Sydney

After our final meal (breakfast) on the ship we cleared port authority and headed to downtown Sydney.  Thank goodness we had a car and driver, actually a van because of all the luggage.  How it got heavier on the cruise I have no idea, but it did and we didn't buy anything, except some handmade chocolates. Oh well, here we are.

Of course when we arrived at the Shangri-La Hotel only one room was ready in the 2 bedroom suite. So off we go shopping.  First stop, LuLuLemon(hello) in Sydney, to buy camo workout pants. A definite priority now that we are still on force feed, and lo and behold, here comes Annabelle and Heather from the ship.  What a wonderful surprise for us.  We wanted to take them to lunch, but they had to be back in about an hour on the ship. On George Street, King Street, all around for central Sydney shopping. 

Before we started our trek it was off to the concierge , Collin, who was kind enough to book our adventures here in Sydney.
 Tonight is dinner on the Rocks ( an area of Sydney) to Rock Pool Bar and Grill, tomorrow we fly to Queensland to visit some friends from Aspen for the day and then back here for dinner at the Flying Fish. Saturday at noon we climb the famous Harbour bridge ( this should be a hoot!), then to the OPERA at the famed Opera House.  The opera is The magic Flute by Mozart. Sunday, back to the States.

This is the view from my room overlooking the Bridge!

Our ship leaving for Bali

Best mirror ever after lunch.

Julie wanted to pet and hold a koala and touch a kangaroo. No such thing happening in Sydney.  You have to go to Brisbane for that, so we went for the stuffed animals instead.

More later

Arriving in Sydney

It's Thursday morning and we have arrived in Sydney.  Our bags had to be packed and out the door last night.  We are waiting to depart the ship for our hotel in Sydney. Not so pretty weather, but that is okay.

Yesterday the ship did a Galley lunch for everyone where you went through the kitchen to get your hot food and then salad and desserts were in the main dining room. They had everything from Swiss Cheese Fondue to Sushi, homemade pastas and sauces, Baked Alaska and crepes.

In the afternoon was the final dousing of caviar and more champagne and our final chocolate lava cake, which come to find out is Julie's favorite. 

Chocolate Lava Cake

Last cocktails with new friends
So, the cruise is over.  It has been fun and we have met some wonderful new friends.

A day in Photos

Heather, Julie and Annabelle

Yes, we are on a tram

Steve, Paddy and Annabelle

 I don't know why I am in this shopping cart? Maybe because it was just there

Rock the Boat Party!

We did say no!

Gotta run, docking in Sydney.  More to come

Lunch, Dinner, Dancing in Melbourne

After walking Collins Street we decided to have lunch at one of the small restaurants in the LaneWay- soup and salad because we had a busy night planned of us.
We started off on our TOUR- Wine and little bites. It was a walking and a tram tour of some of the special places in town  We started out at the Deanery where we taste 3 wines, a Riesling, pinot gris and then a shyrah. We had fried cauliflower with the Riesling and the a small heirloom salad and beef cooked slowly in red wine with mashers.
Then off to Japanese-Orion beer, Sake and then red wine- not so good.  But they did make a fried corn ball with green tea salt. This was not a favorite spot, but the next one Seamtress was a hoot. Here you walked up 3 flights of stairs- the SweatShop bar was in the basement. We started out with sparkles-like champagne, then a white and a red wine. Small spoon bites here and they were featuring a Pink Chihuahua made with tequila.  Had to have one of those.  Tasted a lot like a Tequila Pisco Sour. This whole concept was based on clothing from weaving to wearing.  Clever and cheeky. 
We had to hurry back to the ship to be in time for departure and Rock the Boat Party outside by the pool.  This was fantastic and and what a evening we had.

Then it was time to sail way to Geelong.

Melbourne-

We are finally on land--Melbourne.

