Visit to Dover, Tasmania…Uncertainty in filling gaps in the itinerary…Worrisome?

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Turkeys crossing the road.

As we drove through the foreshore of Dover, Tasmania, it felt as if we could be in an oceanfront town in the world, even in the US. The only difference on a sunny day was the lack of traffic, sunbathers on the beach, and vendors pushing passersby to partake of their offerings.

“Hey, you guys!  Wait for me!”

From the web: “Dover is the southernmost town of its size in Australia, located on the western shores towards the southern end of the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, south of the Huon Valley, southwest of Hobart, located on the head of Port Esperance in Tasmania.”

  After looking online, we couldn’t find the motivation for the name of this little town.  Any comments from locals? We veered off the main road to Police Point to find a few farms and turkeys walking on the road.

We’d heard about Dover from the butcher in Geeveston, who recommended we make a point of visiting the scenic ocean town. We weren’t disappointed. Our love for the sea is the driving force behind most planning in building our itinerary year after year.

Cattle on a hill seeking respite from the sun under the shade of a tree.

Now, as we review the upcoming itinerary, we’re well aware of a few holes we need to begin thinking about. (Please click here if you’ve missed our most recently posted itinerary because we’ve moved down the page a few lines since we posted it).

The word “foreshore” in Australian speak refers simply to ocean frontage/beach.

The most imminent gap is the month-long gap in Buenos Aires, Argentina, beginning on Tom’s birthday on December 23, 2017, a mere 10 months from now. 

Sailboats moored in the bay in Dover, Tasmania.

Continuing for a period of one month, we haven’t yet decided how we’ll spend that month in Argentina as we peruse several possibilities. However, it appears the cost of vacation/holiday homes is high in this city, and its surrounding areas inspiring us may remain open-minded as to our options.

The tide was low as we drove through the town of Dover.

Based on the upcoming Antarctica cruise at the end of this one month beginning on January 23, 2018, and its outrageous cost, we must steer ourselves into a somewhat economical budget-friendly mode of living. We’re still researching.

Pier in Dover.

As for the gaps following the Antarctic cruise, we’ll be flying from South America to South Africa to begin a period of time yet undetermined. Where we’ll stay, there is also “up in the air” when Louise, our friend and past property manager, has promised to find us an ideal scenario in Marloth Park/Kruger National Park.

Pier in Southport, Tasmania.

Once we arrive in South Africa next February with no definitive plans booked for the future, we’ll begin to explore various expeditions we’ve long to experience while on the continent, such as the gorillas in Rwanda, Victoria Falls, and more safaris.

Occasionally, we discuss these particular gaps in our itinerary, but with plenty of time to pin down accommodations and activities for Africa, it’s more of a concern to begin searching for options in Buenos Aires.

More of these exquisite white sand beaches in Dover as well as in Southport.

Today, cloudy and foggy, we’re staying put while taking care of some business-related tasks, making another great meal (with a few photos for tomorrow), and contemplating plans for the future. 

See you soon!

Photo from one year ago today, February 10, 2016:

Surfing and kayaking are popular in both New Zealand, Australia, and of course, Tasmania.  For more photos, please click here.

Crabby?…Pillowcases and clothing…Change in plans effective in four days…What was the cost?

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Large visitor came to call after high tide during the night.    Look at these eyeballs!

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

This tiny white sail was able to pull this boat through the strong winds.

Why we decided to leave the villa five days earlier than planned wasn’t easy. We really enjoyed this place.    However, the practical aspect prompted us to think about how to manage the next few days with limited Wi-Fi access, until we left Bali after midnight on October 30.

We’ll arrive in Sydney on October 30th, (the red eye), spend one night in our usual hotel in Sydney located across the street from the port and sail away on the day of our fourth anniversary of traveling the world, October 31st.  What a day to celebrate what we’ll happily do aboard the ship! 

After the overnight stay in the Sydney hotel we’ll have recovered from the red eye (who sleeps well on a plane?) and be excited to embark on the 33-night cruise circumventing the continent of Australia on Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas.

Our original plan was to take off from the villa for the four or five hour harrowing drive on Saturday where we’d stay for several hours, not a full night, before heading to airport as required at 10 pm to board the midnight flight to Sydney. With this plan, we wouldn’t have to hang out at the airport for hours.

A friend of Ketut made these two pillow cases to fit my new pillow that came in the last parcel. The cost for both of these was only US $3.07, IDR 40,000!

The cost for these two was just $3.07 USD, IDR 40,000!

Accordingly, we have booked a room at the exceptional Hilton Garden Inn Kuta which is close to the airport. We’d use the room as a resting point until 10:00 pm, to then depart for the airport for the nighttime flight. It made all the sense in the world when none of us wanted to sit around the airport for eight hours. 

We’ve stayed at this hotel twice in these past months and with their low rates, it was a no-brainer. Then a few days ago something came into my head. Why not go there a day earlier to make sure we had at least a good night’s sleep before the red eye? 

Neither of us ever sleeps much the night before departure from a vacation home when are minds are preoccupied with getting up on time, finishing last minute packing and getting on our way. Overall, our lives are comprised of some time constraints, other than departure dates. It’s easy to get carried away with the details when you can’t sleep last night.

