By Bob Van Leer

  (SYDNEY, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2002) - This city of 4 million people is the largest in Australia. It is more than 20% of the population of the whole country (19.1 million).

  We are definitely out of the tropics now. Still the climate is moderate enough that palm trees grow easily.

  This is essentially the end of one cruise and the start of the next. Capt. Erik Bjurstedt said there are 300 new passengers coming aboard (And about that many leaving.)

  On the first leg of the cruise there were 920 total passengers, compared to a theoretical maximum of 1050.

  The breakdown is 480 passengers from the U. S., 357 from Great Britain and the balance scattered around the world.

  There are 461 in the crew with 366 from the Philippines and 33, mostly officers, from Britain. The rest are from 21 different countries.

  From Singapore to Sydney we sailed a total of 4536 nautical miles (nautical mile equals 1.15 statute miles).

  At Sydney we docked at Circular Quay between the Sydney Harbor Bridge and the famed Opera House. This is a busy harbor with moving ferries, water taxis and work boats visible at all times.

  With CNN International and local newspapers we are able to keep up with the national and international news, but Oregon has disappeared. I haven't seen a news story about Oregon since we left home.

  One local news story causing quite a stir is in a refugee camp. Afghanis protesting conditions have gone on a hunger strike and some of them have sewn their lips shut. The editorial cartoonists are having a field day applying the lip sewing to other situations.

  We listened to lecture by Australian historian Kate Hunter. White settlement in Australia began in Jan. 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet. This was a shipment of convicts that would have been sent to the U. S. colonies except for the American Revolution.
Hunter said there were just over 1000 in the first party with a second fleet in 1791. The total added up to 160,000 convicts who were transported from Great Britain to Australia over a period of 60 years.

  It is now a bragging point to be descended from someone in one of the early fleets. The image is being cleaned up. I suggested to Hunter, from her lecture it sounded as if all the transported convicts were just underprivileged shoplifters. She acknowledged that there were some really bad people among the convicts.

  Jan. 24 is to be a day at sea and the next port is Melbourne.