Brisbane

It was only a a few weeks ago that the floods in Queensland meant that the port of Brisbane was closed to all but emergency traffic, but we arrived without a problem on Tuesday 15th. As with Sydney, the Australian authorities are strict with people bringing any food or plant matter ashore, so every passenger had their hand baggage searched when we disembarked. In Brisbane we'd berthed in a basic container port, so we had to take shuttle buses into Brisbane, about 40 minutes away.

Brisbane is not a big place and the streets are all laid out in a grid pattern, not at all like Milton Keynes. All the North-South streets are female names, all the East-West ones are male, mostly kings and queens. It makes navigating the city quite easy, and together with Trevor and Jean, we decided to try to hire some bikes and cycle the path around the city centre and along the river. From the tourist information on the main shopping street we'd been told of a place to rent them just inside the gates of the botanical gardens, so we headed down there. While Sydney was a bit wet and cloudy, the weather in Brisbane was very warm and sunny so we walked slowly and took in the sights. The botanical gardens were lovely but there was no sign of anyone offering bikes for hire. A local volunteer guide stopped to chat to us, and we discovered that the bike hire didn't run on a Tuesday. Of course. He advised us to come back tomorrow, but that was a little impractical. So instead I broke out my shorts and we decided to walk instead.

Some of the park was closed off to the public still as the clean up from the floods continued, but we were very impressed by the speed at which things were getting back to normal, especially considering the extent of the damage. The gardens ran down to the river itself, so a large proportion of the site had been under water only weeks earlier.
It was a nice stroll through the trees, down to the riverside and then along a boardwalk through the only "innercity" mangrove swamps in Australia. We emerged close to a foot bridge which took us across the river and onto the south bank. This is where a lot of the damage to businesses was done, and there was a real major cleanup operation underway. Signs and posters announced that the south bank was open for business but the city beach (a huge man made area of pools and parks along the river) had been washed away, and reconstruction was underway. It looked like it was, and will again be, a really attractive area. We ate in a scruffy looking fish and chips cafe which actually served the biggest and tastiest fish burgers any of us had tried, we could easily have eaten one between two but it would have been rude to leave any! We sat outside on benches covered in newspaper because it had been raining a few minutes earlier, and watched the big Ibis birds search for scraps left behind by fellow dinners.

I know I said earlier that it was hot and sunny but as with quite a few places recently, that doesn't preclude the odd, sudden downpour. This one was no different, and had caught us just as we found some shelter. You don't get much warning any more, just a few big drops, then it really starts, they know how to do rain here!

Continuing our walk along the south bank of the river we found the Brisbane version of the London Eye. It wasn't as big, but there was no queue and pretty much all the carriages were empty. We could have had one each. It was a pleasant enough ride with good views over the city had it not been for the rain which started again just before we boarded and continued for another 20 minutes after we got to off. Luckily there was more shelter which we took advantage of before heading back across the river and back to the central shopping area.

We split from Trevor and Jean and managed to look around a few real shops, me on the lookout for a lightweight rain jacket for less than $100 and Katie on the perpetual hunt for postcards! We stopped at Starbucks in the hope of leaching some free Wifi but drew a blank there. The hunt for a reliable, cheap connection continues, it doesn't even have to be fast, I'm willing to take anything!

Back in the port and back on board, we were readying ourselves for sail away when the captain announced that the ship was also ready to go. It was only a couple of minutes later that he came back on to say that 2 last people had arrived and we had to "open the door" and drop the gangway again to let them on. It was obvious that he had already made the decision to leave without them, they were lucky to have made it.

Overall, we liked Brisbane. Aside from the weather, the city felt like it had a real heart, and the city beach area is quite unique, it really helps to give the place a feeling of outdoor living which is very attractive.

15. unora 2011 – Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

V utery jsme zakotvili jiz kolem 7.hodiny rano, takze kdyz jsme se hned po sedme probudili, tak uz jsme stali v pristavu a mohli jsme pozorovat dalsi nakladi lod, ktera se chystala zastavit hned vedle nas. Nemeli jsme zarezervovany zadny hromadny vylet – diky bohu, protoze jsme zjistili, ze je mnohem lepsi objevovat na vlastni pest nez organizovane - , takze plan byl sejit se s Jean a Trevorem a spolecne jit na breh a vyrazit do mesta. Pristali jsme asi 45 minut od centra Brisbane, takze P&O zaridilo satl autobusy, ktere vsechny ty, co nejeli na zadnou exkurzy, dopravili primo do centra mesta. Prosli jsme budovou terminalu, kde nebylo vubec nic, protoze prevazne slouzil pouze pro dopravni lode a nastoupili jsme hnedle na autobus.

Za necelych 50 minut jsme opravdu pristali v centru velkomesta na ulici Queen Street, kde je mimo jine take asi 600 obchodu! Celkem rychle jsme se zorientovali v mape a rozhodli jsme se, ze neni problem Brisbane projit pesky za jeden den. Pokusli jsme se prvne zapujcit si kola, abychom stihli objevit trochu vice a mit take moznost projet se na kole, ale bohuzel pan co pujcoval kola zrovna v utery nepracoval, takze jsme museli po svych, to vsak vubec nevadilo. Prvne jsme objevili park ci spise otevrenou botanickou zahradu, ktera byla asi 150 let stara a nachazela se na severnim brehu reky Brisbane ( ano, reka ktera proteka mestem Brisbane se opravu take jmenuje Brisbane, alespon je lehci si to zapamatovat!). Byla to vskutku tropicka zahrada plna palem a preruznych tropickych stromu, keru a kvetin a take plna ruznorodych ptaku a velikych barevnych motylu, takze bylo opravdu na co koukat. Navic jsme se take mohli projit po drevene lavce zkrs baziny, ktere jsou soucasti teto zahrady, kde jsme take natocili kratke video, protoze to opravdu bylo moc zajimave. Bohuzel cast zahrady byla jeste uzavrena, protoze se opravovala po povodnich, ktere pouze asi pred 3mi tydny odeznely. Brisbane bylo na jizni strane celkem hodne postizeno, coz jiste i castecne mozna odradilo turisty od navstevy, mesto bylo velmi klidne a bylo videt, ze se vse pomalu ale jiste vraci do normalu. Kavarny a restaurace podel reky, teprve tento tyden poprve otevreli, takze jsme vlastne meli velke stesti, ze jsme Brisbane nemuseli minout.

