drron29

From the road we were able to see the mountains and glaciers of Langjokull. But back to the action.Leaving Gulfoss we passed lots of Icelandic horses and rushing streams. Until we arrived at our next destination. As we arrived Strokkur performed meaning a wait of 11 minutes until the next performance. Old Geysir of course has stopped performing. But got back in time for Strokkur's next performance. There are some other colourful hot pools. And then back to Strokkur to watch it wax and wane before it's last less impressive performance. And that ended our first day. Back to the Hilton to freshen up. Then it was off to dinner at the Lobster House.Now we had done our research and knew that Iceland was expensive and their lobsters were not Maine lobsters but little baby ones.So we enjoyed our meal.I started with the lobster soup which was good and then we both had the lobster in garlic butter.

I would like some of that soup when I drop round. Unfortunately a bit of a problem getting there.

We lived in Maitland for 18 years just 30Km up the road from Newcastle. newcastle was a grim industrial town then with a large steelworks right next to the CBD. All gone now and it is a nice tourist spot. A lot of interesting places around.. The major tourist spot is the Pokolbin vineyards. In my day there were several vineyards and the wine tasting was free. Now there are a few vineyards with hordes of tourists. https://www.huntervalley.com/wineries-vineyards.html But a nice spot just north of Newcastle with lovely views and lovely seafood. You csan also do a dolphin cruise. https://www.portstephens.org.au/blog/looking-for-things-to-do-in-port-stephens-nsw/ The Myall River runs into Port Stephens and is fed by a beautiful series of Lakes. It is now a National Park. In the 60s i was an activist and Treasurer of the Myall Lakes Committee and after 10 years we succeeded in getting the National Park. The sand dunes were being mined. On one occasion the Duke of Edinburgh was taken on a tour of the area by the miners. We decided on a demonstration which was all of 3 of us standing beside the mining road with signs - Save Myall Lakes. A bit different from today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myall_Lakes_National_Park

There were crowds and lots of tour busses,many of them from the Brilliance of the Seas. They were also secretly testing the latest Mercedes product there. Pingvellir certainly has a lot of interest with a naturally beauty,geology that is virtually unique in being able to see the meeting of 2 tectonic plates but also because this was the second attempt at democracy after Athens. It was now off to Gullfoss passing the odd sheep.

The first day was driving the Golden Circle.At first the scenery was a little bleak- It soon improved. The farmers were out making hay even though the sun was barely shining. Then we reached Pingvellir the site of the first Icelandic parliament over 1100 years ago as well as the meeting place of 2 tectonic plates-north American and Europe. And a little stream with incredibly clear water.

There have been a few mentions of Iceland and Greenland recently. The weather does play a big part and on our cruise we had some really good weather. We departed Reykjavik on August 7th 2013 0n the Explorer. I will though show our days in Iceland first. We started off visiting our grandkids in Sydney and then our favourite Airline JAL to Narita. This was typical of JAL back in the day as we taxied from the gate. We stayed overnight in the Hilton Narita where you can have great views over the airport. Our next leg was with our favourite Transpac airline AA. We were pleased to see our plane arrive. We never missed an upgrade to F and the service was always good. Certainly the food and wine were not of the standard of the Asian airlines but for us the service was very good. Back then they let you taste every wine on their wine list. and when I said what I liked best they would leave me the bottle. Now one of the reasons probably was we always acknowledge good service. Rojaan as was usual spent a fair bit of time teaching one of the FAs knitting. This was virtually a routine for her. There was a young male FA in the galley doing all the preparation so I made a point of going up and thanking him. This flight was from Narita to Chicago and there was a tight connection on to Boston. the last flight however was 2 hours late so we were able to have that time in the Flagship lounge. The Boston flight was full and only 1 FA for the 16 F passengers. she however did a marvellous job and their were no complaints from any one. We however arrived after midnight with very few around. It was a little difficult finding our way to the Hilton at the airport but finally made it and slept soundly. On waking found the airport few not nearly as good as Narita. The next morning we flew Icelandair in J so had our one and only visit to a Virgin lounge. Great selection of beers and spirits. I tried valiantly but wasn't able to sample every beer. The food and the room. Once onboard though it really wasn't a premium experience. I was in 2C and the woman in 1c reclined and didn't put her seat upright until told by the FA as we were coming in to land. It was obvious I wasn't going to speak much Icelandic. The view about an hour before landing at midnight. As is our usual we parked at the furthest gate from Immigration.They just open your passport and stamp it.No one manning Customs.The Blue Car Rental guy was waiting in the arrivals hall.Driven to their office a short distance away.Paperwork over quickly and soon we are in our Suzuki Grand Vitara.The GPS was thrown in without extra charge.So soon on our way to the Hilton.

