Day 44 - February 28, 2011 – Cairns, Australia

The day dawned cloudy and humid and hot with scattered showers.  Jan had arranged a private helicopter tour and called the tour company to see it was still on – it was.  They picked us up at the cruise pier and drove about 5 minutes over to the tourist pier area.  After a short safety briefing we were taken out to the small platform over the water where the helicopter picked us up.  It was really a private tour as it was just Fred, Jan and the pilot. 

First we flew over the outskirts of Cairns along the waterway and then turned towards the mountains north of Cairns.  The clouds were low over the ridge and he said he was going to try and find a way over them to show us the large reservoir that is the city’s water supply.  He found a way and we say the rain forest that surrounds the lake and the mountains around Cairns.  The next was over the next ridge into the valley where the train line from Cairns to Kuranda runs which is not operating because of all the rain, wind and storms the past several months.  We saw a couple of small waterfalls along the train.   Then just around a corner and we were over the Barron Gorge and looking at the Barron Waterfall that was roaring!  With all the rains the rivers and lakes and full and the river over the waterfall was running very high.  There were low clouds around but the falls was making its own clouds.  The pilot circled directly over the falls twice to give us a good view.

Our next stop was along the coastal mountains to a place where the air traffic controllers allowed our pilot to turn east towards the reef.  The water close to shore is very, very discolored.  As we got closer to the reef, the color did change to a darker green, but because there were heavy clouds and no sun, we really didn’t get to see the beautiful colors of the water and coral that makes up the reef.  We flew pretty low over several bits of land including landing on one small bit of sand disturbing the sea birds in the morning nap.   Finally, we circled Green Island, but could really not see too much without the sun.

Hugging the low hills on a peninsula east and south of Cairns we saw a small aborigine village, two ship wrecks and a great view of the Voyager docked alongside the cruise terminal.  We landed back on the pier after about a one hour flight.  The flight was very nice and we enjoyed…only wish we had sun so we could have seen the colors of the reef.

Fred went back to the ship and Jan walked into town which was about 2 minutes from the ship..no shuttle bus needed today.   Jan walked through the central shopping street and to the large indoor mall.   It was a very cloudy, humid hot day so the mall was the place to shop.  She needed some low cut socks so went to Target and found them.  On the way out she found a little shop that was all blouses and tops.  Two of them could not be left behind so now she has two new tops for the cruise, one for evening and one for day time.  Jan also found a gift for Susan, our only granddaughter.

Walking back to the ship didn’t take long, but Jan was dripping wet when she got back.  Fred was up on the pool deck and so she joined him for a light lunch.  A quiet afternoon of reading – Fred his book and Jan more bridge books – occupied the rest of the day.

Cocktails again at the Observation Lounge and dinner at La Veranda on our own finished out our day.

Day 43 – February 27, 2011 – Townsville, Australia

Today we are docked in Townsville, a city that is larger than Cairns though must people outside of Australia have never heard of it.  Fred’s feet were a bit swollen the night before so he decided to enjoy staying on the ship with his fee up.

Jan took the shuttle bus into town, a short 10 minute ride.  It was Sunday and they had a farmer’s market event in the downtown area with the main street closed off for a couple of blocks.  Most of the booths were of handcrafts; a lot of children’s clothes, homemade sauce/jellies, some fresh foods, and lots of other miscellaneous stuff.

After walking around that area, Jan checked at the local tourist office and found that the Reef Headquarters/Museum was within walking distance.  It is actually located relatively close to the ship but there is a waterway between the ship and that area with no walking bridge across it.   After a 10 minute walk, Jan arrived at the Reef Headquarters and Museum.  Luckily it was just before noon and noon was when the talk about the turtle hospital was given plus the ability to visit the turtle hospital was included.

We walked outside and around to the side of the museum and into the small area where they are caring for sick and injured turtles.  They had six turtles they were taking care of.  The worst was a younger turtle that had been hit by a boat and had gashes in his shell.  He was very sick and they said in pain so they had him pretty sedated.  The tank where he was had just a bit of water, not enough for him to float.  They did that so that he would not try and move or swim.  They are still worried about him and don’t know whether he will survive.  The other turtles had aliments ranging from a fish hook caught in its throat, one sick with pneumonia and the others with various turtle ailments.   They were more upbeat about the chances of the other turtles.  Once the turtle has recovered and is getting close to being ready to release, it is moved into the dangerous fish tank with the sharks.  They have to be careful about putting the turtle in there because the turtles bite the sharks!

After spending about 30 minutes, we walked back into the reef exhibits.  It is a very nice aquarium that focuses on the corals and their neighbors.  You could really see the bright colors and amazing shapes that define many of the corals of this area.  It was well worth the short walk and back to visit it.

Jan walked back to the shuttle and back to the ship.  Fred had already had lunch so Jan went up and got a quick bit.  It was hot!

We joined the LCT group (escorted tour with our travel agent) in Observation Lounge for cocktails and then joined Peggy, Jerry and Olivia for dinner in the Compass Rose. 

Unfortunately we missed the fact that the show with Darren Williams was at 6:00pm so we missed it. 

Day 42 – February 26, 2011 - At Sea on the way to Townsville, Australia

Jan got up early again for a walk before it gets hot.  Everyday the temperature is rising as we sail north towards the equator.  It was a busy day on the ship.  Bridge classes kept us busy in the morning along with a talk about Cairns, and a cooking demonstration by a guest Australia Chef, Owen Andrews.  His wife, Rebecca, works with him and they gave an interesting presentation of a rustic tomato soup and a beetroot and goat cheese appetizer.  We were served small cups of the soup to taste, which was a very nice touch.  He will be doing a dinner menu for the Compass Rose in the next week.  Hopefully it is not one of the nights we have reservations at other restaurants.

Lunch on the pool deck following by duplicate bridge for Jan took up most of the afternoon.  Fred read some and took a nap!

Tonight our travel agent is having a cocktail party for the group followed by dinner with some of the officers.  The cocktail party was held in the Conference Room and was well attended.  Our name was drawn to go into the hopper for the free cruise at the end of the year.  There were 16 names drawn this time and names are drawn everytime Ngaire has an escorted cruise.

