Now for something completely different

[lyndarra]

38 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

 Yes I haven't been in since the renovation, I'm under the impression that unless you are a checked in you aren't welcome in the hotel anymore and the $75.00 price for afternoon tea is astounding. I have no idea how so many people are willing to pay that for tea and sandwiches. We used to go from time to time, never the Empress Room but there was a restaurant called Kipling's downstairs which they closed years ago. Then they closed the iconic Bengal Lounge, the writing was clearly on the wall, our Empress was dead.

When we were there we really enjoyed the Indian restaurant. I don't remember the name. We spent our last night in Canada there before boarding Millennium to go to Seward then on to Fairbanks. There were about 60 Aussies in our group. I was a little surprised that most of the Americans we met were first time cruisers. Probably explains why we only had about 8 people at the meet and greet.

[Blackduck59]

14 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

When we were there we really enjoyed the Indian restaurant. I don't remember the name. We spent our last night in Canada there before boarding Millennium to go to Seward then on to Fairbanks. There were about 60 Aussies in our group. I was a little surprised that most of the Americans we met were first time cruisers. Probably explains why we only had about 8 people at the meet and greet.

Yes the Indian Restaurant was The Bengal Room, rich mahogany paneling, leather armchairs, the very large tiger skin hanging above the fireplace (That Tiger skin was stolen after the lounge was closed)

[SeaDog-46]

It is now just over 250 years since Cook first arrived in NZ.

I thought the attached photo of a plaque on a memorial in Gisborne was well done & correct.

It states :-  "A fine seaman an outstanding Captain & an honest man. Capt Cook was one of the last of the great explorers - navigators & the first of the scientific expedition leaders.  After the 3 global voyages of 1768-71,  1772-75, & 1776-79 the map of the world was substantially complete.

Here on the 9th & 10th of October 1769,  Cook walks with men from HM Bark Endeavour seeking fresh food & water.  Nearby on the river rock Toka-a-Taiau, Maori chief & English Captain greeted one another. When traditional challanges were misunderstood, Maori were killed, the ship sailed without provisions and thus Poverty Bay received its name.

From here Endeavour circumnavigated New Zealand & Cook plotted the first map of the country.

This meeting of the two peoples marked the beginning of the New Zealand nation".

Edited April 19, 2020 by SeaDog-46

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

 Yes I haven't been in since the renovation, I'm under the impression that unless you are a checked in you aren't welcome in the hotel anymore and the $75.00 price for afternoon tea is astounding. I have no idea how so many people are willing to pay that for tea and sandwiches. We used to go from time to time, never the Empress Room but there was a restaurant called Kipling's downstairs which they closed years ago. Then they closed the iconic Bengal Lounge, the writing was clearly on the wall, our Empress was dead.

The tea and sandwichs are cheap, it is the fine china and the cucumber that is really expensive :)

 

[lyndarra]

28 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Yes the Indian Restaurant was The Bengal Room, rich mahogany paneling, leather armchairs, the very large tiger skin hanging above the fireplace (That Tiger skin was stolen after the lounge was closed)

That was it.

[mr walker]

23 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

...….Napier I know vintage car tour and Art Deco city, I also know there is a famous wine region close by. We dock at 0800 and cast off at 1700 so back on board at 1600 at the latest. Can we do the wine and the town in 6 hours? We will also need lunch somewhere. I know food on the ship is plentiful and included in the cost of my fare but part of traveling is trying local things.

 

We can thoroughly recommend Black Rose Limo tour in Napier http://www.blackroselimos.co.nz/  They picked us up from town centre after we got the shuttle from the ship & we toured around the town centre, out into the country to see the sights & we stopped at a very nice winery, the Fudge Factory & an ice cream place. Great day in a small group with a great host with NO driving.

[Rassa]

4 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

 Yes I haven't been in since the renovation, I'm under the impression that unless you are a checked in you aren't welcome in the hotel anymore and the $75.00 price for afternoon tea is astounding. I have no idea how so many people are willing to pay that for tea and sandwiches. We used to go from time to time, never the Empress Room but there was a restaurant called Kipling's downstairs which they closed years ago. Then they closed the iconic Bengal Lounge, the writing was clearly on the wall, our Empress was dead.

 

My High School friends and I went to High Tea at the Windsor in Melbourne and it was $75, we were all celebrating a milestone birthday.   I would not normally pay that but it was a special occasion. In previous years we went to the Victorian State Parliament restaurant (when the politicians were not sitting) and the High Tea was much, much better and cheaper.   I used to love going to the Princess Cruises afternoon tea in the dining room but on our last Princess cruise in November it was not available - boo hoo.

