RAROTONGA

Today is April 30th and we were in Rarotonga Cook Islands. If you ever watched Survivor they had a segment filmed here in Rarotonga.

We did a four wheel drive tour in Land Rovers today – the kind that have no top (only roll bars) and the windshield folds down – get the picture. Roughin it.

We had to tender in here and we got to the dock earlier than anticipated so had to wait for the vehicles to arrive. Loaded us up and away we went. At first it was easy going – we were on the main road, then a gravel road and then a dirt road and finally a RUT was all there was and it was straight up this mountain. I was riding shot gun because the back was hard to get into and out of with my knees. Well, this was certainly an adventure. I can see my son in law, Ryan sitting there smirking and laughing his you know what off at the thought of me in this four wheel drive. Now the going up was a little worrisome but the coming down off the mountain was downright frightening – Sam jumped out afterwards to see how white my knuckles were and if I had put a hole in the floor trying to brake. I did well – only closed my eyes when it got close to the edge of the mountain and prayed hard. I survived (no pun intended).

The island is really beautiful and we did get to see a lot of it. Very clean and beautiful – flowers everywhere. They gave us lunch and it was served on leaves with a coconut shell to hold the lomi (uncooked fish with a salsa basically – was good), chicken and lamp chops that were cooked in the ground and taro. Taro looks like a potatoe and tastes well like………….. yuck. I’m sure you get the drift. The fresh fruit was to die for (which for a while there I thought we were going to do)

One interesting thing was many of the front or side yards of the homes had above ground burial vaults where family members were buried – seemed a bit strange but it is the way things are done here. It reminded me of a conversation I had once with Tim Keatron about if and he and his wife, Joy planned on downsizing and he said “probably not our place is the “home place” and man that would take on new meaning here – how could you ever move if Grandma and Grandpa were buried in the front yard.

We got back around 1:30 and planned to go the beach but the bus to the beach was $10 a person and we only had $10 in New Zealand cash left and didn’t want to change any more money. So we came back to the ship and did the pool thing again.

It was probably ok that we didn’t get to the beach as we both got quite a bit of sun even with using sun block. The sun here is pretty brutal and you have to be so darn careful.
I can’t believe we are half way thru this cruise – the time is just flying by and we are having a ball. At night we sit on the balcony and say “who would have ever thought” we would be in the South Pacific. Sam keeps saying “it doesn’t get any better than this” and we always laugh and think of Skip – who says it everytime we cruise with them.

Sea day tomorrow and then Papette which we are both looking forward to.
Hugs to all of you
Sam and Char

PAGO PAGO

Pago Pago American Samoa – well it was interesting. You know the old saying “be careful what you wish for” – remember last week when I wished for warm weather. Whewwwww – did I get what I wished for and MORE.
We pulled into Pago Pago around 8 am and it was slightly raining – enough to make everything damp and super humid. By 9 am the sun was out and the sun down here is brutal (best description I can think of). We had nothing planned except going to the beach and doing a bit of shopping. We walked into town and hit the ATM for some American $$ and then looked around – that took about 5 minutes. There was nothing there – and it was miserably humid by this time.

We started to walk back to the ship and there were tents set up pier side with vendors that we looked thru. There is one thing that really impressed us here – the people are super, super friendly and so nice. They say hi when you are walking on the street, they wave from their cars and just go out of their way to be pleasant. Sam had several long conversations (you know how much he likes to talk) By this time it was around 12:30 and we decided to forego the beach and just hit the pool. So we changed into our suits and hit the pool – which I thought would be on the coolish side - NOT – it was like bath water. We stayed in the pool until around 2 pm and thought it would be best to get out of the sun. So we had a quick shower and sat on the balcony watching people come back – that is so darn interesting and I have no clue why.

Sailway was at 5 pm and the sun had not yet set. Sailway was interesting since Pago Pago is essentially a commercial dock and not for tourist. We watched them move containers around and the dock was really short so both ends of the Sapphire stuck out – it was comical in a way. We sailed on time and sailing out of the harbor was beautiful. This harbor is a deep water harbor created by a collapsed volcano and it was lovely to sail with the sun just starting to set. We decided to sit on the balcony for awhile and enjoy it with a drink (the last the bar set up provided by Princess).

Sam and Char

CROSSING INTERNATIONAL DATELINE

Today we crossed the International Dateline and to be honest it was rather uneventful - I imagine crossing the Equator is a much bigger deal.

