A Bulletin from mid Pacific

 

Looking back at Sydney over the Pool Deck

"Nobody expects a cyclone.." (parody of Monty Python "inquisition"). Now I know why repositioning cruises are (supposedly) a bargain. They bring the ship away from the bad weather. Well, sometimes they don't get away in time. And that was how we made some headlines for spending three days in Auckland when a predicted tropical storm turned into a cyclone. The best birthday present I could have had was hearing the Captain announce that we wouldn't be leaving that first afternoon in the already terrible weather. We might not get out for two days more was music to my ears. Others bemoaned losing our visit to Pago Pago, but at what cost I asked? Cyclone Tam brought high winds and seas to New Zealand with many people in Auckland without power for 4 days and major flooding. 

We kept the special cake they gave us 
for the next day as we wanted to try
a few of their other desserts, one of
which is shown here.

The waiters sang "Happy Anniversary" to us 

The trip from Sydney to Auckland had been beautiful with nice weather on our 3 sea days to Tauranga, south of Auckland.  We were able to celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary in the lovely specialty restaurant, Sabatini's. The food and service was impeccable. We brought a bottle of champagne we had bought in Sydney - perfect. 

The Royal Princess over the harbor as we walked down the beach in Taranga

That's the boardwalk with Maunganui Mountain ahead of us.

And it was lovely day there. Perfect weather for a walk down the beach to Maunganui and then a walk around the mountain. It was spectacular and I managed fine with lots of rests at frequent benches to enjoy the scenery. Neither of us was tempted to make the steep climb to the top.

It reminded me a little of Acadia Nat'l Park

The path had lots of historical plaques and benches

Here we turned the corner and started back
 towards the town.

 But the news of the cyclone dampened our delight. The trip overnight was rough. We had great advice from experienced cruising friends and had booked a lower down mid ship balcony room. But we put in a low bid on an upgrade and were excited - and didn't think about the location change. We moved to the 14th floor at the stern. In the bad weather we experience the shudders and noise of the propeller. Walking down the corridors requires a special concentration - everyone looks like they've been drinking.

We've really enjoyed the Enrichment lectures
Our favorite was two Maori teachers where
we learned to sing a song in the Maori
 language and the meaning of the traditional
tatoos. 

Our next challenge was another pair of colds and as usual I started first. Our evening sailing from Taranga to Auckland - a rough one. It started and ended in my chest. Nine days later I ended up in the medical offices and prescribed Codeine and Prednisone. And that has knocked it out of me. Scott waited for 7 days before coming down with a more usual cold. We think they are not related. 

Two views of Maunganui from the sea

The tip

A rather bedraggled Heather - now 80!

Our steward made this charming Happy 
Birthday gift for me. We didn't use the 
glasses as I stopped drinking while I'm sick.

After our three days we left at Noon. The main body of the cyclone had passed us but it was very windy and rough and remained so for several days. But we were lucky as huge thunder storms followed our departure and Auckland was hit by over 200 lightning bolts that night. 

My 80th birthday was supposed to be when we crossed the international dateline and therefor 2 days long. But because we were delayed - it was just one day. And not the one we planned. I was sick so stayed in bed. We'll celebrate it later after we both recover.

But more about the rest of our 5 sea days when we get to Papeete. We bought one 24 hour session mid trip.

Beautiful Sydney Part Two

Manley Beach in one direction

And then another. Like many of the beaches in both
Australia and New Zealand it is bordered by parks
and several walkways.

We really loved The Pantry, located right on the
beach with wonderful food. We treated ourselves
to some wine as well. That's unusual for us now
at lunch.

The ferry ride over is so lovely and passes all the
iconic sights - here the Opera House.

 

Daytimes we explored the city by ferry, bus and lots of walking. First we took the Ferry over to Manley Beach and had lunch at The Pantry - a day recommended by the other new friends we met in Uluru, Eoin, Toni & Senan. Their other suggestion we also followed, over  to Bondi Beach, although not with great weather. Then we did the Hop On Hop Off buses - the town and the beach routes. And two museums - the Australia and the Maritime.

We only got off the Bus a few times, once here
at the Opera House for a day visit.

Darling Harbor where we visited the Maritime 
Museum.

And Bondi Beach. We had a good lunch at a cafe
but the weather wasn't attractive enough for the 
long walk we'd hoped for.