[Blackduck59]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

The tea and sandwichs are cheap, it is the fine china and the cucumber that is really expensive 🙂

 

I think you can probably buy the china in the gift shop for less than the cost of "High Tea"

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Rassa said:

   I used to love going to the Princess Cruises afternoon tea in the dining room but on our last Princess cruise in November it was not available - boo hoo.

On which ship?

 

They did great afternoon teas in the Sanctuary on Ruby Princess in December. Trays and trays of delicious food to choose from - sandwiches, creamy cakes, plain cakes and biscuits, and scones with jam and cream. 

[Rassa]

6 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On which ship?

 

They did great afternoon teas in the Sanctuary on Ruby Princess in December. Trays and trays of delicious food to choose from - sandwiches, creamy cakes, plain cakes and biscuits, and scones with jam and cream. 

 

Emerald - I thought perhaps because they had the international café where they served tea and coffee all day and had a roaring trade.  It was more that they did not have it in the dining room where you were served coffee and tea from pots into cups with staff walking around with cakes and scones.  It did my weight some good not to partake but I missed it.

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

On which ship?

 

They did great afternoon teas in the Sanctuary on Ruby Princess in December. Trays and trays of delicious food to choose from - sandwiches, creamy cakes, plain cakes and biscuits, and scones with jam and cream. 

Bet it didn't cost $75.00 each either, and as it turns out Tea at the Empress is now $82.00 I can serve High Tea at home on Royal Albert China and Coronation silverware for about $20.00 per person tax and tip included😉

[Rassa]

57 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Bet it didn't cost $75.00 each either, and as it turns out Tea at the Empress is now $82.00 I can serve High Tea at home on Royal Albert China and Coronation silverware for about $20.00 per person tax and tip included😉

 

The Royal Albert China and Coronation silverware would have cost many times High Tea at the Empress or the Windsor in Melbourne but lovely to look at and keep forever.

[Blackduck59]

3 minutes ago, Rassa said:

 

The Royal Albert China and Coronation silverware would have cost many times High Tea at the Empress or the Windsor in Melbourne but lovely to look at and keep forever.

 

This particular Royal Albert China is a discontinued pattern called rainbow and ironically we don't have the teapot, they are incredibly rare I only ever saw one for sale $500.00. There is also a Coronation teapot also quite rare, I bid on a couple on Ebay but someone else wanted them more than I did.

[VK3DQ]

2 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

 

This particular Royal Albert China is a discontinued pattern called rainbow and ironically we don't have the teapot, they are incredibly rare I only ever saw one for sale $500.00. There is also a Coronation teapot also quite rare, I bid on a couple on Ebay but someone else wanted them more than I did.

 

Royal Albert locked up behind glass.. spent yesterday in hospital  got a cuppa in a paper cup

not the virus not my heart ...was a bit short of breath which worried them a little  now have both legs bandaged with veinious ulcers   99% of the staff were great apart from one little doctor who was as rough as .......and hurt me then went off in a huff the nurses were all great ...but can one say in hospital no more needles???

I'm getting very twitchy when the needles come out  so no screening test before a cruise for me  no perhaps we might just get to go for a drive see the grandkids

 

the albert can be broken out for afternoon tea duties ....

 

oh well life  is not ment to be easy..... someone said that before

 

Regards

John

[possum52]

4 minutes ago, VK3DQ said:

 

Royal Albert locked up behind glass.. spent yesterday in hospital  got a cuppa in a paper cup

not the virus not my heart ...was a bit short of breath which worried them a little  now have both legs bandaged with veinious ulcers   99% of the staff were great apart from one little doctor who was as rough as .......and hurt me then went off in a huff the nurses were all great ...but can one say in hospital no more needles???

I'm getting very twitchy when the needles come out  so no screening test before a cruise for me  no perhaps we might just get to go for a drive see the grandkids

 

the albert can be broken out for afternoon tea duties ....

 

oh well life  is not ment to be easy..... someone said that before

 

Regards

John

Hope you recover soon John. Keep your legs elevated. Look after yourself.

 

Leigh

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Bet it didn't cost $75.00 each either, and as it turns out Tea at the Empress is now $82.00 I can serve High Tea at home on Royal Albert China and Coronation silverware for about $20.00 per person tax and tip included😉

$20pp for a half day in the Sanctuary, and that includes a lovely, thickly padded sun lounger. It's not fancy china though.

 

We did a Panama Canal cruise a couple of years ago on Crystal. High tea in the Palm Court on that ship was rather special. Their cucumber sandwiches were perfect.

[MicCanberra]

I would never even think or want to have tea served from a Prince Albert pourer.

[VK3DQ]

8 hours ago, possum52 said:

Hope you recover soon John. Keep your legs elevated. Look after yourself.

