March 15, 2017

     We had breakfast, checked out and took the hotel’s 7:50 a.m. (12:50 p.m. yesterday) shuttle to Sydney International Airport. The airport is located on the shore of Botany Bay, one of the first landings of the English settlers to Australia.  The local time zone in Sydney, Australia, is 18 hours ahead of Vancouver.

Sydney is experiencing severe weather as are other parts of eastern New South Wales and Queensland.  Overnight some Sydney areas had flash floods.  There was rain overnight. More of this weather was expected today.  This morning’s temperature was a nice 22 C and a light breeze.  There were a few showers as we waited for our plane. This morning the sky was cloudy, but a bit of blue sky sometimes was apparent. 

    We had checked the departure time yesterday however, when we and Maureen and Bob arrived at the airport the plane was scheduled for a 1 p.m. departure due to snow storm conditions in Toronto, its starting point. The New England coast was forecast for a big snow storm that affected New York City. We had a 4.5 hour window in Vancouver, to catch our next flight, so we had no concerns.

   The plane was scheduled to leave Sydney at 11:20 a.m. today’s date (4:50 p.m. yesterday Vancouver time) and to land at 7:30 a.m. Vancouver time today’s date.  We will get back the “day” that we “lost” when we flew to Sydney.  The shuttle dropped us off at the opposite side of the terminal to where Air Canada’s counter was located which gave us a good start on the day’s steps. The process of checking in, then going to Australian Border Force Customs went smoothly. We were questioned about being on sheep farms in New Zealand.  They wanted to know if the soles of our shoes had any soil on them from the farmers. Final chore was to go through security and find the gate. It took less than an hour and over 1,500 steps. We managed to walk another 7,000 steps before entering the plane, which left only 2,600 steps to achieve in Vancouver’s airport.

    There was a pillow and blanket on each seat in the Economy section. This plane had the TV in the back of the seats, so you only needed earphones to watch movies, play games or listen to music.  Once in the air the crew distributed Canadian or American Customs forms since all passengers would be going through Customs upon arrival. There was some turbulence about an hour into the flight. Being a noon flight we had little intention of sleeping, which was a good thing. The back third of the plane had 10 children, seven of whom were toddlers or babies. Almost a dozen times there was a child crying and more than half the time when one started and two or three more joined in. Parents were having a difficult time to calm their children. Then the crew delivered the first meal, chicken with mashed potatoes and cooked broccoli, a quinoa and cooked squash salad, a bread roll and a piece of apple raisin slice plus complimentary wine and coffee. The white wine was a blend of Colombard, Grenache blanc and Viognier from Ferrandiere in France. Before the tray was picked up, the first of several episodes of turbulences occurred.  Not too severe, but enough to have the seat belt sign on for 15 minutes at a time. The air plane speed averaged about 960 km per hour, ranged from 870 to 1017 km per hour.  The total flight time was just under 14 hours and a distance of 12,515 km Vancouver to Sydney, the flight crew changed in Vancouver and the plane continued to Toronto.

     About one third of the way to Vancouver from Sydney we crossed the International Dateline in the mid Pacific Ocean, west of Hawaii. Six hours into the flight a snack of a small roll with ham and cheese inside and two cookies was served with coffee, tea or juices. Perhaps every 1 1/2 hours, one of the attendants would be passing out water for people if they wanted some.  There were turbulences about an hour before and then at about two third of the way from Sydney there was about 80 minutes of intermittent turbulences. About 90 minutes before landing, breakfast was served.  A choice of scrambled eggs with a small slice of ham and hash brown potatoes, or pancakes, and roll and fruit cocktail was served with coffee, tea or juices.

   The plane landed just after 9 a.m., the original arrival if it had not been delayed was 7:30 a.m.  We did not need to collect our luggage as it was labeled to continue to our next flight. We walked through the terminal and down two floors to get to Customs Hall and then back up two floors to go through security. In less than an hour we were sitting at Tim Hortons with Ice Caps. The wait in Vancouver was shorter by 90 minutes. We were glad that we booked a nice window of time between the two flights. Our flight home was on time leaving at noon.  We were home by 6 p.m.

               

Steps 13,982    Flights of stairs  27

March 14, 2017

    The ship arrived at the Cruise ship terminal at Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia, about 6 a.m.  Total distance from Perth to Sydney including Wellington and the South Island of New Zealand was 8,940 km.  Combined distance for the two cruises was 18,433 km.

