NEW UPDATED ITINERARY!…September 7, 2015 to May 15, 2017…Includes two gaps yet to fill…

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The house is surrounded by lush vegetation, including many large coconut and palm trees and endless varieties of shrubs and plants.

With considerable enthusiasm, we share our upcoming itinerary for the next 617 days from the time we leave Trinity Beach, Australia beginning on September 7, 2017:

 Location or Ship  Days  Address or Ship  Dates
 Sydney Hotel   1   9/7/2015 – 9/8/2015
 Fiji Rental  88    9/8/2015 – 12/6/2015 
 Fiji Rental #2  29    12/6/2015 – 1/4/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    1/4/2016 – 1/5/2016 
 Sydney to Auckland – Cruise  14  Celebrity Solstice   1/5/2016 – 1/19/2016 
 New Zealand Farm  87    1/19/2016 – 4/15/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    4/15/2016 –
4/16/2016 
 Sydney to Singapore – Cruise  14  RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59    4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel – to be booked  10    6/28/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Hanoi to Ho Chi Min City – Cruise  15  Viking Mekong    7/8/2016 – 7/22/2016 
 Phuket House  41    7/22/2016 – 9/1/2016 
 Bali House  59    9/1/2016 – 10/30/2016 
 Sydney Hotel  1    10/30/2016 – 10/31/2016 
 Sydney to Perth – Cruise  16  RC Radiance of the
Seas 		  10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Perth to Sydney – Cruise  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 
 GAP 12/3/2016 – 3/1/2017  88    12/3/2016 – 3/1/2017 
 Sydney to Sydney – Cruise  12  Celebrity Solstice   3/1/2017 – 3/13/2017 
 GAP 3/13/2017 – 4/22/1017  40    3/13/2017 – 4/22/2017 
 Sydney to Seattle – Cruise  24  RC Explorer of the
Seas 		  4/22/2017 – 5/15/2017 
Total number
of days		 617

With 128 days in gaps to fill, we still have our work cut out for us. However, the options are many with both gaps beginning in Sydney. With our visas only allowing 90 days in Australia at any one time, we surely can find places to stay in the outlying areas of Sydney.

This colorful plant is eye-catching.

Although Sydney is an amazing city which left us breathless when our ship arrived at the amazing port of Sydney Harbour, it’s expensive to stay in or near the city. There are suburban areas an hour’s drive from the city or more that may be less expensive for longer-term visits.

Also, we’re considering other island countries in the South Pacific.  Soon, we’ll begin looking at our options, especially due to the fact that the first gap falls over the Christmas season

In Hawaii, these red  leaves were growing on Tiki plants. Here, they are called Cordyline.

For now, we’re taking a short break from spending money on deposits and searching for vacation homes online. The cost of the wifi for our “borrowed” hotspots is running around USD $103, AUD $140 every three weeks for 16 gigs which I use almost exclusively. Not one to do much browsing when not preparing for a post, I end up using half of a gigabyte a day for research and uploading each day’s post.

Without the separate hotspot, we wouldn’t be able to post with the poor connection here or, it would take all day to upload the photos. When we’re busy looking for vacation homes, I can easily use a gig or more in a single day.

In the interim, we’re awaiting the posting of new cruises by the cruise lines. Generally, they aren’t available online until 18 months from sail dates. Thus, we’re not too far away from seeing new listings.

Back steps leading to the owner’s area of the house. We’re on the ground level while they are above us.

When we have gaps as indicated about, we enter an estimate on our spreadsheet of how much we anticipate we’ll spend during the gaps, based on our current cost per day. 

Yesterday, we entered all of the important data on the spreadsheet for the three new cruises, three of which we’d yet to enter. It’s a time-consuming process that, if it is for only one cruise, is less intimidating.

With no chaise lounges down by the pool, we’ve yet to use it.  This steep stairway prevents us from hauling chairs down these steps and back up each day.  We’ve been able to get a short stint in the sun on our veranda where there are two chairs.

There are three separate worksheets in the Excel workbook where we log all of our travel and expenses;

  1. The itinerary with booked rental costs and estimated other expenses (based on history)
  2. A record on a separate tab for deposits paid, how paid and balances due with due dates
  3. Another separate tab (worksheet) for cruises only, which includes such items as cost, cabin number and cabin size, tips included or paid separately, name of the ship, and any cabin credits that may be included.

Those of you who are experts in the accounting industry may argue with our record keeping but for us, it works. (We keep a special tab for tax deductible items). We’ve investigated possible travel related apps that may make our record keeping a little less time consuming but at this time we haven’t found one that attributes to the vast amount of travels we’re doing.

A tiny blue flower.

Are there any aspects to this itinerary that we’d change if we could? Our only hesitations have been staying in Fiji for a total of four months, at two different properties which lessen the long period.

And, we also have hesitated over the two separate stays at the same exquisite Bali house broken up into two segments partly due to visa restrictions. However, at certain points, staying put for awhile greatly supports our budget. We’d have loved to spend the entire four months at the Bali house at one time.  

This gulley runs off the side of the property. Situated into a hill/mountain, the runoff is good as we observed with it raining during our first month in Trinity Beach.

However, in Bali, we were able to negotiate an extremely reasonable rate by leaving the property over the expensive “high season” enabling the owner to collect higher rates during the middle three months. Its these kinds of decisions, that may be seen as illogical to some, that allow us to stay in much nicer, higher priced properties that we may have otherwise avoided.

In every case, there’s a motivation to our decisions, none of which we expect to regret in the future provided each of the properties we’ve book meet our expectations based on the online representation. 

More colorful Cordyline.

There’s been only one experience, our very first in Belize, our first vacation home outside the US, that we felt wasn’t fairly represented from which we moved after the first week. There was no running water other than for a few hours a day and the screens (holes too large) didn’t keep out the no-see-ums, making staying there utterly impossible when I had no less than 100 raging, itching bites all over my body.

At that point we lost our prepaid first month. A week later we found a condo directly on the ocean in a fabulous resort for our remaining two months in Belize turning a less than desirable situation into a wonderful memory.  If you haven’t read about that experience, check our archives from January 30, 2013 to February 6, 2013 during that difficult experience, right out of the chute.

A sunny day in Trinity Beach inspired me to take photos in the yard.

Overall, we’ve had our fair share of “safari luck” which we feel continues today while we thoroughly enjoy our Trinity Beach home and our thoughtful and gracious property owners, Sylvie and Andy.

Today, we’re off to explore a little, staying in the north part of town as opposed to the south where the “show” holiday is packed with locals and tourists who are attending the local Cairns carnival and craft shows.

