Sunday, 21 January, 2018

We spent Monday taking two bus tours and a self-directed walking tour we found on the net.  We stopped in Auckland when we took our cruise to Australia, but that was 8 years ago, so we thought we would take another tour around this beautiful city.  

 

Those dots on the side of the building are actually tennis balls!

 Mexican restaurant where we had lunch - delicious!

 A selfie on the bus

The walking tour was interesting -  a little bit about the history of that part of the city - Uptown.  It was a nice day and we were good and tired by the end of it.

 An arcade - shops on both sides with an overhead see-through roof

 The local McDonald's - the condition of buying it was that they had to keep the outside facade in the olden day style - love the architecture

 Wooden carved statue which is a gateway to a park

 Fabulous architecture!

 The Auckland art gallery - Dad and I went inside, but there wasn't that much to see

Isn't this building cool?  It's like an optical illusion

Tuesday, we took a ferry over to Devonport.  It was a choppy day on the seas, so I was a bit worried that I would be sick on the way over.  However, I asked one of the crew where the best place to sit was and he told at the back facing forward, so I followed his advice and had no problems on the 12 minute ride over.

Ferry we took from Auckland to Devonport

Devonport is a cute little town that has many old style buildings which is right up my alley.  We took a walk along the side of the harbour stopping at various spots along the way while Dad read little blurbs about what we were looking at. We finished our walk at North Head where we had amazing views of the city of Auckland as well as views out towards the sea.  Dad really felt like fish and chips for lunch so we stopped at a take-away (I had a cheeseburger - no fish for me!) and ate it on a bench looking at the water.  We ended our time there with a two scoop ice-cream and another ferry ride back to Auckland.  We walked almost 23,000 steps that day and our bodies really felt it!  It was nice to relax in the evening. :-)

Thought this little bike advertizing a business was really cute

 Me eating a lamington and Dad eating a brownie from a local bakery in Devonport

 Photos of Devonport on our walk

 Beautiful architecture

 Views from North Head

Kite surfers

 Dad beside an old cannon on North Head

 Cockatoo in tree on our walk back to town from North Head

 Dad eating his fish and chips for lunch

 Our view from bench we ate lunch on

More fabulous architecture

 Cool tree

Me eating a yummy ice-cream before we got back on the ferry to take us back to Auckland

DAY 1 OF CRUISE - Wednesday, 17 January, 2018

We arrived at the pier around 11:30am and got into the long line-up to register for the cruise.  After going through that line-up, we went through security and then were onboard - yay - our cruise was beginning.  We went straight up to our room, but found that it was not ready.  So, it was off to lunch (carting our carry-on luggage behind us).  The buffet (at the Windjammer) had a variety of food for us to choose from: salads, mains and desserts.  After eating, our room was now ready to occupy.  We ended up with an amazing room - our room has a king-sized bed in it with a couch and a dresser/desk with drawers, a mirror and a chair.  There was a large closet as well which easily fit all of our clothes in it.  We also had a very large balcony with two chairs and a table - very nice to sit out on and enjoy the scenery from.  After we put all of our clothes, etc. in the closet/drawers, we walked around the ship familiarizing ourselves with where everything was.  This was only our second time on a Royal Caribbean cruise and it's a very nice ship (Radiance of the Seas).  

 Dad on the walkway to the ship 'Radiance of the Seas'

Towel made up as a person by our cabin steward, Iwayan - we found it in the bathroom cupboard when we went to put our toiletries in

 Selfie on our balcony

 Dad and me sitting on the balcony with our dessert from lunch (and glasses of lemonade)

