Our journey started on a beautiful sunny Sydney day.
Embarkation went very smoothly and we were soon walking up the gangway.
We did not have long to wait for our room to become available and having dropped off our hand luggage we went to explore the ship.
Not a remarkable ship but some interesting features. So here are some photos.
A very interesting food concept and most enjoyable. Especially the dessert.
Our first day at sea we continued to become accustomed to our surroundings. Having sailed before we understood the necessity of working out where everything is and how to get from one place to another quickly. For us this means mostly using the stairways as the lifts, though plentiful, become congested at times and by the time you have waited for one to arrive it’s often quicker to use the stairs. We are fortunate to be still able to do this and we count it in our daily exercise.
The first day at sea is usually the first formal night and it is lovely to see most of the passengers getting dressed up for the occasion. Sailing out of Sydney we are able to pack different outfits for all occasions.
Oct 26
Brisbane was our first port of call where we had a relaxing morning as we were being picked up by a friend at 10am. How lovely it is to be able to catch up with friends in other parts of the country.
Margaret took us to the Museum of Queensland where there was an exhibition of Afghanistan treasures from the Museum of Kabul. What an interesting exhibition this was and such a treasure trove of artefacts which have been saved from mindless destruction.
The museum is on Southbank so it was easy to go down to the waterside area to stroll and admire the views. Lunch at a riverside pub was followed by a walk past the beach area and through the markets. Then it was time to head back to the ship. Unfortunately, because of the size of the ship, it is unable to sail up the river to the passenger terminal located closer to the city at Hamilton. So it is quite a long drive out to the commercial and industrial terminal at the mouth of the Brisbane River.
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| Our chauffeur |
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| The Gabba |
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| Southbank |
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| Brisbane River's beach on Southbank |
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| Margaret and Ian overlooking the Brisbane River |
Another day at sea, relaxing and simply enjoying life at sea before arriving into the Whitsunday Islands where we were moored off Airlie Beach. Large local catamarans were organised to take early off passengers ashore and we were among the first off.
We had organised a car hire from a local business we had used while on holidays in Airlie Beach earlier in the year. Our first stop was at a local shopping centre where we had coffee and bought some water for the day, then we headed for Bowen.
Famous for its mangoes (not quite in season) this small regional Queensland town is now also well known as the location for much of the making of the film Australia, starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman.
The town is also known locally for its lovely murals depicting scenes of the town’s history.
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| View over the Whitsundays from Bowen lookout |
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| Part of Queens Beach, Bowen |
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| Horseshoe Bay, Bowen |
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| Horseshoe Bay, Bowen |
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| Colourful caravan park cabins, Horseshoe Bay |
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| Bowen is well know for its murals |
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| View from the 360 cafe, Bowen |
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| Airlie Beach beachfront walk. Radiance of the Seas moored way out in the distance |
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| Radiance of the Seas moored well out from the land |
Three more days at sea pass, reading, walking, visiting the spa (we had treated ourselves to a package) – the hours just disappear. Of course we were enthralled with the pilot's description of the waters we were sailing through after we left Airlie Beach. During the day he talked about the history of the area and told us about what we were seeing as we sailed to the top of Australia. We had another formal night on the 30th prior to which we went to a Welcome Back party which is held for past cruisers.
Then, of course the 31st was Halloween and the ship was appropriately decorated.
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| En route to the top of Australia |
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| Group of Islands including Thursday Island |
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| Into the Arafura Sea |
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| Halloween decorations |
Nov 1
Darwin is the port we visited today. Having recently holidayed there, there was not much more we wanted to visit, but as we hadn’t been to Fannie Bay Gaol before, we headed there on the local bus.
An interesting place to visit if only small.
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| The view from aft on the promenade deck |
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| Docking at Darwin |
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| Fannie Bay |
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| Inside Fannie Bay Gaol |
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| A grim place to have been interred |
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| The oldest part of the gaol housing the scaffold, last used in 1952 |
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| The plovers were nesting and making quite a racket and swooping if you got too close |
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| Radiance of the Seas docked in Darwin |
It was the first day of The Wet Season and it was already quite humid. Although no rain was forecast, we saw a storm was on its way so we headed back to the ship. The storm did catch out a lot of people, but as quickly as it had come in it passed and the air was much cooler.
