Finding vacation homes…Not so easy…Holes to fill in our itinerary…

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This was one of our favorite spots located on William Esplanade in Palm Cove Beach due to the colors reminding us of the village in Placencia, Belize from so long ago.

With a 65 day gap to fill one year from today, we’re chomping at the bit to fill this spot with somewhere we’d love to visit. It isn’t as simple as it may seem.

Our proximity at the time is a huge factor. We’ll be at the fabulous house in Bali located in a lovely area for 59 days (visa restrictions) to be returning two months later for two more months. We were provided an excellent price for our two separate stays and loved the property so much, we couldn’t resist the two separate visits.

The Palm Cove Beach Club. In Australia, many accommodations and parking spots are made available for disabled visitors as shown in this parking spot.

At the time when we checked flights and vacation rentals in and out of Bali, we didn’t think we’d have trouble finding a place to stay. Per our previous philosophy of advance planning as much as two years out, we now realize that waiting may have been to our detriment.

With the slow wifi here in the house, which Tom uses, and the cost of the SIM card I’m using, searching is costly and time-consuming. My connection is excellent with the SIM card but I can easily use one gigabyte a day at a cost of AUD $8.74, USD $6.69 per day. 

Spas and beauty shops also were readily available in the area.

This amount is less than our monthly cable bill in our old lives, less than a flavored coffee at Starbucks or a single cocktail in a bar compared to the daily use of one gig. In this context, it doesn’t seem like so much after all, especially when we have so few other expenses; car, fuel, rent, food, health club, and occasional entertainment.

Today, we’ll continue the search which now over the past year will have changed in a very important manner; locations we may have considered in the past are now less safe to visit for obvious reasons we see daily in the world news. Of course, we all know that there is no country or island in the world that is exempt from these horrific possibilities. 

The Palm Cove area wasn’t developed until 1986, making most of these venues less than 30 years old.

Caution will always prevail in our lives, but our sense of adventure and desire to see many parts of the world will also play a big role in where we decide to go. After all, we’ve already been to many of the areas that we wouldn’t visit now as war and strife have escalated in the past few years. We continue to review warnings from the US Department of State Travel information that we take seriously.

There were some apartments and permanent residences along the esplanade.

Let’s face it.  We’ll always make mistakes in our planning. In essence, we probably shouldn’t have booked the second stay in Bali. But, now we’re committed after paying a substantial deposit which we’d forfeit if we canceled. 

There were a number of resorts and hotels interspersed among the row of restaurants along the beach boulevard.

Did we learn a lesson? Of course, we did. It’s the same lesson we learned in staying in Kauai for over four months. Did we have a great time? Yes! Better than ever expected. 

But, without a doubt, it was too long. Ironically, we booked Bali for this extended period over a year ago. We’ve learned a lot in this past year and we continue to discover more and more as to what works for us as we continue on. 

The restaurants were varied in their ethnicity and styles of food.

At no point will we ever say we have it all figured out. With the world changing around us, we continually adapt and change accordingly. Also, with more and more experience we discover circumstances that appeal to our wants and needs.

These two side-by-side restaurants have thick vinyl windows to protect the diners on windy and rainy days and nights.

We aren’t putting ourselves in a position of urgency in selecting how we’ll choose to fill this gap. In looking at a map, the options are plentiful. In considering our budget, the options dramatically change.  We accept the possibility that filling this gap may ultimately cost more than we’d hoped.

Once we fill this spot, we’ll certainly share the details and costs here, not hesitating for a moment to share the reality of having to spend more than we intended. It’s all a part of the reality of our lives. 

The Williams Esplanade in Palm Cove has one restaurant after another.

We have certain criteria and expectations which include a quality place to live, in a good neighborhood, a living room with a good sofa, with interesting views, wifi (if possible), a full kitchen, and on-site laundry facilities. We don’t like typical apartments in a big city which if we can avoid we will. Don’t hold us to this. We may have to change our minds as time marches on.

A number of shops occupied this small shopping center along the boulevard.

It’s Sunday here in sunny Australia. We plan to stay “home” today, spend time on the veranda, make a nice Sunday dinner, and get back to work on the search to fill the gap. 

We hope your day is filled with sunshine!

                                            Photo from one year ago today, June 28, 2014:

Veranda view from our upcoming home in Fiji where we’ll be living in a little over two months. We’d booked Fiji a year ago today. For more details, 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.

A world of wonder…It never ceases to amaze us!

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What’s more beautiful than an orchid?

A few days ago while sitting across the street staring at the ocean I spoke to a woman who was well traveled.  She spoke of endless places we must take time to see in our travels. 

The shapes and patterns of exotic flowers astounds us.

All I could do is smile, taking mental notes of those that may appeal to us down the road, appreciating her well intended suggestions.  Many suggestions we receive we document and research incorporating some into our travels.  But, the world is a big place. 

And, if we had a lifetime, which we don’t with our advancing age, we still couldn’t see all the points of interest other enthusiastic travelers often suggest.  There’s simply too much too see, in too short a time.


More gorgeous orchids.

People often ask us when we’ll stop traveling.  Our answer remains the same today as it was over 27 months ago, we’ll continue on until we can’t anymore, always striving to see those places in the world that appeal to our tastes the most. 


Exotic flowers are eprevalent in Hawaii.
Many travelers enjoy the hustle and bustle of big busy cities.  We do not.  We’ve seen enough historic buildings to last a lifetime.  That’s not to say we haven’t appreciated them at the time.  But now, as time passes, we only recall one building that was life changing…the Treasury in Petra.  Click here for the link of our visit to Petra, truly one of the most exciting experiences in our travels.

An orange tree on the side of the road.

Thus, if the buildings of the world pose little interest for us, what shall we see? All the rest; the people, the wildlife, the vegetation and nature in its full glory.  That’s the rest.

