Wrapping up Sydney…Final cruise tally…Shocking numbers…New Sydney photos…

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The early morning lights of Luna Park, Sydney.

Spending only a half a day in Sydney, viewing the amazing port, as seen from the ship, and driving through the city to the airport gave us a perception that it is truly an amazing city. 

We’ll be returning and staying overnight on several occasions as we board more cruises to tour this amazing continent. Australians spend a lifetime scouring this vast continent never feeling they’ve even scratched the surface. 

Image showing Australia and the British Isles sizes compared
Australia compared to the size of the US is nearly as big.  Our perception may have been it’s a large island. From this map, it’s evident that not the case, and its vastness and wilderness are unique in many ways as we’ll illustrate over the next many months.

As the world’s sixth-largest country after Canada, Russia, China. USA and Brazil, its size exceeded our perceptions of years past. For us, as visitors for so little time, we’d decided cruising around the country would give us a better opportunity to explore its many major states and cities. 

At some point, down the road during gaps in our schedule, we may decide to rent a “caravan” (an RV) to further explore the mysterious barren Outback which intrigues both of us.

Even the glow of the ship against the backdrop of the beautiful harbor was appealing.

For now, we’ve moved into our Trinity Beach home for the next three months and as soon as it stops raining, we’ll begin taking endless photos of the exquisite beauty surrounding us. The property is exactly as shown in the photos and the owners, Sylvie and Andy, living quietly above us, are even more charming than expected.  It couldn’t be more desirable. Photos to come tomorrow.

Getting here was challenging. We were exhausted and hungry after a long 12 hour travel day. But we always recall the 36 hour travel day to Africa to remind ourselves how short, these less trying days can be, comparatively.

Buildings line up along the shore.

On the way from the airport to Trinity Beach, we stopped at a Woolworth’s grocery store to buy bottled water, cream, roasted chickens, and salad for dinner. We hadn’t had a bite all day and needed quick sustenance. The store was much more well-stocked than we’d expected and today we’ll return to do the first big shopping. 

Renting the car was somewhat of a fiasco when our prepaid reservation was missing which finally they found after considerable time and effort. They rented us our usual smallish vehicle, some Mazda model into which our luggage manages to fit.

There’s no doubt that Sydney is one of the most beautiful port cities in the world.

By the end of today, we’ll be totally unpacked and situated, with piles of laundry to wash and dry. With our own washer and dryer right outside the front door, it will be a breeze.

We’ve always heard about the Harbour Bridge but had no idea how impressive it would be in person.

With the rush over the past few days, we had little opportunity to elaborate on our final cruise expenses. Here they are in detail including the cruise fare.
USD               AUD
Cruise fare including taxes, fees, and gratuities:           6,011.63       7,754.39
Final bill from 17 nights incl. wifi, cocktails, spec. din.:  1,577.19        2,034.41
Additional out of pocket cash gratuities:                         200.00          257.97
Tours, not included in the bill:                                         75.00           96.74
Grand Total:                                                            $7,863.80   $10,143.50
Average Cost per day (for two):                                $   462.58   $     596.68

Our usual average cost per day when living in rentals, paying for rental cars, groceries, tours, dining out, and miscellaneous is approximately US $200, AUD $257.97. By cruising, as opposed to flying, which may have been as much as US $3000, AUD $3871.12 we really didn’t pay much more at approximately an extra US $86, AUD $110.97 per day than our usual living costs.

Another view of the famous Sydney Opera House.

For the extra difference, the extraordinary experience made it well worth the expenditure. We’re pleasantly shocked by these numbers.

We’ll be back tomorrow with photos of our new home as we wait for the rain and cloudy skies to clear. You won’t be disappointed. Nor are we!

                                                 Photo from one year ago on June 12, 2014:

We drove to the village of Boa Morte to check out the scenery. For details, please click here.

Photo from one year ago today, June 11, 2014:

We never thought we’d have views comparable to those in Madeira but we’re beginning to think that the views here in Trinity Beach may compare. For details, please click here.

Arrived in Sydney…The Opera House…The Harbour Bridge and more…

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View of the Sydney Opera House from the ship at 6:30 am this morning. It’s hard to believe we’re here on our fifth continent!

We arrived in Sydney early this morning. After was seemed like an endless wait to exit the ship, we finally got off, went through customs and immigration and all is well.

We’re now at the beautiful airport in Sydney waiting for our flight on Qantas Airlines, known as one of the best airlines in the world. Check-in was slick and professional and we managed to have the only US $70 in excess baggage fees.

View of the harbor. Lovely!

Now we have only 30 minutes of free wifi time offered by the airline with no apparent option to purchase more.  As a result, before we board, I am attempting to load a very fast post and a few photos. More amazing photos of Sydney will be available tomorrow once we’re situated.

