The End

We have now got over our jet lag and have had time to reflect on our nine weeks away.  We disagree about Egypt, but agree that there is more to Australia than Sydney and that there is so much more to see.  We have liked the developing countries, e.g Cambodia, Vietnam, PNG and loved our overland trips through India and China.  It is far too hard to pick a 'best of' but there are many countries we would love to revisit. 

We made friends and hope that these may be life-long. We opened and broadened our minds incredibly and can only conclude that the whole trip has been life-enhancing.  Ashley says that were he to 'pop his clogs' tomorrow, he will die happier for his recent travels and the experiences gained.

We are using a US website to print our blog in a hard cover format - for the coffee table!  There was a space to fill with our comments, but we chose to find a suitable quote about travel instead.  I think it sums up our feelings.

 “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Mark Twain

Thanks for following us and bon voyage!

Home

We arrived safely at Heathrow at 04:30 today, following a 12 hour flight from Hong Kong.  Guy met us and kindly brought us home to Dorset.  We have enjoyed the holiday so much that we are finding it hard to pick out the best bits. 

We have decided to spend a bit of time reflecting on the whole experience before we close the blog down.  Needless to say, we have had a wonderful time, seen some super and interesting places that we never thought we would ever visit and have made some new and valued friends.

We are now obviously jet lagged.  Ashley is ready for an evening meal when it should be breakfast!

We will pick up our beloved dog(!) tomorrow from Angela  who has looked after her so well for all these weeks. Thank you, Angela.

Thanks for tuning in to the blog.  We have now had over 3000 hits since it started. 

Hong Kong Airport

Arrived here about one hour ago after a successsful second attempt at a landing.  Taking off again at 23:30 HK time, seven hours ahead of UK.

Sydney Airport

12:00 Monday 12th March:  In 20 minutes time we will check in for our flight to UK.  Have eventually found a free wifi that works.  Looking forward to seeing you all and thanks to Guy for picking us up at HR Airport. 

Sydney was very good and a great experience....but there are many other parts of Australia worth visiting.  Darling Harbour was great but a bit hectic.  Good hotel but three days was long enough.  We went to Bondi yesterday, had a walk along the beach and a good lunch.  Mixed feelings about our return but 65 days away from home, family and dog seems more than sufficient.

Cosi Fan Tutte

We went to the Opera House today to see Mozart's 'Cosi Fan Tutte', roughly translated as "So do all women", a slightly long and heavy second act contrasting with the light, fluffy and comic first act. Not the best opera to go to, as there is only one recognisable song and that's in the first act.  However, beautifully sung and very well directed; it was an enjoyable evening. 

The pre-performance meal at the Aria, right opposite the Opera House was superb, but with all such dinners a bit sparce.  Ashley suggested that a full dinner next year was on the cards!

Returned to Darling Harbour where we tried to get a drink at a neighbouring restaurant, but as we were at least 40 years older than most of the clientele, we returned to our room for our well deserved Horlicks.  The view of Darling Harbour from the balcony is impressive.

Hoping to go to the Rocks, near Circular Quay tomorrow, for what we are informed is a very good market.  Jane is after some more suitcases...........

More photos

Now we are in a hotel in Darling Harbour, we are able to upload more photos.  Hope that this helps your enjoyment of our blog. 

Leaving Arcadia and discovering Sydney

11:00 Saturday 10^th March.  Got up at 05:00 to see Arcadia’s journey into Sydney harbour past the Opera House and Bridge.   It was on the port side (our cabin was on the starboard side) so we had to go to deck 11 to see the full view.  A wonderful sight. 

We disembarked the ship at 08:45 on Friday and found our hotel in Darling Harbour where we left our luggage and returned to the Opera House to collect our tickets for tomorrow’s performance and dinner. 

We had a good tour of the Opera House at 11:00.  We both thought that the wings on the roof were covered in stainless steel but surprisingly found that they were covered in porcelain tiles from Belgium. 

 We then hopped on a half hour ferry to Manly. 

Beautiful weather and an opportunity to talk to the locals.  We satisfied at least four of the ten best things to do in Manly, including sampling some local beers in the New Brighton Hotel (Did you ever go there, Emma?) 