When we land in Sydney in three and a half months, we’ll spend only hours.  At other times in our travels in the South Pacific we’ll return to Sydney on numerous occasions, surely having ample time to see a little of the biggest city in Australia. 

Vodka tonic anyone?

Certainly, we’ll relish in the experience in seeing Sydney but in no time, take us to the country or to the outlying ocean towns where the remaining majority of the population reside. Few Australians actually living in the center of the continent, the Outback, a vast and dangerous land we definitely plan to explore to some degree.

What does the future hold after our over two years in the South Pacific?  All the continents we’ve yet to visit; Antarctica, Asia and South America all of which will be included in the next leg of our journey. 


Even the common bougainvillea has flowers growing within.

Health providing, after traveling to these, we’ll return to the continents where we feel we have more to see, such as in other parts of Africa and perhaps, a return visit to my favorite place thus far on the planet, Marloth Park, South Africa. By no means does Tom object.


A tangerine tree along the road.

However, I must admit that as far as the beauty of nature is concerned, Kauai tops the list.  Of all the many islands we’ve visited with many more to come, we doubt anywhere will be able to top the beauty of Kauai.  It keeps giving and giving.

Yesterday, we drove to Richard’s neighborhood to see if we’d be able to see any hatched chicks.  Not yet, but we’ll be checking weekly.

After our many road trips so far in Kauai with many more to come including other parts of the island, we have no doubt that we’ll easily be able to post new photos of Kauai’s beauty day after day, for the remaining time we’ll be on the island.


A large tree with this colorful blooms.

As soon as I’m done here, I’m off to do my workout at the club and then off to the local grocer, Foodland.  Tomorrow night, we’ll be attending our first house party on the island and will be bringing an appetizer and a few bottles of wine, one for Tom to drink and another for the hostess.


Roosters hanging out on the side of the road.

Tomorrow, I’ll make the hot appetizer for the party and perhaps, post the recipe here.  Its a delicious, easy to make dish (not my way of eating friendly but, its gluten free).  Check back tomorrow!

Happy day!
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Photo from one year ago today, February 3, 2014:

Louise had suggested we put out a bowl with fruit flavored yogurt for the nocturnal bush babies while we were living in Khaya Umdani.  Alas, as we wandered outdoors to spend our day, we saw the monkeys had the bowl and were lapping up the yogurt.  For more photos, please click here.


Upcoming cruises with visits to many locations…A year ago…interesting new visitors…

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Another of Tom’s exquisite sunrise photos.

Yesterday, as we sat in the lawn chairs whale watching with fervor, we realized that in only a few days, we’ll no longer be this close to the ocean, able to watch for the gentle giants when we see signs of life whether we’re peering out the window or sitting outside.

In our new home, a condo in Princeville, Kauai, it will require we walk across the street, carrying lawn chairs in order to get close enough to take photos of the whales.  We’ll have views of the sea from the condo but it will just be too far to see from what we can determine from the photos.

We’ve been spoiled these past months since we arrived in Maui on October 16th when our close proximity to the ocean made every view exquisite.  Now, three months later, we move along to live on the last of four Hawaiian Islands arriving in Honolulu on October 5th, off the Celebrity Solstice after a 12 day cruise from Vancouver.


Its winter in Hawaii and yet the hearty Hibiscus flowers continue to bloom.

And again, as we mentioned in the past two posts, we’ve now booked two more cruises on this same ship, one we’ve found ideal for our liking.

Today, as promised we’re listing the five upcoming cruises we’ve booked, each of which offers its own unique ports with only a few repeats here and there.

Let’s face it, the major cruise lines only take so many routes worldwide.  Although it may appear they travel all over the world, they do not.  They have specific routes, repeated over and over again.  Frequent cruisers are aware of this fact, often experiencing similar cruises several times, including visiting the same ports of call.

At this point, we’re satisfied if a new cruise takes us to two or three new ports of call.  When we visit ports we’ve previously experienced, we usually stay behind, enjoying the quiet on the ship, choice of chairs by the pool and the good WiFi signal for posting using the rented MiFi.  In any case, we enjoy it all.

As promised, here is the information on our five upcoming cruises including the cost:














































Honolulu
to Sydney		 18 days 5/24/2015 6/11/2015   $  6,010.64
Sydney to
Auckland		 14 days 1/5/2016 1/19/2016   $  4,771.32
Sydney to Perth 16 days 4/12/2016 4/28/2016   $  4,714.20
Singapore to Sydney 14 days 10/31/2016  11/14/2016 $  4,143.81
Sydney to
Sydney		 12 days 3/1/2017 3/13/2017 $  4,820.36


Total for five above cruises:          $24,460.33
Average cost per day for 74 days: $     330.55 (for both of us)

Our usual average cost per day while living in vacation rentals is approximately $200 per day including meals, dining out and rental cars.  In this case, cruising is $130.55 more per day plus additional charges for WiFi and beverages at an average of $78 per day for an additional total of $209.55 per day x 74 days, equals an additional $15,506.70. 

As a result of the added expenses of cruising, we’ve managed to find vacation homes, buying groceries and rental cars at reasonable enough prices to bring down the average daily costs around the $200 each.  The magic of diligent planning enables us to cruise and to live comfortably all over the world.


A palm tree, a Hibiscus plant and a blue sky.  Many days are cloudy on this island, as much as 60% from what we’ve seen over these past six weeks.  A sunny day is glorious!

As I write this, Tom suggested we list the ports of call for all of these cruises to illustrate how much of the world we have an opportunity to see while cruising, adding considerable value to the process.

