continuous state of cognitive dissonance