After wearing a beautiful top like this when we dressed in Hindu attire as shown in this post, I decided to buy a few of these lace tops realizing this would be perfect for formal nights on cruises. Ketut has given me several colours to try. I ended up purchasing five colors at only US $12.29, IDR 160,000 each!  Now I’ll have to toss five items from my luggage to maintain the proper weight.

That conversation in the pool yesterday changed to the prospect of going to the hotel next Friday instead of Saturday. Then it all changed. We got out of the pool, showered and changed and tried over and over again to get online to add the one more night’s hotel stay.

Impossible to get online for several hours, even while restarting the router, we came to the conclusion that we should actually leave sooner than we had discussed in the pool.   the owners next door having arrived on Tuesday and their use of the shared WiFi router located between the two villas on a massive pole, we had a difficult time getting online.

We definitely do not blame the owners of this beautiful property. The property listing was clear that the shared signal was sketchy. Over these past almost four months we’ve somehow managed but now, with them sharing, it’s become all the more problematic. 

Ribud and the new guy who works next door, were raking the grass in front of the pool after a very high tide brought in debris overnight.

The weak signal is simply not strong enough to suit our needs while they’re  using it as well.  Nor would we ask them to do anything differently. After all, this is their property and they’re here only a few weeks.  Like us, they also need to be online.

After waiting a few hours, entertaining ourselves otherwise, (neither of us complains), we made the decision to leave for Denpasar (Kuta) five days earlier than planned.

Finally, around 6:00 pm, we managed to get online and book the hotel at the same unbelievable rate of US $50, IDR 649,149 per night for five more nights. (We’d already paid the same amount for Saturday’s non-overnight booking). This rate includes the buffet breakfast. See below for the five-night total:

Payment details
Price for room 1
Monday, October 24, 2016 $50.47
Tuesday, October 25, 2016 $50.47
Wednesday, October 26, 2016 $50.47
Thursday, October 27, 2016 $50.47
Tax recovery charges and service fees $42.40
Total amount paid $244.28

Click here for photos and amenities for this excellent hotel.

The hotel has a free airport shuttle, a coin operated laundry, an enormous pool and a beautiful affordable dinner menu.

Last time we dined at this hotel was on June 28th, (click here for the post with photos) when the chef had come to our table to confirm that I’d been happy with the special meal he’d made for me. 

We don’t leave here early flippantly. We’ve paid for these final days and won’t be getting our money back nor would we ask for it. We appreciate all the kindness and attentive care we’ve received each and every day by the beautiful and gentle Balinese people and our household staff of four.

Guy in the ocean at sunset.

Over the weekend, we’ll pack to prepare for Monday morning’s departure from Sumbersari at 9:00 am for the four or five hour harrowing drive. Once we arrive at the hotel, we’ll be happy the long drive is behind us. 

We’ll have time to get caught up on some future booking tasks we’ve had trouble completing while here with slower Internet and of course, on Monday once we arrive, Tom will be able to watch the Minnesota Vikings football game.

Prior to leaving the villa on Monday we’ll post our final expenses for the time we spent in Sumbersari. Then, on the final day at the hotel, we’ll do the post for the expenses incurred for the six booked nights at the hotel, meals, drinks, tips, and transportation.

Regardless of the difficulty of getting online, we’ll continue to post over these next three days as we wrap up our time at this lovely villa.

Be well.


Photo from one year ago today, October 21, 2015:

Fiji’s version of a “quick and easy,” or superette. Please click here for the year ago post.

Change in plans for US visit in May…

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We’re in awe of the ornate detail in the Hindu statues.

“Sightings on the Beach in Bali”

The dogs on the beach show little to no interest in humans. But, they certainly enjoy hanging our together. These five were actually in a group of eight although it was impossible to get all eight in one photo.

From time to time it becomes necessary to change plans for a particular visit to a country. In a perfect world, the decisions we make we can follow through to completion. 

As we all well know, decisions may not be perfect, including ours, when we consider travel plans. Most often when we find it necessary to change plans, it doesn’t have a bearing on others. 

In this case, it does, for which we apologize to our family members if they are disappointed for the necessity of our making these changes. 

Another beautiful statue in the neighborhood of villas on the beach.

The biggest consideration in this change is the cost which escalated greatly over this past year. Over these past many days, we calculated the expenses on a spreadsheet to include the six weeks RV rental period, fuel, campground fees, US $3, IDR $40,004, per hour for generator use fees to run the refrigerator and the AC (at night only), and many ancillary fees that go along with renting an RV.

Recreational building/gathering place for villa owners/residents in the area.  This location is also where the security guards use it as a base overnight during their watch.

The total cost came in at no less than US $20,000, IDR 266,705,981. That included only the time spent in Minnesota.  With meals our daily costs would have been in excess of US $500, IDR $6,660,000 per day, definitely outside the realm of our budget especially for this extended period.

Then, we had to consider the added cost of making our way across the northern tier of the US to drive to Minnesota. In the summer, these expenses are outrageous. 

Hindu offering display.

Instead, once our Alaskan cruise ends on May 26th, we’re flying directly to Minnesota. Although the grandkids will still be in school for a few more weeks, we’ll have time to see them after school, in the evenings, and on weekends. 

During the school day hours, we hope to spend some quality time with our adult kids (if possible based on their work schedules) and visiting Tom’s retired siblings and old friends.

Kitchen on-site for resident’s use for entertaining guests in the recreational center.

