Blackduck59

@Bailey & Sophie If you think you may like to have lunch in Pinnacle Grill then make finding the reservations kiosk a priority as soon as you board. Lunch in Pinnacle is a great value. Do not downgrade your HIA Pinnacle Grill Dinner for a $19.00 lunch.

It a 1000 piece puzzle, the pieces are about 20mm x 20mm and the art work is like a giant caricature of the city. it is also in panorama format approximately 300mm x 900mm

Lynn is working on a puzzle.

Happy Australia Day from the Great White North. We hope everyone had a great day.

Mount Santis?

Since I was a child. The races in Vancouver were a big deal for me. The noise, the smell the feel. Unfortunately Indy Car went through a big split and the quality of the show wasn't the same. I rarely watch an Indy Car race anymore, sadly. I watch Formula One all the time, although it has been very predictable lately and I'm not a fan of the wunderkind.

That's unfortunate Leigh. I think the organizers should work out a bunch of complimentary tickets for those that work inside the track perimeter.

If we had one more day there would be track action. I was able to go to the Indy Car Race in Vancouver 3 years in a row in the early 1990s. We had paddock passes and I was able to meet some of the great names in racing. Mario Andretti, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nigel Mansell and many more. I have 2 checkered flags filled with Autographs, including a young Canadian named Greg Moore who was tragically killed in a race just a few years later. I did look into some track activities at Philip Island when we were planning one of the cancelled trips. There was a ride in an Audi R8, also a V8 super car. I thought about it briefly and then realized I had very little chance of even getting into either of those cars. It would be cool if someone was out doing hot laps. I haven't been near a live track for a very long time. Maybe I can at least get some F1 swag while we are in Melbourne.

I'll try from your clue Diablerets.

Thanks Linda, this will be the second time we have been so close to an F1 race and not gone. We were in Belgium during race weekend but it would have cost about $2500.00 to attend because of the price of accommodation. The only room available was priced at $1300.00 for the 3 days (and you had to book all 3 days), normally that room would have been less than $400.00 for 3 days. This time we have to leave Melbourne the day of first practice. So near yet so far.

This is tragic, when we were in Hawaii we took early morning walks along the north shore beaches and the lifeguards would be on their quads posting the beaches for dangerous conditions. I sometimes wonder about the mind sets of people. Recently we had a terrible wind storm coupled with very high tides. This resulted in remarkable waves crashing over the sea walls in several locations, and there was the Mensa crowd walking along the sea wall. Any one of those waves could drag someone into the sea and slam them into the sea wall. There are many places to witness the ferociousness of the sea without putting yourself in peril, or endangering those who would be sent to rescue you.

While that is a lovely touque Leigh and I like the Maple Leaf. I will try to find one with "Victoria" on it and a local landmark. It will get people wondering "where in Victoria is that?" I might even get one with a pom pom on top.

Thanks for this Mic and also @possum52 Leigh. Lynn actually said yesterday we should do 2 overnights on the way from Bateman's Bay to Philip Island. So we will see what we can find in the places you suggest Mic. We do want to see more of Philip Island and being we will have a car we can be pretty mobile before we check in to the hotel there. We will definitely get the Penguin Parade tickets well in advance. We will be bringing our Marino wool sweaters and light weight wind breaker/rain jackets. I'm having a hard time finding any of my touques so I may have to buy a new one. I should be able to find something with the word Victoria and some local landmark, or a Maple Leaf.

I think your best bet is to buy OBC put enough on to cover the items you want to pay for her. It should show up as OBC and you can be all surprised that you got OBC from (invent an imaginary hero). Then the internet and crew appreciation will just come off as normal.

Tragic situation at Philip Island, I don't have any details from here.

we will check out both Orbost and Lakes Entrance. I seem to recall that we had something booked at Lakes Entrance last time. Last time I think we had 2 nights at Philip Island but I think it will be one night now. So we only have the one shot to see the little penguins, hopefully we happen to pick a night when there are fewer people with the same idea.

We will continue to plan hoping you will be home when we get there. We assume you don't have have cruise planned for that time frame. It is by sheer luck that we will meet Mic & Rosie in Sydney as we arrive just before they embark on a cruise to Japan. Be well mate.

Tanks for your recommendation Julie. Lynn has emailed them directly, but alas bookings aren't open yet. I'm still concerned about the whole race thing. I will be happy when we have something booked but fear it will be an expensive lesson in booking early. We have the itinerary mostly sorted up until Bateman's Bay. From there the next "gotta see that place" is Philip Island. We know it is too far for one hop but wonder where we should stop. Is it too far to make Lakes Entrance from Bateman's in one hop? With so many fun plans at the beginning of our adventure, we are looking at ways to fit things in. While I'm sure we will be missing some wonderful things by rushing through that section of the journey but have several places to see and we're running out of days.

We were looking on booking dot com and there were places available next year but many of the ones mentioned on this thread were showing no availability, We also went to the individual websites and their calendars only go out 1 year. We will be looking at those options as soon as they open. We plan to check in on the 10th of March 2025 and will check out on the 13th. While we will look at location we are not that picky. The place we booked and cancelled actually had a view of the track and great views in general. I know we wouldn't see anything to do with the race but it was cool to be that close. I guess the new priority is someplace that is convenient to visit some Melbourne highlights and be easy to get to from the airport after we drop off the hire car and then back to the airport for our flight to Auckland. We also have a port visit in Melbourne during the cruise.

I find it interesting how so many people consider themselves "Pizza Experts" because of the pizza they like at home. Or the pizza joint they worked in during high school or whatever other criteria they think makes them "expert". I participated in making a Guinness Book world record largest pizza in 1977, does that make me a pizza "expert"? Not so much. It seems to me there are so many different styles of "Pizza" none of them really resemble Neapolitan Pizza. So rather than proclaim ones "expert" status; like everything in matters of food, the question is do you like it or not? There are and have been many pizza places in our town. Some are outstanding others mediocre, The best ones have faded into the sunset. So if the Pizza on the ship tastes good to you great, if not I guess don't eat it. One thing is for sure it will never be as good as your favourite Pizza Joint at home.

A Vista Suite on Zaandam is just a fancy name for a veranda cabin. There is a curtain between the bed and sitting area. This is all well and good but if one person wants to watch TV for instance while the other sleeps, the TV is at the foot of the bed. That being said if you are collecting "Mariner" points the Vista suite gets the double points (and the suite rate for gratuities) We never saw a Neptune suite so can't comment on that.

That's why I booked something right away, but the other half of the party had other ideas. Hope that doesn't come back.

We were able to book the suite at Tyrian Albert Park but the other paces that have been recommended not so much. I will be all over Booking as soon as we can, this will be rather critical. With the race right around that time, many race fans will be coming to Melbourne early.

I think some of these places aren't booking more than a year out so we will have to wait until March.

So I went back to the beginning of this thread to look for hotel recommendations. I think that we discovered we had booked The Oaks Southbank. I'm on booking dot com and it isn't showing up. I will try some direct searches and see if I can find them that way.