COUNTRIES WE VISITED

AUSTRALIA                                    Sydney Melbourne Adelaide Fremantle

MAURITIUS                                     Port Louis

SOUTH AFRICA                              Durban Port Elizabeth Cape Town

NAMIBIA                                          Walvis Bay

CANARY ISLES (SPAIN)               Gran Canaria

MADEIRA (PORTUGAL)               Funchal

ENGLAND                                       Southampton Cambridge Oxford York Liverpool Isle of Man              
                                                           Bath Guernsey Herm Dover

FRANCE                                           Saint Malo Dinan Rennes Paris Thollon-les-Memises Yvoire
                                                           Mont Saint Michel

GERMANY                                      Frankfurt Regensburg Berlin

AUSTRIA                                         Mayrhofen St Anton Vienna

SWITZERLAND                              Lausanne

ITALY                                               Milan LaSpezia Pisa Genoa Barga Lucca Florence Rome
                                                           Venice

SLOVENIA                                       Ljubljana

CROATIA                                         Zagreb

SERBIA                                             Belgrade Novi Sad Kralevo Sremski Karlovci

HUNGARY                                       Budapest

BULGARIA                                      Sofia

TURKEY                                           Istanbul Ankara Cappodocia Pamukkale Izmir Ephesus
                                                            Canakkale Troy Gallipoli

ROMANIA                                        Bucharest

SLOVAKIA                                      Bratislava

CZECH REPUBLIC                         Prague

CANADA                                          Halifax Quebec Montreal Toronto Winnipeg Edmonton Jasper
                                                            Lake Louise Banff Kamloops Vancouver Victoria

U.S.A.                                                 Juneau Skagway Ketchikan Seattle Honolulu

WESTERN SAMOA                         Pago Pago

FIJI                                                      Suva Lautoka

VANUATU                                        Mystery Island

NEW CALEDONIA                          Lifo Kuto Noumea

We visited 27 countries and 86 cities.

                                                          

DAY 208 MONDAY 0CTOBER 19 - HOME

We both woke up at 4am and looked through the portholes to see lights on land.  Then we dressed and went to the Promenade Deck, where we could see the light from Barrenjoey Lighthouse.  Box Head had been showing on the edge of the Navigation TV Channel but it was too dark to see Killcare.  We watched the lights of Collaroy, Dee Why and Manly before entering the heads and seeing South Head Lighthouse at 5:30am.  Our Canadian friend Gail came on deck as the Pilots climbed on board and we pointed out places to her before she gave us a goodbye hug.

We passed the fast Manly Ferry and then the big one as we  moved slowly towards the harbour bridge.

As the ship came into the Overseas Passenger Terminal we received a phone call from Evelyn who told us she was waiting at Circular Quay to meet us, which was a lovely surprise.  She found her way into the terminal and waved to us as we waited to get the all clear.  At 7:30 we carried our luggage down the gangway and through Border Control and Customs, where we declared wooden souvenirs with no problem.

Our luggage was getting heavier with souvenirs bought in ports since Vancouver, so it was great to have assistance from Evelyn to catch the train to Central and then Woy Woy with no waiting time and be delivered home by 10am.

We saw the remains of the tree that was blown over in the front yard and had been tidied up by Dave and friends.  The house was in good order and we quickly unpacked and set about sorting mail and eating the food Evelyn left for us.  We called in at Telstra Woy Woy, where we bought a dongle for temporary internet and ordered ADSL ready for the NBN in February.  We went to the Dory newly renovated house for a beaut BBQ dinner and a happy time with the family.

Good to be home and sleeping in the right bed.

Next day we walked to Bullimah Spur Lookout, stopping at Marie Byles Lookout on the way to reassure ourselves we lived in the best of all possible spots.

DAY 207 SUNDAY OCTOBER 18 - LAST DAY AT SEA

We went to church at 9am and thought of the Marsden Road people worshipping, as we were now in NSW time zone.  The hymns were accompanied by two ukeleles and sung at half speed so we are looking forward to some happy singing next Sunday.

Sandra Millikin gave her last lecture, which was "Strange Buildings in Australia".  She showed some of the "big" things used to attract customers: banana, pineapple etc..  Malcolm attended the Navigation talk given by the third officer.  He explained why big ships have a "bow bulb" just under the water to break through the waves and allow fuel savings of up to 12% when travelling at cruising speeds.  He also explained that the unannounced  fire drill yesterday was sprung on the crew without warning in order to ensure they would respond as if it was a real fire.  Only the captain and a few inspectors knew it was a drill.

Lyn went to a demonstration of how to make towelling animals.

