Saturday, 12 November 2011
Well thats all folks !!
Its hard to believe we have been home 4 weeks today, I have taken my time in wrapping this blog up, but lots of stuff has been happening here, most importantly we had a very sick puppy, and only Thursday heard some news to make us smile again. \
The bank has refunded some of our Travel Card money, we are fighting for the rest of it, and costs, amazing how quickly they responded after I contacted the financial ombudsmen !! Amazing, in fact it was less than an hour. We also discovered the loss of almost $900.00 from our Visa card, hacked in Vancouver, still waiting for all of the money, we got $600 out of them, its now been escalated to the top of the tree, so its been 2 months of very stressful waiting ! Just as well we had the memories of a wonderful holiday, and awesome new friends to keep us going.
The entire holiday was wonderful, really really wonderful, was there any bits that stand out ? Oh my gosh where to begin...just too many ! Scenic you really know how to put together a wonderful tour, Heather and Al were the best. Royal Caribbean also treat everyone as their best friend. The ship was just beautiful, and we also made some great friends during our time on board. Alaska and Canada are very beautiful, now where is my list of "words" our Scenic friends made for me ??? Adjectives are hard to find for all we saw ! Every one of our mates along the way helped us to really appreciate and love being alive and the joy of travel.!
Sadly now, its work, diet, work , diet and PLAN !!! Yep, the next BIG one is hopefully the 2015 100th year anniversary cruise from Freo to Rome to visit Anzac Cove on the way. 36 night cruise, google it, it looks fantastic...hey anybody want to come along, plenty of time to save up !!
Thanks again to all who came along and enjoyed reading our news, It was great to have you with us...watch this space, there must be another holiday happening before 2015, surely, but only after I loose a whole lotta cocktails from my hips !!
cheers and keep safe and well every one....btw, lots of pictures now being posted to Facebook and slowly e-mailing to who ever got snapped !
Thursday, 13 October 2011
Thanks again for all the wonderful messages...these posts are a bit random, the ships internet is so expensive, no time to get stuff sorted, just up and post, One day to go, cant belive it, where have those 63 days gone...Jo & Jasoen and Lorraine & Ross, you are not ever going to be a distant memory..we still laugh over our antics with you all, and send our love and hugs to you...Keep safe everyone, and I will wrap this up from home next week...hoo roo and thanks again xxxx
Auckland NZ On a Tuesday in October !!!
This place is frantic with mobs of school kids on holidays, and masses of people here for the World Cup, and 2000 people off a cruise ship, not my cup of tea at all....we started at the Post Office to send our excess baggage home, back to the ship to collect the "baggage" back to the post office to send it off and then to the ANZ bank for a bit of an update on this fiasco with our money, as the bank have not made any form of contact with us at all ! Great work ANZ...so it took them 12 days from when we lodged the dispute form to when they put it over to the fraud squad, and will be maybe another 3 to 5 weeks till we get a reply, meanwhile we wait ...!!!! Thanks to the girl at the ANZ in Auckland, she was blown away by our story, and unlike the contacts in Australia, she was very sympathetic.
We then returned our empty case back to the ship and went off to explore, we walked miles and miles and miles and saw some really awesome "super Yachts" moored here, some people have WAY too much money or maybe jealousy is a monster !!! I tried loads of times to connect with free wifi, but to no avail, so back to the ship to dump the computers, and off to play again !
Kelly and Dan invited us to the Irish Pub so we met up with them and Shazza & Paul, the drink prices were over the top so we had a quick drink with them and headed off to a pub that had happy hour and half the price of the Irish Pub, we enjoyed a couple of drinks, got a meat pie for Kelly & Dan, (their first as they are Yankies) and carried on having a fun time.
Back home to have a rest...yeah right !!! No we met in the Schooner bar and had a bit of a night with our mates, had a chat to mum, found out our baby is fine, and spoilt as ever, and home after dark, as our ship was moving "camp"
There has been a catastophic oil spill near here, cut a long story short, we had to move to be able to take on fuel to get us home...Shazza had visions of me wandering back to the wharf and looking up and saying "bullsh*t, where is our ship gone?" but I beat the system, I got home before the big move ~!!!
Another fantastic day, sadly we are running out of this most amazing journey days, but I think I need the rest, and the refueling of the bank account !
Cheers till next time ...take care xxxxxxxxxxx
This place is frantic with mobs of school kids on holidays, and masses of people here for the World Cup, and 2000 people off a cruise ship, not my cup of tea at all....we started at the Post Office to send our excess baggage home, back to the ship to collect the "baggage" back to the post office to send it off and then to the ANZ bank for a bit of an update on this fiasco with our money, as the bank have not made any form of contact with us at all ! Great work ANZ...so it took them 12 days from when we lodged the dispute form to when they put it over to the fraud squad, and will be maybe another 3 to 5 weeks till we get a reply, meanwhile we wait ...!!!! Thanks to the girl at the ANZ in Auckland, she was blown away by our story, and unlike the contacts in Australia, she was very sympathetic.
We then returned our empty case back to the ship and went off to explore, we walked miles and miles and miles and saw some really awesome "super Yachts" moored here, some people have WAY too much money or maybe jealousy is a monster !!! I tried loads of times to connect with free wifi, but to no avail, so back to the ship to dump the computers, and off to play again !
Kelly and Dan invited us to the Irish Pub so we met up with them and Shazza & Paul, the drink prices were over the top so we had a quick drink with them and headed off to a pub that had happy hour and half the price of the Irish Pub, we enjoyed a couple of drinks, got a meat pie for Kelly & Dan, (their first as they are Yankies) and carried on having a fun time.
Back home to have a rest...yeah right !!! No we met in the Schooner bar and had a bit of a night with our mates, had a chat to mum, found out our baby is fine, and spoilt as ever, and home after dark, as our ship was moving "camp"
There has been a catastophic oil spill near here, cut a long story short, we had to move to be able to take on fuel to get us home...Shazza had visions of me wandering back to the wharf and looking up and saying "bullsh*t, where is our ship gone?" but I beat the system, I got home before the big move ~!!!
Another fantastic day, sadly we are running out of this most amazing journey days, but I think I need the rest, and the refueling of the bank account !
Cheers till next time ...take care xxxxxxxxxxx
Tahiti to New Zealand
So, our first sea day we celebrated Wazzas birthday, what a fantastic way to celebrate, we were joined by bunches (my new best word) of mates in our day of mayhem, Wazza & Steve played volleyball ....hmmmm ok next story please !! we did trivia, Frank, we are not all together winners, but we are having stacks of fun, and we think of you and Norm, every day, we miss you heaps...I drive Kim nuts...hows Franks Kim...oh dear sorry Kim !! somewhere in these days we had our very spectacular pink luncheon, it was very well attended, and a real hoot, we raised $540 for make a wish. what fun it was, again, thanks to the hard work of Kim.
After our lunch we had our cabin crawl, that was fun too, thanks to Penny, Scott, Terry, Sarah and your wonderful partners for your hospitality, we also had the troops check out our digs, and we fed the Yankies vegemite, Scot gave the thumbs up, George, not so impressed...what a fun day, have I said today how much fun this is ????? Ok onto dinner we booked the murder mystery night at Giovannis, the meal was wonderful and the night was just such fun, how lucky is Warren surrounded by such awesome mates having such a bloody great day...Rascals, you all are the best.....
Now what else has happened, as its been a few days, my memory is a bit hmmmmmmmish..we did swim every morning, we played trivia, we ate, we drank, and we partied and we now have 1800 new best friends. Its hard work, I have to tell you, and we raise a glass to our Rhapsody Rascals as we also had such a wonderful time with you all, a time in my life I will NEVER forget...I love you all loads.
