Wednesday 11/7/18 Bay of Islands
We slept in until 7am and then quickly dressed and had breakfast in the buffet when the announcement was made that we were anchored and with tenders in the water and we had received the all-clear to go ashore! The local chamber of commerce volunteered the use of their ferries and a free motor coach shuttle to the town - so we collected our tender tickets and made our way down to the 3rd deck and we were assigned to one of the fast ferry tenders and instead of 15 minutes, we hit the far side of the bay in 8 minutes flat! We transferred to the shuttle bus. we had to cross the one lane bridge on our way to town. The shuttle bus ride took about 10 minutes and was along the beach front. The town of Pauahi is tiny!! Pretty much one main road on the horizontal with the water and maybe 2-3 streets parallel. Souvenir shops, cafes, supermarkets, and the library with free wifi! Haha! The library was actually a historic house with beautiful gardens - lots of pretty flowers! After we were up to date with emails, we made our way to the ferry office and bought ferry tickets over to Russel, about 30 minutes across the water. We boarded the ferry -which was sadly not nearly as fancy as yesterday's ferry - but it got us there safely and dry. Pulling into the Russell Harbor, we were flanked by sailboats and houseboats! So peaceful and beautiful bobbing in the aquamarine water. The main street bordered the bay and was lined on the right side by a rocky beach and on the left side with the green lawns and verdant gardens of white Victorian style houses and shops. Ancient trees provided much needed shade - dappling the streets and side walks with cool shade and respite from the sunshine. We walked the town from end to end and front to back - peeking into a few shops. As we headed abck to the ferry terminal, we saw a man and his dog (in a tiny life jacket) riding a stand-up cross between a bicycle and a paddleboard. Quite amusing! On the ferry trip back to Pauahi, we sat out on the back deck of the boat and enjoyed the sunshine as we motored across the bay. Back in Paihai we made a quick trip to the grocery store for a Coke and Coke Zero and we took our drink to the back steps of the library to check our email one more time using the free wifi before catching the shuttle back to the port to catch our 4th ferry/tender of the day back to the ship. we rode on the top of the tender back to the ship and once back on the ship, we went up to the buffet for lunch and then we found lounge chairs in the sunshine on the lido deck where we rested and red until most time to get ready for tea. We enjoyed our tea and scone and then found yet another lounge chair on the promenade deck to lounge b/c it was just too lovely outside to go back to the cabin, but it soon became time to shower and change for dinner. Dinner with a full compliment of all 4 couples again with lively conversations. After dinner we went up to the Princess Theater to see the show Encore which was ironically, an encore for us, as we had seen this same show on another ship on a previous cruise. Still, the costumes and set were beautiful and the opera was "tolerable" but a little opera goes a long, long way! We got our teas after the show and once back in our room, we had a glass of wine and watched "Finding Dory" The perfect end to a very good day. Our last port of call - and now we have 2 sea days left and then we fly home!
Thursday 11/8/18 Sea Day
Today has been a very quiet sea day. i spent much of the day sleeping - the past week of 6-8 mile walking days has been intense from port to port. I needed the rest today and I'm thankful for another sea day tomorrow before our long flight home. We had breakfast in the dining room and then read in the library and in our cabin. We had the London Pub in the dining room - Fish and Chips for me and Sticky toffee pudding with Beatles Music and the whole bit. After lunch, we came back to our cabin to rest and read and sleep and watch the commentary from Trump's press conference following the midterm elections. What a tour de FARCE. Good grief. Tonight is formal night and our Captain's Circle Party and our special dinner in the Sterling Steakhouse. So we are getting all dolled up in our fancy duds. I'm wearing the red lace dress and Steve is wearing his tux. Well, the seas became rougher and rougher as we got further out into the ditch and the ship was bobbing both to and fro as well as hither and yon and made our tummies unpleasantly queasy and our footing quite unsure trying to navigate the long corridors of endless cabins by walking in any semblance of a straight line. was completely impossible. The sea-sickness bags reappeared at every stairway and giant air dryers mysteriously appeared in carpeted areas that suddenly required through cleaning. there was a que for the medical clinic again as nausea was treated with tablets and injections and sprained/broken ankles and arms were bandaged and casted and booted. fingers/hands smashed in doors and drawers were also common. We continued to get ready for our fancy steakhouse dinner, but had to pause from time to time to let the nausea pass, wipe the cold sweat from our brows and brace our legs with wide stances and become more fluid at the knees to maintain balance. applying cosmetics was a daunting task and I was afraid I would end up looking like that poor lady from the movie Airplane before I was