It's been a busy week again - appointments and hanging out with friends.
Dad took the car into the shop this week to get the hitch and trailer wiring installed in preparation for when we get the camping trailer which is due to be ready in March. We are getting closer to our dream of being able to camp all around Australia. 😊 While Dad waited for that to be done, I met up with some teacher friends for a good old yak session - this is the second year where a bunch of us retired teachers get together on the second day of school and celebrate the fact that we are not one of those teachers who are back at school. Although, I still miss teaching a lot, I don't miss teaching here in HB with all the discipline issues they have nowadays.
Dad and I went to the chiropractor this week - the only reason I am specifically mentioning that is that she worked on my left shoulder and upper arm and I can't believe how much less painful it has been this week. It hurt like crazy when she massaged it as she did a deep massage, but it's been so much better. I can't wait to go back next week to see if she can do it again.
We did a lot of stuff with Robyn this week. Her laptop died and so Dad sorted that out. Then, I had a Relief Society meeting at her house. I went swimming with her and her daughter and family on Thursday - we had a great time in the water just talking. We stayed in until we were turning into prunes. 😊 On Friday, we went to a computer store with Robyn so that Dad could help her pick out a new computer - it was really fast at the store since Dad had done a lot of research about computers the night before. On Saturday, we went over to Robyn's so that Dad could set up her new computer. After that, she came over to dinner at our house as we had the missionaries over for dinner. Robyn really appreciates Dad's expertise and willingness to spend so much time helping her out with computer stuff.
We love having the missionaries over - we have a new one in our ward now: Elder Henson from Seattle, WA. We had a lovely time chatting over dinner and then they gave us a lesson about the restoration of the gospel. We love the gospel discussions we have with them and the spirit they bring into our home.
Sunday, 22 January, 2017
Where did the time go? The cruise is over and we are back home - waaaaah! 😢 Our second week was as wonderful as the first week (except for the humidity which was soooo high!). We were having such a good time that we actually went to a travel agent when we got to Port Douglas and asked if there were any cabins available on the next cruise after we arrived back Brisbane. To our dismay, it was completely booked out.
After Darwin, we had two days at sea - our days were filled with trivia, game shows, line dancing and eating, eating and more eating. One of the game shows was called 'Famous Faces' and I didn't think that I would know many of them since I am unfamiliar with many of the famous celebrities today. However, I was quite surprised that our team knew 18/21 of them and we ended up coming in first - our prize: another Princess water bottle.
Dining room dessert on formal night
Our next port of call was Port Douglas. Dad and I had already been to this city, having driven up to it when Dad was teaching in Cairns late last year. We decided that we would just get off the ship and walk up and down the main street which looked like it had some cute shops on it when we had driven along it last year. It turned out that there wasn't really much to see in the shops and the humidity was a killer, so we only stayed there for about 90 minutes.
Photos of our walk around Port Douglas
tender similar to the one which took us from the ship to the shore and back to the ship again
scenery along the way from the shore back to the ship
shipwreck
cool cloud formations
My new piece of art - isn't it so cute? 😊
Our next and final port was Airlie Beach - it was very similar to Port Douglas - both places are gateway ports to the Great Barrier Reef. We decided that we would do that trip one time when we are camping up that way, so it was just another walk around town for us here.
We didn't have to take a tender into port this time - the ship had contracted a catamaran company to take some of the passengers in - it was so much better than the smaller, sweatier tenders
Pictures going to shore from the ship
Can you see the Sun Princess anchored off Airlie Beach?
We had to walk 1km into town from where the catamaran docked
boat which you could take a harbour tour on
Dad by a palm tree in Airlie Beach
Me by the same palm tree with our ship in the background
We took part in all of the trivia and game shows the rest of this week, but were not fortunate enough to win any more - of course, we told people that since we had already won four prizes, we thought it only fair for us to let others have a chance of winning one of the cheap prizes.
Princess lanyard, magnetic clip and water bottle - trivia prizes (everyone on the team got one when we won)
We also saw a few more shows this week which included the Princess Singers and Dancers performing 'Sweet Soul Music' and 'Ye Old Pub Night' - those shows were good - the lead male singer was fabulous, but the lead female singer not so much. We also saw a singer called Chantelle Delaney who has a terrific voice and had a fun show, too and then Tim Ellis who was a magician - how on earth he did some of those tricks, which were amazing, we have no idea. The last show, the 'International Crew Show' was a talent show featuring members of the crew who were chosen from an onboard 'Australian Idol' kind of competition. The performers were all so talented and received loud cheers and applause from the audience. All of the singers came dressed in their work uniforms as they were in the middle of their shifts when it was their turn to perform. The Cruise Director's staff also performed a couple of short skits which were funny.
