It was a sparkling Sydney day as the city nearly always does on major event days such as this. Arriving at Circular Quay, it was hard to miss the long snaking queue of Royal fans winding it’s way down East Circular Quay, along the Promenade across to West Circular Quay & the Overseas Passenger Terminal. The length easily meant a long wait to the gates of the Sydney Opera House. However, I didn’t need to join this queue as the best viewing spot for the Monarchical Fleet Review was on the water. For these events, a land vantage point always blocks some portion of the review. On the water, this disadvantage is all but removed.
Arriving at 3:45pm, 45 minutes after the Sydney Opera House gates opened would have ensured it was hard to see the Royal couple at the Sydney Opera House given people had been waiting to enter since as early as 5:30am & the time that has passed since the gates opened would have meant the best spots were already gone. If you were just happy to see them at the Opera House rather than meet & greet them, joining the queue for the 4:20pm start for the meet & greet would have been worth the wait.
But for the Fleet Review, on the water is the best. At the Sydney Opera House, spectators were prevented from accessing the relevant shoreline for the Fleet Review by security until the Royal couple had hopped on board their boat so being at the Sydney Opera House would have meant missing the start of the Fleet Review on the water despite being at a waterside vantage point. The Northern Forecourt was also sealed off for the entire event.
When the Fleet Review started, the Admiral Hudson took the Royal couple along the edge of Farm Cove so spectators in the Royal Botanic Gardens & The Domain could see them. Apart from a small patch of spectators at the Opera House gates and at Mrs Macquarie’s Point, the Farm Cove shoreline was noticeably empty. Once they finished their journey around Farm Cove, the formal inspection of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ships begun.
I was on board the Pearl, a cruise vessel operated by Sydney Princess Cruises. I checked-in at their ticket booth just off the Eastern Pontoon of Circular Quay. The ticket booth operator greeted me with brilliant customer service – they managed to guess who I was before I told them who I was. They gave me my ticket & waited for the vessel to arrive at 3:55pm.
The vessel arrived a little bit late but that wasn’t a problem. King Charles, was in fact, running behind schedule at this point too & the Fleet Review was scheduled to start at 4:50pm – plenty of time for the vessel to arrive & take us to Farm Cove, where the Fleet Review would begin.
The Pearl arrived at 4pm, 5 minutes late to the ticket operator’s instruction but it was the scheduled time for the cruise, and we boarded, greeted kindly by the staff on board. The vessel has 2 interior levels & an open deck on top. I didn’t pay much attention to the lower boarding deck, but the upper interior deck had tables with 6 chairs each nicely arranged for people to relax at. The top open deck was wide & spacious. For refreshments, this cruise only had simply tea & coffee as its focus was on sightseeing rather than dining. With a capacity of 140 people, which would be full on New Year’s Eve, I expected about 10 people on board for this event. The cruise probably received about triple this but was still low enough to make the cruise rather pleasurable compared to the hustle & bustle of a New Year’s Eve cruise, though the fireworks would make that discomfort worth it.
The cruise departed at 4:16pm – 16 minutes late – but again, the Fleet Review wasn’t to be for just over half an hour & the King himself was late too. The trip began by going around the Sydney Opera House. At around 4:27pm, whilst crossing Farm Cove & approaching the nearest RAN ship anchored for review, His Majesty’s Australian Ship (HMAS) Warramunga, the boatswain’s call could be heard being blown from the ship as a cruiser went past. Knowing the King was scheduled to arrive at the Sydney Opera House at 4:20pm, a full 7 minutes prior, despite knowing he was running behind schedule, out of a rush of excitement, I thought the cruiser was his & that he decided to do the Fleet Review first and was just finishing! Everyone on board both boats waved enthusiastically at each other, 1 happy to see spectators, the other thinking they were seeing the King & Queen.
