Adelaide, Australia

On February 25, 2011 we entered into the state of South Australia.  This would turn out to be a very busy day touring Adelaide, Australia and the nearby mountains.  Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia.  It was an early wakeup, rising at 5:30am then a quick breakfast in the ship’s Buffet.  We assembled in the Cabaret Lounge with other passengers taking the tour of Adelaide and the Cleland Wildlife Park.  The tour got underway by bus at about 7:30am en route to the city center.  Adelaide is a very nice and clean city.  The home architecture is very different from what we are familiar.  The homes have large covered porches running around most of the structure, making them very function when the weather is bad.  The roofs are either tin, steel, or tile.   It’s obvious that the homeowners take great pride in their homes and landscaping.  The bus continued through the suburbs for around 45 minutes until we arrived at Adelaide Oval where there is a majestic view overlooking the city and a large statue of Colonel William Light who laid out the city design (North, South, East, and West streets) along the River Torrens.   From there we toured North Adelaide.  Then it was on to the downtown area, which included the Art Gallery, the Museum, the State Library, Ayers House finally ending at Rundle Mall, a pedestrian only walking area.  We spent about an hour there walking around.  We got an espresso at one of the sidewalk coffee houses and then walked around mall looking in many of the stores and shops.  It’s interesting that Burger King in Australia is called Hungry Jack’s.  Everyone boarded the bus and for our trip to Cleland Wildlife Park.

The Cleland Wildlife Park is 20 minutes from Adelaide up on top of Mount Lofty.  It’s a very scenic drive to the park.  The hills are cover with Eucalyptus trees which the locals refer to as Gum trees.  Once at the park we were amazed just how large the grounds are and the extent of wildlife.  There are Euros, Yellow-Footed-Rock-Wallabies, Western Grey Kangaroos, Emus, Potoroos, Mallees, Bandicoots, Betongs, Cape Barren Geese, Tammar Wallabies, Kangaroo Island Kangaroos, Swamp Wallabies, Echidnas, Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, Red Kangaroos, Dingoes, several aviaries, and the most important—Koalas.  We had the opportunity to hold and be photographed with an 8 ½ year old Koala.  He was just as you would expect quiet, chubby and very friendly.  We walked the grounds of the park amongst free rooming animals along pathways passing through the tall Eucalyptus trees.  One Yellow-Footed-Rock-Wallaby didn’t like it that we were disturbing his nap, so he through dirt on us.  Not just once, but over and over until we moved away from him.  There were birds to see throughout the Park.  After walking for nearly two hours along the hills in the Park, we were both thirsty and hungry. 

Our tour group loaded up on the bus and headed out to the very top of Mount Lofty for lunch a fine restaurant.  They served a nice salad, a vegetable quiche, cheeses, breads, and grapes with coffee or tea to top things off.  After lunch and some brief shopping it was back down the mountain and through the city to the pier.  It took about 1 hour and 15 minutes to get back onboard the ship. 

At 4:00pm we sailed away from Adelaide toward our next stop Bunbury in Western Australia.  We will arrive there on Monday, February 28^th at about 2:00pm

Seabirds

Watching for seabirds along our route is always fun for us as we travel by ship.  We enjoy trying to identify each seabird order and their respective family.  In our current location along the southern coast of Australia, there is always plenty of opportunity to see the large Albatross who travel along the lower latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.  Late yesterday we were lucky enough to see several White-capped Albatross flying alongside of the ship.  This bird is a Diomedea Cauta.  They are the largest black-backed albatrosses, approaching Wandering Albatross in size.  They have a wing span of about 8 feet.  Here are few photos of these magnificent birds.

Last Day In Sydney



After a morning of recovering from the bridge climb we headed into the area known as Thai Town in Darling Harbor.  Several of the crew members had told us that the food in Thai Town was great.  We grabbed a taxi and ventured out for lunch.  After a little looking we decided on the Bangkok and were really surprised at the excellent quality of the food.  Cindy had Khao Pad Tom Yum (Fried Rice Cooked with Tom Yum paste with pork, carrots, mushrooms, onion, kaffir lime leaves, and lemon grass).  Our friends Gary and Pat came along with us which was not only fun but helpful since Gary speaks Thai.  We ran into a little rain both going and coming back from lunch. 

We said goodbye to approximately 194 passengers who departed the ship here in Sydney yesterday.  New passengers began boarding the ship at about noon.  I’m sure it will take them a few days to find their way around the ship. 

Sail away was at 7:30pm last night.  We will be cruising to our next stop,  Adelaide, Australia arriving there at approximately 7:00am on Friday, February 25, 2011.

