Home and Loving It...

 Sunday, March 8. Some cloud with sun. 11 C.

A bit of a mixed sleep because of the long day, [exactly 24 hours from the time we walked off the ship till we walked in our home.] Only 13 1/2  hours was actually flying time. The rest was waiting and trying to be comfortable in situations that were impossible to be comfortable in.

The easiest and longest part of the day was in our seats in the plane. The seats are what they call 'Lay Flat'. When they know that you are calling it quits for the day, they actually roll out a nice clean Duvet Cover that very nicely fits over the headrest, back, seat and leg length, that is when the seat is fully extended to 'Flat'. You can get in the 'bed' and lay down flat then pull over the blanket, put on your mask and insert ear plugs and then nod off! You are hardly visible from the very few people walking by. It worked for me, I figured that I got a good seven or eight hours of haf decent sleep. It was the best sleep ever on a plane. Fellette, not so good but then she did not have two glasses of wine before! It was a fine enough bed for me, the only thing was that it was like sleeping in a Fox Hole or Slit Trench that was about 23 inches wide!, in your clothes, They offered pyjamas, which I took, but did not use.]

The trip itself, was not a good one; far, far too long for me and I have lost my comfort-zone on cruises methinks. Never say never but not likely. We would like to get away for something, somewhere, seeing something simple and short just to know we are alive.

Jeanette and Craig came for and bought dinner with them tonight, nice, you can't beat a casual easy dinner with Adult Children.

Great Grandson Miles is two today where both Haley's and Nathan's parents will be there. We opted out as we can almost guarantee that we are going to fade early tonight and we don't need a drive home in the dark.

This ends my Travel Blog folks, not what I expected but I am happy with the outcome: we are home and ready to start working on a new vegetable garden and another year of doing what we love! Thanks for coming along on the ride!

Doug and Fellette

Great Day.

The garlic is up, let's hope there is no hard frost in the next couple of weeks, as is in the forecast!

Peach Blossoms are coming now.

Home...

Sunday, March 8. Lovely day. Overcast. 12 C.

We made it home safely, there is no place like it!

Details tomorrow.

A Long Day.

Up, Up and Away...

Saturday, March 7. 25 C.

Well, the sea part of our journey is over. I am writing this on the ship a couple of hours before we leave the ship and go to the airport. Time now is 10:50 am Australian time, 3:50 pm on March 6th west coast time.

The ship is very quiet, most new passengers are quite happy to be settling in and getting any bugs straightened out as hey sail away at 4:30 this afternoon to New Zealand, heading to San Diego.

Today is a bit of  stress for us, it always is when one leaves the protection of the ship, and that is going to happen when we walk down the gangway with too many bags and get into a cab  to the airport. When our bags are checked in, we then sort off come under the wing of Qantas Airlines until we stumble off the Airplane some 24 hours from this writing. [3:30 Saturday afternoon in Vancouver!]

A Very, Very Long Day!

Early in the morning in Sydney Harbour.

Around 1:00 this afternoon, escorted off the ship by our Attendant in The Neptune Lounge, Desiree.

The last of the four pieces of luggage that we hope to see in Vancouver.

Last Sleep Tonight...

Friday, March 6. Beauty day. 26 C.

26 C, degrees [79 F.] is comfortable in any hemisphere and that is what it is here and loving it. We were out on deck earlier than usual if that is possible this morning. It is now considered Autumn here,  [Fall]. 

We are in Sydney now, for two days. Around 300 passengers were off the ship by 9:00 this morning, going either home or continuing their travels to wherever. Another lot of about the same quantity are getting on for the 33 day trip to San Diego before noon today, some will be stragglers and join tomorrow. [In 33 days we hope to have some of the vegetables in and beginning to grow.]

We are docked across from the Sydney Opera House, about 300 yards/meters across from us. It is a beehive of activity, both on land and in that tiny harbour. There are some wide variety of ferries, scurrying around like ants in what looks like a shambles but is in fact a well coordinated scheduling arrangement between the ferries; like bumble bees on a hollyhock, but never bumping into each another! 

Fellette and I have been here several times, before so we excused ourselves from the hustle bustle of this interesting but very large city and prepared ourselves for the longest airplane journey we have ever been on in or lives tomorrow, 14 hours.

Our minds are already home as we are getting up to date with happenings at home that will very, very soon, be part of.

A Wonderful Day!

Coffee on deck at 5:30. The harbour coming to life.

It gets to be a very busy place quickly.