After some confusion as to what officer we were dining with, we had dinner with Elda, the Assistant Cruise Director, and Cinthya, the Destinations Manager.  There was one other couple and a gentleman with us so they moved us from a very large table to a smaller table to make it easier for conversations to flow.  We enjoyed conversations about lost luggage, funny things that had happened to everyone in their travels and general conversation. 

We skipped the entertainment this evening.

Day 41 – February 25, 2011 - Brisbane, Australia

We had a good day in Brisbane, and decided this is our first trip to this city.  We took the shuttle into the city and then caught the hop on/off bus.  Mid-way through the bus tour we were on top of Mt. Coot-Tha, the hill that overlooks downtown Brisbane and the Bay.

The scenery was beautiful so we decided to have lunch at the top.  They are two restaurants; one a café with salads, sandwiches, etc. and a fine restaurant, the Summit.  We decided a leisurely lunch was the order of the day so sat out on the terrace and enjoyed a two hour lunch.   Fred had an nice Sauvignon Blanc and Jan had a nice Pino Gris.  We shared an appetizer plate for two that was very, very good.  The plate had seared scallops on twice cooked pork belly, vanilla cured salmon with a green bean, egg, and potato base, beef and chicken egg rolls with hoisin/ginger sauce and a small cup of carrot ginger spice soup.  It was just the right amount of food for lunch!

We finish our day in Brisbane by riding back to the city on the hop on/off bus, walking back down the pedestrian mall to the shuttle bus stop.  Brisbane is really a great city and there a lot of things we saw that would bring us back for several days.  Like the other cities we have visited in Australia, they have lots of green space, plus they have the Brisbane River flowing through the city in great horseshoe curves.  There was very little evidence of the floods early in the year although the local tour guides said that along the river there were still damaged restaurants and some that were completely washed away.

We met several couples of the Kangaroo Group (an escorted tour from our travel agent); some we knew and some we are just meeting.   We decided to go to La Veranda because we though it was the last night of the Australian Steakhouse Menu.  Turns out they are extending the menu for several days because it has been very popular.  Jan had the meatloaf and Fred had lamp chops…both were delicious and the service was great.

Fred had enough for the day and went to bed, but Jan stayed up to see the show.  Darren Williams is an Australian singer that was billed as “Poperatic”.  It was a combination of songs from light operas and a couple of songs from operas.  He also had some audience participation that the folks down front seemed to enjoy. 

Day 40 – February 24, 2011 – At Sea on the way to Brisbane, Australia

It was an early morning and Jan got up and did her two miles around the track on Deck 11.  She got a little wet at the end of the walk but it was only a light sprinkle of rain.  We have a new Captain and Food & Beverage Manager now.  These are the officers for this segment:

Master – Glanmario Sanguineti – he says call him Mario

Staff Captain – Letic Guerino

Safety Officer – Serena Melani – a beautiful redhead lady

Chief Engineer – Reine Jakobsson

General Manager – Michael Coghian

Food & Beverage Manager – Davor Josipovic – Florian left in Brisbane

Cruise Director – Jamie Logan

Executive Chef – Fabien Alujas

We started the next segment bridge lessons on doubles – something that is a mystery to both of us.  Lunch was a fish barbeque on the pool deck. Then Jan play duplicate bridge – where she did not do well but had a very nice lady for a partner that said we will try again.

Tonight is Captain’s Welcome Reception.  We had cocktails at the Observation Lounge and enjoyed the piano music.   We went down to Compass Rose later and joined a delightful couple who now live in Florida but are from London.  We really enjoyed dinner with them.

Entertainment was a violinist, Hana Starostam, but we decided to ship the show.

Day 39 – February 23, 2011 – Sydney, Australia

Jan woke up early again and watched it get light.  We were supposed to have been at the pilot station at 6:00am and we were, but the pilot was not.  Captain Scala did figure-8’s for almost an hour.  Finally the pilot finally came aboard.  Jan did her two miles on the track and had it finished before the ship entered the Sydney heads.

The good thing about being late was that our entry into Sydney was in the day light instead of just before dawn.  It was a nice sail in.  We saw the Queen Mary II docked by the navy ships and the Queen Elizabeth docked in Circular Quay.  The Voyager passed under the Sydney bridge and docked just on the other side at a pier called Barangaroo.  It is basically a big parking lot with a temporary cruise terminal of tents set up.

Disembarkation was a bit of a problem for some as we were one hour late arriving and there were five buses going directly to the airport.  The Australia custom authorities were quite cooperative and allowed the ship to be cleared in stages so they could get those folks off before all the luggage was off the ship.  In-transit guests were cleared just before 9:00am.

We caught the first shuttle into Sydney which left us at the Strand Arcade on

George Street

.  It turned out to be a very good location.  You could walk through the Arcada to

Pitt Street

which was pedestrian for the block between King and Market Streets.  We walked toward the Queen Victoria Building and got a map from one of the information desks in the shopping center.

We stopped and had a couple of coffee while a rain shower passed over.  On the map we discovered that there was a monorail in the area that would take us over to the Darling Harbour area.   We really didn’t want to walk too much because Fred’s feet are doing so much better we didn’t want to do anything to set him back.  So we found the Monorail Station, bought day tickets and rode over.  We walked around the east side, stopping for a rest now and then, around the head of the harbour, and then through the Harborside Shopping Center.

We got back on the monorail and rode over to the Paddington Markets which were supposed to be this great shopping area.  It turned out to be a gigantic flea market with a fresh fruit and vegetable market in one section.  Back onto the monorail which then took us back around to the first stop in the Darling Harbour area where we got off again.

By this time it was 1:00pm and it was time to find lunch.  We had a nice lunch at a seafood restaurant and then walked all around again and back onto the Monorail for the ride back to the City Center station where we got off.  A short walk back to the Strand Arcade and we got the 3:00pm shuttle back to the ship.

You could have actually walked from the ship to the Darling Harbour area.  We saw lots of people walking from that area down towards the shop and that is when we realized you really could walk.  It would have been way too far for us, but younger legs would have made it easily.