The Sun Princess show band
Prior to the International Crew Show, a couple of hundred balloons were blown up and the audience had a blast batting them around the Vista Lounge
Mark, the Cruise Director, who was in charge of all the entertainment on board
One of the crew skits: l to r: Dieter (from South Africa), Ramon (from Spain), Mark and Matt (from the U.K.)
The second of the crew skits with Catalina (from Argentina) and Mark.
We were very sad to have to get off the ship this morning - it was a truly wonderful cruise and we are already looking forward to our next one in a year from now. Right now, we are thinking of taking a cruise to Fiji.
After Darwin, we had two days at sea - our days were filled with trivia, game shows, line dancing and eating, eating and more eating. One of the game shows was called 'Famous Faces' and I didn't think that I would know many of them since I am unfamiliar with many of the famous celebrities today. However, I was quite surprised that our team knew 18/21 of them and we ended up coming in first - our prize: another Princess water bottle.
Our next port of call was Port Douglas. Dad and I had already been to this city, having driven up to it when Dad was teaching in Cairns late last year. We decided that we would just get off the ship and walk up and down the main street which looked like it had some cute shops on it when we had driven along it last year. It turned out that there wasn't really much to see in the shops and the humidity was a killer, so we only stayed there for about 90 minutes.
The next day, a day at sea, we attended our first art auction. I had seen a print of two giraffes which I loved and wanted to see if I could get them cheaper at this auction than it had gone for at the last auction. As it turned out, every painting auctioned off had a starting price for it and if no-one bid for it at that price, the print/painting was taken away. We stayed at the auction for about fifteen minutes to see how it worked, but I didn't like any of the other prints. I still couldn't decide if I wanted to spend the money to buy the giraffe print, but since I could buy it up until the last night of the cruise for the same price as it went for in the first auction, I kept thinking about it all week. I had until 9pm on the final night of the cruise to make up my mind - at 8:50pm, I FINALLY decided to make the purchase. Now, I have to wait ages for it to be shipped from the States. I can't wait for it to get here, get it framed and put it up somewhere in our home. The artist who painted it is Donna Sharam.
We took part in all of the trivia and game shows the rest of this week, but were not fortunate enough to win any more - of course, we told people that since we had already won four prizes, we thought it only fair for us to let others have a chance of winning one of the cheap prizes.
We also saw a few more shows this week which included the Princess Singers and Dancers performing 'Sweet Soul Music' and 'Ye Old Pub Night' - those shows were good - the lead male singer was fabulous, but the lead female singer not so much. We also saw a singer called Chantelle Delaney who has a terrific voice and had a fun show, too and then Tim Ellis who was a magician - how on earth he did some of those tricks, which were amazing, we have no idea. The last show, the 'International Crew Show' was a talent show featuring members of the crew who were chosen from an onboard 'Australian Idol' kind of competition. The performers were all so talented and received loud cheers and applause from the audience. All of the singers came dressed in their work uniforms as they were in the middle of their shifts when it was their turn to perform. The Cruise Director's staff also performed a couple of short skits which were funny.
We were very sad to have to get off the ship this morning - it was a truly wonderful cruise and we are already looking forward to our next one in a year from now. Right now, we are thinking of taking a cruise to Fiji.
Sunday, 15 January, 2017
It has been an amazing week aboard the Sun Princess cruise ship - we are having a fabulous time!!!
We set sail last Sunday evening - our room is on the 10th deck, room B710. We were originally assigned a cabin near the front of the ship, but were given this cabin as an upgrade. We were a little worried about the location having been told previously that it might be very noisy due to the engine being at the back of the ship, but we haven't noticed any difference from any other cabin we have been in. The cabin is bigger than our previous inside cabins and it's nice to have the extra space. Our cabin steward is Emilio (Emil) and he is very friendly and very efficient - our room is always spotless and our bed is always made perfectly. We especially appreciate the turn-down service and chocolates on our pillows at night. :-)
Back of our ship - the 'Sun Princess'
Dad's first meal from the buffet for lunch on Sunday
Views of Fremantle, W.A.from the ship - the 'Sun Princess'
Top deck of the 'Sun Princess'
View from the top deck looking forward
Dad dressed up for our first dinner onboard
For our dinner meal, we are seated at a table of ten - we prefer to be at a table of six, and even eight worked for us on our last cruise, but ten is just too big. We do have some lovely table-mates, however: Alex and Gloria, Maureen and Greg, Margaret and Wyn and Robyn and Graham - they are all from Australia. We have been mixing it up as to where we sit each night so that we have a chance to talk with each couple and get to know them a little better. Our waiters are Jessie and Victor and they are great - Jessie is always joking around and laughing which helps to add to the nice atmosphere of the table. We find that with such a large group, it tends to end up with two or three conversations going on at the same time. For lunch and breakfast (on sea days), it's open-seating which means that when you arrive at the dining room, you are seated at the next available table. We really like this as it gives us a chance to meet a variety of people. We have also eaten a few times at the buffet which offers a lovely large salad bar.