Looking at the vessel, it was definitely his cruiser, the Admiral Hudson, as confirmed to us by our commentator who delivered us the news that the New South Wales (NSW) Police had yelled over the radio to the captain to stay away from the vessel (despite the official website saying the exclusion zones didn’t come into effect until the Fleet Review started) but I noticed the King’s Flag For Australia was not flying so he wasn’t on board. It later turned out they were delivering the Governor-General & Australian Defence Force (ADF) officers to Man O’War Steps. Important dignitaries but still, the NSW Government should provide more accurate exclusion zone advice prior to the event. In any case, even though the Pearl passed the Admiral Hudson, the Admiral Hudson also kept to its path. If there was a real security threat posed by a marine vessel that was within an in-effect 100-metre exclusion zone surrounding the Admiral Hudson, ploughing on through as if the marine vessel wasn’t there is not a good idea and in fact, would heighten the security risk. The NSW Government & the RAN should be more proactive in this regard.
Anyway, after that little incident, the cruise went around Sydney Harbour on a sightseeing tour heading east to near Shark Island before turning around. The Harbour had a steady breeze and keeping our balance on the choppy water was, at times, a challenge. Our commentator gave us a nice simple commentary neatly catering to the international tourist. He spoke clearly and kindly gave updates on the King & Queen’s whereabouts throughout the journey. At this point, the ‘pre-show entertainment’ began – 2 helicopters flying around with a flag under them – 1 the Australian National Flag & 1 the RAN Ensign. They flew around until the end of the Fleet Review, emphasising the pride Australia has in itself & their Navy.
Throughout this journey, we passed the other 4 RAN vessels anchored in Sydney Harbour. All 5 were dressed ship & decks manned with sailors in ceremonial uniform ready for review. There were also other working RAN vessels that were sailing around the Harbour. Garden Island also had the full complement of RAN sailors from ships that couldn’t attend neatly lined up in a row of white along the foreshore ready for the King. Throughout the sightseeing portion of the trip, the King & Queen arrived at the Sydney Opera House and conducted their meet & greet.
Our vessel then hung around the eastern shore of Kirribilli. This time, though, there was an actual breach of the exclusion zone around Kirribilli Point, which has the King & Queen’s temporary residence in Australia – Admiralty House – normally the Governor-General’s Sydney residence & the Prime Minister’s residence – Kirribilli House. A 200-metre exclusion zone was in force around the Point & whilst waiting nearby, the current took the Pearl into the exclusion zone. A New South Wales Police officer on a small vessel promptly motored to the vessel & ordered the captain out of the exclusion zone immediately, though there was some confusion on the part of the crew (at least the commentator, who oddly seemed to be the main communicator between the police officer & the captain) as to what they accidentally did wrong. The captain took us out of the exclusion zone & as we hovered nearby outside the exclusion zone, we promptly see a yacht being told off for the same thing.
Over at the Man O’ War Steps, at 5:12pm, we could see the Admiral Hudson depart indicating the Fleet Review had begun, though 20 minutes late, but unexpectedly, as mentioned before, it did a brief slow journey along the foreshore of Farm Cove for the few spectators there (as that area was promoted as an official vantage point) so it technically didn’t begin until that was completed. Sydney’s sailing fleet was waiting between Garden Island and Mrs Macquarie’s Point for the King and Queen to arrive & then, to follow them around. Over in the distance, over South Head in the east, heading south was the helicopter flypast by the Australian Army & RAN about to turn to make their flypast over what is, ultimately, their Commander-In-Chief.
This fleet review was historically significant as it was to become the 1st ever conducted on Sydney Harbour by the Monarch of Australia. After reviewing the 1st ship, HMAS Warramunga, the helicopter flypast occurred by the Australian Army & RAN – 17 minutes earlier than planned during the Fleet Review (though 11 minutes late in real time). They flew in perfect precision and was quite a sight with the ‘chudda-chudda-chudda’ of the spinning rotors reminding everyone of the sacrifices that our Defence personnel make or could ultimately make. It was just as spectacular as the one they did in 2013 for the International Fleet Review. There also a late addition – a Bell UH-1 Iroquois ‘Huey’ helicopter from the Historic Aircraft Restoration Society Museum in Shellharbour, where the Sydney Spectacular – Airshows Downunder Shellharbour – is based.