Jan saw several of the LCT group at the pool bar but we didn’t connect with anyone later that evening.  We decided that after our late lunch, a cocktail with canapés would be fine for dinner.  So we spent most of the evening up in the Observation Lounge enjoying the view towards Darling Harbour and the lights of Sydney.  At 9:00pm they had “Deserts and Dancing on the Deck” where they duo sang and they had a nice layout of deserts.  We enjoyed a glass of wine and Jan had desert before calling it a night.

Day 38 – February 22, 2011 – At Sea on the way to Sydney, Australia

Jan decided she’d better get back to her exercise so she got up early and did her two mile walk.  The seas were calm and it was a nice morning walk.  Bridge lessons kept both of us busy during the morning.

At noon, we had our cooking lesson with Chef Fabien on how to make Steak Tartar that Fred won as a prize at the Gold, Platinum and Titanium party.  We met the chef in Compass Rose and he took us up to Prime 7 where he had everything prepared for us.  Tom and Martha joined us so he had 4 setups so we could make our own.  We made the sauce according to his directions using mustard, ketchup, Worchester sauce, few drops of Tabasco, a drop or two of olive oil, salt pepper, finely chopped capers, finely chopped gerkins.  We added an egg and finely chopped onions and then the finely chopped, not ground tenderloin fillet and mixed well.   It was a lot of fun. 

When we were finished, Chef Fabien he served each of us our own steak tartar with French fries, salad and toasted French bread in Compass Rose.  We all had a glass of wine and enjoyed a very elegant last lunch in Compass Rose for this segment.

Jan skipped duplicate bridge because it was the championship game and she didn’t have a partner.   She is hoping she can find a partner for the next segment to play duplicate bridge on the sea days.

Cocktail hour was in our suite tasting one of the bottles of wine we had purchased from the Yarra Valley.  Ragib brought giant shrimp, vegetables and dip, plus the hot canapé of the day and with Tom and Martha we enjoyed a quiet evening.   Dinner was in Compass Rose which was not crowded at all.

Day 37 – February 21, 2011 Melbourne, Australia

Fred decided to take the day off, stay on the ship and keep his feet up, so Jan went into town on the Shuttle.  She forgot her map but it turned out to be a good thing as she had to stop by the Tourist Information Center.  There one of the ladies asked what she needed and instead of just giving her a map of the city, she got a full brochure showing a walking tour around the Arcades and Lanes of the central downtown area.

It was a walk of about 2.5 kilometers and took about 1.5 hours.  There are all sorts of cafes, shops, restaurants down allies and inside of arcades in and between the buildings.  Some of the cafes were very small with only one or two tables, and the table was just a block with two other blocks for stools.  Others were more elaborate with tables outside and inside.  Jan walked the entire route first and then returned to one of the arcades that looked like it had some nice cafes.  The Brown Sugar Café was a nice spot to have a calamari salad and a glass of wine.

After lunch, Jan walked back to the corner of

Federation Square

where she got a map of the Free Tourist Shuttle operated by the city bus company.  A man standing by her at the stoplight joked to her that with her red jacket (she had a red wind breaker on), she was going to be asked for information.  That started a conversation about where she was from and the gentleman continued to walk with her to the bus stop where they had a nice conversation while waiting on the bus.  He collected classic cars and had traveled in the US quite extensively and he wanted to talk about his trips there.

The Tourist Circle Bus takes about 90 minutes to make a circle route throughout the City of Melbourne with stops at most of the major areas of interest to travelers in the city.  Jan just rode it around and got off at the stop right next to the shuttle bus stop for the Ship’s shuttle.

The ship sailed out of Melbourne just before 6:00PM.  It was windy by the sea inside the Bay was not bumpy.   We were having dinner at Signatures when we exited the Bay and the sea changed.  We had a large bump and some of the wine buckets storing the wine being poured were knocked over onto one of the tables.  Their feet got wet!  The Captain came on and told us that we were about to disembark the pilot and the pilot boat had asked him to turn the ship to protect the pilot as he got off and that we might after some uncomfortable rolls for a few minutes.

After the pilot disembarked, Captain Scala came back on and told us that we would have some bumpy seas while we were in the Bass Straits because of strong south winds hitting us on the starboard side that would last until we turned north.  As we finished dinner, we were still definitely in the Bass Straits as walking was not easy!

There was no show this evening as Krew Kapers were held as it was Captain’s Farewell Night.  We forgot that Captain Scala was leaving in Sydney or we would have gone.  Tom said that Captain Scala joked that the bill for the extra fuel for our early arrival in two ports would be in our rooms in the morning.  And, he then also joked that his plan was to be back on board on Dubai…that is if they didn’t dock his pay for the extra fuel.

Day 36 – February 20, 2011 – Melbourne, Australia

After another good night’s sleep docked in Melbourne, the ship was cleared around 7:30am.  We had booked a private tour with Vinetrekker.  We left the ship early with Tom and Martha and our guide wasn’t there yet.  We walked the long way down the pier and intercepted him just before he went through the security gate.  If we had waited, he would have picked us up right at the Cruise Terminal.

Paul Robinson was our guide for the day.  He had an almost brand new mini-van and seated the 4 of us very comfortably.  It would have been crowded had the tour been full (7 people).  This was billed as a public tour but it was only the four of us so it was really a full private tour.   Paul a very good guide and companion for the day.   He drove us through the area of Port Melbourne and out the the Yarra Valley the long way, i.e. through the suburbs instead of just down the highway.  Several times, he detoured down small dirt roads in search of kangaroos.  In the morning, they evaded us.

Our first stop was at the De Bortoli Winery at the north end of the valley.  This was one of the first large companies to establish vineyards and wineries in the valley.   They were also one of the first to open at gourmet restaurant which set the stage for more excellent restaurants in the valley.  Wine tasting in this area is done a bit differently in that there is not a set group of wines you can taste.  You are given a list of the wines that are available for tasting that day and you can chose which ones you want to taste and you can taste as many as you want to.  Because Paul was with us and was well known to the staff, we were offered tastings of some of their special reserve wines.  This area specializes in the lighter wines such as Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigio, sparkling wines, and Shiraz.  Here we also had a tasting of various cheeses, some were local and some were imported.   Tasting wine with the various cheeses showed how food and wine interact.

