Monday – another day at sea relaxing and playing cards, computer, reading etc. Tuesday 5th April – We had a late arrival into the port of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Not much here unless you are interested in the activities of the US during the 2nd WW. We chose not to do a tour but if it wasn’t so hot it would have been nice to go to one of the little beaches – no part of the tours. Instead we just took the shuttle into the town and were dropped off at an expensive shopping complex. No bargains to be found. Electrical/electronics outlets seem to be non-existent in this part of the world. We were interested in buying a small digital clock running on 60 megahertz (American) rather than 50megahertz (Australian) to use in our cabin when we go cruising. Maybe we’ll find one in Guam tomorrow. We like to know what time it is in the middle of the night when we need to take a little walk or if we are restless without putting a light on. We haven’t any tours planned for tomorrow either but I hope our docking port is more interesting than most of them have been on this cruise. We have booked a tour for Rabaul in New Guinea which should be interesting. Well we are about to go off for Sundowners and then dinner. Tuesday 5th – We had an interesting send of when we left Saipan. The Police vehicle was on the wharf sounding every siren available to him and driving up and down and playing loud music as well. The local customs were shouting Ozi Ozi Ozi to the usual response from the people on ship of Oi Oi Oi, over and over again till the ship was just about out of hearing range. One of the most tumultuous send offs we’ve experienced in all of our cruising. Wednesday 6th April – We docked in Guam about 7.30 then it was go slow till the US had checked us through thoroughly – getting sick of filling out forms for the paranoid US authorities. We weren’t able to do a tour in Guam as they were all booked out before we came ashore. They would only let 4 shuttle busses on the dock at any one time and no cabs. So you can imagine how long it took to process about 2000 passengers and get them to where they were going. We finally took the shuttle into town. Seems that it’s expected that passengers have plenty of money to burn because the shuttles always take us to the “Galleria” which only seems to sell upmarket clothes, handbags and jewellery. Well after we have been through our umpteenth “Galleria” (no bargains) we then took the shuttle to Kmart – yes you read right – to Kmart. We found the clock we have been looking for and had a tasty junk food lunch and the GD bought a couple of pairs of shorts and I bought some pants. We are finding that all of our clothes have shrunk – Ha Ha – must be the water we’ve been washing them in. We then made our way back they way we came. It appears from the bus window that Guam has a number of pretty beaches but nothing has been set up with the shuttles that allows for us to enjoy them at all. Seems this tour is geared to spending upmarket and war memorials. Posted 7th, 8th, 9th April – all sea days. Apart from eating, sleeping reading and being entertained, all we have done in the past few days is to attend a lecture on Volcanos. It was presented by a US vulcanologist. It’s rather surprising how many around the world have gone off in the past 10 years or so with some still spewing out lava. That said, we have booked a tour to go to a Volcano in Rabaul and to the beach where it’s bubbling and steaming out of the sand. It should be interesting. It also includes a visit to the volcano observatory. I don’t even have to worry about doing the laundry since we acquired Elite status on the ship. We’re enjoying our trivia and finding out how much we don’t know. Looking forward to that tour tomorrow and will post details in the next few days. Sunday 10th April. Last night was party night (Island theme) up on top deck. The music was good – we even got up and did a bit of a shuffle along with all the other old rockers. The tour in Rabaul was great. The buses however were just 12 seaters with only natural air conditioning, which worked well when we were moving. Otherwise, the temperature was a still 30 degrees plus with high humidity. We firstly went to a villages school where the children’s choir was out on the lawn singing Hymns while some of the locals accompanies them with guitars. We then drove through what once was part of Rabaul, now covered with a very thick layer of ash. Here and there was a barley visable rain water tank. A few brick posts once part of houses were sticking out of the ground. A lot of the vast area of ash was once the Rabaul air port though there is no evidence of it ever being so. Even where there was wash outs from the rain over the years there is no evidence of the runways or what lies under the meters of ash. Tuvurvur Volcano was puffing out smoke continuously. We then drove on to the beach where there were hot springs of sulphuric water running into the ocean. The palm trees are still all beheaded, just tall sticks standing up, from the eruption which occurred in 1994. The natives are making good use of the dead palm trees as firewood. Evidence of natures regrowth is just visible with some grasses and other plants starting to pollinate in the barren ash. I’d say it’s a place that would be unrecognisable to anyone who may have visited before that eruption. Our guide was very courteous and very quietly spoken. Seems that’s is typical of the locals. We then drove across the ashen desert to where there was a wreck of a Japanese war plane. It’s in a hole about 3 meters deep where they keep digging the ash away from the wreck. There is evidence everywhere of tar sealed roads going nowhere except to a mountain of ash and a dead end. Then it was off to the Earthquake observatory high up on a peak near Tovanumdatir Volcano. On the way up the very steep narrow road we passed holes in the mountainside where the Japanese had dug in during WW2 using local manual labour. We thought at one stage that we might have to get out and push the bus in front of us as it kept stopping and blowing out heaps of smoke. Fortunately it made it up the steep slope. This observatory monitors any movement around the Pacific rim and is linked up to Canberra monitoring station. One of the monitors was still indicating movement at Christchurch. There were 8 monitors in all. Back to the ship to shower and cool down before lunch. We then took a stroll along the street near the dock where the locals were out selling their wares. Like most ports we have visited, they too are aware of the value of their labours and bargains are not easy to come by. Nothing that could be taken back into Australia took our fancy anyway, though there were quite a lot of the carvings etc. which showed a lot of skill. We both enjoyed this port of call better than any of the others on the cruise. Monday 11th April. For the next three days we will be at sea before arriving in Brisbane on Thursday. By tonight we should be should be around the same latitude as the tip of Cape York. Activities should be much the same as previous sea days so unless there is something out of the ordinary to report this will be our last post till we meet again back on good old OZ soil.