Our first port of call (Monday) was Geraldton which was a tender port - that means that we had to take a little boat from the ship to the shore. When we got to shore, we walked along the boardwalk into town. Once there, we walked a few of the streets ending up at McDonald's for a welcome cool down and an ice-cream. From there, it was back to the ship. Geraldton is a very small town and there's not much to see or do there.
Today (Sunday), we docked in Darwin - it was very hot and humid in town. We caught the Hop On Hop Off bus in town and had a fabulous 90 minute tour around the city of Darwin. The tour had a recorded commentary which gave us some good information about the city of Darwin and its history. The commentary was really easy to hear which isn't always the case on a bus like this. We didn't get off the bus, but rather did the circle tour and were given a discount because we didn't get off. When we visit Darwin in the future, we would like to see their museum and art gallery as that sounded really interesting.
From the left front and going clockwise: Margaret, Alex, Gloria, Dad, me, Maureen, Greg, Robyn, Graham and Wyn (our dinner table group)
Each night, they have a show of some kind in the Princess Theatre (which seats about 550) and also a show in the Vista Lounge (which seats about 480). So far, we have seen a French Canadian vocalist Claude-Eric, The Princess Singers and Dancers who perform theme productions ('Save the Last Dance' and 'The British Invasion' so far), comedian Jeff Green (so hilarious we went to two of his shows) and musician/pianist Jon Darsk (amazing on the piano - his hands moved so fast, we couldn't believe it!!!).
Tender boat going from the ship to the pier at Geraldton
Dad and I on the tender boat
Our ship
Marina in Geraldton
Dad looking out over the harbour
Old sailing boat in the harbour
Beach in Geraldton
Me beside palm tree in Geraldton
Toilets on the beach in Geraldton (look like Rubik's Cubes)
the beach at Geraldton
'Yamaji Art' - Mara Arts Aboriginal Corporation
'Zephyr' - artist: Dr. Nigel Helyer - Zephyr is playfully named after Zephyrus, the Greek God of the gentle west wind - a light air that brought spring to the classical world - The Zephyr kinetic sculpture is designed to withstand the wildest of Geraldton days and will produce harmonic sounds from its built-in sounding pipes on the stormiest days as an ironic tribute to Zephyrus
artwork on a wall in town
I thought the flowers on this tree were beautiful
buildings around Geraldton
Our second port of call was Broome (Thursday) which is known for its pearl industry - we had to take a shuttle bus from the ship into town. The bus stops at the town, Cable Beach and then returns to the ship. When we found out how humid it was, we decided to just stay on the bus and do the circle tour. The bus driver gave us a commentary as he was driving - again there's not much to see or do in Broome. When we got into town and saw how long the line was to get back on the bus (the people had to stand in a long line in that humidity while waiting for the bus to arrive), we were glad that we had made the decision not to get off. There were a few market stalls at the first stop and a few small shops and some larger chain stores there, but nothing worth getting off the bus for. We were originally going to take a tour which was a camel ride on the beach, but since I had hurt my shoulder, I didn't want to take a chance that it would be a jerky ride and hurt it again. We spoke with a woman when we got back on the ship who had ridden a camel on Cable Beach - she said it was an interesting ride, but the hour long ride was a bit too long. She also said the beach was nice, but we weren't worried about stopping there since we have a beautiful beach in Hervey Bay.
Our first formal night for dinner
Pictures of Broome
Broome Airport
McDonald's
Markets in the city
the line-up for the bus to go back to the ship
painted murals
pearl shop
the Sun Princess docked in Broome
On our sea days, we have attended a couple of line dancing classes - they are led by the deputy cruise director, Matt, 33 from England and they have been so much fun. Matt is hilarious and energetic and always cracking jokes - he has also led some of the trivia games - he has really made our trip a lot of fun!!! Dad and I have both really enjoyed our line dancing lessons, although we were both sweating by the end of the classes.
Matt, 33, from England
We have only been in the pool once so far, and other than line dancing, eating, watching shows and playing trivia, we have spent our time reading or napping. It has been such a fun and relaxing cruise so far.
WWII oil storage tunnels entrance
Photos taken on the bus tour around Darwin
No,that's NOT a real crocodile 😊
Lawn Bowls Club
The Sun Princess
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