On a slow boat to China...

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I never thought I actually would BE on a slow boat to China, but hence...I am! Segment Three of the world cruise has started and we are sailing off the coast of Australia after spending this past week in Melbourne and Sydney. We have 2 days at sea before we arrive at Hardy Reef (the Great Barrier Reef) and Cairns, Australia. We then head over to Papa New Guinea, Japan, and China!!

Let me first update on the past couple of days. Unfortunately, there seems to be a big, grey raincloud following this ship around because almost everywhere we go, the weather has been awful!! San Francisco was cold and rainy, Tahiti and Moorea were very overcast, New Zealand was pretty cold, and Australia so far has been yucky and rainy!!! EEEH! I was more tan back in Orlando when I spray-tanned every week. Here I am, on a cruise ship that I've been on for months, after cruising through the South Pacific, and my skin looks like Snow White. I want to be Pocahontas, not Snow White!!!

When we arrived in Melbourne, Mike and I took a tour to the zoo, which was awesome. I am not quite sure why American zoos don't have koalas and kangaroos...but they are pretty much the cutest animals ever. The koalas are like little teddy bears and have the cutest faces. Then we saw a whole bunch of kangaroos bouncing around, and I even got to feed one. I wanted to take one back to the ship with me, but I definitely don't have room for a kangaroo in my shoebox of a cabin. Despite the cold and wet weather, it turned out to be a really fun day.

Next came Sydney. Again, the weather was the pits. I woke up at 6:30am (yuck) to watch the ship go past the Sydney opera house and under the bridge...it was awesome. Then Tony (our tenor) and I got off the ship together in the morning to walk around Sydney and shop a bit. After consulting with my sister who was just in Sydney on her honeymoon, she reported that there was NOTHING to buy because the prices are outraegous. Our dollar is the pits. And if Melissa Fisher (oops, Emihovich) says there is nothing to buy, you better believe there is NOTHING to buy. Although I did come across a MAC makeup store which basically had a ray of light around it because I was in desperate need of more foundation and eye shadow. Necessities, people!! We then headed over to Oxford Street, home of funky shops and lots of gays, for some lunch and more useless shopping. It started pouring rain, so we headed back to the ship after lunch.

We were in Sydney overnight, so that night...the whole cast went out to this club in "The Rocks" called Argyle. It was hot. Everyone was really good looking and well dressed. It felt so safe to be out at night in that city, all the people are so nice and everywhere you go is so clean. We left Argyle after a while and went to this other place called The Establishment, but after a long day of walking in the rain, we called it a night and came back to the ship.

The next day, the weather was finally on our side and the sun came out. I took a tour in the morning of the Syndey Opera House, which was fab. We got to go inside all the theatres, and I got a little sneak peek at a pianist rehearsing for a concert that day. The theatre was just breathtaking and I was really glad I took the tour. Mike and I then got on a bus and headed over to the famous Bondi Beach. It was a really cute beach with lot of little shops and restaurants...but again, NOTHING TO BUY...so depressing. We then headed out that night with Kristen (one of our ballroom dancers) to Darling Harbor to walk around and grab drinks.

My overall experience in Sydney was really good, and my favorite part was definitely seeing the opera house. I would love to go back and see a show there sometime. Or DO a show there sometime. That would be nice.

Hopefully Cairns will bring better weather. I signed up to escort a bunch of tours in the rainforest, so I will update after Cairns to let you know how that went.

All the shows and performing are going well. Although some of the passengers that are onboard for the whole world cruise (and there are a good number of them) have seen the same 5 shows over and over. We wish we had more to perform! Tonight we did 'Ballroom Bravo' and on Valentines Day, we are doing 'Romance Romance.' I am working on new music for yet another cabaret...please send me your favorite songs that I should include! Tonight was formal night on the ship (always my fave), and I got to wear my Sue Wong Cinderella gown, which is the bomb. Too bad I only got to wear it for like an hour before I had to start getting ready for the show. The captain spoke at the cocktail party and informed us all that the weather in Asia is absolutely FREEZING right now, so I am definitely a little worried that my South Florida wardrobe is not going to cut it.

Ship life is good, today was a day at sea, so naturally, everyone was crazy. Literally. Crazy. Days at sea feel like a week and they are the "full moon" of cruising where people start acting like they have the ring (from 'Lord of the Rings.') We have another sea day tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll be watching lots of DVDs and thank goodness we have 'Romance Romance' rehearsal with the new band to keep me busy during our sea day, or in Ashley language, the "Eeeeeeeh! Day."

Anyway, love to all and hope everyone is well!

xoxoxo,
ASH

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