My thoughts are with my darling friend Colly Wolly, I wish you could be here, get better soon, and know that I love you, and wish you good health quick smart !!
Janis, Tony, Jimmy, Bob and the darling Carol, we miss you so much, we showed pictures of you mad loons today, you are legends, and I thank you so very much for being our mates...Tony what can I say....BULLLS**T !!!!!
Our awesome mates from our Scenic tour, you are always here in our thoughts, Heather I have spread the Scenic word, and I wish I could replay this most amazing time of our lives......less 15 kilos !!!
Its 1.15 and I should be asleep, but today we had such a hoot, we took part in the talent show, we sang a brilliant song composed by Sir Don and helped by his wonderful wife Janine, we took to the stage as a mad mob, and wow we had such a hoot, we brought the house down, the applause was thunderous, we ended up doing reruns in the Pub for hours after, Wazza was our captain, and we were the Radiance Rascals, too much fun...way too much fun.....;how did I get so lucky ?? Our dear and wonderful mates Pauline & Steve shouted us some bubbles on our balcony (not home brand but good stuff !!) and this nanna had a snooze....quick feed up at the Winny and down to find some friends to play with, the Colony club was the place to be...what a blast...Rock and Roll night....Trish and your amazing team "Zig Zag" you rocked our world once again, their music is fanbloodytastic, and I hope that Trish and Jason will be friends for life too...I seem to think our christmas card list has grown.....
I know I am missing stuff but its got a bit hard now...toooooooo busy.....I reckon I did ok of the past 8.5 weeks, so I can relax and adlib now !!! still no word from the bank..thanks ANZ you sh*t heads..., as always, I send my love and I thank you for joining us on this adventure...keep well Cheers xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
So, our first sea day we celebrated Wazzas birthday, what a fantastic way to celebrate, we were joined by bunches (my new best word) of mates in our day of mayhem, Wazza & Steve played volleyball ....hmmmm ok next story please !! we did trivia, Frank, we are not all together winners, but we are having stacks of fun, and we think of you and Norm, every day, we miss you heaps...I drive Kim nuts...hows Franks Kim...oh dear sorry Kim !! somewhere in these days we had our very spectacular pink luncheon, it was very well attended, and a real hoot, we raised $540 for make a wish. what fun it was, again, thanks to the hard work of Kim.
After our lunch we had our cabin crawl, that was fun too, thanks to Penny, Scott, Terry, Sarah and your wonderful partners for your hospitality, we also had the troops check out our digs, and we fed the Yankies vegemite, Scot gave the thumbs up, George, not so impressed...what a fun day, have I said today how much fun this is ????? Ok onto dinner we booked the murder mystery night at Giovannis, the meal was wonderful and the night was just such fun, how lucky is Warren surrounded by such awesome mates having such a bloody great day...Rascals, you all are the best.....
Now what else has happened, as its been a few days, my memory is a bit hmmmmmmmish..we did swim every morning, we played trivia, we ate, we drank, and we partied and we now have 1800 new best friends. Its hard work, I have to tell you, and we raise a glass to our Rhapsody Rascals as we also had such a wonderful time with you all, a time in my life I will NEVER forget...I love you all loads.
My thoughts are with my darling friend Colly Wolly, I wish you could be here, get better soon, and know that I love you, and wish you good health quick smart !!
Janis, Tony, Jimmy, Bob and the darling Carol, we miss you so much, we showed pictures of you mad loons today, you are legends, and I thank you so very much for being our mates...Tony what can I say....BULLLS**T !!!!!
Our awesome mates from our Scenic tour, you are always here in our thoughts, Heather I have spread the Scenic word, and I wish I could replay this most amazing time of our lives......less 15 kilos !!!
Its 1.15 and I should be asleep, but today we had such a hoot, we took part in the talent show, we sang a brilliant song composed by Sir Don and helped by his wonderful wife Janine, we took to the stage as a mad mob, and wow we had such a hoot, we brought the house down, the applause was thunderous, we ended up doing reruns in the Pub for hours after, Wazza was our captain, and we were the Radiance Rascals, too much fun...way too much fun.....;how did I get so lucky ?? Our dear and wonderful mates Pauline & Steve shouted us some bubbles on our balcony (not home brand but good stuff !!) and this nanna had a snooze....quick feed up at the Winny and down to find some friends to play with, the Colony club was the place to be...what a blast...Rock and Roll night....Trish and your amazing team "Zig Zag" you rocked our world once again, their music is fanbloodytastic, and I hope that Trish and Jason will be friends for life too...I seem to think our christmas card list has grown.....
I know I am missing stuff but its got a bit hard now...toooooooo busy.....I reckon I did ok of the past 8.5 weeks, so I can relax and adlib now !!! still no word from the bank..thanks ANZ you sh*t heads..., as always, I send my love and I thank you for joining us on this adventure...keep well Cheers xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Auckland day 2
Auckland Day 2
Up and at it early as we had organised to hire a car today to go on a road trip, we got an 8 seater Toyota, it was to be collected at 8 am, what a fiasco getting this car was, it was freeeeeezing cold, wet and miserable. We got shuttled to a spot in the middle of nowhere, at peak time and taxis were like hens teeth, never mind we got our car and headed off.
Shazza, Paul, Kelly & Dan joined us on our day out, as it has been 8.5 weeks since Wazza has driven a car, he almost needed lessons !!! On the advice of the lady at the information centre we went to the Murawai Region, and we all really loved the scenery, and the amazing foliage of this area. We visited the gannet colony, where we got lucky as its nesting season, there were thousands of them here, although still blooming cold, we pressed on and visited a black sand beach where stacks of mad surfers were in the water, waiting for the next big wave !!
Next up was a lunch stop, we ate at a lovely cafe, the prices were really reasonable, unlike everywhere else I looked ! then on our way back to Auckland as Paul & Shazza had to take care of their post pack home. We dropped the car back a couple of hours early as the traffic was busy and headed back to the ship for a bit of a rest. Sail away was a bit of a fizzer, the band played up on pool deck, but most people were tooo scared of the cold and stayed inside..I had a bit of time up there and then came back to our lovely balcony to watch us leave our very last port of all till we get home.
We are told to expect some rough seas over the next day or 2, suits me fine ! As I type this I am looking out over the balcony every so often and seeing some great stuff, a pod of dolphins hooning along in our wake, some really fantastic sea birds, and sadly loads of clouds !!!
The last of the Islands are behind us, the sky in front is looking very bleak, we have now travelled 4776 kms on this leg, and we are travelling faster than I have seen our ship go, at 22.9 knots, maybe Captain Claus is trying to out run the bad weather ! The sea depth is only 70 feet, very shallow compared to some.
Off now to have some time on the balcony, and remembering Alaska as I freeze . A bit of a party night tonight with the Quest, not sure if I will make it.
See you all
Up and at it early as we had organised to hire a car today to go on a road trip, we got an 8 seater Toyota, it was to be collected at 8 am, what a fiasco getting this car was, it was freeeeeezing cold, wet and miserable. We got shuttled to a spot in the middle of nowhere, at peak time and taxis were like hens teeth, never mind we got our car and headed off.
Shazza, Paul, Kelly & Dan joined us on our day out, as it has been 8.5 weeks since Wazza has driven a car, he almost needed lessons !!! On the advice of the lady at the information centre we went to the Murawai Region, and we all really loved the scenery, and the amazing foliage of this area. We visited the gannet colony, where we got lucky as its nesting season, there were thousands of them here, although still blooming cold, we pressed on and visited a black sand beach where stacks of mad surfers were in the water, waiting for the next big wave !!
