Live-- “Eh” to “G’day” – Vancouver to Sydney on Radiance 2014

[AussieVisi2r]

Wellington is great for 'foodies' and 'coffee snobs'.

 

They make a fantastic hot drink - Lemon, Ginger & Honey. So good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ANd all that for $20. Or we could have walked!!!

 

Then we went back and had Sarah's stitches out. She is absolutely fine. And has even got another assignment done for Uni while on sea days.

You can be lucky!!! Her incident could have been terrible!!!!!!

[goodycruising]

Wow, great pics and details of the rough seas! We have heard that it can be pretty rough to NZ, but that looked intense! We have heard there has been some rough weather over there recently, and that was probably the follow on off the weather we have had a few days ago here. Makes our banging and clanging through the night seem very tame now :)

 

Glad Sarah is doing well. Your Dad still looks like he is having a great time. :)

[AussieVisi2r]

Picton, NZ. 8th October 2014 Day 30

 

A few hours in Picton. It was a 7am arrival and a 3pm departure for this lovely sleepy little town. The town is all about the port - logging and the inter island ferry and about tourism. It's on the stunning Marlborough Sounds and is a collection of ancient sunken river valleys filled with the Pacific Ocean. It has a really steep, heavily timbered coastline with heaps of quiet little coves with holiday houses and nice boats. It is made up of three sounds - Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru and Pelorous Sounds. We sailed in through Queen Charlotte. SO pretty. It is also on the edge of White Wine land! The best Whites!!!

 

 

An early whole ship drill put an end to a steep in - so off we went.

 

 

As it's a working port there is a free shuttle into town.

 

 

These guys are off to become chopsticks. And paper pulp.

 

 

Heaps of tours available - boat trips through the sounds (but not very suitable (due to times) to ship people unless you do a ship tour). Farm tours and Winery tours. I usually hire a car and go for a drive.

 

The town is lovely for a walk around.

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Picton, NZ. 8th October 2014 Day 30

 

A few hours in Picton. It was a 7am arrival and a 3pm departure for this lovely sleepy little town. The town is all about the port - logging and the inter island ferry and about tourism. It's on the stunning Marlborough Sounds and is a collection of ancient sunken river valleys filled with the Pacific Ocean. It has a really steep, heavily timbered coastline with heaps of quiet little coves with holiday houses and nice boats. It is made up of three sounds - Queen Charlotte, Kenepuru and Pelorous Sounds. We sailed in through Queen Charlotte. SO pretty. It is also on the edge of White Wine land! The best Whites!!!

 

 

An early whole ship drill, with all alarms, announcements etc put an end to a sleep in - so off we went.

 

 

As it's a working port there is a free shuttle into town.

 

 

These guys are off to become chopsticks. And paper pulp.

 

 

Heaps of tours available - boat trips through the sounds (but not very suitable (due to times) to ship people unless you do a ship tour). Farm tours and Winery tours. I usually hire a car and go for a drive.

 

The town is lovely for a walk around.

 

Edited October 9, 2014 by AussieVisi2r

[AussieVisi2r]

 

 

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Sail away is very pretty and takes about 90 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

If you have to work on UNI assignment - you may as well do it somewhere as stunning as this!

 

 

 

See you New Zealand. You are always a pleasure to visit.

 

 

Dinner last night was at the Windjammer.

 

AND IT WAS MEXICAN NIGHT! Really good!!!!!

[AussieVisi2r]

LAst night was the total lunar eclipse. I was in a great position geographically to see it - but clouds and a (very) bouncy deck foiled those plans!

 

 

 

I got a few early on. So I'm glad of that.

[goodycruising]

Picton looks very pretty! I was taking some photos of the blood moon last night and thought it would be hard to do on the ship with it moving :)

[GLYNAGP]

Thank you so much for all the information and pictures. We leave Malaga where we live on Wednesday to go To Sydney to depart on Radiance of the Seas on 20th doing B2B Sydney/Perth then Perth /Sydney via NewZealand so all you pictures and information especially in New Zealand have been wonderful, thanks for taking the time out to do it.

 

Glyn and Kath

[Hazydavo]

Finally caught up! Been at it for days.

AWESOME, have loved following your cruise. Thanks so much for sharing :)

Love Radiance too btw ;)

[thetexasaggiecruiser]

So enjoying all the stories and pictures. Loved the signage for the Drinking Consultant at the Irish pub! Wonder if they are hiring?:D

[PCWalton1]

Wow, you have been out there a looong time. :)

The most we have done is 15 days but I remember that flew by. Has it been going by quickly for you?

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk 2

[queenslander]

Raina - what a great review! Thanks for posting it.:)

 

I will be flying to Hawaii for the cruise to Vancouver next April. I managed to get a good deal on a business class fare with Jetstar out of Brisbane.

 

I would love to have the address of the discounter for business class seats as I want to book for my flights to LA and then Quebec for next October. My email is lesjoy78 at gmail dot com.

Edited October 11, 2014 by queenslander

[goodycruising]

I would love to have the address of the discounter for business class seats as I want to book for my flights to LA and then Quebec for next October. My email is lesjoy78 at gmail dot com.