Weather was good – an occasional shower but hey we are in the tropics. Some pool and sun time. Nice dinner and then some baloncy time after I post this.

Sorry it just wasn’t an exciting day but relaxing and fun.

Until tomorrow –
Sam and Char

FIJI

Fiji – we booked a tour called “Tropical Paradise” and I am so glad we did. Originally, I had rented a car and planned to just drive around until I read the State Department advisory that going off on your own in Fiji was not a good idea.

We took a bus to a very posh place called “The Pearl” resort. It was about a 40 minute drive from the ship and was absolutely stunning place. They had a beautiful pool with a swim up bar, great beach, hammocks, swings on the ocean to just sit. It was a beautiful sunny day but very windy. It was too windy to use the ocean as it was fairly rough with white caps. We went into the pool and had a great time.

The drive out was past literal shacks that people use as houses. I think Fiji was even poorer than Jamaica. Most places were either tin or cardboard made into houses. Most didn’t have electric or water and there were outhouses. Then you came to the resort which was ultra luxury so it was a bit depressing in a way.
They served a nice lunch at the resort and then we headed back to the ship. It was Sunday, April 27, 2008 and so no shops were open at the pier except one duty free place. We decided not to even go in but went straight back to the ship. The area around the ship didn’t look very safe.

We were sick of eating so opted for a hamburger in our room and wow did it taste great. Very relaxing day.
Later that night I was reading and Sam said to come out on the balcony. OMG – what a sight – the moon (it is only about ¾ full at this point) was shining on the water and it was so cloudless you could see a zillion stars. The moonlight made a shining path on the water. It was breathtaking.

Tomorrow we have a “do over” of April 27th as we are crossing the International Date Line. Monday we will be in Pago Pago.

Ok, we are off to the pool – its rough but someone has to do it.
Sam and Char

SEA DAY ON OUR WAY TO FIJI

We are on our way to Fiji – woke up about 8 am to rain. It has rained all day – sheets of it never have seen this much rain at sea. Hopefully tomorrow it will be sunny.

We got back to the cabin last night after dinner and found a beautiful floral arrangement from Princess with a “Welcome Home from the captain and crew” – nice touch by Princess.
So not much to report, we gambled a bit but didn’t win. We are looking forward to the sun in the islands and hope that tomorrow is a better weather day.

Until later,
Sam and Char

MILFORD SOUND 2 DAYS TURNED INTO 4 - WHAT AN ADVENTURE

No we didn’t fall off the face of the earth!!! But we have had an adventure that was unbelievable. We got off the ship in the early morning Monday in Milford Sound and we just returned to the ship today in Auckland. The ship was supposed to pick us up in two days in Dundein. The ship couldn’t get into the Dundein harbor because of gale force winds and had to abort that port of call. So on Tuesday morning we got the word at our hotel in Queenstown that our land tour would be extended until Friday. Several folks complained but Sam and I relished the opportunity to see more of New Zealand and best of all Princess picked up the tab for everything including flying us from Queens town to Auckland.

Here’s how it went:

Monday morning we pulled into Milford Sound and it was pitch dark and we were waiting to disembark on a motor launch which would take us to shore to board our bus. As the ship pulled into the Fjord you could feel the walls of the fjord rise up massively on each side – it was pitch black and then little by little the light started to seep into the fjord and the mist came down to the meet the mountains. It was eerie at best. The Milford Sound has a continual mist and shrouds the mountains and it is almost “other world” like to see this. There never seems to be any clarity to anything it is like everything is smoke and mirrors if that makes any sense. At any moment I expected to hear some music from Phantom of the Opera.

I have to admit there was a moment when we watched the Sapphire turn in the fjord and leave us there that I had second thoughts – it was strange watching the ship pull away and we were on this little boat. But the fjord itself quickly caught our interest again and that moment passed. The fjord just seems to rise up majestically from the sea and the mist comes and goes making it seem like something from Disney. The best description I can give is that is hauntingly beautiful and majestic.

Once on land we were met by our “motor coach” and driver. Our driver was Marty and was dressed in full Scottish attire – kilt, knee socks and “Jumper” which is a sweater to us Americans. Fun guy and we had a great time with him while he was our driver.

First off, we went to the “Chasm” which is almost like a puzzle but it is all stone – it is amazing how the water and glaciers created this unique stone “chasm” and that is just what it is all – all twists and turns and it never seems to end it just goes on and on.