Next up was a lunch stop, we ate at a lovely cafe, the prices were really reasonable, unlike everywhere else I looked ! then on our way back to Auckland as Paul & Shazza had to take care of their post pack home. We dropped the car back a couple of hours early as the traffic was busy and headed back to the ship for a bit of a rest. Sail away was a bit of a fizzer, the band played up on pool deck, but most people were tooo scared of the cold and stayed inside..I had a bit of time up there and then came back to our lovely balcony to watch us leave our very last port of all till we get home.
We are told to expect some rough seas over the next day or 2, suits me fine ! As I type this I am looking out over the balcony every so often and seeing some great stuff, a pod of dolphins hooning along in our wake, some really fantastic sea birds, and sadly loads of clouds !!!
The last of the Islands are behind us, the sky in front is looking very bleak, we have now travelled 4776 kms on this leg, and we are travelling faster than I have seen our ship go, at 22.9 knots, maybe Captain Claus is trying to out run the bad weather ! The sea depth is only 70 feet, very shallow compared to some.
Off now to have some time on the balcony, and remembering Alaska as I freeze . A bit of a party night tonight with the Quest, not sure if I will make it.
See you all
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Happy birthday to my friend who made this all possible
How do I explain what I feel, I am so so lucky, Wazza had an awesome birthday, day one AU in Bora Bora, day 2 at sea, with the company of so many wonderful friends. the blog is a bit behind, but the stories are written, this journey continues to be just a blast I think of the friends who are unwell, miss Bonnie and send love to you all, I promise we will behave tomorrow ??? maybe, good thing you dont believe me !! Happy birthday Wazza xxx
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Honolulu to Tahiti, all wrapped up..yep Im cheating now !
Day 1 part 2 Honolulu to Sydney
We have another 6 days at sea, so I will condense all the news into one blog, as I am a bit behind the 8 ball, and the internet is so expensive, I will need to sell my kidney to pay the bill soon !! Most seas days are spent with an early (or not so early) swim in the beautiful solarium, followed by a leisurly brekky somewhere nice, then we head off to Trivia, we have named ourselves 'Franks Yobbos' we are still not ever going to win, but we learn something every day, most days we learn how bitchy some people can get !! Hey Frank....Its ONLY A GAME hey !!! We walk the deck, then get together for the scavenger hunt. Our first night at dinner was a fiasco, so we have not been back to the main dining area since, we so miss our friends and wait staff from our first leg, come back you Canadians !!!
Royal Caribbean have offered us a 'deal' 4 specialty dining options and a galley tour for $70. Day 3 we went to Samba Grill a Brazilian steak house...WAY too much food, but a really lovely experience, you have 9 different meats served at the table side, all very nice, but some way too rare for our liking !
Yesterday we were informed of an out break of noro virus, so lots of activities for the kids have been cancelled, library shut, and all the self serve eateries are now not self serve ! The rumour is that we may miss Tahiti if the outbreak is not contained ! Please Mr Noro, I dont need that !!! Our meet and mingle was well attended, we got to meet all those people we had spoken on line to for so many months, it was great to catch up with the familiar faces also. Kim presented me with a Rascal T-Shirt from Frank and Norm, I was so touched by that act of kindness, and guys, yes it will be treated like gold, and its going straight into the pool room !!!
Still no word form the bank ....hello ANZ, are you even a weeny bit concerned for us ??????????
Last night we crossed the equator again, in the morning we had the King Neptune show by the pool, the weather was fine, but today its back to being a bit scrappy and overcast !
Tonight we have booked into Chopps Grille, the 2nd of our 4 restaurants, and our galley tour has been cancelled, I guess it wont happen now with the Noro outbreak !
Today is Saturday and we learned Geelong beat Collingwood in the Grand Final, woo hoo ! Warren also won Gold in water volley ball, and we won gold in the scavenger hunt, we talked a couple of young girls into joining us, they were very reluctant as we looked a bit "old" for them, I promised them they would not be sorry !!the team close 2nd were some really cute kids, so we gave them our medals, and they were stoked ! Back for the progressive trivia as a part of Franks Yobbos !! I dot think we win gold here ....mate, where the heck is Frank !! Oh and yesterday we won gold in the video scavenger hunt, Norm was a strong team member last cruise, this time we were joined by Karen & Kevin, friends from just near home in Brissy, they were stoked, we had such fun and won GOLD !! How good are we ! It can take us half an hour to walk down 2 flights of stairs now, we have met so many people, all so lovely.
Our Scenic friends are still close by as are our great mates from Canada, we will alway cherish this time we have spent with you all..Heather, I talk about you all the time !
OK, we are off now for dinner, I will get back to you all in a few days, thanks for coming along. Keep safe and well everyone, oh and happy birthday Steve Boughton !!!
We have another 6 days at sea, so I will condense all the news into one blog, as I am a bit behind the 8 ball, and the internet is so expensive, I will need to sell my kidney to pay the bill soon !! Most seas days are spent with an early (or not so early) swim in the beautiful solarium, followed by a leisurly brekky somewhere nice, then we head off to Trivia, we have named ourselves 'Franks Yobbos' we are still not ever going to win, but we learn something every day, most days we learn how bitchy some people can get !! Hey Frank....Its ONLY A GAME hey !!! We walk the deck, then get together for the scavenger hunt. Our first night at dinner was a fiasco, so we have not been back to the main dining area since, we so miss our friends and wait staff from our first leg, come back you Canadians !!!
Royal Caribbean have offered us a 'deal' 4 specialty dining options and a galley tour for $70. Day 3 we went to Samba Grill a Brazilian steak house...WAY too much food, but a really lovely experience, you have 9 different meats served at the table side, all very nice, but some way too rare for our liking !
Yesterday we were informed of an out break of noro virus, so lots of activities for the kids have been cancelled, library shut, and all the self serve eateries are now not self serve ! The rumour is that we may miss Tahiti if the outbreak is not contained ! Please Mr Noro, I dont need that !!! Our meet and mingle was well attended, we got to meet all those people we had spoken on line to for so many months, it was great to catch up with the familiar faces also. Kim presented me with a Rascal T-Shirt from Frank and Norm, I was so touched by that act of kindness, and guys, yes it will be treated like gold, and its going straight into the pool room !!!
Still no word form the bank ....hello ANZ, are you even a weeny bit concerned for us ??????????
Last night we crossed the equator again, in the morning we had the King Neptune show by the pool, the weather was fine, but today its back to being a bit scrappy and overcast !
Tonight we have booked into Chopps Grille, the 2nd of our 4 restaurants, and our galley tour has been cancelled, I guess it wont happen now with the Noro outbreak !
Today is Saturday and we learned Geelong beat Collingwood in the Grand Final, woo hoo ! Warren also won Gold in water volley ball, and we won gold in the scavenger hunt, we talked a couple of young girls into joining us, they were very reluctant as we looked a bit "old" for them, I promised them they would not be sorry !!the team close 2nd were some really cute kids, so we gave them our medals, and they were stoked ! Back for the progressive trivia as a part of Franks Yobbos !! I dot think we win gold here ....mate, where the heck is Frank !! Oh and yesterday we won gold in the video scavenger hunt, Norm was a strong team member last cruise, this time we were joined by Karen & Kevin, friends from just near home in Brissy, they were stoked, we had such fun and won GOLD !! How good are we ! It can take us half an hour to walk down 2 flights of stairs now, we have met so many people, all so lovely.
Our Scenic friends are still close by as are our great mates from Canada, we will alway cherish this time we have spent with you all..Heather, I talk about you all the time !
OK, we are off now for dinner, I will get back to you all in a few days, thanks for coming along. Keep safe and well everyone, oh and happy birthday Steve Boughton !!!
Honolulu, dusted off and having fun again !