Here’s the complete list some of which may include more than one stop at a specific location as mentioned above, that ports of call may be repeat visit on various cruises:

  1. Moorea, Society Islands
  2. Papeete, Tahiti, Society Island
  3. Bora Bora, Society Islands
  4. Savu, Fiji
  5. Ill des Pins, New Caledonia
  6. Sydney, Australia
  7. Melbourne, Australia
  8. Hobart, Tazmania, Australia
  9. Milford Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  10. Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  11. Dusky Sound, New Zealand (cruising only)
  12. Dunedin (port Chalmers), New Zealand
  13. Akaroa, New Zealand
  14. Wellington, New Zealand
  15. Tauranga, New Zealand
  16. Bay of Islands, New Zealand
  17. Auckland, New Zealand
  18. Picton, New Zealand
  19. Adelaide, Australia
  20. Perth, Australia (Fremantle, Australia)
  21. Singapore, Indonesia
  22. Benoa, Bali, Indonesia
  23. Darwin, Australia
  24. Cairns, Australia
  25. Airlie Beach, Australia
  26. Brisbane, Australia
  27. Nounea, New Caledonia
  28. Lifou, New Caledonia
  29. Mystery Island, Vanuatu
  30. Lautoka, Fiji

Only approximately six of these are repeats for us.  How in the world would we have every been able to visit these 30 locations without cruising?  The time, the cost and the effort would far exceed the glorious 74 days of cruising which we so thoroughly enjoy?

Add the facts that cruising enables us to meet so many fabulous people, many of whom we’ve stayed in touch with over these past two plus years, enhances the experience beyond our wildest dreams.  These are the reasons we choose to cruise.

The tiny cabin, often around 194 square feet, the risks of rough waters, the difficulty of managing my way of eating, the constant WiFi issues and the lack of dressy clothing for the formal nights, the crowds at certain venues, all are manageable for us.  We don’t complain.  When weighing the pros and cons of cruises, the pros win for us.  We love every moment, rough seas included.


We’ve noticed this peculiar drooping plant on the past three islands we’ve visited.

Today, perhaps a little organizing, a little tossing of worn clothing and a little time in the lawn chair whale watching.  Tonight and tomorrow night, we’ll fire up the charcoal grill to make the last of the frozen hamburger patties we’d made and we’d stored in Ziplock bags in the freezer.

We’re happily using most of the perishable food, leaving some non-perishable foods for the next occupants of this house and sending the remainder to ourselves in Kauai.

It’s all good.  Good as it can be.

Happy Monday to all!
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Photo from one year ago today, January 12, 2014:

It was exciting one year ago, for the visit of hundreds of these grasshopper visitors in our driveway in Marloth Park.  Everyday provided an exciting new experience.  We spent the day watching and videotaping the activity of this “family” of grasshoppers including their babies.  To see the videos from that date, please click here.

Exciting future bookings…He just can’t wait! A year ago, a terrifying visitor! See photo…

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Low lying clouds over the ocean at 5:00 pm.

When a cruise line has special pricing, Tom starts chomping at the bit. He can’t help it. He loves cruising. That’s not to say I don’t love it. But, he loves it more. 

Not only does he love the cruise itself but he absolutely is fascinated with the planning and booking process. He researches cruisecritic.com for comments from recent cruise passengers on past cruises as to the best cabins for the particular ship, the appropriate side of the ship, port (left) or starboard (right) for the best views during the cruise based on the locations, and the best promotions and packages to choose.

View across the side yard on yet another cloudy day.

As he’s gathering all the information, he writes down all the particulars, (in this case he wrote on a brown grocery bag when we couldn’t find a pad of paper), performing financial analysis as to the best options, average daily rates, and benefits to taking the cruise.

Oh, good grief.  I stay out of the cruise planning.  He need only tell me where, when, and how much and I’m happy. Once we’ve booked a cruise, he reads me the data from the “cruise confirmation” documents that arrive in my email upon booking and paying a deposit, enabling me to enter the pertinent data into various sheets in our Excel workbook: Itinerary, Deposits Paid, Cruises Booked.

A nice feature of booking cruises is the fact that one can cancel with a 100% return of the deposit up to 90 days before sailing. If not canceled, at that 90-day point, the balance is automatically charged to the credit card on file. Partial deposits may be refunded as a sail date approaches based on the number of days of the cruise and the dates the cancellation is requested. 

A lone tree survives the strong trade winds.

To date, we’ve canceled only one cruise which was well before the 90 day period, receiving a 100% deposit.  After sailing on the Norwegian Epic, we decided to cancel a future cruise, we’d booked on the Epic a second time. We hadn’t liked the ship, although it survived the 50-foot swells at sea for three days. 

The Epic was poorly designed to our liking, too large and difficult to maneuver from area to area.  In addition, the design of walking through the bathroom to get into the cabin was particularly unappealing, leaving no privacy when showering and dressing. Gee, a girl (or guy) has to have a few private moments now and then!

Yesterday, after Tom spent time-off and on over the past several months, researching possible future cruises and after spending considerable time since the family departed, he was ready to book two cruises. 

Usually, when booking cruises we’ve had to pay a $450 deposit per person, resulting in tying up $900 of our money for as long as two years into the future. 

When we’d booked several cruises, we disliked the idea of a cruise line having that much of our money for such an extended period. It made no sense at all. But, waiting to book a cruise could result in a lack of availability of preferred sailing dates and cabin selection.

A single shrub against the backdrop of the roaring sea.

While on our last cruise from Vancouver to Honolulu on the Celebrity Solstice, we prepaid two cruise deposits in advance for $200 each, a promo-only offered onboard the ship. It wasn’t necessary to choose which cruises we wanted at that point. The deposits would remain in place indefinitely until we chose cruises.

Yesterday, our prepaid $200 deposits came into play when we booked the two cruises, three and a half months apart, on the Celebrity Solstice, the same ship that brought us to Hawaii in October 2014.

Today, we’ll share the details of the first of these two cruises and tomorrow, the second, leaving us with a total of five cruises booked in the future, all of which we’ll list collectively in tomorrow’s post.

Budding lilies in the yard.