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What left of the Air port Building

Monday – another day at sea relaxing and playing cards, computer, reading etc. Tuesday 5th April – We had a late arrival into the port of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Not much here unless you are interested in the activities of the US during the 2nd WW. We chose not to do a tour but if it wasn’t so hot it would have been nice to go to one of the little beaches – no part of the tours. Instead we just took the shuttle into the town and were dropped off at an expensive shopping complex. No bargains to be found. Electrical/electronics outlets seem to be non-existent in this part of the world. We were interested in buying a small digital clock running on 60 megahertz (American) rather than 50megahertz (Australian) to use in our cabin when we go cruising. Maybe we’ll find one in Guam tomorrow. We like to know what time it is in the middle of the night when we need to take a little walk or if we are restless without putting a light on. We haven’t any tours planned for tomorrow either but I hope our docking port is more interesting than most of them have been on this cruise. We have booked a tour for Rabaul in New Guinea which should be interesting. Well we are about to go off for Sundowners and then dinner. Tuesday 5th – We had an interesting send of when we left Saipan. The Police vehicle was on the wharf sounding every siren available to him and driving up and down and playing loud music as well. The local customs were shouting Ozi Ozi Ozi to the usual response from the people on ship of Oi Oi Oi, over and over again till the ship was just about out of hearing range. One of the most tumultuous send offs we’ve experienced in all of our cruising. Wednesday 6th April – We docked in Guam about 7.30 then it was go slow till the US had checked us through thoroughly – getting sick of filling out forms for the paranoid US authorities. We weren’t able to do a tour in Guam as they were all booked out before we came ashore. They would only let 4 shuttle busses on the dock at any one time and no cabs. So you can imagine how long it took to process about 2000 passengers and get them to where they were going. We finally took the shuttle into town. Seems that it’s expected that passengers have plenty of money to burn because the shuttles always take us to the “Galleria” which only seems to sell upmarket clothes, handbags and jewellery. Well after we have been through our umpteenth “Galleria” (no bargains) we then took the shuttle to Kmart – yes you read right – to Kmart. We found the clock we have been looking for and had a tasty junk food lunch and the GD bought a couple of pairs of shorts and I bought some pants. We are finding that all of our clothes have shrunk – Ha Ha – must be the water we’ve been washing them in. We then made our way back they way we came. It appears from the bus window that Guam has a number of pretty beaches but nothing has been set up with the shuttles that allows for us to enjoy them at all. Seems this tour is geared to spending upmarket and war memorials.

Monday – another day at sea relaxing and playing cards, computer, reading etc. Tuesday 5th April – We had a late arrival into the port of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Not much here unless you are interested in the activities of the US during the 2nd WW. We chose not to do a tour but if it wasn’t so hot it would have been nice to go to one of the little beaches – no part of the tours. Instead we just took the shuttle into the town and were dropped off at an expensive shopping complex. No bargains to be found. Electrical/electronics outlets seem to be non-existent in this part of the world. We were interested in buying a small digital clock running on 60 megahertz (American) rather than 50megahertz (Australian) to use in our cabin when we go cruising. Maybe we’ll find one in Guam tomorrow. We like to know what time it is in the middle of the night when we need to take a little walk or if we are restless without putting a light on. We haven’t any tours planned for tomorrow either but I hope our docking port is more interesting than most of them have been on this cruise. We have booked a tour for Rabaul in New Guinea which should be interesting. Well we are about to go off for Sundowners and then dinner. Tuesday 5th – We had an interesting send of when we left Saipan. The Police vehicle was on the wharf sounding every siren available to him and driving up and down and playing loud music as well. The local customs were shouting Ozi Ozi Ozi to the usual response from the people on ship of Oi Oi Oi, over and over again till the ship was just about out of hearing range. One of the most tumultuous send offs we’ve experienced in all of our cruising. Wednesday 6th April – We docked in Guam about 7.30 then it was go slow till the US had checked us through thoroughly – getting sick of filling out forms for the paranoid US authorities. We weren’t able to do a tour in Guam as they were all booked out before we came ashore. They would only let 4 shuttle busses on the dock at any one time and no cabs. So you can imagine how long it took to process about 2000 passengers and get them to where they were going. We finally took the shuttle into town. Seems that it’s expected that passengers have plenty of money to burn because the shuttles always take us to the “Galleria” which only seems to sell upmarket clothes, handbags and jewellery. Well after we have been through our umpteenth “Galleria” (no bargains) we then took the shuttle to Kmart – yes you read right – to Kmart. We found the clock we have been looking for and had a tasty junk food lunch and the GD bought a couple of pairs of shorts and I bought some pants. We are finding that all of our clothes have shrunk – Ha Ha – must be the water we’ve been washing them in. We then made our way back they way we came. It appears from the bus window that Guam has a number of pretty beaches but nothing has been set up with the shuttles that allows for us to enjoy them at all. Seems this tour is geared to spending upmarket and war memorials.

