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The Next Train to Singapore
  • Paul and Nancy. We travel
  • Paul and Nancy. We travel

The Next Train to Singapore

A few days in Sydney visiting friends then hitting the rails on the India Pacific train to transit Australia from the east coast to west, crossing the great Nullarbor Desert. Then hopping on a cruise ship to noodle around Southeast Asia to Singapore Read more
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  • Trip start
    September 4, 2024
    Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel
    1

    And so it begins . . .

    September 4, 2024 in Canada ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    And we are off. A loooong 15hr 40 minute flight direct to Sydney, a few days to visit with friends then boarding the fabled Indian Pacific train to cross the Australian continent from coast to coast, from east to west, from Sydney to Perth.

    We will overnight in Freemantle, Perth’s port city, then board the Coral Princess to travel around Southeast Asia, from Bali in Indonesia to Phuket in Thailand to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia then ending up in Singapore for a few days.

    Planes, trains, ships . . . Should be an interesting VaCay!

    The good news is we have an upgrade to Business Class so the lie flat seats will get a workout!    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Jet Lag Recovery in South Sydney

    September 7, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    After our very long but quite enjoyable flight to Sydney we arranged to get ourselves through immigration and customs and emerged into the bright sunshine of a beautiful Australian early morning to be greeted by old friends from our Mekong River cruise in 2019 . . . “Good Morning Vietnam” footprint

    Bobby and Karen were real troopers, getting up at Oh Dark Thirty to pick us up & drive back through Friday morning rush hour traffic to their home in the south suburbs. Their home borders on a nation park and we spent a few hours having coffee, enjoying home baked goodies and watching the variety of multicoloured birds like Rainbow Parakeets that visit their back yard trees.

    Also really cool is they have a beehive in their yard and that is quite amazing.

    After getting cleaned up we decided to go for lunch in Wollongong (The Gong!) along the coastal highway and ended up at the Scarborough Hotel with a primo table on the bluff overlooking the ocean. Magnificent views.

    Back home for a wonderful dinner and plan for a next day trip to the Blue Mountains west of Sydney.    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    A Blue Mountains Day

    September 7, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    After yesterday’s wonderful day at the coast, we turned our attention westward to the Blue Mountains. After about a hour+ drive we ended up at a place called Scenic World where we could ride on aerial trams and a really, really steep funicular. Nancy loved all the rides today because they were all so high!

    Really she did.

    The Blue Mountains are truly spectacular, right up there with the Grand Canyon for awe inspiring vistas. The flora and fauna are so different to what we see in Canada with a real Jurassic Park feeling when you walk along the trails in the canyon floor.

    Karen, our hostess, grew up in this area. She provided a real “locals only” insiders description as we toured the area.

    We wrapped up our day with a late lunch at the Covington Pub, an old bank building that has been repurposed, in the town of Katoomba. If you are ever in the area, highly recommended.

    A really great day in the Blue Mountains.    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Sydney’s northern shore . . .

    September 9, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Day 4 of our Great Aussie Adventure VaCay and we are now in the north part of Sydney. After a terrific visit with Karen and Bobby, Aussies we met on our Mekong River cruise, we are in the home of Anne and Peter who we met on our Panama Canal cruise. Seems to be a pattern of always friendly Aussie adopting us!

    We were joined later in the afternoon by Celine and Vanne, their good friends who they travel with a lot . . . Peter introduces the group as “Hi, my name is Peter, this is my wife Anne and my two ex wives”. Absolutely deadpans the delivery and they carry off this schtick for as long as they can before busting out laughing.

    We hoped on a local bus for a short 5 minute ride to Sydney’s famous Manly Beach for a round of sunset drinks on the deck before having dinner inside. If you like fish and haven’t eaten grilled Barramundi, you don’t know what you are missing.

    Off to explore the beaches of North Sydney today . . .    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel
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    T Day. Transition to Train Mode

    September 10, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Our last day in Sydney visiting friends and we will overnight in downtown Sydney in a nice hotel in The Rocks area near Sydney’s famous Opera House. We have scored a Primo View Suite👍👍

    But that is for later in the afternoon. This morning is for lawn bowling! We had a lot of fun and ended up at a nearby pub, The Kirribilli, which was my “office” when I worked here in 1999 doing a Y2K banking project. A real trip down memory lane.

    We board the train tomorrow morning where our big suitcases get stored away in a baggage carriage and space restrictions for our cabin limit us to a Carry On sized bag. So some repacking needs to be done, checking the weather along the entire route and packing appropriate gear for our planned stops as we transit Australia

    We have had the greatest time in Sydney. You meet the nicest people when you travel and we can’t wait to see them when they come to Vancouver for their next VaCay    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Relentlessly westward . . .

    September 12, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌬 18 °C

    Proceeding westward we entered the state of South Australia, home to the famous Barossa Valley wineries. Our train stopped briefly in a small town called Two Wells to drop us off for our Winery excursion and then proceeded to Adelaide where we will meet it later.

    We had a really nice afternoon and early evening visit to a magnificent 150 year old family property that was beyond spectacular. We enjoyed a wine and amuse bouche food pairing experience presented by a very funny chef and a lovely dinner before hopping back on our coach to drive to Adelaide to rejoin the train.

