G'Day Mates for the last time from Downunder.

Sad to say the vacation of a life time is coming to an end. However, we finished it with the greatest snorkeling we all have ever seen. We spent the last two days on the Great Barrier Reef seeing some of the most colorful fish and coral anywhere. Large sea clams, clown fish, gropers and nemo was found by Camille and Randy, just to name a few. Doug even took a ocean walk inside a glass bubble helmet. No turtles were seen, however, a reef shark was swimming just under us for most of the dive. Needless, to say at least one eye was always watching it's movement. "No worries" they only go after prey that is much smaller than themselves and after all the food we've had, belie've me we all were much larger than the shark.

Well, all the bags are packed and ready to go. It should be interesting to see what the weight limits will be and most likely we'll be paying some extra for over weight bags. But it will be all well worth it.

Tomorrow's return will be the longest Saturday any of us will spend, however we are all ready to get home. We'll have many stories to tell above and beyond those we shared with you on the blogs.

Doug, Camille, Randy, Kay "Sweet as"

New Zealand and New Zealanders…..

Well, we are back on the Tasman Sea headed away from New Zealand and back to Sydney. Today, Sunday, is our first day at sea after leaving our last port-of-call, and we will be at sea all day on Monday as well....arriving back in Australia early Tuesday morning. So time to catch you all up on the rest of New Zealand.....and New Zealanders. (Yes....we know we are a bit behind....but cut us a little slack....we are on VACATION !)

After Christchurch, we had a day at sea as we left the South Island and headed towards the North Island of New Zealand. At about 7:00 pm we came in view of White Island, a volcanic island that is still active...and has been making steam for about 400 years since it last blew it's top. Captain Cook...who either discovered or first charted, or both, most of this region of the world, named it because of the white cloud of steam that always hovers over it. The view was great as we sailed around the island taking pictures, noting the birds and wildlife that has 're-settled' the Island..and watching the sun set. Pictures won't do it justice, but Doug got some great shots.

Next morning found us in Wellington, third largest city in New Zealand and the capital of the country..and our first time on the north island. The north island is about 340 nautical miles from the long south island. South island was created by glaciers, and the rocky river beds remind Kay and Randy a lot of Alaska.....while the north island was created by volcanoes. In Wellington we booked the 'New Zealand Heartland' tour...and lucky for us, we drew Sean as our guide and driver. We are pretty good at this whole tour departure thing now, so we made sure we were in the right place to get up front, where we can see out the wind screen (wind shield to us yanks) and converse with the driver. Now Sean was truly a 'Kiwi'......never been outside of NZ, (no need to), and very proud of his country, like most kiwis...but more on that later.
Sean drove us up and over the mountains to the Wannarappa area of New Zealand. The scenery through the mountain switchbacks was gorgeous....almost as many shades of green as Ireland. and Sean made it entertaining all of the day. When we commented on the flimsy guard rails and how they wouldn't even slow the bus down, he quipped "no worry....we aren't going over....imagine the paperwork!" .....which turned out to be one of several Sean-isms. Sean spent much of the trip convincing us of the seriousness of the possum problem in NZ. Yes, that was possum......but not an opossum like we have in NA, this is sort of a mix with our possum and a feral cat. Very mischievous little buggers, and quite prolific. Remember the 40 million sheep.....well there are over 70 million possum, and they are pretty universally disliked. They are a menace to the native Kiwi birds....as they are also nocturnal and they destroy the eggs, the hatchlings, and even the full grown Kiwi. Almost every power pole in NZ has about a one foot wide metal band around them to keep the possum from climbing up and shorting out the power. So universally, the possum is a hated little nuisance. Sean was very clear and very humorous about that. After stopping at the summit to have a 'look around' we headed to the plains between two sets of mountains and visited some of the shops there. First stop was at a store that specialized in Paua shell jewelry, etc. The paua is a mollusk native to the seas here, and the inside of the shell is a beautiful blue. So think 'mother of pearl' that comes from a different shelled mollusk....only blue. (Visualize for now.....we are bringing home samples.) Greytown had us visiting a chocolate shop with yummy homemade items and several other boutique shops. Nice pace on the tour......some scenery, some facts about the area.....home prices, etc. ....then some time to walk around and explore. We ate lunch in Martinborough, a wine town that has expanded greatly with the fairly recent evolution of a thriving wine business for NZ. We drove around the vineyards...all of which are draped in netting to keep the birds out...and stopped in town for a little tasting and some lunch. At the wine center, we met another kiwi that was so happy to see some yanks and pour them some wine. We had to get to our lunch, but he taught us some NZ slang that has stuck. He and a mate worked at a summer camp in Minnesota for a year....and shared some of the funny NZ slang that yanks get a kick out of. First is 'sweet as' ......which, when they say it sounds exactly like 'sweet ass'.....and like most terms here in NZ, it means "everything is great...no worries !" .....almost like an OK but with feeling! So if you asked some one how their lunch was, they might reply 'sweet as'. Doug and Randy have picked that one up...and the locals get a kick out of it. He also relayed a story from their camp experience, where he and his mate would tell the campers to 'meet us at 2:00 pm at Paul Bunyan's deck'....except when a kiwi says it ....we would hear 'Paul Bunyan's dick'...so the campers would all snicker. When they corrected the kiwis....it was their turn to snicker....because deck the way we say it means pot or weed here. We had a great lunch at the Martinborough Hotel, good interaction with the other folks from the ship on this tour, and off to see a railroad museum and then back over the mountains and into Wellington. We were running a little late....so we toured around a bit...saw another filming spot for the Narnia Chronicles, and had a short tour around downtown in a big coach! As we rounded one corner, a gal was right in our path and got that deer in the headlights look, to which Sean commented "sure gave her possum eyes didn't I.....imagine the paperwork!" . He showed us the parliament house for NZ which is shaped like a bee hive and took us by the American Embassy....which was a McDonalds. Sean was a keeper.....we wish every driver and tour guide was as good.