Here are the details of this cruise we booked yesterday, oddly sailing on the day of our four year anniversary of leaving on our journey to travel the world. We booked an upgraded cabin resulting in a total cost for a balcony cabin on the starboard side for an unobstructed view (of lifeboats) for a total of $4143.81 including tax and gratuities for both of us. Here are the details, including the itinerary.

FastDeal 11541
14 nights departing October 31, 2016 on
Celebrity’s Celebrity Solstice
Brochure Inside $2,598
Our Inside $1,249
You Save 52%
Brochure Oceanview $3,198
Our Oceanview $1,599
You Save 50%
Brochure Balcony $3,598
Our Balcony $1,699
You Save 53%
Brochure Suite $7,198
Our Suite $3,599
You Save 50%
The prices shown are US dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. They include port charges but do not include airfare or (where applicable) airport or government taxes or fees.
Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART
Mon Oct 31 Singapore 5:00pm
Tue Nov 1 At Sea
Wed Nov 2 At Sea
Thu Nov 3 Benoa, Bali 8:00am 5:00pm
Fri Nov 4 At Sea
Sat Nov 5 At Sea
Sun Nov 6 Darwin, Australia 8:00am 4:00pm
Mon Nov 7 At Sea
Tue Nov 8 At Sea
Wed Nov 9 Cairns, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Thu Nov 10 Airlie Beach, Australia 9:00am 5:00pm
Fri Nov 11 At Sea
Sat Nov 12 Brisbane, Australia 8:00am 5:00pm
Sun Nov 13 At Sea
Mon Nov 14 Sydney, Australia 6:00am

On some of our cruises, we return to the cities and countries we’ve already visited.  We never mind this fact.  For this cruise, we’ll have already been to Sydney, Cairns, and Bali. However, we don’t mind the redundancy at all. Seeing an area from a cruise ship is an interesting part of the experience that we never fail to enjoy.

Actually, many ports of call in our upcoming cruises may be repeats at some point. But, the fact that we have an opportunity to see new locations as well only adds to the experience. For both of us, being on the ship itself is delightful giving us an opportunity to interact with other travelers, making new friends along the way.

Booking these two cruises leaves a few holes in our itinerary. During the upcoming four months in Kauai, we’ll be busy filling those gaps and considering the last booking we have scheduled to date, the end of the second cruise, March 13, 2017. Our goal is to always be booked for the upcoming two years. 

As a result, we’ll soon begin booking beyond March 13, 2017. How exciting, that will be!

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

It’s hard to believe it was a year ago that Tom spotted the Mozambique Spitting Cobra next to his bare foot as we sat on the veranda in Marloth Park.  He jumped away while I ran for the camera.  This jittery photo was a result of my hands shaking a bit as I shot this through the clothes line rack when the snake tried to get into the house.  Tom moved it with the mop as shown in the right side of the photo.  For more details on this story, please click here.

An add-on to the itinerary…What could we possibly add to two years of bookings?…

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“Got any treats?” he asks.  Sorry, we no longer carry pellets in our pockets. With little wildlife on the island we were excited to spot these geese hanging out at a wildlife area we stumbled upon while on a drive.

We both thought that we were done with booking cruises and vacation homes for awhile. We were both satisfied with the point that we could sit back content with our choices.

This unusual palm tree was worth a photo.

Alas, the wanderlust bug, rampant for the past month as we researched like crazy, hit us once again as both of us started rethinking the house in Bali, the Negara Villa. 

The geese seemed to enjoy hanging out by this tree.

With strict immigration laws allowing a maximum of 60 days in Indonesia at a time which we’ll apply for in advance when one receives a 30 days visa in the country at the airport, our short time at the gorgeous property was making us think we wished we’d had more time in Bali.

These two came running toward us as soon as we arrived. Although cautious, they were looking for food other than picking at the grass.

After considerable conversation and online research, we decided that if we left the country during the owner’s more expensive high season and returned when the low season began again, perhaps the kindly owner would provide us with the same excellent price.

Curious about us as we watched them, some moved close in.

This would mean that we had to find a place to park ourselves outside of Indonesia for 67 days to return to the house in Bali for another 59 days. This accomplishes three things, as shown below:

We had no idea as to the type of birds we saw in the wildlife area.

1.  We have the opportunity to return to the Bali house which we know we are certain that we’ll love.
2.  While still in the South Pacific we’ll have an opportunity to visit yet another nearby country.
3.  We’ll save money traveling when the round trip airfare from Bali to Malaysia, for example, is only US $331, EU $243.24 round trip per person. Plus living in Malaysia for 67 days will be very affordable.

This goose refused to stand still for a photo.

The tricky part, so we thought, was asking the owner if we could return for the same price we agreed upon for the first 59 days. As it turns out, last night we’d paid the second 10% deposit and have a new rental agreement in hand for September 1, 2016, to October 30, 2016. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

This goose is pigeon-toed.  Oops, wrong bird.

At some point, we’ll need to fill the above-mentioned gap in our itinerary from June 26, 2016, to September 1, 2016. Based on our research so far, Malaysia does in fact look like our best option. We’ve noted our calendar for this upcoming September, to make a proposal on a particular house we found. 

The local children must have decorated these tree trunks in Ribeira Brava.

Once we get that wrapped up or another, if that doesn’t work, we then can sit back and relax that our upcoming bookings are in order and we can breeze through the next year enjoying ourselves. A year from now, when we’ll be in Trinity Beach, Australia we’ll begin the process again.

Several tree trunks were decorated for a special occasion.

Tom and I both agree that we’d rather work for a year at a time, over a short period as opposed to always looking to add on one at a time. It frees up our time and our thoughts to relax and enjoy the moment.

Tom insisted I stand in front of this tree for a photo.  Always camera shy, I don’t enjoy posing for photos.

Plus, we lock in prices that could easily increase if we waited too long due to inflation. Also, waiting could result in a lack of availability. The rationale that one gets a better deal by waiting until the last minute is foolhardy.  There are no “deals” to be had on vacation homes or cruises that are already sold out.