We liked most of the wines, in fact we bought six bottles.  More about Jan’s out of control wine purchases later.   One of the wines we like was a Sauvignon, not Sauvignon Blanc.  The Shiraz is also a lighter wine from the grapes grown here.  According to Paul that is because this is a cool climate area and the grapes then to be more medium-bodied that at hotter areas.

The next stop was the Yering Station, one of the oldest vineyards and wineries.  The Yarra Valley had an early history of wine in the late 1880’s but because of hard times most of the vineyards were converted into grazing lands for cattle.  The wine tasting room was in the original winery and was an interesting building.  Because it was the third Sunday of the month, there was a Farmers Market at Yering Station.   There were lots of people there.  Again, we were given a list of wines and chose what we wanted to try with Paul asking about several special wines and we could taste.  One of interesting things here was to try three different vintages of a cabernet.  We tried a “raw” or new vintage (2008) and then a 2004 and a 2005.  It was fun to see how age was changing the wine.  There was a big difference if the 2008 and the other two, but even the two older ones had different tastes.

There was a light mist as we walked across the grounds to the Farmers Market.  Since it is late summer in Australia, most of the products were prepared sauces, jellies, chutneys, etc.  There were some fresh fruit like apples but the apples are just beginning to be ripe.

We went to the restaurant at Yering Station.  The building is a dramatic contrast to the old winery.  It is all glass and rock with a stunning view over the fields to the mountains, which were obscured by clouds.  We had a choice of barramundi, sword fish, kingfish, chicken, beef fillet, and kangaroo.  Paul assured us that kangaroo was quite good.   He made a deal with Jan that if she ordered the kangaroo and didn’t like it, he would switch his steak for her kangaroo.  Fred had the kingfish, Martha the swordfish, Tom the barramundi and Jan the kangaroo.  All of the meals were delicious!   We each had a glass of our favorite wine with the meal.

After lunch we drove to Domaine Chandon of French fame.  This the latest of the vineyards and wineries they have established out of France.  Of course, it was sparkling wines that were on the tasting menu here.  This is the most visited winery in the area and it was crowded.  This time there was a set range of wines to taste.  Four of the sparkling wines were presented, a traditional brut, a rose brut, a sparkling Shiraz and a curve (a sweeter sparkling).   We also had small food snack of cheese and two sauces with crackers.

The last winery we visited was the Coldsteam Winery, the smallest of those we visited.  Because it was the 4^th we had visited, I think we were a bit tasted out.  Their most interesting wine was a 2009 Pinot Noir.  In 2009 the Yarra Valley was the site of one of the worst wildfire disasters in Australia’s history.  More than 170 people were killed when they were trapped.  Some vineyards were damaged by fire but more were damaged by smoke as the vines absorbed the smoke and damaged the flavor of the grapes.  This winery decided to bring grapes in from Tasmania and several other areas in Victoria.  They blended the grapes from the various wineries.  Last year, this 2009 vintage was won every gold metal in the capital city competition in Australia.   It was very good.  Now they are going to try to continue trying to do this blend of multiple grapes, especially those from Tasmania.

It was time to start back towards Melbourne.  Paul was determined to find kangaroos so we made several detours down roads where he thought we might find them.  At the very last place, a wild park in the middle of a suburb, he found them.  There was a small mob of gray kangaroos that were close to the road so we finally got to see kangaroos in the wild.

Paul drove us back through the city and we got a good overview of the area besides a beautiful wine tasting experience.  Paul took us right to the cruise terminal which was a good thing because Jan got over enthusiastic about the wine.  We had six bottles from De Bortoli, five bottles from Domaine Chandon, two bottles from Yering Station, and a bottle from Coldstream.  Fred and Tom each carry one box and Jan the extra bottles up to the room.   Now the questions is --- how to we get it home?   More than likely we will be sharing bottles with friends along the way!

After a day of wine tasting, it was time for room service!   We snacked on the canapés our Butler, Rajib, brought us and Fred ordered a club sandwich that we shared,

This is the first time we have had a Butler and now I’m afraid we are spoiled.  We see him everything morning when be brings new fruit, makes sure we know what is going on around the ship (on sea days), has arranged reservations at the restaurants, and overall making our lives easy.  We couldn’t imagine what having a Butler would be like, but we think it is great…at least Rajib is great.

Day 35 – February 19, 2011 – At Sea on the way to Melbourne, Australia

The seas were a little rough this morning but not too bad.  During the morning bridge lesson, Captain Scala announced that we would be headed to Melbourne as fast as he could and would dock around midnight.  There was a storm in the Bass Straights and he wanted to get through quickly and into the shelter of the Bay of Melbourne.  He told us that we would have waves all day and that from about 3-6 until we entered the Bay we should be careful.  In fact, they closed the outside decks in the afternoon for safety reasons.

The Captain was right..the seas got rocky

Yes, it was windy. The weather was changing as we left Hobart so the Captain chose to change our course and go around the west of the Island instead of the east. This morning we had fog, rain, and wind. It was going to get worse so Captain Scala (who is the best!) decided to go as fast as he could and get us to Melborne tonight.

It is now about 9:00pm in the evening and we are sailing in very, very smooth seas in the bay. We had a bumpy crossing with high winds but luckily no big swells. The wind was high enough that we were certainly bouncing and if you were prone to be seasick, you would have been. We will be docked between 11-12 tonight but we won't be cleared until the morning.

About 6:15pm we entered the bay and everything calmed down and we had a wonderful evening.

Tonight was the Gold, Platinum, Titanium event which was a Bingo Reception hosted by the Captain. Now, I know that sounds weird but Captain Pier Paolo Scala is a lot of fun. Early in the cruise, on the first segment, he hosted a bingo party for the crew where he bought the prizes. The crew just loves him!