Have a wonderful weekend, dear readers!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, July 18, 2014:

The pier is Funchal where we boarded the Sea Born catamaran for the whale and dolphin watching. Please click here for details.

Part 2…A military day…Australia’s and other country’s involvement in the world wars…New story with military photos…New itinerary tomorrow!

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At one point I poked the lens of the camera through a hole in a chain-link gate at The Australian Armour & the Artillery Museum to take this photo of the grounds surrounding the building.

We realize that many of our readers have little interest in photos of military vehicles and equipment. We’ll finish posting these photos today and be off to a new and different topic tomorrow.

Australian M113A1 Fire Support Vehicle (Saladin Turret)

As a matter of fact, tomorrow we’ll be posting our new itinerary that includes the next almost two years. Here we are again, with two years ahead of us, well planned with only a few gaps to fill.

The interior of the above Australian Fire Support Vehicle.

Early on, we’d be worried about filling gaps but now with more experience, we have no need to scramble to fill them. As long as they’re filled one year out we’ll still be able to find great options.

French Panhard AML 245 Light Armoured Car, Model 60 Variant.

Over these past few years, we sense an increase in world travel as more and more seniors retire deciding that travel is a great way to kick off the first few years of their newly found freedom. We see this in “sold out” bookings for vacation homes, cruises, and various modes of transportation.

We could see the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway from the armour building. The roundtrip cost for two is US $111.20, AUD $150, not an event or expense that is important to us at this time as we continue to layout considerable sums for future bookings.

Many of our readers anticipated that our interest in traveling would wane after a few years. But, here we are fast approaching the end of our third year and entry into our fourth. It’s hard for us to believe we’ve continued on for this long and have already seen so much of the world.

Interior of a tank with a rotating turret.

As we fast approach having all of our medical exams and tests out of the way we have an even greater degree of enthusiasm realizing that for now, we can feel at ease that poor health won’t stop us. 

Another tank painted in camouflage.

Sure, health issues or injuries can arise in a flash.  We’ll never take good health for granted. Even if we broke a leg we’d be down and out for a period of time, perhaps looking for a new place to reside, possibly losing huge deposits and making many changes in the itinerary.

We wonder about the soldier who wore these boots in this Vietcong and North Vietnam display.
More in the Vietcong and Vietnam equipment.

This possibility is highly instrumental in our caution in avoiding to partake in activities that may be beyond our fitness and skill levels. I have to remind myself at times that it was only four years ago I could hardly walk based on the degree of pain I was experiencing due to an advanced degenerative spinal condition.

A US Patton tank.

It was my change in diet that virtually eliminated the pain due to inflammation that gave me a new lease on life three months after I began this way of eating. Here again, we never take the benefits that I’ve derived from eating a very strict diet from which I never waiver, nor will I.

USA M1 Stuart Light Tank MK111.

Yesterday, by coincidence, there was a PUBMED research document posted on my Facebook that espouses the many benefits of a ketogenic diet including the massive reduction in inflammation, among improvements in Alzheimer’s Disease, seizure disorders, and Parkinson’s Disease. If any of you would like to see this document, please email me and I’ll send it to you. 

British Valentine Infantry Tank. In the background is a poster of the movie with Brad Pitt, Fury. Several months ago, we watched this excellent movie.
The interior of a British FV433 SPG.

Although I’ve read hundreds of scientific studies confirming the value of this diet since the day I began, it’s always important to read new and evolving studies and information. 

German half-track.

In time, this way of eating will become more mainstream. The public and the scientific community are slow to accept “different” modalities from that which they’ve believed for decades, i.e., that a “low fat” diet is good for health. I won’t get on my soapbox on that topic. 

Interior of an above German tank.

I consume about 100 grams of healthy fats each day and remain in good health and fitness. If you want more information on this, please write to me and I’ll send you a reading list from some of the top medical researchers in the world. 

A variety of hand grenades.

Today is Show Day, a public holiday in the Cairns area only, not the entire state of Queensland. Some businesses and all government buildings are closed while many employees are off work to celebrate this special “state fair” type event. 

More hand grenades.

Of course, many enjoy having a day off without attending the carnival and craft markets that represent the special day. With our aversion to crowds and traffic (more Tom than me), we’ll stay away from the hustle and bustle, either staying put today while I work on updating the itinerary with all the new cruises or heading out in the opposite direction away from the traffic. 

German tank.
Whatever we decide to do, we’ll find ourselves content with a great Friday night dinner planned of fresh Barramundi, sautéed scallops, homemade crab salad, steamed veggies, and a salad. Life is good.

                                              Photo from one year ago today, July 17, 2014:

A week or so ago, I mentioned we hadn’t seen any whales.  I should have been more specific in saying we have seen whales up close as in the case of this small Tropical Whale while on a whale-watching expedition in Madeira. And, in Hawaii, we spotted many Humpback Whales while viewing from our yard in the Big Island (Hawai’i). But, we’ve yet to have one of those amazing boating experiences where a whale breaches close to the boat and we’re able to take photos.  Perhaps someday. This photo was taken by the onboard professional photographer, Claudio who gave me permission to use his photos when the boat was so crowded I could hardly get a shot. For more, please click here for Part 2 of whale watching photos in Madeira. 

Part 1…A military day…Australia’s and other country’s involvement in the world wars…

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Located on Highway 91 on the way to Cairns, The Australian Armour & Military Museum is a popular point of interest for tourists and locals.

Deciding on the venues we’d like to see in our surroundings is relatively easy for us. In our desire to inspire one another we often choose sightseeing that is befitting both of our interests.

Tom in front of a restored tank outside the building.

However, on occasion, one of us bites the bullet and we visit a botanical garden (Tom’s least favorite) and in the case of yesterday, a historical military venue, The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum. 

As the photographer in the family, thinking in terms of the next day’s post, I can usually be easily be entertained attempting to take good photos. However, the topic surrounding world wars has never been of particular interest to me. 

These two boys were wearing hats and equipment while playing with this military mockup. It was obvious they were having a great time.

The sorrowful loss of lives has always gripped my heart in a manner that elicited disinterest in the means by which these horrific human losses occurred. Looking at such equipment and vehicles was a stretch for me.

Mortar shells.

Over the years I’ve observed how some men seem to have an innate interest in military equipment in a similar manner that some women show more interest in flowers and botanical gardens. Yes, we are different in some ways. This is not intended to stereotype the sexes. It’s a mere observation. 

Various land mines.

Yesterday, when we returned home and I was busy downloading photos and Tom was busy responding to cruise booking inquiries from our new rep, a fabulous TV show came up, David Attenborough’s documentary on lion cubs learning to hunt in their first two years of life. 