September 27 Honolulu day 2
We went running off the ship after a big party night farewelling our very dear new friends, we will miss you all so much, and hey, if anyone from Scenic thinks for one minute we have forgotten you, you are way off the mark, we still have enough grey cells to remember such wonderful funny friends from way back when, and Heather we still miss you leading the way, we fall off the rails without you mate, my dragon fly comes along to remind me of you all, friends for life I hope, we have heard from a few, but I will be in touch when we get home to arrange the next reunion, Rita, Richard is only allowed to come if he wears my nightie again...
OK Honolulu day 2 where was I ...We did a repeat performance with Jays Limos and we got lucky with 'super driver' Ruben, we had an amazing day, Jimmy one again came along, I only had to say shut up snoring Jimmy 55 times, I am sure he had a ball, as we all did, we saw inside Diamond Head Crater, saw all the fancy homes of the rich and famous we had our photos taken in front of the pink palace, saw up close and personal a green sea turtle having a a snooze on the beach, we had lunch at Giovannis again, the shrimp are world famous, and rightly so yummmmmo, passed Chinamans hat, fond memories of Russel & Rosemaree there, up the north coast to finish our tour in town. Off we go to Carol & Bobs hotel the Outrigger, where we had drinks and Wazza had a swim. We had another farewell dinner at Tony Romas with Carol, Bob, Jimmy, Maureen & Mark, what a delicious meal we had. Time now for a serious see you later dear friends. Sail away was a real fizzer, no bubbles, no band, but we managed to get a bottle from the world famous Terry , hey you rock Terry !! Farewell Honolulu, hope to come back again...ALOHA and MAHOLO for your hospitality.
Tomorrow sea days for a while till we reach Tahiti, is this a dream, no its real, and boy it is such a fantastic dream, we dont want to wake up. Our cabin steward Solomon looks after us well, we are very lucky campers here, my wish is for everyone to get out, do something awesome, live the dream !
Deb, I think you may be home now, welcome home mate, talk soon, g'day to all who continue to come along, Frank, miss you still and NORM watch this space for gold medal winners of the video scavenger hunt !! pics to be posted from home ! we raised a glass in your honour. Cheers to all, keep safe and lots of love , hoo roo for now !!
We went running off the ship after a big party night farewelling our very dear new friends, we will miss you all so much, and hey, if anyone from Scenic thinks for one minute we have forgotten you, you are way off the mark, we still have enough grey cells to remember such wonderful funny friends from way back when, and Heather we still miss you leading the way, we fall off the rails without you mate, my dragon fly comes along to remind me of you all, friends for life I hope, we have heard from a few, but I will be in touch when we get home to arrange the next reunion, Rita, Richard is only allowed to come if he wears my nightie again...
OK Honolulu day 2 where was I ...We did a repeat performance with Jays Limos and we got lucky with 'super driver' Ruben, we had an amazing day, Jimmy one again came along, I only had to say shut up snoring Jimmy 55 times, I am sure he had a ball, as we all did, we saw inside Diamond Head Crater, saw all the fancy homes of the rich and famous we had our photos taken in front of the pink palace, saw up close and personal a green sea turtle having a a snooze on the beach, we had lunch at Giovannis again, the shrimp are world famous, and rightly so yummmmmo, passed Chinamans hat, fond memories of Russel & Rosemaree there, up the north coast to finish our tour in town. Off we go to Carol & Bobs hotel the Outrigger, where we had drinks and Wazza had a swim. We had another farewell dinner at Tony Romas with Carol, Bob, Jimmy, Maureen & Mark, what a delicious meal we had. Time now for a serious see you later dear friends. Sail away was a real fizzer, no bubbles, no band, but we managed to get a bottle from the world famous Terry , hey you rock Terry !! Farewell Honolulu, hope to come back again...ALOHA and MAHOLO for your hospitality.
Tomorrow sea days for a while till we reach Tahiti, is this a dream, no its real, and boy it is such a fantastic dream, we dont want to wake up. Our cabin steward Solomon looks after us well, we are very lucky campers here, my wish is for everyone to get out, do something awesome, live the dream !
Deb, I think you may be home now, welcome home mate, talk soon, g'day to all who continue to come along, Frank, miss you still and NORM watch this space for gold medal winners of the video scavenger hunt !! pics to be posted from home ! we raised a glass in your honour. Cheers to all, keep safe and lots of love , hoo roo for now !!
Saturday, 1 October 2011
ANZ Bank sucks big time story !! day 1 Honolulu
Oahu - Honolulu, Hawaii September 26th
We have had some problems accesing funds from our travel card, so our first stop today was the Bank of Hawaii to sort it out. Hmm what a fun day this is for us, we had a $10,000 prepaid travel card we purchased from ANZ earlier in the year, it came from the bank to our safe at home, and we had not even opened the envelope till we were ready to leave in August, cut a long story short, after ringing ANZ (at our expense) our card had been compromised to the tune of $9800.00 and the deductions went back to June, while the card was still in our safe !!! Lots of stress today, as the bank would not give us any information, so the day was spent chasing around for paperwork to send to the bank. A delightful girl on board the ship give us $30 internet credit to enable us to print all the pages (there were many of them) then another random act of kindness from Anastasia at Fedex who spent a very long time helping us to get all this information to the bank. One place wanted $55.00 to fax it to the bank, this delightful young lady did all the hard work, as my brain was not functioning at all and charged us $7.50 ! We spent till 3pm trying to sort this s**t out. I cannot tell you how pi$$ed we are with ANZ, as this MUST be an inside job, still no joy for us, they dont give a damn !
Time to regroup and move on...we are supposed to be having the time of our lives, so lets get on with it ! We had arranged with the cruise critics and our other mates to meet at Dukes at 4.00 so we did, it was a great afternoon, and a magic sunset. Bob got us 3 girls a gorgeous fresh frangippani lei, what a honey he is !
Shock number 2 floored me also, Kim told us that Frank and Norm had to go home, as Frank had an infection in his leg, I am shattered, as they are such awesome guys, and an integral part of our trivia team, not to mention a HUGE part of our cruise critics and facebook groups. We are so sorry for them, we will miss them so much. Get better soon Frank !!!
After our get together we went to the International Market Place and got a case to replace Warrens that got broken coming on the ship, got a bargain there huge case $50 !
Back home for our final dinner with our new friends and then on to party the night away, and that we did !!
What a day ! I had so much planned for today, how quickly that changed, oh well, I can shop anytime, just not in Honolulu !
Tomorrow our day with Super Driver !!
We have had some problems accesing funds from our travel card, so our first stop today was the Bank of Hawaii to sort it out. Hmm what a fun day this is for us, we had a $10,000 prepaid travel card we purchased from ANZ earlier in the year, it came from the bank to our safe at home, and we had not even opened the envelope till we were ready to leave in August, cut a long story short, after ringing ANZ (at our expense) our card had been compromised to the tune of $9800.00 and the deductions went back to June, while the card was still in our safe !!! Lots of stress today, as the bank would not give us any information, so the day was spent chasing around for paperwork to send to the bank. A delightful girl on board the ship give us $30 internet credit to enable us to print all the pages (there were many of them) then another random act of kindness from Anastasia at Fedex who spent a very long time helping us to get all this information to the bank. One place wanted $55.00 to fax it to the bank, this delightful young lady did all the hard work, as my brain was not functioning at all and charged us $7.50 ! We spent till 3pm trying to sort this s**t out. I cannot tell you how pi$$ed we are with ANZ, as this MUST be an inside job, still no joy for us, they dont give a damn !
Time to regroup and move on...we are supposed to be having the time of our lives, so lets get on with it ! We had arranged with the cruise critics and our other mates to meet at Dukes at 4.00 so we did, it was a great afternoon, and a magic sunset. Bob got us 3 girls a gorgeous fresh frangippani lei, what a honey he is !