    We are getting used to the train rocking motions and sleeping in bunk style beds. There is a very good traveller’s vibe onboard and we have have shared many travel stories and might have a few more place to add to the Bucket List    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Sailing Australia’s Nullarbor Ocean

    September 13, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 14 °C

    Just a thought.

    Crossing Australia is like sailing across an ocean . . . You see the horizon but you never reach it.

    Hour after hour, new horizon after the previous ones.

    Hypnotically relaxing, visually stunning at a pace that allows images to resonate and impress.

    The immensity is majestic and humbling. We have just entered the Nullarbor Desert and the tracks now run for the next 475km in a dead straight line.    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel
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    Cook Interntional Airport

    September 13, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    Not much demand at Cook International these days.

    The population of Cook is 4 and you can’t get here from there but you can officially stand in Middle of Nowhere, as Nancy is doing in the last photo

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Rolling into Rawlinna

    September 13, 2024 in Australia ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Population: Variable, up to 35 during shearing season
    Area: 1,000,000+ hectares
    Economy: 65,000 sheep

    But a lovely place to stop for an Under the Stars event with some fine wines, some good entertainment and chatting around the fire pits on the last night of our shared rail journey across Australia

    There is nothing quite like the Nullarbor

    Put this trip on your Bucket List    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Pitched Up in Perth

    September 14, 2024 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Planes
    Trains
    Automobiles

    We made it!

    A little pooped out . . . Sleeping on moving trains takes a bit of getting used to but the trip was sensational in every respect.

    Wish we had more time here - we are actually in Fremantle (“Freo” Aussies love abbreviating place names!), Perth’s port suburb and it would be a fun place to spend a few days. Kind of a New Orleans meets Vancouver vibe.

    Cruise ship boarding tomorrow morning

    Thank you++++ Australia. You have been kind and generous and intriguing and dazzling and more wonderful to us than we could have ever hoped for.

    Onwards . . .    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel
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    Sea Days are Slow Days

    September 17, 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    3 sea days sailing to our first Port Call in Bali.

    Yesterday was a time to relax and chill out, explore the ship, get our cabin “magnet organized”, attend a terrific “30,000 years of Art History in 30 minutes” presentation, for Nancy to sign up with the Ship’s Choral Singing Ensemble, to relax in the lounge at the Captain’s Champagne Tower event and take in our first show in the theatre . . . and it was a terrific show with fabulous singers.

    But today is a day to Haiku! Just because 😂😂😂

    Indian Ocean
    Bali our next horizon
    Australia dream

    After Japan. You know this had to happen    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Crossing the Line

    September 18, 2024, Indian Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    We will cross the equator into the northern hemisphere this cruise

    As seasoned, trusted Shellbacks from previous trips, we will enjoy the ship’s Pollywogs being initiated .

    https://worldwidewaftage.com/pollywogs-and-shel…    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Bali Hai 😀😀 The Land of “T’s”

    September 19, 2024 in Indonesia ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    With apologies to Ray Walston.

    After 8 solid hours in Bali I can safely conclude it is a land of two “T” things: Temples and Traffic.

    Bali is a world class tourist destination and a consequence of this success is a strong economy and epic traffic congestion. There is an incredible maze of cultural rules that make new road construction very difficult but do not slow down vehicle purchases. Scooter traffic is approaching Saigon levels.

    Bali is also a land of temples. A small Hindu island of 4.2 million people embedded within the 275 million strong Muslim nation of Indonesia, religion has historically been their rock of survival.

    Temples are everywhere, on every corner, in every family home, there are temples within temples and temples of every size and level of grandeur. A visual smorgasbord of Hindu temple design and color palette imaginable embrace visitor’s senses.

    Bali would be a great place to spend some but we have to stick to schedule and depart to our next Port Call in Phuket Thailand    Read more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Sea Day, Thailand Beckons at 17 knots

    September 21, 2024, Natuna Sea ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Coral Princess current location is at Indonesia (coordinates -0.34422 S / 106.91324 E) cruising at speed of 17 kn (31 km/h | 20 mph) en route to Phuket.

    About to enter the Malacca Straight, the world’s busiest shipping channel . . . 94,000 ship transits every year + countless small fishing boatsRead more

  • Paul and Nancy. We travelThe Next Train to SingaporePaul and Nancy. We travel

    Ship scenes . . .

    September 22, 2024, Strait of Malacca ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Enroute Phuket Thailand.

    As Cruise ships go, the Coral Princess is a midsized, middle aged girl, built 22 years ago in a period when ships were designed with large comfortable open space and lounges meant to pay homage to classic older sailing ships.

    Lots of dark wood paneling and sailing ship motifs. The Deck 7 Promenade allows a complete circumnavigation of the ship and 2.8 laps is a mile.

    The ship goes into dry dock in Singapore for 3 weeks when we finish our cruise for some TLC and system upgrades. The port is incredibly busy with an average of 1,500 dockings per month and it is equipped with extensive repair and maintenance facilities.

    A very very busy place    Read more