We took a taxi to the Botanical Gardens which was about $10. The gardens were free and we were met upon arrival and the nice lady gave us a detailed description on the points that should not be missed. We caught a free shuttle bus back to city center and visited the maritime museum which was small but worth the visit.

We had two days in Sydney and booked our own deal with two days ferry service and entrance to the Sydney zoo. On the first day we rode the ferry and got off to look around a couple times. On the second day, we did the ferry to the zoo. The zoo is really outstanding and shouldn't be missed.

Sydney is now a very big city and has a lot of people crowding the streets.

The TI person let us know that we could catch a free shuttle to the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden. The shuttle was a short walk which was pleasant enough. The garden is staffed by volunteers as was our shuttle driver. All were very pleasant and knew their jobs well. The gardens are not to be missed and very beautiful. The entrance fee was not very expensive and we had a very nice snack when we returned to their building. If you enjoy gardens, don't miss this!

We really liked the town. It was small but had all the stores you would need if you forgot something. People were very friendly.

The ship didn't offer a free shuttle to the city. We had to use the bus system that cost around $15 AU per person. We went to the Queen's market and enjoyed walking thru it. We've visited here before and, after a snack, we made our way back to the bus to the pier.

No Princess shuttle here. Another stop where we had to take public transit at around $20 AU per person. We had a bus as the rail system was not in service. We visited the state library, the art museum and the history museum. Then we took a walk in the botanical gardens. From there it was back to the ship.

We walked around the nice town. The local church was lovely and welcoming. Friendly people.

We visited the maritime museum a short walk from the pier. They had a free shuttle around the town (on two different routes). We walked from the museum to the Round House and from there to the bus stop. We waited over 45 minutes for the shuttle that was to have a bus every 10 minutes. Needless to say, the bus was stuffed with people. We did the whole route back to the start, then walked around in the direction of the pier. We spotted another church and visited it. They were setting it up for a graduation ceremony but it was worth the visit.

The town had a free shuttle. It was very nice as it was not a walking distance and the weather was hot and humid. This is a small industrial town. Most of the shops were associated with the pearl industry. We had a nice walk around and my wife found a nice pearl necklace at a reasonable price. McDonalds was near by and we had a drink and some time for their free WiFi. Then, it was back to the shuttle to the pier.

We took the hop off/hop on bus to the art and cultural museum. The HoHo was pricey but the museum was free. After the museum, we got back on the bus and made our way back to the ship.

We arranged our own excursion to Green Island. It was less than half the cost of a ship's tour and it included lunch. We got on at 11 AM and were back at 5 PM. We did the glass bottom boat and saw a whole bunch of fish, a ray and a large sea turtle along with lots of coral. We walked around the island and got our feet wet in the ocean. It was a very nice day and well worth the cost to see some of the Great Barrier Reef.

We had to clear customs here. That took quite a while. The cruise line had a shuttle at the cost of $30 AU per person. The shuttle time was 45 minutes each way! so, given the time spent in customs, the transit time to and from the city, we felt that the shuttle was not worth the money as the time left to explore the city would be limited.