Day 10 of the cruise we docked in Tauranga. Another coach tour, and a competent driver / tour guide. This was sort of a 'back to nature and the local heritage' sort of tour. Early start, and we were off to Rainbow Springs.....near Lake Rotorua. On the way we saw Kiwi plantations and learned that this fruit grows on grape vine type structures and produce either a green or a gold fruit. The blossoms are very dainty, and can be blown off by a stiff breeze before the fruit forms....so all are surrounded by hedges and man made barriers.
Rainbow Springs had us getting up close and personal with native animals, plants, etc....including wonderful trout (Rainbow, brown, and several other native varieties),the Kaka, an iguana like creature, and the North Island Brown Kiwi. Kiwis are endangered, so the Kiwi Encounter is a conservation effort to help solve the high infant mortality problems and renew the Kiwi to its original habitat. We learned all about the bird (did you know that for it's size....it lays the largest egg of any other bird?), and saw the nursery and then a couple live kiwis. Very neat experience...and lots of great pictures.

Next stop was the Maori Cultural Center / Te Puia. The Maori were the original natives of the area...and there are many similarities between them and the American Indian. We had a Maori guide, Tata, who joined us and shared the Maori story from their perspective. He taught us 'Kia ora' which is their greeting...and sort of universal like Aloha to the Polynesians who settled Hawaii. So in response to 'Kia ora' you respond' Kia ora' with enthusiasm, and like aloha, it covers about every opportunity for a greeting day or night. Tata and the Maori experience were quite serious about respecting their customs. The stop included a traditional greeting, cultural demonstrations (chanting, dancing, fighting, etc.) Each of the tour groups / busses picked a 'Chief' of the bus before they arrived.....4 chiefs in all....and the Chief of the Bus represented his 'people' in the arrival ceremony. Doug was our chief! He and Tata exchanged traditional greetings.....which had noses and foreheads touching (twice only, three times means you're getting married ) and it helped us all understand hierarchy and customs. The chiefs were 'greeted' by the warriors of the village with a native dance and a peace offering. When the visiting Chief picked up the peace offering...he needed to keep eye contact and back away from the warrior.....if he turned his back, it meant we wanted to fight, and we were challenging them. We passed inspection, did the ritual correctly and were welcomed by the oldest female in the village. Without her 'song'.....no one gets into the village. Pictures will show the tattooing that is a part of their culture......but may not catch the tongues....yes, tongues. Part of their 'scary dance' and their celebrations has the males sticking their long tongues out and wiggling them pretty much continuously. Kay and Camille thought the whole thing a bit too serious.......and wondered if we weren't going to be eaten. The food was cooked in a pit by heating rocks and then putting the food on top and covering with earth, very similar to an Hawaiian luau, but with fish, lamb, chicken, sweet potatoes, etc...no pig. Food was good....our chief kept us out of harm's way...and we were back on the bus and off to the Thermal Springs and boiling mud at the Tamaki Heritage experience in Rotorua.

We had a different Maori guide and viewed some of their traditional crafts such as weaving and carving. They had a traditional war canoe....carved intricately out of a single tree....seated 18 warriors and was over 50 feet long. From there we walked down the hill to the thermal area. Closest thing we have to this is 'old faithfulÕ'in Yellowstone, USA. The geyser here is Pohutu....and Pohutu was performing, i.e. spouting off the whole time we were there. This made for a strong sulfur smell in the area....and if you wanted to explore a bit, you got sprayed with a smelly mist and then you smell like sulfur. Hey...'no worries' .or should I say 'Kar pi', which sounds exactly like 'Cow Pie !' and elicits more smiles. Ok.....a bit wet and smelly, we head over to the boiling mud pits. Looks pretty much like it sounds....dark brown mud that bubbles like a boiling pot. That is because it is boiling.....so around 212 degree F....so no baths directly in this mud. But, you can buy cosmetics based on this magic New Zealand mud.....and it will make you look young again. Not sure they hooked us on that one....but there are several hotels and resorts that offer hot mineral baths and hot mud treatments. Maybe next trip.