A great selection of sizes of boats in the Ferry Fleet, nine to be exact.

We shuffled our bags around a bit today. Fortunately, we will not need to handle these five. They will stay where they are, in our stateroom, for the balance of the intended cruise of 93 days, then Luggage Forward will bring them home to us in April

Port Arthur, Tasmania...

Wednesday, March 4. Lovely day. 23 C.

Not a good day for either of as as the packing is quite complicated for a variety of reasons. First, the majority of the cases and our clothing is staying on the ship until this ship docks in San Diego April 7 when our 93 day cruise ends. I complicated things by pulling the pin after 64 days, in Sydney on our second day there. That is this Saturday, when we fly home.

In that luggage, there cannot be any liquid or creams. On the plane, in our bags we have as carry-ons any liquids cannot be over the tiny 100ml size. We can however have liquids and creams as 'checked luggage' on the plane with us. That is the only way we can get some stuff home, sad to say.

It makes for an awkward trip on Saturday afternoon when we leave the ship with 'too much damn luggage'. It will also be the same at Vancouver until we are in Wally's hands. Small price to pay I would say. It was a tough day, mostly for Fellette, as she does a terrific job of packing but it got a bit too complicated today methinks! Maybe our age has something to do with it all. Ya think?

We went out for dinner tonight with an interesting Canadian couple from Ontario. There names are, oddly enough, Jim and Gail, the same as our good sailing friends for over 20 years!

To me, the trip is over, except we are not yet home, we still have a few bumps to go yet.

Often, or usually at the end of a long cruise, I used to get rather mixed feelings about homecoming or, coming home. Not so this time! It can't come soon enough. This I know is age-related. Sorry, nobody who has not reached 90 and has not walked in my shoes  for 90 years would ever be able to understand it!

Three more sleeps.

A Very Draining But Good Day.

Off Port Arthur this morning.

The original Prison, some many, many years later. Sorry, been there done that, a few times.

10 hours of packing today!

All day long!

Dinner with Jim and Gail last night. A good ending to the day, and cruise.

Hobart Tasmania...

Tuesday, March 3. Blue sky. 21 C.

Hobart is closer to Antartica than it is to Darwin on the top of Australia. 

A bit of a rocky night earlier, then calm as we entered the long entranceway to Hobart Port. Hobart is a city, no doubts about that. First of all you need to look at a map or know where Tasmania is. It is at the bottom right side, [SE Corner] of Australia and it that large island at the bottom. Population is about 250,000.

Hobart is Australia's second oldest Capital, [after Sydney], founded in 1804 as a British Penal Colony. Many of the earlier buildings are still standing and many of those are in use today. They were built by the convicts themselves, some of whom were masons, and are beautiful specimens of Georgian Architecture. No doubt those who were masons taught other unskilled convicts the trade, and on and on it went.

Tasmania also has the world's oldest trees, the Huon Pine. A 60 foot Huon Pine tree can be thousands of years old. Tasmania is an interesting place to visit, we first came here in 1999. It is the home of The Tasmanian Devil, a rather elusive, ugly looking badger-like creature with an evil sounding shriek, hence the name.

Fellette and I were up around 4:00 am this morning. I was expecting a reply from our travel agent in Vancouver to my enquiry about flying us out at Sydney rather than spend another 36 days as we had planned to do. We had some complicated exchanges and finally we came up with a plan that is now confirmed.

 

We fly out of Sydney this Saturday at 8:30 pm, and land in Vancouver, the same day at 3:30 pm, five hours earlier than when we left, thanks to the dateline. It is a killer flight, 14 hours. We are flying Business Class so the price is also a killer. Such is the price of keeping harmony in our house. My Bad!

A very short trip to Port Arthur, also Tasmania, overnight.  Ship departs Hobart at 10:30 pm tonight.

We will start packing tomorrow sometime. 

Four more sleeps!

An Interesting Day.

View from the ship.

All bundled up with our heaviest sweaters for the apparent cold.

Tasmanian Devil home in a wildlife park. They are inclined to be difficult to find. 2023.

This Kangaroo is fed by us tourists at a wildlife park. They rotate the Kangaroos as they get fat and lazy, as you can see. 2023.

Oversize Bronze Tasmanian Devils, these you can pet. 2023

A lazy Kangaroo, overfed. 2023 

A Kiwi bird. 2023

At Sea on The Way to Tasmania...

Monday, March 2. Rain, fog. 18 C.