Our dinner was in the main dining room - we had 'My Time' dining assigned to us which means that you come at whatever time you like between 5:30pm and 9pm.  We went at 6pm and ended up with only one other couple at the table.  They were a gay couple, Rene and Byron, from L.A.., California.  It came out in the conversation (can't remember how) that Rene had been baptized into the church when he was about 12 (with his mom and sister), but had stopped going when he was in his early 20's.  We told him we were L.D.S. and had a really good discussion about his experiences in the church, especially as a gay youth (he said he had a really good time in the church and that everyone was very kind to him - unlike what he had experienced in school).  He has a very positive attitude towards many things in the church and so it was nice to chat with him about it.  We had two waiters serve us, Bowie and Randy, and we had such a good time with them and with Rene and Byron, that we all agreed we would ask for the same table and time for the remainder of the cruise.  The second night, four others ended up at our table and they enjoyed it with us as well, so they ended up asking for the same table and time each night.  One of the couples, Al and Marcia, are from Houston, Texas and the other couple are Joan and Dean from Northern Ireland.  It was such a good group and we really enjoyed getting to know each other over the course of the cruise.

Dressed up for our first dinner in the main dining room

Our dinner table: Back row: Dad, me, Byron, Rene / Front row: Dean, Joan, Al, Marcia

Our wonderful waiters: Bowie and Randy

After dinner, we headed to the Aurora Theatre where they have the nightly entertainment shows.  Tonight's guest was Paul Brasch, a comedian.  He was okay - he seemed to struggle with his routine - we figured out later that he was giving an adult show later on that evening and so he probably wasn't used to giving a G rated show.  We don't expect much from the entertainment on ships - that way, we are not disappointed.  

DAY 2 - Thursday, 18 January, 2018

Today, we were supposed to dock at a port called Bay of Islands - we were looking forward to seeing this port as we have not been there before and a number of people had told us how beautiful it was.  However, we didn't get to go there - this port is a tender port meaning that you have to take a lifeboat into the city dock as the water is too shallow there for the ship to dock.  The seas were too choppy for the tenders to be used.  This is the first time that we have missed a port on a cruise due to bad weather, but it does happen every now and then.  We were disappointed not to be able to see the Bay of Islands, but it's better to be safe than sorry.  

So, we spent our day relaxing and doing trivia.  We love doing the trivia quizzes when we cruise - it's fun to join a group of people and see how much we (don't) know. :-)  This cruise we joined up with a couple, Ken and Katherine, from Newcastle and a fellow named Richard from Colorado.  We usually did trivia two or three times a day with our group.  We had a really fun time with them and won a number of prizes (mostly when there were only a few teams playing :-)  Over the time on the cruise, we won two  highlighters, two pens, a water bottle and two Royal Caribbean baseball cap - not a bad haul. :-)

 Another towel 'friend' on our bed :-)

Our trivia group: Richard, Katherine, Ken, me, Dad

That night, the entertainment in the Theatre was a stage performer named Chelsea Gibb.  She has performed onstage in a number of leading roles in musical theatre (Roxy in 'Chicago' on Broadway, and Anna in 'The King and I' and Sally Bowles in 'Cabaret' in Sydney).  She has an amazing voice and we really enjoyed listening to her perform.

DAY 3 - Friday, 19 January, 2018

Our port of call today was Tauranga - we hadn't prebooked any tours on this cruise - we just decided to get off and walk around the town to see what was there.  We walked the main street and peeked in a couple of shops.  We then climbed a small hill and checked out the view.  Then, it was another walk back to the ship.  There wasn't much to see here, but it was nice to get off the ship and check out a new town in New Zealand.

 Views from our balcony as we sailed into Tauranga

 Our ship docked in the port of Tauranga

 Views from the top of the hill we climbed

Statue of a surfer on a surf board (on our way back to the ship)

That night's entertainment was 'The Groove Line' - this trio performed a variety of Motown funk and soul classic songs.  They were an entertaining group and sang a number of songs we knew from that era.

After the evening show, we met up with our trivia group to play the game show 'Majority Rules'.  The emcee asks questions and every group writes down an answer and runs that answer up to the front to a scorer.  Whichever answer has the most votes is the 'right' answer and if you gave that answer, your team gets a point.  They asked questions like 'who is the sexiest man alive' or 'which celebrity did the last cruise think the scorer most looked like' or 'if you could choose one thing to throw overboard, what would it be (most people said 'my spouse' :-)    We didn't win, but we had a lot of fun coming up with answers.