This land mine was referred to as “Bouncing Betty.”

Since we’ve been in Australia we’ve watched several of these high-quality documentaries as the finest we’ve ever seen presented by the BBC from which we watch a number of excellent programs at night as we wind down.

More land mines.

As we watched the show on lions, a tremendous number of references were made as to how the male and female lions have distinct roles, totally predicated by their gender. I often believe this is also the case with humans. This is not a political statement. It’s a human (or animal) nature statement. 

Artillery was located in the first area we perused.

Thus, my interest in military tanks, trucks, and artillery is very limited, not beyond how they look in a photo.  Regardless of this reason, I happily went along as we perused each and every item in The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum with nary a complaint with boredom or from standing for several hours. 

This wheel is used for the elevation and aiming of the cannon.
Tom, whom I consider very knowledgeable about the world wars was explaining the functioning of this artillery shell to me.

On many occasions, Tom who was enjoying every moment asked me if I was bored to death and of course, I said I was fine. There was no way in the world I would attempt to shorten his enjoyment or diminish the value or meaning of his experience.

Notice the camouflage hanging over the tank’s barrel.

We continued on through the massive building in awe of the size of the collection. Not only were there Australian representations but many other countries were represented, both allies and enemies. Undoubtedly, it was an impressive collection.

A British breech-loading Howitzer.

Most of the items had been restored to what in many cases appeared to be almost new condition. We noticed a restoration center across a field from the building where we imagined much of the restoration was taking place.

A variety of Australian military items used during the wars.

In some cases, the interior of the various tanks and vehicles were available for viewing when doors were left open. Peering inside the various vehicles was of particular interest to both of us imagining how these soldiers could possibly fit inside the tight spaces. 

More sophisticated equipment with gauges was developed over time.

Tom surmised that many soldiers were young men, as young as 18 years old, and may not be fully grown at that time. Also, as shown over most recent decades, the size of men and women has changed and they are generally larger at this time than they may have been during the world wars.

Imagine a soldier sitting on this seat turning these wheels for firing accuracy.
Loading end of the breach of the barrel in the above photo.
Actually, seeing these small spaces was heartbreaking only adding to our angst over the ravages of wars. We are incapable of even imagining how these soldiers existed in these horrible circumstances. There’s no way we can offer enough reverence and respect for those who fought for our freedom.
Anti-aircraft shells. There were skylights above us that reflected the midday sun in some of our photos.

On a few occasions, I found myself peering outside a door or window to the grounds surrounding the enormous building noticing a few birds, the cable cars that travel to the rain forest (not of much interest to either of us), and the groundskeeper mowing the lawn inspiring me to take a few photos. 

A Russian ground to air missile S-75. 

Finally, after Tom had read every sign describing each item in the museum, he meandered toward the exit, looking to me to come along. He asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to see?”

I smiled, “No, thanks honey,” I answered, “I’m good.”

This is the interior which is under renovation of the US M3 scout car in the photo below.
USA M3 scout car.

Hand and hand we walked out the door reminded and grateful for our freedom, our health, and our lives on a bright sunny day in Australia.

This is a Jerrycan used for carrying fuel.

Tomorrow, we’ll share a new story but complete our photos from The Australian Armour and Artillery Museum.

Have an extraordinary day!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, July 16, 2014:
One year ago today we boarded a huge catamaran in Funchal, Madiera to go whale watching. We spotted a few whales at a distance but more so we saw pods of dolphins. Claudio, a professional photographer on board the boat kindly let us use some of his photos taken with much more skill than I and a much better camera. For more of these photos, please click here.

Collecting seashells…Returning them to nature…Is it legal to collected coral in Australia?

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Here are the laws regarding collecting any pieces of coral in Australia.

Over these past few years, we’ve walked the sands of numerous beaches throughout the world looking forward to many more beach walks in years to come. As we’ve walked our eyes have wandered from dreamily looking out to the sea to watching our step when an occasional branch or stick obstructed the path.

The Aztec type lines in this shell are amazing.

As we’ve walked we often looked down for seashells, often disappointed in never finding a single shell of any particular interest. Most were broken and already picked over from decades of tourists and locals walking those same beaches.

We found this coral in the bowl in the house. 
This shell has a rough exterior.

Here in Australia, after visiting many beaches so far we’ve been amazed by the number of shells we’ve collected. Are the beaches here all that less populated and visited by tourists? Also, we discovered some exquisite shells in a bowl here in our home. 

This shell appears to have an eye looking at us.

When we think of collecting seashells we often think of children sifting through the sand for that special find.  But, with our passionate relationship with nature, we’ve found ourselves picking through the sand with the enthusiasm of a child as we slipped one shell after another into our pockets to share here with our readers today.

This, found in the bowl in the house is quite unusual.

Few of the shells we encountered were broken and as we’ve continued on we realized we could easily have gathered hundreds, if not thousands of beautiful shells during this short period of time on our frequent visits to the half dozen or so beaches in the immediate area.

This shell is an exciting find.

Growing up in California I spent many sunny days at the beach. Then, it was easy to take the shells on the beach for granted when often stepping one could result in a tiny yet painful cut. 

This shell stood alone for its unique texture and color.

However, on occasion, a special shell would be kept as a memento of a good day at the beach often wishing I had a way to make a little hole in the shell to fashion it into a necklace with a thin gold chain.  n those days children were to “be seen but not heard” and asking my overworked father or angst-ridden mother for assistance was unthinkable. 

The smallest in this group is most intriguing.
The variance in color makes the shells, particularly interesting to find.

It remained a frivolous interest in the 1950s compared to my desire for a Barbie Doll which I never owned until girlfriends gave me one as a gift for my 40th birthday. I was thrilled as much then as I would have been at 10 years old. 

This is one of the larger shells we discovered.

Now, as we inspect the seashells we wonder what little creature dwelled therein, how long it survived, and why it left its shell behind. Below is the information, although simple, as to how seashells are created.

These three are definitely similar.
“Where do seashells come from? Seashells are the external skeletons of a class of marine animals called Mollusks. Where people have our skeletons on the inside of our bodies, mollusks have theirs on the outside of theirs. This way they help protect the creatures from predators, strong currents, and storms, help camouflage the animal and do many other things. Seashells are primarily made of calcium, a hard mineral, as our own bones are.
Speckled shell in varying shades of browns and gray.

“Marine” means having to do with the ocean — in this case, it means the animals live in seawater, in one of the world’s oceans.

When a mollusk dies, its shell is left behind, just as land animals leave their skeletons behind. Sometimes the shell is taken and used as a home by other sea creatures, such as hermit crabs. When a hermit crab outgrows the shell it has borrowed, it abandons it and finds a larger one to use.

