Papua New Guinea

Well, life on the ship is great so far. I have now seen my fair share of over-aged bikini wearers, which have encouraged me to both wear sunscreen and workout.  The ship has a great workout room that looks off the front of the ship.  I’m sure they appreciate my use of it since I might be the only one who keeps the treadmills actively working past level 2.5.  We played Bingo a few days ago, and I won $75 (and I thought I wasn’t going to be making any money on this trip).  I think I’ll go try my luck at the blackjack tables next.  After 3 nights in a row, the fondue restaurant officially knows us all by name and knows to save their time on the cheese and meat, and skip right to the chocolate part.  Luckily the fondue restaurant is taking a break for about a month.

 

Yesterday, we stopped in Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.  It was definitely my favorite place we have been so far.  I will try my best to describe it, but I don’t think words will even help you comprehend this place.  Until 1955 they still had cannibalism on the island and only a few weeks ago someone was burned at the stake for practicing witchcraft. There is an active volcano right off the shore where we docked which we all thought was so cool and kind of wanted to see erupt while we were there, until we got off the ship and saw the town.  The volcano erupted about 15 years ago, and they haven’t recovered since.  The city is so poor, worse than anything I could have ever imagined, they have rebuilt their homes on the ash that covered their homes and burned the city.  We went on a tour in vans throughout the city and literally there was nothing there. You could just see black ash everywhere.  There were no roads. The vans drove on ash, which they made into paths and the “roads” were marked off with sticks that had flags on them so you would know where to drive. We saw plane wreckage from World War 2 when the Japanese used the island as a military base.  My favorite part was when we stopped at a school and saw all of the kids.  The school just opened up a week ago after being closed for a year because of the volcano. They all had the biggest smiles on their faces and were just so happy to see us.  I have never seen a smile or a wave mean so much to someone in my life. After our tour we went on an adventure on our own because we wanted to walk around town and meet more of the people.  A boy who was10 named Jamal, came up to us and offered to show us around.  Before we knew it there were 10 or 15 kids walking with us around the town.  They took us to the store where we went in and bought bags of candy to share with all of the kids.  It felt like Halloween passing out candy to all of the kids who were running up to us. We also bought a pair of flip-flops because when we met Jamal he was only wearing one shoe.  It was so much fun hanging out with the kids and getting to see their city.  I felt a little bit like I was in a dream because of how surreal this place was and the life style they were living.  I have a million pictures that I can’t wait to show everyone when I get back!

 

Today we crossed the equator, which is no ordinary day at sea.  If you have never crossed the equator you get to participate in the “Crossing the Line Ceremony”.  It’s a historic English tradition dating back from 1393 when they used to think the world was flat. Any explorer who dared to venture south without fear of sailing off the edge of the world could participate in the initiation ceremony.  The initiates, called “Pollywogs” would be coated with various nasty liquids found in the bilge of the ship and then suspended by the ankles and plunged into the sea.  As “pollywogs”, we got to participate in this initiation ceremony.  We all got covered in flour, jello, whipped cream, eggs, bacon… and then instead of getting hung by our ankles, were thrown into the pool.  It was pretty disgusting, but also really fun and probably the most eventful thing we will experience while we continue onboard with the old folks.  And for all my Londoner friends… they served Pimm’s Cup as the drink of the day today!

 

Ok well I’m off to have a gourmet grilled cheese lunch with the kids downstairs.  We finally taught the chef how to make it just like it is at home.  

Cairns, Australia

We finally made it on board the ship, Queen Victoria, which we have renamed “The Retirement Home at Sea”.  It seems to suit the ship better. Elliot, Isabelle and Grisha are half of the kids on board…yes half.  There are 6 kids total on board, 7 if you include me, which most of the passengers probably would.  Let me just say that I have a new appreciation for the thought of “old people”…sorry mom and dad, you are NOT old.

 

The ship is beautiful and luckily we have a very spacious room that we can seclude ourselves to and/or hide from the old people glaring at us.  I have yet to see any other passengers entering their rooms on our hallway.  I think they strategically didn’t put any other passengers on our hall…we might even have the whole floor to ourselves.  There is also an awesome kids playroom that has air hockey, guitar hero, wii, movies…they let me come play whenever I want. When I’m not playing in the kids room, I have taken up origami lessons, water coloring, and my grandmother would be happy to know that I may even be joining her weekly bridge club back home, assuming that I will probably pick it up on the daily afternoon games that are played on board.

 

Grisha and his friend Claire (one of the other kids on the ship who is 4) have successfully learned how to have their own private pool on board.  Apparently not everyone likes splashing and screaming during swim time as much as we do.  We’re hoping to break our record but so far we can clear out the pool in about 3 minutes. 

