Live from the Rhapsody

[pcur]

Yes, we have Carly! She hosted our M&M; great lady.

 

Jarrod, thanks for the heads-up about Broome. We have a free shuttle going into the town center, but I will bring my shade umbrella/parasol for the wait to get on the bus.

 

And, now, heeeeeeere's Brisbane (well the national park east of Brisbane, anyway!):

 

10/19

Today was Brisbane. The port was just another ugly port that could accommodate the ship. They have a nicer one in the heart of the city, but the P&O cruise line is the only one that can use it, and they only use it on weekends. No reasoning there. I don’t know if the Rhapsody can go up the river, anyway; I think she’s too big.

Anyway, our lovely Aussie friends from the first cruise picked us up at the port promptly at 7:30 AM, and we took a wonderful drive up into the mountains. I cannot remember the name of the National Park, but it starts with an “L”. I want to think Lathrop, or Lamont, or something like that. At the base of the mountain is Canungra, which is a very small town with a nice pub where we had lunch. The hotel has been there for about 100 years. Great lunch, too!!

Anyway, this mountain range is east of Brisbane and is called the “backbone” mountains. It pretty much intersects Queensland, which is where Brisbane is located. Runs literally for thousands of miles inland. What is so impressive about this is when you are up in the mountain in this national park where we were, the outlook up at the top give you a view of literally never ending mountains!!! They go on and on and on and on until you cannot see any further. I’ve seen nothing like it in the US, and I’ve seen almost all the mountain ranges except the Appalachians. The views all the way up the mountain were amazing, but the road wasn’t!!!! OMG talk about bumpy and winding. I got to the hot tub for a soak about 2 hours after we got back to the ship.

It was a delightful day, full of nature. No kangaroos or koalas sighted, but we have more opportunities.

What is interesting about this part of Australia is it’s considered rainforest, but it’s still a cooler climate, so the vegetation was much like the mountains in CA, but you would take ALL the mountain areas in CA, with ALL their different types of vegetation and trees, and smush them into one forest, add some really odd looking plants, and that’s what we saw. Huge fig trees with vines that literally take over the tree and kill it, so you have this gigantic tree of roots going up 100 feet. It’s called a “fig killer vine” I think. I even saw a cactus plant! Very interesting area to visit.

Up at the top is a place called O’Reillys. It’s a nature station, gift shop, and café. They have all kinds of parrots up there that come and sit on your shoulders and head. I fed peanuts to them for about 15 minutes, and they were very polite about it. Waiting patiently on the table in front of me, delicately took the half peanut from my fingers, and nibbled them. They would even make a noise if I said, “Say please”. It was fun!

Then, there was a nature walk into the rain forest. They had a wooden walkway about 2 feet off the ground to preserve the natural plantlife. About 15 minutes in there was an elevated walkway called the treetop walkway. Peggy does not do “treetops”. I took one look at it and said I would meet them all back at O’Reillys. That’s where I sat and fed the birds.

We drove through the city on the way back. Brisbane does not hold a fig (I’m in Australia so I’ll say fig instead of candle) to Sydney. They have nice walking promenades, lovely churches, etc., but it’s another congested city with lots of freeways. Sydney has none of this in the city center around the bay.

We are at sea today making our way up the east coast of Australia to Airlie Beach. This is one of the locations we’ll go to that’s closest to the Great Barrier Reef. We decided to take a tour to Daydream Island, which is in the Whitsunday Island group. The trip out to the GBR is about 3 hours roundtrip, and we decided to spend that time seeing and doing things. The Whitsundays are supposed to be beautiful, too.

More when we get back tomorrow.

[monicajay]

Looking forward to hearing how you enjoy your trip to Daydream island. Tell us about lunch, is kayaking included or do you pay extra.... is the trip worth the money in your opinion.

 

Also, do you know how much RCCL was charging for the shuttle to Brisbane from the pier? (I know your friends picked you up but maybe you can find out from others).

 

Keep up the great posts, our CC role call group is excited and leaving Dec. 1st. The ship is oversold so hopefully we all get on.