completely made up. We managed to finish getting ready and we briefly flashed brilliant fake smiles as we snapped the obligatory selfies in our fancy clothes - then went back to being miserable as soon as the camera was off. We made our somewhat unsteady way to the lido deck. this ship is too small for a dedicated steak house - so they convert the right side of the Horizon Grill into the steakhouse after 5:30pm - putting up a bamboo screen and a reception desk. Somehow, the space did seem a bit more elegant. The tables were covered with white table clothes an we were issued fancy blue napkins and we had dedicated head waiter and assistant who tried to make us feel pampered. We declined the offer of wine - knowing that ETOH would not mix well with our nausea. We ordered from the big fancy menus - both opting for the carb appetizer with aioli sauce and it was very creamy and delicious. Then we had our soups. Steve had shrimp bisque and I opted for Black and Bleu French Onion soup - also delicious! Then our steaks arrived. and I had the 6 ounce filet mignon and Steve had the 10 ounce steak. We both had about half our steak and maybe a bit or two of the beautiful side dishes and even trying to watch the horizon didn't help with the sea sickness. We decided to cut our losses before we lost the parts of our meal that we had already eaten. We had to leave our food on the table and head back to our cabin. Poor Steve was much sicker than I was - he had to lie flat on the bed and not move. He held onto the sheets and closed his eyes for about 30 minutes. He then felt recovered enough to attend the Captain's Circle Party - so we went into the Vista Lounge on Deck 9 - only 2 floors away. Steve had 1 Cosmo drink and I had melon drink and a cherry champagne spritzer - the bubbles helped settle my tummy down. Steve got another spritzer for me as he didn't plan to have a second drink. We listened to the band play (they even played Chattanooga Choo Choo!) and we listened to the Captain's address. We didn't win any of the drawings for champagne, so we went back to our cabin and got int our PJ's and we both turned out all the lights and tried to be as still as possible. It was a wild night. The ship bucked like a wild Broncho. We had to secure the art on the wall of our cabin and the clothes hangers in our closet. We had to put wine bottles in the dresser drawers and separate the drinking glasses as they were clanging together in a wild cacophonous symphony along with the creaking of the vessel and the waves slapped a haphazard rhythm as they dashed against the hull of the ship. We felt like we were on a rollercoaster that never ended - dizzy and almost afraid to try to stand up to go to the bathroom without risk to life and limb. It was by far the worst night we've EVER had at sea in all of our 18 cruises. We dozed off and on, waking often as the rollercoaster continued to roll....but near morning, it evened out some - or we became so exhausted and overwhelmed by the extra Dramamine that we didn't care any longer and we slept in until 8:30am. When we got up for breakfast, we felt somewhat hung over from the crazy night - certainly not from the watered down free drinks. Haha!
Friday 11/9/18 - Sea Day II of re-crossing THE DITCH
The last day of our cruise dawned sunny and fairly warm. We had a quick breakfast at the buffet, not trusting our still queasy stomachs to handle a heavy meal. The ship was still rolling, albeit much more gently. We decided to try sitting out on the Lido Deck in the sunshine as the water, fresh air really helped ease the nausea some. We sat and napped and dozed in the sunshine, moving down to Deck 12 to the shade, but after about 30-40 minutes, we got chilly in the shade and moved back up to Deck 14 to the Trident Grill to sip hot coffee and tea. While we were enjoying our warm beverages a movie came on the giant pool screen - an Aussie movie called "Strictly Ballroom" and it was a farce - somewhat ridiculous - but entertaining for sure. So we decided to stay and watch it. It was corny and predictable, but I loved it all the more for it. After the movie, the grill opened for lunch and we had hamburgers and fries and iced tea for lunch at our table. We felt much better and much less queasy so we went back to our cabin to rest until tea time. We went to tea and we were seated with an Aussie couple who were also both nurses. we had a lot in common - and we compared and contrasted our career paths and experiences for well over an hour. We left tea and spent a while in the library where I returned my 3 books and checked out 2 more. We had packed our suitcases before tea when we were resting in the cabin, so all we had left to do was get ready for our last dinner on board. 3 couples came to dinner - Cyril and Caroline had their steakhouse dinner tonight - but we had our picture made with Darrell and Judy and Ian and Julie with Philopena and Ecker at our table. We decided against a show - but it was still fairly warm on the lido deck, so Steve watched Jurassic Park at the Movies Under the Stars while I read my new book. By the end of the movie, I was wrapped up in 2 of the Plaid deck blankets and shivering. We got our glasses of tea and retired to our cabin for the evening. We have an early wake-up and we want to have our last breakfast in the dining room before our 7:35am transfer off the ship. Wake up call set and our last night at sea is underway!
