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Australia 2024

sierpnia - listopada 2024
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark and J9
An extraordinarily beautiful country that exceeded all expectations. Made all the more special for having the opportunity to reconnect w/ our friends Sue, Gael & Scott; as well as spend some time w/ new friends Janet and Simon. Czytaj więcej
  • Janine Westlund
  • Mark and J9

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  • Australia 2024
    The red/blue bus paths --- we got around a sizeable part of it for our first day!Bondi Beach (pron: BOND eye)It's a little cold this time of year for the surfers (August is winter for Australia)Happy to see public tennis courts!Sydney has tons of harbors with various water recreational activitiesSwitching between the Red and Blue busses, we sent our nephew Roscoe a happy birthday drinkSydney has some really interesting architecture

    Afternoon Hop Hop Off Bus around Sydney

    9 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F

    We arrived around 7a in the morning, we were able to check into our Hotel around 9a, grab breakfast and then jumped on both the Red- and Blue-line Buses of the Hop On and Off service to get a feel of the city. We combined the bus ticket with a ferry ride (that we used the following day). Since the 24 hour ticket started at noon, this was a fantastic way to start the trip. It's fun to see folks playing tennis, surfing and simply enjoying the city. Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    Took the Hop On Hop Off ferry in the Sydney Harbor.It was great to see the iconic Sydney Opera House in person!...not to mention the Sydney Harbor Bridge, the site of New Years celebrations!Circular Quay: one of the busiest ferry harbors in the world.A stunning skyline!Downtown Manly --- looks a lot like Lake Geneva, WIVball on the beach, what's not to like 😉Start of the walking trailOur first iguana of the tripExploring the paths within Sydney Harbor National ParkPath lookout: Sailing in North Harbor w/ a view of Sydney in the backgroundMore panoramic perspectiveViews from North Head . . . the end of the trail (for us)The nice thing the hike, we jumped on a Bus to return to town instead of this 4 mile to get here.

    Manly Australia

    10 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    Took the Hop On Hop Off ferry in the Sydney Harbor.

    After watching lots of sailing events and New Years celebrations in the Sydney Harbor over the years, it was a wonderful experience to see what it looks like in person.

    After a few stops, we got off the ferry at Manly Wharf. It seemed like we were in California: waterfront shops, vball on the beach, walking trails next to the beach and a beautiful walking trail with views of Sidney.
    The ferry drop-off was on the harbor-side of Manly; we walked to the beach side and started the coastal walk toward the Sydney Harbor National Park. We covered the bulk of the peninsula exploring the Barracks Precinct (an historic Australian Army site), North Fort (a remnant military complex, part of a defense system that spanned 300km of coastline during WWII), and many panoramic lookouts ending our journey at North Head which had spectacular vistas.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    This is the Opera House as we are approaching it from Circular Quay.A view of the Sydney Bridge from inside the Opera House.There are outdoor patios for theater-going patrons to enjoy during intermissions:You can watch as folks climb OVER the bridge -- this experience was A$200 (~USD$120 per person)In the front of the buildingThe tour takes you between the main performing stages, also called the "cleavage". 🙄Here you can see the individual tiles that make up that magnificent 'shell-like' facade.View of the main intermission bar/patio area....The interior entrance to the main concert hall (this is where we saw the Pink Floyd performance)Inside the main concert hall. The performance was incredible.....the sound was fantastic!!!Play the videoLast song they had local kids join them

    Sydney Opera House and show

    11 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F

    J9 started the day early with a workout at our hotel gym which is open 24 hours a day. When she returned, we went to breakfast where we spent some time researching information on creating blogs. (every day is a school day 😀) Then we walked to the Sydney Opera House where we had a tour scheduled at noon to learn about the facility and the current shows available. The creation of the Opera House is quite interesting:
    The design was an international competition: 233 designs were submitted from 28 countries.
    Danish architect Jørn Utzon was the winning architect behind the Opera House project.
    The original cost estimate (in 1959) to build it was US$7M
    Construction was expected to take 4 years; it took 14. This was due to a combination of creative- and political-disagreements combined with the complexity of design and structural solutions.
    There are more than 1 million roof tiles over the structure; the tiles were made in Sweden!
    The Opera House was (finally) opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1973
    The Opera House is not just one but actually six performing arts venues: the main concert hall (2,679 seats), the Joan Sutherland theater (1,507 seats), the Drama theater (544 seats) and the Playhouse (398 seats). There's also a studio theater with 280 seats. (Our tour only took us through the main and Sutherland venues.)
    Arnold Schwarzenegger won his final Mr Olympia body building title in 1980 at the Concert Hall
    After the tour, we looked at the schedule to see what/who was playing. We were told there was a possibility that some performances might be discounted if we presented our tour tickets. Fortunately the performance we wanted to see (Australian Pink Floyd) fell into this benefit! For a tribute band, the show was incredible experience with Pink Floyd's music resonating beautifully in the iconic venue, leaving us impressed by the wonderful sound quality at the Sydney Opera House.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    Market and Art fare in Rocks area
    Lunch viewLunchOfficial bridge climbing outfitOfficial photo backdrop, if you walked on top of the bridgeWe took the regular pedestrian path across the bridge.Looking at the market from the bridgeZoo entranceIt seems the Koala sleeps 18-20 hours a day.The zoo has a nice bird area