    We had breakfast and had to vacate our stateroom by 8 a.m.  We met Maureen and Bob then left the ship together pulling our own luggage, so we didn’t have to search for it in the warehouse before proceeding to Australian Border Services & Customs then finding a taxi.  We had to go to another line for Department of Agriculture, since we checked off that we had been on a farm.  In fact we were on three different sheep farms in New Zealand. They asked us if the soles of our shoes were clean.  We said “Yes” and we were on our way. Hopefully it will be that easy for Canadian Customs in Vancouver tomorrow. The terminal was well organized.  There were ship’s excursion buses doing sightseeing to different locations and then either to the airport or a city center hotel.  We split the $65 cab fare to our airport hotel just as we did when the four of us took a cab from our first hotel to the White Bay cruise terminal on February 9th.

The taxi ride to the hotel was about 30 minutes, on expressways and tunnels.  We are in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, part of the City of Botany Bay, close to the airports.  Our room is a bit smaller than the stateroom and the bathroom is so small that only the toilet is separate from the shower, which is a bit larger than our ship's shower.  The view from the large window is overlooking Krispy Kreme, McDonalds and KFC. The room’s floor is laminate, the hotel corridors are carpeted. We have better Wi-Fi at the hotel - Ibis budget Sydney Airport - than on the ship. Everything is clean and recently renovated. We had a smooth check-in and both couples had their room cards by 10 a.m.  We dropped off the luggage in the rooms and met Maureen and Bob to walk to the nearby McDonalds for coffee. The McCafe order counter was separated from the McDonalds burger order counter with a separate eating area. The create your our meal there are touch screens like in Canada here too.  After coffee, Larry and I went exploring Mascot.  The town's main street has buildings constructed in the early 1900s. We found a memorial park with some gardens. We walked down to a canal pathway where we started to walk to Botany Bay, but after 20 minutes realized that the clouds looked menacing and turned around.  We managed to walk over 11,000 steps with a little rain starting about 5 minutes from the hotel.  Within 30 minutes of returning to the hotel the rain poured down pattering on our window.

    We met Bob and Maureen for a quick walk to the KFC to see what Krushers were.  It is a thick flavoured soft ice cream and milk mixture, like a McDonalds McFlurry.  The Kj count for the treats was between 1700 and 2100, which helped decide not to sample one.  Back at the hotel we looked up the value in calories. 4.2 calories = 1 Kj, so the concoctions were just 405 to 500 calories.

    After a little research Larry found a Greek restaurant, grk SOUVALKI, within a 15 minute walk from the hotel. Bob and Maureen agreed to the suggestion.  The rain had stopped for the walk. 

grk SOUVALKI had room for about 18 in the restaurant and another 18 or so on the patio.  The windows and doors were open to the street and we all enjoyed chicken souvalki with pita bread, French fries, cucumber in Greek yogurt and tomato slices.  We took a different route back to the hotel that took 20 minutes.  Then we went back to our rooms to repack our luggage to get the weight balanced and call it a night.

Steps  18,796            Flights of stairs  27

March 13, 2017

    This is Sea Day #8 and the last full day of the 17 day Australia and New Zealand cruise.  Really, it is day 33 of our back to back cruising, over one month.   The ship is still crossing the Tasman Sea en route from Picton, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia.  This morning Radiance of the Seas had covered almost two thirds of the way to Sydney.

    We did not feel any rolling of the ship in our stateroom as the photos were slowly being posted to the blog. We decided to get an Internet package since we are not sure if we will get one at the hotel in Sydney.  It took 7 or 8 minutes per photo and there were 47!  This morning the clouds clung to the horizon blocking the sun rise for a while and then separating to reveal a partly cloudy sky and a temperature of about 18 C and a moderate wind of 20 km per hour.  The captain’s noon announcement advised that the high temperature today would be 22 C and tomorrow in Sydney it will be warmer and 85% chance of thunderstorms.

      We found Bob and Maureen reading on Deck 6 and gave them our Internet info so that they could catch up on their emails, before walking circuits on Deck 5.  We watched the slight swells of the Tasman Sea.  The closest land is over 300 kilometers away.  There were a lot more people around the outdoor pool today.

   We found a certificate on our bed with our names on it.  It certifies that we have circumnavigated Australia on the Radiance of the Seas.  We don’t remember getting a certificate when we circumnavigated Wales, Scotland England’s island in 2014.

