Cruising the South Pacific: How it Came to Be

So how did I come to leave my corporate job and hop a cruise ship to Fiji? Well, it went something like this:

For several years I’ve been receiving emails from a group called Abraham-Hicks. The Abraham-Hicks group does several cruises a year to various parts of the world, and I have been receiving emails describing these fantastic trips for years, always with the same result: I would open the email, read all the exciting details, sigh, and then…delete the email. Those trips were for other people, not me.

Finally, one morning while at work, I opened my Abe Hicks email, read all the details (well, most of them), and said to myself. I’m doing this! I bookmarked the website and started thinking about how I might pull it off. It would take careful planning and a bit of money, but I was determined!

On further study of the details, I realized the cruise set sail from the Port of Sydney. For half a second I thought, I can’t do that. Sydney is halfway around the world! That’s crazy! But then I came to my senses and thought, Of course I can do this. Other people do this sort of thing all the time. Why not me? And so I set about planning my adventure!

I decided I was comfortable doing the cruise on my own because I’ve participated in Abraham-Hicks events in the past so I know for sure that people who attend those events are generally happy, friendly folks. I was sure I’d find people to hang out with.

As I was planning the details around getting to the cruise ship, I decided that since I probably wouldn’t get to Sydney again any time soon, I should probably spend a few days there and see some sights.

The idea of a 23 hour flight from Nashville, TN to Sydney was daunting. One night, as I shared some of my thoughts about the trip with friends, I was given the idea to split up the flight by stopping over in Hawaii. Perfect! I hadn’t yet been to Hawaii either!

When it came to booking my lodging, I decided not to stay in a conventional hotel. I would use Airbnb for all my stays. I am not interested in the downtown party life, so staying outside the city sounded like a perfect fit for me. Airbnb would provide me a connection to local folks with inside information on best ways to get around and best sites to see – without the influence of tourist industry hype. I had used Airbnb a total of one time prior to this on a short trip to Charlotte, NC, but that was enough to sell me on the idea.

Due to the length of the Sydney and cruise portions of the trip, I decided I would keep my Hawaii stays short. I could take a longer trip to Hawaii another time, so I planned for only 1-2 full days on the island of Oahu for each leg of the trip. That would be enough time to hang on the beach for a day and maybe see a site or two. I was mostly concerned about being able to rest up between flights. I also decided to book different Airbnb locations for each of my Hawaii stays so I would have perspective from slightly different areas of Honolulu – for next time.

I booked my air travel as two separate round trips, one from Nashville to Honolulu, the other from Honolulu to Sydney. I ended up on three different airlines. The Nashville/Honolulu leg was on American Airlines. Honolulu to Sydney was JetStar. Sydney to Honolulu was Hawaiian Airlines. I booked it all through the eDreams website, which I had never before heard of, but after searching on Kayak, that is the booking site where I found the best fares.

So, there it is! In October 2015, I (over)packed my bags and got on a plane, headed for the biggest adventure of my life (so far)!

NEXT STORY: Honolulu – Day 1 – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

Goodbye Sydney, My Love!

NEXT STORY: Hawaii Redux – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

The Celebrity Solstice arrived back at the Port of Sydney at 6:30 a.m., right on schedule. I was booked for a 9:20 p.m. flight to Hawaii on the same day.

I had originally planned to spend the final day of my “out of country” experience seeing some additional sites in Sydney before heading to the airport, but a few days before the ship arrived back in port, I came to my senses. I realized spending the day in Sydney would mean either:

Schlepping my luggage around town all day – or –
Paying for my luggage to be stored for the day.

I didn’t like either option. Also, there was the issue of transportation to the airport, and, frankly, I was too tired to even think about that.

While the cruise had been relaxing, I was still struggling with congestion and cough, and the idea of public transportation and managing luggage for the day felt too complicated. I opted instead for option 3, which was to pay $30 to have my bags picked up at my cabin door the night before arriving in port and then having them loaded onto a bus first thing in the morning, said bus also transporting me to the airport straight away. This would mean passing on the downtown site seeing I was hoping to do on my last day, like the Botanical Garden, but…it had been a long trip. Unfortunately, option 3 also meant spending a full day in the airport. Fun.

When I chose this option, I thought the part about picking up bags at my cabin and loading onto the bus would be accomplished without my intervention. I was wrong.

As I disembarked with the thousands of other passengers who had also chosen this option, I found that my bags had been removed from the ship and placed along with bazillions of other bags in the cruise terminal! (I was not the only one surprised by this.)

I was to pick out my bags from one of the loosely organized, massive groupings of bags and transport them to the bus, which would be located outside the terminal. There, my bags would be loaded into the cargo area on the bus.

Turns out the reason you must pick up your bags in the terminal and transport them to the bus yourself is because there are several buses making the same trip and they are loaded to capacity and driven to the airport as people arrive, so this is the only way to keep the buses running smoothly, and to ensure that your bags travel with you on the bus. Makes sense now, but was a bit frustrating at the time.