Shock number 2 floored me also, Kim told us that Frank and Norm had to go home, as Frank had an infection in his leg, I am shattered, as they are such awesome guys, and an integral part of our trivia team, not to mention a HUGE part of our cruise critics and facebook groups. We are so sorry for them, we will miss them so much. Get better soon Frank !!!
After our get together we went to the International Market Place and got a case to replace Warrens that got broken coming on the ship, got a bargain there huge case $50 !
Back home for our final dinner with our new friends and then on to party the night away, and that we did !!
What a day ! I had so much planned for today, how quickly that changed, oh well, I can shop anytime, just not in Honolulu !
Tomorrow our day with Super Driver !!
Kauai wow awesome place
Nawiliwili - Kauai September 25
This morning were docked yay no tender service to deal with !! We headed ashore to join a tour with Alex's tour comjpany that Warren had organised for us in Maui, it was $45.00 for 4.5 hour tour in a lovely comfy mini van, our tour guide was a delightful lady named Lisa, who didnt stop talking for the entire tour, this lady is such a wealth of information, and adores her home, we sure got lucky today ! There were only a few of us on the bus, one couple are from the USA and are on their honeymoon, Randy & Kristy, what a good looking couple ! We went to a coffee plantation Kauai Coffee Company via Hanapepe, then got to view Waimea Canyon in all its glory, this only happens about 4 or 5 days a year, its 10 miles long and 2 miles wide and 3500 deep, its the largest Canyon in the Pacific, how lucky have we been hey !! What a sight ! We then passed by where Captain Cook landed, then onto Port Allen which is a very pretty little boat harbour, gosh this place is beautiful, then Koloa for a squizz at the spouting horn, a large blow hole, impressive ! On to Wallua Falls and fern grotto, the falls were awesome, Lisa had us stare at the water, then move our eyes to the rock face, lo and behold the rock wall was swaying !! What a hoot ! Along the way we kept bumping into Tony & Janice who were doing the same tour on a different bus, their bus was very crowded, we got so lucky AGAIN !! While we were at a pit stop, Lisa got busy for us and organised a scenic flight for 55 minutes and it only cost $125.00 what a bargain.
Lisa drove us directly to the Airport where we met our pilot, a man named James, off we go in an Australian made (Gippsland GA-8 aircraft) 8 seater plane with a company called Air Ventures, Kauai. It was fairly cosy. we flew out over Menehune fishpond, Kippukai, Poypu, Moanawaiopuna Falls which we had seen earlier with Lisa, then through the Waimea Canyon and on to view the Napali Coast, which is only accesable via air or sea, what an amazing sight, truly stunning ! Then we passed over the Valleys of Milolii, Nualolo, Kalalau, and Hanakapiai, are you checking my spelling Frank ! Lumahai beach was next, Pearce Brosnan lives here, the Island is very expensive, and exclusive, we were stoked to be able to cover it so extensivly in our 1 day here ! Hanlei River Valley next Waialeale Crater, then we traced the Wailua River back to the airport. What a day we have had. Back home to join our consecutive cruisers in the Colony Club for an information session and then onto another party at Jimmys as we sailed away from one of the lovliest places you could wish to see. On to dinner with all our rowdy mates, another wonderful night with Bryan astounding us all with his incredible card tricks, and Carmen giving us all hugs and wonderful service ! What a great table we have going here, 3 from Vancouver Jimmy, Carol and Bob, 2 from Toronto Tony and Janis, and us 4 from, well you all know that ! Oi Oi Oi !!
Bring on the fun I say !! And if you are still following us home, thanks for keeping up with our tales ! Cheers xx
This morning were docked yay no tender service to deal with !! We headed ashore to join a tour with Alex's tour comjpany that Warren had organised for us in Maui, it was $45.00 for 4.5 hour tour in a lovely comfy mini van, our tour guide was a delightful lady named Lisa, who didnt stop talking for the entire tour, this lady is such a wealth of information, and adores her home, we sure got lucky today ! There were only a few of us on the bus, one couple are from the USA and are on their honeymoon, Randy & Kristy, what a good looking couple ! We went to a coffee plantation Kauai Coffee Company via Hanapepe, then got to view Waimea Canyon in all its glory, this only happens about 4 or 5 days a year, its 10 miles long and 2 miles wide and 3500 deep, its the largest Canyon in the Pacific, how lucky have we been hey !! What a sight ! We then passed by where Captain Cook landed, then onto Port Allen which is a very pretty little boat harbour, gosh this place is beautiful, then Koloa for a squizz at the spouting horn, a large blow hole, impressive ! On to Wallua Falls and fern grotto, the falls were awesome, Lisa had us stare at the water, then move our eyes to the rock face, lo and behold the rock wall was swaying !! What a hoot ! Along the way we kept bumping into Tony & Janice who were doing the same tour on a different bus, their bus was very crowded, we got so lucky AGAIN !! While we were at a pit stop, Lisa got busy for us and organised a scenic flight for 55 minutes and it only cost $125.00 what a bargain.
Lisa drove us directly to the Airport where we met our pilot, a man named James, off we go in an Australian made (Gippsland GA-8 aircraft) 8 seater plane with a company called Air Ventures, Kauai. It was fairly cosy. we flew out over Menehune fishpond, Kippukai, Poypu, Moanawaiopuna Falls which we had seen earlier with Lisa, then through the Waimea Canyon and on to view the Napali Coast, which is only accesable via air or sea, what an amazing sight, truly stunning ! Then we passed over the Valleys of Milolii, Nualolo, Kalalau, and Hanakapiai, are you checking my spelling Frank ! Lumahai beach was next, Pearce Brosnan lives here, the Island is very expensive, and exclusive, we were stoked to be able to cover it so extensivly in our 1 day here ! Hanlei River Valley next Waialeale Crater, then we traced the Wailua River back to the airport. What a day we have had. Back home to join our consecutive cruisers in the Colony Club for an information session and then onto another party at Jimmys as we sailed away from one of the lovliest places you could wish to see. On to dinner with all our rowdy mates, another wonderful night with Bryan astounding us all with his incredible card tricks, and Carmen giving us all hugs and wonderful service ! What a great table we have going here, 3 from Vancouver Jimmy, Carol and Bob, 2 from Toronto Tony and Janis, and us 4 from, well you all know that ! Oi Oi Oi !!
Bring on the fun I say !! And if you are still following us home, thanks for keeping up with our tales ! Cheers xx
Lahina part 2
Lahina Maui Part 2
Yesterday we had booked a limo tour for $55 a person, so we arrived at 8.30 to begin our tour, Jimmy came along for the ride with the 4 of us. We met our guide, a german fellow who had been here for about 18 months, I much prefer a tour guide who is born and bread and passionate about where they live, Eddy did an OK job, but many of our questions he was not sure of the answer. We shared our limo with another couple who had done a Canada/Alaska tour with a group of 47, we had come across lots of the group. I think they were a bit out of our league, if you know what I mean, she nearly fell out of the limo when we filled our water bottles with the remaining vodka that was supplied !!! Lighten up lady, its only a game ! (we happened to bump into another couple the following morning who shared her dining table, seems we got an honorable mention at dinner !!) We visited Iao Valley, saw the International Gardens, they were very beautiful, we then visited a pineapple plantation, I had a delicious mango and macadamia ice cream, it was a weight watchers special, ha ha ha !! we wandered around the goergous gardens and continued on to our last stop, at an old chinese cemetary, and watched nearby as a family were all celebrating grandmas 100th birthday, it was a huge shin dig for her ! Back into Lahina for a final walk around and had a drink at the Pioneer Inn once again, then back on board for sail away drinks at Jimmys place, he has a beautiful suite, with enough room for a pack of rowdy mates and a few extras as well, how to live the high life, it was very fancy indeed ! Another day of fun and games was had by all !!