A rocking and rolling journey since we left Melbourne yesterday. That was fine since we were basically worn out. As a result of both of those factors we were perfectly fine with staying in bed somewhat later. 

We have a Port tomorrow and the next day, in Tasmania; Hobart and Port Arthur. Again, we were here three years ago with longtime cruising mates, Jim and Gail. These are not large cities or places, Hobart is a small city, Port Arthur is more about the prisons and convict life.

Fellette and I have been going over the itinerary for the remainder of the cruise, [35 days]. We are  thinking that we would have been better to call the cruise endening in Sydney, rather than San Diego.

The rest of the cruise, from Sydney, where we are is a few day has 18 Sea Days and a lot of ports we have already visited, so we are doing some serious thinking about shortening the trip by flying from Sydney in a few days, rather than flying from San Diego in 35 days.

Stay tuned.

A Fond Farewell, My Friend...

Sunday, March 1. Lovely Day. 26 C.

The day went as planned. Lyn picked us up at the Port Gate in her snappy new Red Mazda. Within 1/2 hour we were sitting in Keith and Jenny's living room as if we saw them last month instead of six years ago.

Lyn had picked up some appropriate Australian pastries and sandwiches for those so inclined. The pastries were of a common kind in Australia but not in North America The conversation, although short, was lively. The Stafford's had met Lyn some time ago, twice in fact I believe and is a good mixer, so the time was easy. 

Before we knew it it was time to let Keith and Jenny get on with their day so we were on our way. Lyn took us on a very long scenic drive around Melbourne where she has basically lived all her life. We also went by Rod and Lyn's earlier home in Melbourne, and the place she worked while living in it. We had a very pleasant time with Lyn, who drove 1 1/2 hours each way today to do this for us today. Thank you Lyn!

We ended up at a quaintsy little shop where Lyn and I had milkshakes and Fellette had a Ginger Ale and something else that was very refreshing. I only mention this to let you know that things are similar but different here in the Land of Oz.

As we were having Lifeboat Drill near sailing time, it rained for some time but fizzled out as we headed to sea and Tasmania before ending our a Australian part of the cruise in Sydney on Saturday. 

An Excellent Day!

The Pilot got on board at 4:00 am.

Docked, 'Port side to".

Jenny, Fellette and their dog.

Keith in his Library, he says he has read some of the books 12 times, Good man, he knows how to relax!

The four of us.

Goodbye my friend!

Typical Melbournian Older Victorian home.

Same.

Love this!

Us three at the dock, saying goodbye.

So Long for now Lyn, love the car!

Melbourne Tomorrow...

Saturday February 28. Rain, fog.Chilly 18 C.

This morning around 5:00 we were awakened by a thunder and lightning display that took us over an hour to sail through, even the captain said it woke him up. It has rained all day and is rather chilly out. 'Welcome to Melbourne'  The captain mentioned that the weather will not likely to be so bad in Melbourne, Fellette and I have decided that it is a Long Pants Day tomorrow for us.

By the way, the captain is leaving tomorrow. Hopefully the new boy is a bit more socially inclined than the current one.

Tomorrow is a big day for me. We are being squired around tomorrow by our friend Lyn. We met Lyn and husband Rod on the P & O ship Adonia on a World Cruise out of Southampton in 2004. We became close friends and visited them in Australia as they did at our home in Surrey and Langley. Rod passed away last year while at their summer home in Henderson Nevada.

My friend Keith goes back somewhat further. In 1960 I got laid off during my apprenticeship as a compositor typesetter. I decided to take a chance and live my dream of travelling in Europe before I searched out a lady to spend the rest of my life with. On Valentine's Day 1960, I boarded the train in Downtown Vancouver, went right across Canada to St. John New Brunswick. There I boarded the Empress of Britain to Liverpool, then train to London, then train to Nice France where I met up with a family friend, paid him for half his Vespa 125cc Motor Scooter and started my six month trip of 17 countries in Europe.

Along the way we met this tall lanky Aussie, also on a Motor Scooter called Keith. I got along just super with Keith, but my Canadian friend, not so much. We buzzed around Europe for quite some time together, doing 17 countries in total, not all with Keith.We lost Keith in some city in Europe but we had exchanged addresses and when I got home we connected and have been friends for 66 years. Keith and wife  Jenny made it out to our home in Surrey once, maybe half a century ago. Fellette and I have visited Australia many times by ship and land. However I think we have only met up with Keith and wife, Jenny about six times in those 66 years. Methinks tomorrow will be the last time these two old guys see each other, sad to say. Bittersweet.