[pcur]

Looking forward to hearing how you enjoy your trip to Daydream island. Tell us about lunch, is kayaking included or do you pay extra.... is the trip worth the money in your opinion.

 

Also, do you know how much RCCL was charging for the shuttle to Brisbane from the pier? (I know your friends picked you up but maybe you can find out from others).

 

Keep up the great posts, our CC role call group is excited and leaving Dec. 1st. The ship is oversold so hopefully we all get on.

 

They sell a package of shuttle tickets the first day of the cruise. You can buy the whole package for all the ports that need shuttles, or individual tickets for just those you don't have shore excursions booked. Of course you can buy them at the shuttle bus, too. They are about $7 - $8 per person ONE WAY. The package for all of them was $65.

 

By the way, the PNG travel visa is requred even if you stay on board, and it's $45 per person. The ship takes care of it; you fill out a form for it the first day of the cruise if you go to PNG.

[theozwalrus]

And, now, heeeeeeere's Brisbane (well the national park east of Brisbane, anyway!):

 

10/19

Today was Brisbane. The port was just another ugly port that could accommodate the ship. They have a nicer one in the heart of the city, but the P&O cruise line is the only one that can use it, and they only use it on weekends. No reasoning there. I don’t know if the Rhapsody can go up the river, anyway; I think she’s too big.

Anyway, our lovely Aussie friends from the first cruise picked us up at the port promptly at 7:30 AM, and we took a wonderful drive up into the mountains. I cannot remember the name of the National Park, but it starts with an “L”. I want to think Lathrop, or Lamont, or something like that(This would be LAMINGTON NP). At the base of the mountain is Canungra, which is a very small town with a nice pub where we had lunch. The hotel has been there for about 100 years. Great lunch, too!!

Anyway, this mountain range is east of Brisbane and is called the “backbone” mountains(This would be The Great Dividing Range). It pretty much intersects Queensland, which is where Brisbane is located. Runs literally for thousands of miles inland. What is so impressive about this is when you are up in the mountain in this national park where we were, the outlook up at the top give you a view of literally never ending mountains!!! They go on and on and on and on until you cannot see any further. I’ve seen nothing like it in the US, and I’ve seen almost all the mountain ranges except the Appalachians. The views all the way up the mountain were amazing, but the road wasn’t!!!!(I am SURE I mentioned this bit before we left... you were warned... LOL) OMG talk about bumpy and winding. I got to the hot tub for a soak about 2 hours after we got back to the ship.

It was a delightful day, full of nature. No kangaroos or koalas sighted (Sorry, I will offer you a discount on your next tour .....), but we have more opportunities.

What is interesting about this part of Australia is it’s considered rainforest, but it’s still a cooler climate, so the vegetation was much like the mountains in CA, but you would take ALL the mountain areas in CA, with ALL their different types of vegetation and trees, and smush them into one forest, add some really odd looking plants, and that’s what we saw. Huge fig trees with vines that literally take over the tree and kill it, so you have this gigantic tree of roots going up 100 feet. It’s called a “fig killer vine” (Could also be called a "Strangler" vine)I think. I even saw a cactus plant! Very interesting area to visit.

Up at the top is a place called O’Reillys. It’s a nature station, gift shop, and café. They have all kinds of parrots up there that come and sit on your shoulders and head. I fed peanuts to them for about 15 minutes, and they were very polite about it. Waiting patiently on the table in front of me, delicately took the half peanut from my fingers, and nibbled them. They would even make a noise if I said, “Say please”. It was fun!(Even if it was against the rules on the signs!)

Then, there was a nature walk into the rain forest. They had a wooden walkway about 2 feet off the ground to preserve the natural plant life. About 15 minutes in there was an elevated walkway called the treetop walkway. Peggy does not do “treetops”. I took one look at it and said I would meet them all back at O’Reillys. That’s where I sat and fed the birds.