Photo from one year ago today, July 13, 2013:

Not our photo.  There were no photos posted on this date a year ago.  This photo is from the next day, the 14th, illustrating types of insects found in Tuscany during the summer. For details of our story and rental car issues, without photos. on July 13, 2013, please click here.

Another cruise itinerary, prices and details for a new booking on Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas…A year ago…a recipe…

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Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas is a larger capacity ship with cabins for 3835 passengers than yesterday’s posted Celebrity Solstice’s  at 2850. We prefer smaller ships but its not always possible to find both the preferred size, itinerary and dates. The ship’s size is near the bottom of the list of our criteria.

Here’s is the total price (for two) we paid for an upgraded cabin category not shown on the various cabin categories as listed prices below.  Vacations to Go, as well as other cruise agencies, tend to list the lowest priced cabin in a category to attract passengers, later fine-tuning the price to include specific preferences

Cruise (includes port charges)   $4,283.00
Government Taxes*        431.20
Pre-Paid Gratuities        384.00
Pre Paid Gratuities       -384.00
 

 
Total                        US  $ 4,714.20

   
Overall, we saved approximately US $500, EU $367.57, off the lowest posted price for this cruise, comparable to the savings on yesterday’s posted cruise on the Celebrity Solstice.
 

16 nights departing April 12, 2016 on
Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas
Cheapest Inside $1,380
Cheapest Oceanview $1,800
Cheapest Balcony $2,145
Cheapest Suite $3,052
No brochure rates were provided by Royal Caribbean. The prices shown are US dollars per person, based on double occupancy, and subject to availability. They include port charges but do not include airfare or (where applicable) airport or government taxes or fees.
Important Note: Visas are required for this itinerary.
ITINERARY
DAY DATE PORT ARRIVE   DEPART
Tue Apr 12 Sydney, Australia 9:00pm
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 8:00am 6:00pm
Sun Apr 17 At Sea
Mon Apr 18 Dunedin (Port Chalmers), New Zealand 7:00am 5:00pm
Tue Apr 19 Dusky Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 9:00am 10:00am
Tue Apr 19 Doubtful Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) Noon 1:00pm
Tue Apr 19 Milford Sound, New Zealand (Cruising) 4:30pm 5:30pm
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 6:00am
800-338-4962

With these two new cruises booked along with the cruise we’ll be taking from Hawaii to Australia on May 24, 2015 plus, the two upcoming cruises over the next several months, we now have a total of five booked cruises over a period of fewer than two years.

Although this may seem self-indulgent, we’ve made a point of choosing affordable vacation rentals to ensure we’re always able to incorporate cruising into our itinerary and stay within the strict constraints of our budget.

Sure, at times, we’re tempted to step outside the confines of the budget and “go for it!” But, we don’t. Knowing full well that doing so simply results in forcing ourselves to further tighten our belts in the future, sacrificing some of the comforts that bring us such pleasure; good food; great surroundings; and amazing views.

Each rental we choose, each cruise we book, every meal we eat, each necessary flight we take all draw from the bottom line. There’s no room or reason to push ourselves to a point of stress and worry for added luxury. 

This particular ship is rated 4.5 stars due to its age, built in 2000, refurbished in 2010 which will again be refurbished again in 2015 and completed one year prior to our sailing on May 24, 2016. We’ll be anxious to see if it’s rating increases after the renovations. In any case, we have found that we favor some of the older ships with their “Hollywood” flair.

VacationsToGo

(If interested in booking a cruise with Anna Urban at Vacations to Go,
please click the above blue link for her email address. We are not affiliated with VTG
other than as a customer).

Explorer of the Seas

Ship Rating: 
The 138,000-ton Explorer of the Seas is loaded with recreational amenities: an ice-skating rink, in-line skating track, rock-climbing wall, television studio and full-size, open-air basketball court. The Royal Promenade, which runs through the center of the ship, is longer than a football field and wide enough to accommodate three lanes of traffic. Here you’ll find restaurants, shops, entertainment and street performers. The basketball court converts to a volleyball court, and there’s also a golf simulator, nine-hole miniature golf course and jogging track. Adventure Beach, just for families, has its own pool. Spots for socializing include a champagne bar, cigar club, sports bar, jazz club, dance club and a cocktail lounge at the top of the ship. Hungry? There’s a casual grill, ice-cream parlor, the Windjammer Cafe and Johnny Rocket’s, modeled after an authentic 1950s diner (complete with jukebox). Portofino, an intimate reservations-only restaurant serving Italian fare, complements three main dining rooms.
 Ship Statistics 
Year Built 2000
Last Refurbished 2010
Tonnage 138,000 tons
Registry Bahamas
Length 1,020 feet
Beam 158 feet
Passenger Capacity 3,835
Crew Size 1,185
Total Inside Cabins 618
Total Outside Cabins 939
Cabins & Suites w/ verandas 757
Suites 119
Maximum Occupancy per room 8
Age Restrictions One person must be 21 or older
Dinner Seatings 2
Seating Assignments 
in Main Dining Room		 Assigned
Dining Hours 6:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.
Dining Room Dress Code Dining
Tipping Recommended? Yes
Tipping Guidelines Royal Caribbean will automatically add a $12.00 USD gratuity ($14.25 USD for Suite guests) to each guest’s onboard SeaPass® account on a daily basis. 15% tip included on beverage orders.
Onboard Currency US Dollar
Services & Amenities
Bars/Lounges 12
Beauty Salon/Barber Shop Yes
Casino Yes
Chapel Yes
Disco/Dancing Yes
Elevators 4
Hot Tub 6
Cell Phone Service Yes
Internet Center Yes
Wireless Internet Access Yes
Note: Available in certain areas
Laundry/Dry Cleaning Yes
Library Yes
Movie Theatre Yes
Outdoor Movie Screen No
Onboard Weddings Yes
Self Serve Laundromats No
Shops Yes
Showroom Yes
Spa Yes
Video Arcade Yes
Fitness & Sports Facilities
Basketball Court Yes
Fitness Center Yes
Golf Driving Net No
Golf Simulator Yes
Ice Skating Rink Yes
Jogging Track Yes
Mini-Golf Course Yes
Rock Climbing Wall Yes
Swimming Pool 3
Note: 1 Heated
Tennis Court No
Water Slide No
Water Sports Platform No
Cabin Features & Amenities
24-Hour Room Service Yes
Hair Dryer Yes
Safe Yes
Telephone Yes
Television Yes
Kids Facilities
Babysitting Yes
Children’s Playroom Yes
Kiddie Pool Yes
Supervised Youth Program Yes
Teen Center Yes
Special Needs & Requests
Adjoining Cabins
(private connecting doors)		 Yes
Kosher Meals Yes
Single Occupancy Cabins No
Single Share Program No
Wheelchair-Accessible Cabins 26