Waking up this morning to only stepping outside to see the famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge took our breath away. It was hard to believe that we’ve just entered our fifth continent.

We only have two more continents to experience to have stepped foot on all seven; Antarctica and South America, both of which we plan to visit when we’re done in the South Pacific. 

The Harbour Bridge.  Wow!

This, by no means, will be the end of our world journey. In many ways, it will become a new beginning, of returning to countries we’ve yet to visit fine-tuning our choices to those we long to see.

For today, I must wind down to ensure we can get a few photos loaded. No time for the photo from one year ago, but will do today and tomorrow’s when we post in the morning from Trinity Beach, Australia.

Happy days ahead. Stay with us!

Meeting a guest with an amazing story…Last full day on the ship…Emergency evacuation photos…

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Emergency evacuation helicopter approaching the ship to pick up the ailing passenger.

At the moment I’m sitting on the starboard side of the ship. A helicopter is due to arrive within a few minutes to drop a basket down to pick up an ill passenger that needs to get to Sydney quicker than this ship will by 4:30 am this coming morning. It’s sad to think that someone is so ill that they have to be evacuated off the ship under these circumstances. We can only hope for their recovery and health.

Helicopter preparing to pick up a passenger.

After 17 days at sea and loads of fun, we’re ready to move along to our next location, a flight from Sydney to Cairns and then a short drive to our new home in Trinity Beach Australia.

Approaching ship…

Actually, we anxious to get the upcoming travel day behind us as we expect a rather lengthy line at customs and immigration in Sydney from what we’ve been told by Australians can be slow and cumbersome. 

Passenger wrapped in the exterior covering over the basket with the paramedic holding the passenger.

Luckily, our scheduled flight isn’t until 1:30 pm. We expect to be “herded’ off the ship by 9:00 am, based on reports we’ve heard. We don’t like this part but we’re grateful we headed off to more adventures in our lives making the transit all the more tolerable.

Tonight, we took our two favorite passengers, Reene and Jeff to dinner at the Chop’s specialty restaurant to celebrate their 51st anniversary and Jeff’s birthday all of which occurred yesterday. It will be fun to spend our last night with this delightful couple with whom we’ve spent considerable time.

This morning we met another wonderful couple. Anne and Glenn Watkins. In a future post over the next several weeks, I may be posting a story about Anne’s adventure from the 1960s of traveling the world in a 30-foot sailboat, if time allows. It’s an amazing story we’re excited to post soon with details of her journey. 

We had so much to share, that it was necessary to postpone the story to a future date when we have more time to prepare the story. Now at 1:00 pm, we need to retire to our cabin to pack our bags to leave them outside the door for tonight’s planned luggage pickup, leaving only our carry on baggage with us overnight. 

We’ll have to be careful in packing anything over three ounces that will be appropriate for tomorrow’s flight. An hour ago since writing the above comment regarding immigration, the captain announced that immigration will in fact be boarding the ship at 6 am tomorrow morning which will speed up the process of getting into Australia.  We’re thrilled with this news.

With little time today, we’re off now to pack. Tomorrow, we’ll be back with our final bill on board the ship including all of our expenses, the cruise fare, and miscellaneous additional gratuities.

Back at you soon from Australia!

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

The view from our veranda in Madeira never failed to inspire us.For more photos and details, please click here.

Only two days until Sydney…Tomorrow’s a packing day…Figuring out time differences…

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This didn’t look fun to us but we commend the performers for their skill and bravery.

Please bear with us with our comments about dates may not match based on your location. At the moment we’ll be 15 hours later from we’ll be living near Cairn’s, Australia and for example, Minnesota with a 17 hour time difference for Los Angeles and Nevada.

We took these photos from the seventh deck where our cabin is located.

No doubt this is tricky. However, in each case, we’ll figure it out. Once we arrive, we’ll email our family members with suggested times for calls. If it takes us staying up late or getting up early for calls, we’re happy to do so.

Now, as the time of the cruise winds down we’re actually looking forward to the next step in our journey and getting the tough parts behind us; going through customs and immigration both requiring lengthy lines. Our documents are in order and we have no purchases to declare, neither of which will greatly reduce our waiting time.

The aerial acrobats were practicing for tonight’s entertainment.

At this point in most cruises, we never feel sad that the cruise is ending and the “holiday” is over. As always, we’re anticipating the next leg with enthusiasm and a sense of adventure.

My stomach lurched when she jumped off the ledge.
Have we loved this cruise? Overall, we have. The passengers we’ve met have made this a memorable cruise enabling us to meet many lovely people with whom we’ll hopefully stay connected for years to come. While we were seated today for the past three hours in the Schooner Bar attempting to prepare today’s post, we’ve been distracted by many interesting people who’ve stopped by to visit. 
They were practicing today when yesterday’s rough seas made it impossible.