Sydney Bridge Climb

Today was an adventure of a lifetime.  We climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  Nothing can really explain what it is like to stand on top of the world’s largest single span bridge after climbing up its exposed arch covering 1650 feet.   We weren’t really sure what to expect before the climb.  The staff of the BridgeClimb did a wonderful job equipping us with climbing suits; safety harnesses; radios; hats; shoes and doing about an hour of rehearsal/climbing to prepare for the ultimate climb.  After the preparation it was off under the bridge’s super structure and then we climbed vertically up through the pylons to the arch of the bridge.  This is where the real nerve racking climb began.  I guess what you don’t realize prior to the climb is how exposed you are on top of the bridge’s arch.  But once on top of the arch and climbing, all the way holding on to steel cables, the real fear hits home. But, once underway, who can turn back now.  The views from up top speak for themselves.  The total time of the climb was a little over 3 hours

Width	49 m (161 ft.)
Height	139 m (456 ft.)
Longest span	503 m (1,650 ft.)

 

Arrival At Sydney



We arrived in Sydney, Australia at 8:00am this morning.  The ship docked at a pier near the beginning of Darling Harbor very near the Rocks.  We passed under the Sydney Harbor bridge as we approached Darling Harbor.  The weather is overcast, 65 degrees with a slight wind.  Later today at around 2:30pm we will be climbing the Sydney Bridge.  Hopefully, more of the sun will be out by then.  So far today we have cleared immigration and now just waiting until time to head over to the bridge.  We will be here in Sydney  for 2 days, so will post more after the bridge  climb.

Auckland, New Zealand



This was our fourth trip to Auckland, New Zealand.  Never before had we really been outside of this wonderful city.  On this trip we had the pleasure of being greeted by our friends Grant and Jenny at the pier in downtown Auckland.  They planned a great day for us.  First, it was off to breakfast at the Comida, a street-side café with outstanding coffee and food.  It was our first experience having coffee in what is called a bowl.  The white bowls can be seen in the photo below.  We liked the coffee very much and the breads were the best.   Our café was directly across the street from the beach.

After breakfast, Grant drove us through the city and on to the West Brook Winery located 25 minutes north of the Auckland central business district.  It is nestled in the beautiful Ararimu Valley adjacent to the Riverhead Forest.  We were greeted there by Sue and Anthony Ivicevich who own and operate the winery www.westbrook.co.nz  They showed us around and allowed us to sample some of their award winning wines.  The winery is located on very picturesque grounds landscaped perfectly.

Then it was on to do some shopping.  Most importantly our shopping trip was to find a new netbook computer, since our laptop went totally dead a few days ago.  Grant had done some research and found some really good deals at JB Hi-Fi located in the Westfield Shopping Center in Manukau, New Zealand.  We picked out a new Acer
Aspire One and an external DVD burner.  It should meet our needs for the remainder of the trip.  While we were looking for a netbook, Jenny went to a deli and picked out some items for our lunch. 

We headed out from shopping through the countryside on to Grant and Jenny’s home.  The country reminded us very much of the rolling hills of southern Virginia.  Lush green countryside with tall trees uses them as hedges and wind blocks.  Wow, what a really beautiful home/manor they have.  When we arrived, Grant set us up with WiFi access to get all the updates for our new netbook, and Jenny gave us the tour which included an introduction to the home; several fish; two turtles; two cats; one very large pig and two llamas soon to have babies.  The views from the back yard are spectacular.  We had a traditional New Zealand chicken, tomato, and avocado sandwiches for lunch. 

Afterward, it was back to Auckland and then on to the ship.  We really appreciated our hosts, Grant and Jenny taking time to show us their city, countryside and their home.  Their hospitality and kindness was something we will never forget.  By the way, Grant is a world famous artist and lecturer.  Grant can be contacted through his association with AMFPA at  http://www.mollybean.co.nz/Art.htm

And, now it's on to Sydney and the Bridge Climb

Laptop Problems Again

This morning our laptop refused to bootup again.  So it looks like we won't be able to Post any more photos until we go shopping in Auckland in a few days.  Our friends their have graciously offered to take us to purchase a netbook and DVD burner while we are in their city.

More Postings after we get the new netbook.

Day Lost At Sea

DATES:  Due to crossing the International Date Line, the dates shown in header for each Post will not be correct.  This blog was setup on U.S. Eastern Standard Time.  So, in the future, we will show the correct day in narrative of each Post.

Over night we have continued on our course toward Auckland, New Zealand stirring around small atolls and inlands. Throughout the day we will keep the same heading, but will lose a day as we cross the International Date Line. This line is along the 180 degree longitude. This has caused us to miss February 13^th and go directly to Valentines Day. In fact, one of our passengers lost her birthday because of crossing the date line.

We were lucky enough to have Princess Cruises Master Chef Commendatore Alfredo Marzi join us in Tahiti. He has contributed to our culinary delights and provided a great culinary demonstration. This morning he set up a Valentines Day display with cakes and desserts. Here is a photo of the chef doing his magic. Also, here is a photo of us and our favorite bar attendant Charoon Suttimas who serves the best coffee on the ship.

NOTICE: Our original itinerary stop in the Seychelles has been reinstated. The Captain advised everyone that based on advice from the International Maritime Organization and other authorities, that an improved security situation in the Seychelles region allows us to reinstate the port. Additionally, the ship will maintain the new port call to Richard’s Bay, South Africa on April 7, 2011. We won’t make the Richard’s Bay port call since we will be on our overland safari to Kruger National Park!