Po prohlidne zahrady jsme presli pres most na jizni stranu reky, kdyz zacal celkem vytrvaly dest. Bylo uz kolem jedne hodiny, takze nastesti byl cas na obed a take duvod se pred destem schovat. Spojili jsme prijemne s uzitecnym a stravilli obed v rybi restauraci ci spis takove rybi kavarne, kde porce byly opravdu skoro jak pro spravne Americany, proste obrovske! Na plotu sedelo nekolik krasnych bylich Australskych Volavek s velkymi cernymi zobaky, a kdyz neco nekomu spadlo na zem, tak volavky hned prispechaly hned to”uklizeli”. Tentokrat jsme se snazili je nekrmit, jelikoz hranolky asi pro Volavky moc dobre byt nemuzou, ze ano? Kdyz dest konecne trochu ustal, prochazeli jsme si mezi stromy po brehu reky Brisbane a sledovali krasy kolem, nas ale take naznaky po povodnich, ktere byly jste stale velmi znatelne. Mistni velka plaz s velikansky prirodnim bazenem, byla mimo provoz, protoze byla pri povodnich ponicena, ale uz ji pomalu a jiste opet pripravovali k otevreni. Protoze opet zacinalo prset, rozhodli jsme se podivat se na mesto z ptaci perspektivy a sli jsme se projet na mistnim velikem horskem kole, ktere melo i namluveny komentar, kdyz jsme se pohybovali v kabinkach kolem dokola zacal zacalo prset jeste husteji, takze po navratu na zem jsme stravili asi 30 minut pozorovanim velike jesterky ci mensiho jestera a cekali jsme az dest opet ustane. Nejak jsme se zapomneli vybavit plastenkama ci destnikem a od teto chvili zacal nas lov za koupi Anoraku, abychom byli pripraveni pro priste. Musim rict, ze nikde v Australii se nam najit nepodaril. Chteli jsme takove ty lehke sustakovky, jak muzete sbalit do kapsy te bundy. Kdysi jsme je privezla z Old Navy z Chicaga, takze ted si jen tak bezprizorne lezi v Nachode a nam by se v Australii tak hodili 

Po navratu zpet do sameho nitra Brisbane jsme se divali trochu po obchodech, abychom zjistili, co ze se to v tech 600 obchodech vlastne skryva. Celkem vsude byli prijemne obchody, my jsme vsak nakonec nic moc nekoupili, Chis jen 3 prani, 2 lahve vody a 2 balicky zvykacek, to bylo vse, co nas zaujalo. Pak jeste par pohledu a odpoledni kavu, a nakupni horecka nas nejak presla. Chrise jeste zaujal obchod z elekronikou, protoze si chtel koupit klavesnici k jeho laptopu, protoze ta na laptopu se mu rozbila. Nakonec ani hon za klavesnici uspesni nebyl, proste nebyla ta spravna konstalace na nakupovani, Chris se tesi do Hong Kongu, protoze tam je pry raj pro vsechny milovniky elektroniky, nebo-li “Gadzits”.

Po 16. hodine uz byl cas vydat se zpatky na autobus a jet zpet do pristavu, kde cekala Arcadia, ktera tento den odjizdela jiz kolem 18. hodiny, takze jsme chteli na palube vcas aby nam neujela, skoro jako vsichni ostatni pasazeri. Ja rikam, ze jako ostani, ale abyste vedeli dva nasi polupasazeri byli nechani v tomto pristavu. Dobehli k lodi, az kdyz uz mustek byl nahore, ale nastesti opravdu bylo za minutu dvatanct a kapitan je videl, takze naridil aby znovu dali dolu mustek a titi opozdilci mohli nastopi. Dovedete si asi predstavit, ze od ostatnich pazareru byli radne privatani ci vypiskani. Pozdeji jsem jednoho z nich potkala, jmenuje se Ian a rekl mi, ze mel malem panicky zachvat z toho, ze jim ujedeme. Pujcili si z kamaradem auto a kdyz jeli zpet do pristavu, tak odbocku prejeli a byli nejakych 60km dal, kdyz se konecne otocili. Pak se dostali do dopravni zacpy a mysleli si, ze je to jejich konec. Snazili se na Arcadii dovolat, aby rekli, co se jim prihodilo, nikdo pry ale telefon nezvedl, takze jejich panika pokracovala. Meli opravdu velike stesti, protoze uz jsme opravdu skoro odjizdeli. Takze vidite, ze lod opravdu na nikoho neceka, pokud se nekdo zdrzi, tak ma smulu a musi si lod najit v dalsi pristavu sam. Nezapomente, ze na vetsine zastavek s sebou nenosime pas, protoze to neni pry treba. Takze zustat treba v Australii bez pasu a muset se dostat do Hong Kongu, to zadna velka legrace byt nemuze, protoze bez pasu ani nemuzete nikam letet.