 

Leigh

 Hi Leigh

 

Yes will keep the legs in the air ... today we have to see specialist pain doctor at 1pm then my GP at 4pm     I have been sleeping a lot which I suppose is good , the legs are a mess , hoping to to have district nurse come to do dressings take the pressure off my wife ... have not been eating too well and the sound of a good curry plus the tandor oven sounds great hmm little mugli chops ....and a lamb curry with spinach sounds great with lots of naan bread to mop up the gravy

 

Hmmmm Regards

John 

[Russell21]

12 hours ago, VK3DQ said:

 

Royal Albert locked up behind glass.. spent yesterday in hospital  got a cuppa in a paper cup

not the virus not my heart ...was a bit short of breath which worried them a little  now have both legs bandaged with veinious ulcers   99% of the staff were great apart from one little doctor who was as rough as .......and hurt me then went off in a huff the nurses were all great ...but can one say in hospital no more needles???

I'm getting very twitchy when the needles come out  so no screening test before a cruise for me  no perhaps we might just get to go for a drive see the grandkids

Regards

John

Get well John, I got out of hospital late Sunday after a Haemorrhoidectomy, bit of painful recovery still to come for both of us it seems.

[By The Bay]

42 minutes ago, Russell21 said:

Get well John, I got out of hospital late Sunday after a Haemorrhoidectomy, bit of painful recovery still to come for both of us it seems.

Ouch. I had to find out what Haemorrhoidectomy is.

[OzKiwiJJ]

7 hours ago, VK3DQ said:

 Hi Leigh

 

Yes will keep the legs in the air ... today we have to see specialist pain doctor at 1pm then my GP at 4pm     I have been sleeping a lot which I suppose is good , the legs are a mess , hoping to to have district nurse come to do dressings take the pressure off my wife ... have not been eating too well and the sound of a good curry plus the tandor oven sounds great hmm little mugli chops ....and a lamb curry with spinach sounds great with lots of naan bread to mop up the gravy

 

Hmmmm Regards

John 

Get well soon, John.

 

DH tried making a Chicken with Spinach and Green Peas curry the other night. OMG! It was delicious. The sauce would work equally well with lamb. It was a recipe in the SMH by Adam Liaw. Very easy.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, Russell21 said:

Get well John, I got out of hospital late Sunday after a Haemorrhoidectomy, bit of painful recovery still to come for both of us it seems.

And I hope your recovery is quick and less painful than you expect.

[Russell21]

5 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

And I hope your recovery is quick and less painful than you expect.

Thanks Julie, it is every bit as painful as I expected as I've had the op previously in 2004. Should have had it years ago to finish what they couldn't do first time but the memory was putting me off. It got to the point where I had no choice, and even then what was supposed to be an overnighter ended up 3 days, my fault for waiting so long.

[Blackduck59]

So I was at work today and was getting a little angry, I am 60 years old and highly skilled at what I do (40 years of experience does that). My boss was very proactive and ordered 15 lifts of sheet goods well in advance to keep us going. We are booked with work well into next year. So the very day the Government announced the relief funding a couple of our labourers decide that the world would stop turning if they stayed at work and risked infection, so off on the dole they go. Then some of our skilled guys jumped ship. Now it is 4 weeks later and my boss has made every effort to accommodate these guys, work late hours when the shop is empty, weekends anything to get the product out the door. Still no dice. I am getting really tired of working and paying taxes while the millennials are sitting on their duffs collecting my tax dollars. We have work, we are essential service (all building trades are) and we have lots of ways to socially distance. Our benches are at least 2 meters apart, we have sanitizer and my boss is willing to do almost anything to help. He has even advertised in the job sites...no takers.

So i'm working and the rest of the crew that are working are in their 40s and we have 2 in their early 20s the 25 to 37 bunch are strangely absent. It's very disheartening.

[GUT2407]

25 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

So I was at work today and was getting a little angry, I am 60 years old and highly skilled at what I do (40 years of experience does that). My boss was very proactive and ordered 15 lifts of sheet goods well in advance to keep us going. We are booked with work well into next year. So the very day the Government announced the relief funding a couple of our labourers decide that the world would stop turning if they stayed at work and risked infection, so off on the dole they go. Then some of our skilled guys jumped ship. Now it is 4 weeks later and my boss has made every effort to accommodate these guys, work late hours when the shop is empty, weekends anything to get the product out the door. Still no dice. I am getting really tired of working and paying taxes while the millennials are sitting on their duffs collecting my tax dollars. We have work, we are essential service (all building trades are) and we have lots of ways to socially distance. Our benches are at least 2 meters apart, we have sanitizer and my boss is willing to do almost anything to help. He has even advertised in the job sites...no takers.

So i'm working and the rest of the crew that are working are in their 40s and we have 2 in their early 20s the 25 to 37 bunch are strangely absent. It's very disheartening.

It isn’t just millennials but people who still have jobs available shouldn’t get assistance.