  Later we both went to the astronomer's talk on stars of the Southern Hemisphere and how stars were used by early navigators. We also listened to Kelly's talk on Australian animals. 

The weather was sunny and warm today and the sea was remarkably smooth.  We packed our bags ready for a disembarkation at 7:15am tomorrow.

We gave a little souvenir to our dinner companions and waiters and to our housekeeper, Dedi.

DAY 206 SATURDAY OCTOBER 17 - SEA DAY

There are two sea days left so our speakers are back.  

Sandra Millikin spoke on Mutiny on the Bounty and the astronomer talked about black holes and the end of our solar system when our sun becomes a red giant then a white giant.  He finished by advising us not to feel small in comparison to the universe because there is only one of us as far as we know.  We are individuals.

In the afternoon we went to Kelly's talk on what to do in Sydney.  It sounds like a wonderful city to visit.

We went to the "Australian tea" at 3pm for a one off and ate lemon meringue tarts and minipavlovas.  They had plenty of lamingtons there.

It was the last Gala Night for dinner with our four friends so we can pack our fancy clothes away.  Our junior waiter Agus was missing and Gede told us he had received news today that his mother died and he was planning to return home from Sydney.

The 9pm show was the Volendam singers and dancers performing "Classique", which included occasional pieces of real music. 

DAY 205 FRIDAY OCTOBER 16 - NOUMEA

Noumea is our last port before Sydney and it is taking us a long time to pass through the Pacific Islands.  The wharf is right in the centre of town and we were told that other ships have had to dock at the container wharf some distance away.

The cafe on the wharf advertised free Wifi and for the price of AUD10 Malcolm bought a fresh orange juice and spent an hour on emails, Facebook and blog.  We were one of the first off the ship so we beat the Wifi rush this time.

We browsed the arts and craft stalls on the wharf and made some interesting purchases.  We walked past the central park and up the hill to the Church of the Protestant Community.  It was closed and looked neglected..

The Catholic Church of St Francis Xavier was grand and well maintained.

A bride and groom were posing inside the church.  It looked like a commercial shoot.

The statue in the grounds was of Joan of Arc. Was she female or male?

The weather was cloudy and mild so we enjoyed strolling past the shops back to the ship at 11:30.

At 4pm we watched the ship leave the port while chatting with Canadian Gail.  Only 63 hours and no time changes to Sydney from here.

Wayne and Linda sat with the smokers tonight so we had dinner with Joanne and Pauline.

The concert tonight was a second helping of Heart of Spades and Ketei told us he was getting married next week but William told us Ketei had actually not yet proposed.  After the marriage would be just as good apparently.

We also had a second helping of Neil Lockwood who was more entertaining as himself.  He talked about his encounters with the Beatles and had us do the lalas for Hey Jude.

DAY 204 THURSDAY OCTOBER 15 - ILE DES PINS, KUTO, NEW CALEDONIA

Another tender trip was required today.  We left the ship at 9:45am and the weather was wet and cold on the island, so we only stayed half an hour.  We were greeted by a small group of islanders performing a welcome dance.

It was a very small community and we just walked around the stalls and a boutique.  The beach was very nice with fine sand but it was not looking inviting as everything was grey.

 In the afternoon the sun came out and the little islands around looked beautiful.

At 1pm we went to the cinema to watch "I'll see you in my dreams", which was about a retired woman who played bridge with friends in the retirement village.

We watched a magician perform all the usual card and mind reading tricks in the Show Room at 8pm.

DAY 203 WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 14 - EASO, LIFOU, NEW CALEDONIA

For a second time we anchored about 500 meters from shore and climbed onto the tender to get to a small pier.  There was a moderate swell and the trip was rough but the swell was behind us so not too bad.  We were amazed how many people who were struggling to walk on the ship managed to get on and off the boat.  There were more souvenir stalls and a nice grassy camping area fronting the beach next to the pier.

There was a carved pole at the end of the pier.

We walked up to the small Catholic church up on the hill on a headland where we got a nice view, but it started to rain and people were taking shelter.  It only had one pew that would seat 6 people.  There were four bibles open, one in French and three in English.

We walked in the other direction to reach the second church.  It was much larger and was dedicated to St Francis Xavier.  It had beautiful stained glass windows and paintings around the walls for stations of the cross.  It was built by the French in 1858 and seemed as though it was visited by Pope John Paul.  We went inside a traditional hut.

There was intermittent rain and while we were queuing for the tender a storm blew in and wet us.  The trip back saw us next to an open door and waves splashed us a couple of times.

The artist tonight was Neil Lockwood who sang in ELO 2 and he did a tribute to Elton John.  He put a lot of energy into it but we both fell asleep for the middle part as we did not know all the songs.