Po veceri, kterou jsme po 3 dnech meli opet v nasi restauraci Meridian, jsme se sli podivat na vystoupeni mistniho tanecniho soubortu, ktere se jmenovalo : Vsude kolem sveta” a tanecni skupina Headlines, ktera ma 13 celnu – 8 tanecnic a 5 tanecniku, byla naprosto uzasna. Vsech 13 ma smlouvu na 11 mesicu a celou tuto dobu ziji na lodi a nedostanou se domu, jsou to prima lidi a velmi nadani tanecnici i zpevaci, rekla bych, ze jsou mozna lepsi nez nekteri cleni z muzikalu z londynskeho West Endu. Byl to dalsi skvely den na brehu Australie a Brisbane jsme si opravdu radne uzili. Bylo by fajn mit tam preci jen jeste par dni, ale jak uz jsme rekla drive, urcite bude moznost se kamkoliv vratit a znovu nektera mista zase navstivit. Cestovani lodi vam dava moznost vsechny tyto destinace navstivit, aniz byste nekam museli letet, takze za pomerne kratkou dobu clovek vidi velkou cast sveta. Je to takova ochutnavka a mate pak predstavu, kam se urcite musite vratit. Pro nas Australie je opravdu nadherna, uz nam i blesklo hlavou, ze by bylo bajecne mit tak dva mesice a obytne auto a pekne celou tuto obrovskou a uzasnou zemi procestovat krizem krazem... kdo vi, treba se nam tu rodi plan na pristi obdobi zimy!

14.unora 2011 - Svaty Valentyn – Orchid Restaurant

Po te co jsme v nedeli vypluli ze Sydney a Sail Away party tentokrat byla opravdu svela a lide tancili jako o zivot a Rob DJ vybiral same lepsi hity, sli jsme spat az v pondeli nad ranem. Dokonce po pulnoci jeste par dobre se bavicich lidi skoncilo v bazenu, coz byl naznak toho, ze se opravdu dobre bavi. My jsme nakonec sli spat az kolem 3.hodiny, protoze bylo velmi teplo a hezky se venku na decku 9 v baru Aquarius sedelo. A proto jsme take odpocivali ponekud dele nez obvykle.

V pondeli byl Svaty Valentyn a jak jsme si tak spali, tak se ozvalo zaklepani na dvere asi kolem desate hodiny. Chris rychle vstal a bezel ke dverim a ja jsem se jen sotva probudila a nejak jsem tomu obzvlast nevenovala pozornost. Po chvili mi Chris dal krasnou kytici z sesti cervenych ruzi a jeste bilych kvitku a kapradi. Nadherne vonela a bylo to moc mile prevapeni, proste je romantik a nezapomnel ani na mori. My si sice oba myslime, ze svaty Valentyn je trochu komercni zalezitost a ze by si lide lasku meli ukazovat cely rok, ale i tak to proste tak nejak lehce slavime. Ja jsem pro Chrise mela knizku ktera se jmenuje “Down Under” a popisuje cestovani po Australii a take prani, ktere jsem vlastnorucne vyrobila na hodinach papirovaho umeni. Pak jsme meli celkem poklidny den a spis jsme jen relaxovali a odpocivali po dvou dnech, co jsme stravili chozenim a cestovanim kolem Sydney.

Vecer jsme sli na veceri jen sami dva do restaurace na decku 10 do Orchideje, takze to bylo moc hezke. Rhea a Mary Rose byly dve cisnice, co zname z cafe Vivo, protoze tam delaji 4 hodiny pres den a pak se presovaji na vecer do Orchideje, tak ty se o nas starali. Jidlo tam bylo vynikajici a jak jsme rekla jiz drive je to urcita smesice nebo-li fuze Indicke-Cinska-Japonske a Indoneske kuchyne, takze jsme behem vecere uvazovali, k cemu co zname bychom to mohli prirovnat,ale na nic jsme poradne neprisli, takze jsme si to proste jen uzilali, nase kamaradky cisnice nam na konci vecere dali ruzi, coz od nich bylo moc hezke. Obe se porad usmivaji a proste kdyz je behem dne potkakate, tak hned mate jeste usmevavejsi den. Trochu je smutne to, ze Rhea pochazejici z Filipin, ma doma rocni holcicku, takze kdyz si na to vzpomenu, tak je to celkem smutne, ze je od ni tak daleko, ale asi je to styl zivota, ktery jim prijde normalni.

Jelikoz jsme vedeli, ze utery bude celkem narocne, tak jsme sli spat celkem brzy, abychom byli v plne sile na nasi dalsi zastavku v Australii, hlavni mesto statu Queensland – Brisbane.

Krasneho Valentina vsem - Happy Valentine's Day!

Chris, Katie and Giraffe wishing all of you back home lovely, sweet and full of roses Valentine's day from the coast of Australia, Tasman Sea XX

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Sydney, Australia

If you’ve been reading our blog from the beginning, you may recall that we were stood in the Aquarius bar at the top of the ship, right at the aft as we sailed away from Southampton.  With the exception of the lights of the city, it was dark, cold and had just started raining, but I remember the feeling of adventure that lay before us.  In an attempt to convince myself that it was all real, I remember saying to Katie, “This ship will take us to Australia”.  It was said in amazement, both because we’d never been there, and also because it seemed so implausible at that time.  Well, on Saturday morning, having got up at 6.30am we stepped out onto our balcony and watched as the day broke over Sydney harbour and Arcadia slowly and quietly made her way towards our berth.  Other people were also quietly contemplating our arrival on other balconies to our right and below us and we watched as our floating hotel of a ship gracefully positioned herself (with some help from Captain Philpott no doubt) in between the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.  It could not have been a better position to tie up for the weekend. 

Unlike when we entered the US, Australian Immigration officials had boarded in Auckland, and had spent a day of our crossing performing a face to face inspection of each passenger.  It meant that when we arrived in Sydney, we were free to disembark promptly without any of the fuss we’d experienced in San Francisco.  I’m quite sure that P&O paid for their flights and stay on board, and it’s another example of the high levels of customer focused service we’ve experienced thus far.

We had booked an excursion to the Blue Mountains on the first day of our 2 day visit, and so we proceeded as is normal, to the theatre to be given our lollipops and then walk in pairs holding hands to the coach.  Of course, I’m joking, but such is the operation and organization needed to kick-off 10 different excursions, on different coaches in the space of half and hour, we sometimes feel a bit herded.  I appreciate that it’s done to cater for the minority who seemingly have lost the power of independent thought after 6 weeks on board.  Maybe they never had that particular skill in the first place, so all credit to them for getting this far.  

