Nov 1 - Adelaide

 Nov 1 - Adelaide

Greetings from Adelaide!

                                     View from our balcony

Downcast Dorothy here!  Downcast because I wasn’t up to the tour today!   Very unusual for me, but my stomach is still not cooperating.  I don’t believe it’s anything ‘contagious’ , but I didn’t want to chance being out in public and having the same thing happen as on Wednesday 😱 so I opted to stay ‘home’.  We have a couple more sea days coming up, so hopefully I’ll be ready for Albany.

Mary ventured out on her own for this adventure…  (hopefully if you click on the image it will enlarge!) 

Hopefully, as I laze around watching TV and reading my book, Mary is taking her usual 100’s of photos!  I’m crossing my fingers that she sees lots of dolphins.  

After dinner we’ll probably go to the show; it sounds intriguing, Scared Weird Little Guys!    

Nap time again for me!

😴

Shipwrecks

Oct 31 - At sea

 Oct 31 -    🎃 Happy Hallowe’en from Bass Strait 🎃

On our way to Adelaide.  Bass Strait is the sea between Tasmania and Australia’s mainland.  We’ve had some mild rocky moments, but thankfully nothing serious.

It’s been a low key day.  Mary went to a couple of presentations while Imsatyed in the cabin sleeping and eating crackers ( and not because of the seas!).  

We went to dinner and even the wine tasted ‘off’ to me, so Imooted not to go to the show, especially since it was a repeat of Les Femmes!

Looking forward to more sleep and a good day in Adelaide tomorrow!

😴😴

Oct 30 - Melbourne

 Oct 30 - Melbourne 

Back on land!  

Today did not turn out as expected. I ended up not feeling well and missed the second half of the day. 😢

Below is the description of our tour that Princess provided.  I’ve added a couple of photos …and for others I’m sure Mary will be putting hers up on Facebook.

Just outside Melbourne, the spectacular Dandenong Ranges and Yarra Valley are prized for their beauty, wineries, national parks, forests, and mountains. Enjoy free time at the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary to wander through the Australian bushland. Zookeepers will tell you about the platypus, parrots, kangaroos, wombats, and koala. More than 200 species of native birds, mammals and reptiles live here. Continue to the Yarra Valley wine district, where the varieties grown include Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Pinot Noir. Rochford Winery prides itself on the production of premium-quality wines that express the true character of their vineyards. Sample award-winning wines at the cellar door, appreciate the landscape from the observation tower or stroll through the art gallery. After the lunch you will be heading to deBortolo Winery situated in the heart of the Yarra Valley for a tasting before you return to Melbourne.

Map of Healesville

           

                                       Two Echidnas

Hopefully the day at sea tomorrow will have me rested up for Adelaide.

M & D

Oct 29. At sea

 Oct 29 - At sea

A day to recover!  

After a late breakfast Mary went to the destination talk on Melbourne while Dorothy started a new book!  Wouldn’t you know that two of the books I have been waiting for popped up on my iPad  yesterday - and they are both due in 2 weeks!!  One is a novel I read years ago but wanted to reread it as the setting is off the coast of Western Australia!

We went to Bruce Petty’s presentation. It was his recounting of oral history interviews with New Zealand citizens and US Military personnel who were in NZ during and after the war - war brides, separations and reconnections, and one story of a woman who grew up thinking she didn’t look like anyone else in her family - only to discover her biological father was from the US and had returned after the war! Many years later someone made contact with her and when she met them and 70 other relatives she realized she looked just like them!!!  A biological family she never knew!  It reminded me so much of Con’s story - although his story has no military connection, and he never knew about the family we have discovered through DNA!

It was a lazy day!  Mary went back to another of Bruce’s lectures while Dorothy relaxed, read, and walked the entire corridor on our floor (almost 800 steps!!!).  

Dinner had an Australian theme with items even our Aussie dinner mates hadn’t heard of!  For example one of the starters was called a Meat Pie Floater!!  It was a little meat pie, sitting in a pool of thick pea soup!!??!!  We passed on that! But I did have a Steak and Pepper Pie as my main course.  It was tasty but had a layer of m he’s potatoes on the bottom!! Carbs! Carbs! Carbs!  If I lived in Australia I would weigh 300 lbs!