We drove through the city on the way back. Brisbane does not hold a fig (I’m in Australia so I’ll say fig instead of candle) to Sydney. They have nice walking promenades, lovely churches, etc., but it’s another congested city with lots of freeways. Sydney has none of this in the city center around the bay. (but you did only see it as we flashed thru on the way back to the ship .... and you had a WHOLE DAY in Sydney.....;))

We are at sea today making our way up the east coast of Australia to Airlie Beach. This is one of the locations we’ll go to that’s closest to the Great Barrier Reef. We decided to take a tour to Daydream Island, which is in the Whitsunday Island group. The trip out to the GBR is about 3 hours roundtrip, and we decided to spend that time seeing and doing things. The Whitsundays are supposed to be beautiful, too.

More when we get back tomorrow.

 

Thanks for the kind words Peggy, we enjoyed the opportunity to show a little of the place we call home to you. Please enjoy the rest of your trip and keep the reports coming.

Your "Aussie" friends

David, Karen, Corey, Cordell, Max & Roz

[monicajay]

Looking forward to your review of Daydream island. Are you doing the ship excursion or on your own?

 

Thanks for the shuttle info.

[TOM CRUIZES]

Peggy thanks for the update on the Ship-Food & Entertainment, pleased you are having a great time it just us wish we were there with you instead of joining the ship in Perth(dont eat all that great food) its good news about the vibration as we were a little worried about that, have a great time.

[pcur]

Thanks for the kind words Peggy, we enjoyed the opportunity to show a little of the place we call home to you. Please enjoy the rest of your trip and keep the reports coming.

Your "Aussie" friends

David, Karen, Corey, Cordell, Max & Roz

 

Yes, it was against the rules to feed the birds up there, but I honestly didn't see the signs until AFTER I fed them, and you pointed them out. I hope the extra peanuts don't do them in!

 

Thank you again, David!

[pcur]

10/22/09

Well, I’m sitting here on the BALCONY of the new cabin we are staying in!! The Customer Relations Manager called up yesterday evening about 1 ½ hours before dinner and asked if we’d like to move to a balcony cabin. Would we?!!!! But, he had changed us to a Junior Suite, which is HUGE. We had a cabin like this on another ship, but this one is about 50% bigger. It’s got a nearly full size bathroom, a sitting area with a couch and two chairs, and a large balcony. I’m in heaven. I’m sitting outside right now typing this, it’s about 6:30 AM, and the weather and the sea are gorgeous.

We are approaching Cairns and should be docking in about an hour. We’ll be there until 8 PM tonight, so lots of time to see things. Rick and I are on a tour up to Kurunda Rainforest Village. Then we will go around Cairns after that.

So, yesterday, however, we were in Airlie Beach. On the map you just follow the coast north on the eastern side of Australia. We are sailing up and around.

We didn’t see Airlie Beach, because we got on a catamaran directly from the ship (very convenient), and sailed 15 minutes over to Daydream Island. We are still within the Great Barrier Reef area and Daydream Island was one of the Whitsunday Islands. Captain Cook discovered them. The Whitsundays look like uninhabited mini St. Lucia islands in the Caribbean. Lots of vegetation, very lush, turquoise blue water. They are very lovely and all little national parks. Seven of them have resorts, and Daydream Island is one. It’s privately owned. There is a hotel, restaurants, shops, swimming pools, nature walks, snorkeling, glass bottom boat rides, jet skies……all kinds of things to do for a day or a vacation. It reminded Rick and I very much of the resort we visited many times in Barbados.

Lunch was included, but it wasn’t very good. However, I’m not about the food when I sighseeing: I’m about the experience. All in all, it was a lovely day. We could not go snorkeling, because the stiner jellyfish are in season, and they strongly suggest you wear a stinger suit if you go in the water. So, we passed on the snorkeling. Disappointing, but not a day spoiler by any means, because just the scenery alone is worth the price we paid.

This part of coast of Australia is wonderful, and we are looking forward to our trip around the top!

More later.

10/24

We missed Cairns yesterday, because the seas were too choppy to get the passengers safely transferred to the little boats to take them over to the dock at Cairns. Sometimes this happens in ports where the ship cannot dock directly at the mainland. It was disappointing, but you have to be prepared for this to happen when you cruise.