Returning to our hotel we found that we had been upgraded to a superior room and balcony with a tremendous view of Darling Harbour.   Found the Meat and Wine Co restaurant (recommended by Jane’s WI friend, Jan) and had a very decent steak.  We left at around midnight and Darling Harbour was still buzzing.

Beware of taxi drivers, unless you have the correct change!

Tonight, dinner at Aria (just opposite the Opera House) followed by “Cosi Fan Tutte”.  We have found a good way to get around using a combined ferry/train/bus ticket offer.  So much to see and do, so little time and tiredness sets in! 

Brisbane and koalas

 

 

Wednesday 7th March 13:10   Have found a free wifi area at the Loan Pine Koala Sanctuary but does not work for our laptop, so not able to download photos.  Just off to see the kangaroos and wombats and some baby koalas.  Jane was photographed with Teresa, 8 years old with no offspring.  Sailing towards final destination tonight, arriving Friday.  Now packing!!

Yorkys Knob and Cairns

13:20: Tuesday 6th March.  We anchored outside Yorkeys Knob on Monday morning and took a catamaran as a tender to the shore.  We jumped into a taxi to get to Cairns quickly as there was a massive queue for the free shuttle buses. 


This was our first taste of Australia and we both thought the same thing: why didn’t we consider emigrating years ago?  We would not blame anyone for wanting to do it now. 


A superb, friendly town with a beautiful seaside esplanade with a fountain that becomes a paddling pool that becomes a free swimming pool right on the water’s edge.  We did some shopping in Woolworth’s (Australia’s Tesco) and bought some cold white NZ wine for consumption in our cabin.

While we were asleep, we were navigated through the Whitsunday Islands channel, at times only a mile wide.

Apparently, many people on board, like us, were so taken with Papua New Guinea that members of Rotary International are fund raising today to buy an incubator for the hospital in Raboul.

Today (Tuesday) is our final formal night.  We will probably opt to go upstairs to the Orchid Grill (Asian fusion) restaurant.  Jane has already packed one case and we are deciding what to keep for Sydney.

Tomorrow, we will be in Brisbane and (Millie and Oliver, you’d like this), we will be visiting a Koala Bear Sanctuary.

Towards the Reef

23:59 Sunday 4^th March:  Last night moved through the Gulf of Carpentaria and spotted a wonderful sunset.  Today another visit to the onboard launderette, followed in the afternoon by Ashley and table mate, Geoff, performing in the Palladium Theatre as members of the Arcadian Vocalists – again quite good although we would have  benefitted from Peter Thomas’ expertise! 

Tonight an excellent show with a classically trained girl singer, everything from “Love Changes Everything” to “Nessam Dorma”.  A good evening.

Arriving at Yorkey’s Knob, between 0630 and 07:00 tomorrow after being piloted through the start of the Great Barrier Reef.  Sorry Emma, we will not be scuba diving there.   Temperature expected to be 35C.  There is a great deal of rain around Sydney, we hear.

Papua New Guinea

15:30 Saturday 3^rd March:  Another unexpected jewel, Papua New Guinea.  We were warned that it was a fourth world country and that Raboul would be covered in volcanic ash, but in the eventthe conditions underfoot were no worse than Wareham forest.  (There is at least one active volcano - see picture on right hand side -  the town when destroyed in 1994 when two volcanoes erupted simultaneously)   Formerly called the Pearl of the Pacific, Raboul is now a rather poor town, backed by spectacular scenery, but life goes on and the population seems very active in selling their own goods.  We were lucky to visit a local fruit and veg market.  The people are charming, polite and very friendly.  We were not pestered and made to feel very welcome. 

We realise that although Australia will be exciting, it marks the end of our wonderful voyage.  Portunus cocktail party with captain tonight.

The Equator

17:30  Thursday 1st March.  During a long time cruising at sea in quite uninhabited areas, a ship and all the people on it can be vulnerable and so much depends on the quality of the catain and his crew.  Thanks to them, all has been resolved well following the recent critical incident and we have been informed that the girl who was taken off by helicopter is recovering well in hospital in Guam. 

