I’ve boarded with my husband and two friends – all of whom grew up in Sydney – for a 2.5-hour long lunch. Living in Manly (Kai’ymay) for several years, crossing Sydney Harbour by ferry was a lucky part of our daily commute. But this trip feels different.
There’s something to be said for spending a few lazy hours plying these familiar waters with a chilled glass of prosecco in hand instead of my peakhourcuppa and paying attention to the little bays, beaches, inlets and headlands that mark the edges of our beautiful city, instead of burying myself in newspaper headlines.
So, this is what it’s like to be a tourist in your own city. We are shown to our table and we head under the Harbour Bridge as our captain explains the significance of the iconic structure, which connected the Sydney CBD and western suburbs to the north shore in 1932.
A major part of the cruise (particularly when rain cancels out the chance for selfies on the upper deck) is the food and drink selection. We are offered a choice of three mains made from locally sourced ingredients: a pan-seared barramundi with rainbow chard, glazed baby turnips, toasted nori and a lemon beurre blanc; a brined lemon thyme chicken breast with broccolini, Albufera jus and truffled butter; and ravioli filled with butternut pumpkin and goat’s cheese drizzled with sage brown butter.
We venture across Circular Quay dotted with the iconic green and yellow Sydney Ferries and past the Sydney Opera House, which our captain says was designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973. We wind around the bays to the east, past Wooloomooloo’s luxe Finger Wharf and Garden Island where the Australian Navy vessels are docked, their grey hulks blending into the perfectly gloomy day.