Cruising - Sea Day #2

Up late this morning due to the early hour we got to bed! It was great to just sleep in again.

Kelly has perused through the Cruise Compass (the daily schedule of events onboard) and discovered the Drink Of The Day.... An Aussie Punch - "An incredibly refreshing blend of orange and pineapple juices, hand shaken to combine the subtle hints of vanilla and caramelized sugar found in Captain Morgan's Original Spice Rum.....   sounds like a winner to me!

Kelly did her coffee run and we then sat on the deck and enjoyed the view while catching up on the news and started planning our day.  Numerous social events popped up... trivia, slot pull and Black Jack Tournament to name just a few.

As our clocks moved ahead yesterday our body clocks were out a little so went right to trivia and met with Bryan and Cathy. We didn't do as well today with 27/30 answers which equaled no prize for us!

Breakfast in the dinning room followed and we met some nice folks from Florida that are heading to Spain to buy a rental property. We took notes... you never know!

Wandered through some of the onboard shops as Kelly's watch strap pin is broken... which means a new watch may be in order.  We relaxed on our deck and then headed down for the first of several  slot pulls that she signed us up for. We put in $15 and got back $9 each... not the big win we hoped for but it was fun.

The Blackjack tournament was on as well and both Kelly and I bought a seat. I came close to the final table but missed the cut by one! Arghh. Oh well it was also fun.

Spotted these two guys wandering around.

Back in the room we relaxed on the deck and I made some small repairs to our flag tie-downs to make sure it stayed attached. All good. The sun was not really a factor but the sky still looked amazing during sunset.

Sunset

Dinner tonight is at the Giovanni's specialty restaurant featuring Italian dishes with the Orr's. It was a nice relaxing dinner and then it was just around the corner to the Palace Theater for a piano concert
with Craig Dahn.

A quick Casino stop and we then retired for the evening.  Tomorrow it's Noumea, our first port stop.

Cruising - Sea Day #1

Kelly was up just around 06:30 and after checking the view from the deck, headed down on a coffee run. Tasted good but just not quite an Australian coffee :-)

I was scolded by my daughter Lauren for pocket calling her early in the morning her time. I am not sure how that happened as my phone seems to call her a lot on trips. All sorted. Sorry girl :-)

We checked over the cruise planner to come up with a plan of action for our first full day on the ship. 

There was an interesting series of talks about the use of forensics in crime solving so we headed out to the Palace Theater to listen. It was the setup to what will be several talks on Sea days about all sorts of crime stuff from blood splatter analysis to how to do a proper autopsy  .... not for everyone but it is interesting. :-)

A quick bite of breakfast then we headed to the Cruise Critics meeting in the Star Lounge. They raffled off a bunch of prizes and we had a bit of a meet & greet. We hung around the lounge and after being joined by another couple, played some Celebrity Trivia. We had to guess the actor (in costume in a picture) and for a second point, the name of the movie that he/she was in. Our group managed to get 29/30 possible points and won the highly coveted RCI Key Ring! 

Grand Supreme Champions with their prizes!!

 A quick stop at the Windjammer Buffet to replenish those lost calories from the trivia game then we watched some surf riding on the upper deck. Kelly said No! to any thought I had of competing.. maybe next week?? 

Cathy & Bryan came down for a visit on the deck as we enjoyed the intermittent blasts of sunshine and a great view.

Sun about to set from the balcony.

And another day ends!

Dinner at 8:00 pm this evening with formal attire on the menu. We have several Formal nights and most everyone was decked out in their best clothes.  We also met our fellow table people tonight at #420 which was right next to Cathy and Bryan at #421. They all seemed very nice and I think we will get along fine over the course of some 19 dinners together.

We left them after dinner as we now headed to the Headliner Show which featured a musical tribute to Queen. It was well done with very good singers belting out Freddy Mercury hits.

We stopped by the Roulette wheel and I managed to break even tonight but Kelly took it on the chin, giving back some of her winnings from last night. We are still on the plus side!!

Back to the show lounge to watch an adult comedy show and then it was off to the rack after a nice relaxing day on the South Pacific Ocean.

I also managed to fix my iPhone so I can now text again :-)  Changing sim cards can have it's challenges. All good now.

Let the cruise begin!

