Day 3 - Kookaburra Queen II lunch cruise on Brisbane River

Today's excursion in Brisbane consisted of a coach tour of parts of the city and then a lunch time cruise on the Kookaburra Queen II, an old time paddle steamer, on the Brisbane river. 

 

 

We enjoyed a 2 hour cruise with a nice lunch served. We sat out on the balcony and when we were in the sun, it was very pleasant and warm.

 

   

A nice afternoon....

Day 3 - Brisbane

Today we have arrived to a sunny day in Brisbane. 

As I took my morning walk, I noticed we are berthed at the grain terminal today.

Oh dear.....two days in and the ship needs more food....6 container loads 

 

  

Some passengers are disembarking today....some took a 2 night cruise from Sydney to Brisbane....what they generally call a 'cruise sampler'.....good for a try out if you are not sure if you will like cruising.

 

As I took my walk I was happy to see the port of Brisbane 'Port Security' boat keeping us safe (from all those Brisbane terrorists??).

 

Last but not least, as I was finishing my walk, a ship was sailing out..... 

 

You can take the girl out of the port authority but you can't take the port authority out of the girl!!

Today we head out off one cruise and onto another!!! We have been here before so today we have chosen and excursion on a river cruise, this way we can see the city from the riverside instead.....more to come

Day 2 - At Sea on Sun Princess

Today is a sea day, we are steaming slowly up the east coast of Australia from Sydney to Brisbane. We arrive in Brisbane tomorrow morning.

This morning we had a nice breakfast in the dining room and then went to the international cafe for a cappuccino. 

On our way there we found our Company's Porthole given to the Sun Princess on her maiden visit to Adelaide.

 

Michael has already met some other teens so he was off after that to the teens club. He's looking forward to a party tonight.....these teens don't muck around. 

I then spent the morning doing my walking on deck 7. Lovely 13 km walk looking out to sea.

 

 

Trevor relaxed in our suite and caught up with the news.

I spent the afternoon at the hair salon, had a great head and scalp massage before getting a new hair style.

Here are some photos of the salon

 

  

New hair.....new outlook....

 

Tomorrow.....Brisbane 

Sun Princess Monaco Suite B748

We are pretty happy with our accomodation for the next 16 days!

We have never been in an Owners Suite so this stateroom is pretty cool. A huge lounge area with a large TV, bar and dining table and a separate bedroom area. Huge balcony too overlooking the aft of the ship 

 

Here are some photos. 

   

 

    

Yippee cruise day is here!!

Yippee! Cruise day is here.

Last night we had a nice dinner at an Italian restaurant in The Rocks district. It's called 'Zia Pina'. 

 

  

We had an early night at our hotel, the Novotel Darling Harbour. This morning after a sleep in we had a leisurely breakfast and then got organised to go to the Overseas Passenger Terminal for boarding the Sun Princess.

Boarding was quite efficient and we were on board before midday. The great thing about Princess Cruises is that staterooms are ready as soon as you board, there is no waiting.

Next post......B748.....the Monaco Suite

Sun Princess Northern Australia and PNG cruise

Here we go on another trip, this time we are joining our ship, the Sun Princess, in Sydney and heading off on a 16 night cruise. Ports of call include Brisbane, Cairns, Alotau, Darwin, Broome and Geraldton. A number of sea days will also ensure we have some relaxing time on the ship too.

 

 

Tonight we check in to the Novotel Darling Harbour. We haven't stayed there before so hopefully it will be a nice hotel.

Stay tuned....

Cruise end 👎

When we left Wellington three days ago we were headed for the Malborough Sounds for a day of scenic cruising before heading back to Sydney. However the scenic cruising day had to be cancelled when a bad storm hit the area.

So the Captain announced that our navigation back had been altered to avoid the worst of the storm. 

From there it got very rocky on the ship particularly at the aft where our cabin was.

That evening as we left Wellington we hit some unpredictable strong winds and the ship suddenly listed to one side. The captain announced that we had just hit 80 knot winds and that they were transferring ballast to compensate and return the ship upright. We soon turned into Cook Strait and it improved slightly.

Here is a photo I took showing the tilting of the ship.

 

That night was very rough with lots of creaking and movement. We were woken in the middle of the night when the ship listed again and our tray of mini bar supplies including glasses and alcohol went tumbling onto the tiled floor making a very loud smashing sound which was scary in the middle of the night to wake up to. Not long after the captain announced what had happened but reassured us that the ship was safe and all was under control.

We eventually went back to sleep and the next three days at sea were rocky and bumpy so we all had to take care. Pools were closed and decks were closed which made exercising a little difficult!

We arrived safely back in Sydney this morning to sunny skies. 

Another trip has come to an end. 

Wellington, New Zealand

Today we are in sunny and windy Wellington. 

We have chosen to do our own thing today and go ashore to have lunch and go for a walk in the city. 

We looked for an Italian restaurant on Yelp prior to arriving and when I saw the Pizzeria Napoli I knew we had to try it. We have been to every Pizzeria Napoli we have found in ea h city we travel to, we have been to one on Adelaide, Barcelona and now Wellington.

We had a nice sleep in, a leisurely breakfast and then Michael went for a swim with his friends.

At around lunch time we got off the ship. As we are in a working port, there is no pedestrian traffic allowed on the wharf so the city has put on a shuttle bus service for us all day going to and from the ship and the city. We took the shuttle and got off in town and then went to our restaurant.

A bit of a hole in the wall place but these are always the best! 

We had a nice pizza lunch and then proceeded to have a long walk back to the shuttle buses. Wellington is a nice city and we browsed the shops as we walked.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nice sunny day, plenty of exercise and a day out in Wellington!

Picton, New Zealand

Today we are in Picton, New Zealand, a town in the heart of Marlborough wine country.

We have chosen to go on an excursion to a chocolate factory, a brewery and a world war I aviation museum. A strange combination but a lovely way to see the countryside too.

It's very rare that we have been here and been met by sunshine but today we are in luck, a beautiful summer's day, sunny and 23 degrees!

Here is the view from our balcony.

 

We met in the princess theatre to await our tour group to be called and at about 0830 we set off with our small group on a mini bus to our first stop the chocolate factory where we bought two small boxes of chocolate for $42, expensive but yummy and of course aiding the local economy.

After this quick stop we headed off to a local micro brewery where our group got to taste a number of boutique beers.

 

 

Then off to a tour of an aviation museum that houses World War I planes, some real, some replicas. Our guide was very informative about the aircraft and the war in general.

Here are some photos

 

 

A plane crashed into a tree 

 

 The red baron's plane

 

A scene depicting the demise of the Red Baron at the hands of the Australians.

 

 

A good excursion.

We returned back to the ship in time for lunch and some relaxation on board before we sail to Wellington tonight.