Sat 2nd – Sun 3rd April Hi Emily, we were thinking of you on the 1st of April but we weren’t able to get an email out to you to wish you Happy Birthday. I’m sure you had a good one anyway. Busan, Korea was a half day tour as I mentioned. I didn’t make it all the way to the temple as the climb was too much for me. When one sees all the apartment blocks – one after the other – we realize how well of we are in Oz. These apartments cost around $250.000 US. Their wages are quite low in comparison to ours so you do the sums. The people here are well dressed on the whole. The air is much cleaner that Chinese cities. The roads are exceptional and all the vehicles are pretty new. The bus we were on was decorated rather like a gypsy wagon with curtains with tassels and pretty trimming every where but it was very modern with a big TV up the front to either view TV or to view the road ahead. After the temple in the mountain, we came back down to “Auntie’s Fish Market”. You may have seen it on one of Rick Steins Cooking shows. It’s quite interesting and all looks very fresh. Considering it was a fish market the smell wasn’t too bad. I’ve smelled worse in Woolworths fish section at home. We spent the rest of the time ashore wandering around the market place. Feeling a bit hungry we tried the most delicious and crunchy waffle at one of the street stalls. They speak little or no English. We have found throughout this cruise that there are very few bargains to be found. Not like it used to be. Saturday, a day at sea, part of it in Japanese waters. As such, all phone and all satellite communications were blocked till 3 pm when we entered the Pacific. I played cards in the morning and the GD went to a herbalist seminar. The usual Nana nap in the afternoon and then to dinner and a show. It was a formal night with the Captains cocktail party before dinner. Sunday, another day at sea filled much the same as yesterday except when I went and played cards the GD went to the church service. We are going to the “Sterling Steak House” for dinner tonight with the group from our table – 9 of us – a nice bunch of people. This restaurant is the only one that you have to pay $20 for a 3 course dinner, but we are told it’s exceptional, specialising of course, in steak. The weather is warming up considerably and we are just about up to present Queensland temperatures. We’ve packed away the woollies till we get home.

atellite glitch!!! Unable to post Dairy, will try later this after noon

Friday 25th March - We docked at, probably the busiest commercial port we have visited on any of our cruises. Big trucks of all ages queued up for miles. We couldn’t get to the cruise terminal on the river because of the draft of the ship. The air is cleaner than we expected – thank goodness. We took a tour which firstly took us to what is now the 2nd tallest building in Shanghai. The lift goes from the basement to the 88th floor in 19 seconds. You don’t feel any motion and only know you are going up because of ear squeeze and the indicator on the wall of the lift. From the 56th floor it’s hotel and you can look down through the middle from the 88th floor to the reception in the middle. From the windows you can see right across Shanghai – 360 degree views. It’s very flat and in ancient times was actually the sea. Next we went to the Yu Gardens. These were once a private family garden and you pay to go through them. They are not huge but a virtual mountain of rock has been transported to the site to set them out with little lakes full of huge gold fish - your typical Chinese garden with lots of garden rooms. We then had to spend 3 hours in the old town before taking our bus back to the ship. As a result of having to spend more time there than we expected we had to find somewhere to eat. Since they speak almost no English we opted to eat at a McDonalds we found where at least we knew what we were eating. We had no intention of making purchases though you are continually being offered Rolex watches by the street sellers, we did get a bargain on a battery for my camers. We wandered around the old town and found a tea house and had the most expensive cup of jasmine tea we’ve ever had – but hey, the atmosphere was worth it, it was quiet and warm. Shanghai is not an old city in itself and most of the city buildings are very modern and new. The population of Shanghai is almost the same as the whole of the population of Australia. That gives you some idea of the number of people around. Then back to the port. I have a cold so I was glad to have dinner and hop into bed.Saturday 26th March – We took another tour into the city to travel on the train which floats on an electromagnetic field – no wheels. It travels at 431 kilometres an hour from the city to the international airport and back. By any other means it takes about an hour but on this train it takes 9 minutes