Then we went thru a tunnel that went thru the entire mountain about 1.5 miles and when we came out on the other side there was SNOW. Oh joy!! It was beautiful but cold and windy – no wonder Sam has a cold we’ve gone thru how many time zones and how many climate changes.

From there we went on down the road toward Queenstown first stopping at a lovely little village called Te Anu where we had lunch – which really wasn’t so great. It was cold cuts but no bread – go figure – there was fruit so we filled up on that. There is always a way to make do.

Leaving Te Anu we drove through some unbelievable country – New Zealand has about a million sheep stations but also “deer parks” and that was a bit strange seeing deer grazing about in the field. But like Sam said, if someone is feeding them they aren’t about to leave. There were also lots of dairy cows. MOOOOOOO.
When we arrived in Queenstown it was just starting to get dark and the lake there was a bit rough with white caps. We were scheduled to take an early 1900’s type steamship to Walter’s Peak Homestead for dinner. It was about a 40 minute ride across the lake to an old sheep station which has been converted into a wonderful restaurant, gift shop and still is a working farm of sorts to give demonstrations on sheep shearing etc. The restaurant is housed in the original homestead and had huge high windows and beautiful woodwork and flooring. Dinner was really good – several strange dishes – for instance beef stroganoff but with a tomato base instead of a cream one, also served carved beef, the ever present cold cuts, salad, potatoes, rolls and wonderful creamy vegetable soup followed by the a dessert buffet - Sam loved the chocolate cake while I like the apple crisp which they served with vanilla pudding on top of. Yum. Then the boat ride back to the hotel – but many did that boat rock (not literally) with the sing along they had on the way home. I know it sounds hokey but they handed out booklets of old songs and had a sing-along. The folks from the Princess tour really got into it and we had the boat rockin.

The next morning we got us and breakfast they gave us the news that we wouldn’t be meeting the ship. Instead we toured all day long (with the exception of Sam who by this time had a full blown cold and was miserable. He was able to spend the day in bed at the hotel since we would be spending another night in Queenstown.) First stop was the original bungee jumping site (in the entire world) and one of the folks with our group (he was a retired Marine) jumped. NO way was I going to even go near the railing. Scared the crap out of me to watch it. I did go out onto the platform and then inched my way back to “safety” But you can watch the jump on the monitors and it was fun to do that that. All I could think about as I watched this was how much we teased our friend, Gladys, on our Venice cruise about bungee jumping. Gladys – girlfriend you could have seriously had some fun here.

Back onto the bus for more touring and lunch at Lake Roxbourgh. It was a bit chilly but sunny and a very clear day so we were able to see a lot of the country side. This area of New Zealand reminds me a lot of Colorado and Utah. Our last stop of the day was Arrowhead where this weekend is there HUGE fall festival. It is so strange to see the leaves changing color and falling off the trees and the leaves underfoot. The Arrowhead festival draws people from several hundred miles. It is a quaint old gold mining town and perfectly preserved and, of course, the zillion touristy type shops. I did find a wonderful New Zealand wool sweater that I splurged on for myself – I got Sam some cough syrup – I’m such a thoughtful wife – I get an beautiful expensive sweater he gets cough syrup – what more can a guy ask for??? We were back at the hotel by about 4:30 and I woke Sam up and later on that evening we went to the hotel restaurant to eat but he was still not feeling so great.

Friday morning we got up and prepared to leave Queenstown but we didn’t have to leave until 1:45 so I took the bus into town and walked around – looked into some of the shops and enjoyed the wonderful weather. Sam stayed back as he was trying to conserve his energy for the flight to Auckland. So we were bused to the airport around 1:30 and took a flight to Auckland. From there Princess took us to another nice hotel and we had dinner again. Friday morning we were brought back to the ship – when same and I got off the bus a bunch of the group from cruise critic were waiting for their tour and sent up a cheer for us. What a wonderful opportunity we had – I certainly wouldn’t want to have the weather happen but since it did we benefitted from it.

We are now alongside in Auckland. We originally had a tour scheduled but decided to not take it – we wanted clean clothes ( we had the same jeans on for four days and I took underwear for 2 days) so we felt pretty grubby to say the least. We got cleaned up and Sam decided for a nap since he is trying desperately to get rid of his cold before we hit the islands. So I changed and went into town and walked around, went to the old Customs building and several other places like that (everyone knows how much I love history).
New Zealand is one of the most awesome places I have ever been too. We would come back here in a heart beat.