Back around the other side of Lake Rotorua and past the only river kayaking course we have seen in a natural river setting. The kiwis are really into their extreme sports.....and this course, ..where the kayaker needs to go through gates that are suspended across the water was created to practice for the Olympic competition. None of us had ever seen a natural course ....but there is one on the Te puna river flowing out of Rotorua.

Back to the ship, busy day, late meal and on to Auckland.
We had pretty outstanding weather for all of our excursions....but Auckland was rainy and nasty on Day 11. Auckland is the largest city in NZ at about 1.4 million...so it looks like a big city built on an ocean harbor / bay. Today, we skipped the lines at the check in for the tours.....got our stickers and headed out to get the front seats on the coach. Add to the depressing weather, a really bad tour guide / driver. Since we arrived early to the coach, we got to hear about how he was 'dragged in today' for this tour, etc. That was a bad start to a worse morning. We visited the SkyTower....similar to one in Seattle or Toronto, this is the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. Sections of glass floor on the deck which you can walk across and look down are an interesting touch.....a bit of a pucker! Very foggy and grey...so the gift shop at the bottom got much of our time. Back onto the coach with Brian Fuller, whose name we needed so we could complain...and back to a tour around the city with no meaningful commentary. That is unless you consider 'I haven't been to this part of the city in years' meaningful to visitors. Our other stop with this tour was Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic and Undersea Experience. After walking through an area that depicted some of the early exploration to find and visit the South Pole, we boarded our 'snow cat' to take a short ride and see the two major penguins found in the Antarctic, the King and the....other one. The windows on the attraction were fogged up on the outside so we didn't see much. One thing that was 'sweet as' was the underwater viewing tunnels with sharks, giant short tailed stingrays, and a variety of other fish. So that salvaged a bit of our morning.

Back to the bus, back to the ship.....quick check through security and on board to reload, grab a quick lunch, and head back out for our afternoon tour to wine country and wine tastings. Got back to the coach just in time...and who is our driver, Brian from the morning. So no meaningful commentary as we headed out of Auckland to visit three wineries...but a bus load of folks going drinking is always fun! We started at Matua ....a label we had been told to watch for by family....and they did a very informed tasting for the 30 some folks on the bus. Really quite generous, nice store....and they export to the US, but won't ship to individuals. (So we'll just have to find it at home.) New Zealand actually grows grapes on both the North and the South island....with the Marlborough Region in the north portion of the South Island being one of the largest grape producing regions. They are well known for their Sauvignon Blanc, and their Pinot Noir. Hey, after a few tastes and the rain letting up a bit' Kar pi', all is good. Second winery was Nobilo. which represents several brands you may have heard of....including one with a Monkey on the label that Pleepleus found to his liking......and a dessert wine and tawny port that were memorable. Strictly medicinal, they help you digest you know! Last stop was Soljans Estate....where a transplanted Californian, Debbie, gave us a tour that included the making, bottling, and aging areas of their shop, and then we tasted. She also brought out some good cheeses and crackers....which we went for like hungry piranhas. These wines are also not shipped....but their exporter in the Midwest is Brennan's in Brookfield......so that should be convenient. In spite of Brian's driving, (ran a red light in the morning tour)....we arrived back safely in time to depart Auckland and we were all happy and chatty....and needed a little nap before dinner.

In Auckland, we docked at a pier right in down town. (Most of our docks were in some smaller port that was a short ride from the main town, like Wellington or Christchurch.) So as we opened our curtains in Auckland.we were looking directly into apartments built on the pier. They have a great view of the harbor..when a cruise ship is not tied up to block their view and a great view into the cabins of the cruise ship when there is, and vice versa. As we left, many came out to wave when they heard the ship's horn signaling we were heading out.

Day 12, and one last port-of-call....the Bay of Islands. There are over 300 islands in this bay and a variety of small towns. Our tour was to visit the glowworm caves and a national forest that contains some trees over 1000 years old. We had a good driver /guide from the area and knowledgeable. Tourism is the number one industry in this area....so he was well informed. We headed to the glowworm caves...which are owned and run by the Maori. Situated in an area of sandstone and limestone hills.....the formations look like you are in the Wisconsin Dells. (Doug kept looking up expecting a dog to jump from one pillar to another!) The forest, however, is rain forest and has very beautiful, and for us, unusual trees, plants, etc. In Wisconsin, we are visited by the noisy, secada bugs every 17 years....well they have them here continuously in this season and they are loud. The glowworm cave is a natural cave that was formed by a stream running through the mountain and wearing away the sandstone and limestone. The cave was discovered by a Maori tribe, when they saw smoke coming from the mountain.....and on further investigation, found a women living in the cave.....supposedly to escape her husband. The cave is fairly easy to walk into, with a wooden walkway, railings, stairs, ladders, and an occasional stalactite or stalagmite to weave around. Doug and Randy were chosen as lantern carriers, which was convenient and kept claustrophobic Kay from getting excited. When we got deep into the cave, we turned off all the lanterns, and saw hundreds of glowworms on the ceiling of the cave. Each one is only about ½ inch long...and they spin a little web like hammock below them....then they poop and the poop glows fluorescent green, which of course attracts flies, mosquitoes, etc......which is their food. So one of the best comments from the crowd was 'hot shit'.....because we were all standing around peering up at worm poop. Actually, pretty cool or 'sweet as ! We exited the cave at the top, and walked down a path, through the rain forest back to the bus. Surrounded by the beautiful tropical trees, plants, secadas, and we even saw a walking stick, was as neat as the cave.