Friday 25th March - We docked at, probably the busiest commercial port we have visited on any of our cruises. Big trucks of all ages queued up for miles. We couldn’t get to the cruise terminal on the river because of the draft of the ship. The air is cleaner than we expected – thank goodness. We took a tour which firstly took us to what is now the 2nd tallest building in Shanghai. The lift goes from the basement to the 88th floor in 19 seconds. You don’t feel any motion and only know you are going up because of ear squeeze and the indicator on the wall of the lift. From the 56th floor it’s hotel and you can look down through the middle from the 88th floor to the reception in the middle. From the windows you can see right across Shanghai – 360 degree views. It’s very flat and in ancient times was actually the sea. Next we went to the Yu Gardens. These were once a private family garden and you pay to go through them. They are not huge but a virtual mountain of rock has been transported to the site to set them out with little lakes full of huge gold fish - your typical Chinese garden with lots of garden rooms. We then had to spend 3 hours in the old town before taking our bus back to the ship. As a result of having to spend more time there than we expected we had to find somewhere to eat.

Buying the Nicon SRL

Hong Kong

Sun princess Cruise March 2010 Cherry Blossom
Sunday 20th March.
After a long, uneventful flight to Singapore, we wandered around the airport. We didn’t do any shopping as it seems there are no bargains to be obtained and we were bu##’’’**d after 8 or so hours of flying and airline food. We met a couple who had come from the cruise and were headed back to the US who informed us that we would not be going to Japan and that there were flue and gastric diseases on board. Not a good start to our adventure.
The flight to Hong Kong seemed to go fairly quickly with more horrible airline food but the wine and the Singapore sling was pretty good. We spent quite a while getting through immigration and customs when we landed. Then it took forever to find our luggage which had been booked through to Hong Kong from Australia. We were getting a bit worried until we learned that our luggage had been put aside near the carousel. Then it took a while to find out where our transfere station for our journey to our hotel was located. They looked like they hadn’t heard of us but fortunately we had our documentation with us for the trip. We had an upgrade in the Hotel with a view of the harbour through the buildings. Jorgen saw our ship come in. The upgrade was not quite what we expected. It was clean Spartan and very small but everything one needed for an overnight stay. After our free excellent breakfast we wandered around the foreshore, got our bearings and found the ship. We did a small purchase (NOT) or a Digital SLR camera and some attachments. Then back to our hotel to check out and get a taxi back to the ship to embark. After a nice lunch we headed for our cabin to finish unpacking and to put our head down for a couple of hours before dressing for dinner. There’s a few nice people at our table but the two nights we have been on board we’ve had a few changes of people our designated table. We watched a good local show in the theatre
It’s now Tuesday 22nd and after inquiring about one of the tours that looked interesting we realized that there were far too many steps involved for me. We decided last night that we might take a ferry and go up the mountain on the cable car but alas it’s all smoggy so it’s not worth doing that. Instead we went back to the camera shop and made additional purchased a filters etc. I’m going to have to do a photography course when I get home to learn how to us it all. We’ve also been informed officially that there will be no ports of call in Japan. We found a back street after weaving our way upstairs and downstairs, underground and above ground with wall to wall designer items. We couldn’t find a computer program shop with what we were looking for, nor could we find anywhere that had any talcum powder that Jorgen wanted. There were plenty of creams and lotions but they apparently don’t use powder at all. We sailed away to a light show which was rather poor according to some passengers that have seen it at it’s best.
Wednesday 23rd March – After a pretty good nights sleep we awoke to gale force winds and high seas – and we love it. It’s a sea day today and tomorrow before we are scheduled to arrive in Shanghai at 8.00 am on Friday 25th.

11 days of planting by the moon started last Monday.
the weekend was spent fertilising and preparing the garden for sawing and planting Monday and Tuesday, being the big session this time for the autumn and winter crops.
finally the weather has cooled dawn a bit and evening showers of rain has help immensely, to day is Friday and already some of the seeds has germinated and the garden is showing new life after a very wet and hot summer.
I purchased some Kiwi fruit vines from Bunnings at Capalaba on the weekend, first time that i have seen them here in Brisbane, they are fast growers and we should be picking fruit late autumn or early winter.
there is no pictures this time as my camera is packed for our forth coming cruise trip

My first Cheese making in 2011 is a slab of Feta divided in to 10 small parcels.
it is easy and ready in about 5-8 days and will keep in the fridge for up to 3 months and still maturing to quiet a strong Feta.
The first lot I made last year was so good it didn't last very long at all.