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| The approaching storm |
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| Clear blue waters and fine warm weather |
Two more sea days passed in much the same fashion then we arrived at the Island of Bali. This was our second tendered port being anchored off the town of Benoa.
We had a private tour booked for this day and our guide had a lovely comfortable passenger van which was air conditioned.
We visited a silver maker where we were shown how the delicate silver jewellery is hand made. Very exacting work. Then we visited an ancient Hindu temple where our guide explained about how the temple is built to celebrate their various gods. We were fortunate to be visiting at the end of a particular festival time and the streets were decorated with bamboo poles and colourful yellow and white material which symbolises the east and west (life and death) and material made up of black and white and grey squares which symbolises good and evil (white and black) and the grey indicates living a life in balance.
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| Balinese dancers welcoming us on the dock |
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| A not uncommon sight |
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| We had to wear the traditional sarong to enter the temple |
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| Beautiful shrines within the temple grounds |
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| Part of the beautiful home of the wood carving family |
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| Tropical colours everywhere |
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| Grandfather's last carved major work |
We had asked the guide if we could lunch at Babi Guling a restaurant serving local Balinese suckling pig. This was a wonderful experience. Then we headed for the town of Ubud.
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| A mosaic on the path leading to the restaurant |
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| Once again the black/white/grey material decorating parts of the restaurant |
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| The food was delicious, if a little spicy |
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| The pig at the entrance, also swathed in the black and white cloth |
It was very hot and humid, but we found it amazingly cool inside the palace (even though were only in the outer area which was still outdoors) where we were dropped off in Ubud. We had about an hour to explore. After visiting the palace we wandered along the shopping area and it was also fascinating watching the traffic weave its way down the narrow main street, passing parked vehicles and rows and rows of scooters. We also saw a school coming out and all the young children being picked up and taken home on the back of scooters.
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| The path through to the private residences of the palace |
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| I wondered how many accidents result in serious injury. Notice the adults have helmets but not the children. |
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| Anything and everything high fashion is available |
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| Harvesting rice with a threshing machine |
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| The more common method of harvesting the rice, threshing by hand |
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| Tegalalang rice terraces |
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| A sprightly 75+ gentleman with his baskets - the pole was really heavy |
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| A drummer entices visitors to his shop |
All in all it was a lovely day. Our guide was very knowledgeable and he took us back to the dock in plenty of time to pick up our tender to take us back to the ship. His name Ketut!! But we called him Mully – an abbreviation of his second name.
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| Amazing statues at street intersections |
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| Statue stores = big business |
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| The ornate entrance to a major business |
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| The premises of the Indonesian equivalent of the SAS |
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| Benoa harbour full of water craft of every conceivable type |
Our next day at sea was Melbourne Cup Day and there was lots happening around the ship to do with horse racing. They were broadcasting the race on the big screen on the Pool Deck. It was too busy and hot to be up there so we decided to watch on the TV in our room.
This was also our last formal night for the sailing and I took this opportunity to have a photo taken with our lovely restaurant waiters who have looked after us so splendidly.
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| Radiance of the Seas moored off Benoa, Bali |
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| New friends Clint and Zandra |
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| Also Rose and Tony |
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| Our cruise Director was Scottish and dressed for the occasion |
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Port Hedland was our next port of call. An interesting choice many say, critically. But I, for one, was looking forward to visiting this iron ore town.
It is raw, rustic and red. But what a welcome they put on when a cruise ship comes to town. For a town with a population of 15,000 (including the satellite townships) having a ship with more than 3000 people on board is a big deal.
Buses shuttled us from the ship to the main centre of town where we were welcomed by school children handing out brochures. The town Mayor was also there to welcome passengers. Markets are put on for the visitors with a wonderful variety of local crafts and clothes on offer.
We had coffee in an old rail car cafe then wandered around this small outback town.