Kelly was up very early getting a face tan from the glow of her iPhone....  she was watching the arrival of the Explorer of the Seas via the harbor web cam. There were also lots of Facebook posts from fellow cruiser who also could not sleep! Excited perhaps?

We walked over to Salt Tapas and Wine Grill for our morning flat white coffees then our usual walk along the beachfront. The weather is fantastic today so there is lots of activity with surfers, swimmers, beach volleyball, yoga and dog walkers galore! We grabbed a spot to sit and just soak in the sun and overall ambiance.

Our coffee/dinner place!

Great coffee spot.

Beach action.

Our walk took us to the Blue Water Cafe for our breakfast this morning....  Eggs Benny with bacon!

Breakfast!

 It was now time to head back for showers and to start packing our gear .  I took a picture of the Tribute Flags for the Anzac Celebration that will happen in the early hours of the 25th. It is similar to Veterans Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in Canada & Britain.

Flags

With our load of bags we (the royal we) decided to grab a cab over to the manly wharf for the 11:45 ferry to the Quay. Just before 11:00 I ordered the cab and then received a text message a couple minutes later saying it's on the way and to get the bags curbside. OK bags loaded and in four minutes we were at the wharf. Hey there is a ferry at the dock... quick check of the app and there was a 11:10 ferry! We walked down through the building and walked right behind a huge queue of passengers onto the ferry. Doesn't get much better than that! I must say our experiences with the transportation system have been phenomenal.

A beautiful site!

Cabin location. We put out our Canadian Flag once onboard!

Fueling up... it's a long way!

 Off the ferry and a short 5 minute walk to the cruise port. We arrived at 11:58, dropped our bags and checked in at 12:10. Through immigration at 12:23 and through security at 12:40 and on we went.

Met up with Cathy & Bryan and some FB friends in the Cafe Promenade and then headed to our rooms. First we checked out their 6th floor balcony suite located on the starboard side right in the center "hump" which gave them a nice view down the entire ships length.

Next was a stop at our rear balcony on the 8th floor. This is the first time we have had such a location so it was a bit exciting. The room is pretty generic in size but the balcony was large and it will do nicely. Jury is out on the ride though as we are at the rear port side.

This will do!

 We had a bite to eat at the Windjammer Buffet and then afterwards, found our bags in the hall outside our room and got things all unpacked for the 23 days ahead.  Next was the safety drill and our briefing on life jacket location & operation and muster station rally point for our deck.

 Drink time as we all headed upstairs to the Pool Bar for a meet & greet. The ships horn blasted and at 17:30 we left the dock and slowly worked our way out to the head of the harbor inlet.

Yep... another pic as we set sail.

Bridge behind the ship.

We met up with the Orr's and had a beverage before wandering back inside and then off to prepare for dinner. Tonight we went to Chops Grill and I enjoyed a rack of lamb dinner that was fantastic.

Feeling stuffed we then walked through the casino and Kelly had a good turn at the roulette wheel. She left very happy so we called it a night for our first evening. Watched a bit of karaoke then back to blog and then hit the rack.

Manly Final

Our last full day in Manly... or Australia for that matter. Time flies when you're on vacation!!

Kelly was up early, made herself a coffee then slipped out to the porch to read her book and get caught up on FB with her cruising pals.  Many cruisers are counting down the minutes until departure as the excitement starts to grow. Several will actually fly in on the day of departure. (Being in the aviation industry, unless I can drive there in a day, I would never personally take that risk... but that's just me:-)

Once I dragged my butt out of bed, we headed out for a morning walk along the beach. With hot coffee's in hand, we watched the surfers and a huge beach volleyball tournament that was underway. We also grabbed another geocache that had eluded us yesterday due to crowds, then stopped for breakfast overlooking the beach.  Although we baked in the sun it was great!

Breakfast views of Manly Beach.

We headed back to our little flat and sorted out clothes. We (the royal "We" that is) collected laundry and headed around the corner to the Wash 239 Laundromat.  We could throw a rock and hit it so good planning on Kelly's part!!

One thing that struck me as odd was the street layout where our Airbnb was. Clearly the street was widened but I suspect the trees where somehow grandfathered and subsequently included in the streetscape.

Trees have the right of way!

Kelly did some practicing as she has a new tune to learn. Sounded good to me! It also entertained the local birds that visited us on our wee porch.

Practice underway.

My view!