Thursday 23rd – Friday 24th Dec.
Mystery Island – a flat coral island that takes just 2 minutes to walk across. There is an air strip built by US during WW2 and still in use. The Japanese thought it was too small to have one and didn’t know where the planes were coming from, hence the name Mystery Island. None of the islanders live on the island but there is plenty of them there on the day a ship calls selling their wares etc. We had coffee at a very primitive café. The cups were on the tables under a grass shelter. The coffee tin, Nescafe was placed on the table along with the hot water in a small old battered aluminium kettle and you made your own. We had a swim (J had a snorkel on a small bommi). The water was beautiful.

Isle of Pines – a small island amongst many in New Caledonia. It seems to have evolved both from volcanic and coral build up. We had a swim in a couple of beaches in the pristine waters. The sand feels like pure silica under foot. It has to be one of the prettiest islands I have ever seen with quite a magical quality because of all the big old gnarled trees, almost blocking out the sun on the island. There are also lots and lots of what appear to be Norfolk pines on the island thus the name “Isle of Pines”. It’s under French rule. Unfortunately we missed out on the few tours of the island which I’m sure had a lot more treasures to reveal. There were signs indicating a town about 6 Kilometers from were we were. After cooling off in the water’s around a sacred rocky (coral) rock with little grottos at it’s base, and walking through the forrest, we had a cool “Number 1” beer brewed in Noumea which resemble a light pilsner. We then made our way back to the pier to get the tender back to the ship. We are about to head out to sea again to make our way back to Brisbane. Merry Christmas to all, J & M.


Pictures will follow later due to Satellite problems

Christmas Eve was very traditional with lots of carol singing, artificial snow and an excellent Christmas Eve show then partying till very late. Today, Saturday- Christmas day has also been special with Santa arriving down the chimney and then into the Atrium lounge where he distributed presents to about 400 children on board. We then did our usual trivia before going to a special Christmas lunch – basically a variation on the usual menu. After lunch the kids on board did a nativity play in the main show room. The 6 degrees separation has really been evident today. This morning we sat with a couple who live only a couple of kilometres away from us and in addition they live in a home where close acquaintances of ours once lived. Then at lunch we sat with a couple of ladies from Warwick. Since leaving High School I have often wondered what became of a close friend of mine who I thought may have ended up in Warwick, but whom I have never been able to track down, though I have tried quite a few times. I was not expecting anything positive but, low and behold, these ladies had been close friends and were able to give me contact information. Well only one more full day of sailing before we are back home again.

Cruise dairy


Saturday 18th Dec Mon 20th: After Dave dropped us off at the port it didn’t take too long to embark and unpack our carry on luggage. Our suitcase arrived mid afternoon. We left port pretty much on time about 2.00. Since we were on the ship only a couple of weeks ago we’ve been able to help a lot of the passengers wandering around looking lost and point them in the right direction. However it took us a little while to re-orient ourselves as we are on the opposite side of the ship to the previous cruise and tended to head in the wrong direction.
The weather has been particularly kind with flat seas. There seems to be a little bit of a swell this afternoon. We’ve been adopted at dinner by a young couple with a couple of nice young children a little girl of 7 and her brother 9 years of age.
The ship is decorated beautifully with Christmas decorations everywhere and all the staff wearing santa hats. We’re doing pretty well at trivia – we’ve heard them all on the last cruise – but not well enough to win yet. A lot of the staff have recognised us and welcomed us back like old friends.
Tomorrow we sail into Lifou and have booked a tour called “Melanesian encounter”.
We are sitting in our cabin (nicely arranged with access to the window) having sundowners.
Cheers to our followers.

Tuesday 21st Dec. We arrived at Lifou this morning around 8 pm. After a leisurely breakfast we boarded the tender to go ashore for the tour we had booked. It has been a hot clear day. The tour took us across the island to a church built in the 1800’s. It is a protestant church as is most of the churches as they were the first missionaries here. The chiefs dwelling is close by and we were invited in to his round house. (Like a free sauna!!!!) It’s actually just where he ‘smokes’ his people. It’s made from big poles and palm thatch. Then on to a green coconut drink, straight from the tree. After that a traditional cooking demonstration after which we got to try a dish they had prepared earlier. It was chicken cooked with taro, sweet potato, po po (paw paw), green banana and coconut milk wrapped in banana leaves. It was then back on the air conditioned bus (open window) and back to the little beach we arrived at. They had their markets set up selling food and their wares. We tried a slice of quiche which contained their local spinach and a lemon meringue pie – both very nice.
I then went for a swim in the pristine waters while the Great Dane cooled off under a palm tree before catching the tender back to the ship for a rest. Now about to go off to trivia before dinner.