Look closely and you will see balloons

 Thank the Good Lord! After clearing Aussie customs we are ready to go ashore.  Paddy has invited Julie and I to do a small tour with him in Melbourne. He hired a taxi with the Lebanese driver, John, so off we go.  Paddy is quite a man of all trades and very up on his history and stories, so he tells us about the Eureka building, which is the tallest in the southern hemisphere . Named after the Eureka Gold Mines where the unions started and was one bloody mess!!.  Then off to the War memorial in honor of the battle of Gallipoli in Turkey which took all the Australian troops in the Great War. Great Memorial with parade grounds and lights for ceremonies. Aussie rumor is the Brits would have also perished except they stopped for their morning tea!

They do the Grand Prix here in Melbourne and it will be coming in March.  How we got on the track in a taxi is beyond me, but off we went,  Not exactly speeding but fun to ride the track and see all the turns. There is a beautiful manmade lake in the middle.

Yes! That is a Goose crossing
It is back in the Taxi and heading to the center of town. Time for a coffee and shopping.  We have pent up non-buying syndrome because of those 4 days at sea. The main shopping street is Collins and it is pretty good if you like Prada, LV, Ralph Lauren,  and local designers.  The streets in Melbourne are lined with sycamore trees which are lovely and they give the city a clean smell and shade.  Plus it is very pretty.
The Alleys here are called Lane Ways and they have shops and restaurants on both sides.  We found one, Brooks which all the flooring is mosaic.  Absolutely stunning.  They brought in Italians to lay the floors and paint the ceilings.

I am going to send this one as the internet is messing up again and I haven't even gotten to lunch yet nor dinner, then dancing, then yesterday in Geelong and now we are back on the damn Tasman Sea going to Sydney

Rockin and Rolling on the Tasman and I think it is Sunday, the 23rd of Feb

As this lady down the hall stated: By God, I think this is going to be a WALL-BANGER and she was not kidding.
We have been now 3  days at sea-waves over the bow, waves on the side, grey crappy weather, interspersed with brief sunshine and the cruisers say this is normal!!  These people are crazy!  Apparently nothing bother the cruisers- they keep up with their Martini's and Gin and Tonic's. Damn near about to kill us first timers.  Julie and I have decided  maybe our new cruiser trip will be by Ferrari and Porsche.

A few stories to carry over.  After we met Bob and Ellen we all had dinner together the next evening in Restaurant 2 ( this one needs a reservation) and it is a pre-fixe menu with little bites and wine pairings.  So during octopus ceviche Bob tells us the story of how men and women differ on toliet paper! I have really not ever given much thought to toliet paper but hey, when in the middle of the Tasman Sea, who cares.  Bob tells us there are rollers, gathers and folders.  Most women he says are gathers and rollers and most men are folders and when one is single and then hooks up with a female, men are shocked to find out how much TP we women use!!!  You can imagine how the conversation went from there.  Come to find out they met on a dating match service.  Ellen paid and was guaranteed 6 dates of the man of her dreams and here came Bob and they have been married for 16 years.  

We are sitting on the back of the ship on deck 5 somewhat out of the wind and the sea has settled a touch-either that or we are so used to the rolling and rocking we don't even care any more. Some are in swimsuits and  I am in sweats.  I am freezing, but then again I have just come from an ION massage where it is suppose to shrink the belly fat with warm clay and IONS attached to your tummy.  I have been ginger-limed scrubbed, wrapped in seaweed and lowered into a tank of warm water.  My facials have consisted of  mud, oxygen, collagen and god knows what else.  The only thing that I can say is Thank God we will be in Melbourne tomorrow.  These 3 days at sea have cost me a fortune, but I am fluffed and puffed.

The food has been quite good- we do have caviar delivered almost daily to the room.  Julie and I have been going to dance class, the first one CHA-CHA, then Waltz ,( I had to miss that,another body treatment) and today is Jive . 
All for now!

Milford Sound

Today is Thursday the 20th and we are on our way to Milford Sound. Last night during dinner Julie and I invited some of our new friends to join us for our cruising around Milford Sound because we have a fabulous suite and patio! They did!