Instead of heading straight east from Cairns, the captain changed our route and we sailed north up the coast of Australia for about 60 miles. It was quite beautiful to sail inside the Great Barrier Reef with the coast of Australia only a mile or so away. The water is a beautiful deep turquoise blue color inside the Reef.

Today we are at sea going north to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. We are presently crossing the Coral Sea. The waters are grey again, a mist is hanging over the ocean, and it’s warm outside: around 80 degrees. Tomorrow it will be around 89 degrees, so the weather is definitely getting hotter.

We are not planning anything definite for Port Moresby. It has a reputation for being a very high crime area, so even organized tour groups can be targeted by the bad guys. We aren’t paranoid, just careful. So, a look-see from the ship tomorrow morning, and we’ll decide what to do.

[monicajay]

Oh Peggy,

 

Congrats on the amazing upgrade! Aren't you a lucky cruiser.

 

Thanks for the info on Daydream, we are still undecided though. Didn't sound like there was really much to do there.

 

Ekk... on missing Cairnes. I know this can happen with ports but didn't realize that it happened in Oz at this time of year. Hope we make it because I have pre-paid for a private trip on the Skyrail and the train back. :rolleyes:

 

I was just about to pre-book something for Port Douglas too but your experience has convinced me to wait and see.

 

Another question, are men wearing shorts in the MDR on casual nights? A capers that was posted said no, but what is really happening on the ship?

 

Love looking for your posts. Makes my upcoming trip so much more real.

[pcur]

Oh Peggy,

 

Congrats on the amazing upgrade! Aren't you a lucky cruiser.

 

Thanks for the info on Daydream, we are still undecided though. Didn't sound like there was really much to do there.

 

Ekk... on missing Cairnes. I know this can happen with ports but didn't realize that it happened in Oz at this time of year. Hope we make it because I have pre-paid for a private trip on the Skyrail and the train back. :rolleyes:

 

I was just about to pre-book something for Port Douglas too but your experience has convinced me to wait and see.

 

Another question, are men wearing shorts in the MDR on casual nights? A capers that was posted said no, but what is really happening on the ship?

 

Love looking for your posts. Makes my upcoming trip so much more real.

 

We saw a man in shorts in the evening in the dining room, also wearing flipflops. Several people complained about him while going by the head waiter. The pax on this cruise are older and no one is wearing shorts at night unless they are just running around the ship for something. Definitely not in the dining room.

[pcur]

10/24 (this is the REAL 10/24; I had my date wrong yesterday; so hard to keep the date straight in my head these days.....:D)

 

We arrived at Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, this morning. After a late breakfast, Rick and I got off the ship to walk around. There was a fascinating dance troupe with musicians playing large pipes bound together with rope. They also had whistles and sea conch shells. The dancers were all women and young girls with headdresses and grass skirts on, and paint on their bodies. They were bare from the waist up, and looked very authentic. It was a great performance!

 

Then about a half block away was the currency exchange office with several tables set up outside. They were selling tours and giving away absolutely wonderful color photo posters of PNG. I mean the photography was spectacular. We got two for our “PNG wall” at home.

 

Then, we walked another half block to a small crafts market that was laid out on the asphalt. It’s very hot here today, so my shade umbrella/parasol came in very handy. A lot of the locals had them, too.

 

We found some lovely small wood carvings: two tiny masks, a larger mask, and a great carving of the three monkeys: see no, speak no, hear no evil. Wonderful souvenirs, and left a little money to help the local economy!

 

The people here are very quiet, shy, and sweet natured. I like them a lot. No one tried to be pushy to sell us anything, and they were happy to just explain what the items represented even if you didn’t buy. A very nice experience.

 

But, that was it! Not much to tell about, as we decided not to take any tours.

 

We were wait listed for a tour of the Territory Wildlife Park outside of Dawin. We got our tickets this morning, so we will be going on that. Haven’t seen a dingo, croc, or a kangaroo yet, and hope we do before we’re done!!

 

Love to all.

[pcur]

10/25

We are sailing to day through the Torres Strait, which is between Australia and New Guinea. The strait has hundreds of islands in it, some look like no more than an acre of land. Very beautiful turquoise blue water, and our temperature is about 80 degrees today with very light breeze on board ship. A gorgeous day to say the least.

