A walk into town like none other…Penguin…A Norman Rockwell painting come to life…Tom’s Irish Cream recipe..

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Penguin statue on the beach made of penguin dressed with Christmas clothes and various locally inspired pins and decorations.

Moving temporarily to Penguin, Tasmania confirmed that we like small cities. Feeling at home with some of the most friendly people on the planet with a culture all their own has provided us with a powerful sense of being welcomed within only a few days of our arrival.

Penguin information signs posted at the beach next to the above Penguin statue.

Yesterday morning, a long walk through the whimsical main street, a few blocks from our six-week holiday home, left us shocked with a profound sense of belonging.    The theme of the penguin was everywhere as our pictures show.

Monument to WWI, the Great War in downtown Penguin.

As we entered the small eccentric shops, buying a few grocery and pharmacy items along the way, we were greeted as if we had been here our whole life. While walking on the sidewalk, each passerby made a kindly comment, “How’s it goin’ mates?, “Ga day to you both.” We couldn’t stop smiling.

We stopped in the Penguin Visitors Information Centre to take photos to be shared in another post.  Notice the penguin statue and the penguins on the trash bins.

The influence and population of Fairy Penguins in the area (we’ve yet to see any but surely will soon) are the influence of the name of this special oceanfront town with its own population of around 4000 residents, many who’ve lived here all their lives, including our wonderful and helpful landlord Terry.

Terry’s sister Linda owns the Gents Hairdresser where Tom will eventually get a haircut while we’ll visit with Linda.

Within a 30 minute drive, we can reach many larger communities where there’s ample shopping, dining and entertainment venues within easy reach by driving along the scenic ocean view route. 

A memorial  for Troopers Thomas William Barker and Geoffrey Hugh Brownm who died in South Africa in 1900.

About Penguin from this site:

“History of Penguin

Penguin first settled in 1861 as a timber town, and proclaimed on 25 October 1875. The area’s dense bushland and easy access to the sea led to Penguin becoming a significant port town, with large quantities of timber shipped across Bass Strait to Victoria, where the 1850s gold rushes were taking place. The town was named by the botanist Ronald Campbell Gunn for the little penguin rookeries that are common along the less populated areas of the coast.

Sulfur Creek Post Office opened on 1 January 1867 and was replaced by the Penguin Creek office in 1868. The latter office was renamed Penguin in 1895.

Penguin was one of the last districts settled along the North West coast of Tasmania, possibly because of an absence of a river, for safe anchorage. Nearly all travel in those days was by boat as bush made the land almost impenetrable. Many of the settlers probably emigrated from Liverpool via landing in Launceston then sailing west along the coast.

White sand beach in the center of town.

Trade began when the wharf was built in 1870, allowing timber and potatoes to be exported. Penguin Silver Mine, along the foreshore slightly to the east of the town opened in 1870 but failed a year later. Neptune Mine, a tad further along, likewise failed. The rail from Ulverstone arrived in 1901, after which trade by sea declined. Passing of the Local Government Act in 1906 saw Tasmania divided into 48 Municipalities. Penguin’s first Council was elected in 1907.”

Penguin’s rich history is evident in every aspect of its pleasing center of town, homes along the coast and inland and, its people, all seemingly happy and grateful to live in this charming coastal town.

Zen House Studio which includes Buddhist Arts & Crafts.

With the intent of a walk along the boulevard, one side of the street each way, we found ourselves engaged in conversation with shop owners and employees being asked where we’re from and why we’ve come to Penguin. Two hours quickly passed as we reveled in each interaction.

The pink building is the candy shop where Tom bought the fudge. The yellow building is Penguin Fruit & Veg, an organic produce and health food shop.

When hearing morsels of our world travel and how long we’d be in Penguin, consistently they smiled, offering a warm, “Good on you!” often followed with…”If you need help with anything at all, please stop by.” Wow! Could we have felt more welcomed?

Local bar with outdoor seating.

We purchased mushrooms at the Fruit and Veg shop, hydrogen peroxide at the pharmacy, double thickened fresh cream, shampoo and conditioner at the IGA market while Tom couldn’t resist a small package of homemade fudge at the candy shop.

Fairy Penguin shaped cakes in the bakery on Main.