We headed off into the main tourist area once again. There was a local market with stalls set up just off the main pedestrian walkway that offered various items for Kelly to scrutinize.  The school grounds also had a huge market of used goods as well.  We also found a post office to send a special person a postcard :-)  After grabbing some fresh baked buns we went back home and made lunch out of the meats and cheeses we had purchased earlier. It was very good and went down easy with a glass of cold beer and some wine.

No geocache here!

With the sun still working it's magic, we swapped back over to our beach gear and walked the four minutes to the beach. Some dark clouds filled the horizon but the sun did it's job for about 45 minutes before disappearing behind the clouds.

The clouds eventually won out :-(

Retro look of a new Royal Enfield Classic 350.

We relaxed and just chilled on our porch until we had another idea... Dinner!!

We walked over to the main street and once again had a nice meal along with dessert... that we could have done without :-) We tried to walk it off but returned to our place with an extra pound attached... at least that is what it felt like!

Tomorrow we will head over to Sydney Harbor and get on the Explorer of the Seas for the next leg of our adventure. 

Sun & Sand

We got up at 7 am and headed over to the local eatery just around the corner from our place. Coffee and great breakfast then a short walk along the beach to soak in the ambiance. We stopped and enjoyed watching some surfers and the dog walkers :-) Also the shear number of baby strollers is mind boggling... must be the water!

We headed back to our place and I quickly fixed/updated our Thursday blog post. Grabbed the beach gear and headed out to work on the tan/burn. Lots of interesting cars that caught my eye as well.

Tesla Model S

A couple hours of sun until our bodies said it was time to get moving and we walked back a block & a half to the pad. Changed to more comfortable walkers and it was off to explore Shelly Beach just south of Manly Beach. It is a well used path and there was lots of people out enjoying the day.

Some wildlife was spotted but Kelly just kept on trucking... also lots of vegetation as well.

My friend "Rocky"

Not sure what it was but very colorful!

The pathway with Shelly Beach ahead.

 Once at Shelly Beach we climbed in behind and explored the neat pathways that cross the point. We also found a geocache to add to our total. This was a great vantage point to view Manley Beach along with South Curl Curl Beach and Dee Why Beach.

Neat pathways on the point.

More great views.

 We returned to the main shopping avenue in Manly and had a nice cool ice cream. A quick stop for some Aloevera at the chemist and we headed back to our pad for refreshments and snacks.

Shelby Cobra knockoff.

Showers, a nice snooze and then it was time for dinner. A very relaxed day all around... just the kind I like on vacation.

Dinner was at the Jelly Fish around the corner from our place, followed by a nice walk along the beachfront.  Back at our place we planned out tomorrows itinerary that will include laundry etc. which, conveniently is also just around the corner going the opposite way!

Manly Beach

  Up and out the door to retrieve some coffee's for Kelly and I... remember those muscles need caffeine! It is move day for us as we head over to Manly Beach for the rest of our stay in the Sydney area.

Using the Opal app we planned out the route and then headed downstairs for some breakfast. They gave us the Air Canada discount so we left very happy!

We finished packing,  loaded up our bags and after checking out of the hotel, headed over to the Museum Train station. With all our gear we used the lifts and it was pretty painless.  Once on the train we checked the ferry departure time and determined that this gave us just 6 minutes to get to Wharf 3!

In true Reaville fashion, we got off the train, took a lift down to street level and walked on to the ferry with a full minute to spare. :-) The ferry took 20 minutes and again offered fantastic views of the Sidney Opera House.

It is an amazing structure.

Sydney skyline.

Once in Manly we headed over to a park right beside the wharf. As our Air B&B is not ready till 12:30 we wanted to stretch the time out so we just sat in the park and enjoyed the views. It is a 14 minute walk according to Google maps so we will hoof it there. Our luggage wheels will earn their keep!

Manly Wharf

In time, we walked up the road and headed towards our Air B&B. Kelly’s phone buzzed with a message saying the place was ready. Perfect. We easily found it and Kelly was pretty excited having booked this spot around Christmas.

Happy girl!

We quickly unpacked the essentials and headed for the beach. Sunscreen on and we laid on the beach a good half hour before the skies clouded over and the darker rain clouds started to move in. Ok Kelly said..  off to the shops.

Pre-cloud view of Manly Beach! Lovely spot!

