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Australia & New Zealand

February - March 2024
We're taking a 13-day Royal Princess cruise with 18 close friends from our Trilogy, Monarch Dunes pickleball club. James and I are spending our first week in Fiji and Sydney, and when we're done, we're spending an extra week in New Zealand. Read more
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  • Australia & New Zealand
    11
    Day 1

    Team Fiji has arrived!

    February 10 in Fiji ⋅ 🌧 82 °F

    We officially landed at 5:45 AM. We eventually got some sleep in spite of some sick and crying tots. We rested a bit and watched the big game sitting in a beautiful outdoor bar at our hotel with about 40 other guests from around the world 🌎 Afterwards we had a quick shower and we were off to meet Valerie, Colleen and Frank for an evening cultural show. Did you know Fijians used to be cannibals??? Also the men are the rulers of everything but also the only ones who get sacrificed to God's. The women were the only ones allowed in the communal kitchens, and the men were the hunter-gatherers. We saw a beautiful show with local singers and dancers. The fire dancers were our favorite--for many reasons! We all agreed the travels were catching up with us and we are going to sleep well tonight...Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 4

    Fiji day two!

    February 13 in Fiji ⋅ ☁️ 81 °F

    Today we slept in a bit. We managed to make it to the gym in the morning--where I took an outside boxing class. Wow, it was hot! We then took a dip in the infinity pool before we met up with Collen, Valerie, and Frank for a local tour of Fiji. We saw a beautiful Hindu temple, botanical gardens with amazing orchids, and we ended with mud baths and a quick massage. Our driver for the day was Chris and he was very sweet. He was smart and had a kind sole. He invited us to his home if we ever returned. It is easy to see why no one leaves this beautiful island. The locals live amongst all people and all races and religions. They congregate with their mates every night, and it reminds me of back home in Trilogy!
    There are many dogs, horses, and cows everywhere. You have to be very careful driving at night because some are wondering wild and there are no street lights on the roads. We just finished dinner by the pool and we're about done for the day. Tomorrow will be a resort kind of adventure...    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 5–9

    Spa and packing!

    February 14 in Fiji ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    We started the day golfing and ended the day in the spa and later packing. A lot of our crew arrived in Sydney today and the rest of us arrive tomorrow 😀. It has been raining heavily for a few hours and it's a great night to stay indoors and relax. I don't know if you're getting our photos yet, but hopefully I fixed things. Next stop Sydney!Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 6

    Leaving on a jet plane

    February 15 in Fiji ⋅ 🌧 82 °F

    We were up at 4:am this morning so we could leave for the airport by 5:00. After our massage, we both slept really great. It didn't hurt that we had to finish off all our store bought alcohol before we left 😉 Once we got to the airport we easily found our Trilogy mates Australian for friends). It Turned out the Fiji rugby team was also here, and I'm sorry I didn't get a picture with them! You'll have to take my word for it--they were huge! The Fiji team is called Drua and they shocked the rugby world by getting to the semi-finals their first year (2023)! My guess is, the team was heading out to a 2024 pregame.
    Some of my observations about the Fijian culture is they are far more friendly and tolerant than any I've ever met. They treat everyone as their equals, they are incredibly humble, and they are very happy and kind. You are always greeted with a joyous "bula" by everyone you come in contact with. English is the national language, but we were told most villages have their own dialect. It seems no one really leaves the island, and most people have multiple children and large families. The children start school at five years old and they go to school in very clean uniforms. Best I can tell their college is equivalent to our US high school. Most jobs are service oriented, and as you work your way up, you stay until you are at the retirement age of 60. There are many happy cows, horses, and dogs everywhere. Most are wondering in fields and by the sides of the roads. This morning as we drove to the airport in the dark, we suddenly slowed down to avoid cows lounging in the middle of the road!
    Next, we're on a short four hour flight to Sydney, where we'll be for the next three days.
    This is a long post so I'll keep it short now. We made it to Sydney! Another bucket list destination for me. What a change from Fiji! We are settled into a quirky hotel right next to a beautiful park with a cool museum we'll check out tomorrow 😎. It is much cooler here and my traveling sweats have finally come in handy. We're all almost here, which will be fun! We've checked into a local hotel right across the street from Hyde Park. I'm super excited to start our hop on and hop off bus tour tomorrow. The food here so far is fantastic! We're back in a big city with many options--and I love it! When we arrived we started with an Argentinian pub and tonight we're on to Japanese! My kind of city!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 7

    Hop on-Hop off in Sydney

    February 16 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    Today was a fun day. We woke up a little early, and we covered a lot of ground. Sydney is a huge city, and this was a great way to get around. Our hotel is across from a beautiful park but unfortunately not close to our friends. Everyone is here now and we'll hook up with them tomorrow.
    We ended up at the Westfield mall near our hotel. We took an elevator up 83 floors to the highest bar in Sydney. Our days are starting to roll into each other, and things really started to pick up in the big city! We had our first stop at the Sydney Opera House but I guess I didn't get a picture of anything except cocktails 🙃
    We toured the largest fish market I've ever seen and it was amazing! Since we have nowhere to cook the fish we went to a restaurant and had them prepare it. Very cool that you could get fresh seafood cooked to order! I was in heaven! I was amazed they had a Westfields mall! It didn't include a single store I could afford, but there were plenty of people shopping! Oh well...
    Tomorrow we're doing a behind the scenes tour of the local zoo and a hop on and hop off ferry. Then Sunday we board our ship.    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    1
    Day 8