Wed 22nd Dec. Port of call today is Vila, Vanuatu. We have been here a few times before so not taking any tours. It’s hot and a few showers fall. Firstly we had a look around the stalls set up near the port. All much the same merchandise, most of what you would expect. The prices are also quite inflated. There are taxis lined up for a couple of hundred yards. Of course with the strength of the Australian dollar, they preferred that to their own vatus. It was possible to barter though. After freshening up we then did our bartering to take a taxi into town. It started at $15.00 au but we got it for 500 vatu which is about $4.00 – it is only a short drive but too hot to walk. All I wanted to buy was some white slacks but since women here don’t wear slacks I didn’t have any success. I had left my white ones home and wanted to wear them with the rest of the outfit I brought with me for Christmas eve. The high highlight of our visit was lunch. We had intended to have it at an old haunt but found out it has been closed for a couple of years. We were directed to another restaurant who served a good coconut crab dish and I have to admit it was just as good as we would have expected at the now closed Ma Barkers. It took us a good hour to eat our way through the dish. We then took a taxi (for the same price) back for a long afternoon nap before dinner.

River Gondula at Christchurch

The Fjordlands

Milford Sounds

Tuesday 7th Dec
After posting yesterdays blog, with the wrong month on it, we went off to dinner and then a show. Today we arrived at the southern end of NZ and headed into Dusky sound and out of Thompson Sound. As you would expect it’s quite spectacular. We then moved in a northerly direction through Acheron Passage and exited via Breaksea Sound, equally spectacular.
It is bitterly cold out at sea in this part of the cruise unless you can get out of the breeze. After lunch and a nap we found we were entering Milford Sound where the ship must use a pilot because it is narrower than the other sounds we have been in today.
There is snow on the peaks along with the remains of an ancient glacier, so we have been informed.
Tonight we will be going to a late show in which our table waiter will be singing along with other members of the crew. He’s looked after us well each evening for dinner so even though the show doesn’t start till 10.00 pm we can’t miss it even though it’s after our bed time!!!! The weather has been exceptionally kind to us today. It was feared that we may not have been able to do the fiords if the weather had stayed like yesterday. We are now setting a course for home and have been told it could be a bumpy night with a low forming just ahead of us between two highs. It won’t worry these two mariners though.
Cheers till we report again,
The Great Dane and Gemini.

Thursday 2nd to Sat 4th

Tauranga – a pretty little place. We didn’t take a tour but did some laundry instead before going ashore and having a very nice seafood lunch at a seaside (ocean beach) café and walking back to the ship along the inside beach.
Napier – we went on another wine and cheese tour in the morning and tasted some very nice wines. The first winery was in a monks old missionary. It’s still owned by them but run by a management group. Their label is “Mission Wines”. I particularly liked a lightly sweetened late harvest wine. I hope we can find it in Australia when we get back home.
The second winery was “Sileni” where they also served cheese with the tasting and also had a tasting of a salsa promoting some of their other products for sale. We bought some of their nice cheeses for our sundowners back on board.
The third winery was one I can’t pronounce so I won’t try to spell it. They also had a great cheese, fruit and cracker selection plus a local NZ Ice cream.
We then returned to the ship and refreshed and headed back into town for some lunch and a look around in the mall.
Wellington – Since we have been here for a few days before, we just took the shuttle bus into the city and did a little shopping for essentials and then had a nice lunch at a German pub. Back to the ship for a nap then an afternoon coffee up on the top deck.

There is a bout of NORA VIRUS (a very aggressive form of gastric and vomiting wog) going around the ship for the past couple of days so it’s been necessary to be particularly careful about what you touch and lots of hand washing the code is RED ALLERT.
Apart from that and our air conditioning not working last night it’s been a very pleasant but uneventful cruise. The weather has also been very kind with cold mornings and nice sunny days.


Sunday, 5 December 2010
Arrived at Lyttelton this morning at 8am. This is the port for Christchurch. After a leisurely breakfast we caught the shuttle into Christchurch. It’s a busy weekend as they have a cycle race on around the city this morning as well as a Christmas parade this afternoon. We spent a couple of hours walking around one of the most beautiful parks/gardens I have ever been in – the roses were spectacular.
We then walked into the main part of the city still showing signs of the earth quake a couple of months ago.
We took a punt barge, like a gondola, along the Avon River through overhanging trees and under about 5 bridges. It’s really a lovely quaint city.
We then had lunch at the Art Centre before catching the shuttle bus back to the ship.




Monday 6th Nov

Cruise Log.