The show was loud!   Nathan Foley was the vocalist and it was another of those shows with flashing lights, very loud music, and a singer who ran back and forth on the stage and down into the audience!!!!  I didn’t recognize one song!

Bedtime again as we have an early day tomorrow in Melbourne!

Stay tuned…

D & M

Oct 28 - Hobart

 Oct 28 - Hobart, Tasmania

 

 

     Walking through an old growth forest in Mt. Field National Park

Our excursion today, arranged by one of our Cruise Critic friends, was with an excellent local guide, Benjamin.  Ben told us we are the first cruise ship to arrive this season!

We went to  Mt Field National Park and the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.  I’ve included quite a few links (click on the blue print) to more information about some of the things we experienced.  

As we headed to Coal River Valley Ben provided a commentary, both historical  and current, about Tasmania, or ‘Tassie’  as he often referred to the state.  Of the 560,000 population of Tasmania, about 270,000 live in or around Hobart.  from 1804 to 1853 it was a convict state with prisoners shipped there mainly from the UK, but also from other parts of the world.  As they realized they would be housing these prisoners, many for life, rather than keeping them incarcerated they had the idea to use prisoners to work and build Hobart town.  So as the prisoners worked and became successful at various trades, they were released and began building lives for themselves.  To this day surnames help  to identify areas/ ‘clans’/ professions from this times - plumbers, fencers, masons etc.  People’s surnames give stories to their origins.

It was a beautiful drive through the countryside!

He gave us so much interesting information that it is hard to remember much of it!!  What I gleaned from his narration was how resourceful the people of Tasmania have been and still are today and how they have turned adversity into new products and jobs!!

One example is at one time Tasmania supplied Great Britain with apples. Then in 1975 England joined the EU, and they began to buy apples from European countries as shipping was easier, product was cheaper etc.  This was a huge problem for Tasmania!  What did they do?  They looked for new crops and now cherry orchards replace that income!

We passed several berry plantations growing strawberries, raspberries, blackberries. Proof of the quality of the berries was in my lunch!  - a mixed berry crepe!!!

Covid has spawned new careers!  He told us of one man who came from Queensland with the idea of growing avocados!  Everyone told him he was crazy - the climate in Tasmania was not suitable etc.  But he persisted and now Tasmania grows some of the most delicious avocados!

Grape growing is expanding rapidly. Tasmania is now becoming known for its wineries with award winning wines such as Pinot Noir and a Riesling.  Farmers have started growing barley which they use to produce an award winning single malt whiskey!  

Unfortunately young people are leaving farms.  Many were bought up by Chinese investors to start wineries.  The government realized what was happening and, after Covid govt changed excise laws and when the Chinese found the new laws didn’t suit their business model they sold the farms back to Tasmanians.      

As we drove along we saw hawthorn bushes planted along the hedgerows.  Farmers realized their animals were getting through / or over the fences so they added hawthorn with its very long, sharp thorns  to keep animals in!

We finally reached Mt Field National Park.  It was awesome to take the Tall Trees Walk through an old growth forest where Eucalyptus trees and fern trees made a canopy over the walkway where we spent the rest of the morning.   The walk took us to Russell Falls, a huge waterfall in the middle of the forest!

Along the way we saw a Pademelon, a marsupial related to Kangaroos and Wallabies that lives among the trees.  The photo is like a ‘Where’s Waldo’ picture!! LOL 

We stopped at Salmon Ponds a salmon hatchery with a little eatery that served wonderful crepes - savoury and sweet! before heading to Bonorong.

We spent a couple of hours at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.  Mary and I had been here in 2019 so we didn’t complete the whole circuit, but we did get some photos and fed the kangaroos! The Sanctuary is adding a Veterinary clinic as it expands and builds its reputation as one of the best facilities in Australia. 

There were many birds such as Lorikeets and this Cockatoo.

On the way back to the ship we drove through Richmond, known for its sandstone buildings.  We stopped at the Richmond Bridge, the oldest sandstone bridge in Australia.  Blocks were made by prisoners!  

We returned to the ship a wee bit late for dinner after an excellent day in the area around Hobart.  We were exhausted from all the information and walking so we skipped the show!  

We’re looking forward to a day to recover on Tuesday’s sea day!!

Until next time…..

M & D

Oct 27 At sea

 Oct 27 - At sea

Wow!  Busy!  Busy!