After posting from this very same spot day after day, we’ve become “fixtures” that have elicited a certain degree of curiosity, inspiring a number of passengers who, we’d yet to meet to stop by asking what we possibly can be doing sitting in this exact spot day after day, feverishly typing away.

Today, we’ve become so wrapped up in an interesting conversation with a couple from India, we couldn’t pull ourselves away long enough to get back to the post.  We apologize for the delay. Then again, our readers certainly understand how easy it is to get distracted when among interesting people.

Passengers were gathered at the railing on many decks.

Now, with an upcoming seminar, I’ll have to pick up the pace and wrap up here s a bit early for today. Tom has already left for the cabin to drop off his computer while I wrap it up here with a plan to meet me at 2:00 pm. Most likely wherever you may be our time zones won’t coincide. 

At this point, four performers were hanging above the Centrum.

We’ll continue to try to figure out the time difference as we go along, being more specific as we pin down our exact location in the next few days. It appears there are several times zones in Australia.

Have a great Monday or Tuesday depending on where you are on the map in this massive world of ours.

                                                Photo from one year ago today, June 9, 2014:

The terraced gardens in the mountains and hills of Madeira was always a sight to behold. For details of that post, please click here.

Part 2, Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia…Excellent Island Tour…

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The waterfall in the park in Tahiti, a popular tourist attraction.

We didn’t get off the ship yesterday. Busy visiting with other passengers we were late getting finished with the post. By the time the photos finally uploaded due to a poor connection while in port, it was too late to go ashore and get back in time for the 4:30 pm sailing.

The embankment is protected by wire mesh and chains to keep the rocks from falling onto the roadway. The only other places we’ve seen this was in Madeira, Portugal, and Maui.

Again today with many passengers stopping to chat with us here in the Schooner Bar, we’ll be late posting. We apologize for today’s late post.

We passed through a few tunnels during the tour of the island of Tahiti.

When passengers tour with taxis on their own, the ship won’t wait to depart if there is an unforeseen delay, such as a flat tire, running out of gas, etc. Also, in reading online at TripAdvisor and other sites, there was a degree of unreliability expressed over taxi service in Bora Bora. 

On the last road to the waterfall area, numerous dogs were on the road, many asleep in the way of passing cars.

In an effort to maintain our low-stress travel philosophy, we stayed behind. That’s not to say staying behind wasn’t wonderful. It was. We hung out at the pool with our new friends from the US, Pat, and Charles from Missouri, and thoroughly enjoyed the time together.

Notice the plants inside the painted old tires.  We noticed these in several spots along the highway in Tahiti. It was raining while I shot this photo through the windshield.

After seeing Bora Bora and those adorable bungalows over the water, we’ve decided someday to return and perhaps stay for a month. We’ve found there are other less expensive options for those appealing bungalows which we’d love to experience.

Gnarly Banyan tree.

Taking tons of photos of Bora Bora from the ship, we were satisfied with our decision. Many passengers, particularly more seasoned travelers such as us, don’t get off at every port. We get off the ship when it calls to us which is more times than not.  So far, we’ve only missed one port of call.

A woman selling fruit at the waterfall park.

As the ship continues out to sea until arriving in Fiji on Saturday, June 6th, we’re extraordinarily content with plenty to do to keep us busy. Between hanging out with other passengers, attending seminars, movies, and a variety of entertainment venues, lounging by the pool, working out (for me), dining twice a day, we don’t have a moment of time to become bored or even read a book.

Bamboo growing along the pebble path.

On some days, we actually have to rush to dress for dinner. Tonight is another formal night, which is always tricky for us when many men dress in tuxedos and women in ball gowns. But, somehow we dig through our clothes to find clothes that don’t seem too casual or out of place.

During our walk through the park, we stopped to admire the scenery.

After all, we have no room or interest in such fanfare as we did when we went on our first few cruises with the proper attire on hand. Now down to so few pieces of luggage, we barely have room for a single more dressy item. Luckily, I’d purchased the few items in Princeville which aren’t dressy, although “casual dressy,” if there is such a thing.

Giant rocks in the creek.

Tom has one long sleeve white dress shirt with black pants which we hope will fit him tonight. He’s actually not eaten much on this cruise, keeping the gluten and sugar consumption under control, mostly due to his dislike of some of the options.

Boulders in the creek.

The accommodations for my meals have continued to my satisfaction at both meals surprising me at times as to the good flavor and consideration that has been exercised to comply with my restrictive diet. 

A path in the park-like area of the waterfall.

The kindly pastry chef had offered to be creative and make some type of custard type desserts for me using eggs and cream. I graciously declined his offer. He wouldn’t have used my preferred chemical-free liquid sweetener (purchased online) which deterred my interest. 

A footbridge over the brook.