So we set off west out of Sydney, and drove for about 90 minutes with our guide whose name I forget.  As we drove she had a habit of repeating anything of importance 3 or 4 times, but obviously failed to convey her own name sufficiently.  Katie found her habit quite annoying, but I just ignored her and presumed she thought we were all independent thought-less types.  Unfortunately for us, it was raining and very foggy by the time we arrived in the mountains.  They weren’t so much Eucalyptus Blue, more British Standard Grey (thanks Dad!).  Still we made the most of it, and took the “world’s steepest funicular railway” down to the valley floor.  I thought at the time that it was a fairly bold statement to make about it being the steepest in the world, and I haven’t had a chance to Goo-Search it yet so I’ll repeat it here anyway. (By the way, that’s a phrase I just coined – It means to Research with the help of Google to make oneself appear more clever than is the case  – please use it at home and at work, and if it makes it into the Oxford English Dictionary, I’ll add the claim to fame to my CV.  Example – “Can you do some Goo-Search and find out where the steepest funicular railway is located?” or “I Goo-Searched the steepest funicular railway and it appears to be in the Blue Mountains”).  Regardless of it’s official steepness credentials, I can assure you that it was very steep indeed!  I’m as partial to a good moan about Health and Safety nonsense as the next man, but even I thought we should have been strapped in, or at least been given the option of a helmet.  The “train” itself was no more than a row of benches with a padded bar to protect your knees from the crushing pressure they would face as they took your full body weight on the decent.  Every time I thought “Yep, this is quite steep” it took a further dive until you felt like you were looking vertically down.  It felt like a theme park ride, where any minute, you might expect the cable at the back to let go, allowing the carriages to plummet, accelerating until it leveled off at the bottom.  It didn’t of course, but it was quite fun all the same!

Highlight of the visit over, we took a pleasant walk though along the valley floor underneath a canopy of Eucalyptus trees that give the Blue Mountains their blue haze.  On a good day.

Reaching the end of the walk, we took a cable car back to the top.  The cable car wasn’t the biggest or the fastest, it was just a cable car (incidentally, made by the same people that make lifts and cable cars in ski resorts).  Lunch was also included for us, so we made our way to the restaurant, and dumped our bags onto one of the long tables that had been allocated to our party, then headed for the buffet.  I hadn’t noticed that the main part of the restaurant was on a revolving floor, so when I returned with a plateful of food, I found the table wasn’t where I had remembered, but still dismissed it, and blamed my appalling sense of direction!  It wasn’t until we were sat down that I realized the room was spinning.  The food itself was nice and plentiful, with a few local dishes including a Kangeroo stir fry.  Apparently, Kangeroo is becoming more popular as a meat in it’s native country, although the bulk of the farmed meat is still exported.  We both tried some, and found it to be quite acceptable; a bit like beef in colour and texture but with a stronger flavour.  Not at all like chicken!

After the obligatory stop in the gift shop, we headed back to the coach and started our journey back to Sydney.  On the way back, we were stopping in a small wildlife sanctuary, something we’d been looking forward to as part of this excursion.  The sanctuary was located in a regular suburban street, and was home to Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Dingos, Koala Bears an assortment of native birds and a few poisonous snakes.  You couldn’t get much more Australian unless the owners were Bruce and Sheila.  I don’t think they were.  Shame.  Despite the rain which had started falling with some force, we managed to feed the Wallabies and Kangeroos who took food from our hands, and stroke Frankie the Koala.  We thoroughly enjoyed the visit, and would recommend Featherdale Wildlife Park if you’re ever in the Sydney area.

We were in the unique position on Saturday evening to go out and enjoy ourselves without having to worry about being back onboard at any particular time.  Normally, when we’re only in port for the day, the only option is have dinner onboard, but against a tide of Meridian faithfuls, we fought our way to the gangway and jumped in a taxi which took us to Darling Harbour, about $15 away.  The waterfront at Darling Harbour is really very nice.  Lots of smaller yachts and ships docked around the horseshoe shaped harbour, with hotels, bars and restaurants lining the pedestrian walkway.  It felt like a very vibrant part of the city, lots of people out for the evening, music and noise coming from every restaurant, and despite the threatening weather, it still had a very upbeat atmosphere, and the temperature was still a comfortable 20C.  We can only imagine what it would have been like had the sun been shining that evening.  We ate in a lovely restaurant which had been booked for us by Trevor and Jean. It served mostly seafood dishes, but you could be assured it was fresh that day, and it had a great view overlooking the harbour (as did most of the restaurants).  I had clam and crab meat pasta, Katie had scallops.  We decided to walk back to the ship along the front.  It looked like most of the Sydney population under 35 were also here, and I can confirm that even Sydney has its fair share of chavs but we didn’t see anyone too drunk to walk like you might encounter in a UK city on a Saturday night.  Maybe it was still too early!  Although it felt a bit of a shame to be heading back to the ship for the night, we still managed to squeeze a drink out of the Aquarius bar staff, and concluded that we actually had the best seat in the city as far as views went.  We were outside, we could have a conversation, the beer was reasonably priced, we had Harbour Bridge beautifully lit up to the left and the Opera House, lit up, to the right.  We even had comfy seats and our beds were only a short walk away.  Maybe those Meridian faithfuls weren’t so foolish after all!

Day 2

We didn’t have too many plans for today, but knew that we wanted to take a ferry to a nice beach suburb of Sydney called Manly Beach.  The ferries ran every 30 minutes or so, and left from the same harbour area where we were docked, so it was just a pleasant 5 minute walk to get tickets and jump onboard.  The trip took us across the bay, giving great views of the bridge and opera house.  The weather had cleared up a bit overnight, it wasn’t raining any more, and it was bright, but it certainly wasn’t typical Sydney weather.  In fact, for the week before we arrived, Cyclone Yasi excepted, Sydney had been having a heat wave.  Mid 30s was normal, but it had been low 40s for some days, and we got the impression that most residents were quite glad of the break.  I think I preferred what we had been given, walking around in 40 degree weather is not much fun.