We stopped at the Four Pines Brewery to ascertain freshness and  tastability of the products… they passed! A quick stop at the local Coles Grocery store and we left with a supply of snacks and dinner items for tonight. Yep we are home cooking that BBQ chicken we bought :-)

Back “home” we had some snacks then took a long walk along the waterfront before it got too dark.

Evening walkabout.

Dinner at home and then it happened!!!!!  I turned on the TV and what was on? NHL Playoffs! Now when I do an overnight in Portland, OR the odds of getting NHL Hockey are pretty much zero… but here in OZ… no problem it seems!

Flyers go down 3-1

 Off to bed as we are hoping for a stress free sunny beach day tomorrow!  Blog update was giving me issues with font sizes due to copy & paste and picture placement I believe??? All fixed now I hope!

Bussing to Bondi

Awoke this morning to some sore muscles in dire need of caffeine!  Kelly was quick to head down to a small coffee place (Wood Roaster) just around the corner from the Pullman Hotel. It was very good as all coffee seems to be revered here!

Weather is mixed cloud with a 20% chance of rain...  high of 22 forecast.  Our destination is Bondi Beach, famous for sand, sun & surf and some great scenery.

We scoped out the bus trip using our Opal app that has a neat trip planner for various routes and types of travel to get from A to B. It helps makes the trip effortless. 

Our bus stop is a short walk from the hotel to catch the 380 Bus then a 30 minute ride to Bondi Beach. We arrived several minutes early only to see the first 380 bus drive right past us... didn't even go into the bus lane or think about stopping? OK... we consulted the app and another one was 6 minutes away... it stopped and we were off to the beach via many stops! We got off at Campbell Parade at Knotts Rd and then started the famous Bondi to Bronte walk.  First order was food so we ended up at the Crabby Hole cafe (at the Bondi Iceberg Club) for a sandwich. 

Bondi Beach

Iceberg Swim Club with crashing waves hitting the outside lane!

 Next was a gorgeous walk along the “trail” that gave us fabulous views of the rocky shores and sandy beaches. We also grabbed a cache along the way.  The sun was out in full force and I wished I had worn my shorts at this point!

Stunning views with a churning ocean!

Amazing rock formations!

 Below I have left Kelly in the pics to give some perspective of the rock formations.

Must do if you come here!

We returned back to Bondi Beach and checked out the Bondi Pavilion then headed over to grab a cool beverage before taking the 380 north to Watsons Bay. 

On arrival we found a great vantage point to view the Gap Bluff which gave us even more amazing views of the rocky shoreline (no beach here!)

The Gap Bluff

Stunning views!

 We then grabbed the ferry back to Circular Quay via Rose Bay.  It gave us a taste of the small fast ferries that will take us to Manly Beach tomorrow afternoon.  It was a bit cool as it clouded over and I was glad I wore pants! (such was the weather today). The ferry took us past the Opera House providing another photo op for us. 

It's ferry time!

Crew member Kelly prepares to leave Watsons Bay.

Spotted this nice racing sailboat "Ichi Ban"... reminded me of the ongoing Volvo Ocean Race.. which I have been following.

Another view of the Sydney Opera House

Never gets old!

Our ferry dropped us at the Quay and we returned to what now are familiar grounds. Jumped on the train and came out at Museum Station at Hyde Park. We then headed over to Starbucks to purchase the requisite mug with "Sydney" written on it.  :-) (I won't tell Dave how much this one cost! Kris is correct, this is a very expensive country)

We walked back through Hyde Park with it's amazing trees and stopped by the ANZAC Memorial which, unfortunately, was closed for a big upgrade.  

ANZAC Memorial

Back at the hotel it was time to relax and prep for dinner. Thai tonight at a restaurant suggested by Kris.

We cleaned the salt off us and headed for Chat Thai on Campbell. St. just a few blocks away. After walking right past it, we regained our bearings and wer were quickly seated... good thing because the place filled up with a crowd standing outside waiting. The smell was fantastic and we took some time deciding on a couple dishes. It was great and we enjoyed it immensely.

Pork Ribs.... say it slowly!

A quick stop at Coles for some suntan lotion and a couple bottles of Kelly's new favorite wine from the Squealing Pig Winery in New Zealand... yep that is the name!

Back to relax and plan our "move" day as we head over to Manly Beach tomorrow.