 

We attended the formal Black and White Ball a few nights ago, where I believe we were the only ones wearing glow necklace and bracelets. We were introduced to all the men who are given a free cruise to come on board and dance with the single women. They all range from about 60-70 but I will say that some of them have very impressive resumes. I am still waiting for them to introduce the 20-30 year olds that they have hired for guests like me…

 

It rained all day yesterday, but today was a beautiful sunny day for our stop in Cairns, Australia at the Great Barrier Reef.  We went on an excursion which took us on a catamaran out to the reef. There, I got to do an introductory scuba dive while Jonathan and Elliot were doing real scuba diving (since they’re certified).  We went down for about 30 minutes with a guide and it was so much fun. I touched a huge clam, saw a shark, stingray and millions of fish!  It was beautiful!  On my group dive were two other guys who work on the ship, and were actually the first people I’ve seen my age in a while. So, I hung out with them and made friends, they even offered to let me use their free Internet, so thanks to them you all might be getting blog updates a lot more frequently. 

 

We have found our favorite place to eat on the ship…the fondue restaurant.  They have it set up only a few days at a time and switch off between other types of foods, but last night and for the next 3 nights it’s fondue!  I will say that it was very hard for us to sit through the whole meal knowing there was chocolate coming at the very end…if you think I’m only talking about the kids, you’re kidding yourself.  We’re going again tonight, just for the chocolate part!

 

All in all, life on board is pretty great. It’s only day four, but I think I could get used to this lifestyle.  

Bondi Beach

Big news from Bondi Beach... 

I finally found Dr. Pepper!,  No shark bites, we all made it out alive,  and the question you have all been wondering....yes the toilets swirl the other way here in Australia. 

We are finally boarding the ship tomorrow, which I think we are all ready for.  Seeing Australia has been so fun, and now we are all ready to finally unpack our suitcases and get settled.  I might change my mind about that when we are in our tiny rooms for the next 60 days...  I'm going to put the link at the bottom of the page for our ship so you can follow along with where we are at along the way.  Hopefully we don't run into any pirates or icebergs!  

"Goodbye! I'm gonna never forget you!" ...(for all you titanic fans out there, specifically you Jimmy)

http://www.cunard.com/CruiseItinerary_tab.asp?cruiseid=3054&LeftNav=Planner&Active=&Sub=&OB=&Region=&ship=&shipID=QV

The Outback

The Blue Mountains of Australia may very well be blue, but all I saw was rain and fog for two days.  It may seem like a waste of a trip, until I tell you that the hotel had free wireless internet, a great heated indoor swimming pool, and a candy store that made our Valentine's Day worth while. So, we count the 2 hour road trip a success.

I have finally reached that point where I am starting to miss American food a lot.  I first realized it when we stopped at McDonalds, I got a 10 piece nugget and ate the whole thing.  I think the last time I had a McDonalds nugget was when I was 5.  McDonalds is now my comfort food here in Australia...good thing I only have 3 days left of you might not recognize me when I got home. Mostly I miss Dr. Pepper, and I have heard rumors that you can find it in Sydney, but I'm still looking....   

Sunday morning (your Saturday) we flew to Ayer's Rock which is considered the Australian Outback.  We landed in the middle of the desert, literally.  Grisha, who is 5, looked out the window as we were landing and asked where all the buildings, roads, and cars were. This town is literally just a resort in the middle of the desert....and no, not even close to Palm Springs if that's what you are picturing.  There are these two huge rock formations that are in the desert and that is all.  By the time we left, I had seen the rocks from every angle, with every type of sunlight, and have any picture of them you could ever imagine.  It's also an area where a lot of the aboriginal people live.  The rocks are sacred to them and a big part of their culture. 

 The first night we were there, we went out to have dinner in the desert.  We watched the sunset over the rock and got served champagne and appetizers. Of course since its the Australian outback you shouldn't expect just any appetizers, they serve crocodile and kangaroo.  Peter, you would be proud to know that I tried both (now you all know why I love McDonalds so much here).  They actually were not bad, I didn't go back for seconds or anything, but not bad.  After sunset we had dinner under the stars.  It was the most beautiful view of the stars I have ever seen.  Since there are no buildings (besides the resort) out there you could see every star.  They also had a telescope to look through and I saw saturn and it's rings.  It was one of the coolest things I have ever seen in my life.  The next morning we woke up to see the sunrise over the rock, went back for a nap and slept a few hours, saw the sunset over the rock, slept a few hours, and woke up this morning to again see the sunrise over the rock...now you know what I mean when I say I have seen it at every angle and every type of sunlight.  Only this morning was a little different, because we went on a camel ride as the sun was rising.  Yes, that's right a camel. My explanation won't do justice you will just have to see the pictures. The rock really was so beautiful, and the outback is was my favorite part of Australia so far.  I think mostly because it is so unique and you really feel like you're not in America when you're out there.  Oh, other than the flies.  They had horrible, horrible flies out there.  I don't know what it was but they were constantly on your face, flying in your ears.  I think the saying we came up with for it was "a slow form of torture".