Manly turned out to be a really nice place, lots of shops, outdoor cafes and a great surfing beach on the Tasman Sea side.  Of course, we had to experience the sea for ourselves, the Tasman sea was a new one to tick off but it was surprisingly cold.  If we’d have looked, we’d have seen the signs pointing us to this fact; all the surfers were wearing wet suits!  After a walk, some food, some shopping and some more walking, we headed back towards the ferry just as the weather started turning for the worse. The 30 minute crossing back to Circular Quay was more choppy and wet than many on board had expected or prepared for.  The fight for seats outside at the front of the ferry quickly became a dash for cover inside as the waves broke over the bow and the spray caught a few people out.  For us hardened sea dogs, it wasn’t a problem!

We spent the rest of the day browsing the local weekend market buying a few souvenirs and a new “man bag” for me.  I’ve been looking for something more stylish than the St Thomas cloth shopping bag that we bought as an emergency measure when Katie’s suitcase was overweight.  We found my bag in a shop in The Rocks area of the city and I’m very pleased with it although it is yet to have a proper outing.

As we were sailing at 23.30 that evening, we decided to eat local and stopped at probably the most expensive restaurant in Sydney.  It was a German style affair with long wooden tables and benches, and the staff were dressed in uniforms that could easily have passed as traditional dress to an unsuspecting tourist.  Still, we got a table outside (mainly because no-one else was willing to risk the weather) and ordered a proper litre Stein of German beer.   At $21AUS (about 14GBP) it wasn’t exactly the cheapest, but it took us all evening to drink it, so the value for money wasn’t too bad!  In hindsight, I’m not sure of the logic of a German bar/restaurant in Sydney but it may as well have been printing money inside.  It was full, and the food prices were equally steep.

After a very pleasant stroll over to the Opera House headland, we took some pictures which you might see in Katie’s post below.  It looked even more iconic up close, and lit up so that the white arched roofs seemed to glow against the night sky.  Just across, Arcadia loomed with all her own lights creating a photo opportunity for many people.  The small amount of smoke coming from the funnel indicated that she was getting ready for departure.  Beyond that, the Harbour Bridge again lit up.  It was a most impressive view, impossible to capture with a single shot.  We could have stayed there for a few hours, just watching it and taking in the atmosphere and the music from the bars, but our inevitable departure from Sydney was getting closer, and the German beer catching up with me.

As you might expect, the sail away tonight was one of the best.  The Aquarius bar, where the party is usually held was more busy at midnight than it was during the sunbathing days of the Caribbean.  Rob was playing the songs, and the area normally reserved for sun beds had been cleared for dancing instead.  The atmosphere was really special, the German beer had been replaced by several French ones, and the views as we pulled out of our berth, and made our way back towards the Tasman Sea were predictably stunning.  Sad to leave, but a great way to say goodbye.    

9. a 10. unora – Nase herecke pokusy – Rozhlasova hra “Horor na Drakulove hrade” v divadle Paladiu – Patecni tanecni vecer s vrazdou Lorda Terence!

Jak jsem uz pred par dny naznacila, Chris i ja jsme se stali cleny mistniho divadelniho souboury “Arcadia Players”. Mikey, coz je clen posadky a zaroven ma na starosti nas soubor mel pro nas pripravene dve divadelni udalosti, ktere se meli obe odehrat, pretim, nez pristaneme v Sydney.

Prvni byla divadelni hra nazvana Horor na hrade Drakuli, kterou Mikey a jeho kamarad napsali. Role byly prideleny tak nejak nahodne, a ja i Chris jsme dostali jednu z roli. Ja jsem konecne mohla dobre vyuzit muj accent, jelikoz se cela hra odehravala v rumunske Transylvanii v Karpatech, takze jsem se stala Helgou Von Hagendaz ( jako ta zmrzlina!), ktera byla tajnou pritelkyni zesnuleho hrabete Drakuli a Chris mel hned 3 role, ta nejdulezitejsi byla Ivan, muj sluha a pak byl take pocestny a jeste monstrum. Nezapomente ze se jednalo o rozhlasovou hru, takze divak nebo spis posluchac by mel jen slyset hlasy a ne ve skutecnosti videt herce. Dale jsme v nasi hre meli jeste Roberta, Rebeku, Huga, Pravnika a Policejniho Inspektora a jeste samozrejme vypravece.

Zakopany pes byl v tom, ze jsme meli pouze velmi malo casu se na nase predstaveni pripravit. Vlastne jsme meli jen dve zkousku a pak uz byl cas pro predstaveni! Nerikam, ze my dva jsme nejake divadelni hvezdy, ale nekteri nasi kolegove opravdu mozna potrebovali trochu vice casu a nebo by mozna pomohlo, kdyby si text precetli predem a snazili se pochopit o co vlastne jde. Nemelo ale smysl se nejak stresovat tim, co jak ma a nema byt, protoze nase predstaveni bylo uz ve ctvrtek 9.unora ve 3 hodiny odpoledne v prostorach divadla Paladium, kde normalne probihaji vecerni show. Toto odpoledne melo byt cele jeviste bylo jen nase a tak nezbyvalo doufat, ze to nejak dopadne a vsichni predvedou to nejlepsi, co v nich je a proc se do divadelniho souboru pridali.

Na zkousku mikroforu ani jeviste nebyl cas, protoze divadlo se pomalu ale jiste naplnilo asi tak 100 az 150 divaky, takze byl cas se seradit a usednou na zidle pripravene na jevisti. Jak jsem rekla, jednalo se sice o divadelni hru, ale pro pobaveni divaku, vsichi herci byli na jevisti, asi to tak melo byt zabavnejsi ci co. Myslim, ze se nam vystopeni celkem povedlo. Trvalo to neco pres hodinu a Chris i ja jsme tomu dali vsechno, co v nasi hereckych silach bylo, to se ovsem nedalo rict o vsech ostanich spoluucinkujich, kteri se v textu obcas ztraceli, takze to z pohledu divaka mohlo nekdy vyvolat komickou situaci, ale nakonec vsichni jsme jen amateri, takze snad divaci snad necekali vice.