The pilot is talking right now over the PA system. When the ship has to navigate tricky waters, a local expert on the navigation through different areas. We had one going through the Great Barrier Reef, and this man is assisting through these waters.

We were sailing with the minimum amount of depth under our keel, which was about 40 feet. You could tell by the color of the sea that it wasn’t very deep. The pilot said if it was any lower tide we would have to drop anchor and wait for more tide water to continue, but we managed to get through OK. We were sailing VERY slowly, though.

Cape York is just south of us, and is the most northern point of Queensland in Australia. We are starting to pass a group of islands named (rather boringly) by Captain Bligh (yes, the same one from the Bounty mutiny). The islands are Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday Island. The locals think he just ran out of names for all the new islands he found up here. Personally, I think the man just didn’t have much imagination!! We are passing one now, and it’s about 1/8 of a mile away. The entire population of the islands in the Torres Straits, including Cape York, is 18,000 people, so you can imagine how completely deserted these islands are we are sailing by. Quite lovely.

Some tidbits of info about the ship and this second cruise of ours. They are very nice to “consecutive cruisers” as we back-to-backers are called. Last night there was a voucher for free laundry in our cabin. They have a special about every 10 days: a long plastic bag that you can fill with wash and fold clothes (undies, jammies, no-iron stuff). Whatever you can stuff in the bag costs $15. Last night we got the bag and the voucher, so our laundry this time is free!! Nice to know, and also we didn’t need to bring as much clothing because this laundry special works great.

We have a seeing eye dog on board with us. Service dogs are the only animals allowed on board the ship. This one is a real sweetheart. He’s a glossy black Labrador, very calm, very sweet natured. He has his own little pee and poop box outside on deck 5 that looks like a wooden sandbox filled with dirt. Some crew member is obviously assigned to keep it clean, because there is absolutely no odor at all. It’s down at the very end on the smoking side of Deck 5, which I find amusing: keep all the smelly stuff in the same place!!

Tonight is formal night again, and I’m having lobster! ! The head waiter stopped by to tell us it’s surf and turf tonight, and the surf is lobster!! That is great, because it’s the first time on this entire trip that we’ve had it.

That’s all for today. I probably won’t write again until after our trip to the Territory Wildlife Park outside of Darwin, which is our next stop the day after tomorrow.

[Oxymoron]

Enjoying your reports Peggy, thanks so much for sharing :)

[Lestel]

Hi Peggy

 

I have only just discovered your 'live' updates and I am so pleased I have! No wonder you received such a wonderful upgrade when you are writing such glowing things about Rhapsody. You are obviously having a fantastic time and you have written some lovely things about Australia. We are having 2 days in Sydney before leaving on Rhapsody on 1st Dec (with Monicajay) so although we have been there before, never really to sight see so your enthusiasm has got me very excited about that as well.

That was a shame you missed Cairns, you will just have to come back again! Are you doing the whole trip around Australia? We live in Adelaide and will be going to see her on the 8th November. We will wave to you if you are still there!

 

Look forward to reading the rest of your posts. Thanks :)

 

Lesley :)

[little britain]

Peggy - thanks for your great review.

 

Broome is the best place in the world for pearls! Wonderful selection and some very reasonable prices.

 

Can you also confirm that when you get into WA waters that the casino is not open??

[Oxymoron]

WA has an inane 200 mile exclusion zone along the coast for gambling

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Hi Lesley (Lastel) thanks for giving us the heads up on Peggy's 'Live from the Rhapsody' reports.

 

Hi Peggy, thank you for sharing your cruise with us. I LOVE the Rhapsody of the Seas, she's a beautiful ship, with a warm friendly feel.

 

I look forward to following you every exciting day from on board Rhapsody.

 

Counting down even more excitedly to 01 December when I 'ding' myself on board with my precious little card on Rhapsody of the seas once again...:D

 

Jillybean:)

[pcur]

Yes, the casino is now closed and will be for the remainder of the cruise, from what I hear.