So tonight there were 230 invitees to the party and about 1/2 showed up. There were 5 games with the Captain being the bingo caller. Amazingly, Fred won the first game...now don't fall off your seats, but the prize was.......

* a lesson with the Executive Chef on steak tartar!!!! How exciting (smile, smile). We can bring another couple and learn how to do steak tartar!!

The prizes for the next games were....
* 2 oz of caviar
* a trip to the "wine cellar" with the Head Wine (now I can't even remember how to spell it...it is late tonight)
* two bottles of premium wine
* an invitation from the Captain to join him on the bridge for the sail away from Melbourne with a
glass of champagne
* a behind the scenes trip through the ship with Jamie

The weather on land is much better and we are looking forward to a nice today tomorrow.

Day 34 – February 18, Hobart, Tasmania

After a good nights sleep, courtesy of Captain Scala, we were up early for our Port Arthur and Wildlife Tour.  We first drove to the Bonorong Wildlife Park to see Tasmanian animals in an up close and personal way.  Fred and Jan had been here in 2004 and it has only changed a little.  We were the 3^rd bus to arrive (several tours had this park included) so it was not crowded yet.  You walk through the park and the Wallabies/Kangaroos roam free around you.  They have buckets of food placed around the trail and you can feed the kangaroos.  Some of them would take food but most of them were not interested.  Jan did get to feed one and Fred got a picture of it.  One of these mornings when we have good internet, I will try and upload some pictures.

The main change to the park from 2004 was the number of Tasmanian devils.  There are now several enclosures of these animals.  We got really good pictures of them including one laying all sprawled out like some dogs do, i.e. with hind legs stretched out behind him.  They were not very devil like today!  We also got to see a Koala Bear and a Wombat close up. 

After leaving the park is was a long 1.5 hour drive through the countryside to Port Arthur.  Our bus had a very talkative guide and a bus driver who thought he was the guide.  At first it seemed they were competing to see who could talk the most.  Then they seemed to get into letting each other talk but the result was there was never a single moment one of them wasn’t talking.  They did have a lot of interesting things to say but some on the bus thought it was very irritating.

We stopped at a small restaurant and hotel, the Fox and Hounds, for lunch.  For once, it was not a buffet but served at the table.  We had a chicken schnitzel with roasted potato and steamed vegetable.  It was fine but nothing special.  The description of the lunch in the tour brochure cleared said it would be a hearty lunch but not gourmet.   The desert however was very, very good.  I’m not sure was it was, some kind of cake/pudding in a caramel sauce.  Two glasses of wine or beer were also included.  It took about one hour for lunch.

When we finally arrived at Port Arthur, our time was going to be limited.  There were two buses from the ship and the entire group was assigned to a single Port Arthur guide.  He did have a microphone but it was still difficult to hear and he was trying to give too much detail.  Since we only had 1.5 hours at the site, it was very rushed.  We were given tickets that allowed us to go on the 3:00pm boat ride around the bay and the small islands with more narrative about Port Arthur and it’s history as a prison.

Fred and Jan decided to leave the group and explore on their own.  Port Arthur is a beautiful site now with green grass and gardens.  Most of the buildings were destroyed at one point of another in the large brush fires that sweep Australia from time to time.  They are doing a lot of reconstruction work on some of the larger and more important buildings.

We visited the Separate Prison where they put the really worst offenders.  It was a place of solitary confinement for 23 hours locked down in a small cell every day.  In the chapel, which had compulsory attendance on Sunday, there were even walls between every seat and the prisoners were brought in one at a time with masks over their faces so there were unable to identify each other or to communicate in any way.  The theory of the prison was that this kind of punishment was preferable to the physical punishment, i.e. flogging, that was prevalent at the time.  The result was more mentally ill prisoners.

We walked through some of the other buildings and back across the green to the Visitors Center at our own pace.  Port Arthur is a site worth visiting but you need at least a half day.  Interestingly, there was a Holland America ship anchored in the bay that was tendering its passengers into and out of the site.  That would have been a good way to focus on Port Arthur for a cruise stop.

Then it was back on the bus for the 1.5 hours ride back.  We took a slight different route back and mercifully the guide and driver didn’t talk the entire way…just most of it!  One good thing the guide did was that after we got back on the bus at Port Arthur she asked for feedback and the bus really gave a lot of suggestions.  Most of us wanted more time at Port Arthur and less time at lunch.  We even made the suggestion to have a small snack type lunch on the bus to save the time.  She took all the feedback very well and hopefully the ground operator will change this tour to concentrate on this very interesting site.

We were invited to the Captains Table tonight.  We met Dana and the other three couples outside of the Voyager lounge.  Two of the couples were full world cruisers and the other couple knew them as well.  All were interesting to talk with.  The Captain had sent word that he would be late and to go ahead and order.  He did arrive a bit late but we had not been served yet.  During the appetizer, the Captain excused himself to make a phone call and then came back to the table.  Because the wind had begun blowing from the east, he decided to go around the west side of the island instead to keep us protected as much as possible from the wind.   We enjoyed the dinner.

Day 33 – February 17, At Sea on the way to Hobart, Tasmania

This morning the Tasman isn’t too bad, but the Captain says we are making such good time and the Tasman Sea is still being “nice”, he speeded up (or didn’t slow down) the Voyager and we will be docking in Hobart tonight instead of tomorrow morning.  That is good news from two reasons: (1) we will sleep in the quiet of the dock and (2) we will clear Australian Immigration this evening instead of tomorrow morning when we are trying to get off on tour. 

We made it to bridge class in the morning but Jan missed duplicate because of a pedicure appointment.   Deck lunch was Big Pan Pizza and Pasta.  Wind is still up and the pool deck is not really comfortable unless you are undercover up close to the door.

Everyone tried to figure out what to do about dinner since we will be docking sometime between 7:30pm and 8:30pm.  We went to La Veranda because it is quicker and we like it.  Fred had lobster and Jan had veal chops; both were excellent. 