The pluses to this big change? We’ve booked a hotel within 25 minutes of all of our kid’s three homes. We can visit them. They can visit us. The hotel has two indoor pools the kids will love.  We’ve booked the hotel reservation as having three children with us, enabling all of us to use the pools at once.

There’s never a shortage of exquisites views as shown from the recreational center.

We’ve negotiated a great rate which we’ll soon share. The car rental for this period will be in excess of US $2600, IDR 34,632,000 for a midsized vehicle for the six weeks, although not quite as costly as some other parts of the world.

As for meals, a complimentary breakfast is included for us and “three kids.” The hotel room will have a small refrigerator and microwave. Costco roasted chickens, here we come! 

Colorful statue in a front yard temple in the neighborhood.

With our intermittent fasting, we may only have a full meal in the evenings when we’re dining with family or friends. We’ll see how that works out. Since we never eat three meals a day (rarely two) our food costs won’t be outrageous.

A more contemporary statue at a new home construction site in the neighborhood.

With the change to a hotel allowing for greater mobility and a certain degree of practicality, we’re able to cut the cost almost in half ultimately making the time in Minnesota all the more enjoyable.

More details will follow. Happy day to all!


Photos from one year ago today, June 16, 2015:

An indoor organic farmer’s market in the mall in Trinity Beach, Australia, where we often shopped for vegetables. For more details please click here.

Itinerary for the next 666 days…In five days, we’ll leave NZ…In six days, we’ll board a cruise in Sydney…Tomorrow…two great videos!

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Colorful sunset over the farm.


Our itinerary for the next 666 days…more to come in the future…

 Sydney Hotel 1  4/15/2016 – 4/16/2016 
 Cruise – Sydney to Singapore  14 RC Voyager of Seas   4/16/2016 – 4/30/2016 
 Bali House  59  4/30/2016 – 6/28/2016 
 Hotel Singapore 7  6/28/2016 – 7/5/2016 
 Hanoi Hotel 3  7/5/2016 – 7/8/2016 
 Cruise – Mekong River – Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City  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 
 Cruise – Sydney to Perth  16 RC Radiance of the Seas   10/31/2016 – 11/16/2016 
 Cruise – Perth to Sydney  17  RC Radiance of the Seas   11/16/2016 – 12/3/2016 
 Tasmania #1 Beach House  44  12/3/2016 – 1/16/2017 
 Tasmania #2 River Waterfront  44  1/16/2017 – 3/1/2017 
 Cruise – Sydney to Sydney  12 Celebrity Solstice   3/1/2017 – 3/13/2017 
 Sydney House 40  3/13/2017 – 4/22/2017 
 Cruise – Sydney to Seattle   24  RC Explorer of the Seas   4/22/2017 – 5/15/2017 
 GAP 5/15/2017 – 5/17/2017  2  5/15/2017 – 5/17/2017 
 Cruise – Vancouver to Seattle – Alaska   9 Celebrity Solstice   5/17/2017 – 5/26/2017 
 Seattle to Minneapolis – drive through Yellowstone – hotels  13  5/26/2017 – 6/8/2017 
 Minneapolis Family Visit – RV rental  42  6/8/2017 – 7/19/2017 
 Nevada Family Visit – Stay with son Richard in Henderson 11  7/19/2017 – 8/1/2017 
 Costa Rica – Atenas House 114  8/1/2017 – 11/22/2017 
 Hotel – Fort Lauderdale – Not booked  1  11/22/2017 – 11/23/2017 
 Cruise – Ft. Lauderdale – Santiago, Chile  15 Celebrity
Infinity		  11/23/2017 – 12/8/2017 
 Cruise – Santiago, Chili – Buenos Aires, Argentina  15 Celebrity
Infinity		  12/8/2017 – 12/23/2017 
 GAP Buenos Aires – Hotel or vacation homes 31  12/23/2017 – 1/23/2018 
 Cruise -Antarctica – Ushuaia, Argentina – Ushuaia, Argentina – 16 Ponant
Le Soleal		  1/23/2018 – 2/8/2018 
 Total number of days  (153 days cruising) 666

Each time we’ve posted an updated itinerary at least one reader writes asking if our journey will end at the conclusion of the posted itinerary. If and when we’re forced (for health reasons) to change the course of our travels, we promise to post our intent of the necessity of doing so. 

Also, we’ll certainly continue to document that process (health providing) including medical treatments, settling in to a new location whether temporary or permanent and the resulting expenses for all aspects of such a transition.

While on the way to shop we stopped for cows crossing the road.

Is there a chance the above won’t transpire? (Warning: morbid talk here). If we stay relatively healthy and are able to continue on, we may find life comes to an end for one of us during the journey. One way or another, we’ll notify our readers.

As we age, along with the rest of us, we realize that life may change at some point. Actually, life will change at some point. For now, we don’t worry or concern ourselves with that eventuality. 

The farmer offered to stop the flow but we insisted they carry on.

Striving for good health, living in the moment and joyful planning for the future are the main focus of our nomadic lifestyle. As we peruse our above itinerary it’s hard to wipe the smiles off of our faces. If happiness is instrumental in living a long and healthy life, we should be around for awhile.

A few stopped to check us out as the crossing continued from the paddock.

No, we aren’t slapstick happy every single day. Like the rest of us, we have quite uneventful days. We have other days where we may feel worried or angst-ridden. On occasion, we have fitful nights spent worrying about the well being of family and friends. 