 

Here's more:

 

10/28

Yesterday we were in Darwin at the top end of Australia. It is a very tropical place, lots of lovely trees and flowers. There is one tree there that was covered completely with bright orange flowers. Rick said the tree looked like it was on fire, and it did. When I get home and can share our pictures you can see what I mean. Beautiful!!

Darwin was completely leveled by a cyclone (hurricane) in 1974. We drove by the one and only house that is still standing from prior to that storm. It came into the area and stayed off shore for a whole day, so the winds did a lot of their damage then, and it came ashore, circling around and wiping out ALL the buildings. So, Darwin is only 35 years old!! It’s an interesting place, lots of World War II history. They have tunnels underground where the oil storage was for the military. We didn’t get to go through, because the walk back to the ship would have been brutal.

It was very hot yesterday, and will be again today. However, we are at sea and getting a nice breeze on board. It was 90 degrees yesterday and will be around 94 today. With the humidity it’s pretty uncomfortable. However, lots of trees and shade in Darwin, so it was bearable.

We caught the hop on/off tour and went all over to see the town. We were planning to go around after lunch, but time ran a little short after our souvenir shopping. We picked up some interesting little art objects as well as my required sun visor!! I’m collecting them from everywhere we visit.

I was concerned about the transportation back on the hop on/off since there was a Princess Cruise ship in port, too, and there were about 5,000 tourists roaming around! The wait for these little tour buses could be considerable since ours only held 18 people!! So, we caught the shuttle back to the ship and sat outside looking at the view. The harbor is not pretty, but the ocean and greenery were.

Two days at sea, and then we are in Broome.

10/29

Our second day at sea, and the weather is still gorgeous. We passed through the Timor Sea and are now in the Indian Ocean, sailing along the western coast of Australia. This morning while eating breakfast, Rick and I saw dolphins, sea snakes, turtles, and flying fish. What a treat!! We have seen very little marine life, and it was wonderful to watch them.

I went to a presentation on our two next ports: Broome and Exmouth. They are very remote: Broome has 15,000 residents, and Exmouth only 2,500!! We will be doubling the population of Exmouth for the one day we are there.

[slamerr]

can someone tell me if you are permitted to bring bottles of soft drink on board at the start of your cruise? and if you can can you just pack them in with your luggage?:confused:

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

can someone tell me if you are permitted to bring bottles of soft drink on board at the start of your cruise? and if you can can you just pack them in with your luggage?:confused:

 

 

Never had any problem with soft drinks, just carry them on board with you, alcohol is the no!no!

 

RoyBoy :)

[not2old]

We were on the Rhapsody this past Sept for the Alaska cruise! Loved everything about it so much that we booked the similar cruise offered on her for next Sept! Take the Alaska cruise on her, it's a beautiful ship, quite easy to navigate and we have never met a happier staff! Hope you decide to sail with her, you won't be sorry!

[pcur]

We purchased Diet Coke in Honolulu and yesterday in Broome, bringing them on board with no problem. We had BAGS of toiletries, etc. from Walmart in Honolulu and brought them on board, too. It's just the booze they are looking for.

 

Here's the latest:

 

10/31

Happy Halloween everyone! They are having a Halloween party tonight in the Viking Crown Lounge, which is at the very top of the ship. Should be interesting to see what kind of costumes people managed to get into their overcrowded luggage.

Speaking of luggage, we have quite a challenge ahead of us. We have luggage restrictions on THREE airlines going home, and we’ve picked up small souvenirs along the way on this great adventure of ours. Rick’s been tossing worn undies along the way. He picked up new undies at Walmart in Honolulu at the start of our trip, but he doesn’t really like the fabric. Seems FOTL uses a different type of cotton in HI. Anyway, he’s been bagging them in our plastic shopping bags and tossed one bag in Port Moresby, and another in Broome. In Port Moresby, the native women politely waited until he was around the corner before they snatched the bag up. They saw him coming and could tell he had a bag of white socks and undies. I just wish they were CLEAN!!!