Yesterday we had booked a limo tour for $55 a person, so we arrived at 8.30 to begin our tour, Jimmy came along for the ride with the 4 of us. We met our guide, a german fellow who had been here for about 18 months, I much prefer a tour guide who is born and bread and passionate about where they live, Eddy did an OK job, but many of our questions he was not sure of the answer. We shared our limo with another couple who had done a Canada/Alaska tour with a group of 47, we had come across lots of the group. I think they were a bit out of our league, if you know what I mean, she nearly fell out of the limo when we filled our water bottles with the remaining vodka that was supplied !!! Lighten up lady, its only a game ! (we happened to bump into another couple the following morning who shared her dining table, seems we got an honorable mention at dinner !!) We visited Iao Valley, saw the International Gardens, they were very beautiful, we then visited a pineapple plantation, I had a delicious mango and macadamia ice cream, it was a weight watchers special, ha ha ha !! we wandered around the goergous gardens and continued on to our last stop, at an old chinese cemetary, and watched nearby as a family were all celebrating grandmas 100th birthday, it was a huge shin dig for her ! Back into Lahina for a final walk around and had a drink at the Pioneer Inn once again, then back on board for sail away drinks at Jimmys place, he has a beautiful suite, with enough room for a pack of rowdy mates and a few extras as well, how to live the high life, it was very fancy indeed ! Another day of fun and games was had by all !!
Friday, 30 September 2011
Kona Hawaii
Lahina Maui Day 8 -
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Lahina Part 1
Lahina Maui Day 8 -
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Sharon & Paul went to see Mount Haleakela on a tour from the ship, they had a great time and thought ti to be very good value, we had visited 18 years ago, so decided to go our own way. We grabbed the free shuttle bus to the Cannery shopping centre, I got some free internet at Starbucks, so caught up on some facebook gossip, before Warren started to feel a bit ordinary, so we headed back to the very quiet ship, and Wazza had a snooze and a stematil tablet. Its been very hot, I think it was the heat and being a bit tired. He woke 2 hours later ready to run amok on Lahina again. We went to the Pioneer Inn as we had arranged to meet up with Bob & Carol, they were not there, so we headed up the street to catch the shuttle and bumped into them looking for Jimmy who had gone awol ! I asked if they had a message for Jimmy if we saw him, Bob very quickly said, yes tell him he needs to loose weight and he"s ugly, thought I would wet my self, he is such a funny bugger, very quick witted. We found our way down to Whalers Cove, its just a fancy 'bunch' of shops in a very beautiful setting, we had lunch at the tavern overlooking the water (we just shared a 'pulled pork' sandwich and salad) Its a very lovely area, and seems very exclusive ! The shuttles were crowded so we shared a cab with people who are on the Sea Princess which is tendered along side us, and some Yankie tourists. The couple from the Princess are doing San Francisco to Sydney for 29 nights, they got a fare for $2500, inside cabin, what a bargain !! We kept walking all around Maui main strip, it goes for miles ! We finished up back at the Pioneer Inn sharing a yarn with a fellow who looks for alll the world like Santa, his name is Cliff, a nice bloke from Vancouver when hes not the the North Pole ! Along came Paul & Shazza and then Jimmy, so we went walking looking for a couple of happy hour spots to view our lovely ship from land. We went to 'Cheeseburger' a pub with a great atmosphere, then onto the Hard Rock Cafe and finally Whalers Bar, Shazza and I kept nicking off to do some shopping ! Another rum runner came home with us, too easy really !
Home to bed ready to do it all again tomorrow !
Thursday, 22 September 2011
Radiance day 5 at sea
Radiance day 5 at sea ..I think its Tuesday, well it is if the lifts are right !
Same old same old today, very relaxed and the sea is like a mill pond, warm toasty and just lovely !
Paul bravely took part in the "Mr Rhapsody" competition, it was done differently to the one our Russell took part in last year on the Rhapsody, otherwise I am sure Paul would have won hands down, he was very funny ! Warren made himself very scarce !!
The scavenger hunt was a 3 way tie, but in reality we won the gold, just the wallys marking us, made a goof...Its only a game !! The pool deck was busy, with live music all arvo, just fantastic ! the funniest moment of today was at trivia (of which we Aussies are pretty ordinary ) Frank & Norm are the stars, a question was "what is a lamington?" we rolled on the floor laughing, when one suggested is was an animal, another mate Bob reckoned it was a small lamb...how we cacked our selves laughing !! Fairly low key today, just settling into this wonderful world of cruising, tonight will be quiet, tomorrow is the last sea day before Hilo ! Wazzas case got broken, and he got $120 to replace it, and my scenic laundry bag was removed as "garbage" ..go figure, not especially happy about that, as I have lost a fair portion of my clothing. What do you do ?? I should not have left it on the floor for sorting later on evidently..This Jan is not too happy ! It is written all over it LAUNDRY....NOT RUBBISH !!! so strike one Solomon. Oh well move on and share Wazzas undies and nighties... Well the upshot to that is that I got back a pair of "Yfronts", one nightie and 4 pair of my knickers, great effort.... NOT !!! my Rascals t-shirt that I ordered from the USA is gone, also the t-shirt I got to commemorate 9/11, sox, a pretty nightie mum bought me for my hols, and heavens knows what else is not here, till I go to find it. ..Tonight was very quiet, we all needed a good early night, so I came back to the cabin to read and practice stuff Frank tried to teach me about the ipad. Clocks back an hour again tonight.
Same old same old today, very relaxed and the sea is like a mill pond, warm toasty and just lovely !
Paul bravely took part in the "Mr Rhapsody" competition, it was done differently to the one our Russell took part in last year on the Rhapsody, otherwise I am sure Paul would have won hands down, he was very funny ! Warren made himself very scarce !!
The scavenger hunt was a 3 way tie, but in reality we won the gold, just the wallys marking us, made a goof...Its only a game !! The pool deck was busy, with live music all arvo, just fantastic ! the funniest moment of today was at trivia (of which we Aussies are pretty ordinary ) Frank & Norm are the stars, a question was "what is a lamington?" we rolled on the floor laughing, when one suggested is was an animal, another mate Bob reckoned it was a small lamb...how we cacked our selves laughing !! Fairly low key today, just settling into this wonderful world of cruising, tonight will be quiet, tomorrow is the last sea day before Hilo ! Wazzas case got broken, and he got $120 to replace it, and my scenic laundry bag was removed as "garbage" ..go figure, not especially happy about that, as I have lost a fair portion of my clothing. What do you do ?? I should not have left it on the floor for sorting later on evidently..This Jan is not too happy ! It is written all over it LAUNDRY....NOT RUBBISH !!! so strike one Solomon. Oh well move on and share Wazzas undies and nighties... Well the upshot to that is that I got back a pair of "Yfronts", one nightie and 4 pair of my knickers, great effort.... NOT !!! my Rascals t-shirt that I ordered from the USA is gone, also the t-shirt I got to commemorate 9/11, sox, a pretty nightie mum bought me for my hols, and heavens knows what else is not here, till I go to find it. ..Tonight was very quiet, we all needed a good early night, so I came back to the cabin to read and practice stuff Frank tried to teach me about the ipad. Clocks back an hour again tonight.
Radiance day 6 ahead of my self here !
Radiance Day 6, at sea still !! Its Wednesday according to the lifts !