But, overall, a powerful sense of contentment surrounds us. Yesterday, on the deck with 47 alpacas within our reach, we felt the endorphin rush of interacting with nature. Laughing, commenting, smiling while handing them an open palm of their grassy treats, we can’t help but appreciate every moment of our lives.

The cows were being moved to milking. Moving them must be a daily occurrence.

For however long this journey lasts, we remain grateful each and every day. Grateful for the experiences, grateful for the good health and grateful for the opportunity of sharing it with all of you!

Photo from one year ago today, April 10, 2015:
One year ago today, we wrote about “Birdie,” a Red Cardinal who visited our veranda in Kauai more times a day than we could count. I chopped batches of unsalted organic macadamia nuts, almonds, pecans and walnuts feeding them to him and his “wife” when they came to visit.  He sang a song when I didn’t get the nuts outside to him quickly enough. To hear his song in our video, please click here.  To see the year-ago-post, please click here.

Photos taken this morning…An early morning on another rainy day…A blazing year ago photo below!

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Breadfruit growing in the yard, a popular item in the islands. Here’s a good article on breadfruit. We’d love to try this which is the size of a grapefruit but, it contains 26 grams of carbohydrates and 11 grams of sugar in 1/4 of a fruit.

Cabin fever hasn’t set in yet. We’re good. The cool breezes, the sound of the rain pattering on the tile roof, the birds singing, and the contrast of colors in the bright green vegetation inspired me to take photos at 6:30 this morning.

Already showered and dressed after a 5:45 bolt out of bed, following Tom’s 5:30 rising, our day began on a bright note, as usual, rain or shine. With 70% to 90% rain expected over the five-day forecast, we keep our chins up, knowing eventually this will end. 

Part of us accepts the premise that nature needs the rain as we watch the vegetation bloom and brighten into a plethora of shades of color. Each rainy morning, we notice subtle differences as they escalate into a splash of colors some hardly recognizable to our eyes. Who’s to complain?

The kitchen towels never dried in the rain.  Today, we’ll hand these off to Usi with our dirty laundry and she’ll dry them.

When the sun shines again, we’ll begin to tackle the list of sites to see during our next outing with Ratnesh.  In the interim, we’ll continue our regular and highly entertaining visits to the village, rain, or shine. No doubt, it’s good to get out. 

Not having a rental car could be challenging for most long term travelers.  Somehow, we established a level of acceptance of this fact, that sometimes renting a car doesn’t work. In the case here, as we’ve mentioned in the past, a four wheel drive vehicle would be required. 

Such a vehicle is outrageously expensive in the long term on this small island, higher than the rent on the house. We were well aware of this when we booked this location when Mario had explained in an email that we’d have a great driver. We have no regrets now.

Ratnesh is comparable to having a personal tour guide. Having lived here all of his life, he’s educating us as we travel about, not only on local customs and lifestyle but also, on the scenery. Also, many rough roads are best avoided on one’s own, due to navigability issues. On our own we wouldn’t have had a clue as to which roads to avoid, driving beyond the Savusavu area.

The local ferry travels from Savusavu to Nadi in Viti Levu. It’s a long overnight trip arriving at 5 am.  Sleeping cabins are available for an additional cost.

We’ve had drivers in Belize, Kenya, South Africa, and Morocco. Not having a rental car in these countries never impeded our ability to embrace our surroundings and in most cases, enhanced it with the competency and knowledge of our drivers. 

How easily we recall Okee Dokee in South Africa, with whom we’ve stayed in touch as she prepares for her upcoming wedding. We happily watch for photos and the progression of her plans on Facebook and also write back and forth in email. We couldn’t be more thrilled for her!

The times we spent, the three of us, driving through Marloth Park and the surrounding areas will always remain as some of the favorite memories of our world travels. At times, we all laughed so hard, we cried. 

Our single chaise lounge is available for sunning when the suns appear.

Each week she and I traveled the long distance to Komatipoort to grocery shop and to purchase more data.  During those drives, we engaged in typical “girl talk” as well as stopping for wildlife photos. She’d help me find items at the market which often left us in fits of laughter.

Often, we stopped to check out the products offered by farmers and vendors who’d sit on a box on the side of the road for hours at a time. She’d purchase lychee nuts and I’d purchase avocados in a huge bag of 10, always more than I could eat which I shared with her and the household helpers. We’ll always remember those special times with Okee Dokee.

Each country we’ve visited has left us with special memories. We anticipate this will be the case as we continue on our journey. When perusing our itinerary this morning, I couldn’t fathom how quickly the time has passed and how soon we’ll be in New Zealand (in three months) and Bali (in less than seven months).

Having the experience of seeing so much of the South Pacific by the time we depart in 18 months, with six upcoming cruises a few of which will circumvent Australia, surely we’ll feel satisfied that we’ve had a good perspective of this part of the world.

A colorful little orange flower blooming on this white lily.

So much more of the world awaits us. Had we started this journey 20 years ago, we’d still have only been able to see a portion of what the world has to offer. The time we have left is in the hands of our higher power and the degree to which we can maintain a level of good health.

With our diligent budgeting, which we’ll continue to adjust for inflation and the value of the dollar throughout the world, we expect it will become more challenging to find affordable options in years to come. Rather than risk our financial stability, we’ll continually adjust our expectations accordingly.