Yesterday was Broome, which is at the upper west coast of Australia along the Indian Ocean. Can you say HOT!!! I told Rick yesterday on one of the buses that you get so hot, prespirey, and sticky that you just don’t care anymore. You are in a state of perpetual moisture from the heat and humidity. It wasn’t unbearable due to the breezes, but the sun was really hot. My umbrella/parasol came in very handy yesterday.

Broome was very interesting: small (15,000 residents), and had the look of a small outback-ish Australian town. It’s a resort town, and during their high season, which just ended, they have 40,000 people there. They had to bring buses from all over, as far as Perth, to shuttle the passengers from our ship and the Princess cruise ship that was in port the day before us. One shuttle driver had to drive the bus 2,000 miles!!! All the drivers were just as happy and cheerful as could be to be there shuttling all day. I think this is their “off” season, and they were happy to get the work. Very nice people, and the they had extra town buses scheduled, too.

We shopped and browsed, I bought a pair of pearl earrings in an unusual bronze-brown color, and we took the town bus out to Cable Beach. Cable Beach is one of the world’s best beaches, and I can see why. White sand against turquoise blue waters as far as the eye can see. This is where they have the camel rides all up and down the beach at sunset. The land adjoining it reminds me of the area in Maui where Lelani’s restaurant is located. Whalers Village, I think. Cable Beach has a lovely brick promenade along the ocean, with trees, grassy areas, and a few walk-up bars and restaurants. Not overly developed, either. Very lovely place.

No going in the water, however, since it’s stinger jellyfish season. They have a while board at the staircase going down to the beach, with fresh water showers, and the board gives the sea and weather conditions. It also gives the last stinger report, which was 9/15/09 as of yesterday.

Broome is very colorful because of the bright red soil. So, everywhere you look is this red soil up against the greenery and the turquoise blue ocean. One bus driver said when he works in Broome his wife goes nuts trying to keep the red dust off of everything. It has it’s downside, too.

Rick took some pictures of the harbor, which is a hiccup. Very small, remote, and no facilities except a small restaurant. Very interesting layered rock formations all along the beach, though, where the volcano lava piled up. We also have a picture of a boab tree. Weird looking. The legend is the plant displeased the gods and they yanked it out of the ground and stuffed it back in upside down, so the roots are at the top. It’s a “chubby”, swollen trunk, with wispy branches and leaves. I’ve attached a picture of it.

Today is a sea day, and we’ve been asked to have dinner with the hotel director. Very nice of him. We talked to the captain up in one of the lounges two nights ago. Rick and I have access to what is called the Diamond Event serving wine and soft drinks from 5 – 8:30, and every so often the staff come up to talk to the passengers there since we are a group of their frequent cruisers. We told the captain what an amazing job the bar server, Nigel, was doing with this lounge every night. Nigel has no help (wants it that way, too), and works from 5 – 8:30 serving up to 30 people at a time. He lets NO ONE’S glass go empty, and runs downstairs to the regular bar for the soft drinks, too. Very organized. It’s like he’s got a system going, and knows where to look for the “oldest” drink to see if it needs refilling. Also, he has everyone’s preferences memorized!! It was standing room only up there last night.

Anyway, we will enjoy eating with the hotel director tonight. I think it’s because this cruise only has 6 “Diamond Plus” frequent cruisers, so he’s entertaining all of us for dinner. That’s my guess, anyway. I certainly don’t expect this on our future cruises.

Exmouth tomorrow, and we don’t expect too much going on there, but who knows. Rick was pleasantly surprised with Broome.

Love to all.

[pcur]

11/1

Today was Exmouth, which is about halfway down the west coast of Australia. Exmouth might have something to rave about, but we couldn’t find it! I think it’s the Nigaloo Reef, which is great for skin diving and snorkeling, which we don’t do. But, being curious and already have paid for a shuttle to/from town, we took the little tender boat from the ship and then the shuttle bus to “town”. This was

• Two boutique-y shops

• A jewelry store

• A stationary / toy / office supply

• A “we don’t know what it was, but it was all from China” store

• Two small restaurants

• A dive shop and a camping supply store

• Two hair salons that were closed

• A pharmacy and a grocery

That’s it, and a lot of hot sun.