Enjoy today’s and tomorrow photos and of course, many more photos we’ll continue to share during our remaining 40 days in this special location. Had we known how much we would have loved it here, we may have chosen to spend the entire three months right here at Penguin.

Penguin Fire Department.

Then again, we need to spread our wings and experience as much as we can as we continue on in our world travels. It’s easy to settle in, embracing a sense of “home” as we meander from location to location.

Christmas penguins are for sale in many of the shops.

With the holiday season upon us, Tom had promised many of our newly made recent cruise friends that we post his “Lyman’s Irish Cream” recipe (compared to Bailey’s Irish Cream). 

Beach in downtown Penguin.

It’s easy to make and is excellent for serving as well as bottled gifts. We don’t imbibe, but know many of our readers may enjoy making this easy recipe.  Here his recipe:

Tom Lyman’s Irish Cream (Comparable to Bailey’s Irish Cream)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 pint ½ and ½ or real whipping cream

3 pasteurized eggs (important for safety)

1/8 teaspoon coconut extract

1 tablespoon chocolate syrup

1 cup Irish Whiskey or other bourbon or whisky

Blend all ingredients in blender for 2 minutes, then add 1 cup whiskey, measuring into the empty can of sweetened condensed milk in order to remove every last drop of the creamy sweetened condensed milk.

Blend for another 30 seconds. Pour in a glass bottle with tight fitting cork.

Keeps refrigerated for 30 days.

Please don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions regarding the preparation of this recipe. We’re happy to assist! Enjoy!

Photo from one year ago today, December 7, 2015:

It was one year ago today we moved from Vanua Levu, Fiji to Viti Levu, Fiji the main island in Fiji, flying in a small plane to from the tiny airport. For more details and vacation home photos, please click here.

A trip to Woolies turned into a sightseeing adventure…

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Many small islands lie near the shore.

Woolworths grocers, known as “Woolies” are popular in Australia. We went shopping at the Woolies in Trinity Beach during our 3 month stay beginning in June 2015. 

For our first big grocery shopping trip, we decided to forgo a farmers market and meat market for the purpose of getting the staples we’d need during our three month stay in Tasmania.  Anything left after this first six weeks will be taken with us to the Huon Valley for the second six week stay at the other end of the state.

View on the road to Ulverstone to do some shopping.

We realize that many of our readers are perhaps not interested in our grocery and/or food purchases and for that, please be patient with us. For us, with our way of eating it becomes very important and, for many of our readers who have written to us, they’re curious as to food products available in other countries.

With the winding narrow road, I had to take photos while we were moving.

I should mention that even in large market Woolies most vegetables are organic, most meat is grass-fed and chicken is organic and free range. The labels clearly indicate the origin of the products available for sale, including indications for farmed fish, which we do not consume. 

The head of lettuce we bought required a lot of washing and eliminating insects. What does it tell you? No pesticides. It was misshapen and uneven. There again, indicating true organic products. We easily found chemical-free eggs, free range, directly from the Woolies farm. In essence, we could, if we so chose purchase all of our food from this market.

A large house sits at the tip of a peninsula.

However, we plan to visit the upcoming farmers markets, mostly available on weekends, grass fed meat markets and locally caught fish markets while we’re in Tasmania. Doing so becomes a huge part of our enjoyment in an area giving us an opportunity to mingle with locals and hear about and see their farms. 

The beautiful road to Ulverstone.

Planning our meals and shopping for ingredients becomes an integral part of our desire and pleasure in living in rural areas, visiting farms, learning the culture and blending in as much as possible.

Our host and landlord Terry has been so helpful. Not only has he provided this impeccable property for our use over these six weeks, but he delivered three bottles of his homemade purified/distilled water for our use, although tap water is safe to drink in Tasmania.

Although we won’t be able to see sunsets from our location, the morning sun offers a stunning view.

The kitchen and property is so well equipped we avoided the expenditure of many staples we usually buy including many spices, quality olive oil, herbal teas, vinegars and toilet paper.  We created a grocery list with these items in mind and headed along the ocean to drive to the next town of Ulverstone where the Woolies is located.

Ulverstone is at a distance from this spot.

Penguin has a few markets, but they’re small and less well stocked. Also, the smaller local markets have higher prices, making it worth the drive to Ulverstone to the popular supermarket. 

