For The Love of Travel

In celebrating Halloween, staff make an incredible effort to decorate different environments and some love to do dress ups as well.

‘Quilling’ is a creative art I had not heard of before. Lynne and I challenged ourselves to make a card design with the supplies provided at a class on board….what do you think? No, honestly…. 🙂

The ‘Pop choir’ (made up of travelling guests, just practising during ‘days at sea’) did a tremendous job entertaining us with old favourites from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

An onboard patient emergency made for dramatic goings-on at night when we were approx 200kms from Brisbane – the Captain made an announcement to clear open decks on level 15 and 16 – to allow for an air ambulance paramedic to be winched from a helicopter to retrieve the patient and also for patient privacy. Hope all went well for that poor patient!

Landing in Brissie, I sadly farewelled my travel buddy Lynne….she was very pleased to be decamping, and leaving the germy environment. I went on the only Princess shore excursion I booked to Mt Tamborine (rainforest) Skywalk in the Gold Coast hinterland. It’s a really well laid out 2kms return circuit of lush eucalyptus and palm trees leading to a pretty Curtis waterfall via cantilever bridges and pathways. I was really looking forward to seeing the brilliantly green and blue butterflies that are in the area but sadly did not.

We drove through the mountain’s arts and crafts precinct called ‘the Gallery Walk’, featuring local fudge, boutique gift stores and a cuckoo clock shop. Apparently a stay at the Eagle Heights Hotel and lunch with a panoramic valley view at St Bernards Hotel is de rigeur…but we bussed past, doh! If I return to the area next time I’m in Queensland, I’ll be making sure to visit at sunset as well – watch paragilders take off from the Robert Sowter Park Lookout.

Next, we visited glow worm caves @ the Cedar Creek Estate. The owners have done a fab job in populating glow worm numbers and we are truly thankful for how they keep down the mosquito numbers. The lunch at cafe was delish. Took myself for a small walk around the lovely gardens on the property and saw these bloomin’ amazing star-shaped blooms in rich red…Hippeastrum Ocean Drive apparently.

Lasting a wine-tasting @ Sirromet winery. The wines selected (Cuvee Brut, Pinot Grigio, Cab Sav and a white sticky) were not ‘my jam’ at all. The 2025 Rose however was acceptable 🙂 We had fun writing comments and scoring each tasting mouthful, as feedback for the winery. 

The arrival into Sydney in the early morning was a tad disappointing initially as the Captain had ordered access to the front of the ship sealed off due to heavy winds. So that 4.30am wake up was for nought, and no stunning panoramic pics of the ‘Coathanger’ and Opera House aft. The little tug boat was pretty cute though, escorting us in….

Noice…..

Admiralty House and Kirrabili House, looking spectacular from this angle, the latter serving as the secondary official residence of the Prime Minister and is used for official duties and state hospitality. I remember seeing the Kirrabili gardens on the one day of the year it was open, sometime in the 1990’s (when visiting over the New Year).

Love this perspective of the Opera House.

I can’t say I’m sorry to be getting off the ship – the level of sickness onboard was a constant worry after both Lynne and I had recovered from our bouts, as was the lack of any effective operational practices re infection control onboard (apart from standard ‘wash your hands’ signage at food locations and bathrooms).

We really enjoyed the afternoon and evening entertainment provided – comedians, singers, acrobats. Also the quiz games and occasional lectures on various topics. But pretty much every other itinerary item was an opportunity to flog product at exorbitant cost – facials, massages, jewellery, art, herbal detox, spirits/wines. The staff were extremely pleasant and most had a fab customer service approach – at all levels and function.

Farewell geriatric loveboat….won’t be signing up for any more ‘cruising’ (one of our dinner companions proudly boasted 125 cruises on their belt!), but it’s certainly been an interesting and educative experience.

Surrounded by reef, rainforest and macadamia, sugarcane and pineapple plantations and dating back to 1876, Cairns originally served as a port for the shipping of gold and tin, mined inland. Now the industry is tourism – visitors coming to explore the rich marine life and wilderness beyond city limits – ancient forests at Cape Tribulation, the Artherton Tablelands, Great Barrier Reef and Barron River Gorge to name a few gorgeous spots previously traversed. We are very lucky, rain is holding off and a hazy morning turned in to a glorious afternoon!

This is the view from our ship at port…the boats are moored in Chinamen’s Creek and the background hills are Trinity Forest Reserve.

Today we travelled to Yorkey’s Knob, a coastal suburb approximately 15 kms north. Passed by Kuranda skyrail and iconic Queensland farm scenes on the way.

Half Moon Bay Marina has an intricate jigsaw pattern – the contrast between the sleek white boats and the dense tropical green hills framing the marina makes for a nice shot.

Then some shopping in cool comfort back in Cairns Central before Ubering back to the ship. A late lunch – yummy beef bourguinon with mash and delish piece of pineapple.

Kathryn Relf, hailing from the UK, was our crooner last night, paying tribute to Queen’s legendary music. A good attempt, but no wow factor for me unfortunately.

Sailing through the Timor Sea and then the Torres Strait and its islands, just south of Papua New Guinea to get to Cairns. Strong wind gusts as we go.

Getting up late, watching movies, and exploring lunch and menus at the buffet on level 15. Lynne has lots more vegetarian options here than in the restaurants.

This was an entertaining quiz game between officers and guests…where a wrong answer made teams take a piece from the jenga tower…they were evenly matched contestants, yielding a draw result.

Tropical sunsets around 18.30….