OK later today I will do the latest cruise report ever. Just shy of 10 years since we did it. Will be mostly pictorial but shows mainly good weather and several Northern lights pictures. will include our 3 days in Iceland.

Well you got an extra stop compared to our cruise. We did not go to Nanortalik snd there was no kayaking. Hope the luck continues.

What's even better is that those cigarettes were cannabis.

We are indeed on that sailing. Look forward to meeting. Good advice by @RetiredandTravel about Hiroshima. Fortunately the cruise will finish 2 weeks before Golden Week. As to the cherry blossoms it is always up to luck. We have already done a cruise for cherry blossom time and in Kyoto and Osaka they were late and magnificent whilst in Kanazawa and niigata they were early but at least some remaining. Post cruise the Sakura should be good viewing in Northern Honshu such as Hirosaki castle and Hokkaido with Hakodate.

No everyone is wrong. The bridge I have for sale is an iconic Aussie one. And when it was built the workers would have been able to go straight from work to a restaurant on SS on formal night without changing.

Our cruise was in 2013 on the Explorer so was quite different apart from the experiences in Greenland. I didn't do a report on CC as I was rather new here at that Time but I have all the photos and if people want I can do a very late cruise report. Virtually all was experiencing nature in mainly untouched places so wouldn't have changed very much. And mostly we had good weather. We did spend 3 days in Iceland before the cruise.

Well we will be circumnavigating Japan on the Muse and I posted in the SS v Seaborn thread with Japan itineraries. So this is what I am looking to do. Copied from that thread. What are we looking forward to on our cruise around Japan. Lots of things. Kagoshima. Revisiting Iso gardens - we just love Japanese gardens.Plus Sakurajimi Island. Osaka. Visit a sumo training facility. Yokohama. Sankeien gardens. Shimizu. Vintage steam train ride, I'm a sucker for steam trains. Kobe. Himeji Castle. We have been a few times but not at Cherry blossom time. Hiroshima. Another place we have been to many times so Hiroshima castle and gardens which we haven't visited. Kanazawa. A day of independent travel with their markets and the Kenrokuen gardens. Rated one of the top 3 gardens in Japan. We have already visited in cherry blossom time but with over 60's getting free admission we can't pass up the opportunity. Akita. The Oga peninsula. great scenery. Aomori. Hirosaki castle. We have been before in cherry blossom time though may be a little early this time. Some rate this as the best sakura spot in Japan. Hakodate. SS uses this a lot and we began an Explorer cruise from here. Goryokaku park. another good sakura viewing spot but likely to be a little early. Of course first time to Hiroshima it should be Peace Park and if time Miyajima island. And for Nagasaki the A bomb site as well.

Well I believe in the suites above a silver suite you get served Beurre De Baratte. The rest of us get Lurpak. And If you believe this I have a bridge i want to sell.😉

I don't want to excessively interrupt your excellent travelogue. My pictures were just to see what you missed and why another Greenland cruise is a must but August we were told is the best month. Certainly was for us. Our day in Prince Christian Sund and Aappilattoq was absolutely great weather. Such a pity missing it.

The service is variable between ships but I believe that is because the crew keeps changing. Slightly more obvious since the pandemic because a lot of new crew had to be recruited. Some previous crew members died during the pandemic and quite a few more realised they were happier being home with the family. However during our last cruise on the Moon we felt the service was excellent. But probably because we knew several of the restaurant staff from previous cruises.