We’re being mindful of constantly washing our hands and using sanitizer. So far, we’ve heard no mention of Norovirus or respiratory illness onboard which is often prevalent on cruises. 

Beautiful greenery in the park area.

Yesterday morning at breakfast we were seated at a table next to a woman mentioning she was coming down with a cough and sore throat. Again, as graciously as possible, profusely apologizing and asking her not to be offended, we arose.

Musician playing at the waterfall area.

Sure, it was awkward to have to do so. But, getting sick would be very frustrating and we have no desire to take such a risk. We still have nine more days on this cruise and having the opportunity to continue to enjoy ourselves each day as we have thus far, is truly a gift.

The babbling brook.

As we’re sitting in the Schooner Bar at the moment in our quiet comfortable corner, it’s already almost 3:00 pm. The days fly by leaving us with a bucket load of great memories and friends from all over Australia, several of whom have invited us to come to stay at their homes, genuinely making such an offer that astounds us.

Another view of the babbling brook at the site of the waterfall.

Of course, we’d never actually stay in their homes, as much as we appreciate the offers. We’ve always preferred to find our own accommodations without imposing upon others. 

Our friend Jeff sipping on a fresh coconut. Benjamin, our driver is in the background in the red and white shirt.

Today, we share more photos of our tour in Tahiti, and tomorrow, well, there are great shots of Bora Bora. We worried we’d run out of stories and photos on such a long cruise although, at this point, we doubt this will transpire with much more awaiting us.

Have a terrific Tuesday. We’ll be back!

                                            Photo from one year ago today, June 2, 2014:

On this date one year ago, the locals from the Catholic church visited the homes in Campanario to sing and share the Day of Ascension. Entering our house, they continued with their lovely music while we praised them for a job well done, offering a donation at the end.  For more details from that day, please click here.

Cruising…Lost in the minutia while out to sea…Late posting tomorrow due to morning tour in Moorea…

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View of the sea before the seas became rough.

Today’s our fifth day at sea. It’s been easy to get lost in a pleasant routine of building relationships, eating reasonably good food, watching seminars, movies, and presentations, and lounging poolside for short stints.

The past few nights we’ve added the 9 pm live shows to our routine and have thoroughly enjoyed each of them.  By 11 pm, we’re ready to retire to our cabin for a hopefully good night’s sleep to begin again the next day.

We’re never bored or antsy. We spend little time in the cabin other than to sleep, shower, and change clothes for the evening. Since neither of us is able to nap, we never stop to lay down or snooze as some cruisers do.

Rough seas have precipitated the closing of the swimming pool.  Walking about the ship has been tricky the past 24 hours as the rough seas have increased.  Of course, neither of us suffers from any seasickness.

Overall, the majority of the passengers are over 50 and Australian, as I mentioned earlier, some of the most lively and animated people we’ve met anywhere. We’ve also spent time with equally fun Americans, we’ve met of the 200 onboard.

The overall Australian theme aboard the ship has been an excellent intro for us into Australian life and lingo.  Tom, who’s had a blast at the men’s club, the “Shed” will attend again today after missing yesterday when we attended a movie with our new friends, Pat and Charles.

After finally watching the highly acclaimed, “The Imitation Game,” we highly recommend seeing this superb movie, which particularly appealed to both of us, me for the technological aspects and Tom for its World War II era. 

The casino, which we continue to ignore preferring not to lose any money.

By the time the movie was over, we wandered about the ship, eventually heading back to our cabin to dress for the party we were invited to for all Crown and Anchor members, a priority points club comparable to “frequent flyers.” Oddly, the party was held in the theatre, not necessarily a good venue for a party. 

A smaller ship such as this, Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas, with a capacity of 2076 passengers is in the category we prefer. With fewer people, it’s actually easier to make and maintains friendships when it possible to find each other again, as opposed to the much larger ships where it’s easy to get lost in the crowd.

Again last night, we had dinner at a 10 seat-sharing table sitting next to older travelers with much more experience than us. Hearing their stories encourages us to consider locations we may have dismissed in the past. How brave many of them are who are well into their 80’s and 90’s, giving us hope that we may be able to carry on for years to come.

View from an upper-level balcony overlooking the Centrum, the center area of the ship.

After dinner, we watched a fabulous comedian at the theatre. It was interesting to hear so much of the humor geared toward the Australians and how quickly we are picking up their humor. 

Although I prefer not to stereotype people, in general, the Australians are one fine bunch of people. Their sense of humor leaves us roaring with laughter and easily getting in on the fun with our own quips.

Tomorrow, we’re going on a fabulous tour on the island of Moorea with a marine biologist. After reading many reviews on TripAdvisor for suggested activities on this small island, this seemed most appropriate for us.  Many comments we read suggested we chose tours offered by the ship for safety reasons. Although we prefer small tours arranged on our own or with others, in this case, we feel this was a better decision.