DAY 4 - Saturday, 20 January, 2018

Our towel 'buddy' watching tv

Today was an 'at sea' day which meant that we spent the day eating, playing trivia games (three general quizzes, a Scattergories game and a 'where in the world am I? quiz) and relaxing.

After dinner, the show tonight was a magician named Ben Murphy.  He involved a couple of members of the audience and was quite entertaining.

DAY 5 - Sunday, 21 January, 2018

Today our port of call was Wellington - its nickname is 'Wet and Windy Wellington' - we had been there before on our cruise in 2009 and we had taken a bus tour at that time.  It lived up to its nickname back then, but this time, the weather was kind to us and we had a lovely time walking around the city listening to a downloaded guided walk.  

 Nikau Palm sculpture - the nikau is the only species of palm endemic to New Zealand

Wellington Town Hall - Civic Square

 Sculptures, on the City to Sea bridge, representing a star and the phases of the moon

Two timber whales representing the taniwha (water monsters of Maori legend), Ngake and Whataitai, who according to legend, were responsible for shaping Wellington Harbour

 Frank Kitts Park

 Dad beside a wooden sculpture of a manu (bird) with its wings open in a gesture of welcome (on the City to Sea Bridge)

The Wharewaka Function Centre - love the architecture of this building

 The Star Boating Club from 1885 on the left and the Rowing Club on the right with the Whairepo Lagoon in the foreground

 The Wellington Rowing Club

 Another view along the wharf

 St. Gerard's Church and Monastery

 Kupe of Raitea - a plaster sculpture from 1940 depicting a great Maori explorer, Kupe, who was believed to have discovered Aotearoa (which means 'land of the long white cloud' - New Zealand) in their canoes in the 10th century

 The Waterfront Rock Garden with New Zealand native plants, harbour relics and a writer's walk sculpture

View from Queens Wharf

 Another view from Queens Wharf

 Piano on the side of the wharf with a note encouraging people to play it - I played a few notes

 More fabulous architecture - Wellington Museum

Another part of the Wellington Museum 

 Water bubbler monument to 'Paddy the Wanderer' - he was a dog - he started wandering the wharf when his owner died in 1928 - for the next 11 years, he became a waterfront identity being cared for by watersiders, seamen and taxi drivers.  He was taken on trips around New Zealand and even travelled to Australia as well as in a gypsy moth which is an old plane.

 Shed 3 from 1887 - one of the last two remaining timber warehouses on Queens Wharf

Cute sign on the wharf 

 View from Queens Wharf

 Waterfront garden

 The old ferry building

 Sheds 11 and 13 from 1904

Post Office Square from 1884

There was no show in the Theatre that night - there was going to be a 70's Disco Inferno Dance Party later that night, so the entertainment part of that was a pre-show in the Centrum (central part of the ship which is a seven-storey atrium).  The DJ played 70's music while the cruise director staff danced to some of the tunes, including 'YMCA' (dressed as the Village People).  There were tons of passengers on all floors of the Centrum dancing and singing to the songs - it was a lot of fun!  

Sunday, 14 January, 2018

Another busy week - Dad is looking forward to our cruise this coming week.  

We had the missionaries and Robyn over for dinner on Monday - always a fun time with them - we made it an easy dinner as we didn't have much in the fridge (since we were leaving Saturday).  

Tuesday was such a fun day for me - I babysat the Louws' girls for the day.  Their parents, Lisa and Ben, have four girls: Scarlett (6), Indiana (5) and twins, Harper and Macy (3 months).  Lisa and Ben wanted some time to spring clean the house and so asked me if I would look after the two older girls (another woman from church went over to look after the twins).  I love looking after these two girls - they are so sweet.  I planned a big day for them - we went to the library, then to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and a play in Playplace. Next, we went home and made brownies and played with my giraffes. Then, down to the park and lastly to the beach. I had Dad come to the beach with us because I wasn't really comfortable at having them at the beach by myself.  It was a really fun day - we are already booked again for Valentines Day. :-)