    Morning walk over the Bridge; Zoo visit

    18 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    J9's making me feel like a slug as she made it to the gym again today. After a casual breakfast, Mark reviewed Sydney highlights and it seems we missed walking the Sydney Bridge and visiting the zoo. With this now as a plan we started our walk to the bridge and wandered through The Rocks area which was in full swing of market and art fare. As with all art fairs, we found a fun local lunch -- but here it's kangaroo, crocodile and lamb.

    FYI We only walked on the birdge path, not over the bridge and saved $400 Australian dollars (not to mention avoiding a bit of height-squeamishness on J9's part) by walking the basic (street-level) bridge path.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    The skyline in Sydney almost are as good as the Chicago skyline.Our ship sailed right past the Opera houseThe Sydney Opera House is even more beautiful at night as compared to the day.On the opposite side of the ship was the Sydney Bridge.Goodbye Sydney!

    Goodbye Sydney, Hello Cruise ship

    19 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F

    It's hard to say goodbye to our Hotel with its Executive Lounge breakfast buffet, afternoon buffet with happy hours and friendly staff. Below is our hotel coffee maker; what's not to like about 9 different types of coffee? Somehow I don't think the cruise ship will measure up. Another 1st world problem :)

    Obtained some additional Australian currency and found a currency exchange rate was .70 as compared to a ATM machine an .76. Yes the exchange rate on the internet is .64, so we feel a little violated. The misc fees are horrible, next time will investigate get currency at a local bank at home.

    Checked into our Princess Cruise ship and found their latest software revolutionary. If you order a drink using their application, they will deliver it to you anywhere on the boat!
    Our port departure was delayed a bit: we were told we have to wait for the ferry service to die down before we can leave our dock. There was a farewell party on the outside pool area which was a little chilly, so we instead found a nice table at the inside pool.     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024

    Day at Sea

    20 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F

    Today's agenda for a day at sea --- normal ship stuff: wake up, work out, breakfast, nap, lunch, laundry, check out a few on-board activities, dinner and then watch a live show at 8pm and another at 9pm. (The dancers and singers at the 9pm were really very good.)

    So far the only 'disappointment' is that the ship does not have a "Crows' Nest"-type bar: this is a lounge that (on Holland ships) is located in the front top floor of the ship. Maybe we don't want to see where we're going even WITH alcohol in hand?

    This ship's application has an interesting mobile application feature: you can find your shipmate anywhere they are on the ship by searching on the app. Hmm.... is that a good or bad thing? 😀😀     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    Arrived a little late to the showWe passed on line dancing lessons.

    Cruising to Cairns

    22–23 sie 2024, Australia ⋅ 🌬 77 °F

    Not much to report on sea days. Today we passed this tiny island called Willis Island. It has a population of 4.
    Yes, you read that right: 4. It's a meteorological station and the team rotates every 6 months.

    As for the evenings, when you get to a show late you get the box seats with a wonderful view. Lol

    One nice thing about days at sea, there is no excuse not to get a full work out in :)     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    Entering the port
    With all the cameras looks like a charterWith the help of a tugboat they turned the ship around 180 degrees!!What was cool is all the vehicles were running !The fees to ride in an assortment of actual WWII vehicles ... how cool is this?!They truly had an assortment of all the WWII tanks, jeeps, and transport vehicles.If your on a budget, you can get a ride in a jeep. It felt like hoggens harrows show.This German tank was re assembled from the remains of 6 destroyed tanks.We left and went further north and checked out some local beachesThe weather was nice, but super windy; so it was a blessing we weren't able to do a Reef tour today.The harbor near our cruise ship was like every other harbor, making you want to get a boat.We returned to the ship for the folklore show by a local band.Latter that night, they had a fantastic singer

    Cairns Australia

    24 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    After 2 days at sea we arrive at Cairns at 11am, the home of the Great Barrier Reef. We're ~1,500 miles north of Sydney, & ~1,000 miles north of Brisbane. Therefore the Australian winter weather that was 55 to 70 degrees in Sydney changed to 65 to 80 degrees weather here.