Good to be back “home” after our wonderful adventure. This trip is so wonderful – who could have guessed we would have such an adventure.

Ok, back to the mundane life on ship – you know – eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sex, sleep (just checking to see who was paying attention!) Onto the next adventure – that will be Fiji – and a day at the beach.
We are really happy campers!!!

Sam and Char

PORT ARTHUR PENAL COLONY - TASMANIA

Today we pulled into Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. It is a very large island that reminds me of Vancouver, BC – same type of climate and landscape. We took a Princess tour to Port Arthur – which was the penal colony in the 1800’s.

We were there about 4 hours and it just wasn’t enough time to even see 1/3 of the compound. It was fascinating and we enjoyed it. We had a tour guide for the first hour then we wandered around on our own. There was also a short cruise around the bay surrounding the compound so that you could envision sailing into Port Arthur.

On the way we went thru “Doo Town” – my goodness it was funny. Every house has a name such as “Rum Doo”, “Doo Me” “Doo Little”, “We Doo”, “Just Doo It”. Very quaint.

On the way back we stopped at the Tasman Arch which was spectacular – a lot like the natural bridge in Aruba (that’s gone now). This was solid rock and well above sea level so I don’t ever foresee it collapsing. There was a short hiking trail around it that we did.

We got back to the ship around 5 pm and we were pulling out at 6 pm. Around 5:30 the Tasmanian Police Bag and Drum Corp (bagpipes and drums) performed on the pier for us – in full kilt dress. It was really neat to see. The performed for at least 45 minutes and then we pulled out. There was a full moon shining on the water as we pulled out and it was very romantic – now if it had not been so darn cold would have been great.
Tonight we are crossing the Tasmanian Sea and the captain has warned us that it will be rough with huge swells and warned us to hold on the railings. We had heard that this is one of the roughest seas in the world. We’ll let you know how we fared tomorrow.

We had two days at sea before we get to New Zealand.

By the way NO photos because I can’t get them uploaded on the ship’s network. I have some great ones and will share them later.

Wish us well tonight and tomorrow.
Sam and Char

AUSSIE HOMESTEAD AND FARM, PUFFING BILL TRAIN

Melbourne is magnificent. We had one of the best days. We did a Princess Tour and enjoyed it so much. We left the ship and boarded a bus to head into the farmland area. It took about an hour or so on the bus to arrive at the Warrook Homestead. This homestead has been there since 1857. I had the best time here and Sam just smiled and laughed at me.

First you ride in a wagon filled with hay to the barn where the calves and cows are. Six people got to feed the calves with a half gallon milk container with a huge nipple attached. I got to do it and was so excited – those calves can really put a suction on that nipple. The calves are so adorable – the huge eyes looking at you when you feed them are beyond cute. Then we moved onto milking the cow – I passed on this one. You could try your hand at milking the cow and drink the milk. I couldn’t bear to do that the cow – sorry I’m still a city girl at heart. I did get to “talk” to the cow – we had a conversation while others milked her.

Then we went into the pasture to watch the sheep dogs work. The dogs are super friendly and one attached himself to Sam. They bound into the pasture and immediately the sheep started to move into a circle and in just a matter of minutes the dogs had the sheep just where they wanted them to be. It was amazing to watch. Directly from here we went to watching a sheep shearing. WOW – that is truly amazing and they are so fast at it. I didn’t realize that a sheep shearer’s hands would be soft – but they are because of the lanolin in the wool that they shear. It was really interesting to watch and also hear the stories of how things have improved since the old days.

After that we had a demonstration of how to use the bull whip and boomerang. We had lunch at the Warrook Homestead and it was great. Roast beef, chicken, potatoe, fresh peas and carrots, salad, red and white wine, damper (an Australian bread – quite good)and then coffee and dessert. After that kind of a lunch you need a nap but it was onto the Puffing Bill Railway.
This was so cute – the engine was a Thomas the train kind – small. The cars were all open air and you could actually sit on the side and let your feet hang over if you wanted to. I can just see myself trying to accomplish this and didn’t even try. It was a one way ride on the train thru a dense forsest – different from the rainforests we saw in Queensland.

We arrived back at the port around 4:30 and sailaway was 5 pm. It was very cool here in Melbourne definitely jacket weather and sailaway was downright cold so we didn’t linger long.
We played some slots – Sam won $100 so he was happy (I lost $20) We ate in the buffet as there wasn’t anything we wanted on the dining room menu. This is our third night and only the first night did we eat in the dining room.