Returning to our cabin, this pin was awaiting us.  We are now officially Platinum members with a long way to go on Royal Caribbean to reach a tier with many benefits.

As a result, we won’t be posting until after we return from the tour. Please be aware that tomorrow’s post won’t be available online until later in the day than usual. Good signal providing, we’ll be back with exciting photos and stories of our tour.

Also, if you do not see a post on a specific day, it is due to the fact that the ship’s Internet is down which we’ve been warned could but may not, transpire at some point between now and June 11th when we arrive in Sydney.

These mechanical devices are used for the aerial acrobats.

Thanks to all of our readers for following along with us on cruises. We realize our photos are not as exciting while out to sea as at other times, but as we come to several great ports of call over the next several days, we hope to amp up the adventure.

Happy Friday!

                                             Photo from one year ago today, May 29, 2014:

Ironically, one year ago today we posted information on this cruise we are on at the present while we were living in Madeira, Portugal. For details from that post, please click here.

“Sexiest Man Aboard Ship Contest”…Tom and the “Shed”…

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The ceiling fixture in the main lounge area, the Centrum.

Cruising is ideal for us.  We love the routine we naturally slide into within a few days, hanging out with new friends, meeting more people at meals each morning, evening, and when wandering about the ship.

Yesterday afternoon Tom attended the daily “Shed,” an Australian tradition whereby men get together and shoot the breeze. He had a great time and most likely will return again each day. How unusual for us to be apart for a few hours. I easily filled the two-hour time slot working out and taking photos.

In three days, we’ll reach our first port of call, Moorea, Society Islands, where we’ll get off the ship to check out the island. It’s especially enjoyable for us when we have an opportunity to visit new locations to see if it’s a place we’d return to someday for an extended stay.

Tom refused to partake in the “Sexiest Man Aboard Ship Contest” that transpired yesterday afternoon. We both got a kick out of watching the contest poolside.

If not, it’s still interesting to see other parts of the world, the local customs, the way of life, and the dedication many islanders must exercise to fulfill the expectations of tourists constantly flooding their area.

We’re very sensitive to that fact and we make every effort to be kind, patient, and appreciative when services are provided to us. Many island nations have lived off the cruise business and tourism to sustain a quality of life that may be impossible without it.

Part of the competition was pushups. This passenger did the most number of pushups, 66, and eventually won the competition with his excellent dancing skills.

Most of the islands we’ll visit between Saturday, May 30th and June 11th have small populations, high poverty levels, and struggle to make it through life. It is through the naivety of us travelers that a simple beautiful life can be had living on a tropical island. 

But, for the masses living on these islands, life is hard, fraught with poverty, illness, and strife often without running water, electricity, and modern comforts and conveniences.

This poor guy couldn’t do one pushup.  This made Tom especially happy he hadn’t participated.

We have no delusions in our pleasant way of life of following the sun, that the people that serve us in any manner share in what appears to them to be an affluent life. For us, it’s hardly affluent when we’ve made many adjustments and sacrifices in order to live this life we’ve chosen. 

We’ve often said this and continue to remind ourselves…we are humbled by this life we live. Humbled by the beauty of the people, the environment, the way of life, and how simply one can live and find happiness at every turn.

This guy did a “moon shot” while the dancing part of the competition took place. 

Sure, it’s easy for us to say this as we lounge on a cruise ship writing to our readers today using modern technology, eating good food, and having all the “creature comforts” one could want.

From one laugh fest to another, one great philosophical conversation to another, to one enriching expose of our lives to theirs, we strive to maintain a degree of gratitude and humility.

One of the buffet tables in Romeo and Juliet, the main dining room.

However enthusiastically we share our story that often leaves mouths agape as to how we could possibly manage to let go of all of our worldly goods, the people we love, and a place to call “home” we don’t forget for a moment that is could change on a dime.

As each day comes, we find ourselves being grateful for one more opportunity to become engaged in our surroundings whether its people, scenery, or wildlife, and when, on occasion, it’s all of these.

The dining room as it was being set for breakfast.

At the moment we’re sitting outdoors near the pool in a dining area with tables and chairs drinking cold beverages on a hot, humid day and a somewhat overcast day at sea. We don’t have a complaint in the world.  The seas are relatively calm so far and that too could change on a dime. If it does we’ll be ready to take on the challenge with aplomb.

Please bear with our less than perfect photos aboard the ship. There are only so many photo ops on the ship.  However, in a few days, we’ll have more exciting photos to share of the many islands we’ll visit on the journey to Australia.

G’Day!

                                              Photo from one year ago today, May 27, 2014:

At night the island of Madeira became a cacophony of lights and magic as we enjoyed this view from our veranda. In the entire two and a half months, we never tired of either the daytime ocean views or the lights. For details, please click here.