No much to report thats different, except every day we meet more and more interesting people, and exchange travel stories ! This morning we went to register for the "make a wish foundation" walkathon, the queue was very long, they need to look at that, last year you could pre purchase your shirts at the rock wall, much better, never the less we sweated out a few miles and ended up at the sky bar to rehydrate ! The ship put on a bbq of ribs, steak and snags, it was very well attended, in fact the queue for that stretched around the ship, we waited tilll things got quieter, and enjoyed our lunch with our dinner mates, Tony and Janice, they are so lovely !
Wazza put his hand up for the water volley ball, and after watching the belly flop competition, it was his moment of fame in front of hundreds of people on the pool deck..his team were the gold medal winners, helped significantly by Wazzas amazing 6 point score in a row !! so another gold medal to bring home !
This arvo is our 3rd day of progressive trivia, hope we do OK today, but not holding my breath at all !! Tonight is the last formal night before we reach Hilo, the Big Island of Hawaii, tomorrow, I imagine it will be fairly ugly with 2500 passengers trying to get off first, we will sit back and wait till the savages are off !
Hilo is only 400,000 years old and is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands. Its also the largest in the archipelago, it 4,028 square miles is more than twice the size of all the other major islands combined...will I get lost do you think !!! The Island is still growing Kilauea volcano has been spewing molten lava since January 1, 1983 ! The Islands other active volcano 13,679 foot Mauna Loa, last erupted in March 1984. Its the worlds largest volcano and covers about half of the island ! Hope is stays quiet tomorrow !!
We will anchor at the eastern end of the island chain, the big island offers 12 different climate zones, from tropical rain forests to snow capped summits. It would be awesome to take a helicopter flight over this Island, perhaps next time we visit.
I hope to be able to find some free wifi in Kona, if so, I will post some photos on face book !!
Till next time, hoo roo for now xxx
No much to report thats different, except every day we meet more and more interesting people, and exchange travel stories ! This morning we went to register for the "make a wish foundation" walkathon, the queue was very long, they need to look at that, last year you could pre purchase your shirts at the rock wall, much better, never the less we sweated out a few miles and ended up at the sky bar to rehydrate ! The ship put on a bbq of ribs, steak and snags, it was very well attended, in fact the queue for that stretched around the ship, we waited tilll things got quieter, and enjoyed our lunch with our dinner mates, Tony and Janice, they are so lovely !
Wazza put his hand up for the water volley ball, and after watching the belly flop competition, it was his moment of fame in front of hundreds of people on the pool deck..his team were the gold medal winners, helped significantly by Wazzas amazing 6 point score in a row !! so another gold medal to bring home !
This arvo is our 3rd day of progressive trivia, hope we do OK today, but not holding my breath at all !! Tonight is the last formal night before we reach Hilo, the Big Island of Hawaii, tomorrow, I imagine it will be fairly ugly with 2500 passengers trying to get off first, we will sit back and wait till the savages are off !
Hilo is only 400,000 years old and is the youngest of the Hawaiian Islands. Its also the largest in the archipelago, it 4,028 square miles is more than twice the size of all the other major islands combined...will I get lost do you think !!! The Island is still growing Kilauea volcano has been spewing molten lava since January 1, 1983 ! The Islands other active volcano 13,679 foot Mauna Loa, last erupted in March 1984. Its the worlds largest volcano and covers about half of the island ! Hope is stays quiet tomorrow !!
We will anchor at the eastern end of the island chain, the big island offers 12 different climate zones, from tropical rain forests to snow capped summits. It would be awesome to take a helicopter flight over this Island, perhaps next time we visit.
I hope to be able to find some free wifi in Kona, if so, I will post some photos on face book !!
Till next time, hoo roo for now xxx
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Radiance day 4 at sea
Radiance Day 4 - Monday September 19, at sea still
We know what day of the week it is when we lok in the elevator, the floor changes ! We put our clocks back an hour again this morning. Not too much different going on here, swim, brekky, but the welcome change was the sunshine is starting to come out, and its getting warmer ! At 12.15 pm we crossed the exact half way mark between Vancouver and Kailua, and there is over 5 kilometers of water under us. We passed a freighter ship in the very early hours, so we are not all alone out here. ! We played trivia with Frank & Norm, our cruise critic friends from Santa Barbara, California, they are a wealth of information regarding the ship !
Lunch was at the Park Cafe, where we had a lovely roast beef roll, and greek salad, certainly no complaints from us about the food. We did a few laps of the ship to help walk lunch off before our video scavenger hunt, Warren was the film talker Shazza Paul Norm and I were the fools running around performing many insane "acts" we laughed our heads off, as I tried to "leap frog" no deal ! We had to perform I'm a little tea cup, ask someone to marry us, play shuffleboard, each put a foot in the water, and so the craziness went on for 15 minutes. We were silver medalists today, not bad, and loads of fun !
I needed a snooze, so had a read, a little sleep, then off for arvo trivia, which is a 3 day effort, hope we do a bit better tomorrow !! Tonight is crown and anchor welcome back function and a rock and roll show. Wazza is down having his second swim of the day as I write this, and will post a message home, as we have no phone service at the moment. Cheers to everyone at home xxx
We know what day of the week it is when we lok in the elevator, the floor changes ! We put our clocks back an hour again this morning. Not too much different going on here, swim, brekky, but the welcome change was the sunshine is starting to come out, and its getting warmer ! At 12.15 pm we crossed the exact half way mark between Vancouver and Kailua, and there is over 5 kilometers of water under us. We passed a freighter ship in the very early hours, so we are not all alone out here. ! We played trivia with Frank & Norm, our cruise critic friends from Santa Barbara, California, they are a wealth of information regarding the ship !
Lunch was at the Park Cafe, where we had a lovely roast beef roll, and greek salad, certainly no complaints from us about the food. We did a few laps of the ship to help walk lunch off before our video scavenger hunt, Warren was the film talker Shazza Paul Norm and I were the fools running around performing many insane "acts" we laughed our heads off, as I tried to "leap frog" no deal ! We had to perform I'm a little tea cup, ask someone to marry us, play shuffleboard, each put a foot in the water, and so the craziness went on for 15 minutes. We were silver medalists today, not bad, and loads of fun !
I needed a snooze, so had a read, a little sleep, then off for arvo trivia, which is a 3 day effort, hope we do a bit better tomorrow !! Tonight is crown and anchor welcome back function and a rock and roll show. Wazza is down having his second swim of the day as I write this, and will post a message home, as we have no phone service at the moment. Cheers to everyone at home xxx
Radiance Day 3 at sea
Last nights formal dinner was lovely, our table mates, Tony & Janice are great people, and along with the amazing wait staff we had a ball, the food is excellent. Before dinner we had a welcome party and met the Captain and many of the crew, the drinks flowed freely, and the bubbly was really good, unlike P & O ! There are currently about 900 Canadians, 700 from the USA, 179 Aussies, and the rest were from 26 different countries, HOWEVER, when we leave Honolulu the numbers alter rather dramatically, there will be around 1700 Aussies, about 200 from the States, and 170 from Germany, so I imagine this ship will become a floating party !! The great news for Wazza is that VB will be on board from Honolulu, the race will be on to make sure he has adequate supplies in the cupboards !
This morning we went off to trivia, we joined up with a couple of people from the states, and we ended up with a score of 12 out of 15, not bad hey !! Good work Nigel !! As usual we started our day with a swim in the solarium, still being bounced around, its a great way to start the day, laughing at each other ! We braved the elements and had a game of mini golf, I cheated, and still lost ! We took part in the scavenger hunt again, and we won GOLD !!! Yay for us, its hard work, running like maniacs all over the ship, but well worth it the have that gold medal hanging around our neck, naturally when that was over we had to have a celebration ! Dinner was another lovely evening, delicious food and a million more laughs. Our friend who takes of us (our assistant waiter) is from Peru, and its Chillean National Day, she was very excited to go and make up some "pisco" we had heard of this drink before, I believe its pretty potent, wonder if Carmen will be as bright tonight !! The waiters all stood on the stairs and sang Oh Sole Mio to us, it was awesome given there is not one Italian amongst them all !! Off to the Schooner bar to listen to the piano man, and our night finished off with a trip up to the spa, where we watched the sky begin to clear up. Sunshine is on order for tomorrow. We are still loving these sea days.
