day 48, Mar 1, at sea toward Guam

Here are some more pictures of Wellington. Party in Auckland was fabulous. Will post vids and pics of Auckland later.

day 47, Auckland, NZ, Pictures of Wellington, NZ

Mom stayed on the ship because she wasn't feeling well. Pic 1 is a sign on the bus - tells you something about Wellington. Pic 3 is a human sundial-very neat and accurate, too. Pic 6 is the Beehive, Parliament Bldg. Then other parliament Bldgs. Wellington is a lovely city and easy to get around. We had a nice pub lunch in an old pub with caricatures of govt figures. Will post rest of pics tomorrow. Wanted to show the wedding at the govt bldg. We saw another bride  and groom and then saw her on the news. She had been rescued from the earthquake!

day 45, Feb 26, arriving at Wellington, videos of Sydney

Thanks for your comment, Katie. That is moi "luxuriating" in bed. Mom took the picture unbeknownst (is this a word from the Middle Ages?) to me! We missed the last shuttle bus on the second day in Sydney so missed shopping for Ashley and Susie. We'll get something else at another port. We've been playing whist on the ship. Never played  it before. It's sort of a simplified form of Bridge. We have won both times we played. Beginner's luck! We're just going to Wellington on our own with Jim and Karen today.

day 44, at sea pictures of Sydney

The sideways picture is the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere. Does anyone recognize Hungry Jacks? Also, pictures of the Harbor Bridge and the Sydney Opera House. The opera was very enjoyable, by the way, with a nice dinner beforehand. And then there is a picture of me seriously contemplating some of the more intricate aspects of Sydney. For some unknown reason I uploaded two similar pictures??? And Mom at the opera with the Queen Elizabeth (the two ships came into the harbor together) in the background.

Day 41, Feb 22, Sydney

We walked around Sydney today and did some shopping. Tonight we go to the opera, Carmen, at the Sydney Opera House. Here are the rest of the Adelaide videos. Will post videos and pictures of Sydney and Sydney Harbor tomorrow or the next day.

day 40, at sea, more pictures of Adelaide

day 40. Feb 21, at sea more vids of Adelaide

We will be in Sydney tomorrow. By the way, we are 16 hours ahead of you now. Yesterday we were 15 and a half hours ahead. Weird, eh? When we left Adelaide, Aussies on the ship yelled "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie", and the people on the shore yelled, "Oi, Oi, Oi". Australians know how to have a good time!

day 39, Adelaide, Cleland Wild Life Park

day 39, Adelaide vids

I will post the Cleland Game Park videos tomorrow.

day 39, Adelaide

I forgot to add this to the prior post We arrived in Adelaide at 7:30 AM this morning and then went on a tour of the city and to Cleland wildlife park. It was fabulous. One of the best tours we have taken. I will try to post our pictures and videos today and tomorrow. It's amazing how the weather cooled down from Freemantle to Adelaide - 70 degrees today vs 100 degrees yesterday.. We're going south away from the equator. It was raining while we were on the bus but then luckily it cleared up when we got to the park.

day 39, Feb 20, Adelaide

day 39, Feb 20, Adelaide

Hi Everybody,

I haven't put anything on the blog for a few days because we have been at sea and there hasn't been a lot to write. We were in Freemantle 2 days ago but due to engine trouble we were 4 hours late in getting there which messed up all the tours. There were about 1000 people trying to get off at the same time so Dad and I said, "Forget it!" for now and went back to our room. I wasn't feeling too well(still have a bit of a stomach problem - there is a virus going around that causes stomach pain when you eat and stomach pain if you don't eat. It also makes you very sleepy.). So anyway I took a nap for an hour and then we got off the ship easily. We took a shuttle bus to the town center and walked around and did a little necessary shopping ata drug store. After the tours in South America and Mauritius, Freemantle was lovely - clean and pretty.

We said goodbye to Craig and Julie who  sat on one side of us at dinner. They got on in Capetown after a holiday in South Africa and were returning home to Perth - just a mile or so from Freemantle. They were on the ship for 12 days but it seemed very brief to us. They were delightful people and we made up a trivia team with them which was a lot of fun even though we never won. The trivia competitions in the Lion Pub at 11:30am and 4:30pm have been so popular you have to get there early to get a seat. Tempers get a little hot if some people disagree with the answer. One man even yelled out, "I'm going to report you to the Captain!". Fortinately everyone burst out laughing which reduced the tension.

Right now it is 5:30am and we are having coffee. We arrive in Adelaide at 7:30am but just for half a day. We are going to a wild life park so hope to get pictures of kangaroos, koala bears, wombats, dingos, etc. Our friends from Toronto, Jim and Karen, who sit on the other side of us at dinner, are on the same tour. They are going right around the world too.

It's hard to believe it is 2pm on Saturday (it is Sunday here) where you are.

We have traveled about 7000 miles from Capetown and about 1400 miles from Freemantle. What a big world we live in. And so much water!