    We ordered cappuccinos to take to read on the shady side of Deck 5 before attending Dr. Peter Dingle’s final talk, “Stress, Depression and Gratitude” before a later lunch.  We watched the Mambo lesson before returning to the stateroom to read. Before dinner, we climbed up to the Deck 6 Colony Club for hosted ballroom dancing to recorded ballroom dance music.  Joy and Emmanuel reviewed each of the five dances that they taught and then the seven or eight couples danced.  When they demonstrated the Mambo and then counted for the people to help them start their Mambo, Joy referred to us as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers saying we would have to bear with the beginners for the count in.

     Dinner choices tonight were French Onion Soup, Scallops and Chorizo and Lentil & Rosemary Soup. Main course was Lamb Shank with mashed potatoes and vegetables or Roast Turkey with roasted potato, carrot and Brussels sprouts.  The dessert was Frozen Strawberry Soufflé and warm Apple Strudel.

    Entertainment this evening was Farewell Showtime with the Radiance of the Seas singers and dancers and comedian, Mike Bennett.  He gave a witty performance.

     We packed the luggage this evening in anticipation of disembarking the ship tomorrow.  Since we are not taking a Royal Caribbean transfer to the airport or an area hotel, we do not need to place our luggage with tags in the hall to be picked up and stored in a warehouse for us to collect in the morning after we leave the ship.  We along with Bob and Maureen will skip the warehouse and proceed to Australian Border Services before finding a taxi.

   Steps 16,572                    Flights of stairs  63

March 12, 2017

   This is Sea Day #7 in the Tasman Sea. This morning the ship is about one third of the distance from Picton, New Zealand to Sydney, Australia. 

    We could feel the ship rocking even in our mid ship Deck 3 interior stateroom.  It is a gray morning with some fog and a rolling sea with waves about 3 meters, but no white caps and the surface was almost glasslike with little ripples over all the waves troughs and valleys.  The ship’s stabilizers are functioning. The wind is so strong, that when we walked our circuits on Deck 5 in the fine mist, we did not include the 150 meters around the bow.  The temperature was about 16 C.  During the morning the ship sailed in and out of thin fog banks and light rain.

    Royal Caribbean has a loyalty rewards program called Crown and Anchor Society.  After any cruise between three nights and a total of 29 nights you are eligible for benefits at the Gold level, once you have a total of between 30 and 55 nights more benefits are added and you are at the Platinum level.  Today we received lapel pins for the official Platinum level.  We were treated as Platinum level passengers since Sydney, due to our standing with Celebrity Cruises, a sister company and now have earned the level with this 33 day cruise.

    We spent the morning reading in the Champagne Bar’s comfortable arm chairs; the bar is not open until noon.  We met Maureen and Bob when we attended Dr. Peter Dingle’s talk about Diabetes and Dementia and how nutritious eating habits, physical activity, water, probiotics and less stress can reverse Diabetes and reduce the onslaught of Dementia and other diseases.  Some points of his talk were: arteries are not clogged with cholesterol, but with calcium.  Take vitamin K and D to assist the body to absorb the calcium into your bones.

    The captain’s announcement at noon advised the passengers that the winds were bordering on gale force, the temperature was 17 C and there might be sunny breaks during the afternoon.

    After lunch in the Windjammer, we ordered cappuccinos, read and watched the Cha Cha lesson before returning to the stateroom to get ready for the last Formal dress evening of the voyage.  Before dinner, we climbed up to the Deck 6 Colony Club for hosted ballroom dancing to recorded ballroom dance music.

     The ship’s five or six professional photographers had stations set up for formal photos.  They also roamed the dining room asking people if they wanted their picture taken.  So far this cruise, we have only had our picture taken twice.  Dinner choices tonight were House Salad and Crab Cocktail for appetizers and the main course was Thai Chicken Breast with rice, peas, carrots and edamame.  Desserts picked were Ivory Chocolate Mousse and Angel Food Cake.

    We decided to get a 24 hour Internet package in order to post the past few days blogs. Entertainment this evening was Contempo, an Australian male duo singing classic hits and Broadway favourites.  They had great voices and gave a wonderful performance.  The casino was not a busy place this evening.

   Steps 12,431                    Flights of stairs  147

March 11, 2017

   The ship traversed Cook’s Strait from Wellington on the North Island back to the South Island, very early this morning.  It is a 3.5 hour journey for the ferries.  The cost to take the ferry across the strait to Picton is $65 per person or $250 per car.