The next port call is Auckland which is still 3 sea days away.

Moorea, French Polynesia



Yesterday, February 10, 2011 we visited the very tropical island of Moorea, French Polynesia. The island covers 51 square miles and has a population of a little over 14,000. It is only 15 miles from the large city of Papeete, easily accessible by high speed ferry. Moorea is an uncrowded island with jagged mountains, lush forests, turquoise lagoons, and beautiful beaches. Over the years the pineapple industry has taken hold and now flourishes as the leading business.

We went ashore at Cook’s Bay by the ship’s tender and spent the day looking around the island. On previous trips to this beautiful island, we has ventured up into the mountains for views from the Kia Ora and Le Belvedere lookouts. However, on this visit we preferred to venture along the shoreline and visit the numerous pearl shows. The weather was perfect with a temperature of 82 degrees and clear skies. Of particular interest to us were the wonderful 5 star hotels with their over-water bungalows.

A champagne sail away was planned by Brett, the Cruise Director for on the open upper decks. To everyone’s surprise, the Captain decided to leave early catching all by surprise. But, sail away was still great with beautiful views of the island as we made our way back into the Pacific Ocean for our trip to Auckland, New Zealand some 5 sea days away and a loss of February 13^th as we cross the International Dateline.

Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia



Tahiti is our destination for today. It’s an island paradise surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and other islands that makeup French Polynesia. Tahiti is the most populous island within what is called the Society Islands first settled by the Polynesians in about 800 AD. It is made up of two islands: Tahiti Nui (Big Tahiti) and Tahiti Iti (Little Tahiti). Our port city today is Papeete which is a very large metropolitan city.

We decided to go to the local market this morning to do some shopping. Here are some photo we took while out and about in the market. The weather today started with rain and overcast skies. It has remained overcast for most of the day. Hopefully we won’t get any more rain for the rest of today and tomorrow.



Rambontans



Captain's Lunch

Today we were invited to attended the Captain's Most Travelled Passenger Luncheon which is held for the top 40 passengers on each cruise.  The menu was great and tasted wonderful.  Here is a photo of the menu and a photo of us with Captain Andrea Poggi.

Thunder and Lightning

Thunder, lightning, and rain welcomed us this morning. The sea isn’t too rough, just some minor rocking and rolling. But, it appears that we will probably have thunderstorms throughout the day.
Our current position has us between Nengonengo Island and Hereheretue Island on our course toward Papeete, Tahiti in the Society Islands. We are 378 miles away from Papeete; 2420 miles from Auckland, and 3557 miles from Sydney.

Yesterday, we made the decision to do the Bridge Climb on our first day in Sydney. Hopefully, my new knee will do just fine during the climb and the weather will clear.

Formal Night--Delayed Posting

This is a late entry into the blog. Between laptop computer problems and satellite connection issues we hadn’t gotten around to posting something from our second formal night. The second formal night at sea was February 4, 2011. The food was great and the service so far on the cruise has been truly wonderful. Here is a photo of our waiters in the Club Restaurant. They are (left to right), Aleksandar Grujk, Junior Waiter from Nis, Serbia. He has been with Princess Cruises for one year. Our Waiter is Srdjan Srzentic from Bar, Montenegro. Srdjan has been with Princess for four years. We really appreciate all that they do for us each day.



To our surprise, we were lucky enough to be the 2^nd Most Traveled Passengers onboard the World Cruise. Here is a photo showing Captain Andrea Poggi and the Captain’s Circle Hostess Sandy presenting us the Most Traveled Award and another photo showing the actual award itself.

During the evening, the Executive Chef Antonio Cortese and the Maitre D’Hotel Francisco Patricio came by our table to see how the evening was going. Both of these gentlemen do an excellent job taking care of all our dining needs.

Pitcairn Island

A beautiful blue ocean and clear skies awaited our arrival here at Pitcairn Island this morning.  Pitcairn is an extremely remote island halfway between New Zealand and the Americas.  There is nothing to the south of Pitcairn until you reach the ice caps at Antarctica.  It is located at Latitude 24.30 N and Longitude 133.00 W with between 50 to 70 inhabitants depending on whether some of the people are in New Zealand or not on any particular day.  To truly understand how remote this island actually is, you need to travel as we have for days without seeing any ships, planes, wildlife or any land whatsoever.  And, of course it is the setting for the famous story surrounding Second Officer Fletcher Christian and Captain William Bligh onboard the H.M.S.A. Bounty and the subsequent mutiny that occurred in 1789.

A small whaling boat loaded with between 35 to 40 inhabitants traveled from the island to our ship carrying their supply of wares and handmade goods for sale.  They were welcomed onboard by all the passengers and crew.  The setup shop in a forward lounge and stayed with us for about 4 hours as the ship did a scenic cruise around the island.  Even though you can’t go ashore, it is always a great experience to visit Pitcairn Island.  Of special note is the number of Amateur Radio Operators Curt met this morning.  This is one of their primary means of communication off of the island. 

When we sail away later today we will head northwest toward Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.  It will take us 3 days to make the voyage to Papeete.