Next, a stop to see famous toilets in Kawakawa, which were designed by an Austrian, Friedrich Hundertwasser. Hey...we saw them....we christened them, and we did a little souvenir shopping. Next..off to the Manginangina Tauri Forest and the mighty kauri trees. One of these huge trees is estimated to be 1200 years old....and both these trees and the pristine rain forest around them was 'sweet as'. We headed back to the ship.boarded a shuttle into town, and got rid of all of our NZ money as we prepared to leave New Zealand. Not sure how we are going to fit this stuff in suitcases....but we had to get some final memories of our New Zealand experience, and to buy some items for the young'uns. Looks like a Kiwi Christmas next year.....if we can hold out. We had a beer /cocktail or an ice cream....or both...and headed back to the ship. Went up to the pool deck to hot tub and rest a bit and waved bye to NZ. One of the tenders spotted 3 Orcas / killer whales on their way back to the ship...but we missed that.

Sunday and Monday are 'days at sea'....and as we wrap up the cruise portion of the BLOG, we are getting ready to pack and put our bags out before midnight. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we arrive in Sydney before sun up, and depart, head to the airport....groan at the excess baggage fees we will probably have to pay in order to get our treasure trove up to Cairns and Port Douglas...and settle into our last stop.

A couple final thoughts on New Zealand and especially New Zealanders. First, Kiwis are a proud lot.....and at every stop the locals were proud of their country, their town, etc. Fun loving and adventurous and the whole 'no worries' or 'Kar pi' thing is real. They don't sweat the small stuff. They have quite a rivalry with Australians, especially in Rugby (the All Blacks are the top pro team) and Cricket....both of which we know a bit more about now. The country is really beautiful...and outside of the pesky possums.they are very intent on keeping it that way. Way greener than we are.....
They made quite an impression on us, and we'd be proud to be a little bit of a Kiwi from now on......'sweet as'!

As we wrap up the cruise.....a bit on the whole experience. The almost 2000 passengers hail from Australia (over 900 ), USA (0ver 400) The UK and Canada ( a bit over 100 each) and then a bunch from South America, Europe, Russia, etc. Like it or not, stereotypes sort of emerge when you spend time queuing up, etc....and we all have opinions of certain nationalities and of course certain characters we won't forget. We made several new friends....some which we will chose to stay in touch with. Age wise.... widely varied, but we were in the bottom third. Not many families, as school is on almost everywhere in the world right now.
We both had nice rooms with balconies, and on different sides of the ship....so no matter which side had the best view, we could find a room to go visit and watch. All of the 'special water' we brought on board in Sydney went to spicing up the diet cokes.....and Zolies Hungarian wines have also seemed to leak from their bottles....and will lighten our suitcases a bit. This should not be taken to mean that our bar bill will be light. Rudy, our favorite Philippino bartender is a good friend, along with Aristeo and Royland, our waiters. All will get nice envelopes tonite. Oh, and by the way...the boat weighs 78,000 tons.

Entertainment was good, with a couple standouts. Camille and Doug seldom missed a show and saw a pianist and an Australian singer that were outstanding. We had an illusionist / magician who was very good.....and the comedians,....not so much. Some of the group activities, like Trivia, Name that Tune, etc. were fun with two standouts "The Quest" on the first night back at sea and the Mixology session yesterday, where we learned to make Cosmopolitans, Bahama Mamma's (Doug's favorite), Yellow Birds, and a BBC (Baileys, Banana and Colada ). Learning was good drinking was better. Both of these sessions probably deserve more discussion when we come home...preferably including alcohol. Many fun things to do and we took advantage.

Everyone stayed pretty healthy....but the sniffles have cycled through us all....and we are all preparing to be in perfect health to tackle the Great Barrier Reef starting Wednesday.

So sorry to hear about the snow at home. Sucks to be you!

Dunedin & Christchurch New Zealand

First, some corrections from the prior posting…80 Tons is a little lite for this boat, it is actually 800 tons…but no difference, Tasman still kicked our butt. (Some of the staff said it was the roughest they had ever endured, and the TV listed the winds as ‘Gale Force’. ) Also, we were on a coach in Denedin (Duh-NEED-in ) and a train in Christchurch….but let me catch you all up now that we are honest again.

Some New Zealand facts…..4 million people in the whole country, with only about 1 million on the South Island. There were once 80 million sheep in New Zealand…..and it has now gone down to only 40 million sheep. Dairy has picked up as the economics of Milk changes the mix. Still….there are sheep everywhere you look. They sometimes take them as pets…like we would a dog…..and whenever you see ‘dots’ on a far away hillside…assume they are sheep and you will be correct.

