Friday, December 28, 2012

The last few days

Dec 27

This morning I woke up and I knew it was going to be a tough day. I did not feel good at all. Thankfully our excursion was only 4 hours and it was a good one that was pretty laid back. We had a smaller group with probably only 25 people and we went to a sheep farm and saw a sheep shearing demonstration.  Yes I am aware that we already saw o e but this one was way better than the other. We got a more in depth demonstration and there were fewer people so we were more up close and personal to the sheep.  After the demonstration we went across the street for scones and tea. It sounds so English doesn't it?  The scones were pretty good. They serve their scones out here in NZ with jam and whip cream. I went with the jam and butter.  I guess I stuck with what I knew. They tea was not good.  I prefer the tea on the ship.  

Next we were able to go up to Te Mata Peak.  We drove up the spectacular Tuki Tuki Valley to the summit of Te Mata Peak. I won't lie, it was a little scary getting up there. We had to have a motorcycle escort to make sure we didn't scare any cars coming down.  We got pretty close to the edge a few times.  When we got up to the peak, we took pictures complete with wind blown hair and loaded the bus again. 

Our next stop was the berry farm for ice cream infused with berries.  I'm not a huge strawberry ice cream person but it was delicious. It totally hit the spot. I just wish I would have been able to do some strawberry picking...one day I will.  I may not be here in NZ though. 

Next we headed back to the ship and as soon as we got back to the ship I laid down for a nap and hit the bottom.  I came down with fever, didn't want to get out of bed and was just not good.  Needless to say we did not go to dinner.  I tried to go to bed early and tossed and turned all night. I think my fever probably broke around 2am

Dec 28

I woke up this morning still really worn down but I wasn't missing the excursion.  It was a long excursion with 4 buses and there were quite a few people on our bus with no manners.  Refer to my post earlier about people not filing out of the bus correctly and people also dont know how to wait in lines for their turn for their food.  They just walked up to each thing that they wanted without waiting their turn in line.  They must have missed that part somewhere during school.  

Moving on.  We went to see a geothermal reserve called Hell's Gate filled with lots of sulfur pools that smelled like rotten eggs.  As we got closer, the bus started to smell and I just thought someone on the bus was a little stinky haha! Anyways at this point it was about 11 am and we had not eaten since 6:30 am so we were getting hungry. We didn't get to eat until 2:30pm. We were quite hungry.  After the sulfur pools we went next door to see the Maori people do some traditional tribal dances and had a traditional hangi meal that is cooked in the ground.  It was pretty tasty if you ask me but at that point anything would have been delicious because I was starving.  

After that we got back on the bus and headed for the ship.  Sounds of coughing filled the bus.  We weren't the only ones hacking away.  When we got back to the ship we had some time to rest before dinner. As always our appetizers were waiting for us.  We usually just kind of pick at them because there is no need to spoil our dinner.  We had our normal spa visit after dinner and resting in the room so we can be ready for our day in Auckland tomorrow hopefully feeling tons better.  

I'll try to do a better job of updating the next few days but we are running out of intent minutes.  The Internet at sea is pretty crummy and drops the connection all the time.  It's really slow too. Hopefully we will have wifi tomorrow in Auckland.  

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Merry Christmas!

***disclaimer...I tried to post this the evening of December 26 but blogger was not cooperating. I also came down with what mom had and it has not been fun.  It's not easy being sick.  It's certainly not easy being sick on vacation. 

Dec 24

Our morning started off early again. We had to catch a tender boat to take us to get on our bus for our 9 hr long excursion. The excursion basically consisted of us taking a 5 hour bus ride to Arthur's Pas which is almost to the west coast of NZ. It was a long drive with a few stops in between for coffee or pit stops. We had to be careful when we got off the bus each time though because as soon as the bus stopped and parked this lady behind us darted for the door. So if we were in her way we pretty much got knocked right back down to our seats.  I kid you know, she was serious about getting of the bus and she was no petite lady.  I just know that I will now be going back and teaching my kindergarteners the proper way to exit the bus.  Apparently some of these people never had proper training in kindergarten or in any grade for that matter. 