Tomorrow is a sea day and so we won’t post. The following day we will be in Tasmania and I am looking forward to see Port Arthur.We are really enjoying all the different things we are getting to see and do.

Sam and Char

SYDNEY SAILAWAY

Our last evening in Sydney we had dinner with the Koala’s (no not the bears) but the group of fellow travelers that I met on the Cruise Critic board. It was a nice seafood buffet at the Marriott Hotel.

Sail away day we were up early and ready to board the ship. We walk to McDonald’s for breakfast and then went back and got everything ready to go. We arrived at the ship around 11 am and had to wait in line about half an hour to go thru security. It went by fast as we were talking with some people we met.

Our room is great – we love the extra room in the mini suite and I love the bath tub. We had some lunch and then unpacked and sort thru the dirty laundrey (there was quite a bit) and then our customary walk around the ship to familiarize ourselves. Very nice surprise from Sam’s daughters awaited us in the room. They each sent Dad an on board credit for his birthday and Meg sent us a lovely floral arrangement for our anniversary.

We had an early dinner around 5:30 as we had the life boat drill at 7:45 and sailway was at 9 pm. Sailway was magnificent. The ship was positioned in Circular Quay and we had a view of the Opera House on one side and the Sydney Harbour Bridge on the other. We stayed on the balcony for sail away and we were glad because we got some great photos.

The weather is on the cooler side and as Sam said a bit “nippy”. We are waiting for room service to bring our breakfast (we asked for a full breakfast in the room and got it). No plans for today – just kick back and relax.
Sam and Char

SYDNEY FROM THE RIVER AT SUNSET

BLUE MOUNTAINS AND FEATHERLITE WILDLIFE PARK

Today we got early at 6 am to be ready for a 7:30 am tour to the Blue Mountains and a wildlife park. The morning started with a quick coffee and then onto the bus. The morning just dragged by - the ride to the Blue Mountains seemed endless and wasn't terribly exciting. Long story short - we were pretty much bored.

We stopped for a Chinese Buffet - Sam sat outside and the food was not very good.

Then we finally stopped at the Featherlite Wildlife Park and had a great time. We got to see tons of Koalas and the kangeroos were hopping around the enclosed area with us. We bought some kangeroo food and mine was gentle and took small bites. The one Sam feed swiped the whole cone from his hand immediatley.

Some great photos and then we came back on a cruise on the Parmametta River - beautiful as it was just at sunset. We are extremely tired tonight.

We both said we will be glad to get on the ship on Monday and get settled in.

Til tomorrow

Sam and Char

WOOLOOMOOLOO WHARF

We all know how much Sam loves to talk. Well this time it really paid off. We were on the plane from Cairns to Sydney and he was chatting with the gentlemen next to him on the plane. It seems that Kingsley Smith, the man Sam chatted with, owns one of the premium steakhouses in Sydney.



So tonight we hopped into a cab and went to Wooloomooloo Wharf to Kingsley Steakhouse. Oh my goodness what an experience this was.



It was a very clear night and a crescent moon hung low in the sky. We walked to the end of the wharf to the restaurant. We were seated at a table that was partially inside and partially outside. We watched expensive boats bob in the water in front of the restaurant while across the wharf was the skyline of Sydney. It was spectacular to say the least.



The food was magnificient. I had the surf and turf, my favorite wine, and, of course, creme brulee. Sam had his first experience with dry aged beef -- Angus in this case but much like the Kobe beef in Japan. It was a wonderful meal.



It is funny how things work out. I had searched for months on the internet for a very nice place to eat one evening while we were here. I never did find one that I thought would be suitable. Then a wonderful restuarant more or less drops into our lap.



We sat there and talked about all the wonderful memories that we have together, the places we have been and the places we want to go. In the words of Skip Podluzne - "it doesn't get any better than this".



It was a memorable evening and one we won't soon forget - not only for the exceptional food and wine but the memory of a very special evening in Sydney.



With that I will say goodnight to all of you.



Char and Sam

WE TOOK THE DAY OFF

No photos to post today as we were too tired to take any. We decided to take the day off and relax. Went out for breakfast, went to the market near our hotel to stockup on Pepsi, took a nap, had a fabulous ice cream cone and are going to dinner at a well known steak house here is Sydney. Sam sat next to a man on the plane from Cairns who owns the steakhouse and they talked the entire trip. So we are off at 7 pm to try it out.