Monday the 15^th of February had us in docked in Dunedin near the southern most point of New Zealand. The weather was beautiful, light clouds and a high of 63 degrees. We boarded a coach right at the ship and headed up the coast on one side of Otago Bay, around Dunedin and then back down the peninsula, which borders the Tasman to the east and Otago Bay to the west. The driver was also the tour guide and was excellent.

First stop was the only Royal Albatross Colony that exists on an inhabited piece of land. This occurs on the very tip of the peninsula…Taiaroa Head….…and all other colonies are on islands south of here and closer to Antarctica. The nests were within easy viewing …as they have built a bunker into the hillside to observe. It is soundproof and very camouflaged….so the birds are not bothered. In an excellent presentation we learned that the wingspan of the largest Albatross can exceed 5 meters….yes folks, that is 16 feet. The species nests at this colony were around 12 – 14 feet. They have 3 joints to their wings…a shoulder joint at the body, an elbow joint, and a wrist joint, So when they fold up their wings on land…..it is a tri-fold. When the fly….and yes, we watched one take off……they jump into the wind and soar, using the end of their wings only ….and quite frankly…you can not see them move. They are very clumsy looking on land….and unbelievably graceful in the air. There are 19 nests and all but one has hatched a fledgling this season….with the last due to hatch any day. They have help…the rangers gather the eggs and ‘candle’ them after hatching…..and make sure they maximize the number of fertile eggs. We saw mostly chicks….with the parents taking turns tending…i.e. sitting on the chick and feeding it….both in ‘person’ and on the web cam on one of the eggs. When full grown these birds weigh about 36 pounds, and when the chicks first ‘launch’ they are fat and weigh more! When they leave the colony they don’t return for 5 years…..and they mate every other year. We could go on and on…it was very fascinating to see. Care to look…visit http://www.albatross.org.nz/

Oh Yeah…..we also visited a bunker where they hid big guns to defend the harbor. Bunkers built in the late 1800’s were updated to WWII vintage ‘disappearing 8” guns’, and we got to see how the troops manned them. They were never attacked…so cool guns…never fired in war.

Next….off to look at the Yellow Eyed Penguins at a conservation project that protects them. They are the world’s most endangered species of penguin….and there are around 30 of them in this colony. They nest in the woods around the sea….and walk to the sea to go ‘fishing / feeding’ from dawn to dusk. This project built a series of walks, blinds and tunnels to get you close to the birds. We saw several young chicks…like less than 2 years old…and a couple of molting adults. When they are molting…which lasts about 4 weeks…their feathers will not protect them from the sea….so they get no food or water for 4 weeks….and they work on getting very fat and then they just laz around. (So hey…we’re not just on a cruise…we are actually getting ready to molt…..! ) We did see one adult male, Mitch, making his way to the beach and out to feed….and it was a stitch. Beautiful yellow ‘headband’ …..but he waddles out to the beach, and due to a quickly receding tide…it takes him three tries to get into water deep enough to swim off. The female guide / naturalist was embarrassed for him! While there, we also saw New Zealand fur seals and a sea lion….and of course sheep.

Next stop, Larnach Castle and lunch. William Larnach, banker and politician built his mansion / castle on a promontory that can see both the harbor to the east and the ocean to the west. Wonderful place…lots of history, scandal, etc.….and extremely beautiful gardens. The present owner has restored much of the elegance of the place….but her real love are the gardens….which she was out tending when we visited. Wonderful turret at the top of the castle gives a stupendous view.

We had no shopping stop /time in Dunedin….which perplexed a couple of us. Any guesses?

Smooth sail out of Dunedin at around 6:00 pm. Doug and Randy went up to the top of the ship with Binoculars and camera to catch a last glimpse of the soaring Albatross as we came back by the Taiaroa Peninsula. Breathtaking…..

Docked near Christchurch…the Garden City around 7:00 am.

After a short ride out of the very busy container port…we boarded the Tranz Alpine Scenic train for a tour of the southern alps of New Zealand. So we headed inland up to Arthur’s Pass an elevation of 737 metres..or about 2500 feet. The scenery was beautiful…weather a bit rainy on the way up….but nice at the top. While at Springfield station (no Homer or Bart sightings reported) we fed a sheep white bread…..and watched a demonstration of a sheepherding dog. The dog was a border collie…and he had the sheep in the palm of his paws! They gave us tea and scones, cheese and crackers, and lunch on the train. After a ‘walk about’ at the pass, we boarded a coach for the way back down. Great views if the countryside, good facts by the guides, including pointing out where two hit films were filmed in this valley…The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, and Lord of the Rings. Finished with a short tour of Christchurch…and about 30 minutes of shopping (Thank god !)…and back to the ship.

Doug and Randy witnessed the harbor pilot leaving the Rhapsody and jumping back to the pilot boat and returning to Christchurch harbor. Neither of us will be applying for that job!