Carol, Stevie, Bob and Ellen Silvers, Molly and Carroll Smith, Ray and Joan Bonnano, Julie

Waving at the Captain

Sterling Waterfall

Champagne, cavair, cheese and crackers, Mimosas, Bloody Mary's, we still know how to throw together an impromptu party!!

                                                                                                          UMUM GOOD!!!

A touch foggy this morning sailing into Milford Sound but it was gorgeous with the clouds along the mountains and the waterfalls peeking out of the clouds! 

The most famous waterfall is Sterling Waterfall and it was raging this morning. Apparently there has been quite a bit of rain in the afternoons.

Just a beautiful morning!

We are now on our way to Melbourne!!

Oban and Stewart Island

We arrived on a cloudy morning to Stewart Island.  There are only 400 ( maybe) people living here as this is the  most southern most part of New Zealand.  Next stop, Antarctica. There really isn't much to do here except view the flora and fauna and walk into Halfmoon Bay.
When you get off the tender you have a choice of the highway (only 12 miles of road) or through the woods! Guess which way we went!!

Shoulda known this is gonna be weird!

And away we go.  It is absolutely  stunning through the woods and way better than the road, but hey- the steps will kill ya! I have been on several hikes with Julie (she is a hiker) and I am a follower, but I am not going to miss anything, so I go along and if I get tried, I just stop.  This is a place of no return- once in, you are there unless you go out the way same way, but then you will miss something and I don't want to miss a thing!! So off we go, I only went one way, but Julie did it both ways.  I am proud of her.  I went back to the ship. 

Still breathing

Pretty View of the Ship

We are sailing this evening to Milford Sound and we will be at sea for four days!
More to come!!

Port Chalmers and Dunedin

Last night we went up to the Observation Bar for a cocktail before dinner, where we ran into some friends from Houston, Carol and Molly Smith and Meredith, one of the vocalists on the ship. Meredith is from the Woodlands and graduated  from the John Cooper School .  Small world.
After a not so spiffy day in Timaru we were ready for some fun and this morning we woke up to beautiful blue skies and a lovely port in Dunedin. We had hired a classic Jag for today to tool around round in.  Our plans were to see Dunedin and go out to the Royal Albatross Centre.

On our way we picked up Cecil "Paddy" Millar. Paddy is on the cruise with us and we had dinner with him the first night of invitational dining. Julie and I have deduced that Paddy is somewhere between 80 and 85, a delightful gentleman. He left Northern Ireland when he was in his early 20's and move to Africa, then Rhodesia, now Zimbawe.  He started out as a farmer and then entered politics and was part of their Parliament . After 3 children they all moved to Australia.  His stories are mesmerizing. More of those later when we are at sea.

So, I invited Paddy to come with us and he did.

We started out from the ship and into town to the world's steepest street- sorry San Francisco, but it is here in NZ. It is just steep, not crooked. 

From here we go around the Otago Bay to see the Albatross- this is unbelievable !!

Yes, that is one of our photos!!! See the tag on his legs, they are tracked to see when they come back.  He has 3 bands so he his a mating bird. Their wingspan is 9 feet and the Royals only mate here in NZ.  They spend most of their time at sea and are very clumsy landing on land. After they are born they spend about 6months with their parents and then off they go for 4 to 5 years at sea. When they return they are referred to as the juveniles and then after a couple of more years they will be adults and ready to breed. They normally have one partner for life.

From here it was back to the ship by way of their train station in Dunedin, one of the most photographed train stations in the world. 

It is also here they do the New Zealand Fashion week and they use the train station as their designer's runways!

All for now

Timaru

We woke up this am to fog and we were unable to go to the port. We didn't arrive until noon, so our time on shore was cut short, but that was okay.  Most everything here was away trips to sheep shearing farms and Maori villages, which we had not planned on doing.  But, we did go for a good walk and into the town.

Spooky morning!
After we took the bus to town to get out of the dock area we went into to the Rose Garden, which was erected by the towns people in honor of all the men who died during World War I and World War II

From here we started our trek along the waterfront and then back into town.

We are back on board and getting ready to sail