{"id":11396,"date":"2012-07-02T12:03:24","date_gmt":"2012-07-02T02:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/?p=11396"},"modified":"2018-05-15T06:48:06","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T20:48:06","slug":"sydney-harbour-a-winter-wonderland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lastminute.com.au\/vc\/blog\/sydney-harbour-a-winter-wonderland\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney Harbour: a winter wonderland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Looking for a fun way to enjoy the water in the cooler months? lastminute lovely Sarah took to the ocean on a luxury yacht in search of the gentle giants of the sea.<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
When offered the opportunity to spend my Sunday whale watching with Sydney by Sail, I instantly thought, \u2018What a fun date to take my new squeeze on!\u2019
\nWe\u2019d seen some whales off Bondi Beach the weekend prior, so the timing couldn\u2019t have been more perfect. I wasn\u2019t the only one who had that idea as we were joined by two other twenty something couples and Mitch, our extremely knowledgeable skipper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sailing Hot Tip: <\/em>Leave the heels at home and put your best pair of white soled shoes on.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
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Departing from the Sydney Maritime Museum<\/p><\/div>\n

The day was stunning! 10 knot winds, a calm ocean and beautiful clear blue skies. As we motored through the harbour, I really got to appreciate what a breath-takingly beautiful city Sydney is.<\/p>\n

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The Sydney Harbour Bridge<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Sydney Opera House \u2013 Postcard perfect!<\/p><\/div>\n

We stopped briefly off Rushcutter\u2019s Bay to put the sails up and for Mitch to give us a short sailing demonstration. Somehow I landed the job of operating the main sail for the day which made me feel very nervous about to begin with. However, the electric winch made it super easy and I looked like a bit of a pro in front of my date \ud83d\ude09 Thank you modern technology!<\/p>\n

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Attempting to operate the main sail.<\/p><\/div>\n

Once we made it out through the heads, the ocean swell became very large yet Mitch assured us that it is almost impossible for the yacht to capsize (thankfully!). They really are an amazing piece of engineering considering the degree at which some of the yachts lean.<\/p>\n

We sailed down the coast towards Bondi where we had seen the whales the weekend prior. Mid whale search we saw two pods of dolphins with their babies riding the waves.<\/p>\n

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Dolphins enjoying the waves<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately on this trip, we had no luck seeing the gentle giants of the sea. So, we sailed back through the heads for lunch at the beautiful Obelisk bay. Lunch was provided as part of the tour and we tucked into our gourmet hamper, jam-packed with sandwiches, wraps, fruit and chocolate chip muffins \u2013 yum!<\/p>\n

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Lunch at Obelisk bay<\/p><\/div>\n

On the way back to the dock, we had another opportunity to soak up the beautiful harbour. Even though we didn\u2019t see any whales, the dolphins, Sydney Harbour and the Sydney by Sail experience made it a Sunday to remember. Just make sure you pack your winter woollies!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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