Tomorrow is a long day for us we have to up and out by 7:30 for a tour to the Blue Mountains and it doesn't return until 6 pm. Sunday we are finally going to do the ferry thing (I think) and Monday we board the ship. This time here is flying by. We are having the best time and making some wonderful memories.

Bye

Char and Sam

VIEW FROM OUR HOTEL ROOM

I took this photo from our hotel room window. I love it.

Hugs to everyone,

Char

A PERFECT DAY IN SYDNEY

I can't even begin to tell you how terrific today was. The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold, sunny and slight breeze.

We didn't get an early start this morning. We woke up early but by the time we got our act together and got out of the hotel room it was already 9 am. We went to the Starbucks on the corner near the hotel and ordered a large hot, black coffee and a pastry and took them outside and sat in the sunshine and enjoyed them with the pigeons. We finally managed to move from this spot around 10 am. We walked over and got on the hop on hop off bus for the day. We were gone all day long and could have stayed on for tomorrow too. We simply didn't have enough time to see all the stuff we wanted to.

Our first stop was Hyde Park Barracks Museum. This was built by the convicts and originally housed convicts, then women who came to Australia seeking a better life - they were called "unaccompanied, unprotected women" hmmmmm anyway back to the story - lastly it was used for a court house prior to be turned into a museum. It was fascinating and I talked with one of the women volunteers for about an hour. We could have stayed longer but we had more stops we wanted to make.

Then we went to Mrs. Macquarie's chair which is a huge stone boulder than looks like a chair. It is inscribed by one of the govenors of Australia from the 1816 period. The thing that makes this stop so special is not the chair but the spectacular views of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Sydney Bridge. The photos we took here are fantastic.

Onto the National Maritime Museum and the Australian HMB Endeavour - this was the ship that Captain James Cook sailed. Of course, it is a replicia but it was so interesting we spent a couple of hours here and I bumped my head on the overhead (it is like 4 tall and you basically have to crawl thru parts - folks this wasn't a pretty site to see - me crawling thru this ship). Lots of volunteers with tons and tons of information and we talked with them a long time.

By the time it was time for the bus to stop running so we had to quit for the day. We were both tired as it was a much fuller day than we had anticipated. We stopped for a quick bite to eat and came back to the hotel to relax.

We are thinking of buying ferry passes for tomorrow - they are like $6 for the entire day and there are lots of places that they take you to that we would like to go.

Until tomorrow

Sam and Char

SUNRISE IN SYDNEY

We are back in Sydney at the Marriott Sydney Harbour Hotel and we have a room with a veiw of the Sydney Opera House. It beyond cool.

This morning (they just changed to daily savings time last Sunday) I woke and saw the sun just peeking over. Not much to report as of yet. Today is our day to explore Sydney. We are buying a hop on hop off bus pass and a ferry pass. Tour Guide Harry would be so proud of us.

Later all

Sam and Char

SKYRAIL AND KURANDA SCENIC RAILWAY AND VILLAGE

Today we had a bit of a break in that we didn’t have to leave our “accommodation” until 10:15 am when the bus picked us up for Kuranda Scenic Railway and Skyrail Tour.

We arrived at the Skyrail Tour around 11:30 am. This will take us up this huge mountain to the Kuranda Village – supposedly the “Original” Kuranda Markets. This was once the path through the mountains to the goldfields. Kuranda is in the middle of a rainforest (yes, another one) and the Skyrail is the longest rainforest cab leway in the world.

What makes this entire thing rather comical is that I hate heights – what was I thinking in signing us up for this. So I sucked it up and bravely entered the cable car saying to myself “this will not be that bad”. Sam and I both sat in the car facing forward – or toward the mountain so that we would see up instead of “down” toward Cairns. Surprisingly enough I was good. NOT Sam he was miserable the entire trip and it takes over an hour to get from the bottom of this mountain to the village. Mostly he sat with his eyes squeezed shut. He did open then a few times when I said “wow that is so pretty” looked briefly and went back to squeezing them shut. So he says “ you know I’m not fond of these cable cars” and I did not dare laugh he was just too terrified. There were two stops where you could get off and look around and then board the next cable car and continue. We got on the first but not the second one – he said “let’s just get this over with”. We missed Barron Falls which now I understand is really awesome. At the end of the trip, they take your photo in the cable car with the rainforest digitally imposed on it. We got off the car and I burst into laughter as the photo shows Sam with this abject look of terror. I had to buy it. I plan to scan it and send out to a few friends and family. You will love it.