Meli jsme potlesk a po skonceni nas nekteri lide zastavili a rekli, ze to bylo skvele a pry muj prizvuk byl skvely, jak ho tak dobre umim udelat ;-) Jen jim bylo divne, proc ho stale pouzivam i pri normalni mluve.

Patek byl posledni den na mori pred prijezdem do Sydney. Rano jsem sla zkusit, zda by bylo mozne pouzit pradelnu, protoze pokud jsem to jeste nezminila, tak tam se obcas deji veci. Neverili byste tomu, jak se nekteri lide perou o pracku. Pry tam jiz bylo nekolik konfliktu a padlo par facek a nekolik lidi bylo kvuli tomu vyhozeno z lodi. Od te doby co jsme tyto pribehy slyseli, tak mame s Chrisem urcity respekt z teto male mistnosti, kam se vejdou tak 4 lidi, ale nekdy jich tam je tak 15! Takze mi tento den stesti pralo a podarilo se mi vyprat i ususit vsechno nase spinave pradlo a beztoho aniz by mi nekdo jednu natahnul, tak jsem byla celkem rada. Take jsem jeste stihla zajit na jednu z tvorivych lekci, protoze jsem potrebovala neco dodelat a pani, ktera lekci mela na starosti nas v Sydney opousti a budeme mit nekoho noveho, tak uvidime, co budou mit co za vytvarne umeni budou mit pro nas pripraveno. V Sydney nas skoro 500 spolupasazeru bude opouste a budeme mit zase nejake novacky.

Zbytek dne probehl celkem normalne, jen ve dve hodiny jsme meli zkousku pro dnesni vecer, kdy nas divadelni spolek mel pripraven svatbu, zapletku a vrazdu v primem prenose, takze jsme si jen museli projit, jestli vsichni vi kdo jsou, co budou delat, kdo ma byt zavrazden, jak a kdo je vlastne vrah! Vsichni jsme byli pripraveni a tak uz zbyvalo jen dockat vecera a doufam, ze to vsechno dobre dopadne a ze nas nekdo do kabaretniho divadla prijde sledovat. Jelikoz ja jsem mela byt vecer nevesta a brat si bohateho stareho pana, tak jsem se na to sla nechat trochu ucesat a saty od Kendy tentokrat prisli vhod i moje svatebni boty, puncochy, celenka a kabelka. Proste jsem mela vse, co by nevesta mela, sice ne dlouhe saty, ale byla to skoro tropicka svatba, takze to nevadilo.

Nase herecka spolecnost se sesla po 22.hodine v zakulisi divadla Globe, abychom si jeste jednou prosli, co budeme a delat a jak to vse bude nasledovat. Pak Mickey oznamil, ze vsichni maji mit oci otevrene, protoze je mozne, ze se v prostorach divadla Globe muze stat nejaka vrazda. Pak uz jsme sli spolecne ke stolu a vse probihalo tak jak melo. Kapela Powerhouse oznamila novomanzelsky tanec, vybrali celkem vhodne tanec jmenem “Posledni Tango”, pak byla hadka protoze byvala manzelka prisla take se zucatnit teto svatby, aby ji mohla prekazit. Pohadani svatebcane se rozutelkli a pak uz se ozvala rana, jako z pistole. Pote jsme se vsichni vratili Chris – ztraceny syn Lorda Terence, Juan Inflagranti Needalotti – svedek Lorda Terence, Grabbi Takealot – spolumajitelka spolecnosti Sira Terrence, Fanny Flownder -  Osobni Asistentka Sira Terence, Mel -  Byvala manzelka Sira Terence a pak Ja Isabela Lovealot -  Novomanzelka Lorda Terence. Od vystrelu jsme byli vsichni podezrely a pak se odhalila opona a tam lezel Lord Terence mrtvy, takze jsem se k nemu rozbehla – vazne se vubec nehybal na vterinu jsem zavahala, zda neni vazne tuhy!  -  myslim, ze jsem to sehrala celkem dobre, a nastal plac, rev a zmatek. Lide co nevedeli, co se tu ten vecer deje, protoze nic se vlastne neodehravalo na jevisti, ale v prostorach kde sedeli i normalni lide, tak si mysleli, ze je to opravdu a ze se to deje. Pak jeste chvili hrala kapela a Mickey oznamil, ze za pul hodiny bude nasledovat vyslech nejvice 6 podezrelych osob, kteri byli blizci Lordu Terenci a pak budou divaci moci hadat, kdo je vlastne tim pravym vrahem.

Bylo to celkem komplikovane, protoze vsech sest nas melo svuj urcity motiv. Navic jsem vam jeste nerekla, ze Chris byl jako muj byvaly pritel, ktery mne kdysi predstavil tatinkovi a ja jsem si vybrala jeho. Tyto vsechny informace se divaci ve vyslechu dozvedeli. Juan byl muj soucasny milenec se kterym jsme planovali po nejake dobe utect, ale nakonec to byl podvodnik, ktery se vubec nejmenoval Juan ale Arthur Crook! Jestli se vam to zda komplikovane, tak to nebylo tak hrozne, ale bylo by asi lepsi videt, aby jste to uplne mohli pochopit. Vsichni jsme byli radne vyslechnuti a pak uz divaci mohli dat sve hlasy do klobouku, kde je tim vrahem. Kazdy z nas dostal nejake podezreni, nejvic jich mel asi Juan, protoze to hral velmi dobre na vsechny strany a navic jeho Italsky prizvuk byl opravdu dobry az legracni, takze si lide mysleli, ze on je onim vrahem. Nejmene hlasu mel syn lorda Terence – Chris – jen dva hlasy! Ale verte neverte opravdu Syn Christopher Spendalot byl vrahem sveho otce! Mel jeste finalni rec, ve ktere pronesl, ze ho zabil pro to, ze ublizil jeho matce, prebral mu pritelkyni a take chtel aby spolecnost lorda Terence presla na nej, protoze zavet, ktera byla zmenena ve prospech novomanzelky jeste nevesla v platnost – svatba probehla pouze ten den na lodi, takze jeste nevesla oficialni v platnost!