Smoother exteriors on these shells.

Mollusks are divided into many types, but the two major ones are bivalves and univalves. These names are derived from Latin words, where “Bi” means “two” — which we see in words like “bicycles” (two wheels) and “bipeds” (animals that walk on two legs). “Uni” means “one” — for example the word “unicycle” which means it has just one wheel.

This shell appears to have a small round bead attached.

So bivalves are mollusks that have two shell halves that form a whole shell. Examples would be clams and oysters. Most mollusks are bivalves.

It’s colorful on the edges.

Univalves just have a one-piece shell, usually a spiral-type shell, often looking something like a larger, stronger, and more elaborate snail’s shell. Examples of univalves would be conch, whelks, nautilus, and similar shells.

Two of these shells had openings on the opposite side.

After the animal that created the seashell dies, the shell often washes up onto the shore or remains in the tide pool where the creature lived. Sometimes other creatures such as small hermit crabs then take the empty shell and use it as their home.”

This shell has a pearl or abalone type exterior.
These shells all had a  similar grayish tone.

Identifying all of the shells we collected and are showing today and their technical species names would take time sorting through hundreds of possibilities. We share them for their beauty and the possible story held therein that we can only imagine. For those of you interested in more technical details, please click here.

Most of the shells were smaller than a ping pong ball.

Today, we’ll return our shells to the beach where they belong, perhaps leaving them for someone else to find and treasure.

Plain white shells.
We grouped these together for their similar coloration.

Have a day filled with wonders!  We’re taking off for Cairns today and will be back with many new photos tomorrow.

                                             Photo from one year ago today, July 15, 2014:

One year ago today we were on our way for a boat ride in Funchal hoping to see whales up close and personal. Although we’ve been on several such boat rides, we’ve yet to see a whale up close. We’ll keep trying. These beautiful Alstroemeria were growing in our yard in Madeira. For details from that post, please click here.

Results from doctor appointments…Tom’s appointment is next…Cruise updates…

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Nothing is as beautiful as a sunny day at the beach.

Alive and well after three years without having a physical exam, I am relieved most of it is over. Aside from a few remaining tests that we expect to be fine, I am thrilled its almost over and all is well.

A huge contemporary house near the beach.

On Monday, Tom begins the process, with his first appointment at the clinic. When all is said and done, including all tests the cost will be under US $800, AUD $1031 for both of us, not bad considering all is paid out of pocket when we only have major medical/hospitalization insurance.

Actually, our fixed monthly budget included a monthly estimate for medical of US $50, AUD $68 which we’ve never used except for the trip to urgent care in Kauai. When all is said and done all of these appointments and expenses are covered by that estimate, almost to the penny.

A contemporary house at Holloways Beach.

With continued good health, we plan to wait for another check-up in three years from wherever we may be at the time. Most likely, it won’t be in the US when we’re there in the summer of 2017. 

Another large home at Holloways Beach.

Costs of medical care are approximately four times higher in the US (out of pocket) as compared to what we’ve paid in Australia. There are good medical facilities in most areas of the world where we’ll be living in the next three years so we have no concern at this point.

Yesterday, when we arrived for my 3:00 pm appointment at Apple Tree Medical in Smithfield, I was disappointed to discover my last physician Dr. Natasha was out sick. Instead, I met with Dr. Konny Komlovari whom I found to be equally competent, warm, and friendly. Their onsite lab makes blood tests easy to arrange and process.

A small park at Holloway’s Beach.

Next month, we’ll make our dental appointments leaving all of this medical stuff behind. Thanks to all of our readers who encouraged us to get all of these done and out of the way. It was good advice.

As for the three cruises we reserved over the weekend, last night at 10 pm we spoke to our new rep at Vacationstogo.com, Brooklyn Earnhardt, who is highly experienced and capable. We both felt comfortable and assured that she’ll do a great job for us for these three cruises and all future bookings.

Double Island makes us curious as to what it would be like to visit.  Here are details of visiting Double Island.

We’d gone ahead and reserved the three cruises with Royal Caribbean over the weekend. Now, we’re in the process of transferring them over to our new agent, Brooklyn which can be done within 60 days of booking with the cruise line. 

In transferring the cruises to VTG we are able to use our own agent and agency for receiving various cabin credits that the cruise line itself may not offer. Plus, they receive their usual commissions. This type of loyalty is important to us. Relationship building is vital to our success in booking various aspects of our travels.

Tom looking out the sea undercover at the beach.

In yesterday’s post, we mentioned sharing a little info on our itinerary for these three new cruises which we’re summarizing here. Soon, as we’ve mentioned we’ll include our new updated itinerary

1.  Sydney to Perth: October 31, 2016, 16 days

2.  Perth to Sydney:  November 16, 2016 (back to back above the same cruise, same cabin number) 17 days

The above 33-day back-to-back cruise circles the entire continent of Australia, with multiple ports of call enabling us to see considerable sites along the way.

3.  Sydney to Seattle:  September 22, 2017, 24 days, crossing back over the International Dateline, arriving in the US on May 15, 2017

During these above three cruises, we’ll visit such new cities as:

  • Brisbane, Australia
  • Darwin, Australia
  • Benoa, Bali
  • Geraldton, Australia
  • Perth, Australia
  • Esperance, Australia
  • Adelaide, Australia
  • Melbourne, Australia
  • Dunedin (Port Chalmers) New Zealand
  • Akaroa, New Zealand
  • Wellington, New Zealand
  • Picton, New Zealand
  • Il Des Pines, New Calendonia (we missed visiting this port on our recent cruise due to rough seas)
  • Noumea, New Calendonia
  • Mystery Island, Vanuatu
  • Cross the International Dateline (getting our lost day back)

The last of the three cruises breezes through Hawaii on the way to Seattle, Washington, USA, stopping at Kona (Big Island, Hawaii), Lahaina (Maui), and Honolulu (Oahu). By that time, it will have been almost two years since we lived in Hawaii. 

Park at the beach with a covered area.

Besides these three above new cruises we booked in the past few days, we previously booked three other cruises in Australia, details of which we’ve shared online in past posts. A few of the ports of call are repeated on these other cruises but here are some of the highlights of the new locations we’ll have yet to see:

  • Hobart, Tasmania
  • Tauranga, New Zealand
  • Bay of Islands, New Zealand
  • Auckland, New Zealand (where we stay for 90 days in a nearby village)
  • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • Singapore, Republic of Singapore
  • Lifou, New Caledonia
  • Lautoka, Fiji

These 23 ports of call plus some repeats of others we’ll have previously visited  (not listed here today) are all new to us in our world travels. This gives us an additional opportunity to see as much as we wanted to see in the South Pacific in almost two years including this relatively short period of time of 97 days aboard ship on these six cruises.  

