Whitsunday Island, Australia

Whitsunday Island is one of a group of islands off the eastern coast of Australia.  They were founded by Captain Cook.  The island is a high end resort island.  Many very wealthy come here for vacation.  Lots of expensive yachts, then again, I don't think there are inexpensive yachts.

We had to anchor as the waters are fairly shallow closer to the shore.  We arrived here around 8am.  We took the tender to the shore and got on the "Denison Star" boat for our ride around the island.  They served tea and goodies but we had all just eaten breakfast, so not much food was eaten.  Not too much to see.

On the boat we sat with Marilyn and Bob.  So we had nice conversation.  The ride was about 2 hours.

Some of the island.  Not very attractive.

This is the Denison Star.  An all wood boat that took us around the island.

Our tender to shore.

Marilyn and Bob waiting to get on the Denison Star.

Some of the yachts in the harbor.

This is a 6 star resort.  Not much to do on the island except relax.

Not sure what this building is.  I think it is part of the resort.

This is our ship.  And below, our suite.

Our suite is on the corner and the one with no windows showing.  Deck 8.  Deck 12 is at the top of the picture and if you count down, you will come to our suite.

Took the tender back to the ship and went up to the Veranda for lunch.  Then back to the cabin to work on the crossword puzzle and our nap.

Last night was the block party.  We met Ed and Sharon from Colorado, Joe and Amy from California, George and Carol from Seattle, and Charlie and Pauline from California.  These are all our neighbors across the aft of the ship.

Dinner was in Signatures.  I do not like the menu that much.  So I think we may not eat there again.  What I had was good but service too fast and the food in Compass Rose is fine with us.  Found out today that they served Crocodile last night.  Bob (from CA)  said it tasted like chicken.  Tonight he said they were serving kangaroo.  Not sure if I want to taste it.

That is all for now.  We might have some pictures later but mostly we saw water and trees.

Brisbane in Pictures

Instead of trying to put the pictures into yesterday's entry, I will just place the pictures here and explain what you are seeing.

As we sailed up the Brisbane River, you could see downtown Brisbane.  Not a lot of high rise buildings, but what they do have is impressive.

Sign greeting us at the Koala Sanctuary.

This cockatoo could say "hello" or at least it sounded like hello.

Just a lazy Tasmanian Devil.

All but a few of the Koala's that we saw were sleeping in the trees.  They seem to wedge themselves into the branches and just hang in there.

This is a Dingo.  He too seemed to be asleep.  The days are hot here so I guess they do most of their feeding later.

More of the sleeping Koala Bears.

Close up.

This is a Cassowary.  He looks like he has a tumor on his head.  Bob says they are nasty birds.  This guy is caged.

This proves they Koala does have eyes.  The only one we saw awake.

Love the way this one is hanging in there.

The Emu is allowed to wander around.  You could go up and pet it if you so desired.  Not me.

The Kangaroos are hopping all around the place.

This is Momma Kangaroo.  Notice the legs of her joey hanging out and then in the bottom picture, she laid down and the joey stuck his head out.

The joey stayed in the pouch for about one year.

These are Flying Foxes or Bats to us.  Pretty big.

Today was a sea day.  I attended needlepoint in the morning but along with five other ladies, went to the wrong lounge.  Bob attended a lecture and I went to needlepoint in the afternoon to the right lounge.  Stayed for tea but left before trivia.  The lounge got pretty crowded so I thought it would be a good time for me to work on the computer and I was right.

Tonight is the block party and we have reservations at Signatures.  There is also a cocktail party hosted by the Travel Agency but it interferes with the Block Party.  Not sure why they scheduled it at that time.

Brisbane, Australia

Today we docked in Brisbane.  Brisbane is the Capital of the Australian state of Queensland and the largest city in the state. It has a population of around 2 million people.  It was founded in 1823 on the banks of the Brisbane River.  It was a former penal colony.  England used to send its prisoners over to Australia.

Our tour today was titled "Highlights of Brisbane and Lone Pine".  We were bus 14 and the guide went to the wrong port.  His first clue should have been there was no ship at that port.  Our ship is small enough to travel under the bridge so we are closer to the city.  At any rate, he was late and the worse guide we have ever had.  Almost everyone tipped the driver and not the guide.  Wish we had left without him.

The tour was just a bus ride around the city with the guide pointing out different buildings, etc.  We then got to Lone Pine which is a zoo of sorts but a Koala Sanctuary.  They were several Koalas and most of them were sleeping up in the trees.  You could hold a Koala if you wanted but it cost about $30.00 and if they get too excited, they pee on you, I was not about to take that chance.  Also had kangaroos.  Will post pictures after Bob edits them.  We spent about two hours at the Sanctuary and then headed back to the ship.

Lunch on the aft deck where I had a salad.  Then back to the suite for our nap.  They showed the Super Bowl this morning and taped it and will show it again tonight.  We know the score.  Wow, how could that happen?  So I think I would like to see at least part of the game to understand where Payton went.

We took our afternoon nap and then got up to get ready for dinner.  Something about being on a ship allows me to sleep like a baby.

We ordered a cocktail in the Voyager Lounge and then took them into the theater to watch the Super Bowl game.  We sat next to Bobbie and Ira.  They did not know the outcome so we kept it to ourselves.  Wow, what a start.  A safety.  So we stayed and watched the first quarter and then went into Compass Rose for dinner.

For dinner, I had the lamb chops and escargot.  Bob had escargot and osso bucco.  All pretty good.  No desserts or coffee.

Returned to the Super Bowl game where it was just ending so I got some popcorn and we returned to the suite.  We finished watching "Captain Phillip".  A powerful film.  Tom Hanks is wonderful.  Then lights our and bed.

