The view just kept getting better. Rumbling back from the dock, the austere little boat cut through the calm, gray waters, the seats inside holding a smattering of work-weary commuters, most of them entranced by their phones. Alone outside on the stern, I didn’t let the cool breeze cutting across the harbor drive me into the main cabin, and kept up hope that the uncertain skies above would hold, for at least the half-hour I would be on board.
An aerial view of Neutral Bay. (ENeems/Shutterstock)
First, the skyline. Above rose the glassy skyscrapers of Australia’s largest city—their faces reflecting back the sunlight filtering through the heavy afternoon clouds—a couple of even taller buildings still under construction. A little further from the shore, the next icon came into view, the Sydney Harbor Bridge, its famous steel archway soaring more than 40 stories, its span stretching some 1,650 feet. And finally, a sight that’s even more unmistakable—the white folds, peaks, and shells of the city’s Opera House, one of the most recognizable places in the world. It’s a view that’s available to anybody with a couple of bucks in their pocket, and the wherewithal to navigate down to Circular Quay….