A look at the atlas shows how few big land masses we have passed during our last five days at sea, although we have been relatively near to some small islands, including Okinawa, Northern Mariana Island and the Federated States of Micronesia.

At around 13:00 today we crossed the Equator.  No toot from the horn to celebrate but an excuse for the entertainment team to do a few daft things in celebration.  This is our first crossing of the equator and was marked with more of a whimper than a bang

Rabaul in Papua New Guinea tomorrow and the prospect of seeing active volcanoes!  No trip planned, just a walk into the main town through the volcanic ash.

Helicopter action

23:00 Tuesday 28^th February.  This morning the ship had to alter course towards Guam in order to enable a US coastguard helicopter to take off a critically ill female member of the crew.  Yesterday, the captain asked for blood donors for this patient and, although many volunteered and blood was transfused, the girl still remained in a critical condition. 

All the aft of the ship was declared out of bounds, no photographs of the helicopter were allowed and we were all confined to certain areas of the ship while the process took place.  Two medics were dropped off first to prepare the patient and then after several passes, the helicopter was able to winch the patient successfully into the helicopter to travel to the US military hospital in Guam. 

Currrently 28C, but seems far more than that on the balcony.  Just over half way to Papua New Guinea.  Drinks with friends from our India trip tonight before a ‘Smart casual’ evening with our original table friends.

To Papua New Guinea

14:00  Although this post states Sunday we are actually Monday 27th February, so the time scale has become a bit muddled.  Sailing at 23.9 knots towards PNG.  We should cross the equator in a couple of days time.  There used to be a ceremony for this.  We hope that this still happens, as again for us it is a first.

Osaka

17:00 – Sorry, no post again last night as we were, for the second time, in a Japanese port, where use of the internet is banned!  So much for a free country!  We walked around Osaka yesterday with Elizabeth and Geoff sampling Japanese culture and a nearby cafe for lunch.  A clean and tidy city where even the manhole covers are decorated.  We went took a turn on the big wheel – right next to the ship.  We left port to a band playing at 18.30 but stopped an hour later while a member of the crew was taken off by launch to hospital!

At sea now for 5 days travelling south-east towards Papua New Guinea.  It will now hopefully get warmer every day, currently 16C.  Internet onbord playing up so no pictures today, yet.....

Nagasaki

17:30 (9 hours ahead of UK)  Sorry that yesterday, 23rd February, we couldn’t communicate again.  This time it was the fault of the Japanese authorities who decided that we could not use the internet while in port, for reasons unknown.  Strange for a supposedly free country.

Our visit to Nagasaki was extremely interesting.  We all know it as the second city where the USA dropped an atomic bomb on 9th August 1945.  One kilometre from the ‘hypersite’ was totally destroyed and other parts of the city suffered lesser but more long lasting effects. 

So the city now is virtually only 67 years old.  We travelled up the Mount Inasa cable car which gave a clear viewpoint for the whole city (see Arcadia in the harbour).  We both found the museum fascinating and there are many artefacts to show the dreadful effect of that nuclear explosion (see the bottles fused together).  A trip to the hypersite and to the Peace Park concluded what was an educational experience.  

The Statue of Peace is massive, right hand pointed to the sky to warn of the atomic bomb, left hand outstretched for peace.  74,000 were killed on the day; numerous others died later.  The children of Nagasaki make origami cranes as a symbol of peace.

Today, (24^th February) a relaxing day at sea with friends – and a bit of a lunchtime session.

Tomorrow, we visit Osaka independently. Then we start five days at sea, while we sail to Papua New Guinea, before Australia and the end to this fascinating cruise.

Blogging again

18: 30  China

Day 1: We left the ship at about 09:30 on Sunday 19^th February for a swift panoramic view of Shanghai, passing through the Bund, the old waterside area, used in the film “Empire of the Sun”, before going to the station to catch the Maglev Train to the airport.  The trip was over very quickly and we reached speeds of up to 431 km/hr and felt safe all the way.  Negotiating the bends was a very exciting experience. 