This house near the beach could be anywhere in the world, utilizing the benefits of solar power.

During these periods we’ll be housed, fed, and entertained aboard the various ships with the opportunity to socialize each and every day. By the time we head to Seattle, we’ll feel confident we’ve thoroughly scoured the South Pacific to our liking.

Over the next year, we’ll be deciding on how much time we’ll spend during our relatively short visit to the US in 2017 and begin booking vacation homes and cruises for our next foray to an upcoming new continent. 

As always, we’re excited as to our future choices while we’re thoroughly “loving the one we’re with!”

Happy Monday or Tuesday to all!

                                                Photo from one year ago today, July 14, 2014:

Colorful steps at an elementary school in Campanario, Madeira, Portugal, one year ago today. For details and more photos, please click here.

Booked three more cruises…Returning to US for a family visit…New beach photos…

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Surfboard menu at a local restaurant in Trinity Beach.

There was no doubt in our minds that sooner or later we’d return to the US to visit family. We visited my cousin and uncle when our cruise ended in Boston staying for three days last September. We’d chosen that specific cruise in order to see them with my uncle who’d recently turned 95 years old. Who knows when we’d ever be back in Boston? It was a wonderful visit and then we were on our way once again.

Holloways Beach.

At that point, we didn’t stop in Minnesota since most of our kids and all of our grandchildren were coming to see us in Hawaii for Christmas, only seven months ago. 

A two week stay in Minneapolis can easily run over US $5000, AUD $6734 with the high cost of hotels, rental cars and meals. With the cost of bringing 12 family members to Hawaii, we had to tighten our belts and stick with the budget and the itinerary (as we always attempt to do) preventing us from any other stops along the way at that time.

House on a hill in Yorkeys Knob.

It will be wonderful to see our family and friends and most assuredly, our stay will be a flurry of non-stop activity however long we may stay. As time nears, we’ll pin down the dates we’ll be in Minnesota, Nevada and Los Angeles.

Planning this far in advance is crucial for us when we notice cruises posted as “sold out” or cabins we may have wanted to book already taken. Early booking is vital, especially around the South Pacific, where all of these newly booked cruises will be sailing. Aussies love to cruise.

A sunbather on the beach.

Not counting the upcoming Vietnam cruise next year we have six cruises booked in the South Pacific. After considerable research, we discovered that Australia is too huge to tour by car with visa restrictions preventing us from staying more than 90 days. 

With Australia the size of the US with the major points of interest around the perimeter, driving for foreigners like us is not a likely nor affordable way to see this massive continent. Cruising is the ideal way to see it. Two of these cruises we booked over the weekend, visit the entire perimeter of Australia.

A camping area in Trinity Beach.

We’ve seriously investigated renting an RV but the cost, is outrageous, more than the daily cost of cruising.  And, honestly, driving an RV for months no longer appeals to our way of life. We don’t liked feeling locked in for so long.

As much as we prefer not to bring up expenses as often as we do, the reality is clear…there’s no way to do what we’re doing long term without constantly being aware of the expenses. 

Camping and caravanning is popular in Australia.

There’s no way we’d want to put ourselves in a position of “worrying” about finances. Currently, the way we budget and carefully follow that budget, we have nothing to worry about. We remain concerned and diligent neither of which elicits a sense of worry in our case.

Rather than list the finite details of each cruise here, which can be less interesting for those who don’t cruise, tomorrow we’ll post a brief synopsis of these three new cruises. 

This sign is posted outside a restaurant in Trinity Beach.

Soon we’ll be posting our general upcoming itinerary which encompasses over 600 days, including two gaps we’ve created by booking these cruises which we’ll fill in time, most likely staying in Australia or its surrounding islands. 

The interior of Lunico restaurant in Trinity Beach.

Tom has been busy for weeks planning all of these cruises busily typing away on his laptop on Cloud 9.  He loves doing this. On the other hand, I have little interest in booking cruises. Point me in the direction of a cruise ship and I’m content.

This reminds us that we could dine out on occasion.  But, with my restricted way of eating its not so appealing.

Thus, the total number of cruises we have booked at this time, including the Mekong River cruise is a total of seven. This reminds me of our early days when we had eight cruises booked right out of the chute even before we originally left the US. 

Sitting outdoors at the restaurant overlooking the ocean is appealing now that it’s not raining almost every day as it has since we arrived one month ago.

We’ve loved every single cruise each with their own unique merits, including the experience of three days and nights of raging seas, on the Norwegian Epic in 2013.  It’s all been a part of our vast experiences of traveling to see the world.

There are lots of pizza and pasta restaurants along the beaches.

What better way is there to see a lot at one time than cruising? Yes, there are crowds, germs, mediocre food and occasional periods of waiting to board and disembark. 

We always giggle over seniors partaking in “early bird specials.” Now that we’re in that category, we totally get the benefit of early dining, often finding ourselves at the dinner table by 6:30 at the latest. We’ve haven’t tried the 5:30 dining time yet but most likely its in the future.

Overall, cruising has provided us with many memorable experiences of making new friends and seeing so much of the world which far surpasses any potential annoyances. Plus, we had a blast with the Aussies on this last cruise to Sydney and we can’t wait for more social interactions with these warm and friendly people in this highly conducive environment.

The sky will be blue as shown in some of these photos and in a short period its raining again. Many days, I’ve put on my swimsuit in the morning, hoping the sunny day will continue and we can sit outdoors for 30 minutes (sun too hot here for longer) for a dose of Vitamin D. Invariably, by the time I upload the post, its cloudy or raining and I change into my clothes.

This afternoon, we’ll head back to the doctor for my test results and then get to work on Tom’s upcoming exams and tests. Hopefully, all will be good and we can continue on with added peace of mind.

We’ve been here over a month and how the time has flown. We like it here.  It’s an excellent place to live and we’re content. What more could we ask for?

                                               Photo from one year ago today, July 13, 2014:

Tom always says I don’t post enough photos of myself. I’m not your basic “selfie” type person obsessed with photos of myself. There’s a lot more interesting scenery than me posing for one of Tom’s less than stellar photos, many of which I’m compelled to delete. Here I am in front of a decorated tree trunk in Ribeira Brava, Madeira last year. For more details, please click here.

Part 2…An environment of dedication, compassion and love at the Cairns Tropical Zoo…

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We fell in love with the Pelicans for their beauty, grace and movement.