With the helicopter flypast surprisingly done already, the Admiral Hudson then went to review the sailors at Garden Island. When they arrived there, our vessel began the journey to catch up with those nearby waiting vessels, who had begun following the King. We then saw, from a distance (as the crew were now worried about breaking the exclusion zone even more times), the King & Queen review 3 other ships. Their path was a simple circular trip up to near Shark Island, similar to the sightseeing portion of our cruise. Whilst we couldn’t make out the King & Queen, the RAN sailors were clear as day, standing immaculately with patience & loyalty before the commanding officer of their ship boomed out of the ship’s loudspeakers the words: “3 cheers for His Majesty King Charles The 3rd. Hip. Hip, hip” before all the sailors waved their caps in circular motion with a big loyal “Hooray!”. The hips & hoorays were then twice repeated before the order was given for the sailors to redon their caps.
The Pearl had followed a smaller circular trip, roughly half the size of the 1st one, in order to follow the King & Queen. As they approached the final ship, HMAS Arunta, we were now in viewing range of the King & Queen whilst maintaining the 100-metre exclusion zone around the Admiral Hudson. They then went out of viewing range before it returned into range in the midst of The King’s review of HMAS Arunta.
The Admiral Hudson, which all the vessels were following, then made speed for Admiralty House. There, King Charles and Queen Camilla left the vessel & were in viewing range. The Queen’s white dress, in the sea of white ceremonial navy uniforms, was so bright that it stood out. You couldn’t miss it. King Charles’s suit blended in with his surroundings and the Governor-General’s choice of similar colouring didn’t help matters but the King was able to be seen once you spotted him.
They paused on Admiralty House’s wharf as sneaking up behind us, in the east, was 4 Royal Australian Air Force jets flying in close formation past Admiralty House & over the Sydney Harbour Bridge. They roared overhead to provide a fitting finale to the Monarchical Fleet Review similar to the famous balcony appearances the King & Queen make at Buckingham Palace after Trooping The Colour and other significant Royal events in London.
The King & Queen then climbed the long stairway up to Admiralty House & as they neared the top, the Pearl sailed passed the Sydney Opera House back into Circular Quay to the Eastern Pontoon, arriving back at 5:54pm, 6 minutes earlier than scheduled – though the cruise’s finish time was entirely based on when the Fleet Review finished, which was scheduled to finish at 5:20pm.
The commentator kindly asked us to remain on the decks until instructed & when the all-clear was given to disembark, we left to the sight of the next waiting crowd of cruisegoers on Sydney Harbour. The crew of the Pearl all kindly thanked us for cruising with them that afternoon as we disembarked.
At a price of $55 per adult & $40 for children, the cruise was great value for money especially if you were a tourist after a simple plain sightseeing cruise, which I entirely recommend. The only hiccup was the accidental Admiralty House exclusion zone breach and the subsequent understandable nervousness of the crew to get as close as possible to the Admiral Hudson. However, the crew’s, at least the commentator’s, lack of not realising what they had accidentally done wrong was a bit concerning.
With the Monarchical Fleet Review, whilst the schedule should have been better kept & exclusion zone advice made clearer, the event was simply run to perfection – a Sydney Spectacular. What other body of water in the world could host such a review of a naval fleet by a country’s head of state? The images ran around the world. Even on a small scale compared to 2013, it was still spectacular.
The ADF, in particular the RAN, should be proud. Though their helicopter pilots were eager to make their salute, they once again delivered.
They & Sydney Princess Cruises passed my inspection.
ADF – 9/10
Monarchical Fleet Review – 8/10
Sydney Princess Cruises – 7/10
Sydney Spectaculars 