Day 3 Wednesday

Our second full day aboard. So far the seas have been very kind ( or so they tell me) but of course someone like me still feels queasy on and off.

We just took it very easy again. Firstly we had Brekky in the restaurant with Jim and Bev and Julie and Peter from our village as it is Peter's 70th birthday. Today was also the main Outlet Sale where there was lots of "stuff" for sale from handbags, shirts, dresses and jewellery but nothing that caught our attention. There was also a fruit and veggie carving demo which attracted a lot of attention. We joined Geoff and Debbie for a light lunch out on deck and later went to the wooden horse races where Eric came out a whole $1 ahead!

Tonight was our first Formal Dinner and it was great to see everyone dressed in their finery. Once again we had our photos taken so that will be interesting to see tomorrow. The show in the Princess Theatre was titled Soul Music and was a very lively, energetic show with music and dancing. The theatre is packed each night and we have been having 3 shows as the ship is at capacity. After the show we caught up with Bill and Margaret and listened to the band in the Wheelhouse Bar which was very loud so moved to the Vista Lounge for the" finish the lyrics ". After that we retired to our Stateroom and moved our watches forward one hour for the third night in a row,

Day 2 Tuesday

Today was a bit of a discovery time to see where the different venues are situated and how best to access same. Of course, with my sense of direction I will still be floundering around on the last day. 

We went to Brekky and then back to our room. I felt queasy so lay down and dozed for a couple of hours till Bev woke me and then we went for a 4 lap walk around Promenade Deck which felt good.

This afternoon seems much calmer. The latest weird idea for sea sickness is to wear a bandaid over your belly button!!!!! Anyway I am willing to try it as others are too. Would that be a Furphy or not? The so called solution came from the Medical Centre! Do you think they may have an excess of bandaids on board and they are trying to clear same? We'll see!

I must say it is lovely to know so many of our fellow travellers - about 60 I would say so far. There is always someone to catch up with for a chat etc.

We have no complaints about the meals or anything  else on board so it is all hunky dory so far. I guess it may be different Thursday when all these wheelchair people are trying to disembark for tours. We haven't booked anything and will just go with the flow.

Day One New Zealand Cruise

Well, here we are enjoying a coffee waiting for "Margaret's Taxi" to arrive in an hour to whisk us off to Portside to board the Sea Princess for our 14day cruise around N Z. We are hoping it will not be overhot waiting for check in in the big tin shed. However, the temp is supposed to be around 36 deg so I guess it could be a bit uncomfortable. Those who are so inclined could jump in the pool when they board couldn't they?

New Zealand Cruise

On Monday 27th October 2014 we will be boarding the " Sea Princess " in Brisbane for a 14 day cruise to New Zealand and return. We will be travelling with a group of 40 people who are mainly from our Motorhome Chapter, Logan and Moreton Ramblers so will have plenty of company on board. 

32nd Day - Vancouver- Los Angeles - Brisbane

Nearly Home - After 10 separate flights and 2 cruises over the last 5 weeks, we are now sitting in the boarding lounge at LA Airport awaiting our final boarding for Brisbane. The boarding at Vancouver was a breeze and the cleanest airport we have struck. When we arrived here at LA, we then got on a bus which shuttled us to Terminal 4 where we walked for about 15 minutes to try and find our next boarding point. We eventually found it after asking a couple of times and had to go into the Arrivals Terminal and take a lift to the 3rd floor, but no signage outside as a guide. Then we had to line up to go thru security again- emptying out every pocket,taking off jackets,shoes and belt being x- rayed etc. Oh, the joys of flying and finding ones way through all these terminals! After all that we then had to find our boarding gate by walking another long distance. We eventually got here with about 90 minutes to spare, so it was just as well we had plenty of time. All is going well now and our aircraft ( Qantas ) is apparently on time. This now concludes our final Blog for this trip. Hope the Blog has kept you up to date with our itinerary.

31st Day - Vancouver

Well it is 8.45pm and the sun hasn't set yet and it is a perfectly beautiful evening. We have just returned from visiting friends Tom and Joan Hampton along with Joan's Mum, Lillian who is 99yrs old. Her mobility is not the best, especially as the nerves in her leg have been damaged by a bout of shingles. Note to self - make sure to get script for vaccine when we get home. However, her brain is pretty sharp so that is good and her eyesight is fine too - no glasses. Tom and Joan picked us up at the hotel at 11am and took us to their home for lunch and then they went and brought Lillian over from her respite place which happens to be only 100mts from their house. The afternoon was spent chatting and then we went to the local hotel, The Black Bear for dinner and that was only 200mts away. After, we walked back to respite (Lillian in her wheelchair) so Joan could settle Lillian and then they drove us back to our hotel. All in all it was a really lovely day catching up after 11years. Tom and Joan had made the effort to drive back from their Green Lake house (5 1/2hour drive) to meet up and I guess to see how Lillian was coping in the facility.
Well it is to bed now and think about the packing to be done tomorrow (for the last time) which will be good. We will go to airport about 2.00pm and our flight from Vancouver to Los Angeles departs at 5.45 and will be about 3 hours . We then have 3 hours in LA to get to the international terminal then another 15 odd hours before home so no doubt we will be very tired and not looking forward to it.

30th Day - Vancouver

Up at 4.15am for cab to airport at 5am -$35. This hotel advertises as an airport hotel and yet it still took us another 20 mins to terminal - false advertising I say. Then of course you line up here and told to go somewhere else and get in another queue and then take off your shoes and belt etc to go through scanners. Only 2 more airports to go through all the rigmarole. We took off pretty much on time and luckily I checked with hostess if there would be a time change between Montreal and Calgary and had to put our watches back 2 hours. This meant as we landed on one aircraft our next flt was boarding so no time to dawdle. Then the next flt we put time back another hour so we feel that we are going to meet ourselves somewhere along the way. This meant after travelling 41/2 hours on first flt and 1 1/2 pm second, we arrived in Vancouver at 10.30am - very confusing. There are no shuttle buses from airport - only trains - so we took another cab $35 to hotel.
Our second flt from Calgary to Vancouver was just magical looking down onto the snow capped Rockies - a rare treat. And we could see a heavily snow covered Mt Robson without any cloud on top. How's that?
We are now sitting in a lovely hotel/beer garden enjoying Pizza and beer (Eric) waiting for our room to be ready.Later...........Checked into our room at 2.00pm and went straight to bed for a couple of hours. Walked a few blocks and went to church . Arrived there at 5.30 but missed half of service as it had started at 5.00pm. After that we walked back down Granville St.which was very busy as some of shops stay open till 8.00 on Sunday night. At our Comfort Inn just off Granville St there is an Irish Pub called Doolins , so had fish and chips. There was a crowd there as Pub Bingo ( whatever that is ) was just starting up, so had to sit on stools at the bar and eat.