The Freeman family, locals in the Cairns area, have been instrumental in developing an extraordinary wildlife experience since 1980 with a goal of providing the utmost in conservation and species preservation.

A Pelican show of wingspan.

With a wide array of educational and highly entertaining presentations available that enable visitors to participate in many hands-on and up-close and personal interactions with appropriate wildlife, those visiting the Cairns Tropical Zoo will find themselves enriched from a unique zoo experience.

Peacocks were freely roaming the grounds of the zoo.

In addition, the Freeman family established the private North Queensland Wildlife Trust, which includes not only the Cairns Tropical Zoo but also, Hartley’s Crocodile Adventures and Kuranda Koala Gardens. By the development of the trust, funds are raised for the conservation of native species and their habitat.

Even these less than attractive Lizards can be cute in repose.

It is this kind of passion and dedication to wildlife that is exhibited throughout the zoo as Jasmine toured us through many of the areas to see wildlife we’d never seen face to face in any environment throughout our world travels.

Mom or dad makes a comfortable pillow.
A pile of Turtles.

To be able to take numerous photos as shown here without placing our camera into the holes into a tight chain-link fence gave us a feeling of openness and space, certainly enjoyed and appreciated by all of the various wildlife.

Spoonbill, rightfully so named.

Of course, the dangerous animals such as the massive crocodiles that caught our breath, the design of their habitat provided total safety and security while allowing the photo enthusiast full access to those much revered perfect shots as we’re sharing here in both Parts 1 and 2 of the two-day story.

A Wallaby is a small or mid-sized macropod found in Australia and New Zealand. appears to be a miniature Kangaroo.

The snakes including some of the most venomous in the world were safely behind full glass enclosures that still allowed a relatively clear shot as shown in our photos.

When mom got busy in a bit of a scuffle with another Koala, joey, Violet, decided to high tail away from the action.
Of course, not surprisingly, the Koalas captured our hearts. Jasmine was able to take us inside the  “nursery” of the Koala House. For the first time, seeing baby Koalas inside the pouches of their loving mothers was a sight we’d long desired to see. 
Curious as we approached.

The “joey-in-the-pouch” sighting warmed our hearts as well as the other visitors happily snapping photos in the Koala House. Buttercup, an adult Koala, one of Jasmine’s favorites, who’d been rescued by the zoo after losing a leg after being hit by a car, sleepily cuddling in her eucalyptus tree.

It wasn’t unusual to see a variety of species sharing an area as is common in the wild.

Much to our surprise, Koalas can consume as many as 1000 eucalyptus leaves per day. With conservation in mind, the Cairns Tropical Zoo has managed to utilize a means of harvesting leaves from downed branches from the electric company’s clearing underneath power lines and from three dedicated eucalyptus plantations, rather than destroying trees in the forest. 

The Emu is the largest bird native to Australia. We couldn’t seem to get her/his attention when she was busy looking through the fence.

In addition, considerations are made for wildlife that may have originated from a more distinct winter/summer season with seasonal dietary needs. These facts only added to our respect for the zoo’s philosophy of creating a safe, healthy, and comfortable environment for all of its inhabitants.

With the bright sun reflecting on the Komoda Dragon house which is encased in glass for safety, we had a difficult time taking a photo through the glass, this being our best shot.

With our interest in a wide variety of birds throughout the world, we were particularly fascinated with the graceful and majestic pelicans, again with incredibly easy access for our photo taking. 

The Cassowary is the third tallest flightless bird in the world. A relatively shy bird that can be dangerous in the wild when provoked.

It would only be under these special circumstances that we’d have been able to capture such shots as those we’ve included in both yesterday’s and today’s post for which we are very grateful.

After recently posting distant photos of Cockatoos we spotted in Holloways Beach, it was fun to up close and personal in one of the aviaries in the zoo.

We express our heartfelt thanks to the staff at the Cairns Tropical Zoo for “handling” our visit with the same attention to detail and care as they provide for each and every creature habituating in their creative and loving environment including at times, some not-so-invited fly-ins.

The entrance to the zoo and gift shop. 

                                                Photo from one year ago today, July 12, 2014:

It was one year ago today that Tom had a haircut at a salon in Ribeira Brava, Madeira. For more photos and details from that date, please click here.

Part 1…An environment of dedication, compassion and love at the Cairns Tropical Zoo…

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It’s ironic that one of our favorite wild animals at the Cairns Tropical Zoo was the Dingo, looking familiar to us as a domesticated dog. However, Dingos are wild animals, and many attempts to domesticate them have failed. 

With expectations in check, we met Jasmine, the Mammal Department Supervisor at the Cairns Tropical Zoo on Tuesday morning. When neither of us has visited a zoo in many years, we found ourselves with mouths agape as Jasmine gave us a private tour that will remain a treasured memory for years to come.

Binturongs are closely related to the mongoose and distantly related to skunks and weasels. They have a distinct odor common in both males and females, similar to that of popcorn which is produced when scent marking for territorial rights and mating. This fellow is named Sari. Binturongs are on the endangered species list.

For world travelers, having spent nine months in Africa, having been on safari on many occasions, we had no idea how much pleasure and joy we’d experience seeing wildlife in a confined environment. With our previous lack of zoo experiences in the past 30 years, we had no idea how times have changed in the zoo industry.

The Wildlife Wedding Chapel on the ground of the zoo is a popular venue for weddings. Please click here for details.

Cairns Tropical Zoo depicts the epitome of progression resulting in the nurturing, love, and compassion of the preservation of many species we’d seldom, if ever, see in the wild during our time in Australia, on and off over a period of almost two years. 

The Koala, Phascolarctos cinereus, or, inaccurately, koala bear, is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae, and its closest living relatives are the wombats.  In most cases, we don’t take photos of the wildlife from behind, but this scene made us smile when we visited the Koala nursery.

Jasmine spent considerable time as the three of us gathered in the Koala Cafe, answering our seemingly endless questions about the zoo, its management, feeding, and care of the vast array of wildlife. 

Check out this Koala face!  Could it be any more adorable?

Afterward, we were all anxious to continue on as she personally escorted us on a tour to see many of the zoo’s precious inhabitants. As a dedicated 10 plus year employee, Jasmine exhibits an enthusiasm one would never expect upon such employment longevity.

This scene took our breath away. This is a mother Koala with her “Joey” which is the name for all marsupial offspring. A Koala Joey is the size of a jelly bean, with no hair, no ears, and is blind at birth. Joeys crawl into the mother’s pouch immediately after birth, staying there until about six months old.

Throughout the tour, we never felt a sense of bored animals confined in small spaces with little to do but sit and watch annoying visitors. Instead, the expertly designed and maintained environments befitting each animal’s natural habitat, created a feeling of openness and freedom, enabling each species to thrive, propagate and live long, healthy lives, enhanced by the constant love and care of the many employees.

