ms AMSTERDAM “SAIL AWAY” FROM SYDNEY–AS SEEN BY HELICOPTER! (2/26/12)

• I’ll write separately about this last full day in Sydney, but I devote this page to a phenomenal “coincidence” that occurred this afternoon.
• I was told the “sail in” and “sail out” from Sydney Harbor are among the very best in the world.  But we missed the “sail in” since we’d “jumped ship” in Papeete and flew to Sydney ahead of the ship.  And we missed the “sail out” because we stayed in Sydney tonight in order to fly to Cairns tomorrow (thus, spending more time both in Sydney and in Cairns)
• We disembarked the ship with Erika and Lynn, took a taxi to our rental car, and then dropped Erika and Lynn at their hotel in downtown.  From there, we had to make our way to the helipads at Sydney Airport.  But we got “tied up” on these city streets again, misdirected across the Bridge one more time (it’s happened a lot), and hit heavy traffic in the tunnels on the way to the airport.  So we were late.
• Well, timing is everything!  If things hadn’t transpired exactly as they did, what followed would not have occurred.  As our helicopter was making its way toward the city, I just happened to see the ms Amsterdam (our ship) leaving its port at Darling Harbor and heading toward the Bridge.  There were only four of us on board (Blue Sky Helicopters), along with our Pilot (and Blue Sky’s Managing Director), Mark Fitzsimmons.  Mark immediately placed the chopper in position for us to photograph the ship just as it was sailing under the Sydney Harbor Bridge!  A-maz-ing!!!
• Oh, but that wasn’t enough.  When I explained that we missed the sail and in and sail out, Mark was determined to give us every possible “photo op” and angle of our ship, as it passed by the Opera House and then made its way out of the Harbor!  He circled around and around, as we followed the ship through the Harbor.  Did I say amazing?  No – this was SPECTACULAR!  What an incredible twist of fate that our chopper just happened to be flying over the city and harbor at the moment when our ship was making its way under the Bridge and out of the Harbor!
• This was so “special” that I just had to make a separate blog page, showing the Amsterdam’s sailing out of Sydney, Australia!!  More later on Sydney . . .