Scarlett and Indiana (Indi) reading in the library

Eating ice-cream at McDonald's

Playing in McDonald's Playplace

Making brownies 

 Playing with my giraffes

 Playing at the park at the bottom of our street

 At the beach

Wednesday was a get together with my friend, Maureen, from church (and an iced chocolate) and Thursday was meeting up with my teacher friends (and another iced chocolate).  It's always nice to get together with friends over an iced chocolate. :-)

My iced chocolate when I was out with Maureen

Robyn and I went visiting teaching Thursday afternoon - we went over to meet up with a new sister, Sheila Tennant, in our ward.  She and her husband moved into the ward when we were over in Canada.  We spent 2 1/2 hours there - we are all good at yakking, it turns out. :-). I find it's nice to go visiting teaching as it gives us a chance to really get to know our sisters - it just doesn't happen on Sundays.

That evening, Dad and I went to a fireside at the chapel which was broadcast from Brisbane.  An amazing speaker, Brad Wilcox, was over from the States to be a main speaker at FSY (For the Strength of Youth - youth conference).  He spoke on the topic of 'Grace' and was very interesting - he mixed stories, humour and gospel insight.  It was a lovely evening.  

I just HAD to have a facial before we went on our cruise, of course - such a relaxing time with Helen working on making my face smooth.  Dad's fun (NOT) was having our chiropractor manipulate his shoulder which has really been bothering him for a few weeks.

Yesterday, we flew to Brisbane.  Dad is our 'transportation manager' when we go on trips and he did a great job!  He was able to use our Qantas points (and money) to get us a confirmed flight to Brisbane and also a fabulous hotel there at a really low price.  Today, we flew to Auckland on Emirates Airlines.  Again, Dad got an AMAZING deal using our Qantas points.  He was able to get us Business Class tickets which included admittance to the Emirates lounge at the Brisbane airport.  We were treated to a delicious hot breakfast and then were able to relax in their comfortable lounge while we waited for our flight to be ready to board. 

 Emirates Airlines lounge

 Eating a hot breakfast in the lounge

Relaxing in the lounge drinking hot chocolate and reading a magazine

The flight was fabulous - the seats were so comfortable and reclined to lay flat.  The food was so tasty - we had a second breakfast (!) onboard - we chose yogurt and muesli since we had already had our hot breakfast.  When we landed in Auckland, Dad had arranged for us to catch a shuttle to our Airbnb place that we had booked.  We just have a room in a house for three days, but it's on the bottom floor of a four storey house, so it feels really private - the only thing that won't be fun is climbing up to the top floor to use the bathroom - eek!  

 Sitting in Business Class on the Emirates airplane

Breakfast on the Emirates airplane (Business Class)

Hayley's Airbnb place is about half an hour from Auckland's fabulous harbour. So after we put our stuff in the bedroom, we headed off to find out where our ship will be docked on Wednesday.  When we got there, it turned out that there were 2 Princess ships there (the 'Golden' and the 'Sea') - I felt much better knowing exactly where we have to go.

One of the Princess ships docked in Auckland where our ship will be docked on Wednesday

We are so happy to be here in Auckland and are looking forward to spending two days here before we board our cruise on Wednesday.

Sunday, 7 January, 2018

Well, it has been eleven days since we arrived back home - things have been full-on on some days and not so on other days. 

Our flight home from Canada was quite long due to having to have long layovers in Toronto, Vancouver and Brisbane.  We were surprised to be upgraded to first class between Toronto and Vancouver - I can't remember the last time this happened as normally there are so many who upgrade at the gate.  After our four hour wait in Vancouver, Dad got our tickets for the next leg between Vancouver and Sydney.  The gate passenger service agent had assigned Dad to be upgraded to first class and had assigned me to be upgraded to Premium Economy (which is kind of in between Economy and First Class - in Premium Economy, you get a much larger seat which reclines further than Economy and you get nicer meals than Economy).  Dad asked the gate agent to swap it for the other way around.  How thoughtful was that, eh?  Once I got into First Class, I noticed that there was one seat which no one was sitting in.  I asked a flight attendant if she could check if Dad could come up there since no-one was sitting there  (this had happened once before when I was up front and Dad wasn't and they went back and got Dad and brought him up front).  The flight attendant said it was left empty for anyof the pilots who weren't flying the plane to use (there are usually at least four pilots on this flight).  I was a bit frustrated with it all when, by the end of the flight, no-one had used it and Dad could have been up there.  So, next time we fly and there is only one seat up front, it will definitely be Dad's turn to take it. 😃