This morning we had two speakers.  Hutch is back with his destination talks and this morning was Hobart, Tasmania.  Following that we stayed in the theatre for a new enrichment lecturer - Bruce Petty, a writer/ historian.  He will focus on the Pacific region in his talks and from his introductory session today it promises to be interesting!  

Unfortunately we had to miss his second talk as we had a conflict!!!  LOL. There was another Cruise Critic Meet and Greet to meet the new people who boarded in Sydney.  We also met Peter, who has arranged two private tours we are doing, and John who has set up a special car on the Kuranda Railway for when we get to Cairns.  

It has been interesting to ‘people watch’ today.  This is a very different crowd than on the Pacific crossing - a lot fewer Asians, many more Aussies, an older demographic with more ‘doddery’ passengers (and I count myself among those!!). I guess the tour buses will run out of ‘Reserved for Handicapped’ seats!!  😂

Tonight is formal night again!  They seem to be coming around often!!  And now, I think some of the shows will be repeats of ones from the first cruise so we’ll need to decide whether to go or not.  Tonight is Magic to Do which was very good the first time around.

We don’t have to be up really early tomorrow; we are looking forward to our tour from Hobart with 6 others from Cruise Critic.

Be back tomorrow with an update!

The Two Sailors

🛳️🛳️

Oct 26 - Sydney, AU

 Oct 26 - Sydney, AU

We have arrived!

Oct 23-25 - At Sea

 Oct 23 -  At sea 

A day of rest!  After a few consecutive port days we are happy to sleep in, attend a couple of lectures, and relax for the afternoon.  

This morning Hutch presented his talk on Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra.  These have been places that we have considered for future cruises in conjunction with the Suez Canal, but after seeing the physical demands of such a trip, and given the situation in the Middle East,  I think I will have to cross them off my lists!!  Lots of walking in desert heat is not within the realm of possibility now!

Following Hutch, we stayed in the theatre for Duncan O’Brien’s White Ships presentation.  He focussed on the Matson Line’s contribution to the golden age of luxury ships in the South Pacific and how it helped shape today’s cruise industry.

We had a leisurely afternoon basically doing nothing - a little TV, some iPad time, a little sun on the balcony, enjoying our life of leisure!  

We’ll soon need to prepare to change cabins (when we added this cruise to our previously booked Around Australia one, the same cabin was not available) Thanks to Teresa (our great travel agent) she found and booked the cabin right next door!  Sumeth, our cabin attendant will help with this on Saturday.  We’ve never done this before, so hopefully it will all be easy!

Tonight is ‘formal night’ again!   After dinner the show is something different - Yuri & Nato, an aerial act. A different type of entertainment than we have had so far.

 Come back to this page tomorrow for any exciting updates we may have!🤣😂

Oct 24 -  Still crossing the Tasman Sea

Another day at sea - but a bit cooler, foggy and a few showers! We set our clocks back another hour last night so we had an extra hour to get going this morning.  

Our first ‘activity’ was a meeting for In Transit passengers; there are about 250 -300 people staying on the ship in Sydney.  We were given information about changing cabins, getting off the ship in Sydney so they can show that the passenger count is ‘0’ before starting the new embarkation process and were instructed to carry an ‘In Transit’ card, a Customs and Immigration form, our passport, and our Princess Medallion (our room key etc) when we disembark. 

This cruise is different from any we have been on before!  There are passengers embarking and disembarking in several ports - Honolulu, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Darwin and Brisbane!  It must be a logistical nightmare for Princess to figure out which cabins are free to accommodate new passengers along the route!  We knew we would have to change rooms because we booked this cruise and the next one months apart. But our Aussie dinner mates booked the first leg and at the same time, the extension to Perth where they live, and they could not get the same cabin from Sydney to Perth.  So they have to move for their last 10 days?!  Musical cabins!!  LOL 

We have had a couple of ‘offers’ from Princess!!!  Offers to receive a 50% refund of the cruise fare we paid to relocate from a balcony to an ‘obstructed oceanview’ ( this has a window not a balcony)!, and yesterday an offer of 100% refund of the fare we paid if we would change our cruise to a different Aus / NZ sailing within two years!  This also included the cost of rebooking air arrangements!  We said, ‘No, thank you’!!  We waited too long for this trip to give it  up!