Then again, there’s a certain degree of “safari luck” which allows us to rent superior properties at reasonable negotiated prices when we find vacation rentals that appear more expensive and out of our reach.

In the next few days, we’ll be sharing a few more of these; two more booked vacation homes in the South Pacific that we’ve yet to mention, that literally make us jump for joy. Keep an eye out over the next few days. 

The cruise described here today is a long way off, 21 months to be exact. We booked these two cruises early when we noticed online that some of their better cabins were fast being booked. 

Please scroll to the right to see the full deck plan.  We’ve chosen a cabin on this level at the “bump-out” area for enhanced viewing. As always, we checked the itinerary to ensure we will be on the better side of the ship for viewing as we sail past land. Note the deck plan indicates the location of cabins after the renovations are complete on 4/24/2015, one year before we sail.

Explorer of the Seas Deck 8 (starts 4-24-15)

Royal Family Suite with Balcony

Category FS

Two bedrooms with two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long (one room with third and fourth Pullman beds), two bathrooms (one with shower, one with bathtub), living area with double sofa bed, private balcony, and concierge service. Stateroom can accommodate up to 8 guests. (561 sq. ft., balcony 246 sq. ft.)
Superior Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

Category D1

Category D2

Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, private balcony, sitting area and a private bathroom. Rates vary from deck to deck. (179 sq. ft., balcony 52 sq. ft.)
Deluxe Ocean View Stateroom with Balcony

Category E1

Category E2

Category E3

Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, private balcony sitting area with sofa and a private bathroom. Rates vary from deck to deck. (164 sq. ft., balcony 51 sq. ft.)
Family Ocean View Stateroom

Category FO

Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, additional bunk beds in separate area, separate sitting area with sofa bed, and a private bathroom with shower. Stateroom can accommodate up to 6 guests. (265 sq. ft.)
Large Ocean View Stateroom

Category F

Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, sitting area with sofa, vanity area and a private bathroom. (178 sq. ft.)
Promenade Stateroom

Category PR

Bowed windows with a view of the Royal Promenade, two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, sitting area with sofa, vanity area, and a private bathroom. (160 sq. ft.)
Interior Stateroom

Category K

Category M

Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, sitting area, vanity area, and a private bathroom. (150 sq. ft.)
Legend:
Stateroom with sofa bed.
Stateroom has third Pullman bed available.
Stateroom has third and fourth Pullman bed available.
Connecting staterooms.
Indicates accessible staterooms.
Stateroom with sofa bed and third Pullman bed available.
Stateroom has four additional Pullman beds available.
Deck 8 (starts 4-24-15)

Another important factor we must mention is the “bill” we’ll receive on the last night of any cruise which includes charges for WiFi (no refunds for unused data), beverages if not included in a pre-purchased beverage package, gratuities if not included in original costs such as for our personal cabin steward, favorite bartender or a special server in a restaurant, specialty restaurants, spa services and any purchases made in any of the ship’s shops all of which offer overpriced merchandise. 

We always ensure that we have plenty of toiletries to last throughout the cruise. The cost of a tube of toothpaste, razors, or a bottle of Tylenol can be outrageous. All charges are charged to the credit card kept on file which is charged periodically to the card. One must ascertain that they have plenty of “room” on their card or another credit card on hand as these expenses add up quickly. 

There are expensive ATMs aboard ship and a bank where one can exchange currency. But, the fees for these services may be higher than expected. We don’t gamble on ships or otherwise, although we’ve seen many passengers hovering at an ATM when their gambling isn’t going well. Casinos on ships are less likely than land casinos to produce winners.

Checking on daily cruise updates has always been a “Tom task” when I’m busy updating the spreadsheets with our ongoing expenses and related tasks. Besides, he enjoys doing it where I have little interest in watching the status of cruises until it actually applies to us. It’s through Tom’s diligent research that we’ve been able to secure great pricing and cabins.

At the moment, all of our cruises and vacation homes are booked with required deposits paid. Today, after writing here and a trip to the little local market to have our skilled butcher cut meat for us, I’ll start logging our latest bookings that have been wrapped up over the past several days.

Please check back tomorrow and Thursday for two very exciting updates to our itinerary with many photos.  In the interim, we revel in the excitement of these two cruises, one highlighted today and the other in yesterday’s post.

Stay tuned.

Photo from one year ago today, July 8, 2013:

We posted our favorite low carb, sugar-free coleslaw recipe and how we’ve had to cut the cabbage by hand when we can’t ever find bagged shredded cabbage and carrots. For the recipe and detail from that day, please click here.

Happy 4th of July to those in the US!…New itinerary for 620 days, posted here today!…

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Yesterday, we entered the longest tunnel we’ve been through in our travels, the “Tunel da Encumeada” as we drove to Sao Vincente. Click here for a short video we found on YouTube, taken at 2x speed through this tunnel. It took us almost four minutes to drive through it.