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| Container loads of goods stacked up in the port |
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| Salt is also mined in the area |
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| These happy school children were welcoming passengers and handing out brochures about the town as they got off the shuttle bus |
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| Even the town's Mayor welcomed us as we arrived |
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| Rail carriage now put to use as a cafe |
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| When the ships come to town the local people put on markets with local artisans featuring their crafts |
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| A beautiful war memorial in the town, built from iron stone donated by the mining companies |
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| From the war memorial the Esplanade Hotel was a good spot for a cool drink |
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| A glimpse of the ship from the town |
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| Beautiful bougainvilleas were in profusion through the town |
We watched an iron ore carrier being guided into the port, quite an exercise as there is a very long dredged channel which has to be followed to arrive into the deep water harbour.
Our departure was watched by the locals many of whom come and park along the waterfront just to watch the ship leave. Passengers had started vying for positions on deck, but the prime spot was right up the front of the ship where there is a helipad. The captain had announced that the pilot guiding the ship out of the harbour and channel back to the shipping lanes, would be departing the ship by helicopter.
The helicopter circled for quite some time waiting for the ship to be positioned safely out to sea for the pilot to depart. There were countless numbers of ships anchored offshore, all waiting for their turn to be guided into the port to be filled with iron ore. We had been told it takes 36 hours to fill a ship. A process we had been watching from on deck before we left. Conveyors pouring the ore into the ships in dock; road trains bringing the ore from the ore trains. All in all a very slick operation. BHP Billiton being the main presence in town.
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| A road train moving through the port |
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| We are accommodated where an iron ore ship would normally dock. The pool of pilot boats and tugs can be seen in their harbour area to the left of the photo |
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| Immediately behind the tower is the Esplanade Hotel |
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| Tugs were constantly coming and going |
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| The helicopter is circling as we negotiate the channel. On the horizon in the far distance ships are waiting their turn to be guided into the harbour |
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| A bulk ore carrier being escorted into the harbour |
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| Many locals drive up to this area to watch the cruise ship leaving |
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| A tug keeping an eye on our progress |
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| With the pilot safely on board, the helicopter takes off |
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| Key Lime Pie for dessert this evening. One of my favourites |
After another day at sea we anchored off Geraldton. Weather was glorious not too hot with a sea breeze. After being tendered ashore we were greeted, once again, by local towns people who had maps and information about what to see and do in town.
We were a little way from the town centre but we saw a shopping centre (the Coles sign gave it away!!) and headed there to find a coffee shop.
We planned to visit the HMAS Sydney II memorial first then circle our way back in to town. The memorial sits on top of a low hill at the back of the town and is a really worthwhile place to visit. Once again the local volunteers were on hand to take groups around and explain the symbolism of the memorial which is really beautiful.
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| Radiance of the Seas docked off Geraldton |
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| Flags at the entrance to the memorial of HMAS Sydney II with propellers at the base |
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| Wall of remembrance |
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| A propeller is used again in the memorial as the central focus under the Dome of Souls comprising 645 seagulls signifying the number of souls lost |
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| The rose garden was looking superb |
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| This sculpture known as the Waiting Woman represents the anxious mothers and relatives of those serving on HMAS Sydney looking out to sea, awaiting news |
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| Beautiful imagery |
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| Known as the Stele Monument this represents the bow of the ship |
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| The Pool of Remembrance is a feature which was added after the discovery of the wreck off the coast. The same artists were used to design and construct this feature. Again the seagulls are featured |
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| So many local organisations had input to this beautiful memorial |
http://hmassydneymemorial.com.au/
Geraldton is quite a large regional town and we had a pleasant meander along the streets until we found the Freemasons Hotel where we stopped for some refreshments.
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| The Freemasons Hotel, Geraldton |
Afterwards we found our way back to the foreshore where there is a lovely path which took us back to where the tenders were coming in.
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| Selfie along the waterfront |
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| Aboriginals and astronomers collaborated on this sculpture depicting indigenous astronomy |
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| This is a replica of the long boat from the Batavia which landed further up the coast |
This was our last night in our 8060 cabin on the port side of the ship. We were moving cabins for the second leg of the cruise. So all our belongings which were in drawers and cupboards, we packed up in our suitcases. All our hanging items would be transferred on their hangers. Our cabin steward took care of the rest.