For today as we sit back on yet another rainy day, we’ll resume our search to fulfill the one remaining gap in our schedule (39 days) over the next 18 months. From there, we’re watching for new cruise postings yet to appear, to take us back out to sea to continue on our chosen path.

Have a happy and fulfilling day!


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

How can it be a full year ago that we took this photo in Waikiki Beach?  The time has flown. For more details as we wound down our time in Oahu, soon to move to Maui, please click here.

Part 1…Booked two new vacation homes…Filling an 88 day gap in the itinerary…

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View of Penguin Beach across the street from the new house we booked in northern Tasmania. Today’s photos were copied from the owner’s listing on VRBO.

Choosing a location to fill a gap from December 3, 2016, to March 1, 2017, was challenging. In the Southern Hemisphere, where we’ll still be at the time, that period is during the high season, summer holiday, when kids are out of school and families from Australia travel to relatively nearby locations.

Should any of our readers be interested in renting this lovely property or learning more about it, please click here for details and pricing.

Many Australians stay in the South Pacific when they go on holiday to save both time and money and to get to warmer climates readily available on many choice islands during the cooler seasons.

This is comparable to travelers with families in North America who tend to stay on the continent and in the Caribbean when they travel as a family during school breaks whether winter during the Christmas season or summer.

Ah, a spacious living room with views.

As we perused many locations in the South Pacific during this time frame, we were stymied, having the most difficulty we’ve had in the past. Prices topped the charts, far exceeding our budget, which in extreme cases, we’re willing to adjust if absolutely necessary.

However, this gap didn’t represent a scenario that drove us to be willing to stretch the budget when we have bigger fish to fry in the future when we travel to a new continent in 2017, after leaving the US for a visit.

Another issue impeding our success in finding new locations has been the realities of a slow Internet signal we faced in Australia and now again here in Fiji, as it jumps back and forth from online to “limited” many times per day.

Fully equipped kitchen with an average-sized refrigerator (yeah!), an oven and a microwave, and a dishwasher! 

In the past week, Mario has worked hard to resolve these issues and it has improved considerably although still presenting problems in the afternoons the perfect time for us to do research after I’ve completed the daily post.

After thoroughly scouring HomeAway with no luck, using the link on our site, we clicked another link on HomeAway’s page (at the bottom), VRBO, a popular site owned by Homeaway as well.  

We’ve found it easiest to peruse one site at a time rather than jump back and forth trying to figure where we left off when there are often 1000’s of options listed in a single area.

We always keep the table set for the next meal, inviting the preparation of good homemade food.  However, there are many restaurants in the area some we may actually try.

We chose to spend three months in Tasmania after hearing such glowing reports on our last cruise and on publications online as to its beauty, its people, and its wildlife. As an Australian island, with manageable visa requirements, wifi, and the ability to shop for foods at various local farms, this is an ideal location for us.

The challenge was totally predicated on finding a property with water views, wifi, and a fully equipped kitchen.  A few days ago, Tom expressed a great idea. Why not take this gap, dividing it in half into two six week segments and stay on two distinctly different areas of the island? 

I loved this idea. It would give us an opportunity to casually explore the island from two entirely different home-based locations. We could travel the north portion of the island at our leisure and then, be close to the capital city of Hobart, the most popular tourist location on the island.

The private house has three bedrooms. Note the flat-screen TV on the wall. What a treat!

We’d been turned down by several property owners who didn’t want to “tie-down” their property with one renter over the entire summer holiday making it unavailable for possible “regulars” who’d yet to book at this distant future, willing to pay premium prices for the short term rentals during peak season.

The task was challenging, breaking it up into two options, Group 1 and Group 2, the north and close to Hobart, respectively. After days of research with the WiFi on and off, we both vigorously spent the past few days on a mission. We narrowed it down to eight options at the VRBO site. 

I sent Tom an email with each listing and together, albeit slowly, we reviewed all the pluses and minuses of each property, finally narrowing it down to a mere three properties, one in Group 1 and two in Group 2. 

The sunrise over Penguin Beach. Can’t wait to see this in person! Then again, we’re not wishing for time to pass quickly. We’re very content where we are now in Savusavu, Fiji even on the seemingly endless rainy days, still continuing yet today.

Contacting each listing owner separately with basically the same verbiage, except for the variances in dates between the groups, we heard back from one last night, after which we booked it paying the deposit at the Australian version for vacation rentals, Stayz, a secure site. 

Later in the evening, we heard back from a second but decided to wait overnight for a possible proposal from the third owner. Alas, early this morning an email had arrived with the third proposal. After once again reviewing each of the remaining two options, we decided on the third, accepting by email and shortly later, paying the reasonable deposit once again at Stayz.

Both properties are confirmed and we couldn’t be more thrilled. Today, we’ll share the first location with a few photos, a single-family house, located in Penguin, Tasmania.

We couldn’t be more excited knowing that penguins actually wander about the beach. Here’s a quote about Penguin from a site describing areas of Tasmania:

“Penguin

Penguin is a picturesque seaside town with a pretty esplanade, scenic walking trails, great coastal drives, and a quirky collection of penguins on the street.

Sitting on the edge of mighty Bass Strait, Penguin takes its name from a nearby penguin rookery and it’s obvious this town dearly loves its little feathered friends. There’s a 10-foot penguin that makes a quirky photo opportunity, while the real thing can be seen each night at Penguin Point.

