Rosemary

rosy59

Rosemary

I'm an Australian, born in New Zealand, from Dutch parents.



Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns » open water August 17th 2018

Sea Day and disembarkation- Our last 2 days End of holidays and our body clocks are well and truly in holiday mode, 8-30am wake up this morning, leisurely 2km around deck 6 (5 laps) and a 9-45 breakfast. A day spent being entertained by the crew at various things such as trivia, shuttle board, tell and say, murder mystery, drinking coffee and final dining at Dragon Lady and last chance Karaoke.The seas got smoother the closer we got to Cairns and the final night in bed was without the usual rocking effect that we had grown used to.We woke to the sound of no motors and the thrusters working which meant we were in Cairns turning around and entering our berth. We chose the Waterfront to dine this morning, less crowded, and had a lovely meal ... read more

Oceans and Seas » Pacific » Coral Sea August 15th 2018

Wednesday Sea Day We are now managing to sleep until 8am, breakfast goes until 10-30am so it's not an issue. Very lumpy seas developed during the night, with sick bags attached to all the elevator handrails when we emerged this morning, we really have a sway happening. The crew recommend going easy on water and eating apples to combat sea sickness. Sea days for some people mean a day to lie out in the sun, for ourselves from Qld, we find the aircon and hang out. I had a go at Speed Sudoku today, was 3/4 way through when the person finished, the game was listed as challenging which I managed easily, I've come a long way in three years from not being able to do Sudoku at all to getting tough ones done. In the ... read more
My stateroom favourite spot
Deck 6 was a little wet today
Back of the ship selfie

Oceania » Solomon Islands » Honiara August 14th 2018

Tuesday Honiara Guaranteed a shore day with Honiara having a port berth, we looked forward to seeing some military sites on some sort of tour. This cruise with PNG and Solomons being the shore destinations has meant less chances for us to do our own thing ashore with most destinations having little infrastructure such as taxis or buses to take us independently to where we wanted to go. Today was no exception. Honiara which means place of east wind is the capital of The Solomon Islands, population 80,000. Rich in WWII history with much of the major fighting between the Japanese and the USA and its allies occurring in this area.There was a lot set up on the wharf with stalls and maps and the advice from the information desk to seek a tour outside of ... read more
Rabaul bruised and beaten
Every shack sells mobile upload
Bloody ridge

Oceans and Seas » Pacific » Coral Sea August 13th 2018

Monday Gizo Island required tenders and with a 2.5'metre swell and a choppy blustery sea the decision was made to cancel our island stop. The information was piped into the cabin by the captain early morning with the advice that safety was paramount. Imagine people going over by tender and not being able to get back on board due to deteriorating weather.So we did a lazy 3 hour loop of the island and set sail for Honiara.Pablo the cruise director then came over the intercom to tell of of the new sea day arrangements. A new what's on sheet was issued, outdoor decks closed and most people seemed content with the changes. Celebrity mugshot, trivia, dingbat, battle of the sexes, and the funniest game of celebrity heads kept us amused all day between eating and drinking ... read more
Hotly contested bean bag toss
Louis Entertainment team member
Sunset at sea

Oceans and Seas » Pacific » Coral Sea August 12th 2018

Sunday Sea Day Rough seas greeted my walk around deck 6, so much so that later they closed the promenade deck for a while and relocated the smokers who had a small section of this deck up to deck 10. Deck 12 also has a small smoking section. But in a passenger complement of 1500, at any time there is only about a dozen or so people smoking. The age demographic of this cruise is swayed toward the mid 60's to 80's, not many kids or families or young ones. Today being a sea day it's about activities and food.Flags of The World was fast and furious, less than 2 minutes for 10 flags. Cruise director trivia was fun, bordering on the naughty with Pablo in fine form. We have joined up occasionally with Phillip and ... read more
Sunset at Sea
Someone has to do it
Hotly contested bean bag challenge