    Pulling into the narrow Cairns Harbor was a pretty interesting experience. With the help of a tugboat they turned the ship around 180 degrees!! It felt like we occupied 90% of the width of the channel; & we had a full land-based audience watching the 'spectacle'!

    At first we couldn't figure out why we didn't arrive/dock until 11am: that ruled out any Great Barrier Reef tours or going on the Rail and Cable car ride in the mountains. However we later learned it was tide-driven -- there was no way a boat our size w/h been able to enter the harbor until the tide rose sufficiently.
    Every day's a school day....

    Luckily for us we attended the Cairns ship presentation and were told about the local Armory. What's better is that this weekend they were having the live 'show' where they pulled out a number of tanks and had 'rides' in them with a ticket purchase. With 1-Sept being Fathers' Day in Australia, there were plenty of tickets sold and thus opportunities to see these tanks actually MOVE. So we rented a vehicle and off we went to the armory.

    Afterwards we went to a local beach, then walked on the boardwalk back to our ship for a folklore show by a local band, followed by a fantastic singer.

    After a full day, no light piano bar tonight :)     Czytaj więcej

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  • Australia 2024
    Very few ships in the area
    Aug 26 locationMain TheatreThe Universe LoungeLido Pool ( Movie under the stairs )Explorers LoungeCrooners Bar (Piano Bar)

    Three Days at Sea

    25–27 sie 2024, Arafura Sea ⋅ 🌬 81 °F

    As we cruise to Darwin, thought I would show the multiple entertainment rooms throughout the ship.

    With over 5 performance rooms, after 5pm there is always a show to see.

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  • Australia 2024
    Route to the croc locationAustralia is the land of mud flaps, air intake and traction boards.So what's a traction board?I had to google what a sand ladder wasCrocs were not hard to find.TURN UP THE SOUND FOR THE VIDEOCroc trap to control the populationA fun Australian BarFun Bar Rules!Bus is leaving and were still sanding. lolMore bombs were dropped on Darwin than Pearl Harbor!We did jump off one stop early at the water front for a few beers and (incredible!) oysters.These were SO GOOD!Later that night we checked out multiple entertainers performing on the boat.Ending our night where guitar-Matt replaced the normal piano player. He was awesome.

    Darwin Australia

    28 sierpnia 2024, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F

    NOTE: Turn up the volume for the croc video! The SNAP of its jaws is just creepy!

    Yes, Darwin, Australia was named after Charles Darwin. Instead of evaluating evolution we decided to go on the Jumping Croc outing followed by a Hop On Hop Off Bus in Darwin.

    We learned Darwin (the city) was attacked on Feb 19th 1942 (10 weeks after Pearl Harbor ) by the same Japanese fleet that attacked Pearl harbor. They dropped a lot more bombs on Darwin than Pearl Harbor and the area was devastated.

    Going back to the tour, like other cruises we found you can purchase an excursion privately for half the price of the cruise ship offering.

    The tour provider was ~20 minutes late, but the ship was in port all day, so we didn't have any time concerns. The driver was both informative and funny going to and from the location. We're told a good percentage of the roads are flooded during the wet season, so we're happy to be here during the dry season.

    Moving on, we boarded a pontoon boat that looked like it was from a Mad Max movie. It has a metal frame around the boat for our protection. We were told not to hang anything over the sides; as evidenced by the video, that is one warning not to be taken lightly.

    We saw a lot of crocs including the alfa male named Brutus. Seems males are considerably longer than females and, aside from sheer size, their behavior is what helps you know gender (b/c who would try to look underneath!)

    Our guide did a great job making them jump. He showed us a nasty croc scar on his right arm that he got after a croc pulled him into the water years ago. 😳

    On the way back we drove to Fogg Dam -- it's a huge reserve, but they try to keep the croc population controlled by trying to trap & relocate them from the area. We're told 200 to 300 crocs make their way back to Darwin and have to be trapped and returned to the wild.

    Then we hopped on a Hop On Hop Off Bus, but unlike other tours, near then end of the trip they dropped us off at a bar on the water with a gift shop.     Czytaj więcej

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