It’s 4.30 pm Tasman Sea Time Tuesday 30th Nov. Thanks D for driving us to the ship. After finding where we had to embark it took about 1 and ¼ hours to go through customs, board and find our cabin. It’s nicer than the one we spent 3 months in last year. Apart from sleeping and eating, we have been to a couple of trivia sessions and two excellent evening shows. We are dining with two other couples about as young as we are. One couple are actually from Cleveland and go to the Centre where I play cards on Thursday, except they play indoor bowls there. The other couple are from Port Macquarie. At breakfast and at lunch we have also struck a lot of nice happy people. The food is good and too tempting, which means we’ll have to starve ourselves the week we spend at home before the next cruise. The seas have been calm to moderate but it’s pretty windy out on deck. We know we are going south as the temperature is heading the same way. It’s another day at sea today and the tomorrow we arrive in Auckland where we have booked a wine tour.
Will keep you posted as December rolls up, Cheers J & M



Wednesday 1 December 2010
Woke up this morning - already docked in Auckland. Had a leisurely breakfast in the dining room before getting ready to go ashore for our Wine Tasting tour of the Auckland area. We visited Soljans winery and gave a big tick to “Kumeu Pino Gris”. We then moved on to Nebilo Winery and enjoyed “The peoples Chardonnay” as well as “Selaks – The Favourite Merlot”. The next winery we visited was Matua Valley. There were about 4 of their wines which we thought worth looking for in Australia when we get back home. The vineyards here are relatively small. When we got back to the ship, we chose to have lunch in town, which is right at the port. After a bit of shopping for a couple of essentials we spent the afternoon sleeping off the morning’s wine tasting. At the moment – 5.30 pm, we are preparing to sail away. Tomorrow we expect to wake up in Tauranga. We haven’t booked any tours there. Will keep you posted, Cheers the Great Dane and Gemini.

Well time to feed the blog again.
I have finished dressing the garden with lucerne mulch.
I chose Lucerne this year mainly because of 3 new veggie beds, the new soil I used has great moister holding capacity and drains well, I added the usual starter nutrients such as Blood and bone, Dolomite, dynamic lifters, Sulphate of Potash for healthier and stronger plants, as well as sweeter fruit, Garnet dust also known as rock dust for all the ancient rock minerals, as well as trace elements and a good dressing of Sea-Mung.

Lucerne mulch is well known for its higher Nitrogen content, as well as trace elements from its very deep root system.

I found that the Lucerne mulch covered a lot more per bale than cane mulch, and in the long run it works out a fair bit cheaper due to the greater coverages, it is a lot finer than Cane mulch and I thing a greater moister protection and cooling for the soil,it will be interesting to see if it last as long as cane mulch.

However the garden is ready for our very hot summer and ready for planting the summer crop such as cantaloupes (I grow the moister one the size of a cricket ball and very sweet) my Pumpkin is up as well as the water melon. and so is the Mango Melon (seeds from GB on the farm)

To days harvest.
It is a luxury to just go into the Veggie garden and pick the days produce for our meals.
We hardly ever visit the Green grocer any more we are self sufficient as far as vegetables is concerned.

Two more Cheeses new variety, I have recently had the coultuer for Danbo and other Danish cheeses brought in by GREEN LIVING AUSTRALIA,it took close to 3 months to get them here due to the Northern hemisphere country's all go on holiday over the northern summer and most factories and businesses close down for that period.
I am very happy with the the outcome first time using the coulture making DANBO cheese and KING CHR.X cheese with caraway seeds using Jersey milk which is the best for cheese making.
This style style of cheese will mature in just 2 months delivering a mild flavoursome cheese, they can be matured up to 8 months with a constant increase of taste to very tasty.
The Chr.X cheese I added some Lipase enzyme to make a traditional stronger cheese.
A number of my hard cheeses has started to show some signs of early maturity and we have been eating some of the first Cheddar, very exciting!!.

A nice harvest of red cabbage, the seedlings was planted at the end of July,3month from seedling to maturity is very good for a new garden bed.




6 jars good size of pickled sweet and sour red cabbage Danish style, that will keep us going till next season, I am also making 1 jar of Red cabbage sour kraut.

Air drying 2 cheeses that I made late last last week
SWISS Cheese and a EDAM.

I have come across a dependable supply of Jersey milk, the Jersey is some of the best milk for cheese making, the result after only pressing and the salt brine bath looks stunning, I am confident of an excellent result the colour looks so creamy and rich.

Monday:
In amongst the heavy rain I have harvested quiet a crop of Curly Kahel that I will process this evening.

I will simply tare the curly leafs of the ribs, lightly chop them after they have been washed, place them in a large sup kettle with a couple of inches of water and steam them about 10 minutes till they wilt, remove from the pot onto a drainer board let cool a little, then by hand squice the excess water off before chopping the Kahle a lot finer after which i form them to tennis size balls for freezing for later use, the kahle don't like our very hot summers.

I was kindly asked over for Sunday Lunch at Patrick & Merilyn on Sunday.

P & M started growing vegetable for the first time ever, earlier this year,
Pat build a table height bed and a lover bed early Autumn, it didn't take them long to get the soil and plants in after the beds was build.

Gemini and I have made a couple of visits to experience the progress, the garden beds has been a great success and regular harvest has taken place with much pleasure for both P & M. also Merilyn has branched out to some smaller pots as well.

Merilyn has been growing Orchids for many years with a results that would make many a hobbyists growers envious.

As well Pat & Merilyn have a quiet a collection of Bonsais that they attend to on a regularly basis.