Oceania » Papua New Guinea » East New Britain » Rabaul August 11th 2018

Saturday Rabaul We set a 6am alarm and went out on deck 6 and up the staircase one level to go to the bow of the ship. Sailing into Simpson harbour it was easy to spot the volcanic peaks that have done so much damage to Rabaul over the years and most notably in 1994. Mount Tavurvur is active still, puffs of smoke and steam visible against the early morning clouds. Rabaul is located on PNG's north-eastern tip in the New Britain province, where coincidentally the bride price is negotiated in shell money and it is a matriarchal society. The port area is all that really remains following the last volcanic eruption which saw a triple action of three peaks erupting covering the town in ash. No lives were lost this time compared to 1937 when ... read more
Volcanic harbour- Mt Tavurvur smoking
Japanese barge tunnels
Rabaul tour guide Anna

Oceania » Papua New Guinea » Milne Bay August 10th 2018

Friday Laundry day Anchoring and tender noises were slightly less this morning enabling a 7-30am sleep in. Today we are visiting Kiriwina Island which is the largest of the Trobiand island group in the Milne Bay Province. 290 km square with most of the 12,000 Trobriand island people living on this island. People have breakfasted early and the tenders are away again, but we shall do what we did yesterday and wait until free tender time. So what else should I do to fill in time but do washing of course. Pacific Eden has a public laundrette on decks 5, 6, and 9 with 3x $1 coins for a wash and same again for a dry. Washing powder is dispensed free and automatically with the commencement of the wash cycle. 28 mins of sitting in the ... read more
Dancing school boys
Local gardens
Local village

Oceania » Papua New Guinea » Milne Bay August 9th 2018

Thursday Conflict islands. Being so far forward in the boat any action that occurs happens next to our cabin, so 6-30am I was awake listening to the action of tenders being prepared for transfer of passengers to the island as well as the ship being held in place by the thrusters rather than an anchor. The Conflict Islands are a coral atoll 152kms off the tip of mainland PNG comprising 21 separate islands surrounded by a beautiful lagoon. Located 11 degrees off the equator they are mostly uninhabited, 30 people live on the island we visited today called Panasesa Island, small but with a massive air strip which was used in the 2nd World War in The Battle of The Coral Sea. A turtle hatchery is an important conservation aspect of this small island. These islands ... read more
Conflict Islands from deck 12
Weather side of islands
Airstrip, strategic WWII and still maintained

Oceans and Seas » Pacific » Coral Sea August 8th 2018

WednesdaySea Day This started with me walking 5 laps of deck6 which is the only longish walking area. 2.5 laps are 1km, quite a few walkers enjoying the breeze and sea spray, with the ship hooting along on its way to PNG. We were joined at breakfast by Norma and her daughter from Eden which is on the Sth coast of NSW. Lively elderly people, used to cruising, having a great time. Today was the joining in day. Shuffle board where I placed 1st out of 8 people, table tennis where I was runner up in quite a fierce comp, and then Karaoke tonight where I sang 3 songs. My usual The Rose and then 2 others. Ocean bar is the place for many of our activities, which today included 3 games of trivia, one evening ... read more
Shuttle board fun
Shuttle board champion
Whiskey tasting class

Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Cairns » open water August 7th 2018

Captains Log Tuesday day 1 of P&O cruise sailing 4pm from Cairns to PNG.We had organised to board at 2pm but arrived at 1pm, hot and sweaty from the 1 km walk along Lake St from our motel. We were swiftly ushered from bag drop, to inside, to this spot and that by a very efficient local team of people dressed in blue and white check shirts. Within 30 minutes we were on board and in our cabin. Score 1. Score 2 our cabin which is on deck 4, room 4011 which is the wheel chair room. So huge, massive open space with 4 portholes, couch, desk. Only down side is we can feel all the ups and downs and bangs being right up the front. Next stop The Pantry which is the buffet dining option ... read more
Scored the wheelchair room, soo biggggg
Could have had a deck party in here
Lunch time panorama of cairns from deck 11




Tot: 0.279s; Tpl: 0.007s; cc: 12; qc: 100; dbt: 0.1341s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.2mb