Noisy night…Company’s coming…House or condo…Which do we prefer?…

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I’m excited to see many more flowers blooming as spring nears.

At 4:30 am, the next-door neighbors, renting for only four nights, moved out. They must have had 20 pieces of luggage taking one out to their car at a time with doors slamming and heavy footsteps.

The front steps, about eight, are in the process of being renovated. I imagine the renters were being careful going down them, taking only a few items at a time, although they seemed sturdy to us. 

Not enough time today to identify this flower. Does anyone know what this is? Notice the black tips.

We easily recall the steps that collapsed under our feet (at the time nothing indicated there was an issue with those steps) on our anniversary two years ago, injuring me in such a way that it took many months to fully recuperate.

We both were awake when the renters were moving out and for long afterward. Worried I’d be an exhausted mess if I didn’t go back to sleep after trying for an hour, I took a Tylenol PM which I do on occasion, read a book on my phone, and 15 minutes later I fell back to sleep. Tom dozed off shortly before me.

Hopefully soon, the cloudy days will end and blue skies will return.
Still a little groggy from the Tylenol and grateful that the PM part (Diphenhydramine, an over the counter allergy med) had helped reduce my recent sneezing from the high pollen count, I didn’t get out of bed until 8:00 am.  In no time I was awake and alert ready to tackle the day.

With Julie arriving tonight, today we’ll do our weekly comprehensive cleaning as opposed to the dusting and sweeping we usually do every three or four days. This condo, although lovely and well-appointed is relatively easy to clean. When a property is in good repair, it always seems easier to clean, doesn’t it?

As far as condos go, we definitely prefer to rent a house over a condo, mainly due to the likelihood of it being quiet as opposed to the sound of doors banging, toilets flushing and people coming and going.

Swimmers on the beach below the steep cliffs.

In most locations in Hawaii, if one doesn’t want to spend over $10,000 a month, a condo is the only option especially in upscale areas such as Princeville. The only stand-alone houses we rented in Hawaii was on the Big Island when our family came for Christmas, the two houses coincidentally next door to one another, one considerably more expensive than the other.

In other countries, we’ve been fortunate to find affordable private houses. The only places we’ve lived in a condo have been in Belize which was a condo in a resort; in Dubai, UAE on the 38th floor of a 95 story building and in Vancouver while we awaiting our cruise to Hawaii, all of which had full kitchens.

The waves and the rocks below the cliffs.

We’ve had a number of short and long-term hotel stays, most only one night except for Paris and London, which we spent two weeks each without a kitchen, dining out for all meals.

Generally, stand-alone vacation houses cost more than condos, depending on the location. In Madeira, (see our archives from May 15, 2014, to July 31, 2014) for that stunning house overlooking the sea which was only $1350 a month. 

There are many varieties of beautiful grass that easily grows with the rain and humidity in the Hawaiian Islands.

The fact that we often stay for two to three months (our four months here in Kauai is the rare exception) most property owners see fit to provide us with somewhat of a discount, which makes sense. Plus with our substantial worldwide readership, the owners may benefit from our mention of their properties with links, such as here in Princeville, Kauai.

Unquestionably, we’ll be able to provide a great review for this condo. The fact that remodeling is in progress for the unit below us and the resulting noise, won’t have a bearing on our review. Condo living has these issues, of which most renters are aware before signing the agreement.

Going forward to the next two-plus years to the South Pacific (with only one 75 day gap which we’ll soon fill), every property we’re renting is a either private house or a stand-alone house in a resort, as is the case in Fiji for 89 days.

There’s rarely a day when the mountains aren’t shrouded in “vog,” clouds of humidity.

In Trinity Beach, Australia, our next vacation rental beginning on June 11th, the property we’ve rented is a ground floor lower level of the owner’s main house. The reason we chose this type of property is the high cost of rentals in Australia in general, comparable to the costs here in Princeville. 

The owners with whom we’ve communicated often, seem very kind and friendly. We anticipate that we’ll all spend many good times together. After all, Australians are known for being “overly friendly” not unlike the people of Kauai and South Africa, the most friendly environments we’ve visited in the past 29 months of travel. 

I suppose the fact that other languages are spoken in many of the countries in which we’ve lived has had a huge bearing on our perception of friendliness. Developing friendships with whom one can’t converse with, is tricky.

More amazing view of the sea near our condo.

Now, we’re off the pool and fitness center at the Makai Club where I’ll work out while Tom takes the car to fill it with gas for mine and Julie’s upcoming sightseeing outings, beginning after she’s rested.

Off we go to get a few things done. We’ll be back tomorrow with more. Soon, we’ll have many more new photos to share. As always, all photos we’ve posted today are new, except the one-year-ago as posted below.