A Good Day.

Keith and Doug, Easter Sunday Lunch, 1960, at an under-road crossing, south of Rome if I recall.

Us two after a swim at Lerici, Italy, Youth Hostel, spring 1960. Oh to be that young again!

On Board , Off of Kangaroo Island...

Friday February 27.  Sunny. 24 C.

A reasonably calm night and very pleasant out today. Fellette and I decided to stay aboard today because this is a Tender Port. The ship idled a few hundred yards off the Island and they just keep that distance without an anchor. Kangaroo Island has an interesting history.

10,000 years ago  it was connected to Australia, but the the Ice Age ice melted and it is now an island. Fellette and I were here some time prior to 2007 while touring Australia. We came here from Adelaide where were staying at a hotel. We took a side trip to Kangaroo island from Adelaide via a Tour that offered the Ferry ride to Kangaroo Island and accommodation on the island and a thorough tour of it three days total I believe. We were also here three years ago, almost to the day.

There has been a problem keeping the island viable as a stand alone community for many, many years. After WW l, they offered the returning veterans free sizeable plots of land to encourage the expansion of population, same after WW ll. However, there is no meaningful way to keep the island going, other than tourism. So, they do their best to make things interesting here, but in reality, what is unique about this place, in my humble opinion, is that here you can just witness, first hand, an Island dying because there is nothing here to keep it going. The odd cruise ship and some tours from Adelaide will not make it, again, this is my humble opinion!

Today, for the first time ever, I am going to post some pictures taken on Kangaroo Island, but not today, but taken February 17, 2023, when we were here last with good friends, Jim and Gail. You will then, possibly, understand why we stayed in the comfort of the ship today.

Tonight we move our clocks forward another one half hour, [thankfully]. That means we will be an even four hours behind west coast time, but that damn day ahead! [I think!]

A Good Day.

Remember, all these photos are from three years ago !

This Park was put in many years ago to create something of interest in the barren scrub environment, that tourists may find interesting. Obviously it worked.

Art In The Bush.

A Metal Owl.

Giant Metal Eggs. And Fellette's lunch!

The Park extends across a ravine.

Part of the Park and surrounds.

I remember Jim and Gail taking a long walk down that beach three years ago. It was hot then as it was today, very hot on land.

This Sky-Link Ferry runs to Kangaroo Island  from Adelaide and possibly from other places along the South Coast of Australia.

This is my new Friend Frank. I met him in the Neptune Lounge today. He was sitting in there, alone, and I asked him why he did not go ashore today. It turns out and he is 92. [I am only 90!] He has also been here before. So, our age led to a lengthy chat about all sorts of things. We did so much comparing and laughing, it was just crazy. Wow, that was great for me I tell you.

A Fantastic Day in Adelaide

Thursday, February 26. Warm. 32 C.

We had a bit of a bumpy night but as we got closer to Adelaide it became smooth as glass. We had a light breakfast in the Neptune Lounge and next thing we knew we were on a coach tour compliments of our Travel Agents group. 

It was six hours, which is a bit long for us, but was very interesting and broken into three main components. The first was a visit to The Aboriginal exhibit in the museum of Adelaide. My initial response was Oh no, here we go with the Aboriginal thing! However, the exhibits were exceptionally well done, as good or better than The UBC Museum of Anthropology. Australia, as I mentioned earlier, has gone through what Canada has in trying to make amends to its native population for the earlier mistreatment of its Natives. Well done indeed.

Next we went to the National Wine Institute of Australia, at the University of Adelaide. There we had a rather intensive session, in detail, of more than the average person needs to know about wine. Then we went and had a detailed sampling of sizeable portions of four wines., two white and two reds. Following that we had a substantial smattering of cheeses and other nibbles, and wine, and called it lunch.

Filled with that, we made the quick transition to the Adelaide Botanical Gardens where we wandered through some interesting areas including the Palm Greenhouse. We have been there before, without the wine beforehand, and spent much more time there. It is beautiful.

We then went back to the ship, rested and got cleaned up, went to dinner in the dining room, then to bed somewhat later. The ship sailed from Adelaide at 10:30 by which time we were sound asleep.

A Wonderful Day!

This is where we are!

Exactly where we are!

Aboriginal Art. Large form!

Typical Australian older architecture style. I love it.

War Memorial in the area.

Yup, wine, big business here!

Hard to figure it out, but racks of wine, seen from above.

Nibbles.

Quince, remember that?

I didn't need that!

A fascinating green-house called The Palm House.