Moving on, we go on the train around 1 pm and headed for a town right outside of Christchurch. We got to our location at 3:40pm and then we still had more driving to get back to the boat.  I know I fell asleep several times and woke myself up when the bus driver took the corners a little too close for my liking.  He was not a good driver.  We finally got back to the boat in just enough time to get changed for dinner and make it to our 5:30 dinner seating a little late.  after dinner we came back to the room and rested up and napped a little. They had an international crew show with Christa carols from the English speaking choir, Indonesian choir, and the Filipino choir.  Some of the cast members from the ship sang a few songs too.  It was a really good show and there wear some talented singers in those choirs.  We went to the church service on the ship at midnight.  It wasn't what I was used to I'll just say that.  Then we went back to get a few hours sleep, well about 6 hours sleep before waking up Christmas morning in the middle of the south pacific :) 

Dec 25

We woke up early enough to be at breakfast at 7:30. There were some Christmas festivities going on during the morning hours that we didn't want to miss.  We had Christmas crafts and caroling at 9ish and then Santa made his arrival at 9:45.  It was very entertaining watching all the kids go on stage and have their parents attempt to get their kids pictures with santa.  There were lots of criers.  One little boy is going to be mortified when he gets older and his parents show his pictures of him dressed as an elf.  Then another little boy had a Christmas tree outfit on except the tree looked a little too small and it was the bubble dress style.  It was supposed to go over his little bottom but he kept pulling it up to show hi green underwear before some of the kids club staff reminded him to keep the tree dress down, haha!  Don't worry he was only about 2 or 3 so he really had no idea that he looked ridiculous in the tree outfit.  

After that, we went back for a nice nap in the room.  It was a very peaceful afternoon filled with resting.  We had dinner at the Pinnacle at 5:30. It was also formal night so we dressed up.  The dinner at the Pinnacle was wonderful as always. My filet was cooked to perfection and my chocolate souffle was absolutely delicious.  My mouth is watering as I'm typing this.  

After dinner we went back to the room to change so we could visit the spa.  Th told us that they were closing early and that a note was sent to our stateroom. Well the note must have gotten lost because we got no note about it closing early.  Oh well, we had enough time to enjoy the hydrotherapy pool and heated ceramic tile beds before they closed so I was happy.  Not much happened after that besides coming back to the room.  

Dec 26

I woke up this morning to mom telling me she felt horrible.  She couldn't get out of bed she felt so miserable.  We were docking in Wellington and didn't have any excursions.  I went ahead and showered and got ready.   I went in search of food for mom at the Neptune and the the lido.  We had planned to go to the pinnacle but plans changed but the food was just as good and I didn't have to wait on it :) 

After I ate I called daddy and nanny and wished them a merry Christmas. They were both glad to hear from us.  Mom told me to go on into Wellington and enjoy my time there.  I felt bad leaving but she needed some rest.  There was a shuttle into town so I took that.  I could have walked but I didn't know how far the walk was so I figured I better take the shuttle.  Once I got off the shuttle I asked where Starbucks was and they laughed at me.  I just wanted free internet but I later found out that there is free Internet all over that city so Internet was not a problem.  I'm glad there was so much free internet because I got to FaceTime several people to wish them a merry Christmas.  I also visited a big museum that our bus driver recommended.  It was alright.  Then I walked down the big shopping street and searched for some new sunglasses since i managed to break mine.  I also found a pharmacy and got some medicine for mom and I'm hoping it helps her tonight.  I went back and found my bus shortly after that so I could shuttle back.  I'm glad I went back when I did because after I had been back about 15 minutes, it started raining.  I would not have been prepared in that rain.  It got cold too and windy.  

Oh one of the highlights of my afternoon was my great find on the Lido.  They had bread pudding.  I love their bread pudding and I've been up there the last two days looking for it and it has not been there.  So I was thrilled to find it after walking around windy Wellington all morning. W

We rested this afternoon and then went to dinner and the to the spa again.  The spa might be one of my favorite parts of the evening.  Mom is already out now after taking some medicine.  I hope she sleeps ok because we have a 4 hour excursion tomorrow to Tuki Tuki Valley.  At least it's not an all day excursion.  