We docked right on time, about 7:00PM.  We did not dock where we had before, at Salamanca Place but at the cargo port.  It is still right in town but not quite as convenient.  The Holland America Amsterdam was docked but they left about 11:00pm.  They began calling for anyone who had finished their dinner to go to the theatre to clear immigration about 8:00pm and then asked that as you finished dinner, proceed directly to the theatre. 

When we went down, there was no line at all.  We picked up our passports, proceeded through immigration and were out quickly.  Jamie then announced that since there were only 30 people who had not cleared, if anyone who had not cleared would go now, the ship could cleared.   Now, Jamie is a great cruise director but he cannot count!  The line was out the doors of the theatre, clear back past the door to the Voyager Lounge.

Since we had an early tour in the morning, we skipped the show – Broadway Tonight, by the singers and dancers, since we would have a chance to see them another night.

Day 32 – February 16, 2011 - At Sea on the way to Hobart, Tasmania

The Tasman Sea isn’t treating us too bad today.  Weather is cooler with wind.

Bridge lessons in the morning and duplicate in the afternoon.  Jan had a new partner and we didn’t do too badly…at least it seemed we were winning some hands.

Lunch was a Rib Barbeque on the pool deck.  We were lucky and found a table underneath cover as the wind was not comfortable out around the pool.  Ribs are one of our favorite barbeques here on the ship and they didn’t disappoint today.  They had three kinds, American BBQ, Asian type (spicy) and Jamaican jerk.  Tonight is Seven Seas Society “party” that we skipped as we had dinner at Prime 7 with Tom and Martha.  Everyone’s meals were good this time and we finished in time to see most of the show.

The Entertainment was an Australian singer, Chloe Dallimore.   She was ok but I did hear others say they were not very impressed.

Day 31 – February 15, 2011 – Cruising the New Zealand fjords

This morning we woke to cloudy skies which worried us since we were headed towards the fjords.  By the time we reached the first fiord, Dusky Sound, the clouds were lying out to sea and we had beautiful blue skies.  A little bit of wind made standing on the top deck a bit of a challenge. 

We spent about 30 minutes in Dusky Sound and then made our way to Doubtful Fjiord.

Jan got a badly needed hair color and cut during the afternoon, but the windows in the salon allowed for nice viewing of the scenery.

Just as the ship was entering Milford sound, Jan finished and went to see if Fred recognized her.  After 30 days of sun, wind and hard water on the ship, Jan’s hair was very blonde and desperately needed help.  Carmen, in the salon, had looked at Jan’s hair when we first got on the ship.  She suggested that Jan go darker with fewer highlights so we tried it.   It was quite a dramatic change but I like it and so does Fred.  It is much darker than I usually go and the highlights are just around the top and face and they are very, very light – probably close to white.  But they are not heavy so it looks like highlights rather than white hair.  It will take about 7 days for the hair to be the color it should be but it is fun to look different for a while and I think I might keep it this way for awhile.

Lunch was Mongolian Fire & Ice where you could chose your ingredients for a stir-fry and they would cook it for you and bring it to your table.  The wind had come up and they had to take down the umbrellas before they started tumbling around.

Milford Sound was beautiful.  Clear blue skies with light winds made the sailing smooth.  Fred and Jan saw most of it from the Observation Lounge out of the wind.  Later friends said that it wasn’t that bad as the sun had warmed up the air and the winds had died down a little.

Evening found us in the Observation Lounge with Tom, Martha, Jan and Mike.  We enjoyed cocktails and then headed down to Compass Rose for dinner.  Sylvester found us a nice table for 6 and enjoyed a nice dinner.  Entertainment for the evening was a concert pianist, Van-Anh Nguyen, a beautiful Vietnamese-Australian pianist.  It was her first time performing on a cruise ship and by that time in the evening we definitely had some swell as we were now in the Tasman Sea.  When Jamie announced her, he told us she was having a bit of a challenge.

She played beautifully and apologized for sitting down when she talked to tell us what she was going to play but she was having trouble standing up.  As she left the stage after the performance, she was holding her stomach so I think she was a bit sea sick.  You could not tell by her performance that anything was wrong and we enjoyed the evening

Day 29 – February 13, 2011 – Christchurch, New Zealand

Dinner last night with Hern and Pam from Tulsa and Martha and Tom from Boston was a lot of fun.  We enjoyed a lot of conversation and laughs as we got acquainted.

This morning it is cooler and cloudy as we enter Port Lyttelton, the port city for Christchurch.  We went on the High Country Explorer excursion – an all day trip.  There were 4 buses and they split the group as Bus 1-2 and Bus 3-4.  We were on Bus 1 so our itinerary was first the ride across the Canterbury Plains to the Gorge Bridge over the Waimakariri River and then down several narrow gravel roads to the Woodstock Station.  There we boarded our Jet Boats for the ride up to river to the boundary to Flock Hill Station.

You had the choice of getting into the jet boat from stairs and a platform at the lodge while the boat was on the trailer and then riding down to the river already in the boat.  Or a short walk down to the boat.  It looked like the road down wasn’t very steep so we decided to walk.  However, what we hadn’t seen was the trail behind the lodge that was steep and gravelly. They had some built in stairs but it was still a bit of a challenge for Fred.  I needed to help him down a couple of places.   There was only one woman who made a snide comment about people who shouldn’t be on the trip.  We just ignored her.  By the time everyone made it down, we had not delayed the loading of the boats at all.

We had 18 people in the boat which was full.  We did the trip in about 15-20 minutes at about 40 miles per hour.   It was a fun trip but they didn’t do any of the 360 spins that the jet boats are famous for.

At the boundary of Flock Hill the boats just pulled up to the bank nose first and we had to climb out and over to the gravel bank.  Fred made it just fine.  They had all the tossuck buggies lined up – they are big 4-wheel drive buses.  They had a fire going with a heater for tea or coffee.  We had to wait until all of the two buses were at the landing before continuing.  Since there were only two jet boats, they both made a couple of trips.

The only problem at the landing was the sand flies – they were terrible.  They had bug spray for all of us and that helped.  We were there about 30 minutes as we were the first boat to arrive.  The later boats had tea at the lodge where we loaded so when they all arrived, we were ready to go.