Nov 9
Perth – well we were greeted with beautiful warm sunshine and we were looking forward to a great day with friends.
We walked into the centre of Fremantle where they picked us up and we headed for Cottesloe Beach for coffee. It was a real treat to be with local people taking us around and as the ship was not leaving until late at night we had plenty of time to see the sights of Perth.
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| Town of Fremantle from the ship |
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| On Cottesloe Beach outside the old Indiana Restaurant |
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| Mining Magnate, Andrew Forrest's Perth home |
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| City view and pictorial explanations, King's Park |
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| The old Swan Brewery, now an apartment complex |
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| Still a few spring flowers to be found |
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| Huge gum nuts on this local West Australian tree |
We had lunch at their beautiful home on the river and caught up with all our news before heading to Fremantle Gaol. What a fascinating place this is. So much history and so well preserved. It is also fortunate to have World Heritage status so it will continue to be preserved for generations to come.
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| A family of black swans glide in the waterway near our friend's home |
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| Entrance to Fremantle Gaol |
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| Beautiful paintings on the walls of a cell inmate waiting to go to the gallows |
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| The Gaol Surgeon's house |
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| Along the cafe strip in Fremantle |
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| Fremantle after dark |
Nov 10
One sea day before our next port and we had our get together with other cruisers and a formal night. It’s lovely to have the opportunity to get dressed up, but it does take up luggage space. We may have to think whether we will participate on future cruises.
Nov 11
Esperance – where we had a 4WD booked with two other couples to drive out to Cape le Grand NP. After a bit of a debacle with tender tickets, we were ashore in good time. It was easy to find the Avis car hire outlet and we were soon on our way.
Esperance is only a very small town so we were very soon out in the countryside. Our two English couples were taking in all they could, but when we made our first stop the flies became overwhelming. Fortunately we had plenty of fly spray, but it was soon apparent that they are a local nuisance as we had a chat with some local holidayers who were decked out in netted hats!
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| Frenchman's Peak, Cape le Grand National Park |
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| Lucky Bay |
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| Is this the whitest sand beach in Australia? |
There was a coffee van on the beach serving coffee to visitors – I wonder if the enterprising owner knew the cruise ship was in town and lots more people than usual would be visiting. Fortunately for us we were ahead of the crowd and we were just leaving as the coach arrived! Not before we spotted a kangaroo and joey foraging in the bushes at the back of the sand. This beach is known for its kangaroos, but to see them in the middle of the day was very fortunate.
We had bought some food for lunch and found another isolated beach to sit and eat. The English couples decided it was fun to stand in the water and eat, it was such an idyllic spot.
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| Beautiful crystal clear water in indescribable shades of blue |
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| Pink Lake with only a hint of the pink hue which comes and goes with the amount of algae in the water |
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| These photos are enhanced, but truly re-create the colour of the water - astonishing |
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| View of the ship from the Rotary Lookout |
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| Looking towards the town of Esperance from the Rotary Lookout |
Two more days at sea, relaxing and reading brought us to Adelaide. However, there was a little bit of excitement thrown in the day before we were due in Adelaide. There was a medical emergency with a member of the crew having to be air lifted off the ship. A helicopter landed and a support aircraft circled for more than an hour as the patient was assessed and finally loaded into the helicopter.
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| I was watching the emergency on our in room TV. The view on the screen was only slightly less blurred |
Again, in Adelaide, there was a welcoming committee and even lollipop gentlemen seeing everyone across to the station.We took the train in to town with two other English couples (one from our day in Esperance and another they had met). They were all very happy to have some 'almost’ locals show them around.
Our plan had been to wander down to the Adelaide Oval then take the tram to Glenelg which they were very happy to do. Walking towards St Peters cathedral we could see the development being done to the Oval. We decided to take a look inside the cathedral, which is only relatively small, but it was fortunate we did. A guide in the cathedral recognised visitors from England and mentioned that there was cricket being played on the Oval and it was free entry. Well that just about made their day.