Have a happy day!

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

A view of the Medina from the rooftop of our vacation rental which was a private home, although attached to neighboring houses. There are no stand-alone holiday houses in the Medina and few in Morocco in general. For more details, please click here.

Lump sums due this week…The Kauai Path…more tomorrow…A year ago, a cart and a cart pusher in Marrakech…

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Although we haven’t had a sunny day in almost a week, we’d saved these photos to share as a reminder that soon the sun will shine again.

We knew the month of March would require a few good-sized lump sum payments for vacation rentals and cruises. These big payments are a part of our life and try as we may, we still cringe a little when they come due.

Kealia Beach as we walked along the Kauai Path on a sunny day. When the weather clears we’ll return another day to walk the opposite end of the path we’ve yet to explore.

Then again, we don’t have utility bills, cable bills, yard service, and household repairs and maintenance. Instead, we prepay rent for two to three months, in full, well in advance of occupying the premises. 

The jetty at the beach in Kapaa.

When most travelers pay for a vacation rental or hotel, most likely they are paying for one or two weeks. For us, the month’s long rentals often require amounts due close to $10,000. For cruises, there’s often a balance owing after a deposit of $5000 or $6000.

This week, we’ll pay the second payment for the Trinity Beach, Australia house of $3115, paying the balance one month before our move-in date of June 11, 2015. The cruise we’re taking from Honolulu to Sydney on May 24th has a balance owing this week of $5110. 

A map of the Kauai Path on display when we began the long walk to the right from the center.

Therefore, this week we’ll shell out $8225. The upside of this is that our rent will be paid up through September 8, 2015. In May, we’ll pay for the next rental in Fiji and so on. Although we’re always paid well in advance we continue to have future rental balances payable in advance. 

Keeping careful documentation is a vital portion of our travels. At any given time, we can reference our Excel workbook for up-to-the-minute records of all of our current and future expenses, travel dates, reservations, itinerary, and so on, copies of which we store in two separate clouds, an external hard drive, and two laptops.  That’s backup for you!

We’ve yet had to leave a beach unable to find a parking spot, even on the most perfect days.

Of course, I cringe a little when these sums are due and sigh with relief when the payments are processed, putting it all behind me. How do we pay for these? The balance of the rental is usually paid via PayPal which charges fees for processing. 

In some cases, the owner will pay the PayPal fees and in other cases, after we’ve negotiated a good rental rate, we may agree to pay the fees. If an owner is providing us with a good discount for our extended stay, you bet we’ll agree to pay the fees.

The shore wasn’t sandy at varying points on the Kauai path yet a few sunbathers’s found a more private spot.

As for the cruises, as we continue to work with Vacationstogo.com for the best fares, they automatically charge our credit card on file on the date the balance of the full fare is due usually 75 to 90 days before sailing depending on the cruise line. Once paid, we receive a paid in full receipt by email. 

The cruise lines have varying schedules as to when and how much one may recovery if they cancel after the payment is made. The policies are clearly defined in the cruise documents with a rare exception for an alternate option in case of emergency. 

At certain points, the shore was filled with lava rock.

It’s always sad to read about passengers with a need to cancel a cruise when illness strikes and their frustration when they can’t get a refund. Sadly, it’s the nature of the beast. 

Speaking of cruising, last night we watched the new TV show, “Escape.” This first two-hour episode in the series was the sinking of the Costa Concordia in January 2012. We both watched in silence, our mouths agape over the horrifying events of this tragic situation and loss of life.

Had a pair of lovers recently made this heart?

When the show was over, Tom asked me if it had an effect on me regarding our five upcoming booked cruises. The biggest effect on us both was from the loss of lives and their family member’s grief and sorrow and, the trauma suffered by the survivors. We’d originally heard about this a year before we took our first cruise.

Of course, we’ll think about it next time we go on a muster drill and pay even more attention than in the past and again from time to time when we hear unusual noises aboard a ship. Human error. Its rampant and at times the cause of tragic events. 

A determined fisherman stood on the rocks hoping for the “catch of the day.”

As much as we’d all like to have a guaranty of safety in our lives and a guaranty of good health, these simply aren’t available. But, we can choose not to worry over those situations over which we have no control and which, most likely, will never occur.

As for any angst over lump-sum payments, once they are done, I always let it go. We’ve budgeted for these expenses, we’ve made them affordable and they are a part of the amazing life we’ve chosen to live.

We’d just missed a photo of a whale’s full body breach. Darn it!

Happy Monday to those who still work. Find peace in knowing that someday, you’ll have the time to live your dreams, whether it’s reading a good book on the veranda, planting flowers in the garden, or stretching yourself to do that which you never imagined you’d do.

As for retirees…why do you care that it’s Monday? We don’t.