One of the tussock buggies was towing a port-a-potty.  It accompanied us through out the next part of the drive.   It was fun to see the driver of that vehicle so knock on the door before he left to make sure on one was inside.  At one stop, a lady came out – so it was good he checked.

We were in the lead buggy with the owner.  He had his sheep dog puppy with him who took up the entire front seat.  The dog kept trying to sit in his lap as he was trying to negotiate many steep gravel roads.  Fred was nervous every time he shifted gears going up hill.  At the first stop, the driver chained up the dog with a short chain so he couldn’t get over the gear shift any more!

We drove about 12 miles over the Flock Hill station.  It is a huge property of 35,000 acres.  They graze sheep, beef, and red deer.  The clouds were low so we didn’t get a good view of the southern alps of New Zealand but the scenery was spectacular and the drive very interesting.

When we reached the Flock Hill Lodge on the highway, Buses 3 -4 where there.  They had started with a tour of Christchurch and then the drive to Flock Hill Lodge where they had an early lunch.  They got into the tussock buggies and we got into the buses.

We had lunch at Flock Hill.  It was a simple buffet but handled nicely.  You will always have lines at a buffet but it wasn’t anything like the mess at the Gondola Restaurant.  We then returned to Christchurch on the buses.  We arrived just as the Arts Center was closing so we had a short stop at the city square.  They are getting ready for a big flower festival and there was a flower carpet inside the Cathedral.  Jan hurried across the square, paid the entrance fee and had a short stay inside.  It was nice and when I get the pictures uploaded, I’ll post some.

Then back to the ship where we had some late afternoon showers.

Dinner at Compass Rose and showtime with Glen Amer, the Australian “piano man”, completed our 29^th day.

Day 30 – February 14, 2011 – Dunedin, New Zealand

What a beautiful clear sunny morning greeted us in Dunedin, actually in Port Chalmers.  We decided to cancel the long tour to the Albatross Center and just go into Dunedin.  We had done tours out of the city before, so decided to see what it looked like.  The ship had a shuttle running into the center of Dunedin which took about 30 minutes.

We walked down the main shopping street.  It had lots of smaller shops but there was also a large shopping center build inside of the older buildings that was quite attractive.  After walking back up the street (and the hill), we walked around the square.  There was quite a lineup of people at the theatre.  Turns out they were standing in line to buy tickets to the Elton John concert in November that will open their new stadium.  The stadium is being built close to the harbour for the Rugby World Cup happening in New Zealand in September.  Everywhere we have been in New Zealand, you have seen count down clocks to the World Cup Rugby Tournament and lots of shops with World Cup stuff.

We then walked down to the Railway Station which is one of the landmarks of the city.  We found a restaurant on the corner of the square.  This is the description they had written on the wall.  A place on a corner in the middle of a city at the bottom of the world.  We like that description.  After a light lunch we walked back across the square and got the shuttle back to the ship.

Tonight we had dinner at Prime 7 at a shared table where we might a nice couple from California.  They are retired, but make wine so they were interesting to talk to and knew a lot of the wines available on the ship.  He ordered a bottle from the reserve wine menu and asked us if we would like to share it with them which we were happy to do.  Jan had the lamb chops and they were delicious.  Fred had the bone-in ribeye steak which was tough, stringy and not good.  Fred didn’t think it was prime beef at all and has talked to Florian about it.   The special valentine desert was very good – a hazelnut crust, with a luscious crème covered in dark chocolate.  The four of us closed Prime 7 that night

Day 28 – February 12, 2011 – Wellington, New Zealand

This morning was cool and cloudy but the rain held off.  We had a slow start to the morning and then took the shuttle bus into Wellington City Centre.  It is a very nice town and because it is Saturday, it was not crowded.  We walked around a bit and got Fred a couple of things he needed at one of the department stores.  Everyone is so friendly here. 

There is a cable car right in town that takes you up a small hill to the Botanic Gardens.  Mom and I had ridden the cable car when we were here in 2006, but Fred had not been up.  We walked around a bit on top, took a couple of pictures, and then rode the car back down.

We walked down to the water front, Queen’s Quay, to be exact where we found a nice restaurant for fish and chips.  Fred says his the best he has ever had!  We walked back to the shuttle stop but stopped first at a flower shop to get some valentine flowers for our room.

We are sailing now as we left about 5:00pm on our way to Christchuch.  We are going to have dinner with a couple from Oklahoma City.  They had dinner one night with Tom and Martha and when Tom introduced them, they said – oh are you the friends of Jan and Fred?  They had been reading my blog..so Tom and Martha are now celebrities – I tell them.

Day 26 – February 8, 2011 – Auckland, New Zealand

At 4:00a.m. this morning, the Voyager had to move from the Princess Wharf to the Jelliscoe Wharf which is one of the container wharves.  It was not a long distance away and they provided a shuttle from the ship to the Queens Wharf gate so it was not a problem to get back into the city.

We took the Hop on/Hop off bus to the aquarium.  We spent about 1.5 hours there enjoying the penguins, sharks and assorted fish.  We continued around the route back to the Queens Wharf.  Fred decided that he wanted to rest his foot (which is doing very well now) since tomorrow we have a busy day, so we went back to the ship for lunch and an afternoon of rest and catching up with the blog.

Day 27 – February 10, 2011 – Tauranga, New Zealand

It was a long day today.  We took one of the longer tours out to the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland.  First, a 1.5 hour bus ride through the countryside.  We drove throve areas of their man-made forests and kiwi growing areas.  It is interesting to see forests where the trees are all the same size and in straight rows.  They grow a pine tree imported from California that matures in 22-25 years so timber is a big industry in this area.  It is also the largest Kiwi growing area.  What I didn’t know was that there are now two kinds of Kiwi’s being grown – the green one we are familiar with and a newer gold Kiwi which is supposed to be sweeter and takes a shorter growing season.

We drove through Rotorua, a pretty tourist town on the banks of one of the large lakes in the area whose name I can’t pronounce or spell.  Then out to the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal reserve where our first stop was at a group of mud pots.  Then a short drive down to the vistor’s center and on to the Lady Knox Geyser.