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| Adelaide Oval from King William St just before crossing the Torrens River |
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| St Peter's Cathedral |
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| New stands still under construction. The old scoreboard remains |
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| South Australia and Western Australia playing in a Sheffield Shield match |
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| Walking back across the Torrens River to the city |
The weather was still being exceptionally kind, but although it was sunny there was a cool breeze at the beach.
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| Buskers and modern art in Rundle Mall |
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| The old Colonial Mutual Life building |
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| Old Glenelg Town Hall |
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| Tram terminus |
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| Glenelg Beach |
Nov 16
Melbourne – We were lucky to have been to Melbourne earlier in the year and we had checked out transport options. An American couple on our dining table had asked about things to do in Melbourne and we said we would get them started off. So armed with the local electronic transport ticket (we already had one) we headed off on the tram. We thought it would be busy but it seemed lots of people had seen the bus closer to the ship and decided to take that rather than walk the extra distance to pick up the tram.
After pointing them in the right direction the American couple headed off in one direction and we headed off in another. We walked up to the Queen Victoria Markets where we had coffee after wandering around. Then we walked along to Melbourne Gaol. This had been a trip of gaols!!!!
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| Enjoying a Sicilian doughnut in the markets |
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| Acting up in the Lock-Up Tour |
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| Inside the Melbourne Gaol |
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| The old Police Station which housed the lock-up. Across the road from the now also replaced Russell Street police station |
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| Some grim reminders of conditions in days past |
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| There is some fantastic graffiti art in and around Flinders Lane |
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| All artists are very respectful of other's work, it's now becoming hard to find a space |
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| Looking down Flinders Street from Federation Square to the famous station |
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| A pause for ice cream on Southbank presents a colourful photo opportunity looking back towards Flinders St Station |
Two more days sailing across Bass Straight towards New Zealand. Seas still calm - amazing.
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| Cruising through Bass Strait in sight of Tasmania |
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| One of the most cute 'towel animals' to be left for us at turn down |
We cruised into Milford Sound and were greeted by clear blue skies and very mild weather - wonderful. I'll let the pictures tell the tale.
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| Early morning, first sight of New Zealand |
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| Heading in to Milford Sound, passing a Real Journeys ship which we have been on before |
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| Some whispy cloud hugs the sides of the Sound, but otherwise clear blue sky |
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| Picture postcard perfect shots of Mitre Peak |
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| Having fun with different camera settings of the same shot |
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| The ship gently pushed up towards the waterfall |
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| Some passengers chose to disembark on a ship's excursion taking them overnight across the South Island to meet up with the ship again in Dunedin |
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| Later in the day travelling through Doubtful Sound and Dusky South the weather warmed up |
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| Having some fun with a neighbour |
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Today we were booked on the train trip up Tairei Gorge. We had been to Dunedin on a previous driving holiday but did not do the train on that occasion. Once again we were amazed that the weather was so lovely. I took dozens of photographs, none of which really do justice to the picturesque journey. Our carriage attendants (volunteers for the train company) were so attentive. This is a trip I can recommend. We had paid the extra money to take the tour provided by the ship which, whilst very expensive and far more than if we had booked independently, was so much more for the convenience than anything and we felt it was worth it.
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| Overlooking Port Chalmers |
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| Lots of wonderful bridges crossing the Tairei Gorge |
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| We were in this rail car - a 100 years old and still going strong |
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| The engines were pulling 13 carriages |
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| The gorse, although an introduced species which has taken hold, is spectacular at this time of year |
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| Crossing a bridge and entering a tunnel |
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| Our second stop before returning to Dunedin |
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| A lovely picture taken by a fellow passenger |
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| A rail truck which came to grief still lies down in the gorge |
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| The beautiful Dunedin Railway Station |
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| Exquisite mosaic entrance hall |
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| and stained glass too |
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| A slightly different view of our ship in Port Chalmers |
Nov 21
Today we were tendered in to the small town of Akaroa. There was another ship in the harbour so it was very congested getting passengers ashore and we had quite a wait. However, as we had been there before there was no rush. Some other passengers from England who we had met during the cruise joined us for a walk up behind the town, something which I had found online before leaving. It was only a short walk and not too steep and was well worth it.