 

At the former we saw the Machu Picchu exhibit - lots of fun and interest for us as we spent two months in Peru years ago including hiking the Inca Trail into Machu Picchu. We also enjoyed the amazing artifacts displayed in the historic First Nations Gallery.  On the top floor there is a cafe with views over the city where we had lunch 

The entrance to the Machu Picchu exhibit was
very dramatic.

This beautiful bowl illustrated the history of 
the supernatural Inca hero, Ai Apaec. Many
of the pieces chosen for this show involved
his story.

I simply loved this piece.

There was a lot of fabulous gold and silver pieces

 

A view of the city from the rooftop cafe at the
Australian Museum.

The beautiful First Nations Gallery

At the latter we toured a variety of ships anchored there - first, the replica of the Duyfken, the Dutch trading vessel that in 1606 "discovered" Australia (for Europeans). This small crude ship had voyages that boggle the mind and the replica itself has been sailed as far as Amsterdam in this present day. It takes paying crew around the Pacific and it fact was leaving on a trip the following day. Our volunteer guide said, "We have room for two more if you'd like to join us!". No way - you sleep on the deck and I can't imagine how people lived for months on board, let along a week. Our next vessel was a big change, the submarine "Onslow". I'm more than a bit claustrophobic and it was a challenge for me to tour it. On our way down the steep ladder a man panicked below and we had to go up and let him get out. He looked white! I should have turned around. But I managed, although I had to be helped through the small round access passages between compartments. 

The Duyfken

One of the many small hatches between cabins
that Scott and I found very hard to manage.

I am horrified at the thought of living in these
tiny narrow rooms and this one was for 
officers!

The larger sturdier deck of the Endeavor

The last ship we visited was the replica of Captain James Cook's Endeavor, a much sturdier and bigger ship than the Duyfken and it too takes paying crew and passengers on voyages. Although vastly more comfortable than the earlier ship, you still sleep in hammocks (better than on the deck I guess) and for this (and working) you pay $3,000. And for most of the floor below the deck, Scott had to do on his knees and I had to bend over in half. But they have no problem getting volunteers!

Our room at the hotel

Our hotel, the Sydney Boulevard was great and centrally located. We were able to walk down to the harbor, and it was right on the bus line. They didn't have a restaurant but there were lots of them within blocks. We found our favorite breakfast cafe, Bohaus, and became (temporary) regulars. But our room was very comfortable, and the staff were very nice. 

But our stay in Sydney was over and the next morning we "boarded" our cruise ship. But more about that in my next post, which will be in Auckland.

Sad to Leave Sydney

 

The beginning set for "Nijinsky", the Australian
Ballet at the Joan Sutherland theater at the 
Sydney Opera House.

An almost full moon over the Opera House 

Our table at Midden for dinner before Nijinsky.,
one of the 3 restaurants on location.

The view from the Opera House to the city

The Opera Bar Cafe along the harbor

We certainly are sad to leave Sydney. What a beautiful exciting city it is and we've packed in a lot of it this week. We've had three special nights on the town (out of the 5 we've had here). We lucked out getting last minute tickets to "Nijinsky" the Austrian Ballet at the Opera House on Tuesday and had a fabulous dinner at Midden over looking the bridge and harbor before hand. And the weather was perfect as you can see from the photos.

We got to enter on the red carpet! Not dressed
for that occasion though - needed warm clothes

The view of the Opera House and bridge

Another photo as the sun went down at the Mrs.
MacQuarie's Point across from the Opera House
It is next to the Botanical Gardens

The first of the two restaurants on site that we
enjoyed 

We had pretty good seats to start, but when the lights went down to begin the show, we followed the people around us moving down the aisle and ended up in great seats! This was taken early in the evening.

The next night we had tickets to "Guys & Dolls" on the esplanade overlooking the Opera House, harbor and city skyline. The production was wonderful and the setting sublime. On advice we came early and enjoyed two of the dining venues with small plates. 

Two photo of Juanita, John and I with their view
of Sydney in the background.

We feel so lucky to have met such lovely people

And then last night our new friends Juanita and John, who we met in Uluru, picked us up and gave us a tour around, followed by appetizers & champagne at their condo with views of the city. Then took us out to dinner at their local - a historic pub that was lively with good food. 

Well it's time to board our cruise ship, so I'm going to get this partial post on Sydney off to you. They'll be another finishing up our visit there when I can get internet again!

