CRUISE TO AUSTRALIA and Around

September 23 – November 23, 2013

This was our longest cruise to date. We spent a couple of days visiting family and friends in Vancouver and then boarded the Holland America Ship the Volendam for a 58 day cruise to Australia and then around the whole of Australia. This cruise took us to areas that would be difficult to see other wise – for example: Hawaii, Fiji, Vanuata, New Caledonia, Hamilton Island, Indonesia and stops in Australia: Sydney, Brisbane, Townsville, Cairns, Darwin, Fremantle and Perth, Esperance, Port Lincoln, Adelaide, Kangaroo Island, Melbourne, Burnie. We were fortunate to have two good friends travel with us to our first stop in Sydney where they disembarked to visit with family.

Adrianna and Ben

One thinks of what the seas may be like for crossing the Pacific. We had relatively light seas – some days calm and some times with 3 meter swells. The south of Australia can be rough but again we were fortunate for moderate seas. We did have a 65mph head wind as we headed into Sydney for the last time. At no time did we have any feeling of seasickness. The temperature was hot and humid around Indonesia, and the islands in that area and northern Australia. The south of Australia was blustery and cool to cold. This is expected as the winds were from Antarctica.

On Kangaroo Island (the south-west of Australia) we experienced the worst fly invasion. These nuisance flies were in your eyes, nose and mouth if you did not keep doing the Australian wave. Many people bought nets for their hats like we would use for mosquitoes. These flies are through out the interior and most of Australia. So if you go be prepared to keep doing the Australian wave. This was only a minor problem and we did not let them bother us so we would not enjoy our travels.

It is hard to say what the highlights were as each destination was very different. We were in very small isolated villages to large cities with excellent trams, water taxis and busses. We did only one Holland America excursion and the rest we investigated the area on our own or with friends. The one excursion was to go on to Komodo Island and see the Komodo Dragons. You could not leave the ship if you did not have a tour ticket and walk the trails with an experienced guide watching the Dragons. They can be very dangerous and they know how to control them if they come too close. This was quite fascinating. We had seen a smaller one on a previous trip.

Extra Notes: We stayed healthy for the trip except Irene had one off day. The norovirus was on the ship at one point and everything was being scrubbed, the staff did all the serving of food and drinks in the cafeteria (Lido). The “Code Red” lasted for only 4 days and then we were back to normal. Holland America has sanitizers everywhere you look as compared to the Princess Cruise we were on – they were only at the Lido.

The staff are mainly from the Philippines and Indonesia and they are the friendliest, most helpful and best staff we have encountered on a cruise ship. We highly recommend Holland America. The Captain kept us informed on sea conditions and he was very visible on the ship – including standing in line for lunch.

We also were kept as busy as we wanted to be on sea days as we sometimes attended 3 lectures in a day. Most of the lectures were excellent and we learned a lot about the stars and constellations or local animals and destination spots and history.

We know pictures say a lot and the following will be a snapshot of our cruise in pictures:

Leaving Vancouver at sunset

Hermann Gull flying in front of Long Beach, California, USA

Looking down at the Queen Mary, Long Beach, California

Park in Hilo, Hawaii

Hilo, Hawii

Honolulu as seen from the ship

Entering harbour in Pago Pago, American Samoa

Our Security in Pago Pago

The welcoming Police Band in Suva, Fiji

Hiking to a few waterfalls, Fiji

Entering Port Vila, Vanuatu

Our welcoming choir in the small village of  Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia

Local housing in Lifou

We walked up to the Church for the view - Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia

Harbour in Noumea, New Caledonia

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Free WiFi in huge park in Noumea, New Caledonia

Cathedral in Noumea, New Caledonia

Inside of Cathedral

Entering Sydney, Australia harbour at dawn

These are the prices for the lunch menu - very expensive!

Entering Brisbane, Australia on the river which runs through the city

Giving the Magpies the right of way

Hamilton Island, Australia

Townsville, Australia

Very large swimming pool in Cairns, Australia and also large water playground for children

Darwin, Australia

Interesting fellow, Darwin

A new type of chair on the boat, Komodo, Indonesia

Lembok, Indonesia

Fascinating loads on the highway, Lembok, Indonesia

Centre square in Fremantle,  with free WiFi

Perth as seen from the Botanical Gardens

Beautiful Botanical Gardens, Perth, Australia

Large convicts jail in Fremantle.  They were brought from England in the 1800's

The sailing is spectacular.  They produced the World Cup competitors.

Esperance, Australia - local park in town

Local colour - take note of dog in basket

Port Lincoln, Australia sports park

Port Lincoln harbour with the Volendam at dock

The beautiful city of Adelaide - this is one room in the Art Gallery

Adelaide's main historical street

A busker on the main shopping street, Adelaide

Lots of Galahs at Outer Harbour where we docked for Adelaide

The train we took to travel to Adelaide - it took 45 minutes

Melbourne, Australia

The large theatre and currently playing Wagner's "The Ring Cycle" Melbourne

Downtown Melbourne

Happy looking school girls - Melbourne

Burnie, Tasmania

Back to Sydney at dawn - where we will disembark.

Unique Christmas decorations

Our Hotel room with washer and dryer - Meriton Service Apts, Campbell, St. Sydney

Chris celebrated another birthday - our balcony at the hotel


Some friends that we met on the ship

Rob and Lorraine, Seattle, Washington

with Phylis and Bill, Vancouver

Dinner with Holly and Winston, Illinois

A TERRIBLE FLIGHT ON WESTJET!!

We flew from Winnipeg to Vancouver on September 23 on Flight #WS451 arriving in Vancouver at 3:16 pm. We have flown Westjet a number of times but this time we certainly had a different experience. The row behind us and to the left had a small dog in the seat with them and before we even moved on the tarmac in Winnipeg the dog was whining, crying and barking. The high pitched sounds was hard on the nerves and ears and there was no stop to it for the 3 hour flight. At one point Chris moved to the business section to get a little further away but the attendant would not allow this so he moved back to his seat.

We certainly learned a lesson – to always inquire if there will be a dog on board. Passengers be aware!