                                             Photo from one year ago today, March 2, 2015:

Once our driver delivered us from the airport in Marrakech to the Medina we were met by Adile, one of the four staff members of our “riad” located in the heart of the souks and, the cart handler who wheeled our luggage to the property. It was quite a walk through the Medina and the souk. We were exhausted from the long flight and layovers but, the excitement energized us as we took in the unbelievable sights before our eyes. For more details and photos, please click here.

“Down Under,” here we come!…New booking photos!…Keeping records of our travels…Quite the task…

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The living room is always a crucial area for us for relaxing and enjoying the view. There’s no shortage of either in this wonderful location.

This week, we’ve managed to book two properties for well into the future:

  • June 11, 2015 – September 8, 2015 – Trinity Beach, Australia – which we’ll share here today with photos
  • September 8, 2015 – December 6, 2015 – Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji- which we shared yesterday with photos
Another angle of the main living area.

We’re excited as we enter these two firmed up locations to our ever-growing itinerary which, by the way, we’ll be posting in its entirety once we firm up a place in New Zealand.

Once we settle the details of a new booking there are many steps to enter it into our Excel spreadsheet with many tabs. One worksheet in our spreadsheet is the “Itinerary and Costs” tab whereby we enter information into columns; the dates, location, rental amount, car rental, transportation, entertainment, dining out, groceries, tips, and fees. and miscellaneous.

Although the ocean views are at a distance, we’re looking forward to amazing sunsets. With a pool on the 3-acre property, we’ll be content this far from the ocean. Rental cars are affordable in this area and we can easily drive to a nearby beach to walk along the shore.

Another worksheet in the spreadsheet is “Deposits and Balances” which include: dates, location, total rent, hotel or cruise rate, the deposit paid, date paid, balance due, date(s) balance due (at times, payable in one or more installments).

For cruises, there is an additional worksheet with details of the cruise including dates, name of the ship, total cost including tips and taxes (usually paid at the time of booking the cruise), cabin number and class, balance due, date due, credits, and extras.

We can hardly wait to lounge by this pool in the backyard.

Once these numbers are entered, we make a folder with all documents relative to a particular property, hotel, or cruise and save it on our cloud and external hard drive. Without a doubt, there are numerous steps to logging future travels but we’ve found that this works well.

Of course, I do all of this data entry and oddly, enjoy doing it. Each time I make changes to the workbook, I send a copy to Tom to “save over” his last copy for easy reference for him.  This prevents me from having to look up info anytime he has questions. Each of us references this form frequently, especially these past few weeks as we figure out new dates and locations

Well equipped kitchen with all we’ll need.

When a new reader pops into our site, their immediate perception maybe, “Cool. These old-timers are having an easy life.” Little do they realize until reading further that the planning, recording, and preparation for our travels is a complex undertaking requiring painstaking effort and diligence. 

For us, it’s simply a part of the experience and we make every effort to enjoy it along with everything else

The bedroom with queen bed and doors to patio.

Now, let’s get into Trinity Beach, Australia new booking. I must admit, this was one of the most difficult countries/continents in which we’ve searched thus far.  Prices were high, especially with ocean views. It was impossible to find something affordable located directly on the beach that was nice enough for our liking.

We aren’t willing to live in a dumpy little house, even for a view. In the end, we compromised in a few ways; one, the ocean view is at a distance but a beach is nearby; two, we’re renting a full windowed/glass door home with private access on the ground level “situated on 3-acres of a tropical rain forest with 180˚ views of the Coral Sea and Cairns beautiful northern beaches.”

This hot tub will be used frequently.

How could we resist?  Certainly, it’s more private than a condo or apartment and with full access to the grounds and pool, we’ll be totally at ease. The owners although younger than us, live in a separate property on the grounds and are still working and gone most of the day. They are well-traveled, outgoing, warm, and friendly.  Most likely, we’ll all become friends! 

Roomy shower compared to many smaller showers we’d had in the past.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to have this wrapped up. Now, between this property and Fiji following, we are currently booked out until December 6, 2015. Over the next few months, we’ll continue booking out another six months in order to have bookings through June 2016, almost two years.  Then, we can relax (so to speak) for a year, living in the moment.

The rain forest setting should bring us some visitors!

I must admit, it’s hard to believe that we’ll be in Paris in 32 days. How did this come up so quickly? For now, we continue to stay in tune with our remaining time and surroundings here on the beautiful island of Madeira, Portugal.

Have a warm and sunny weekend!
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Photo from one year ago today, June 29, 2013:

This was the veranda where we hung laundry in Boveglo, Italy. This was the second country in which there was no clothes dryer available to us, the first being the United Arab Emirates where we stayed in Dubai for 13 nights the prior month. Now here in Madeira, we use such a drying rack which frequently tips over in the strong winds. For details from that date, please click here.