    Our last day in Sydney

    February 17 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F

    This morning we met up with our friend Jonica, and we did the hop on-hop off bay cruise tour. A lot of our group did a walk over the harbor bridge, which looked really cool but very high! We then did a behind the scenes tour of the Torango Zoo, which was super cool too! We had two great tour guides who were very knowledgeable about the local animals. What a treat, a personal tour of the zoo was! We later came back to our room for about 30 minutes before we went back to the circular queue for a walking tour of the Rock neighborhood. What a cool treat! Who knew the Brits shipped off their criminals to Australia in the 1800's! What a cool history! We did a free 90 minute walking tour through the neighborhood given by a local gentleman (kid) named Kieran. We visited many places I would definitely come back to explore again. Our tour guide Kieran was extremely knowledgeable and funny. We all agreed it was a great end to a super fun day. We ended with an Italian dinner in the Rocks neighborhood and later made our way through town on the rail. Sydney was rocking on a Saturday night and it was definitely safe and lively. It was a fast three days, and I would definitely come back!Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    1
    Day 9

    Last day in Sydney!

    February 18 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Hi folks! I'm so thrilled my technical difficulties are now behind me, welcome to our adventure!!! I'm a day behind in posting because boarding a cruise ship can be a bit nuts! We have been traveling for over a week and managed to do laundry at our hotel. It slightly delayed our last days exploring, but it ended up to be very smart because the cruise ship can be crowded.

    Our hotel was next to Chinatown, and I yelped restaurants for lunch. I thought we should try the #1 restaurant called Mr. Wong. After meandering our way through alleys, we found it (thanks Google!). Thankfully, we were third in line because we had no reservations. Who knew they'd be sold out for dim sum on a Sunday! This restaurant was absolutely the most amazing Cantonese food we have ever had! We only had an hour and a half--and we could have been there hours longer! We highly recommend Mr. Wong if you're ever in Sydney! Google it, you won't be disappointed!

    After lunch we picked up our luggage, and we made it to our ship. Wow, what a ship! We met up with everyone via whatsapp (it's a great app for large groups), and we took a few group photos. I'll try and find them for my next post. We didn't haveour luggage, so we bar hopped and had a lovely group dinner. Needless to say, that was it for James and I.

    My reflections of Sydney are that we'd definitely come back! It is a metropolitan city with much to see and do--not unlike San Francisco. It is very clean, beautiful and vast. Our time on board hop on, hop off busses and boats just scratched the surface, and we could easily spend 2 weeks here! Looking back, I'm very sorry I didn't buy some official ugg (cheaper than home for sure!) slippers--oh well.

    My next post will catch you up to today!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    1
    Day 11

    Full on ship experience!

    February 20 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F

    Oh my, things are moving at a lightning pace now that we're on this marvelous ship! It is so large, and we're still today figuring things out! First off, we received amazing advice from a seasoned traveler before we left. I, of course, bought everything she recommended--and we are so organized!

    Our room is great and it's in a convenient location. We have a group whatsapp setup, and that's been fun too! We had a ship day then a day in Melbourne (yesterday). I feel like we're following the Taylor Swift tour. Melbourne holds the distinct award of the largest tour attendance--and after our private city tour I can see why.

    Melbourne was a large metropolitan city with a lot to see. For my Phoenix family, we got to drive on the track for the upcoming grand prix--which apparently kicks off the season. I will definitely be watching ESPN next month! The homes here were the most expensive thus far. I thought California was pricey, but now that I've seen the 10x10 bathing hut, and I've changed my mind! Would you pay $1.5M for this??? These huts are now heritage sites, and there's no overnight sleeping, electricity or running water. I think we'd invest our money in Capitola!

    This city loves everything exercise and they have many sports teams. I thought I knew about them all, but this is a hole other continent! We went to another amazing shopping site where I bought some great cheese and crackers for our room. When we were boarding, I FINALLY found the champagne bar--yay! It was my first glass since Thanksgiving! I put it on our group chat, and before I knew it, we were a mighty Trilogy group! Speaking of that, we absolutely need to put the brakes on food and day drinking--so I'm drinking the best wine and cheese from here on out! Needless to say we weren't thrilled to have another eight course meal--so we had a sushi dinner with others! More cocktails and shows with friends plowed us under.

    This morning has me more back to reality. Exercise was top of mind and our priority! I took pilates and spin classes while James played pickleball! Before we knew it we had missed the buffet breakfast and we could eat a much healthier lunch--winning!!!

    Tonight is a specialty group Italian dinner...tomorrow I'll give you an update!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    11
    Day 13

    Bonorong and Tasmania

    February 22 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 77 °F

    What a fun little city for our last day in Australia! Tasmania and Hobart did not disappoint. In our part of the world, we've all grown up with Tasmanian Devils, but who really knew what they looked like or their plite. Unfortunately, this little guy's population has been 80% disimated in the last 2-3 years! Sadly, they have contracted a never before seen face cancer that is quickly killing off this national treasure. There are only 25,000 carnivorous marsupials left in the wild. We did an amazing sanctuary tour, which is the largest in the country. We walked freely amongst the animals who would have us, and for those little Devils, we were kept at bay. It's definitely my favorite tour thus far! One more interesting fact for my medicine friends back home, they have been desperately trying to find a cure for this face cancer that kills within 6 months time. They have recently discovered the Covid vaccine has had a 100% cure rate in test analysis. Shortly Bonorong will be the first site to test on live Devils, and if it works, they will airdrop everywhere in the country and save this guy from extinction! What a success story for sure!
    Last, let me mention the amazing kangaroos that run freely amongst us! This was a highlight for sure! They were docile and alucive at the same time. They have huge tails and back claws, and they come in many sizes. Sanctuaries are here to protect, rehabilitate, and release, but when you can't release, they become lifelong residents. It was truly a memorable experience for us.    Read more

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