On Sundays, Penguin hosts Tasmania’s largest undercover market with more than 200 stalls selling food and wine, woodcraft, and second-hand goods.  The coastal road between Ulverstone and Wynyard is a beautiful scenic drive with sweeping ocean views, great picnics spots, and clean beaches for seaside walks and fun.

Look out for the expansive wild garden that blooms year-round between the road and railway line and explore one of the many walking tracks across the Dial Range, with stunning views over Penguin and the north-west coast. There are plenty of eateries and places to stay.

Penguin is a 15-min drive (17 km) east of Burnie.”

Those who have followed us these past years know how this location is suitable for us and how much we’ll love our time spent in Penguin.

We’ll be back tomorrow with Part 2 and the second booking in Tasmania, where we’ll be closer to the capital city of Hobart. At least while we’re still housebound in rainy weather, we’ll be busy logging the new locations in our spreadsheet and updating the itinerary. Stay tuned.

Photo from one year ago today, September 24, 2014:

One of the last photos of Vancouver as we began to make our way toward Hawaii on a cruise on the Celebrity Solstice. For more details and the final Vancouver post, please click here.

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…The gap is filled!…

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The house in Phuket, Thailand was built around its private pool.

With the decision and full payment made for the Viking Mekong River cruise next July our next decision was to decide on where we wanted to stay for the remaining 41 days until we return for our second leg in Bali, we perused the map and literally 100’s of vacation homes in the countries we were interested in visiting.

The dining room overlooking the pool.

Based on a 10 day gap in the itinerary prior to the cruise which we’ll fill with a hotel in Hanoi with an excellent opportunity to tour the city and the duration of the cruise, we had 41 days yet to fill after the cruise ended and before returning to Bali.

There are several areas to lounge by the pool.

When considering vacation homes, the close proximity to the location before and after is usually a huge factor along with an attempt to get the best possible property for the best possible price with the amenities that are important to us.

Most often, close proximity to the ocean when possible has been a driving force.  However, as we searched for Southeast Asia, oceanfront and ocean view properties were through the roof.

An additional seating area in the dining room.

We asked ourselves this question, “Would we be willing to forgo an ocean view for a mere 41 days to be living in a beautiful house with a pool, in brand new condition with all of our favorite amenities and with an opportunity to drive a short distance to the ocean at will?” 

Our answer was “yes” especially when it would take us to a new country we’d yet to explore together, Thailand, a country I’d visited 30 years ago BT (before Tom).

A modern kitchen with granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

The island of Phuket, Thailand suffered a tremendous loss of life when a tsunami ravaged the island in 2004, a story that was heard around the world. We recall watching the devastation on the news, hearts breaking over the horrific stories told by those who were thrust into the disaster and miraculously survived, many losing loved ones or seriously injured.

This might have been a good spot for countertop dining.  But, from what we’ve seen throughout the world, that concept is not always popular.

It’s been over 10 years since the devastating tsunami and Phuket has been rebuilt to become one of the choice islands in the world to visit. My fond memories of its wonderful people and the astounding beauty of this special place surely was instrumental in my suggesting it to Tom, as we searched for the ideal property for many hours.

Sipping a cup of coffee while lounging in these chairs in the morning will be easy to take.

Finally, we landed on this home that is more than befitting our needs and wants to give us a chance to visit yet another country on our worldwide journey. Yes, there are other countries in Southeast Asia that would have worked for us, but Phuket stood out among the rest.

Here is the link to the listing of the house we chose in Phuket, Thailand.

View of the living room with a flat-screen TV and hopefully comfortable furniture.

We’ll rent a car during our stay enabling us to explore, shop in the outdoor markets, and see the points of interest. Many who visit Thailand often visit Bangkok (on the mainland) as I did years ago. With the congestion, traffic, and noise of the big city, we’ve opted to stay away and will choose a flight directly to Phuket.

Alternate view of the living room.

During our expansive search, we attempted to find a vacation home in Vietnam but were unable to do so at a price in line with our budget. They were either very inexpensive apartments in the center of the cities or outrageously expensive massive homes in the countryside, neither of which worked for us.

Both bedrooms have king-sized beds and overlook the pool.

It was at that point we began perusing the bordering countries, any of which would be easy to navigate and with affordable flight fares. We’re confident it all will work out well.

Master bedroom alternate view.  Both bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.

Enjoy these photos today that we “borrowed” from the property owner’s listing on TravelMob, a newer vacation home rental site we’ve only recently utilized, owned under the umbrella of our favorite HomeAway site which owns many of these types of websites. The property owner, Gregory, has been wonderful to work with, and based on reviews he continues to provide excellent service throughout the rental period.

Jacuzzi tub and separate walk-in shower in master bath.

Tomorrow, we’ll be back with a very special story of an event that literally brought tears to our eyes with a sense of joy and a feeling of awe that we’re excited to share.

Outdoor dining.

                                                 Photo from one year ago today, July 6, 2014:

The mountains and hills of Madeira were often shrouded in dense clouds, creating a magnificent scene, one we never failed to notice. For more details, please click here.

You’re cancelling on us?…How can that be?…

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We never tire of this amazing view of Hideaways Beach and Hanalei Bay.

