Melbourne 1

Our Day in Melbourne (Part 1)

We arrived into Melbourne before sunrise.  Once the sun rose the day shaped up to be a perfect day.  
The Captain announced the day before that our stay in Melbourne was going to be extended to an overnight visit with a departure of 11am the following day.  This was due to a severe weather pattern forming in the Bight with 50km/hr winds predicted with a 5m swell and the Captain was concerned about the safety of the passengers and crew.  I was happy with the decision as safety comes first in my opinion.  There were a few grumbles around especially from the people getting off in Fremantle because the change to our itinerary means that we don't get to Fremantle to the day after we were scheduled to.  I suppose for some this will mean missed flights, late back at work and issues with hotel accommodation it also means that the world cruisers embarking in Freo will have to wait another day to join us....

We had arranged with our friends to meet at 9am to walk/stroll to St Kilda along the beachfront.  The weather was very conducive to walking so off we set.

Our first stop for refreshments was at a very busy cafe on the beach.... the Internet was fast and the coffee good and our feet welcomed the rest.

Once we reached St Kilda we walked around the promenade to Acland street where all the action seems to be.  There was a lot of street art and some amazing patisseries.  We were not tempted to partake but later in the day were wishing that we had taking one for ron!  The vanilla slices looked amazing!!!

After seeing most of what was on offer in St Kilda we headed back to the beachfront and a very nice pub for lunch.  It was very pleasant sitting in the sun watching the passing parade.

After our batteries were recharged and our feet rested we set off back to the shop via Bay Street.  After getting a few essentials we had our last rest at the Exchange Hotel in Bay Street for another "pick me up" to get us back to the ship.

We were back on board by 5pm and not much happened for the rest of the night.

My Fitbit's statistics confirmed that we put in a good effort for the day... 21,040 steps, 16.43kms, 2060 calories.... 

Arriving into Melbourne just before sunrise

Station Pier at Port Melbourne

The start of our walk to St Kilda

Blending the old and the new

Sea Princess and the Spirit of Tasmania

North Melbourne AFL team after cooling their muscles after their win against Melbourne

Our first stop for coffee and free wifi

Our budding photographer getting down and dirty

A stroll through the park in St Kilda

Fremantle

Our Day in Fremantle

We docked on time at approximately 7am.  The sun was still rising but it looked as though it was going to be a perfect day and it was.

Our crossing from Melbourne was very rocky.... a big swell and scattered rain showers.  We endured these conditions pretty much until we turned the corner.  The rumour is that more is predicted between Freo and Colombo.  The Captain will have to have his pedal to the metal to get us there on time as we now have one less sea day due to our overnight stay in Melbourne.  Apparently instead of averaging 17 knots we are going to have to average 19 knots.... a bit of an ask given that the ship's top speed is around 21 to 22 knots with ideal conditions.... we will wait and see!!

We left the ship for our day in Fremantle later than we wanted due to some phone calls that we had to make.... first stop was to the Apple shop in Garden City at Booragoon.  His required a local bus from the main bus and train station which is a 10 minute walk from the ship.  Apparently everything is a 10 minute walk in Fremantle.  The bus cost us $1.20 and the ticket is good for a 2 hour period.

Our mission was to replace my old slow iPad with a lighter faster mini iPad and to claim the gst back. Mission was accomplished in enough time to reuse our bus ticket back to the wharf.

Next stop was Coles for our 2 bottle wine allowance to take back on board.  We could have bought any number of bottles back on board as there was no checking at security.

Our last stop was to claim back our gst at the port which stupidly had to be done between 12 and 2pm... right in the middle of our day!  Back on board was not till 3.30pm so it was a gross inconvenience to have to come back at that time,

Once back we decided to stay back on board as the lines to go through security were quite long.

We had a late lunch then sat in the sun and tried to use the last of our data allowance on our mobile phone plans before leaving Aus.

Sail away was at 4pm so with a glass of wine and in our usual place we waved goodbye to Fremantle on a beautiful sunny autumn afternoon.

Next stop Colombo, Sri Lanka.

View of Fremantle from the top deck

Garden City Shopping Centre at Booragoon

Our mission

Mission complete

Street art

Along the harbour as we sail out....

Bye bye Fremantle and Australia

Sent from my iPad

Our home away from home

Our Home Away From Home

This is our cabin.... Our home for the next 51 nights!

We are on Caribe deck which is deck 9 aft.

We are very happy with our cabin.  The interior is in good condition, clean, tidy and well appointed.  We have a flat screen TV and a well stocked mini bar fridge.  The internet works well and we can get good mobile phone signal inside our cabin.  The bathroom appears smaller than an inside cabin as it is a different layout.  

The main difference between a standard ocean view and a premium cabin is that the internal floor space is larger as the width of the balcony (in a balcony cabin which is next door) is incorporated internally.  Some premium cabins have large picture windows but we have a standard size window which is more than we are used to and adequate!  

The cabin is in an excellent location being close to the aft stairs and lifts.  There is very little external noise heard.  All in all we are very happy!

Fwd: Our lift is here

Our lift is here!

The Sea Princess has arrived to pick us up as captured from the Sydney Webcam.

Fwd: On our way!

On Our Way!!

Waiting for the train to Sydney.  I am impressed with our packing skills.... Two cases and two small carry ons due to weight restrictions with flights.

Catching up with friends cruising on the Golden Princess leaving Friday and some on our cruise.  Pre dinner drinks (PDDs) before our pre cruise dinner and drinks! It will be a long day....

A sign seen walking around Sydney.... We must have a reputation! 

Now to wait for our ship.....

FW: Our Journey

Our Journey

We start our winter escape by sea escaping Sydney on the Sea Princess bound for Dover in the UK.  Our journey takes us through lots of different countries and takes 51 days.  We are lucky to know quite a few people on board which will make our trip a lot of fun!  The biggest dilemma we have at the moment is trying to minimise our packing as we will have a number of flights with weight restrictions.

 

Our home from Sydney to Dover.

 

 

The country and places we will visit.

 

The second stage of our escape includes two nights in Dover, two nights in London then a flight to Copenhagen where we will spend two nights before boarding the majestic Regal Princess for a Baltic cruise.

 

The Regal Princess

 

Our Baltic cruise itinerary 

 

The third stage involves flying from Copenhagen  to Bergen in Norway to board the Hurtigruten Polarlys for a Norwegian Coastal round trip. This will be a different cruise to what we are used to as the ships are much smaller and are used as a supply ship and ferry to service all the small towns up the Norwegian coast. The scenery looks spectacular and the food amazing.

 

The Polarlys

 

 

 

 

Our Norwegian coastal itinerary..... By doing the round trip you get to see all the ports as on the way up you miss some as they call at ports all through the night.  So the ones you miss on the way up you see in daylight on the way back!  After arriving back into Bergen we have 3 nights before flying back to London for our fourth and final stage.

 

The fourth stage is a work in progress.  What is definite is that we have our flights booked from Bergen to London and our flights booked from London/Heathrow back to Sydney 10 days later.  By the time we arrive home we will have one week of winter left which suits us just fine!