I would like to say that I don't think the sea water is shrinking my clothes as much this trip as it has in the past.   Maybe I've finally learned how to indulge without over indulging :)

Sunday, December 23, 2012

What's Been Happening

Dec 19

1.  Woke up and got ready
2.  Ate breakfast at hotel
3.  Facetimed a few people
4.  Finished packing
5.  Facetimed my main squeeze 
6.  Checked out of the hotel
7.  Taxi to Oosterdam
8.  Checked in
9.  Went to check out stateroom
10.  Lunch in dining room
11.  Spa visit and booked thermal suite package
12.  Rest in room
13.  Lifeboat drill...complete torture
14.  Dinner
15.  Tree lighting
16.  Spa visit
17.  Back to call it a night. 

We lose an hour tomorrow. 

Dec 20&21
These two days were sea days which basically meant we ate and slept. We slept in the first day until around 8:30 unintentionally. Then had a snack sorta breakfast in the Neptune.  Then we went to the shops and looked around. Before we knew it, it was lunchtime.  We ended up eating the buffet at the lido and they had bread pudding for dessert. For those of you who have followed in the past you know how much I love HALs bread pudding.  It was simply wonderfully delicious.  I remember napping a lot these two days. I also remember that dec 21 was the mariner brunch for past HAL cruisers. We went to that for the quiche because it is so good. Then we had an informational meeting that afternoon about our overnight excursion that was leaving the next day morning early. Then I remember napping after the meeting and going to dinner and the australian singer that did a show. He was very energetic and loved being on stage...you could tell. We also went to the spa both nights. I didnt want to leave the second sea day but it was really busy so we had to give our heated ceramic beads up.  It was time for an early night though because we had a really early morning the next morning.  

Dec 22
We were up early...I was up at 5 and mom was up earlier. Breakfast was delivered at 6 and we left the room before 7.  We were on an excursion that was an overnight excursion with only about 40 people.  We were the only people allowed to leave the ship via tender boat.  After we passed through Milford sound, and we were inspected by the NZ officials we were cleared to leave the boat. We got on the tender and headed towards land. I was so excited to see land. I was getting a little stir crazy on the boat and they didn't have much planned. We got pretty good seats on the bus. There was an obnoxious lady that made sure everyone on the bus knew that she got sea sick so she needed to sit at the front.  She was really annoying the whole trip. So anyways as we went along we saw beautiful land. It was so surreal to be there taking it all in. There were blue skies, perfect weather, sheep in the fields, green grass, a river or lake here and there, trees, and just anything that made it absolutely incredible. How could anyone doubt that God created our earth?!?!  Everything is so detailed and perfect!  The views we had driving through the countryside were just perfect.  We stopped for lunch in a little town that I don't remember the name of. Then we drove to Queenstown where I was hoping to luge or bungee jump but we had hardly any time at all. We took the gondola ride to the top and saw more incredible scenery but only had about 15 minutes before we had to be back down. We then went to the hotel which I thought was a nice little place. It reminded me of Colorado ski resort type place. We had real keys for the doors and a cute little balcony. The breakfast was very NZlike. It wasn't bad but not like a typical American breakfast buffet.  After we checked in to our hotel we went to take a ferry over to our dinner location. I have no clue what it was called but it was really tasty. After dinner we got to see a sheep dog herding some sheep and then see a sheep shearing demonstration. Both were quite interesting. After dinner we took the same ferry back and heard the same man play piano music on the ferry.  It was somewhat relaxing even with the screaming kids running around.  We then took the coach back to the hotel and shortly thereafter turned in for the evening. 

Dec 23
The next morning we were up around 6:30. We had breakfast and then headed out around 9:15 from the hotel. We made our way towards Dunedin and Port Chalmers but stopped off a few places. We stopped at the bungee place where I had very little time so I didn't have time to even contemplate the bungee today. I think I have one more chance possibly where it might be an option. We also stopped at an orchard. The fruit there was so fresh!  I don't typically like kiwi but I tried some and it was so good. I was surprised but I'm not sure why...it was very fresh.  We had lunch at a nice little place on someone's land but they ran out of food so that was sad for those people that didn't get much to eat. I wasn't stuffed but I had plenty to eat. We had fresh apricots and ice cream for dessert and once again I don't usually care for apricots but it was so fresh I really liked it.  After lunch we made one more pit stop and then headed for the boat. Once back on board we dropped off our things and went to dinner since we have early dinner and it was already past our dinner time of 5:30. After dinner we went to the spa to relax and came back to rest up this evening for our long day tomorrow. We have to meet at 7am and we have a 9 hour long excursion but it should be a really good excursion. 