BUT, I did see an emu running along side the road, and we saw the tails of two whales out in the water between the ship and the shore!!

We had dinner at the Hotel Director’s table last night. He was very informative about cruising in Australia. One of the negatives about this last cruise is the gangways in Darwin and Broome. Darwin was a disaster. It was one straight, LONG, gangway with little “stumblesteps” that went straight up and down from the dock to the fourth deck. That’s a loooooooooooooong way up in the air, and a long hike up, too. It was also nearly impossible for physically challenged people to maneuver. We stood on the dock and watched an elderly man take 10 full minutes getting up with a staff member right behind him to KEEP HIM FROM FALLING OVER!!!! When he finally got to the top he was so exhausted he couldn’t step down into the ship for several more minutes. It was very, very hot, too. It was sad to watch. I asked at the Customer Relations Desk about it, and they went out to check.

Well, last night the Hotel Director brought the subject up and said the management on the ship was furious about the gangway in Darwin, called ahead to Broome, and the one in Broome was a little better (more level and a platform with stairs at the bottom). He said RCCL was discussing the port accommodations at the Aussie state level, because they know the Australians are very picky about handicap access, and Darwin and Broome need to clean up their act if they want cruise ships to keep coming there.

Today we start packing, tomorrow is a sea day, and then the next morning we go on a tour of Perth and to the airport for our flight to Sydney. Then two wonderful days in Sydney, a flight to Honolulu, an overnight in Honolulu, and then we fly home to Los Angeles on Friday.

It’s been a wonderful adventure. I’ll send more from Perth and Sydney if anything interesting comes up.

[Oxymoron]

Awesome reporting Peggy. Sucks about the gangplanks. Why cant they just put them in at a lower level?

[pcur]

The gangways have to be positioned high enough on the ship so at low tide they are still above the dock. That's what was explained to me when I asked about them.

 

Here's my last post, and then I will send the link for my pics and videos after I get home:

 

Well, our wonderful adventure is almost over, and we are on our way home.

 

We were in Sydney for two nights, flying there on Tuesday, 11/3, from Perth. We got off the ship and went on a guided tour of the city before being dropped off at the airport. Perth is a very attractive city and we enjoyed the tour.

 

We arrived in Sydney around 10:30 PM Tuesday night and it was about 90 degrees!!! They had a scorching hot day that day, but the next was in the low 70's. Sydney weather is pretty unpredictable. We got up and started hunting for a place to have breakfast on Wednesday. We ended up across the street from the railway station, so we decided to take the train outside the city, and ended up at Featherdale wildlife perserve. This was not really a zoo, because half the animals were free to roam around the area. As a matter of fact, I almost stepped on a wallaby who had wondered away from the wallaby area. Two staff members came walking up, scooped up the wallaby, and took him back home!!!

 

We saw birds and animals that we will never see again ever! I'll post the pictures with our others after I get home and sort all the pics and videos out. Up close and personal with koala bears, kangaroos, wallabys, peacocks. They did have barriers around animals that bite, and some of the birds were in large enclosures to keep them from flying off. My favorite birds were a pink cockateel, a pure WHITE peacock, and a fabulous 6 foot tall stork! Amazing to say the least.

 

The weirdest was the fox bat. This animal had the furry head and shoulders of a fox, and the body of a HUGE bat.

 

Both the white and regular peacock spread their tail feathers for us, and it was the most beautiful thing to see.

 

Then, yesterday we went on a boat tour of Sydney harbor. I saw at at least 8 places I want to come back and explore. A truly amazing city!!

 

Today we are in Honolulu. We flew overnight from Sydney, and I was a zombie by the time we landed. I cannot sleep on airplanes, so it was a difficult day today until we got into our hotel room a few hours ago. We both passed out, and now I feel better after a good nap.

 

Of course, today is yesterday, you understand. We passed over the International Dateline again, so we arrived Thursday morning, 11/5, after leaving Sydney Thursday evening, 11/5. Very confusing!

 

I'll be posting all those wonderful pictures and videos in the next few days.