This one was different from anything we have seen elsewhere in the world.  They actually set this one off every day at a set time but putting in “an environmental friendly soap”.  After two minutes, the geyser starts foaming and then erupts to a height of about 100 meters.   It was in a small area that was extremely full of people and when our seven buses arrived it got even fuller.  We got a standing room seat on the end of a row and so had a good view.

Then they drove us the short way back to the Visitor Center where we had about 40 minutes to walk around the thermal area.  It was mostly hot pools and collapsed craters with various colors, but mostly the yellow of sulfur – which, of course, means the smell of sulfur.   There was one large colorful pool, the Champagne Pool, which looked like champagne because of the bubbles appearing on the surface.

Next stop was the Rainbow Springs – they could have skipped this one!  It was basically an area where they have large trout swimming around with a few cages for some native birds.  There was an enclosure where there were 3 Kiwi birds, but you couldn’t see them and the guide walked so fast that no one could hear him tell where the birds could be spotted.

Final stop was the Sky Gondola Ride up the side of a mountain to the restaurant.  Again, seven buses arrived at about the same time.  Luckily, we had a great driver in Bus No 1 so we usually arrived first.  We were able to get up the Gondola without the lines that happened just behind us.  By now it was after 2:00pm and most of us were hungry.  They had a buffet set up but tried to herd us to tables first and then said they would call us one table at a time.  Our table was called second so again, we missed the long, long lines.  The start of the food line was in the way of the entrance so people just coming up from the Gondola tried to get in line as well and so a confused, crowded mess occurred.

The food was not too bad for a buffet line but the room was way too crowded and it was difficult to get the chairs in and our from the table.  Plus, the room was getting very warm with the number of people all crowding in.  We escaped onto the terrace where it was at least a bit cooler and had a nice view.  While some of the last people were still in line, they started the Maori local entertainment in the middle of the room.  By that time, all Fred wanted to do was to get back down the Gondola.  We stood at the back of the room and watched the group for about 15 minutes then snuck out the back way and got down the Gondola before the crowds.

While the day itself wasn’t bad, the crowding because of the number of coaches and the inclusion on one too many stops, made the day less pleasant than it could have been.  I think this is the result of the “free” excursions.  They put too many people on them to accommodate everyone that wants to go and a lot of the venues just don’t accommodate that many people.

After dinner at the Compass Rose, we went to the show by Glen Amer, an Australian that sings and plays the piano.  He was quite good.

Day 28 – Cruising White Island Volcano

White Island is a volcano in the middle of the Bay of Plenty, which is a very, very large bay.  We sailed extremely slow all night so we would be at the volcano by 7:00am.  The Captain then sailed around it.  Only one side had any real activity and he stopped and turned the ship around so everyone could see the steam vents and colors of the rocks.

The rest of the day was a sea day on our way to Wellington.  We went to bridge class.  These 3 sessions are on Popular Conventions, which is good because Jan doesn’t know them very well and Fred needs the refresher.  Jan went to a lecture by an Englishwoman, Paula Smith, about the Canterbury Pilgrims – the first settlers in the area of Christchurch.

Lunch was supposed to be a New Zealand Fish Barbeque, but it was pouring down rain.  They had moved the grill under cover but it was raining so hard for about 30 minutes there wasn’t any way to get to it.  The rain stopped finally and passengers were able to get fish if they wanted.

Jan decided to try Duplicate Bridge in the afternoon.   My partner was a very nice German lady but she was frustrated by Jan’s lack of bridge skills.  It was fun in that you played a lot of hands and I did learn some things.  I don’t know whether I’ll try again or whether the lady will even show up since I did so poorly…I wouldn’t blame her.

Tonight we had dinner at Signatures at a table for two.  We really don’t care much for the 6:30pm seating especially at a table for two because you get through so early and then have to find something to do until the show.  Most of the lounges are empty of entertainment during the dinner hour.   Dinner was good at Signatures.  We both had the lamb.   Desert was a delicious warm chocolate tart and Crème Brule.

Day 25 – February 8, 2011 – Auckland, New Zealand

The Captain had announced the night before that he was going to try and make it to Auckland early since there was another ship coming in and he wanted to be docked first.  Also, since the cruise ship docks surround the ferry docks, all ships have to be docked before 7:00am so that the ferry service is not interrupted.   Fred checked and we were docking at 6:00am.  Jan looked out about 6:30am and saw the P&O Pacific Dawn coming in.  The Voyager docked at the Princess Wharf.

Jan walked two miles in a very pleasantly cool morning as the sun came up over Auckland.  The past two days at sea, the walks had been not so hot until the sun came up and then the last 5-6 laps were definitely on the warm side.

Today we are going to get off and do a little shopping.  Since the ship docks right in town, it is an easy place to pick up anything you are missing or need.  We walked up

Queen Street

, taking our time so Fred could rest when he needed to.  Then we walked back down to the shopping center closest to the ship, and found everything on our list.

We walked the short distance to the marina where the racing yachts are displayed.  It is a place full of restaurants and bars.  For the third time, we had lunch at Kermadec, a very nice seafood restaurant with a 3^rd floor view of the marina.    We took our time over lunch with Fred enjoying the Yellow Tail Kingfish that is famous in New Zealand’s waters and Jan enjoying a good Fish & Chips that was “crumbed” not breaded.  After lunch, it was back to the ship for a nap.

This evening we left the ship with Tom and Martha for a sailing dinner cruise.  Our friends on the ship teased us that we were getting off our ship to go to dinner of a very small sailing ship.  The ship was called the Pride of Auckland Defender, a purpose built sailing ship that is designed just to take tourists around the Bay and serve a catered dinner.  Dinner was from the same restaurant that we had had lunch in and it was very good.  After dinner, they crew motored out of the marina and then put up the sail.  It was a cloudy night but the winds were not too high and we sailed for just over an hour.  Everyone got a chance to “drive” the boat.  Since Fred and Jan are not sailors, it was a treat to actually sail without the sound of a motor.