I'll leave you with a quote from an older woman on our tour who moved quite slow and used a cane to walk. "There are a lot of old crippled people that I've seen on this cruise."  

Monday, December 17, 2012

In Transit

The last time I left you I was about to go to bed in china. Well we left that morning for the airport and arrived early and were first in line at the checkin counter. We checked in and then went straight to security. It took less than 5 minutes to go through security. No shoes had to come off, no liquids came out of our bags and no pat downs occurred. It was painless.  While we were waiting for our flight we went to the business class lounge for Thai Airways. Remember we are flying mostly first or business using airmiles so we are enjoying the perks. We had a little morning snack since we had not eaten much before getting to the airport. I had a very nice "brookstone" style chair massage while we waited. My mom asked if it was free. Well it was all in Chinese but it didn't ask for a credit card so I went ahead and made myself at home. The lounge restrooms were interesting. That is all I will say, haha!

Our flight to Bangkok was about 5 hours and pretty nice.  The business class seats reclined and had foot rests that came up. I don't really remember what I did.  I think I read on the flight and maybe slept. It was pretty painless. The Thai airways people were very friendly and bowed as we got on the plane.

Once we arrived in Thailand we were greeted as we got off the plane immediately by a lady who took us away on a golf cart. She took us to some security area where we were screened and then took us to the first class lounge. We got some food, rested some, and then we still had time to each get an hour massage in the Thai Air spa.  It was quite relaxing. After waiting for another 2 hours it was time for our flight.

We were in first class for the 10 hour flight. There were 9 people I think in our cabin. I realized after we took off that my entertainment system that you can watch movies and stuff on was not working and they couldn't fix it.  I was really bummed about that because I couldn't get y iPad or iPhone to charge and I thought they would die on me.  I guess that pretty much meant that I would be sleeping most of the flight and that is certainly what I did. I read a little it on my iPad but then I went to sleep. They made up my bed and I passed out. I woke up a few times but the last time they woke me for breakfast.

After breakfast I was sitting there and one of the flight attendants came over and apologized for the inconvenience of the entertainment system not working.  She offered me anything in the duty free catalog complimentary up to $200. I had only a few minutes to make my decision.

Shortly after my nice parting gift we landed and found our driver from the hotel that we scheduled to pick us up. The airport was crazy crowded but we were able to get people out of our way and make a quick escape. Our driver was great and gave us lots of good info on the city.  After he dropped us off at the hotel we checked in and lucky me, we got an upgrade to the Horizon Club which means that we get some extra stuff free like free Internet, free breakfast, and I don't know what else.  I'm sure they felt sorry for us because they knew we had been traveling for 2.5 days and we were exhausted :)  Whatever the reason I am extremely grateful.

Once we got to our room, rested some, and showered, we headed out to explore.  We found a cafe to eat at outside. The weather in nice here...in the 70's.  It did get a little toasty walking around though. After eating we walked around and the. Eventually came back to the room.  We eventually went back out and searched for some shopping.  We will do the touristy stuff when we come back after the cruise.

We probably won't do a whole lot tonight.  I'm sure we are going to try and get acclimated to our new time zone. I will say that even though I was pretty exhausted after all of our flying, I'm doing pretty good.  My energy level isn't like it normally is but I've also been in transit for the past 2.5 days.

Tomorrow is ship day and we finally will get to be rocked to sleep each night with the waves of the sea...such a great feeling :) Stay tuned for more!

*disclaimer....I'm aware that there may be plenty of typos in each blog post. Bear with me if you will.  I got a great portable keyboard for Christmas to go with my iPad and I tried it before I left home and it worked just fine but when I arrived at our first over night stop I discovered that it was no longer working. So I'm having to do the best I can under the current  conditions :)

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Day 1.....