 

I have emailed you with the details.... :)

 

 

Raina - have enjoyed the trip with your pictures and details. Thanks :)

[queenslander]

Goodycruising - much appreciated, thank you!:)

 

Thanks to Pamela who also sent me the discounter address.

 

Joyce

Edited October 11, 2014 by queenslander

[TeamH]

Fantastic review. How did the remainder of the trip go? Is your daughter ok?

[lucymorgan]

Fantastic Review Raina! Thank you for posting it :)

 

We've done Sydney to Hawaii but not Vancouver. We are from Canberra too (there seems to be a high per capita proportion of Canberrans on CC!)

 

Hope your daughter is completely healed.

 

I would like the name of the flight broker if possible too! jhumblej at gmail dot com (Sorry!!)

 

I would love to do another repositioning cruise but can't drag my daughter away from her horse for longer than the 11 days of our next cruise

 

Cheers

Edited October 19, 2014 by jenibor

[AussieVisi2r]

Sorry guys- no excuse I got slack......then I type it all up the other night

..

..

... AND FORGOT TP PRESS SUBMIT POST! So here I go again.

 

Ps. Sarah is totally better (apart from having four wisdom teeth out the day after we got back!!!)

 

Raina

[AussieVisi2r]

Crossing the Tasman Sea, 9th and 10th October 2014 Day 31&32

 

We came out of the Marlborough Sounds and hit the winds of the Cook Strait. Within a few minutes the skies were dark, the wind was strong and the sea had roughened up again.

 

 

Later that evening it was into he Tasman Sea and back into the Roaring Forties. And they were so kind to us. This is my seventh crossing. My first cruise to NZ had really big seas on the way there - and massive on the way back. (we missed a port and had to go north by hundreds of ks to miss a huge storm!)

 

This trip was great. At times it looked like a pond.

 

The next two days were spent having a fun time. We ate in the Windjammer on Mexican Night. I didn't even realise they did theme nights. And it was really good!

 

Looks bad but was really good!

 

 

Another cool towel animal.

 

 

Sarah was back to herself! How amazingly lucky we were! She finished and submitted one assignment and was working on the next!

 

 

 

 

A group of us went down and did a Slot Pull. We put in $10 (per pair) AND WE WON!

 

 

We walked away with $55 each! Yahhh

 

Then it was the last Formal night.

 

 

And I will admit here - I DID see a large change in 'formal wear' - less suits, more open necked shirts. Not judging - just pointing out an observation.

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Formal Night -

 

But not just any Formal Night.

 

The Captain's Table night.

 

As always - it started with a very fine glass of bubbles at the Champagne Bar.

 

 

 

We were then paraded in and sat down.

 

The table was beautiful.

 

 

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

Captain Goran is new to being the permanent master of Radiance. He is from Sweden and a lovely guy. Really interesting. We chatted about all sort of things. It was a fantastic night.

Of course the food and wine were wonderful.

 

 

How lucky am I??????

 

We took a few snaps then went back to the lounge for a post dinner drink!

 

 

I, of course took my traditional photo - Formal night in from of the Deck 13 wall.

 

 

A fantastic night!!!!!!!!

 

And you couldn't even see the bald patch in Sarah's head.

 

Edited October 19, 2014 by AussieVisi2r

[AussieVisi2r]

There was aways something happening - music etc.

 

The pool BBQ was lovely as usual.

 

 

We even saw a good patriot.

 

 

The trip was drawing to a close.

 

 

And then came that dreaded night - putting the luggage out! Always so sad.

 

 

 

[AussieVisi2r]

 

Sydney - 11th October 2014 - Day 33

 

Waking up to this always helps with the pain of ending a trip.

 

For those of you who have not sailed into Sydney - it really is one of the most stunning sail in / sail aways! Put it on your list.

 

This is the starboard side view - very early.

 

 

And the aft view - a few hours later.

 

 

 

The Sydney OPT (Overseas Passenger Terminal) is undergoing MAJOR renovations. Disembarking was just as easy as it always is! There was a lot of doom and gloom talk before we got there - but if you didn't know about the renovations (at least when leaving by taxi) you wouldn't have even realised. It was great. We spent less than 15 minutes in the taxi line.

 

We then wandered up to the Marriott Hotel to collect our hire car. After a lovely uneventful trip we arrived home. Canberra is only a very easy three hour trip - so a great way to finish a trip.

 

Aussie people - Avis has a depot at the The Marriott - 300metres straight up Pitt St. They are always a bit slow (15-20 minutes) to get the car up to you - but such an easy option.

 

 

So - here I am back at home after an amazing trip and so much to be grateful for.

33 days - Vancouver, five different spots in Hawaii, Tahiti, Moreea and Bora Bora, New Zealand and the amazing Marlborough Sounds.

The opportunity to travel again with my wonderful Dad - in his 90th year.

The fact that Sarah escaped a bizarre accident with no lasting damage.

The opportunity to spent time on my favorite ship and

the many wonderful people I met.

 

I saw a volcano. From the ship we saw - humpback, pods of dolphin, seal and birds.

 

I will admit - I am so lucky! And spoilt!

 

Thanks so much for all joining me on this trip! I had a ball!!!!!

 

 

[icat2000]

And thank you for your fantastic review of your 33 day holiday. You made me feel I was right their experiencing it with you. Look forward to reading about your future travels. I hope your Dad had a wonderful time.