Sarah Tom - Sarah & Tom

This summer we travelled to Europe and took a Mediterranean Cruise on the Celebrity Millennium.

Last January (2007) we returned home from a 12 month teaching exchange to the Central Coast Grammar School, NSW, Australia.

As you can see below, we stopped in Hong Kong, Thailand and Fiji on the way. We have visited Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, The Great Ocean Road and Melbourne in the South (Victoria); Alice Springs and Uluru in the central region (Northern Territories); Port Douglas, Cairns, The Great Barrier Reef and Surfer's Paradise in Queensland; a road trip up the coast to Brisbane; the island made famous by the Tasmanian Devil; the beautiful red centre with all its masterful rock formations; and a few weekends exploring the Central Coast Region (Hunter Valley, Blue Mountains, etc.).

Our trip back included a 2 week road trip through New Zealand, beginning in Christchurch, trekking the Routeburn Track and ending with a flight out of Auckland.

During our year "down under" Tom taught senior Maths (yrs.7, 8 & 9) and Sciences (yrs. 9 & 10) at Central Coast Grammar School. Sarah taught Year 5, also at CCGS. From March to September, we co-coached the Year 5/6 hockey team (that's FIELD hockey for you Canadians). Our home was 5 minutes from the beach in Copacabana. "... who could ask for more?" (pay attention to the lyrics the next time you listen to Manilow).

It's been a year full of adventure and we're now trying to settle back into the old routine at home.

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Joined on: July 14th 2005
Last Login: October 17th 2009

Blog Entries: 44
Photos: 1036

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Blogs & Travel Journals

by Sarah Tom, order by Date newest first.

By Sarah Tom
August 15th 2007

A Relaxing Day on the Riviera Europe » France » Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur » Villefranche-sur-Mer

After touring France and spending some time in the area around Nice and along the Riviera a couple of years ago, we decided to take it easy today while we were anchored off Villefranche. We slept in and finally took a tender off the ship in the early afternoon. We had a nice lunch and walked the streets and beach of this beautiful seaside town. Once again the streets were narrow and curving, carved into the side of the mountains that rise out of the Mediterranean. The day ended with our final formal night for dinner. This included a final recognition [View Full Entry]

By Sarah Tom
August 14th 2007

Rome in a Day Europe » Italy » Lazio » Rome

Vatican Museum - Staircase out

What a packed day! We pretty much ran through the whole city of Rome today. Once again, we splurged for the ship’s transport to and from the city. Since the ship docked in Civitavecchia, we decided it would be most prudent to rely on the ship’s transport rather than the trains. We were dropped at St. Peter’s square and grabbed a cab to the coliseum. The cab ride was crazy - the driver was swerving in and out of traffic, around busses and other taxis… but he had us at the coliseum quickly. Luckily, we had purchased tickets for the coliseum [View Full Entry]

Columned structure at the edge of the Roman Forum Ruins

Roman Colosseum showing underground passageways

Tom tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain

By Sarah Tom
August 13th 2007

Florence and The Field of Miracles Europe » Italy » Tuscany » Florence

Fountain of Neptune - Satyr

Although we had a bit of a late start today, it was a busy one. We decided to take the ship’s tour “Florence and Pisa on your own” in order to maximize our time and have the chance to see both sights. We boarded our air-conditioned coach at 9:30 and headed straight to Pisa. Once there, we had 45 minutes to explore the Field of Miracles and take pictures. The tower really is leaning, and in comparison to the Cathedral in front, it is very drastic (especially since the cathedral is leaning slightly in the opposite direction.) It is interesting to [View Full Entry]

By Sarah Tom
August 12th 2007

Walking through the Ruins of Pompeii Europe » Italy » Campania » Pompei

Sarah inside the hot baths - Pompeii

The ship docked in Naples and our internet directions for today were perfect. We found our way to the Circumvesuviana train station easily and purchased our round-trip tickets to Pompeii… we were there before 10am! Train tickets - 3 Euros… Guidebook - 8 Euros… Audioguide - 6.5 Euros… Admission - 22 Euros… experiencing Pompeii in person… Priceless. We were both shocked by how well-preserved the ruins were - whole walls and buildings with paintings on the walls and mosaic tiles on the floor! The town is large and we explored all day. The civilization [View Full Entry]