A stormy night……and New Zealand scenery..

Last night was the end of our two day sail across the Tasman Sea. We went to our usual late dinner seating…..good food and frivolity with the waiters….then off to Disco night on board. Lots of fun costumes….John Rivolta, and of course, The Village People…so got the place rocking. The celebration moved from the main stairwell / multiple levels up to the Crown & Anchor on 11….the highest lounge on the ship. Now the Royal Caribbean Singers and Dancers gave us a tribute to Abba….so the place was rockin’…….but not just because of the music. It was pretty stormy and the ship had distance to cover….and the higher you go…the more she rocks. So dancing……well everyone had an excuse for bumping into others and looking a bit klutzy! Freeman’s headed back after midnight to get some shut eye.  11^th floor was movin….7^th and 8^th weren’t much better….so after the challenge of getting into bed, it was one wild ride all night. Some of the big waves woke you right back up when you did manage to get to sleep…the ship was making all sorts of sounds. Made for quite the interesting night…..you know it is hard to beat Mother Nature. Score: Tasman 1, 80 ton Ship 0.

 

Wake up call @ 6:30 to see the Fjordland National Park area of New Zealand.  First….land was a welcome site, as we had just ocean to look at since we said good bye to Sydney on the 11th…..and very beautiful land at that. Milford Sound, then Doubtful Sound a couple hours later (discovered by Captain Cook…and named because he was ‘doubtful’ his ship would fit )….then finally, Dusky Sound mid afternoon. Both couples were lucky to get balconies on our room…..and since the boat goes in, turns around and comes out…..you get the whole view no matter where you are on the ship. The outside temp was about mid 50’s….so wrapped up a bit, and enjoyed a nice sunny day with great visibility. Enjoy the pictures…..the mountains are about 3000 feet, and there were hundreds of waterfalls making their way down to the sea. Randy saw a sea lion out hunting, a school of Dolphins, and thousands of birds.

 

Now steaming around the bottom of the South Island to Dunedin and our first port-of-call. We are all set for a great day trip on a narrow gauge train to see a Castle, Penguins and Albatrosses.

 

Happy Valentines Day to all our ‘sweethearts’ at home…

Leaving Sydney and crossing the Tasman Sea…

On Tuesday the 10^th, we needed to check out of the Marriott and move to the Rhapsody of the Seas. Normally, the Royal Caribbean fleet comes in to the pier to tie up, but this particular cruise had a conflict with The Rotterdam from the Norwegian Cruise lines…so Rhapsody was tied out to a buoy in Sydney harbor…right across from the Sydney Zoo. This meant we would need to board a tender …..a smaller boat to take us to the ship.  So packing was completed on Monday evening……so we could get up and use the morning on Tuesday as a ‘shopping day’. Which is exactly what we did.

 Doug and Randy set out to find coins which Doug collects and had thoroughly researched. Camille and Kay set off to find Opals…deemed a ‘must’ since almost all worldwide opals come from here….and other requests from home.  Based on a recommendation, we visited a jeweler specializing in Opals that was right down the street from the hotel.  They worked hard to educate us all on where Opals come from…..how to judge the value……and then basically convinced us to ‘buy what you find pleasing…not based so much on the value, and other’s opinions. So after a head start….Doug and Randy caught up with the girls…..and eventually, all shopping requirements were met.  (But we don’t want to ruin any future surprises!) The Girls headed off to the ‘Rocks’ for some additional items / requests. The Boys headed off in search of more coins…..Doug shopping and Randy navigating…but all on foot. New coins here are sold at the Post…or Post office….so we visited about 4 different ones in downtown Sydney. The last was the best….but still short a couple. So we headed to a Numismatics shop…..but they really only dealt in old coins. They referred us to M. R. Roberts….which is a hole in the wall shop a level below the street …..not easy to find…..but probably the place where we should have started. Almost all coins procured….we hustled back to the hotel to check out….grab a quick lunch…and take a ‘maxi-taxi’ to the dock to check in, clear customs, get our official cruise card / room keys…and head out to check out our domain for the next two weeks. All went smoothly…including getting a tax refund for local Aussie taxes…..which technically makes us exporters. Scary thought….

 We boarded the ship, passed security, and headed to our rooms. In an earlier Post I had shared that we were upgraded….so we both have balconies and larger rooms than we had planned. (While we are still thankful that they upgraded us…..the business behind it was to resell the lower cabins at a bargain price.  Since we booked a long time ago….we paid top dollar based on the economy today. We have run into several folks who really got a great last minute deal. But hey…no worries man! ) We explored the ship….signed up for some of the ‘deals’ on board ship (like unlimited Diet Coke for the cruise, bottled water at a discount, etc.) ….checked out a couple of the cocktail bars, and headed off to dinner to meet our wait staff. Luggage didn’t make it to the room until after we finished our ‘second seating’ dinner….so we unpacked and called it a night.