We went to the last White Ships talk where Duncan tied all his presentations together.  He talked about the circumstances that led the Matson Line to abandon luxury passenger travel and change their business focus back to shipping, their original business venture.

They were the last  American flagged ships to sail from the USA to Hawaii and the South Pacific.  The Jones Act required ships to go to a foreign port unless they were manned by a US crew.  Unions made this cost prohibitive.  They had been receiving US subsidies on their sailings between the mainland and Hawaii and when these were removed it became too expensive. Increased fuel costs and the cost of continuing to provide the luxury experience passengers had come to expect were too expensive to maintain.  The advent of airline travel began about the same time in the 1950’s.

All in all this was an excellent series of 13 talks - and given by a Canadian who had actually sailed on the Matson Line as a young child!

We had another relaxing afternoon and it will soon be time for dinner! Hopefully the show tonight will be as good as last night’s performance by Yuri & NATO!  It was very captivating and different from all the other entertainment so far. 

Tonight’s show is called Magic to Do and is described as a ‘spectacular musical revue paired with mesmerizing on stage illusions!’

We’ll post our last at sea update here tomorrow as we get closer to Sydney, Australia!  Stay tuned!

The Travellers

😊 🛳️ 😊

Oct 25 -  Almost there!

Last sea day!  

It’s been wonderful!  And we still have so much more to see in the weeks to come!

Today the captain announced that we will be taking on the pilot this afternoon and arriving in Sydney about 2 PM to avoid high swells later on!!!  Maybe tonight I will crack open the Gravol / Ginger!!!  We will stay at sea close to shore overnight and hopefully be able to enter the harbour and dock by 7:00 AM.  I think there is to be some special welcome for the ship as this is her ‘maiden voyage’ to Australia and New Zealand!  Guess we have to get up early and watch?

That should be easy as we set the clocks back another hour tonight to be on Aussie time!  So when get up at 7:00 AM it will be Saturday, October 26 here…. And 15 hours ahead of Toronto ET… I think!  It’s hard to keep track with all the time changes - so we just pay attention to ship time so we never miss a meal!!! 🐷🐷

Today we started to get our belongings together for the move.  Sumeth will bring in one of those moveable clothes racks and take everything from our closet to the cabin next door.  We’ll just dump everything else in our suitcases and then empty them tomorrow in our new digs!  We have to be out of our room by 8:45, so we aren’t sure if the new cabin will be ready yet…we’ll talk to him in the morning.

We plan to get off the ship and hang out near the ship in Sydney. We hope to walk to a pharmacy that is less than 1/2 km from our berth.   We’ll be docked right across from the Opera House!!  It’s so amazing to look across and see that iconic landmark!  We’ll get back on about noon to start our next voyage!!

See you in Sydney!!

Two Very Happy Travellers

😃😃

Oct 22. - Picton, NZ

 Oct 22 - Picton, NZ

We had the most glorious day for our last excursion on this cruise!  The temperature got up to 22° with bright sunshine!  We couldn’t have asked for better weather!

Our excursion was a scenic boat trip in Queen Charlotte Sound.  I will copy the description from Princess and then post a few photos. Unfortunately we didn’t see any dolphins or orcas, only a few ducks and gulls!  But just sitting out in the fresh air watching the passing scene was enough to make this a lovely day!

Here’ s the description…

View the dramatic seascapes of Queen Charlotte Sound from the deck of a sightseeing catamaran. Perched on the easternmost point of the Marlborough Sounds, the densely wooded shore is dotted with coves, bays and sandy beaches. During the cruise, the captain will recount the history of the region-from Captain Cook's visits in the 18th century (he sheltered in Queen Charlotte Sound during each of his three voyages of exploration at various points), to tales of pioneer days. Stellar views abound such as unspoiled natural scenery, lush forests, and scattered settlements that add a spot of color to the coastline. The nutrient-rich waters are a feeding ground for seals, seabirds and dolphins. At the Double Cove, you can feed the famous pet fish. Light refreshments are served during the voyage. Your tour concludes at Picton Township. Then, return to the ship via complimentary shuttle service at your leisure.

And a few photos…

 Our arrival in Picton - view from our balcony

                                                 

Back to our home for the past month!

Now we’ll have three days at sea before starting our journey around Australia.  This has been a relaxing and very enjoyable voyage and we look forward to more adventures!

Watch for updates!

😁😁