Jak rikam, byl to zajimavy vecer a my i divaci jsme se dobre bavili. Uz se tesim na nase dalsi divadelni pokusy a co s nami Mickey zamysli pro dalsi cast naseho plaveni. Urcite vam dame vedet a snad zase dostaneme nejakou roli J

German Pub in Sydney - Christmas Tree - Leaving Sydney :-)

It is just before midnight and Arcadia is ready to leave and set sail again very soon to reach Brisbane just in two nights and one day. We have had wonderful 2days and a great evening and now we have to continue our journey! Just a few pictures before we leave from German pub and few others from Sydney this evening! xx

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Sydney day 2- Ferry - Manly Beach - The Rocks Sydney Market - Sydney Opera House

We had another very busy day in Sydney which we are enjoying very much,just a few pictures from the 13th February before we will put together our thoughts and post them a bit later.Hope you enjoy today's pictures as much as we are enjoying Sydney, we are having a wonderful time and Sydney is definitely a place to come back for us in the future, 2 days are not simply enough! Enjoy the pics:-) xx

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12. unora 2011 – Sydney, Australie – Vylet do Modrych hor a Parku se zviratky!

Dnes jsme se probudili jiz po seste hodine, protoze jsme tou dobou prave meli vplouvat do pristavu v Sydney. Meli jsme stesti, protoze nam byl pridelen dok mezi budovou Sydney Opery a znamym Sydney mostem. Bylo zajimave a velmi zvlastni sledovat jak pomalu ale jiste prijizdime do Sydney a vsechno vypadalo skoro jako kdyz se divate na nejaky film, zdalo se to totiz hrozne nerealne, ze jsme najedou az v Australii a na dva dny si klidne zakotvime hned vedle Opery! Videli jsme jak z prilehlych bytu a bytecku cvakaji blesky fotaku a my jsme samozrejme nemohli zustat pozadu a take jsme si par prvnich fotek museli poridit. Radi bychom se kochali jeste vice, ale byl cas se vypravit a rychle nasninat. Chris jeste stihl objevit, ze jsme schopni se napojit na Internet nedaleko leziciho hotelu, ale radeji o tom nechci moc mluvit, aby nam to pripojeni vydrzelo!

Po snidani uz byl cas jit do divadla Paladium. Tentokrat ne divat se na predstaveni, nebo byt jeho soucasti, ale vypravit se na nasi navstevu Blue Mountains. Tyto hory se nachazeji asi 2 hodiny cesty od Sydney a krome uzasnych vyhledu z ruznuch vrcholku a neobvykle zelene tu take ziji klokani a ruzni australsti medvidci, takze doufam,ze nam priroda bude prat a nejake uvidime. Prave jsme na ceste autobusem a jak se tak divam z okna, tak opravdu flora je tu trochu jina nez v Cechach nebo v Anglii. Mame tu prostredek leta a za okny jsme prave videla asi 3 metrovy ker oleandu v plnem kvetu, Dale tu uvidme palmy, ozdobne tisy a pak ruzne druhy listnatych stromu, ktere bohuzel z vetsi casti nedokazu pojmenovat, jelikoz jsme je v hodinach prirodopisu nejak zapomneli probrat, zkusim zjistit co jsou zac a pak budu muset jeste najit ekvivalent v cestine.

Poslenich 5 pristavu jsme objevovali sami bez organizovanuch exkurzi, coz nam velmi vyhovovalo, protoze ani jeden z nas nemame moc radi, kdyz jsme organizovane vtlaceni do autobusu a neustale se musime s dalsi skupinkou lidi nekam pohybovat. Tentokrat je to vsak jine, kdyz se chcete vydat nekam dale od pristavu, je urcite lepsi mit nejakeho mistniho pruvodce ci exkurzi zamluvenou jiz dopredu a to jsme take dnes udelali. Pocasi je dnes trochu uplakane, ale i tak je prijemnych 23 stupnu, takze proste takovy prijemny letni den. A navic jak rika mamka jedenacta rozhodne, takze mame jeste pul hodiny na to, aby slunicko vyslo a udelal se krasny letni den. Nase pruvodkyne je trochu upovidana, takze mne trochu rusi v mem psani, ale snazi se nam povidat co je kolem nas a co nas ceka az do Modrych hor dorazime. V teto oblasti se take natocilo par filmu.

Mozna jsem zapomnela rict, ze v oblasti Sydney od Vanoc neprselo a jak to tak vypada, tak my jsme si asi ten anglicky dest privezli s sebou, protoze nam dneska skoro cely den jemne ale velmi vytrvale prselo. Narodni park modrych hor byl proto prevazne zahalen do mlhy, takze jsme si ho nemohli uzit, tak jak bychom si predstavovali. Jsou tu krasne vyhledy a take vodopad 3 sestry, ale my jsme bohuzel nic z toho dneska nevideli. Svezli jsme se na nejkolmnejsi zubatce na svete, ktera ma sklon 52 stupnu, daleko prikrejsi nez cerna sjezdovka, ty myslim neprekroci sklon 40 stupnu. Prosli jsme si prales a pak jeli lanovkou. Ochutnali jsme mistni speciality a protoze nam pocasi opravdu nepralo, nebylo na dalsi velke prochazeni pocasi. Nastesti jsme meli v zaloze jeste jeden plan a po obede jsme se vydali do parku, nebo spis takove ZOO. Kdyz zaznelo, ze si budeme moc pohladit medvidka koalu a krmit klokany a medvidky walabi, tak jsme na nejaky dest skoro zapomneli. Zastavka v tomto parku byla skoro dve hodiny, takze jsme meli cas opravdu si vsechno projit a ty klokany i koaly si poradne uzit. Seznamili jsme se, hladili jsme a vyfotili jsme se s osmimesicnim koalou Frankie a musim rict, ze byl uplne plysovy, jak jsou ty plysove hracky! Klokanci a Walabici snedli cely kornout ze zrnim, co jsme pro ne meli a dokonce tu a tam probehli rychlejsim tempem kolem nas. Je nam usek, kde klokani a walabi normalne chodi a proskakuji kolem vas a taky par pstrosu, kteri hledaji kdejaka zapomenuta zrnka. Prstrosy totiz nejsou tolik mazlivy, takze je nikdo nechce moc krmit! V tomto parku take muzete najit divokeho psa Dingo – ten tedy mezi navstevniky volne nebeha – krokodyla, ruzne druhy papousku, kteri mimo jine i ruzne volne po australskem venkove poletuji! – 13 druhu hadu, obri ovocne netopyry a tasmanskeho certika.