We go to the Churchhill Lounge which is one of the few places to smoke but we have to watch out for "Sam the devil man" who is a young man in his late 30s traveling with his mother who smokes cigars. How weird is that! Any way he has a conspiracy theory about the Masons taking over building the QM2 and putting secret pictures of devils around the ship. He is also flirting with Mom and wants us to change our dining table and eat dinner with him. Mom says she is almost old enough to be his grandmother! We keep an eye out for him so we can escape through the other door if he shows up!

day 39, Feb 20, Adelaide

It is 4:55am here. Our coffee arrives at 5am. We arrive at Adelaide at 7:30am but are leaving again at 1 pm. We are going for a tour of Adelaide and then to a Game Park so will take some pictures and vids. Yesterday was a beautiful day and we sun-bathed on our balcony. Lovely! Hope everybody is well.

day 39, Feb 20, Adelaide, Australia

Don't you worry, Sarah, we have loved all of your comments! It is always so nice to hear from you.

day 38, Feb 19, at sea

Thank you so much, Eliza, for your card on Grandparents Day. That was so thoughtful of you!!
Love,
Nana and Grandad

day 37, at sea

How unfortunate, Senor Pudge. There's nothing worse than a bad coughin' fit.

day 36, Feb 17, Freemantle

Freemantle is the port for Perth. It is about 10 miles from Perth and sort of a suburb. Very nice city. It's in Western Australia, Katie. Our friends Julie and Craig got off here. They live in Perth. We will be in Adelaide in 2 days.

day 36, Feb 17, Freemantle

Happy Birthday, Dave!!! Hope you have a great one.

Temp was 100 degrees today so just a quick trip downtown.

day 34, Feb15, 2011 at sea

Thanks everybody for your many excellent comments!

Katie-you guys are going to be on deck five, aren't you? Deck six isn't good because people running on the promenade deck (deck seven) disturb the people underneath. By the way, what is the scoop at the kids school?

Quiet day today-two trivia games with our great team-great people but not great game-players so lots of fun.

Here is the last question on yesterday's game: 1. The owner doesn't know it, 2. The maker doesn't need it, 3. The user doesn't want it. What is it?

I came up with an idea. It was wrong but gave dad the answer. Unfortunately, we had already turned in our answer sheet. Oh well, we lost by three so it really didn't matter.

Everybody take a guess. You can e-mail it if you don't want to blog. There will be a prize for the first correct answer! Unfortunately, it will not be a free cruise on the Queen Mary 2.

Hey David, Rachel, and family-haven't heard from you in a while. Is everything okay? How much snow have you got? Susie has told us about their terrible weather. Have you had the same?

We are going to get haircuts this morning. The spa beauty salon seems a bit too posh for us so felt a little intimidated. We are always getting mail from them trying to sell us to hundred dollar" treatments" on sale for $150. We may need them but "no thanks".

One thing we are surprised by is the attitude of other guests here. We were thinking this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip but other people have been on 10 or 11 world cruises and are asking each other if they have booked for next year. Other people who have chosen one segment wanted one that didn't have a lot of ports. I guess they just wanted a fancy resort holiday.

We just heard that the ship has had an engine problem and will be late arriving at Freemantle, Australia. This may goof up our excursion there.

day 32, on the ship, trivia match

day 31, at sea

Dad has written a lot about Mauritius but I thought I would add my two cents worth. It was a bit disappointing partly due to the weather and the fact that our guide looked about 15 and did not speak English very well. He did not seem to know very much about the country but perhaps that didn't matter since we would not understand him anyway.

The scenery was beautiful -huge mountains with thick jungle growth-I did ask the guide about snakes and he said there were none. No dangerous animals either so a small hike might have been fun.

The picture dad put up of Shiva-Hindu God of wisdom gave me some thought. Do they worship the actual statue or does it represent some unseen God-sort of like the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. We obviously do not worship the concrete statue but what it represents. It reminded me that God created the world spread out around its feet and of course Jesus on the cross reminds me of the cost of my own salvation. What does Shiva for Hindus?

There were signs that said we should respect the sanctity of this holy place but there was no clue how we should do this. It was rather muddy to take off our shoes (maybe that's not Hindus). I certainly didn't think anyone was going to throw stones at poor old Shiva.

Our lunch was very good but I may be paying the price for it today as I have had a lot of tummy trouble and the sea is quite calm so it isn't that.

The other night we were invited for drinks with the couple that run the mariner club (the mariner club has given us five free tours). We had missed the large cocktail party by choice so we felt we had to go-sort of like a makeup exam. We had a good time though and I learned something that will interest all of you crazy rummy players. Crazy rummy is also called Liverpool Rummy. It is exactly the same as crazy rummy except all twos are wild. I forgot to ask about jokers but I assume you play with them too.

I have heard from Susie and Katie about getting silk in China but no one else if my sons are reading this and not telling their wives, please do this!

Oh, one other thing about yesterday's trip. I just thought of you Susie caring the firewood. I saw a woman caring about 10 to 12 long logs (about 12 feet long) and each log about 4 inches in diameter On Her Head.

day 30, Feb 11, on the ship and Mauritius vids

day 30, Feb 11, Mauritius

Mauritius was settled and then abandoned by the Dutch in the 16th century. Then the French took over until replaced by the British after the Napoleonic Wars. It became independent in 1968.
We found our tour too long and our guide was not very good, and it was raining to boot. Other than that, it was great. On the plus side, there were some interesting sights and we had a good lunch. There is a picture of the Hindu god, Shiva, because there is a big Hindu influence on the island, it is the biggest segment of the population. There was a big radio tower, disguised as a palm tree. I took a picture of an odd-looking bird.Mom saw a woman carrying 10 or 12 bamboo logs about 10 feet long, ON HER HEAD. Does that give you any ideas for firewood, Susie? Your efforts sound challenging, reminds us of the cottage.

Our new generator has been installed. Bob Labaree emailed us. It has been cold but no power outages and less snow than you have had. The cottage is fine.

We had a nap when we got back and then a good dinner, although Mom did not sleep too well because she got heartburn.
We are at sea for the next several days on the way to Freemantle, Australia. Today  two of of the couples at dinner are going to join us to make a team for the Trivia Match this afternoon.
Our friends, Jim and Karen from Canada, are in one of the pictures with Mom.