Saturday 11/10/18 9 Disembarkation and the Long Journey Home
We were both awake at 5:45am - 15 minutes prior to the wake up call. We showered and dressed and finished packing our carry-on luggage and checked and double checked to make sure we weren't leaving anything behind. We dropped off our Praise-comment cards for Philippine and Ecker at Table 91-Riggeletto and then we went to breakfast in the Traviata Dining room. I will miss the napkin in my lap - the menu and the service for sure. but I am mostly peopled out and i won't miss having to make awkward small take with strangers at mealtime. After 2 weeks of mostly tea because the coffee isn't so good, I cam looking forward to a steaming cup of Dunkin Donuts for sure. After breakfast, we assembled int he Wheelhouse Bar for our transfer and lickity-split, in about 10 minutes we were off the ship and through customs and on the motor coach that would take us to the airport. The trip to the airport was a smooth ride back through Sydney and we saw all the cool places we had explored 2 weeks ago upon our arrival. Then we entered a very long tunnel and bypassed all the heavy traffic through town - arriving at the Sydney airport and we collected our bags. Delta only has a temporary counter at this airport, so we wandered around aimlessly for about 45 minutes before we found an airport official to help us find our correct counter. We were 30 mins too early to check in, but we were first in line. We finally (30 minutes later) got to check our bags and we were off to security. The lady at the Delta counter warmed me that my ticket had been flagged for the random search - so i should expect it. We made it through immigration and then security line with no snags - I wasn't searched once we found our gate, I had to show my passport and boarding pass and I was escorted to a coordained off area and my bags, shoes, socks, hands, chest, and my Kindle and Smart Phone were all swabbed and searched. No biggie - they were very polite and it was all over in less than 5 minutes - no coloscopy! Haha! We got to sit in the chairs by the gate until time to board. About 45 minutes later, we were in Zone 3- near the back of the plane in seats 54A and 54B. I am beside the window. Only 14 more hours until we land in Los Angeles! Time for (hopefully) a wee nap. We took off and I spent the first hour writing in my journal to catch up on all the news and events of the day. I watched a few episodes of Big Bang Theory Reruns and then they served dinner. I wanted the Moroccan Chicken Salad, but by the time they got to us, they were out of the chicken and I had the pasta dish - billed as basil pesto cream linguini with sundried tomatoes and parmesan cheese. they MIGHT have overdone the explanation. Still, it wasn't awful - and it gave me something to do for about an hour. It came with a little cup of salad, a roll and some kind of fruit crisp. We debated if it was apple or pineapple - we honestly couldn't tell) and i got a hunk of cheese and some crackers and fruit that I saved for a later snack. The next few hours were spent watching cartoon movies, playing word games, trying to sleep, and being restless. around mid-flight - about 7 hours in - they served "Margarita Pizza" -ie...a Hot Pocket...and an ice cream bar that was delicious but tiny. The next 5 hours were absolute misery. crammed into our seats. our seat mate slept the entire time - blocking our access to the bathroom or the aisles. i alternatively cried, prayed, rocked back and forth, squirmed in my seat, tried to watch movies/TV, play games, and was just completely miserable. about 1 1/2 hours before we hit LA they served breakfast. We had "Bubble and Squeak" - a Brit and Aussie fave that is SOOOO GROSS. Eggs and bits and pieces of something? Potatoes? Gym socks? Old Yarn? Along with baked beans and a cold, hard roll, OJ, and a cup of fruit. Meh. It was something to concentrate on and do - but not my favorite meal by far. At least they left off the vegemite! After breakfast was cleared away, we finally got to make a potty trip. Let me tell you that you do NOT want to use the bathroom at the end of a 15 hour flight. I felt so much worse and grossed out for the experience, but it was good to empty my bladder and stretch my legs. Thankfully i escaped twithought hepatitis or any other communicable disease, but with a much assaulted sense of smell. We finally landed at LAX but we had to stay in our seats b/c there was a medical emergency on board and the EMT's had to carry out the sick person before we could leave. It was still fairly quick. We hit the baggage claim and immigration at LAX with out a hitch and rechecked our bags and then had to re-do security. Steve got TSA precheck, but I did not. We met up again at our gate and we still had about 1 1/2 hours wait until we boarded for the last 5 hour leg of the flight to Nashville. We didn't get a meal, but we were served soft drinks and peanuts midflight. We finally landed in Nashville - exhausted and sleep deprived. We caught the shuttle to the Music City Sheraton and got our truck. We went to the Tile Store and picked up the tile for my new kitchen in the house - then we met up with Jaron and Autumn at a pizza place called Slim and Huskey's Pizza. The pizza and beer were delicious (especially after my dismal Bubble and Squeak breakfast so long ago) and it was really good to spend some time with the kids. We left Nashville and got to our apartment just after 11pm - we were zonked and exhausted. It is always wonderful and exciting to leave to go on a trip - but it is always nice to come home again! We feel so very blessed. it was an AMAZING trip!!