We both wish all of our family and friends in the US a happy and safe 4th of July. It’s great it fell on a Friday, so all of you still working have a nice long weekend. Enjoy the festivities and fireworks!

Here it is, folks, our itinerary from July 31, 2014, to April 11, 2016, all of which is booked and set for our arrival, except for a few flights and a few one-night hotel stays:

Flight
Madeira, Portugal to Paris, France		 0 7/31/2014
Paris
Hotel 		 15 7/31/2014-8/16/2014
Tunnel
(Chunnel) Paris to London		 0 8/16/2014
London
Hotel 		 15 8/16/2014
-8/31/2014
London to Boston – Cruise 14 8/31/2014
– 9/14/2014
Hotel Boston 3 9/14/2014
– 9/17/2014
Flight Boston
to Vancouver		 0 9/17/2014
Hotel
Vancouver 		 6 9/17/2013
– 9/23/2014
Vancouver to Honolulu – Cruise 12 9/23/2014
– 10/5/2014
Honolulu/Waikiki
Rental 		 11 10/5/2014
– 10/16/2014
Maui Rental 57 10/16/2014
– 12/1/2014
1st house
Pahoe Hawaii Rental 		 46 12/1/2014 – 1/14/2015
2nd house
Pahoe Rental  (family visiting)		 0 12/20/2014  – 1/3/2015
Kauai Hawaii
Rental		 120 1/15/2015 – 5/14/2015
Honolulu/Waikiki
Hotel		 9 5/15/2015 – 5/24/2015
Honolulu to
Sydney – Cruise		 18 5/24/2015  – 6/11/2015
Trinity
Beach, Australia		 89 6/11/2015 – 9/8/2015
Fiji Rental
-Savusavu Island		 89 9/8/2015 – 12/6/2015
Fiji Rental
#2 – Fiji Main Island		 29 12/6/2015 – 1/4/2016
Sydney Hotel 1 1/4/2016 – 1/5/2016
Sydney to
Aukland – Cruise 		 14 1/5/2016 – 1/19/2016
New Plymouth,
New Zealand Alpaca Farm		 83 1/19/2016 – 4/11/2016
Total Days
Booked into Future		 620 7/31/2014 – 4/11/2016

Please note: Not all flights are posted here since we’ve yet to book them this far in advance. Flights cannot be booked more than 330 days in advance. In most cases, we don’t book flights any sooner than 90 days prior to travel. Also, in the next few days, we’ll be adding a few cruises, not shown here.

These sparse trees lined this hill.

The time and effort we put into booking the last 10 months of this itinerary was more work than we’d ever expected. It wasn’t easy planning this leg of our ongoing journey with higher prices than we’ve ever seen and many properties booked well in advance.

The low lying clouds impeded the clarity of our photos, which often occurs.

We’re satisfied with the end result and look forward to every step of the way (except for “flying days” which are always tiring and stressful). Beyond April 11, 2016? We don’t have a clue where we’ll go next other than the few above mentioned yet-to-be-booked cruises. A year ago, we didn’t know we’d be going to Australia. The decisions all come in time as a natural evolution. 

The hillsides everywhere on the island are filled with beautiful gardens.

We often look at the world map wondering where we’ll go after the final booking. We’ve yet to visit South America, the Orient, Antarctica, the countries in the former Soviet Union. At some point, we’ll cruise to Alaska and tour the US and Canada, most likely not for years to come. 

In reality, we’re not trying to visit every part of the world. We’re traveling to places we find most interesting.  We’ve yet to even count how many countries we’ve visited thus far. With over 200 countries in the world, we still have a long way to go. But, this isn’t a contest, a race, or an attempt to break some arbitrary record.

Stopping at an overlook, we spotted this unusual tree.

This is just us, two senior citizens, in-love, enjoying time together in different environments, trying to live life to the fullest for as long as we can. We feel no pressure to do anything differently than we’re doing. If we screw up, it’s on us.
 
Yes, we miss our loved ones and yes, we’ll see them from time to time. But, staying in touch is easy these days, making them seem less far away. We hope and pray that they understand and accept the “why” to our lives.  

We noticed a tour bus when we spotted this group of tourists crossing this footbridge. Most likely they are touring from a cruise ship that had arrived in Funchal, a popular port of call.

We know being away may seem selfish to them. But, we hope we taught our children to live their dreams to the fullest and that also included us.  We hope this message is also conveyed to our grandchildren. Make a dream…make it happen.

This morning, I awoke at 5:45 deciding to get up. It’s now 8:15 am and Tom’s still sleeping, a rarity for him. As soon as I bathed and dressed for the day, I came downstairs, turned on the hot water for my tea, immediately I opened the heavy glass door to the veranda, and stepped outside. 

The tourists were heading down to this park.

The sun had yet to come up and the reflection of the billowy clouds always present, cast a colorful image on the sea. As I stood there in awe of the beauty it dawned on me that in 27 days we’ll leave this island and in time it will become a distant memory.

Unusual vine-covered narrow trees.

Yesterday, as we drove to the village of Sao Vincente taking photos, some of which are shown here today, with more shown tomorrow, we spoke of leaving this island and about how grateful we are that we’ve documented every step of our travels in words and photos. 

We were disappointed that there was a cloud cover when we arrived in Sao Vincente. It had been sunny when we left Campanario.  Rapidly changing weather is typical for this island. 

When and if the time comes, that we can no longer travel, we’ll always be able to look online to recall a date, a place, or an event; to laugh, to cry, and to know that through sheer determination and a bit of “safari luck” we somehow managed to live this dream. 

Photo from one year ago today, July 4, 2013:

This is the only photo we posted a year ago today when it was a rainy day keeping us indoors in Boveglio Italy. This photo was taken in May 2013 (one month earlier) when we visited Petra, Jordan which we hadn’t posted at the time of posting Petra photos. But, we posted it last July 4, 2013, when we had no new photos available to post. For details of the story from one year ago today, 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!
__________________________________

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.