    We are back on New Zealand’s South Island in the Marlborough Sounds coast, in particular Queen Charlotte Sound which holds two bays, one is Picton Harbour and the other is Shakespeare’s Bay.  They are separated by about a 750 meter wide finger of land about 1.5 kilometers long. The Shakespeare’s Bay dock is located at the wharf where timber logs are shipped to Australian, Asian and American ports.  Picton is a seaside resort town in a sheltered harbour with a permanent population of about 4,000. It is the gateway to the Marlborough wine country as well as hiking, fishing, kayaking dolphin watching cruises and other outdoor activities.

    The gray clouds were low in the sky and a fine rain was falling when we climbed up to Deck 11’s Windjammer buffet.  The outside temperature was about 16 C and the wind was hardly noticeable.  Again today there was an ambulance waiting on the pier and it had luggage waiting beside it.

    Today’s tour through the Wairau Valley to Blenheim had an early start.  We met Maureen and Bob to get the tour stickers before 7:30 a.m. Our group was on a bus, which had a faulty starter, and the group was led to another bus to be on our way shortly after 8 a.m.  We drove through the town of Picton and found the main highway through the wetlands and onto the plains and distant mountains.

     We could see the forested hills where sustainable logging is happening.  The pine trees have been planted in the area since make work projects of the 1930s.  It takes from 25 to 28 years for the pine trees to grow here, before they are ready to be harvested and then are shipped to other countries.

     We drove past orchards of cherry trees and apple trees as well as acres of vineyards as far as you could see, some with first year vines.  Some fields were covered with fine netting either stretched above the grape vines or partly supporting them. The first vines in the Marlborough region were planted in 1973. The main varieties of grapes grown here are to make sauvignon blanc and pinot noir wines, although grapes for other white wines are grown in the Marlborough region as well. A vineyard’s land is worth about $250,000 per hectare, about $240,000 Cdn.

    The highway leads to Christchurch, which last year took about 4.5 hour to drive.  However, that road has been closed for repairs since the November 14, 2016 earthquake that damaged the road.  Right now the detour makes the drive to Christchurch seven hours long. The road repairs should be completed in the next two weeks. The repair of the rail line will take a bit longer.

    Our first stop was at D’Vines Boutique Mall which had a variety of small shops and a café.  The largest shop was called the Quilters Barn which had a large selection of yarns for embroidery, knitting and quilting fabrics and supplies.  There were completed quilts for sale, too.  Behind the boutiques, separated by lawn, there was a little garden and the café patio.  There were vineyards covered in fine green netting. As a backdrop were the mountains of New Zealand’s Southern Alps enveloped in long wispy hazy clouds.  The rain had changed to a delicate drizzle.

   Then we travelled to the town of Blenheim which is the capital of the province of Marlborough.  We were driven to the 50 acre Pollard Park and Waterlea Gardens to enjoy its walking paths through the trees and colourful flowers of its various gardens. We were given 45 minutes to explore the park while a light rain fell on our umbrellas and jackets.  Pollard Park also had a nine hole golf course, tennis courts and picnic area including a shelter where you could barbecue.  Most people returned to the bus within 30 minutes.

    Finally, it was time to return to Picton, where passengers had a choice to remain on the bus to return to  the ship or be dropped off in town and take the complimentary shuttle back to the ship.  We chose to explore the quaint town and opened our umbrellas as a light rain resumed.  We missed the floating maritime museum called Edwin Fox.  It was the ship that once carried Florence Nightingale to the Crimea, convicts to Australia and settlers to New Zealand in the second half of 19th century.  We strolled along the main street, looking in the cafés and browsing in some of the stores.   After stopping at the Seabreeze Café for a Cappucino and an Americano, we found the shuttle bus stop to bus back to the ship returning by 12:30.

   After lunch in Deck 11’s Windjammer buffet, we climbed further to Deck 13’s Starquest Lounge for a quiet place to read, overlooking the stacks of logs on the wharf.  The ship left shortly after 3, for the 2,222 km journey across the Tasman Sea back to Sydney, which will take over two days.  During his pre sailing announcement, the captain warned the passengers that he is expecting 2.5 to 3.5 meter waves as the ship crosses the Tasman Sea.

   We joined Bob and Maureen in the dining room.  We ordered Fried Rice & Portobello Mushroom Balls or Minestrone Soup as appetizers, main course Chicken Marsala with mushroom sauce, mashed potato and asparagus or Garlic Tiger Prawns with rice.  The desserts were Tiramisu or Sticky Bread & Butter Pudding with coffee.  After dinner we caught the remainder of the 6:45 show of Comedy Hypnotist, Anthony Laffan.  It was just as entertaining as on the first cruise.

   People are happy that the time change overnight is to gain an hour.

    Steps 14,876           Flights Stairs  64