So, by 9:00 a.m. I was on a bus and headed to the airport for my 9:20 p.m. flight! It was such a beautiful day, and I was so sad I would be spending it in an airport instead of beautiful gardens, but…

As the bus traveled away from the terminal and through the city, I caught one last glimpse of the city that had won my heart! It was with sweet sorrow that I was leaving such a beautiful city and country!

I have often thought, since my first day in Sydney, that if I ever needed to choose another country to live in, I would definitely pick Australia! It is so beautiful, and the people are so friendly and nice! You can have a conversation with just about anyone here, and they will treat you as if you belong!

At the airport, I found a great place to hang out – The Terrace Bar, Bistro and Cafe. Here I had breakfast (Eggs Benedict, of course!), then came back later for a beer and finally dinner. Between meals I wandered the airport, pushing my trolley full of luggage from store to store. I bought more souvenirs as well as some postage stamps, and then sat down to write out the post cards I had purchased on the Sydney portion of my trip. I wanted my Sydney post cards to have a Sydney stamp and postmark! (See my earlier post, Touristing in Sydney).

At about 6:30 p.m. the line began forming at the ticket counter. I was on my way home!

NEXT STORY: Hawaii Redux – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

Touristing in Sydney

NEXT STORY: More About the Surf Shack – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

On my last full day in Australia before the cruise, I ferried may way back to Circular Quay and then wandered the streets of Sydney by the bay. Highlights included:

Aboriginal Musicians were set up on the wharf, playing the didgeridoo, dancing and selling hand-painted boomerangs.

I wandered over to the Opera House and had a beer in the Opera Bar. The wait staff were very nice there! I didn’t do the tour. If I had been with someone who was interested I would have, and I’m sure would have enjoyed it, but by myself it wasn’t at the top of the list. Beautiful place though, and I took lots of pictures of it on land and by ferry.

I stopped at several art galleries, which carry mostly aboriginal art – very interesting and even mesmerizing to just stand and stare at some of these pieces. One style is lots of tiny dots that form a larger pattern; another is small petal-like swatches of paint that form patterns. (I wasn’t supposed to take pictures, but I wanted to remember and share the style of the work found here.)

I spotted Fortune of War, Sydney’s Oldest Pub and decided to stop in for some Fish & Chips and a beer. Apparently it’s Australia’s version of a “Good Ole Boys” club, because the only female in the pub was behind the bar, and – though she did make eye contact several times – she never acknowledged me or attempted to serve me. I got the message loud and clear and headed down the street to The Rocks Café where I had some lovely Fish & Chips and a Pure Blonde beer (very light, and only 1.7 carbs)!

I don’t know what this place is. It was in the middle of a cluster of buildings containing businesses. Very interesting little space where i imagine people may go to have a quiet lunch.

There are so many interesting little vignettes throughout Sydney. Here is a courtyard where I enjoyed a glass of Shiraz.

After Shiraz I made a stop at a Gelato shop (Salted Caramel, please!) and then headed back around to the wharf, where I listened to music performed by Pete Raven. Such a beautiful voice! I was really surprised at the sound quality here.

Next I headed to the Overseas Passenger Terminal, where tomorrow I will board the Celebrity Solstice! I dropped in at the Cruise Bar and had a (very pricey) margarita.

I have come to the realization that the cost of living in Sydney is much higher than in Nashville, TN. I could have looked that up ahead of time, but…I am the consummate “seat of the pants” traveler!

Now back across the bay to Manly by ferry for my final night at the Curly Surf Shack! I will be sad about leaving – it is such a serene space!

Now that I’ve written it all down, I realize I’ve had quite a bit to drink today! No wonder I was so tired when I got back to the shack!

NEXT STORY: More About the Surf Shack – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

Traveling Hawaii to Sydney Makes For A Very Long Day!

NEXT STORY: Breakfast at the Beach, Sydney Style! – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

My day started with getting up at 4:00 a.m. for an 8:15 a.m. flight from Hawaii to Sydney. Of course I awoke at 3:30, just because. I was up extra early because I was concerned about my ability to get out of the building.

The day before, I almost lost a cab as I waited for the elevator. I would push the button, the button would light up and then turn off. I would push the button again. Same thing. I would hold the button to keep the light on. I would listen as the elevator buzzed by my floor. I finally called the owner of the unit and they called the building management. Fortunately, the cabbie who was waiting for me had been to this building before and new the game. He waited. How nice!

Thankfully, the elevator problem from the day before had been fixed. So – off to the airport! The shuttle arrived at the airport at the promised 6:15 a.m. I flew JetStar, which is an Australian airline. I had not been able to check in online because I purchased my ticket from a third party, but that didn’t matter. I had two bags to be checked, so I had to stand in line anyway.

