Sydney – Ron and Jan's oasis

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The final evening aboard the Sapphire Princess and it was hugs all around. In the International dining Room, Nadia told Chris that it was OK - everything is sorted. If she was a male, someone in a strong Russian accent whispering in your ear that it is 'sorted' would probably conjure images of a couple of brutes with square jaws and cropped hair carrying out orders! Nadia was of course referring to the gratuity she and Florin received from Chris and Roisin the previous day. She didn't go in to detail as to how it was ‘sorted' but probably included the greasing of palms somewhere down the line! or the fact that we had also paid our gratuities into 'the pot'.

The final dining session wouldn't be complete without the traditional ‘Parade of the baked Alaska'. Nobody seems to know from whence this tradition came but sure enough just before dessert time, the lights dimmed and Andrew, one of the cruise entertainment staff acted as MC. The music started and instantly all the junior waiters appeared from the left, snaking their way around the dining room, each holding, yes you've guessed it, a baked Alaska!! A baked Alaska is ice-cream covered in meringue and baked in the oven. If you've not tried it…next time you're in Tesco… you won't be disappointed!!

The chefs were next up. These were lead by Jacques (from Monaco), the Maitre D followed by Milo (from Philippines), the head chef. There were about 15 chefs in total with big hats and then a number of what must be assistant chefs as they only had little hats!!

The Head Chef is responsible for 15,000 meals a day. As there are only 3,600 passengers and crew on board the Sapphire Princess, if each has 3 meals a day that's only 10,800 meals!! I would like to know where are the other 4,200 meals went??!!

Toward the end of the evening email addresses were exchanged with the usual promises to ‘keep in touch' Chris and Roisin have met some extremely interesting and genuine people who could teach them a lot about the art of cheap cruising!!

Chris and Roisin awoke early on Saturday 23rd October to watch the arrival in to Sydney harbour. The approach started around 6am and even at that time, on a Saturday morning there were still people on the quayside waving at the ship as it manoeuvred in to Circular Quay. Waiting in anticipation, it was a truly awesome sight when the ship veered to the starboard and the Opera House and Bridge came in to sight.

On the morning of disembarkation Chris and Roisin bumped in to Donny and Marie over breakfast. As above, even Donny has done some interesting and extraordinary things as he proceeded to show Chris photos on his iPod of his trip to Kathmandu and the Himalayas.

‘Away wi' ye man', Marie said to Donny in her broad Geordie accent, ‘Chris dunna wanna look at some fat guy standing in front of a mountain (Everest) while he's tryin' ta eat his Cornflakes!!'

Disembarkation went like clockwork. One was allocated with a colour and number that corresponded to the luggage labels provided a few nights before. This depended on the location of ones cabin. Sitting just outside the Wheelhouse bar, just listening to what was happening around was absolute comedy gold.

An elderly lady sitting a few yards from Chris and Roisin was talking to an American-Chinese couple. She identified herself as the mother of a crewmember and was waiting for her bag that her son had promised to deliver. She said she was going home to the Gold Coast in Queensland, South of Brisbane.

‘Is that North Australia?' asked one of the American-Chinese.

‘Nah. It's north of New South Wales but on the East Coast of Australia', replied the lady

A second question was then asked from a very inquisitive but excited passenger relishing the thought of visiting all the wonders that Oz has to offer. ‘Is that where they have aborigines?'

‘Nah!' replied the lady for a second time. ‘They're out in the bush somewhere!!!'

Whilst Chris was overhearing this conversation, he was sitting yards away from the machine that goes ‘ping'. This is the machine that every passenger going ashore has to swipe their cruise card to let the ship know they are no longer on board. The card is then swiped again on re-entering the ship for obvious reasons. The machine had been pinging away quite happily when all of a sudden a buzzer sounded similar to Mr Babbage from ‘Family Fortunes' when a wrong answer is given. This was followed by an automated voice that sounded like, ‘Sod off! No exit' Roisin had to move closer. On buzzing again, the automated voice was saying ‘Sorry, No exit!!' I still prefer the first version!!!

Chris and Roisin's cruise cards ‘pinged' for the last time at 09:40 and they made their final descent down the gangway of the Sapphire Princess. As they climbed in to a taxi, Chris was remembering the old saying: ‘There are only 3 types of people that take cruises – the newly wed; the overfed or the nearly dead!!!' There seemed to have been a fair mix on this voyage and was pondering on what category they would fit in to. Chris grinned contently to himself as he reached for Roisin's hand. They both turned and looked out of the back window of the taxi as it slowly pulled away from Circular Quay.

They had booked 5 nights accommodation in the grounds of a private residence in a Northern suburb of Sydney called Normanhurst. This is about a 45-minute train ride. With luggage in tow and now cloudless skies and the temperature in the 70s, Chris and Roisin were starting to wish they had booked somewhere in the centre of Sydney.

Their train journey involved changing trains. Chris and Roisin decided to take a taxi to the train station that was on a direct line to their destination. Whilst on the train, Roisin contacted Ron, the owner of the property to advise him they were on their way. During this journey the clouds came in from nowhere and it started to ‘belt' down with rain. By the time the train pulled in to Normanhurst the rain had subsided somewhat. Ron was there to meet them and chauffeured Roisin and Chris the short journey to their home for the next 5 days. He introduced them to his wife, Jan. Ron suggested that they settle in and then he would run them up to the supermarket to stock up on provisions.

An hour later and fridge and cupboards adequately stocked with food and wine for the next few days Chris and Roisin had a chance to look around their ‘dwelling' in what can only be described as magnificent surroundings.

The living room/kitchen was very spacious with a comfortable suite. Chris whooped with delight as Ron explained the TV and cable channels that included sport and live English footie games. Good times! Being in Australia, all the live games are shown in the middle of the night. Bad times!

Meanwhile Roisin was on the spacious veranda overlooking a heavily wooded area at the bottom of which was a private enclosed gazebo with pool. Jan explained the bird feeder and to expect minah birds, lorikeets and even the occasional Kookaburra will come looking for food. The friendly possum will also make an appearance during the evening. He likes banana. So does Chris!! Ron added that there are large lizards (water dragons)roaming about but they're harmless, as are the wild turkeys in the garden!! Chris told Ron and Jan that he can cope with most animals with up to 4 legs. It's those with more than four legs he's worried about. Ron assured him that it is too early in the season for spiders and the lizards tend to keep the bugs at bay!!

It started to rain again at 8pm so the possum would be better off in the warmth and dryness of his den. It should follow the example of Chris and Roisin who closed the veranda door for the night and decided to chill out with a bottle of wine.

Ron has promised Roisin and Chris to drive them to the Koala and Kangaroo Park Sanctuary tomorrow. It is only 10 minutes away from Normanhurst but awkward to get to by public transport.

Chris and Roisin are glad they chose this oasis in the middle of suburbia, away from the madding crowd. The huffing and puffing with luggage was worth it!

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Comments

[Jane P-H]

What an amazing location, envious of the wildlife, take pictures. Enjoy x

[Dave]

Looks great again.Cheap "cruising" is right uo my street.

[maxine]

wow that looks fantastic xx

[Karen]

It looks absolutely awesome xx