Or maybe this is day two...I'm not sure.  We left early, like 3 am early for the airport Saturday morning.  We took a flight to Phoenix and a separate flight to LAX. Then we got  on our longest flight we have on our way to Sydney...15 hours. Thankfully we were in first class and had space to spread out. They had a ton of storage space for our stuff.  One of my little storage spaces wouldn't open AFTER I put my bag in it with all my important stuff. So they had to call the maintenance men to come to the rescue. He did and I decided not to put my stuff back in there and it's a good thing I didn't.  I checked later on during the flight and it was stuck closed again.  Our seats were those lay flat seats and they brought us more food than I could eat. We had our own little personal TVs with a ton to watch. I slept most of the time.  I tried to fight off a cold yesterday but I did not succeed. I'm now completely stuffed up and was in lot of pain during our descent due to the cabin pressure changing....thankfully my mom brought mucinex so that should help a ton.  That's the only medicine I didn't have in my portable medicine cabinet.

We are now at the Kerry Hotel in Shanghai where the time is 7:47pm and we are here until 5:45 am.  I'm ready for real sleeping a real bed.  I barely have enough energy to lay here and type this but I don't want to get behind.

Tomorrow we fly to Thailand and then to Sydney. We arrive in Sydney in the morning and spend the day/night there and get on the ship the next day which I think might be early Wednesday morning back home.  I'm ready to pass out now just to get up at 4am. I'm just remembering that once we are on the ship we have 2 sea days.

Friday, December 14, 2012

One More Sleep...

...or one might call it a nap.  I am leaving for the airport in about 5 hours.  Call me crazy but I waited until the last minute to pack.  It might be because of all the Christmas celebrating I did last weekend and the preparing for my sub next week and preparing for a week of teaching the week I return from the trip.  Or maybe it was because I had other things that I felt were more important like spending time with an important person in my life.  Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above.  Whatever the reason, I am now almost packed.  It's tough to pack for 3 weeks when a lot of my time before and after the cruise will be spent in the air.  I'm not complaining one bit, but it's a challenge.  On shorter trips, I've been known to plan out my wardrobe for each day, but there was no way that my mind was able to even think about doing that this time.  The weather was also a challenge that kept me from packing early.  It is supposed to be colder (in my mind) since it is almost winter, but it hasn't been that cold.  So I was wearing most of the clothes that I needed to pack.  Oh well, I'm packed now and all good :)

I'm really excited about the whole experience of setting foot on another continent....actually I'll be setting foot on two other continents.  Besides Australia, I'll be adding Asia too.  We won't be in Asia too long but it'll be enough time to stay overnight.  I'm excited also about spending the time with my mom.  She is a good travel buddy.....we take care of each other.  She lets me do what I want to do and I let her do what she wants to do.  All in all, we are a good team!

I have been somewhat distracted this evening in the midst of packing by the terrible and horrible news from Connecticut.  My heart breaks for those families and friends of the innocent children and teachers who lost their lives and those who were in the midst of the chaos.  It hits way too close to home.  I want my students to be and feel safe in my classroom and not be afraid to come to school.  I want them to know that I will protect them when they walk in the door and that no one will hurt them or do them any wrong at all.  The fact that someone would do something so horrible to sweet children is so disturbing.  Pray for those families....it's going to be a long road ahead of them.  Pray for the children that lost their best friends, their friends that shared their snacks with them, were in their dance class, or on the same soccer team.  Pray for strength, comfort, and healing.  I know the Lord hears us and knows our hearts.  He wants us to trust Him that He's got this.

With all that being said, I'll blog when I can and update as time allows, and I'll be tweeting probably more often so follow me on twitter (@ka204).  So sit back and enjoy the ride!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Sydney Harbour Briidge Climb

II booked my bridge climb last night.  I was going to book the twilight climb but it was sold out.  However the time slot right before the twilight climb time was still available and $50 cheaper.  Therefore I booked that time.  It's hard to believe this trip that has been in the making for quite some time is almost here.  I have a ton to do this week to prepare not only for the trip but at school too.  I'm so glad I have an amazing sub that will take really good care of my students and my classroom.  Then I won't worry while I am away.  I know it will all be take care of.  In the meantime I will now just be checking things off my list and try to remember all that needs to be packed.  However, I'll just go by my traveling motto....if I forget something, I'll just buy it!