While we were in Brisbane, we found out that our shuttle driver (who we had been trying to contact since before we left Canada and had had no response from) had sold his business and now we didn't have a ride home from the HB airport.  We contacted Robyn and not only did she offer to pick us up from the airport, but she also brought us some food for dinner (we arrived home at about 6pm on our Wednesday).  We are so grateful for her friendship!

After being home and resting up for two days, it was time for me to get out of the house, so I arranged to go and hang out with Robyn for the day on the Friday (she missed me, she said 😃)  I also had an iced chocolate (how I missed them in Canada) with my friend, Haidi, who has moved to Wales, but was back for a visit - it was lovely to see both of them again.  Everyone was happy to see us at church and, of course, asked us how long we were going to be back for. 😃

 Robyn with her iced chocolate

My lunch and iced chocolate

This week started out well - a lovely facial for me and dinner with Robyn and the missionaries and then another iced chocolate with my teacher friends.   Then, on Tuesday, I came down with a nasty cold - I hate being sick - so, since I was supposed to be babysitting two little girls on the Thursday, I took myself off to bed to rest up for two days.  I felt better by Thursday, but didn't want to pass the germs on to the girls (who have 3 month old twin sisters), so I just took another day off and rested up.  Dad took good care of me making meals for me. 😃

 We had a Canadian/Australian Christmas dinner on New Year's Day with Robyn and the missionaries (Elder Prows and Elder Choi) - a turkey/ham roast dinner

and pavlova for dessert 😄

Friday, I met up with the Relief Society presidency in my ward to discuss this year's Relief Society activities.  Robyn, the Relief Society president, decided we would go with just 6 activities this year to see if we could get more sisters coming out to them.  Fortunately, I had already worked on 12 for the year, so I now have six done for this year and 6 sorted out for next year.  After our meeting, we all went out for lunch which was really nice as we got to chat with each other and catch up with each other about what we had been doing over the holidays since everyone had gone to various places for Christmas.

Jan, Daphne, me and Robyn

On Saturday, I met up with some other teacher friends and had a good long catch-up with them - about 3 hours - and another iced chocolate.  Life sure is hard here in Hervey Bay. 😃😃

My teacher friends from when I taught at Kawungan - Ingrid, Sandy, Luise and me

Dad has spent a lot of time relaxing since he's been home which I have been glad to see.  He has made a few phone calls to set up appointments and mowed the lawn once with our lawn mower, but that's been about the extent of it.  I always like him to relax in January, as once the year starts, he gets quite busy with work.

Our big news since we got back, though, is that we have booked a cruise - we are so excited!  We were hoping to go on a cruise to Fiji this month, but they were all booked up.  We hummed and hahed about going camping (too hot and too many people since it's school vacation), flying to Tasmania and renting a car there and driving around the island for two weeks (many places booked up due to school holidays) or just staying home.  We decided to check out other cruise lines besides 'Princess' who we preferred to sail on.  We really didn't care where we cruised to by this point, we just wanted to go on a cruise.  We found a really good deal online for a balcony cabin on 'Royal Caribbean' which we couldn't pass up.  The cruise starts in Auckland, New Zealand, so we are flying there a few days before the cruise begins to spend some time looking around that city - we stopped there for one day on our cruise down in 2009 and really loved the city, so we thought we would take some time and check it out some more.  We set sail from Auckland on the 17th of January for two weeks - we hit a number of cities in New Zealand and then a few in Australia before landing in Sydney on the 31st of January.  We will fly back to Hervey Bay that day.  We are not sure when Dad will start working again for this year, but the courses usually start in February, so we figure we will have a few days rest before he starts up again.