We knew the possibility existed that a vacation rental, a flight, or a cruise could be canceled over which we’d have no control. If it were a flight, in most cases that would be remedied within 24 hours. If it were a vacation rental, especially if we’d booked it for weeks or months, it would be a difficult scenario to resolve the above three possibilities. 

If it was a cruise, leaving two weeks or more of our lives with a hole in our schedule, this could be costly in trying to fill the period of time. Besides, we often use cruises as a means of getting us to one location or another resulting in added airfare expenses. 

The combination of colors of the sea and the vegetation is always breathtaking.

The worst-case scenario would be the necessity of paying for a hotel, airfare, and meals for two weeks, which if planned carefully, we could accomplish for a cost similar to the cost of the cruise. Inconvenient? Yes. Costly? To a degree (see below).

Yesterday, we discovered that our booked cruise was canceled, scheduled from Sydney to Perth from April 12, 2016, to April 28, 2016, for a total of 16 nights. 

Tom had been reading comments online at cruisecritic.com about this possibility. We were never notified directly nor were our online friends, Staci and Glenn, who were also scheduled on this cruise, whom we were looking forward to meeting in person. 

Beautiful orchids.

Yesterday, Tom called our rep at Vacationstogo.com to inquire as to the status of the cruise. They weren’t notified either. Or perhaps with the thousands of cruises in their system, it could easily have been missed.

In any case, it was canceled, as we’ve discovered due to it being booked in its entirety for a private charter. If a wealthy individual or company chose to book an entire ship for an event, someone would be inconvenienced. They often begin to book as soon as they posted at a time two years out. In this case, the inconvenience lies with us.  Good thing we didn’t wait any longer to find out. 

Remote Hideaways Beach, accessible only by a steep partially paved path.

Yesterday, after speaking with our rep about alternatives, Tom went ahead instructing her to book us on a similar cruise that Royal Caribbean was offering as one of three options for replacement, all different dates, all different itineraries. Should we choose one of these three options, we’d been given a $200 onboard credit.

In reviewing the three options, only one offered dates similar to the canceled cruise, the Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Seas, sailing from April 16, 2016, to April 30, 2016, for a total of 14 nights, the price slightly less for the shorter by two-night cruise. 

Another portion of Hideaways Beach.

Originally, we paid $4714.20 for a balcony cabin with taxes and gratuities included. The new cruise at $4510.36 for the same type of cabin, is not an appreciable difference although shorter by two days. The $200 credit will be sucked up in the first 30 minutes on a cruise when we order the $800 Internet package.

Sure, we could call RC and make some noise. Then again, what’s the point? Plus, that’s just not our style. In reality, we’re being compensated and for most of us, kinking a cruise a few days, a year in advance for $200 may not seem to be such a big deal. Although, we wonder how long they’d have waited before telling the passengers?

Zooming in, we spotted these sunbathers on the beach.  Looks like the guy standing is adjusting his snorkel.

For us, it presents a few issues, none of which we can’t manage with relative ease. One, we need to stay in New Zealand at the alpaca farm for four more nights or, if not available, a hotel in Sydney. On the other end, we’ll be two days late in arriving for our booked rental in Bali. They will either accept our change of dates or we’ll have to pay for two nights that we won’t be there. 

In all, this could cost us for six nights somewhere at an average cost of $200 per night, including housing and meals. It’s the nature of the beast. We budgeted for scenarios such as this and have seldom had to tap into that. Who’s to complain? Instead, it becomes a matter of figuring it out on both ends and biting the bullet for the added costs.

Future lily pods. They almost look like apples and are almost as large.

So far, we’re waiting to hear back from the property owners to see what transpires. We’ll post updates as to how it is resolved. In the meanwhile, here is the itinerary for the canceled cruise and then, the new cruise:

Canceled cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Explorer of the Seas, departs 4/12/16, 16 nights
Tue Apr 12 Sydney, Australia 9:00 pm 
Wed Apr 13 At Sea 
Thu Apr 14 At Sea 
Fri Apr 15 Wellington, New Zealand 3:00pm 10:00pm
Sat Apr 16 Picton, New Zealand 8:00 am 6:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 7:00 am 5:00 pm 
Tue Apr 19 Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00 am 10:00 am
Tue Apr 19 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) Noon 1:00 pm
Tue Apr 19 Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 4:30 pm 5:30 pm
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 Melbourne, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Sat Apr 23 At Sea 
Sun Apr 24 Adelaide, Australia 8:00am 7:00pm
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea 
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Perth (Fremantle), Australia 6:00 am

New cruise itinerary:
Royal Caribbean – Voyager of the Seas, departs 4/16/16, 14 nights
Sat Apr 16 Sydney, Australia 5:00 pm 
Sun Apr 17 At Sea 
Mon Apr 18 Brisbane, Australia 7:00am 4:00pm
Tue Apr 19 At Sea 
Wed Apr 20 At Sea 
Thu Apr 21 At Sea 
Fri Apr 22 At Sea 
Sat Apr 23 Darwin, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Sun Apr 24 At Sea 
Mon Apr 25 At Sea 
Tue Apr 26 At Sea
Wed Apr 27 At Sea 
Thu Apr 28 Kuala Lumpur (Port Kelang), Malaysia 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Apr 29 Singapore 10:00am Sat Apr 30 Singapore Disembark

As shown, this second cruise is by no means as exciting as the first with considerably fewer ports of call and yet the price is comparable. Based on visa restrictions we must proceed with this new cruise or we’ll end up staying too long in either location. 