Oh I almost forgot about the part where I held a snake.  On one of our tours around the desert and rock we had a tour guide who was really great and gave us a short lesson on all these different animal critters that live in the outback (kangaroos don't live in the outback...I was disappointed).  She had blue tongued lizards, and some dragon lizard, and pythons.  I never thought I would touch a snake in my life and by the end had a python wrapped around my neck.  It was one of the scariest but coolest things I've ever done. (Disclaimer: the second the snake looked at me and started slithering up my arm I screamed and made her take it back...I can't give myself more credit than I deserve) I mostly did it for your picture viewing purposes, so enjoy and you're welcome!  

Pictures

Sydney, Australia

Sorry it's taken me a while to post anything...I haven't had much access to the internet, or had anything really worth writing about. I know everyone says they want to hear what's going on here, so I'm trying to do as many cool things and come up with as many stories as I can to make the reading worth all of your while.

The plane ride here was really, really long. Everyone told me how long it would be, but I mean it was really long. 4 flights and 2 days later, we finally got here. Houston to Honolulu, Honolulu to Guam, Guam to Cairns, Australia where we stayed the night and slept at a hotel for a few hours, and then Cairns to Sydney. We left on Saturday morning and got here around 5pm on Monday.... We crossed the interantional date line, so we lost a whole day. Luckily we had ice cream sundaes and cookies served about every hour to keep the kids entertained. I think I finally have all the lines and songs from High School Musical memorized after watching it about 4 times, and am going to be an expert at blackjack next time I go to Vegas from all the first class tv video games Elliot and I played on the plane.

It has been raining and overcast everyday since we got here. But we have still managed to explore Sydney and have fun. The first night we were here we went to the Sydney Opera House and saw Madama Butterfly....it was really good, the part I stayed awake for. I know, no one is surprised I fell asleep, but I promise it's not my fault. Opera is not the best combination the day after a 2 day flight to Australia. The next day we went on a tour of Sydney, this guy drove us around and told us all the history of the city and we got to see all different parts of Sydney which was really awesome. We are staying in a hotel on the water which is really cool because we get to see all the boats coming in. They have these ferries that will take you all over Sydney across the harbor, we went on one and went to a Wildlife park. We saw Kangaroos and Koalas there. I know is sounds touristy but they really were so cool to see. I think we went mostly for the kids but I had just as much fun as they did...I know not surprising.

Last night, we climbed the bridge. Incase you don't know, there's a huge bridge in Sydney that you can climb up and see the whole city. They put you in a harness and a wierd climbing suit outfit, hook you up to a headset so you can hear and attach a metal clamp thing to you so you don't fall off. The climb took about 2 hours and was really awesome. I have some pictures that I will upload as soon as I can.

Today we drove up to the Blue Mountains which is about 2 hours from Sydney. It's supposed to be beautiful up here, and I hope I get to see it if the rain ever clears... We are headed to the Outback tomorrow and then back to Sydney for a few days on the beaches before getting on the cruise. I don't have my computer with me right now so I have no pictures at the moment, but as soon as I get it I will post some pictures. Oh and for anyone else who is worried like my mom and Abianne...we are not near the fires so don't worry! But there was a shark attack on the beach we are going to in a few days. So i'll let you know later if I survive the Australian waters.


For those of you who are not entertained enough by my day to day activities, here is the adventure I came up with to make reading the blog a little more fun....this really did happen.

The first night at our hotel, I got stuck in the stairwell...I was going down to the pool, so of course since the nice hotel has fun bathrobes in the closet I decided I needed to wear one over my swim suit down to the pool. So, I head down the hall to the elevator in my bathrobe and when I couldn't get the elevator to work I just decided to walk down the stairs since the pool is only one floor below. Well, when you walk into the stairwell it locks but it doesnt tell you that from the outside so I walk down one floor and see a sign on the inside of the door that says "This door locks from the inside, if you get locked in use the phone to call and have someone come help you"... I pick up the phone, it rings and rings and no one answers. So I go down a few floors and find a door on the first floor that opens. And of course as I open it, the alarm starts ringing because its the emergency exit. It opens up to the street where there are restaurants and people walking by....not the ideal place to be seen in your bathrobe. So I run back up to the 5th floor and pick up the phone to try again...remember, all while the emergency bell is still ringing inside of the stairwell. Still no one is answering on the phone and for the first time I start to get worried I'm giong to get stuck in the stairwell. I start knocking on the door, hoping someone will hear me, and after about 10 knocks I decide pounding is a better alternative....5 minutes later someone finally heard me and opens the door to find me standing in my bathrobe with the emergency alarm blaring. I quickly said thank you and ran to the elevator. Turns out I just needed to put my key in the elevator to use it...

If I don't come home, I might be stuck in the stairwells of Australia.

I miss you all and will keep you updated as much as I can! Email me if you get a chance I want to hear what's going on back at home!

Here's your blog, Mer.

Now all you have to do is update this frequently... with pictures.

And put it on your facebook profile. Yeay!!!!!!!

Love,
Abianne