We walked about the village had a bite of lunch. We finally did some shopping – bought some Koala Bears (stuffed of course) a kangaroo, and some Christmas ornaments, few tee shirts. Then it was time to head to the railway station.

The trip down is in a restored 1800 railway car and goes down the same route that has been in existence for over 100 years. Very interesting but don’t look over the side because there is no where to go but DOWN. It was fun though.

We arrived back at the station and the bus brought us back to Port Douglas. Sam made some steaks on the grill (there is a grill in the pool area) and we had baked potatoes again and some bread. Of I forgot, I discovered the local bakery this morning. Thank god I didn’t find it earlier or they would need to bring in cranes to bring us both back to Sydney.

After dinner we relaxed in our private Jacuzzi in the courtyard and I did laundry in preparation of the trip back to Sydney tomorrow.

Our time here is at an end and it has been wonderful. Now onto the city – the country has been fantastic and we both loved it.

Tomorrow is a travel day and I may not post since packing and flying to another city is not terribly interesting.

Later everyone,
Sam and Char

MOSSMAN GORGE

One of my most favorite places to go is to "Doug and Judy's River" in Granite Falls, WA. I love going up there it is so peaceful and the river is so much fun. Sometimes the river there is low. The Mossman Gorge reminded me so much of Doug and Judy's River. But it was a lot wider, deeper and swifter.

It was simply put breathtaking. It was my most favorite location today. I just wish that it was accessible but there are signs to stay out since the current is so swift.

I am hoping to have one of these photos framed when I get home as a reminder of this trip - like I really need a reminder.

Ok, it is off to bed for me. We are still not totally in sync with the time thing. Still going to be somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30 each night. At least we aren't waking up at 3 am.

Tomorrow I will post the Great Barrier Reef photos.

We are having the time of our lives.

Hugs to everyone - until later

Sam and Char

DAINTREE RIVER

In the early afternoon, our guide took up to the Daintree River for a cruise on the river to see if we could find any crocodiles. We found several actually. The first one that we saw was sunning itself on the bank of the river and was hidden fairly well.

This is the sign as you approach the boat to go on the cruise. You know, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, to see this sign as you are entering a boat that at some point could turn over, spring a leak, God knows what and then you have this vision of the crocodiles slithering into the water to get you.



One of the crocs in the two phots below was so huge it was unbelievable. It actually looked like some from the Jungle River Cruise at Disneyland. However, trust me it was real.



We went by a smaller one that was laying their sunning itself docilely until we went by and then it showed its teeth.

In the last two photos on this page, check out the length of the croc - the little twisty thing in the water is its tail. Sam and I were trying to estimate how long it was and came to the conclusion it had to be somewhere between 15 to 20 feet long.



There is a certain amount of relief when you return to shore.

CAPE TRIBULATION, MOSSMAN GORGE, DAINTREE RAIN FOREST

Today we took a tour to Cape Tribulation, Daintree Rainforest, Daintree River and Mossman Gorge. It was a long day but so worth it.

We started the day out at 7:45 when Tony's Tropical Tour picked us up. Along with two English couples, we went to the Daintree Rain Forest where our guide took us thru the rain forest and pointed out the points of interest and the eco system. The Great Barrier Reef cannot survive without the rainforest - it was all pretty complex and extremely interesting.

We stopped for morning tea and biscuits around 10 am and then onto the point where the rainforest meets the reef. The photo above is where the rainforest meets the ocean. The eco system in the rainforest provides nutrients and micro organisms that keep the reef alive. We walked on the beach but couldn't get our feet wet as this is still "stinger" season here in Australia. These tiny stingers and jellyfish can make you deathly ill and, in fact, have caused several deaths.

After several more photo stops, we stopped for lunch at Noah's Valley. Lunch was excellent -- steak, fish, sausage (a hot dog really), three salads, fruit, water and orange crush. After lunch you could opt for an "invigorating" dip in the local free water stream (had lots of boulders - so Sam and I didn't go in).

After lunch we were off to the Daintree River Cruise and Mossman Gorge. See my next post for information on these.

We arrived back at the hotel around 5:30 pm. We stopped at the local supermarket and picked up a BBQ chicken and some "jacket" (baked) potatoes and took everything back to the hotel for our evening meal. The day was long and hot so we took a long, lesiurely dip in the hotel pool.