Odpoledne se pomalu chylilo ke konci a tak kolem 16. hodiny, radne nasaknuti zazitkami a take destem jsme se vydali autobusem zpatky smer Sydney. Bohuzel stale prsi, tak jen doufame, ze se to pro zitrek umoudri a my krome ruchu velkomesta budeme take moci objevit treba nejakou mistni plaz.

Den to byl plny zazitku a dnes vecer az se vratime, tak mame v planu spolecne s Trevorem a Jean, kteri dnes objevovali Sydney na kolech, jit do ulic, ochutnat nejake mistni jidlo a piti a vyuzit toho, ze dnes vecer nikam neplujeme a zustavame v pristavu pres noc. Trevor a Jean nam slibili, ze behem sveho cyklistickeho vyletu budou mit oci, a tak budeme vedet, kam se mame vydat. Mozna to bude na destnik a mozna i na holinky, ale to nam urcite nemuze prekazit nas vecerJ

PS: Je ctvrt na sedm vecer a stale prsi, tak jen doufame, ze v mistnich lokalech maji strechy a take ze nekde na zitrek sezeneme destnik ci plastenku, tyto vymozenosti jsme si nejak zapomneli vzit!

Visit to the Featherdale Wildlife Park Sydney Australia

After a bit rainy morning and visiting Blue mountains we came to this wonderful park,you can check it out here: www.featherdale.com.au Here are few pictures that we took today as we were allowed to get closer with some of these wonderful wild australian animals. We have had another amazing day and we will be leaving for some local dinner soon. Enjoy the pictures:-) and don't be afraid to leave us some commets we love reading them and hearing from you,keeps us in touch with home! xxx

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Vylet do Modrych hor

Chris is sad because it's very grey and foggy outside and we can't see the scenery

Trochu destivy den, ale i tak pro vas mame par obrazku z dnesniho dne a i par zapisku:-) Vidite i jak je Chris smutny z toho,ze nam tolik prsi,ale to nevadi zitra snad bude hezky!

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Oh My, we are in Sydney, hello from Australia back home!!!

It is Saturday morning here just about 8:45, we Just had a quick breakfast and I took a few pictures from our Ship. We woke up early and watched us sale in to the harbour, this is incredible! It feels like being in the picture or movie and it is actually real and we are here! Wow what a feeling! We are leaving in 30mins and going to the Blue Mountains to meet the Kangaroos and other local animals! Lush! We are so so so excited and can't wait, please follow this space for more experience! :-)

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We've arrived in Sydney



Feels quite strange to be here!  We're off into the blue mountains today, just thought we'd check in first!

This is the view of Sydney Harbour bridge from our balcony. Not a bad view for the next 2 days! 

Fiji

There are 333 different islands that make up Fiji and so we were never going to find it easy to get a feel for the place in one day. We hadn't booked any excursion here either but had a rough plan of what we wanted to do. We arrived  into "port" at about 8am but this was to be our first stop where to had to anchor off shore and use the ships tender boats to take us into port. The water in the port was not deep enough and the dock not big enough to handle a ship the size of Arcadia, and the coral reef that surrounds many of the islands is too close to the surface. While the process is well managed, it still took a while to disembark and we got ashore at around 10am. Arcadia has 4 tender boats each carrying 130 people but the trip time for each tender was about 25 minutes, quite a long time. Still it was a new experience, and seeing that the tender boats can also be used as lifeboats, it was quite interesting to read some of the written notices inside the boats. "The coxman is in charge at all times" "If the call to abandon ship is made, leave by the closest exit and stay with the boat".

Once we'd made it ashore, there were plenty of tours that made themselves available to us. As we knew there weren't many decent beaches where we were, we chose to head out to a different island where we were promised snorkeling, lunch, and some Fijian traditions. The brochure said 45 minutes to get there but we forgot to take into account "Fijian Time" which doubled the estimate! Not for the first time on our adventure did we consider the possibility that we were being taken on a magical mystery tour. We took a minibus to a small private jetty, then a small river boat along the river and out to sea. Every corner we took, we were looking for a sign that we were getting nearer to the sea, and every corner revealed nothing but more river! When we did eventually arrive at the island, we were set from the bow wash that had sprayed over the side, but it didn't really matter. Our "captain" backed the boat onto the beach and we were greeted by a singing welcome party. Not sure what they were singing though, we were just glad to be there.

There were only a handful of people on the island when we arrived. Most of them gathered around the wooden seating areas, and around the bar in this mini-resort. You could have walked around the whole island in less than 30 minutes had it not been for a small section where the beach stopped and the mangrove swamps (which dominate much of the other islands) went right upto the waters edge. There are many much smaller islands, and I think this is as close to a true text book desert island as we were going to be to get. Palm tree lined beach - check. Clear turquoise waters - check. Coconuts falling into the beach - check. Fish swimming in the shallow water - check.

We spent the morning snorkeling off the beach although there wasn't a huge amount to see, the fish were inquisitive and indulged us. Lunch was lovely and the trip back to the ship was rushed but uneventful.

A few more pictures from Auckland

Just a few more pics around the cafe Esquires where we found a bit of the Internet which is quite rare to us:-)

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