 Tuesday was the worst weather we have had…a little rain…wind and overcast. So a good day to spend shopping and getting settled on the ship. On Wednesday, we took a tender into Sydney…then took a ferry back to the Zoo….very close to the ship where we started.

 The Sydney Zoo is in an awesome location on the opposite side of the harbor from downtown Sydney. It is built on a hillside….so first activity was to ride a gondola lift up to the top. 

Wonderful ride over the top of the animal cages, etc….and a breathtaking view back across the harbor of the Opera Center , Harbor Bridge, and downtown. We tried to visit animals we may not see much in Milwaukee Zoo…so lots of Koala, Kangaroo, Wallaby, a birds eye view of giraffes, and a huge variety of birds. Perhaps the most time was spent watching some keepers put three Australian Pelicans through their paces. They followed them around and did tricks for fish…..and they are huge!  Fascinating! We probably saw 1/3 of the Zoo…and I doubt you could see it all in two days. We needed to get the 3 o’clock ferry back to circular quay, and then make sure we caught the last tender to the ship @ 4:30. We had to do a little shopping too……because all that diet coke needed was something to spice it up a bit. So the water bottles that came off the ship…were full again going back to the ship.  Imagine that!

 

Caught the 4:00 pm ferry…..passed ‘muster’ at 5:30….and headed up to watch the ship set sail. It was fascinating…to the boys…to watch the crew pull the anchors and set free from the buoy. Waving goodbye to Sydney for a couple weeks…we were on our way. Sydney is a very unique harbor….you sail in / out through two prominent cliffs which we visited on our bus tour…..but inside the protected harbor is huge. Like no other city….so we really enjoyed our view from the ship…and due to an abundance of wind, and it being the middle of summer….there were sailboats and races going on everywhere. One got so close, he warranted a toot on the ship’s horn from the captain. Standing on deck….that will make you jump! Said farewell to land around dusk…and headed across the Tasman Sea to the sounds of New Zealand on Valentines Day. As we compose here we are about 300 Nautical miles out….almost 1000 to NZ….so under some good steam….about 16 knots Traveling through ‘rough’ seas at 8 – 14 feet waves…..but relatively stable. All getting our sea legs..and getting dressed for our first formal night….after a day of vegging out at sea.

 Glad to hear that you are taking care of getting that snow pile down for our return….keep up the good work!

Exploring Sydney

Sydney has a population of between 4 - 8 million....depending on who you believe. There are only 20 million people in all of Australia...so that puts almost 1/3 of them in this area. Being a city on the water, it has some Boston like driving ......meaning roads have to sort of wind around and dodge natural geography...so not many nice right angle intersections! Good driving by Doug got us to our hotel....and after we got checked in we returned the car here in town with no damage. Sounds easy....but not so much. No more driving planned on the trip so we are on to other modes of transport!

On Saturday the weather / temperature was forecasted to possibly hit 40 degrees celsius in Sydney....which is 104 degrees fahrenheit......but thank goodness forecasters are no more 

accurate here than at home. May have gotten to 90...but in general it was comfortable. Church at St Mary's started our Sunday.  Mass was presided over by the Cardinal and included a boy's choir. Huge, beautiful church right beside Hyde Park....which  is named after its namesake in London, and is the center of Sydney.

 We took a bus tour of Sydney on the Sydney Express......a regular Coach with air conditioning....chosen over the open top double deckers based on the forecast.  We stayed on board except for a stop in Chinatown for some shopping and lunch, and then switched to the Bondi bus which explores the suburbs and beaches.  Great way to see many sights in a short time....and figure out what you want to go back and see more of. Back to the hotel in time to meet up with another yank now living in Sydney, Nick Tilley. Nick hails from St. Louis, was Chris Freeman's roommate @ NW, and is a Frat Brother. He arranged to get the afternoon off and meet us in town for dinner in Darling 

 Harbour. Nick has been in New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Australia for over a year, and was a great source of info. We also had the best dinner we've had so far on the trip. 

On Monday, the Wilde's headed off on an organized tour of the Blue Mountains.....and they will capture that adventure in a separate post. 

The Freeman's stayed in Sydney and met up with a college friend of Kay's mother...from teachers college in Union Grove, Wi.  Marjorie Short is 86 years young and is very feisty. She has lived in Australia for over 30 years, and has a million stories of her days in Bega, NSW...the dairy capital of Australia with her husband, and her many adventures in and around Sydney. She drives....very well in fact....and we had a wonderful adventure with her. We took her to lunch at Harry's Cafe de Wheels...which serves Pies and Peas.....meat pies, covered with mashed potatoes, smashed peas, and gravy. Made famous by serving the troops in WWII, Harry's has been in the same location on the Woolloomooloo Bay since 1945...and this is the first time 

Marge ate there! (So nice to find something we could introduce her to.)  The pies were suprisingly good, the tour in her car, the view of the soccer stadium and downtown from her balcony.....the stories....made for an outstanding day.

We got back into town in time to take the tour of the Sydney Opera House.....hugely impressive structure and entertainment center........but the story behind it is even more interesting. Certainly one of the most recognized and architecturally significant buildings in the world. 