Plaster cast of a Pompeii resident in the throws of death

By Sarah Tom
August 10th 2007

4-Wheeling in Santorini Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini

Blue - Doors, Railings and Umbrellas
Pastels in Fira, Santorini

We woke up this morning at anchor in the caldera at Santorini, Greece. After going up the wrong set of elevators, we decided to eat breakfast at the Aqua Spa instead of the main restaurant - fewer people, healthier food - all round, a good mistake! Because we were getting ashore via tender boats, we had to get our tender tickets in the theatre - we picked up our tickets and were on tender #3 - and #2 had just left. Our timing was great! The tender boat dropped us at the very small port at the bottom of a very [View Full Entry]

Oia one of the 250 churches on the island

By Sarah Tom
August 9th 2007

10th Anniversary in Athens Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

Sarah's $7 lemonade
After a hot, dry morning on the Acropolis, the vendors were happy to overcharge us for a cold drink.

After a full day at sea, our next stop was Athens. We were docked at Pireaus on the day of our 10th anniversary. After making our way to the Piraeus metro station (after taking a bit of a detour due to inaccurate directions from the web), we purchased round trip tickets (cheap!) and hopped on the train to the acropolis. We walked out of the train station and looked up hill - to see the Parthenon way above us. We headed uphill and found our way in the “back door” to the acropolis. This meant we had to walk half way [View Full Entry]

By Sarah Tom
August 7th 2007

Walking the Walls of Old Dubrovnik Europe » Croatia » Dalmatia » Dubrovnik

Old city Dubrovnik rooftop
The old city was damaged during the Balkan wars. This is one of the original rooftops untouched by bombs and grenades.

We woke up this morning in Croatia! Grabbed a quick breakfast at the Ocean Grill on the 10th floor (great buffet!) and then jumped on a shuttle to the Old Town of Dubrovnik. We paid to tour the entire perimeter of the old town along the top of the city walls. The town is all stone with clay roof tiles - ranging from yellow to deep red. The fortifications at each corner of the town are tall and impressive. Along the ocean, it seemed like the stone walls were just extensions of the stone cliffs - it all just blends together. [View Full Entry]

Sarah looking out over the old city port

By Sarah Tom
August 6th 2007

Lost in Venice Europe » Italy » Veneto » Venice

Venetian Goldolier
The prices started at 120 Euros ($180) for 40 minutes. We opted for the less romantic $2 public transit.

Getting to Venice was supposed to be easy… but this time we got turned around in the subway station rather than above ground, and then had to deal with unbelievable crowds and signs pointing us the wrong way to check in at the airport! We did catch our flight with MyAir and they didn’t charge us for being slightly over the weight limit on our luggage, but we had to wait an extra hour on the ground while they loaded our luggage. Our flight into Venice was beautiful - we had a clear view of all the islands and even the [View Full Entry]

By Sarah Tom
August 3rd 2007

Barcelona - How much can you pack into 2.5 days? Europe » Spain » Catalonia » Barcelona

Sagrada Passion Facade
Sagrada Familia - closeup details of the passion facade

Our flight from Toronto to Amsterdam was relatively short, but felt much longer due to the group of 40+ teenagers who felt no need to be quiet or even sit down during the red-eye flight. Luckily, KLM’s entertainment system is fantastic and we were able to catch up on several movies each while trying to get a little sleep. We transferred planes in Amsterdam - nice airport, but since smoking is allowed at their restaurants and bars, our gate area was filled with smoke. Once we landed in Barcelona, we claimed our luggage quickly and found the train station. The train [View Full Entry]

By Sarah Tom
May 18th 2007

Ice Precise in France! Europe » France » Aquitaine » Bordeaux

A successful week!

Day 1 - Tuesday, May 8 After teaching in the morning, I arrived at the airport by 2:00 for the 4:50 plane. The team made it through security with no issues and we just hoped we had packed our skates safely. Tried to sleep on the plane… but at 5pm, it’s rather difficult. Day 2 - Wednesday, May 9 Arrived in Paris on time - 6:15am. Not much sleep for any of us… the plane was really hot (no A/C) and the entertainment system was broken… but we survived and made our quick connection to Bordeaux after landing in Paris. Upon [View Full Entry]

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