As one would presume, the growing of veggies would not have been all that difficult to get started.

My first Asparagus is up only 6 days after planting, it may not look much, but I am impressed

The first dig of new kafler potatoes, the potatos was planted on the 16 July,I am extremely pleased with such a result in succh a short time

It has been a busy week with one thing and an other, the 11 days of planting in the veggie garden finished last Monday, just in time to plant the Asparagus crowns that GB. On the farm gave us after a lovely weekend visiting at the farm, in addition I found a small potted crown at Bunning’s but that will take a couple of years before to starts producing.
The Savoy cabbages did well in the garden , these afternoon I put down some for sour kraut in the stone ware pot, it will take 3-5 days to ferment before I press it into jars and to keep in the fridge.

I mix a sliced apple and a little finely sliced carrot with the cabbage, personal choice!!!
on the 3rd day I will mix in a little caraway seed as well.
Tha sour kraut will have sufficient flavour after 10 – 14 days, but will improve over time to reach maximum flavour at 4 month, that is if there is any left.
I have a big crop of Red cabbage coming on in the next 4 – 6 weeks, some I will make into Sour Kraut and the rest I will Pickle the traditional Danish way.
To morrow I will make a “Traditional English style Vintage cheddar” that will sit in the Cheese cave for at least 10 months to mature.

Again a nice supply of fresh vegetables, the Cabbages will be pickled to Sour Kraut,
the Cauliflowers and turnip will be part of dinner no night with chicken Apricot.

We spent the weekend at the farm with Linda and GB!!
having a very relaxed weekend helping Linda getting started with Cheese making, as well as a Sunday morning trip to Kenilworth looking at a couple of galleries, and a visit to the Cheese factory before hitting back to the farm making a Tasmanian style Blue cheese.
We had already had made a Cheddar on the Saturday,
the local milk supply is Jersey, some of the best for cheese making
we had a wonderful weekend
GB send us home with a couple of Asparagus crowns for the Veggie garden as well as a few avocados.

A new variety of tomato to the garden, "Green Zebra"
it is a Heirloom Tomato, it will be interesting to see if it cross breads with the other tomatoes,
I will take seeds and plant on the next moon cycle of planting!!!
It has pale green flesh and a mild flavour low acidity.


The beans has started to crop well sins the weather has started to warm up, and the first sugar loaf cabbage of the season.
I finally got around to put electricity and fluro light in the garden shed, and tidy up as well!!

To day we had a visit from the air-conditioning company to install some diverters plates in the ducting, this has been going on since late January this year, we have 2 systems as the house is rather a long house, one of the systems have been running without any problems, the other one we have had no end of trouble, in the heat of the Queensland summer with high humidity we could not cool our bedroom or my office below 28C on a hot day, the family room and kitchen was fine.

The A/C company changed hand late last year and the new owners just didn't want to know any costumers with a current warranty!!!

We have had 3 visits from the technician without having any thing done, the last visit 6 weeks ago and he said the office will phone you in a couple of days to arrange the installment of the extra equipment, nothing happened, I chased it up again late last week and finally the problem have been fixed, and plenty of air is now coming out of the register in both the bedroom and my office, apparently the system had never been balanced?
lets hope that is the last of it.

Well the long awaited rain finally arrived over night we had 34 millimeter of rain, the tank is full whereas yesterday it just dieseled, barely sufficient to make any impression on the water gauge.
The garden looks sparkling and refreshed this morning, and the pool is overflowing ready for a back flush, great start to spring!!!!

Hi Linda
Thank you for the comment on the Toamccicum?
comments are always welcome, at least I know some one reads my Blog Spot.

In Fact to any other readers and followers, I would like comments and questions!!
so that I am are more aware of how many readers I have as well as their interests.
Cheers
The Viking ( GD)

To day is fathers day. As usual we have a different breakfast as from the rest of the week. As I had started to plan breakfast in my mind, Gemini was very firm about only having a soft boiled egg and a slice of buttered Rye. She told me that I had to watch my sugar level!!,

I reluctantly agreed thinking that I would make up for it at dinner.

I will be cooking a Lamb Shoulder slow roast a la Jamie Oliver.

Already having planed to make an other Brie for the Cave, later to go into the deep freezer for later use over the festive season.

Surprise surprise; soon after returning from Woollies with 6 liter of milk and just started the cheese making process I hear people coming through the front door (which is open most of the day when we are home), shouting out Happy Fathers Day, the Brisbane and near by based kids with a Friend turned up with morning tea, Bread rolls, Danish Pastry etc.

All organised a few weeks ago between the gang and Gemini, therefor the reason for the light breakfast only!!!!!

In addition to all goodies we had to break into a couple of the hard cheeses that are just about ready, and they passed with flying colour.
I will still have the Lamb Roast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In addition I think I have scored well.

They all went home with a supply from the veggie garden as well as some cough mixture from the herbal dispensary.