At Pudong airport we caught a plane for quite a bumpy flight through clouds and over mountains to Xian, which was once the capital of China.  Having viewed the Xian City Walls, the only complete preserved city walls in China built in 1300, we arrived at the Sofitel hotel to a luxurious room. 

Looking out from the window, we could see the wide expanse of modern constructions, underlining the fact that this country is becoming very westernised very quickly. 

We were taken to a dinner in a theatre restaurant where we saw some excellent, well choreographed, folkloric dancing.  Millie, you would have enjoyed this!

Day 2 took us to the Terracotta Warriors museum.  The first warrior was found when local farmers were trying to dig for a well in 1974, when the country was very different.  So far over 7000 warriors have been excavated and we are told that this represents only 1% of what could finally be discovered.

One of the farmers was available to sign souvenir books! 

The work on this mausoleum began in 246BC soon after Emperor Quin ascended to the throne aged 13.  All the warriors are different – Oliver would have loved these.  The main pit is very large (230m x 62m) and is the one we spent most time in. 

It was an exhilarating experience and Ashley even preferred it to the Valley of the Kings in Egypt.  The history is fascinating. 

We had lunch at the museum and then flew by East China airlines to Beijing.  We both cannot believe that we are visiting such places.  The hotel was part of the Peninsular group and again outstanding, especially the Asian fusion dinner we had in the evening: lobster, massive prawns, oysters and scallops among the many offerings.

Day 3. We toured the largest square in the world, Tiananmen Square, covering 34 acres.  This is where Chairman Mao is buried and where the student massacres took place in the 80s.  Strangely, no tour guide mentioned this!  It was fascinating to see all the Chinese visiting this place which is significant in the country’s communist history. 

Look at our picture with Chairman Mao at the edge of the square, leading to the Forbidden City. 

The city is no longer forbidden, so we spent a very good time looking at the area where emperors and their concubines (up to 40000 – exhausting work) lived for 500 years up to the last emperor, Puyi in 1912.   On our return to UK, we will look again at the movie, “The Last Emperor”, as we recognised many parts of the Forbidden City that were used in the film.

Finally we jumped on our coach for a short journey to the Juongguan section of the Great Wall of China.  Unfortunately neither of us was able to reach the top.  But we were able to see the Olympic Birdsnest stadium on the way to the Wall.

Altogether this trip was superb, probably as good as our first overland.  What it showed was the history of a feudal system where emperors had all the power, developing into a very modern country. 

We were told of poverty in some parts of the country, but the evidence of Shanghai, Xian and Beijing, shows a massive capacity to develop further.  We are always told that India and China are to be the financial power houses of the future.  For us, it is obvious that China will become the strongest power economically way before India. 

Organised and disciplined (all dissenters are shoved in the clink!) and, as long as the people accept their lack of freedom, then economic success is assured.  The people are determined and those that we met and talked to always spoke of making money – no communism here.  A fascinating country and the next USA.

To Nagasaki tomorrow, but the captain has just informed us that we will be one and a half hours late docking.

Back again

Over the last few days, we have been on an overland trip to China.  We tried to write our blog but realised that the Peoples’ Republic of China blocks all forms of social networking.  We contacted Giles who placed a comment on the blog to that effect.   Thanks Giles.  We are OK and have not been arrested by the Chinese police.  Our experience, as that with the India overland, was excellent, in spite of the Arcadia cough that continues to plague us.  We promise that during our sailing day tomorrow, we will ensure that you get a full (and probably long) account of our experience, with pictures.

To China

19:30  Another day at sea, again rough but not anything to cause stomach problems!  We should leave Shanghai tomorrow on our overland to see the Terracotta Warriors in Xian,  Tiananmnen Square and the Forbidden City in Beijing and finally the Great Wall of China.   Some good photos, we hope.

Rough day at sea

Force 7-8 winds with rough seas – the roughest yet as we sail past Taiwan into the East China Sea on the way to Shanghai.   All outside decks have been closed for our safety.  The weather in Shanghai is forecast as clear skies, easterly winds force 2 and 4C.