Pools refilled each day from the surf at high tide.

We booked it. Our previously paid $900 deposit transferred over, the $200 cabin credit is listed in our new cruise documents and the balance is due on the same date, January 16, 2016.  Yesterday, I entered all the changes in our spreadsheet in several locations: itinerary, Deposits Paid, and Balances Due, Cruises.

There it is, folks, the realities of the possible inconveniences of living a life in motion. We both took this in our stride. I suppose if this was our only vacation for a year or more, we may have felt differently. But, in this life, it goes with the territory. Literally.

Happy day!

                                               Photo from one year ago today, May 1, 2014:

In between the enclosed area of the souks were outdoor areas where more products are offered for sale. For details from that date, please click here.

Today, the vernal equinox for the Northern Hemisphere….Super moon and solar eclipse to boot! How weather and seasons determine our itinerary…

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I took this photo a few minutes ago from our lanai. It’s been raining overnight and the waterfalls on the mountains are clearly visible. What a beautiful site!

Weather and seasons hold a tremendous significance for us in our world travels. Today, the first official day of spring is described as follows from the famous “Farmers Almanac” a reliable source of information used for the past over 200 years after its onset in 1792:

“Astronomically speaking, the March equinox occurs when the Sun crosses the celestial equator on its way north along the ecliptic.  In the Northern Hemisphere, the March equinox is known as the vernal, or spring, equinox, and marks the start of the spring season.

In the Southern Hemisphere, this equinox is known as the autumnal, or fall, equinox and marks the start of the fall season; the vernal equinox for the Southern Hemisphere occurs in September.
The March equinox happens at the same moment across the world, but is converted to local time. In 2015, it falls on March 20 at 6:45 P.M. EDT, 5:45 P.M. CDT, 4:45 P.M. MDT, and 3:45 P.M. PDT, for example.

Meteorologically speaking, however, in the Northern Hemisphere the official spring season always begins on March 1 and continues through May 31. Summer begins on June 1; autumn, September 1; and winter, December 1.

Weather scientists divide the year into quarters this way to make it easier to compare seasonal and monthly statistics from one year to the next. The meteorological seasons are based on annual temperature cycles rather than on the position of Earth in relation to the Sun, and they more closely follow the Gregorian calendar. Using the dates of the astronomical equinoxes and solstices for the seasons would present a statistical problem because these dates can vary slightly each year.”

On top of the vernal equinox is tonight’s super moon, as quoted from this website containing more information, EarthSky at this link:

“On March 20 – the same date as the 2015 March equinox – the moon turns new only 14 hours after reaching lunar perigee – moon’s closest point to Earth in its orbit. Thus, this moon is a supermoon – at the new phase – not visible in our sky, but having a larger-than-average effect on Earth’s oceans. Plus, this new supermoon swings right in front of the equinox sun on March 20, so that the moon’s shadow falls on parts of Earth. Follow the links below to learn more.”

Total eclipse of the sun on November 11, 2012. Image via NASA
Eclipse photo courtesy of NASA.

As we peruse upcoming options for various gaps in our schedule, seasons and their weather patterns are a tremendous factor in where we decide to go. With our upcoming two years, most of which is currently scheduled, we’ve begun to contemplate how we’ll fill a 67-day gap from June 26 to September 1, 2016.

As we inch closer to this gap which seemed so long away just a short time ago, we begin to start reviewing our options. This is the gap between our two bookings in Bali, Indonesia for the house we wanted for four months total, in two increments of two months each, the maximum allowable time for a visa in that country.

This morning as the sun was attempting to peek out between the cloud cover.

Looking at a map as to where we could easily and quickly fly from Bali, there are numerous options at affordable fares. However, the weather is a factor. If we go back to Australia, we’d have to stay in the northern part of the continent to avoid the colder south with temperatures in the near-freezing range, not appealing to us.

As much as we’d like to return to New Zealand to the south island, the weather is definitely a consideration, when it tends to be cooler there most of the time based on its southern proximity. 

All of these factors weigh heavily as we contemplate our next bookings. Any suggestions from our readers would be greatly appreciated, keeping in mind wherever we go we’d like to stay in one property and, prefer warm weather. Feel free to email or post a comment or suggestion at the end of today’s post. 
Julie had the triple crab cake sandwiches on sweet Hawaiian bread.

Julie leaves tonight. We’ve so enjoyed the time together for the three of us and for she and I alone, sisters sharing great memories, private thoughts and hopes, and dreams, as sisters often do. I’m truly blessed to have my two sisters. As the one in the middle, Julie eight years younger than I, and Susan, four years older, we’ve always stayed in close touch and have been there for one another.

Yesterday, Julie and I had a delicious lunch at the Princeville Westin. This was my bacon burger which included a small side salad.

Tom and I will settle back into our easy pleasant lifestyle filled with social activities (more tomorrow night), sightseeing, visits to the club, and hanging out frequently with our dear friend Richard, our personal social director.

We still have many photos yet to share of my tours with Julie over these past eight days. Please check back for more.

Have a rewarding weekend beginning on this first day of spring.

                                            Photo from one year ago today, March 20, 2014:

We still laugh over our faux pas. On our way out to lunch, we approached the guard at this interesting building asking if we could look inside. The guards said, “No Madam, this is the palace of the king.” For details from this date, please click here.