The line was outrageously long – but – it moved very quickly! According to the website, you had to be through security by 7:00 a.m. for this flight, which seemed impossible, but I made it! The other thing I hadn’t done online was pay for my checked luggage. When I got to the counter, the Jetstar representative told me she would give me the online price ($70) for checking my bags because the standard price would have been over $300! Yikes! So I got lucky!

I’m going to make the rest of the flight story a bit shorter by providing bulleted points:

Flight was just under 10 hours (looooooong).
Each seat had a monitor at the back of the headrest for watching videos. $10 gets you all access pass to movies, TV shows and music. I watched I’ll See You In My Dreams and the Amy Winehouse movie.
Two hot meals were served – I had remembered to purchase those online. Food was not bad.
A can of coke costs $3.50.
My ankles have not been that swollen since the late stages of my pregnancy, 33 years ago!

Once off the plane, I stopped at the Foreign Exchange desk, and then needed to make my way to my Airbnb location. The property owners had given me some instructions:

Take the Train to the wharf at Circular Quay (pronounced “Key”)
Take the Ferry to Manly
Take the 136 bus to North Curl Curl. Tell the driver to let you off at the top of our road.

Sounded easy enough. First to find the train ticketing station. I got directions from three different people before I found it. The ticket agent then informed me the train no longer goes to Circular Quay. You must get off at Central Station and take a bus to Circular Quay. Okay. Navigate luggage through turnstile…then to elevator to get to platform.

I get off the train at Central Station. There are billions of people, and no signs to tell me where to get a bus, so again, I start asking around. I ask directions several times, and after going in the wrong direction, down hill for quite a way, I learn I will need to go back up the hill. Have I mentioned I’m dragging some very heavy bags behind me? (I really did try to pack light, but…I’ll be on a cruise for 13 days! I need me some fun clothes!)

Finally at the bus stand per instructions from the man at the information office, and I watch two buses drive by that say Circular Quay. I get up and move to the next bus stand, where the Circular Quay buses are actually stopping. Good news – it’s a free bus since the trains have been shut down beyond Central Station (I don’t know why and was too tired to care.)

Getting on the bus was challenging with luggage, but a nice transport agent helped me get settled, which was really nice. A couple stops later, the bus driver called out a passenger, accusing him of boarding from the back of the bus. He then continued to vent and swear for the remainder of the drive to CQ (he was not happy about the free bus situation). Once at CQ, the driver pulled off at the top of the hill, mumbling something about how it would take 20 minutes to drive down to the Quay because of all the other buses.

Off the bus, and it was all downhill to the Quay (thank goodness), and then I crossed the street and headed to the closest ticketing location, Wharf 3. Ticketing office was closed. Sign says you must purchase ticket at Wharf 4. Drag bags to Wharf 4. Where do I board? Wharf 3. Of course. Back at Wharf 3 and hear the announcement that the gates will close in one minute. Now fast-walking/dragging bags through turnstile and then to ferry. Made it!

Once on the ferry I was able to breath a bit. I bought a cold bottle of water from the ferry café. The man behind the counter said, “$3.00.” I held a handful of coins out to the man behind the counter and said, “I don’t know. Just take what you need.” The man was very kind. He gave me a lesson in Australian coins and then a warning.

“Don’t ever do that at the markets! They’ll take all your money!”

“I know. I’m just tired and I knew you would do the right thing.”

“Okay, but just don’t do that again!”

“I won’t. Thank you.”

I had wedged my bags between some seats inside the ferry and I wasn’t interested in moving them again, so I popped outside for just a minute to grab a couple photos and then back to my seat inside. I’ll get more photos on another trip.

Once off the ferry, I just had to locate the correct stand for bus 136, which wasn’t difficult, but when I gave the driver instructions on where I needed to be dropped off, he looked at me like I was crazy. I obviously hadn’t relayed the information using the correct words. I hadn’t yet boarded the bus, so I stepped back from the door, saying “I’ll catch you on your next run.” Then I found a cab.

This cabbie was a very nice Australian man. He said I was lucky to have caught him because most cabbies are from India and they don’t know the area as well. As I was explaining where I needed to go, he asked all the right questions, then gave me a little guided tour as we traveled from one area of the city to the next. Once at my destination, he unloaded my bags from the cab and, as the street and sidewalk were very steep, made sure to place them on “the flat” in front of the garage. He then asked me if I was all set before heading off.

So at 7:30 p.m. I finally arrived at my destination, the Curly Surf Shack! (By the way, doing the math on the departure and arrival times doesn’t work because I crossed the international date line, so I actually left on Friday and arrived on Saturday!)

I got to meet the property owners and one of their sons (the other was in bed) and their dog Snoopy. And, OMG – the shack is super cute! Totally worth the extra trip to not be in the city with thousands of people milling around at all hours!

Kitchen and Wardrobe (located at foot of bed)

NEXT STORY: Breakfast at the Beach, Sydney Style! – or – Back to South Pacific Cruise page

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