Last nights formal dinner was lovely, our table mates, Tony & Janice are great people, and along with the amazing wait staff we had a ball, the food is excellent. Before dinner we had a welcome party and met the Captain and many of the crew, the drinks flowed freely, and the bubbly was really good, unlike P & O ! There are currently about 900 Canadians, 700 from the USA, 179 Aussies, and the rest were from 26 different countries, HOWEVER, when we leave Honolulu the numbers alter rather dramatically, there will be around 1700 Aussies, about 200 from the States, and 170 from Germany, so I imagine this ship will become a floating party !! The great news for Wazza is that VB will be on board from Honolulu, the race will be on to make sure he has adequate supplies in the cupboards !
This morning we went off to trivia, we joined up with a couple of people from the states, and we ended up with a score of 12 out of 15, not bad hey !! Good work Nigel !! As usual we started our day with a swim in the solarium, still being bounced around, its a great way to start the day, laughing at each other ! We braved the elements and had a game of mini golf, I cheated, and still lost ! We took part in the scavenger hunt again, and we won GOLD !!! Yay for us, its hard work, running like maniacs all over the ship, but well worth it the have that gold medal hanging around our neck, naturally when that was over we had to have a celebration ! Dinner was another lovely evening, delicious food and a million more laughs. Our friend who takes of us (our assistant waiter) is from Peru, and its Chillean National Day, she was very excited to go and make up some "pisco" we had heard of this drink before, I believe its pretty potent, wonder if Carmen will be as bright tonight !! The waiters all stood on the stairs and sang Oh Sole Mio to us, it was awesome given there is not one Italian amongst them all !! Off to the Schooner bar to listen to the piano man, and our night finished off with a trip up to the spa, where we watched the sky begin to clear up. Sunshine is on order for tomorrow. We are still loving these sea days.
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Fine swells on a swell ship !!
ay 2 Radiance of the seas, at sea, we woke to grey skies and a swell that progressed to a fairly good swell, had a swim in the solarium, it was such fun, like being in a blender, at first I was packing my self and wouldnt let go of the rails, once I did, oh what a hoot we had, bobbing around like loons. Too quickly it was time to get our to come back for our brekky in our cabin, which we pre ordered the night before, still waiting, never mind, grabbed some fruit up stairs, and got organised for our first meet and mingle at 10.30, we are a bit out of wack because we forgot to change our watches ! Hmm typical ! The m&m was well attended, and very well run, our tour director spent a lot of time chatting with us, we then had a raffle, Wazza & Shazza won bingo markers, they were beside them selves with excitement. A wonderful spread of nibblies and drinks were provided, well done Royal Caribbean, you leave Princess for dead on that score. Its good fun to put faces to names that you have spoken to for months, and shared your hopes and dreams, hints clues and general cruise news with.
At 2pm the 4 of us went on a photo scavenger hunt, and wow we got 2nd prize, should have won, but the bloke who ran the show was a bit of a grumpy and wouldnt give points for acts of bravery ie, running up stairs in gale force winds, and posing on the helipad and almost being blown back to Vancouver !! The seas today are quite high, giving us a good ride, lots of green people on the ship ! Not keen that its a smoking ship, although not everywhere is smoking it seems to creep under all the doors! Tonight is our formal night and I need a snooze so I can keep up the pace, so I will go and hook onto the internet, then pack up the puter till next time. Hope everyone is well, Donna Frank asked after you today, and like us, he is concerned for you and your dad ..Love to all, and again, thanks for you company !! Cheers xx (love to my family if you are long for the ride xxx
At 2pm the 4 of us went on a photo scavenger hunt, and wow we got 2nd prize, should have won, but the bloke who ran the show was a bit of a grumpy and wouldnt give points for acts of bravery ie, running up stairs in gale force winds, and posing on the helipad and almost being blown back to Vancouver !! The seas today are quite high, giving us a good ride, lots of green people on the ship ! Not keen that its a smoking ship, although not everywhere is smoking it seems to creep under all the doors! Tonight is our formal night and I need a snooze so I can keep up the pace, so I will go and hook onto the internet, then pack up the puter till next time. Hope everyone is well, Donna Frank asked after you today, and like us, he is concerned for you and your dad ..Love to all, and again, thanks for you company !! Cheers xx (love to my family if you are long for the ride xxx
G'day to the Radiance, oh what a lovely lady she is !
Vancouver to the Magnificent Radiance of the Seas, and on our way home, on Friday 16th September, 2011, we have been away for a month and 2 days now. We started early today, I was up at sparrows ironing, I needed lessons, I can tell you ! Chores done, packing done, and this is almost the end of our land tour, its been just wonderful, words can never describe whatt we have seen the fun we have had, and the marvellous group of people we have met. We walked to Canada Place to check out our "digs", we are very impressed with what we saw, again the weather was very ordinary and really quite cold, not to worry, we are headed to warm climates soon ! Back to the Sandman to gather our goodies and grab a cab back to the ship, where Shazza & Paul were waiting for us...Look our Radiance here we come..We arrived at the pier at 11.45 and were on the ship by 12.20, through customs and all, what a breeze, and what a welcome we got from the crew, it was yoho !! We met at the Centrum, and were really blown away, this ship is very very grand, just like Rhapsody on steroids, of course, she has just had a huge refurb weeks ago. We went to grab some lunch from the windjammer and the first people we saw were Sarah & Geoff, our cc friends who we had met previously for lunch at Pine Rivers, it was great to see faces we knew, they too loved Alaska. We then came to check out our cabin, and its just great, tons of storage, a balcony big enough for a small party, all we need for a wonderful cruise right here. We are very happy to be here, and to UNPACK !! So quickly day 1 is going, we had sailaway @ 4.30, but with really ordinary weather, and a delayed departure (back to 615pm) it was not a huge event. Back to our house we came to celebrate sail away in comfort. Its so good to have a balcony. By the way we are flying the flags already, we look very Aussie ! Solomon is our cabin steward, and is Mr Personality plus, such a great fellow we have to look after us, our cabin was spot on ! We went to have our 8.30 dinner and emt our new table mates, they are really nice, and suprise suprise, they are keen to join us again !! We just roamed around checking out whats going on, and crashed, to wake to the very beautiful and gentle roll of our home for the next 4 weeks.
Saturday, 17 September 2011
Homeward bound (in a fashion!)
Yesterday we finished our hop on hop off tour, the weather was very ordinary, cold and raining, but we managed to see the sights, we went to Granville Island markets where they sold the most beautiful fruit, we got a mixed bag of delicious raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries,yummy ! We continued on the tour passing through Chinatown and finished up at Gastown, where we wandered in the rain for a bit, then found an Irish Pub called the Blarney Stone, where we settled in, we were joined by Shazza & Paul, as you can imagine we all had lots to talk about, we waffled on all day and into the night at our place. Laughs aplenty. We have lots to still look forward to, but its a bit sad to be finishing up this portion of our trip, as it has been simply amazing. Tomorrow we board the Radiance of the seas for our next destination is Kailua, Kona Hawaii in 6 days time. We will vbe able to catch up on some sleep, and recharge our batteries. Hope we see some sunshine for sailaway..
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