New 89 day booking in Fiji with photos!…Who knew it was do-able?…More bookings and itinerary updates coming…

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View overlooking the resort to the sea. Due to the necessity of resizing the photos on the resort’s site, these photos are a bit blurry. To see details, please click here for the Homeaway listing.

With strict 90-day visa requirements in Australia, we had to make a plan to spend more time outside o Australia. Rather than fly in and out of the continent to have a chance to start another 90 day period, we decided that living in another country in South Pacific for yet another 89 days makes the most sense. This way we can return to Australia to begin another 90-day visa. 

The veranda at our private villa, an actual separate house.

We’ll be able to purchase a one year visa online, still requiring us to stay only 90 days at a time, that will allow us to go in and out of Australia with greater ease over a period of one year. 

Another veranda view.

Long ago, we both expressed an interest in Fiji as we considered living in Australia for varying periods of time. We love island living which in most cases, provides us with close proximity to the sea and of course, the kind of views we can’t seem to resist.

When we originally looked for vacation rentals in Fiji awhile back, we were quickly frustrated by the rates and gave up. With the new booking in Australia, we had a new determination to find something wonderful at an affordable price. Once again “safari luck” kicked in and just like that, we found a fabulous resort that worked out an excellent price for us for half as much as we’d expected to pay.

The beach at the resort.

The information we’re sharing today isn’t sequential for our booking dates. Prior to living in Fiji, we’ll be living in Australia for 89 days which information we’ve yet to share here. This weekend, the owners of the Australian rental will send us their photos of their lovely property in Trinity Beach, Australia, which we’ll post the next day.

While in Belize, our first vacation rental outside of the US, we lived at the gorgeous Laru Beya resort in Placencia, loving every moment with our condo unit directly on the ocean on ground level. From the attentive staff, included cleaning and laundry twice weekly, to the infinity pool, restaurant, and bar, it was ideal. Most of all, we made wonderful friends with whom we’ve stayed in touch.

We’ll be living on the island of Vanua Levu in the village of Savusavu which is situated above the main island of Fiji, away from the bulk of the tourist hubbub on the main island of Fiji.

Beginning on September 8, 2015 (day of daughter Tammy’s birthday, day after son Greg’s) until December 6, 2015, we’ll live on an island paradise for a full 89 days, another resort on the remote island of Vanua Levu in the town of Savusavu as shown in this above map. 

Prior to booking this property, we researched transportation to the somewhat remote island.  We’ll fly from Cairns, Australia, (the closest airport to the rental in Trinity Beach, Australia) for a total of 10 hours to arrive in Vanua Levu. It’s a long flight with multiple layovers but considerably less time than many of our previous flights.

A portion of the living area.
We won’t need a car while on the island with a reliable driver (raved about in the reviews) that can easily take us anywhere we’d like to go at a reasonable rate. With the high cost for rental cars on the remote island for such an extended period, we’ll be content to request the driver for dining out, shopping, and exploring the island. 

This is an excellent scenario for us, a quiet location directly on the ocean away from the tourist hubbub and yet relatively accessible to fulfill our needs for shopping, dining out, and entertainment. This island appears to be comparable to one’s vision of “hiding away on a deserted island.”  

View from the living room.

We anticipate that staying at this resort will be comparable to those vacations in our old lives, those that we never wanted to end. With 89 days on this island, we’ll satisfy that longing, ready to head back to Australia for a short stint and then on to New Zealand. Although we haven’t pinned down the locations yet, we’re working on New Zealand now, hoping to wrap it up in the next several days.

As with any new booking, there’s a bit of trepidation as to whether the property will prove to be as it’s described on the website. Our first booking outside of the US in Belize resulted in our staying only a week when there was seldom running water and there were holes in the window screens. 

Master bedroom.

Within days of arrival, I had no less than 100 inflamed bites from the no-see-ums (sandflies), getting more and more bites each day. The lack of running water, more than the bites, motivated us to get out of there as quickly as possible. We anticipated that I’d be bitten wherever we went. 

Although, we lost the money we’d paid when the owner refused to give us a refund, once we moved to Laru Beya Resort we were in heaven. The sandflies were easily manageable by using repellent when outside at night. Luckily, we’ve been pleased with the diligent and thoughtful representation by all of the subsequent managers/landlords for the properties we rented from that point on. We didn’t necessarily love every country in which we lived but the properties were as stated in each location.
Another bedroom.
Without the necessity of making budgetary adjustments for this reasonably priced property, we’re both pleased and relieved to have this portion of our travels settled and awaiting our arrival in only one year, two months, and twelve days. When we think of it this way, it’s really not that far away. (We use an online app to calculate “dates between dates” which we need to calculate. Click here to see the free app.
Undoubtedly, there’s a risk in renting properties we’ve never seen in person. But, we’ve found that if the property is clean with a great view, with working WiFi and utilities, a comfortable bed, sofa, and dining space, and has a reasonably functional kitchen, we can get through it, bugs and all.
Steps from the lobby of the resort down to the pool.

Goodness, in South Africa, we had insects the size of one’s hand, a spitting cobra on the veranda, and scary-looking creatures flying and crawling into the house. Somehow, we managed rather well.

In many ways, adapting to a new environment every few months has made us more tolerant than either of us had ever expected.  We’ve adopted an attitude that if we can’t readily change a difficult situation, that no whining is allowed. Taking whining and complaining out of the equation greatly adds to one’s ability to adapt and to ultimately have a good experience.
                                                               ______________________Photo from one year ago, June 28, 2013:
 Many homes in the small villages in Tuscany are share a common wall (s) as was the case
in the 300 year old vacation home we rented in Boveglio, Italy for 75 days.  It was part of the grouping as shown above in this photo. For details from that day, please click here.