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

 

This was taken just before sundown. Our tour was first class with an excellent dinner provided. 

We had cocktails and canapes first and then went to a sit down location for our hamper dinner - a very elegant assortment of meats, cheeses, fruits, bread, salads and desserts - all beautifully packaged in a take home "hamper". We struck up a conversation with the couple that took this photo and they joined us for dinner We exchanged info and we're having dinner with them tonight in Sydney.

We had glorious weather for our 4 nights there - in the 70's during the day and going down into the low 60's at night. Great walking weather and we did a lot of it. First of all our hotel, the Lost Camel, is one of the 5 that make up the Ayers Rock Resort and that's it for lodging in the area (that we could see). Our hotel did not have a restaurant so we pretty much checked out every one of the others and  they were all very good with two stand outs - the Sails in the Desert's Ilkari Buffet and especially the Desert Gardens Hotel's Arnguli Grill.  This latter gave us the best meal and service of the trip so far. But we had breakfast, lunch or dinner at most of the other 8 restaurants (and that's not counting the bars). 

Scott and Juanita. We've become friends with her
and her husband John. 

We were served 4 plates like this each with our
cocktails, 8 different canapes!

Kata Tjuta off in the distance from our Sunset 
Tour location. 

This is the beginning of the light & drone
show but we were not supposed to take photos
after this in respect to the native peoples whose
story the show depicted.

We did two major tours - the Sunset on Uluru with Dinner and Drone Show and the Sunrise on Uluru with a trip to Kata Tjuta (Olga Rocks) and a hike up the Walpa Gorge.  We rather unwisely did these back to back with the sunset tour Thursday night and the Sunrise one(we had to walk to the 5:30 AM pickup at a nearby hotel) on Friday morning.  We were glad to have a relaxing day on Saturday attending several of the free events at the resort.

Sunrise at Uluru

It was cool in the morning until the sun came up

After the sun rose it cast beautiful colors and shadows on Uluru. That's Kata Tjuta in the background.

I was happy to have my warm shirt and jacket on! 

Starting our hike

Occasionally bridges helped us cross wet areas.

Heather enjoys a brief break

Looking back from the end of the hike.

Looking back after our hike. Just before this I saw camels! A group of wild camels and we were all excited but by the time our bus came back for photos, they had moved on. 

You can see from the photos here of our two arranged tours to Uluru that we enjoyed perfect weather. Our tour guides, especially for the half day sunrise and hike one, were excellent. The hike itself was so beautiful that I did much better than expected. It helped that there were a few benches to take a break on the way uphill. It was only 2.6 kilometers but the first half all uphill and the footing rocky and rough at times. Kata Tjuta translates into 32 domes and the hike takes you to a gorge between two of them. This is a sacred place for men of the Anangu people. Uluru has a male and a female sacred side (opposite) and there is a female sacred site as well., which is not in the National Park. 

Our didgeridoo instructor

And our dual speaker on Bush Tales and later
in the auditorium, the Bush Food Experience

One of the beautiful bowls carved by the Anangu
people.

We spent our third full day going to the free events offered by the resort. The first was a Didgeridoo demonstration and it was a lot of fun. The musician had us all trying the breathing and sounds used to play the instrument. We had tapping sticks to keep the rhythm going.  Then we had two movies - Capturing the Cosmos about Australian Whole Sky Telescope Work and An Ancient Story Takes Flight was about the making of the drone and light show we saw which recounts one of the major stories of the Anangu people. We had the same young woman give two talks - Bush Food Experience and Bush Tales.  

The Camel Farm was a museum and a living camel
farm with camel tours - sorry we didn't get to do
this,

The stories of the importation of camels and 
cameleers is fascinating and I highly recommend
reading the Wikipedia article.

Scott and camel

And goats

And one lazy kangaroo!

The last visit was to the Camel Farm and we found this particularly fascinating. The history of the importation of camels and cameliers to Australia from India, Afghanistan and Pakistan is so amazing. There were stories about individuals who contributed so much to the growth of Australia but were never accepted into the society! There are thousands of camels now wild in the country and occasionally have to be "culled". We ate camel in many forms during our stay. 

Each camel at the Farm has his own saddle.

About 16 camels came in after their tour

And watching them dismount was fun!

Our flight to Sidney was very comfortable as it was a half empty plane. And we LOVE Sidney - no surprise, everyone does. More on that in my next post!