Today was the first day that the weather wasn't bright and sunny on our trip. While the weather here has been great by our standards......down in the state of Victoria around Melbourne  ( 90 minute flight ) they have had some of the hottest temperatures and raging wildfires in history. Up in Queensland.....near where we will end our trip, it has been raining continuously and flooding, so the news is full of not so happy disasters. So we are very thankful  ......and we hope that it dries out up North and cools off down South a bit  before we finish the cruise.....which begins tomorrow! 

New South Wales mid coast report....

We have reached our last full day on the mid coast NSW Diamond beach. Tomorrow we head in to Sydney to explore for a few days and nights, and then off to our cruise. The rationale around this week was to get us in the vacation spirit....and various spirits have helped with that...and to get 'acclimated' to the time zones, climate, etc. We have been amazing... no one has had any illness and all have had good sleeping nights. We will attribute all that to good living and strong constitutions! We pray that continues...

Wednesday we traveled back to Forster - Tuncurry (about a 20 minute drive) and took a luncheon cruise on Wallis Lake. This region of NSW is known as the 

Great Lakes Region, and Wallis is one of those lakes.....although it is mostly saltwater and three rivers empty into it. The water is beautiful shades of green and blue, and this area is 

famous for Australian pelicans.....who breed on 'Pelican Island'. We got a fleeting glance at a sea turtle, and spotted a sea eagle. Saw some kangaroos cooling themselves on the shore. Commercially they raise oysters in the lake....so we got some good education on that process...which takes 3 years and much work!  The Captain was

 also chief cook and steward....so we drifted while we ate lunch, and enjoyed getting to know some of the other passengers. Very pleasant experience.

The 'Mid Coast' region we are visiting is sort of a get away spot for folks from Sydney. School started up again here at the end of January, after a 6-8 week break, so mostly retired folks or families with real young kids here at the resort. So timing wise...this is like after Labor Day in the States. The climate is sub-tropical......large rolling hills, many eucalyptus trees...also known as gum trees, fig trees and a variety of palms. They are going through a dry period, and fire danger is high. They had a fire in the region while we were here and the smoke looked like big thunder clouds. Didn't last long.

On Thursday, Doug got a round of golf in @ Tall Woods CC....just a bit down the

road. Doug played alone....teeing off before 7:30am, and found the course very dry except for the greens.  Couldn't figure out why his shots were  coming up short....then remembered that 

those Yard markers were probably actually Meter markers. He shot a 49 on the front, and 41 on the back with three birdies.....and has the sore hands to prove it! Yes....he will be bringing home the appropriate souvenirs.

Randy traveled up to Taree area to join the Manning Valley Birdwatchers on an outing. We met at the Saltwater Nature Preserve and they welcomed me into their group, and seemed to enjoy having a yank who thought every bird was new and exciting. Won't bore you all with the whole list, but the common birds were yellow faced honey eaters, a variety of fig birds, brush turkeys, kookaburras, magpies and magpie larks.

 Some of the special ones were a juvenile sea eagle, Australian hobby falcon, rainbow lorikeet, olive backed oriole, green catbird and a 

 bright yellow whistler. I was a 'youngster' in this group, and when they stopped for tea at about 9:30...I headed back home.

 Many, many very colorful birds here....that you would expect to see in a pet store.

The girls have been very good about keeping up with their exercise routines. Each morning includes a long walk, or some time in the fitness center on a stationary bike or doing a Firm Believers routine with the iPod. Makes Doug and I exhausted (and thirsty)  just watching! Their routine then takes them to the pool to read and do their sun worship.....then we bring cocktails to the pool and join them for a while......and then head down to explore the ocean. Diamond beach is somewhere around 8 miles long.....so we could explore for a long time. When we walk, we have to be mindful of the little jellyfish who have washed up with the waves so we don't get stung.

We've been grilling out many nights, and always eat meals out on the deck. We have a small Webber, and everyone pitches in. One night we went in to Black Head to a local tavern for pizza. We sampled the local fare  ( including 'chips and gravy'... french fries served with a brown gravy dipping sauce ) and the local brews. Some youngsters....18 is the drinking age...were playing pool nearby and sending one of their Mates off to the Army. 

Every night around dusk we head off to do some 'Roo watching'. We have never failed to see some, and some evenings we have seen a dozen or more. Good pictures are difficult, unless you catch them when there is good light....but the bigger ones seem to wait until it is fairly dark to venture out. Have seen several with joeys in their pouch.....and that is not getting old. There are signs in the region warning that this is Koala country......but the locals claim we would be very, very lucky to spot one. Doesn't deter us from looking....

Today we are catching up on some laundry before we go stay in a regular hotel or a cruise ship for about 3 weeks. We will make a final run into Forster this afternoon to return some things, and grill up the rest of our groceries before we depart in the morning. Looks like you are getting some warmer weather in Milwaukee....and we will both see temperatures in the mid to high 30's :)

You stay warm now.....and we'll try to stay cool!