Afterwards we walked back into town and had lunch at a waterfront restaurant/bar which had been recommended and we had a superb fish and chip lunch. Ian and I shared the meal because it was so huge. Fortunately, we had seen it being delivered to another table.
After lunch we walked to the far end of the town just to take a look then we returned to the ship just as the weather started to change. By the time we were safely back on board the clouds rolled in and so did the rain, but we had had a beautiful day.
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| Two ships in Akaroa Harbour, ours and Celebrity Solstice |
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| We took them for a walk up above the town. Perhaps not their first choice of what to do but they enjoyed it |
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| Historic lighthouse removed from its original position at the harbour entrance |
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| The English were feeling right at home |
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| Our lunch spot |
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| Weather starting to come in |
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| Never know who may be browsing the shops |
Wellington was our port today and we had loads of time so Ian and I headed off to tick off some more boxes.
The weather was indifferent, but the sun was promising to show and by the time we reached the Te Papa Museum the clouds had dispersed.
The museum was huge and there was no way we would be able to see everything so we decided to pay to visit the Aztec Exhibition which was there at the time, an opportunity not to be missed, and just visit the Maori section of the main part of the museum. As with most museums you could spend hours browsing but the Aztec Exhibition was well worth it. No photography allowed unfortunately, but it is amazing what history and relics have been collected over the centuries.
After having some lunch in a pub (not so much a cafe city as a pub town) we walked back towards the cable car which takes you up above the city and to the botanical gardens. The route back down takes visitors through the best areas of the gardens which were very lovely. We ended up at the rose garden, which unfortunately were just between flushes so were not at their superb best, but were lovely nonetheless. We had some refreshments before heading back to the ship past the New Zealand seat of government/parliament building (known as the beehive for obvious reasons) which is still showing signs of the damage sustained during an earthquake earlier in the year.
We were glad to get back to the ship and after so much walking did not entertain the idea of a return trip out into the city despite our 11pm departure.
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| Parliament (the Beehive) still showing signs of the earthquake damage from earlier in the year |
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| Part of Wellington's busy waterfront |
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| Te Papa Museum |
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| A quirky bridge across the waterfront freeway |
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| Walking to the main city square |
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| A clever sculpture in the square |
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| A common symbol in New Zealand representing the tree fern New Zealand is so proud of |
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| Spring plantings just starting to show their splendour |
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| The rose garden was beautiful |
Overnight we cruised across the Cook Strait (again very calm) and made our way into Picton carefully navigating the Queen Charlotte Sound. We knew we would be able to take in the views as we were leaving early afternoon so did not need to get up early to see us come in and dock, as many people do.
Again I had found a local scenic walk in Picton before leaving for the cruise and we also found a local volunteer guide who was greeting us when we arrived in town, who helped us with the route. The weather was still being very kind and we headed off as early as we could.
At some point along the walk my back started telling me that I'd had enough, so it was lucky that we had no more ports and I could rest for a couple of days. A good lesson though that perhaps we need to be a little less active when we have several ports in a row.
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| Picton is a pretty town |
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| Hot after our walk |
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| Radiance of the Seas moored in Shakespeare Bay |
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| Edwin Fox Museum |
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| An area is set up to show how conditions were for convicts |
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| Just casting off from Shakespeare Bay |
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| This boat was having some fun in our wake leaving Picton |
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| Lovely vistas leaving Queen Charlotte Sound |
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| Last night in the dining room, time for crew appreciation |
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| Return to Sydney, the familiar North Head |
We returned to dock in Sydney after only the second time on the whole trip when the seas were less than flat. But we didn't mind. It's always fun watching others who have become complacent about the ease of getting about the ship wandering 'off course' as the ship rolls.
We are also becoming blaze about sailing into our beautiful city. I did, however, think of taking a couple of shots from our balcony once we had docked.
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| Rounding Bradley's Head, mid harbour |
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| The Manly Ferry |
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| Leaving Port Hedland |