With something over 70 visits to Japan I prefer the SS and Azamara cruises instead of Seabourn. If you are first time visitors to Japan that recommendation is even stronger. The Seabourn ports are in some ways more interesting and I wouldn't mind doing that itinerary as most of the SS ports are places we have been to several times. Despite that we are on the Muse in October from Yokohama to Cairns via Singapore. As well we have already booked the Muse again in march 24 from Bali to Yokohama and tacked on the next voyage around Japan. That is early April so should see some cherry blossoms. What are we looking forward to on our cruise around Japan. Lots of things. Kagoshima. Revisiting Iso gardens - we just love Japanese gardens.Plus Sakurajimi Island. Osaka. Visit a sumo training facility. Yokohama. Sankeien gardens. Shimizu. Vintage steam train ride, I'm a sucker for steam trains. Kobe. Himeji Castle. We have been a few times but not at Cherry blossom time. Hiroshima. Another place we have been to many times so Hiroshima castle and gardens which we haven't visited. Kanazawa. A day of independent travel with their markets and the Kenrokuen gardens. Rated one of the top 3 gardens in Japan. We have already visited in cherry blossom time but with over 60's getting free admission we can't pass up the opportunity. Akita. The Oga peninsula. great scenery. Aomori. Hirosaki castle. We have been before in cherry blossom time though may be a little early this time. Some rate this as the best sakura spot in Japan. Hakodate. SS uses this a lot and we began an Explorer cruise from here. Goryokaku park. another good sakura viewing spot but likely to be a little early. On top of this I am not tempted by Seabourn itinerary as a few times we have hired a car and been to several of those areas. A much better way of seeing the real Japan.

On our first cruise back from Covid on the Dawn we scheduled 2 excursions on a few days. The first day went OK but on the second day we did 2 tours the morning tour got back late so instead of 90 minutes between tours it was 15 minutes. So we cancelled a tour on every other day that we had 2 booked. We are older though.

We also got to do a zodiac ride up to the glacier. We were also the first Silversea cruise to have a woman as captain. Captain maggi. The other reason that later is better is that there is a longer night so we saw the Northern lights nearly every night. Plus when we reached Churchill the Beluga whales were there in large numbers. Just stunning. So there is your excuse to do this cruis again!

We did a similiar cruise in 2013 on the Explorer. We cruised from Reykjavik to Churchill in Hudson Bay via Greenland. however it was in late August which is a much better time to go. However it didn't stop us from having terrible weather on the way to Skjoldungen Fjord. Seven metre swell on the night before we got there and there were thoughts it may not happen. But for this Expedition we had the A team aboard with both Conrad Commbrink and Robin West leading the team. Several on that team later became Expedition leaders. However the morning that we were to enter the fjord the weather settled quite a bit. Before getting there we had the bonus of 4 Fin whales passing by. And then approaching the fjord. Once we were inside the conditions were perfect and the weather kept improving. A second lot to come.

So they know who is dining. It has happened in SS restaurants for years. So we have grown up with it and no longer question it. When they put in your suite number into the computer up comes your photos.

We felt the same way and vowed never to sail a cruise ship larger than the Whisper or Shadow. At the beginning of 2019 we decided to try the Muse from Sydney to Auckland. just loved it. We have sailed on the Dawn and Moon since covid. Loved both. They felt if anything more intimate apart from many more trivia attendees. On our last cruise on the Moon we would walk into Atlantide for dinner and after the first 2 weeks The Maitre'D didn't have to ask us our suite number. She just asked us which waiter we would like that night. Very similiar at lunch in Kaiseki but they went even further. Rojaan would have Tiki and I an older dry sake. When supplies ran low they put away a bottle or two so we could continue on with our preferred beverage. So give one a try. We now have 3 more cruises booked on the Muse.

We have already experienced that on the Explorer several years ago. Cruise was from Hakodate and several Islands in the Japanese group of islands then via Tinian and Saipan to Guam and then on to Fiji via Micronesia, Niugini the Solomons and Vanuatu. We also cruised on the Noble Caledonia around Japan for cherry blossom time in 2013. We again will be circumnavigating Japan at Cherry blossom time in 2024 on the Muse. I think that probably takes care of Japan and cruising.