Day at Sea

Sunday the 2nd of February was our first sea day.  Happy Birthday to Kyrstin as she turns 16 today.

Breakfast on the aft deck.  Sunday always has caviar and champagne.  And Bob had eggs Benedict.  I just had Cheerios.  I am trying to eat sensible.  After breakfast we wandered about the ship.  Trying to get to know where everything is located.

Since sea days are quiet, I thought I would post the pictures from Sydney Harbor Tour.

This street is across from the Four Seasons Hotel.  We found McDonald's and Starbucks along here so we walked it every day.

There are several bridges connecting Sydney to outer suburbs.  This is the Anzac Bridge which we had to take to get to the ship.

Just a close up view of the tower.

These are called Fingerlings and are very expensive.  They say that Nicole Kidman lives in one.

A nice view of the skyline of Sydney.

Found this fellow while we were sailing.  The dog looks like he would like to jump into the water.

More views of the skyline.

This is part of the Manly coastline.  The beach is on the other side.

Coastline of Manly.

And now the beach.  In the past, no one wanted to live in Manly.  But now it is the place to be.

To get to the wharf, you walked from the beach to the other side.  This is filled with shops of all kinds.
And no traffic.

Our ferry arrives.  It is about 30 minutes ride to the Circular Quay.  And costs 7.40 AUD each.

The Opera House from the water.  One side is for opera and the other side is for musical concerts.

Two more views of the Opera House.  The sky is a wonderful shade of blue.  Clear and bright.

Monday we arrive in Brisbane for the day.   More on that later. 

Embarkation Day- Updated

Saturday the 1st of February was embarkation day.  We got up and headed to Starbuck's for tea and muffin.  Then we returned to the hotel for packing.  We stopped at the Regent desk to tell them we would be taking a cab to the ship.  We wanted to avoid the crowds.

Taxi ride was okay.  The terminal is a little out of the way but we were some of the first ones to check in.  We had to sit and wait and spoke with a couple from CA who are doing the first leg only.  Also got to speak with Franc, The General Manager.  Franc was GM on the Mariner when we went around SA.

When we got on the ship, we headed up to the aft deck for some lunch.  This aft deck is smaller than we remember.

A nice cheese plate and a glass of wine.  What could be better?

We then went to the Observation Lounge until the suites were ready.

Our suite is smaller than we remembered.   Maybe our memory is going.  Luggage had not arrived yet. So we settled in with what we had and waited for the luggage.  Muster drill was at 4:15 and only after that did we get all the luggage.  The bags that we shipped were encased in heavy plastic.  Thank goodness I had scissors.  Finally everything is in its place.

The bed is comfy.  Bob and I found plenty of space for everything so maybe it is not as small as I thought.  Or after the Owners Suite, anything would be small.

Suite has a nice sitting area that is just fine.

And Bob set up his computer at the desk.  I use the sofa and table to work on my computer.

They have walk in closets which are big enough.  Maybe we just bring too much stuff.

The bathroom is very spacious.  Has both a tub and a separate shower.

The shower.

We went up to deck 12 for the sail away.

This area of Sydney will be their Wall Street.  Should be completed by 2016.  Will have three high rise condo buildings plus others.  I think it is all reclaimed land.

As we passed under the Sydney Harbor Bridge, you can see the people who elected to walk it.

This is like the ferry we took from Manly.

We went up to the Observation Lounge where we were meeting Marilyn and Bob from CA.  I had been "talking" with her on Cruise Critic.  She made reservations at Prime 7 for the four of us.  We had a nice dinner with them.  I had crab legs which I could not finish and Bob had a fillet.

After dinner, we returned to the cabin and read for a bit.  We turned the clocks back one hour.

During the sail away, I saw Enzio.  He is from Corporate Headquarters and oversees both Regent and Oceania.  We have sailed with him several time.  A really nice man from Italy.  During sail away they had a nice array of canapés on the deck plus several different drinks to try.  A good way to start this cruise.

Sydney Day 3

Well we are getting our bodies on the right sleep schedule.  Today we awoke at around 6:30am  Not bad.  Our tour does not start until 9:45 so we have some time this morning.

We dressed and headed out to McDonald's again this morning.  No ship was docking here down town but the Regent Voyager is scheduled to arrive around 9am but is docking at the new ship terminal.  Only the smaller ships can pass under the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

We gathered in the lobby and there must be around 250 of us on this leg of the cruise.  At least 5 buses.  So tomorrow, when it is time to go to the ship, Bob and I will grab a taxi instead of messing with this crowd.

We walked over to the Circular Quay and got on our ship.  This was a lunch cruise but it was only 10:30 am so I was not even ready for lunch.  We sailed all around the harbor, under the bridge and got to see the Voyager docked here already. We continued on the cruise until around 12:15 when we docked at Taronga Zoo Wharf.  From here we got on a bus and drove to Manly Beach.  Bob and I decided we did not want to spend another three hours on a bus so we walked to the Manly Wharf and took the ferry back to Circular Quay.

We stopped for a bottle of wine and some Doritoes for a pre nap snack.

After the nap, which I did not sleep but read instead, we dressed for dinner.   We again walked to the rocks area and decided to eat at Waterfront.  It is owned by the same people who own Wolfies.  And we found out it is the same menu.  So tonight we knew better and shared a pear and greens salad and a pizza.  Much better.

Walked back to the hotel and watched the second round of golf in Dubai.  Lights out and bed.

I will post this now and when we get to Brisbane, will try and upload the pictures.  Internet on the ship is way too slow.