The natural bond between moms and their offspring is always precious to observe. Many visitors gathered around this area in awe of the experience.

Such was apparent in Jasmine’s description of each aspect of the zoo, as her eyes twinkled with sheer delight as she introduced us with pride to many of the species from the Komodo Dragons to the wide array of birds in the various aviaries. 

Jasmine, Tom, and Koala mom and Joey, who was named Violet after 10-year, devoted employee Jasmine’s daughter. 

What particularly appeals to us is the fact that the Cairns Tropical Zoo has rescued many wild animals bringing them back to health after severe injuries and illness that would prevent them from safely returning to the wild. Those deemed fit for released is returned to a safe wild environment. 

They were both checking out the action. Koalas eat as much as 1000 eucalyptus leaves per day. 

In addition, the zoo has taken the responsibility to include many endangered species, as well as those that may have been cast aside from private citizens hoping to domesticate an animal such as a Dingo, an animal never intended to be kept as a pet. 

This young Koala ventures away from mom for a moment.

As we often hear, wild animals are just that.  hey aren’t intended to become pets and the cast-offs of irresponsible owners often end up in zoos. Cairns Tropical Zoo welcomes such animals, anxious to provide them with a rich life they so well deserve since most often they cannot be returned to the wild and survive.

Boa Constrictor, safely behind the glass enclosure. There was a Reticulated Boa in the background which was difficult to see in the darkened area.

Much to our delight and good humor, Jasmine explained that oftentimes, a variety of birds and wildfowl including the Pacific Black Duck fly into the zoo’s habitat of other birds deciding on a free meal and “easy ride’’ often staying at their leisure. Nonetheless, these wild birds are fed.

The massive size of numerous Crocodiles in their well secured, but the viewable area is difficult to describe here. Their weight is estimated when it’s impossible to ever get them on a scale. They may weigh upwards of 1000 kg, 2205 pounds. 

The Cairns Tropical Zoo is located only 20 minutes north of Cairns, and 35 minutes south of Port Douglas at Palm Cove on the Captain Cook Highway. With easy free parking and reasonable entrance fees, it’s the perfect venue for both children and adults, tourists, and locals alike. 

It isn’t often we could get quite this close to a Crocodile to have a close-up view of the complex tail and hide.

The wildlife areas are easy to navigate with only a few gradual inclines making it possible for many with limitations to enjoy full access to most areas. For the times of operation, entrance fees, and extensive information about the Cairns Tropical Zoo, please click the links provided.

A smaller female Crocodile sunning with her mouth within close proximity to a larger male.

Tomorrow, we’ll return with Part 2, more photos and information about our visit to the zoo and our many new experiences with the wildlife we’ve never seen in our past worldwide travels.

Like us, Crocs have five digits but, that’s where the similarities end!

 


Photo from one year ago to July 11, 2014:
The fuzzy green buds on this exquisite orchid were quite a joy to see while on a flower hunt in Madeira. For details, please click here.

Planning ahead for the future…An ongoing process that never ends…Planning the future end of our time in the South Pacific…

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We searched online, but can’t seem to find the name of this grass or weed. This is commonly found along the highways and country roads in this and other areas of Australia.

With a plan to post and then head out sightseeing we realized we had to change our day when rain is pelting in buckets. Of course, the weather here can change on a dime so we shall see how the day rolls out. At the moment, the clouds and fog are so thick, we can’t see much further than beyond our house.

As I’ve mentioned recently and in the past, Tom is the official cruise planner in this family. He loves spending endless hours online calculating every option, pricing, and itinerary. 

Since my hands are full with other tasks, namely sitting at my laptop every morning posting and dealing with hundreds of photos, record keeping, and my share of the many tasks associated with simply living life; household tasks including laundry (which I like doing) and cooking.

Sunny day at the beach.

Tom does his share of tasks including handling the investments, heavy lifting, all the kitchen clean up, trash removal (which requires a drive down the steep road), and his endless pursuit of the next cruise or cruises.

Together, we clean the house once a week, tidying up daily and every other week Andy comes and vacuums and washes all the floors. It’s a perfect compromise of tasks and responsibilities with neither of us ever feel we are doing more than our fair share.

Plus, Tom drives me everywhere I want to go, nary with a complaint. I could never drive here, sitting on the right side of the car, shifting with my left hand (not coordinated), and maneuvering all the roundabouts. 

The boat launch at Holloways Beach leading to a river that leads to the sea. That’s not an animal hanging from the tree, just an unusual root clump.

Oh, good grief. Even when I’m the passenger I keep thinking he’s going the wrong way, when in fact he’s going the correct way. I’d end up going the wrong way on the road, risking life and limb. I keep my mouth shut to avoid startling him. 

It’s a good mix, us two. But, when it comes to cruises, he’s on his own. I only care about the price and the itinerary. He’s perfect at the rest, including figuring out the dates that fit within our already set itinerary.

We’ve been using Vacationstogo.com since we booked our first cruise. We adored working with our former rep, Joaquin, who later left the company. Since then we’ve moved around a few times to different reps, never quite getting that same kind of relationship we so loved with Joaquin.

This sign painted on the paved road at the boat launch says, “Be croc wise in croc country.” It would be rather terrifying to encounter a croc while launching a boat into the water

Preferring not to switch companies, we wrote to Anna, a manager, requesting a few things; one, find us a new person we can work with long term and two, we need them to match cabin credits we’ve noticed offered by some other online cruise booking agencies at times. 

This is not to say that we haven’t felt that we’ve received overall great pricing. We’re not foolhardy and won’t necessarily pay higher prices for loyalty on a regular basis. 

Any suggestions on the name of these flowers?

We look at the overall picture. Did they give us a special break on the last cruise that was beyond what anyone else may have offered? It all comes “out in the wash.” We keep good records, making it easy to look back and see what we’ve paid each and every time.

But, now as Tom regularly checks cruisecompete.com who actually has numerous companies “bid” for our business, we wondered if perhaps we can do better elsewhere.

This morning, we heard back from Anna and she’s agreed to allow our new rep to match any published price we find online including cabin credits. With this information, we look forward to a relationship with our new person and the best possible price in the world.

The pile of huge rocks appeared to have been placed at the edge of the rainforest to keep people out. 

After all, in the past 33 months, we’ve sailed on 11 cruises, have four more booked, and have an additional three we hope to book in the next week. Why do we like cruising so much? It’s a chance to see more of the world in a shorter time period and we love the people we meet aboard ships. It’s too much fun.