Fixed our dinner and we are now replete with good memories of the day and good food.

See the next post for some great croc photos.

WHOA WHAT A RIDE - THE GREAT BARRIER REEF

Good day everyone!

We went to the Great Barrier Reef today and WHOA what a ride. It was extremely windy and high tide when we left Port Douglas at 8 am this morning. To get into the boat I had to step up onto an stool and the boat was directly even with the dock. We booked this tour because it was small and it turned out to be even smaller than we had anticipated as only 6 people were on our tour (it holds 30) so it was virtually a private tour for us.

We left the dock and headed into the open sea - it is a 1 hour and 20 minute boat ride to the reef. WHOA what a ride we were rockin and rollin the whole way out to the reef. Once at the reef there is a bit more protection (because of the reef) but it was extremely windy and so white caps and choppy. The first two stops were so rough that I decided I didn't want to get into the water and Sam totally didn't because he isn't that strong of a swimmer. So we sat onboard and talked and enjoyed the wonderful sun while the others snorkeled their little hearts out.

They served a morning tea and muffin, then lunch of fresh prawns, cold cuts (ham and roast beef), salad and desserts. After the second snorkel stop, they served fresh fruit that was to die for.

Third snorkel stop - BINGO calm seas and a very protected area and I was finally able to get into the water. It isn't always easy for me to get in and out of boats (I try very hard not to look like a beached whale - but somtimes it does happen) the whole knee replacement thing isn't easy to deal with in situations like this one. Ok, there was a small platform off the back of the boat and I was really able to get in and out easily.

AWESOME is the only word there is for snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. I could not believe the fish and the coral. I got to hold a star fish that our marine biologist brought up the bottom - pretty cool (Alex you would have totally loved to draw that star fish). We had to wear these lovely wet suit kind of things (trust me you will NOT see this photo on this year's Christmas card).

The ride back was so bad that I prayed to get to land. WHOA what a ride - rockin and rollin like nothing I had ever experienced. We had the water so hard sometimes that water poured over the roof . I had heard that the waters of Australia were sometimes quite rough - now I have experienced it. We arrived back at the dock it was low tide and I thought we had tied up at a different place (of course Sam encouraged that belief) and we had to climb up a ladder of about 8 to 10 steps to reach the dock - remember how I had to step down into the boat in the morning at high tide - holy cow what a huge difference.

This was an experience of a life time. I can say that I snorkeled at the Great Barrier Reef - how cool is that?

The weather here is to die for. By the way - just an interesting tidbit that I picked up today from the woman who mans the "reception" here at the hotel. Minimum wage for unskilled labor - i.e. bus boy, etc is $17.67 per hour. Skilled labor - plumber, a/c heating, electric is somewhere in the range of $70 to $80 per hour. Food is out of sight in cost. Houses are in line with the US.

More later - this was a good day.(no pun intended)

Char and Sam

SYDNEY TO CAIRNS TO PORT DOUGLAS

We arrived in Cairns yesterday and then onto Port Douglas - the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef. We checked into our "self catering" accommodations - and it is quite nice. We have a nice room with a small fridge, microwave, sink, etc so we can cook a few things (which is a good thing since food here is out of sight in cost). We have a small courtyard with our own private jacuzzi and after the long plane rides it was wonderful to hop in there to relax. However, it was a bit too relaxing as I feel asleep at 7:30 p.m. and Sam said he was asleep by 9:00 pm (yes, folks you are reading this correctly I did say 9:00 pm)

We flew out of Sydney on Virgin Blue - now think Southwest Airlines and multiply that chaos by 100 and you have Virgin Blue - however, it was CHEAP. (most of you know that and SALE are my two favorite words)

Australia is amazing and how lucky we are to have this time here. I did not realize how vast this country is. It a 3.5 hour flight from Sydney to Cairns and then 1.5 hours on the bus to get to Port Douglas.

Tomorrow is the GREAT BARRIER REEF

We're here !!!!

We arrived in Sydney today around 11 am. It was a long flight - we left LA at 10:30 last night on Air New Zealand. We loved the premium economy. The seats had more leg room but were not that wide. The food and service were excellent.

We are staying at the Marriott Sydney Harbour Hotel but have not had a chance to do much exploring. Frankly, we are really beat and plan to go to sleep early as we leave here tomorrow for the Great Barrier Reef. So I'll keep this short and sweet. Just wanted to let everyone know we arrived safely.

More later

Sam and Char