No, we don’t like the lines, the waiting to board and disembark, and the occasional “cruise cough.” After mentioning this to the doctor the other day, she explained that it’s not that we particularly have weak immune systems. 

The cough is a by-product of being in a “crowd” day after day in air conditioning and tight quarters.We’ve had the cough a few times out of the 11 cruises but have avoided the Norovirus entirely.

A pretty house as we drove along the beach.

We’ve also become infected with colds and flu while sightseeing in a crowded venue, while not on a ship. I suppose most people around children and crowds get a cold or virus once or twice a year.

While we were on the last cruise from Honolulu to Sydney on May 24th, arriving on June 11th, Tom had visited the future cruise booking department while I sat in the bar doing the day’s post. 

When he returned to the bar, he was frustrated when he explained that he was unable to purchase any future “open bookings” using their usual USD $100, AUD $134 per cruise per person, enabling us to avoid paying a larger deposit of USD $900, AUD $1207 deposit to book any cruise for two. 

This root laden tree is unusual, reminding us of Banyan trees in Hawaii although with smaller roots.

Why should we lay out that much money often as much as two years in advance if we don’t have to? By purchasing these “open bookings” we only pay USD $200, AUD $264 per cruise, paying the balance 90 days before we sail.

Over the past several days, he’d been in touch with Royal Caribbean explaining he’d been refused an opportunity to purchase any open bookings (meaning no specific cruise is selected yet) on the last cruise. They profusely apologized and agreed to book three “open” cruises for us using our credit card on file.  We were thrilled.

The outlay of USD $600, AUD $805 instead of USD $2700, AUD $3621 was a great relief. The transaction was completed. We worked things out with Anna and now we’re ready (Tom’s ready) to book three future cruises, the last of which will take us out of the South Pacific entirely, a long-term adventure finally ending.

Trees with unusual roots growing along the beach.

Once these three cruises are booked, we’ll share where we’ll be going on the third cruise, which may be surprising. However, we prefer not to mention future booking until all of the details are firmly in place.  Hopefully, over the next week, we’ll be sharing this information.

Tomorrow and the next day, (for us, Saturday and Sunday and for others, Friday and Saturday) we’ll be posting our long-overdue wildlife photos which we can’t wait to share.

Have a terrific day!

                                                Photo from one year ago today, July 10, 2014:

It was one year ago today, July 10, 2014, that we firmed up our booking for the house in Bali where we’ll be heading next April 30th. For more details and photos, please click here.

A special day with some very special creatures, both human and animal…Stories coming soon…Doctor appointments?

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This adorable Kookaburra posed for me in the yard while sitting on the fence next to the rain gauge. These birds are much larger than appears in this photo.

No grass grows under our feet here in Australia. It seems that we’re out exploring every few days, more than we’ve done in other countries.

There’s so much to see here compared to many of the remote areas we’ve lived around the world. We’ve always stated here that sightseeing on occasion was befitting our lifestyle, but not doing so quite as often as we’ve done so in Australia.

After a while she/he relocated to the roof, looking down for a possible morsel of food. They are known to snatch food off of plates when cooking on the “barbie.” More on Kookaburras will be coming in a few days with our wildlife posts.

Who goes sightseeing, several times a week in their everyday life? And part of our lives is simply the “every day” not necessarily filled with typical tourist activities. However, we’ve found plenty to see several times a week, sharing it here with our readers.

While in Australia we’ve made a choice to avoid spending money on tourist attractions when possible when we’ve been busy pre-paying for vacation rentals and cruises as much as two years in advance. Tom is on one of his cruise booking frenzies and I don’t moderate what he chooses for us. 

Growing like crazy in the yard are these common Yellow Allamanda.

All I do is document the booked cruises in our master excel spreadsheet in a manner in which my brain is able to decipher dates and dollars. It’s from these calculations that we determine how much we can spend on “extras.”  At the moment, it’s limited. 

We’ve yet to dine out when groceries have been very affordable. If we can dine at home for US $30, AUD $40.28 a day as opposed to spending US $60, AUD $80.56, in a restaurant, it’s a no-brainer, especially when much of the food in restaurants these days have few items I can order.

Bottlebrush blooming in the yard.

We’ve been able to find a wide array of activities we can do without cost other than for gas to and fro. Also, writing stories and posting photos for a variety of tourist attractions in many countries with our vast and growing worldwide readership, we find our entrance is often hosted by the venue’s management, as in the case for any “journalist.”

As was the case yesterday, when we were provided an extraordinary experience at the Cairns Tropical Zoo.  Over the next few days, we’ll be preparing the story and hundreds of photos to present in a two-day story of our appreciated and educational tour, meeting many interesting and endearing Australian animals, we’ve never seen in our travels.

We drove up the mountain behind the market to Kuranda. When we began the steep and winding trek it was sunny. By the time we arrived at the first overlook, it was cloudy and rain began to fall. We turned back with a plan to return to see the village at the top on a sunny day.

Hold tight, dear readers. In the next week, our two posts about the zoo will be online with many details and some photos that make me swoon, recalling “meeting” the loved and well-cared-for animals in this magical place.

We could imagine how beautiful this expansive view will be when we return on a sunny day.

In the interim, we continue to drive to more and more special locations searching for the scene that swoops in and captures our hearts and well as our camera.

Today, with much encouragement from responses from many readers, I have a medical “check-up” at the local doctor clinic. Feeling well, I don’t know what to “complain about” but a check and blood tests are in order. 

The mountain and ocean view reminds us of Kauai, Hawaii.

When my appointment and tests results are completed, we’ll schedule Tom’s similar appointment and then we’ll be done, except for the soon to be booked dentist appointments which we’ll schedule shortly before departing Trinity Beach in two months. Then, we can be off to Fiji, where medical care will be limited and perhaps uncertain.

This afternoon after the doctor’s appointment I’ll get back to work on the zoo stories and choosing our favorite of the many photos. 

The sections of land always create such an interesting view both from the air and overlook at higher elevations.

Yesterday, we had a tremendous response from our old friends in Kauai and our readers in regard to the story of the Laysan Albatross chicks fledging and Bob Waid’s fabulous photos. Thank you for sharing that meaningful event with us.

Have a wonderful day!

                                            Photo from one year ago today, July 8, 2014:

One year ago today, we booked and posted the cruise information for Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas for next April with its itinerary mostly traveling part of the perimeter of Australia and New Zealand. Unfortunately, recently the cruise line canceled the entire cruise when the ship had been reserved for a private event. We found a replacement cruise and our deposit was transferred over. With Australia as huge as the US, cruising is the best way to see as much as possible.  Please click this link for details.