In future visits, we’ll get out and explore this reserve.

Little did we know, the 20 to 25 minute drive was much more interesting than we’d anticipated. Terry suggested we take the coastal route if we were interested in some amazing scenery.  He was so right! With the bright morning sun shining on the sea, the scenic route took our breath away. For that reason alone, we’ll be looking forward to returning to Ulverstone for grocery shopping in the also quaint 7000 population town.

We’re excited to see the trains pass by our view several times a day. 

The temperature here is considerably cooler than we’d anticipated. With no warm clothing in our tiny inventory, we both needed to find something in the way of a sweatshirt or flannel shirts while in Ulverstone. In Australia, sweatshirts are called “jumpers.”

Parking on the main boulevard where literally all the stores are located, we found a few shops, one where we each purchased soft flannel shirts, both men’s sizes, Tom’s an XL, mine, a small for US $20, AU 27. I found a perfect hooded jumper in another nearby store for US $15, AU 20 which I’m wearing now, feeling cozy and warm on the chilly morning.

Historical Furners Hotel in downtown Ulverstone. There are many other small towns we’ll explore while in Penguin.

A visit to the pharmacy, a stop at a dollar type store for a pitcher for our iced tea and a few kitchen supplies including parchment paper, tin foil pans and environmentally friendly laundry soap rounded out our shopping. 

Then, we drove further down the same road to a computer store where we’d hoped to purchase a power cord for one of our laptops which quit working while on the cruise. They didn’t have such a cord available, but suggested we drive to Devonport where surely we’ll be able to make the appropriate purchase. In the next few days, we’ll make the 40 minute trip.

The main street in Ulverstone where all the shops can be found.

Lancaster House, another historical building in Ulverstone.

Back in the car, we drove to Woolies, finding every item on our list. Our total bill including enough groceries for eight days, totaled US $209, AU 280. In most new locations we’ve easily spent 30% more.

Back on the scenic road, again we stopped for photos when possible on the narrow oceanfront road. We can’t wait to make that drive again soon. Today, we’re sharing some of the photos from yesterday’s drive. In time, we’ll continue to share more photos from our two day road trip.

Again today, we continue to wash and hang our clothing after all the germs on the ship. It’s the first time in four months, we’re doing laundry. Tom helps with the hanging and heavy lifting while I sort and fold.

Tom’s busy catching up on all the Vikings games he missed during the 33-night cruise with the poor streaming signal on the ship. He’s catching up on several games he missed using his membership in NFL Game Pass. The WiFi is excellent in this property and he’s watching a game as we speak.

Tom commented that the gauge (the distance between the two rails) is considerably smaller in Australia than in the US.

We’re busy making plans for the upcoming few days/weeks, including an exciting Saturday night social event with our landlords which we’ll share in a future post. Thanks to all of our loyal readers for “traveling along with us.” It’s been delightful sharing our travels with all of YOU.

Happy day!

Photo from one year ago today, December 6, 2015:

What can I say? This was my favorite photo we’d taken in Fiji. It so bespeaks a life in Fiji, the freedom of barnyard animals to roam, to thrive and grow. The fact that we find barnyard animals so worthy of mention only enhances our experiences throughout the world. For more details, please click here.

Hello, Tasmania!…Little did we know…

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The fine white sand of the beaches of Tasmania invites leisurely walks and endless observation

Why did we choose to come to Tasmania? I suppose looking back 16 months ago when we booked this location we had visions of wildlife, clear blue waters, unspoiled terrain and a slow and easy pace. We aren’t disappointed.

This morning’s view from the living room. It’s a cool, sunny day.

In order to illustrate the fulfillment, we’re deriving and will continue to derive from this unusual island, its imperative we share a few facts we gleaned from this site.

“POPULATION OF TASMANIA
Tasmania is also known as Tas.This Island state is situated 240 km towards the south of the Australian mainland. It is the 26th largest island in the planet and about 334 more islands. Tasmania had a population of about 507,626 in the year 2010 and around half of the population lives in Greater Hobart, which makes the metropolitan area of the state capital and the city of Hobart. It is known as a natural state and around 45% lives in national parks and reserves. 

DEMOGRAPHY OF TASMANIA:
The population of the state is more homogeneous as compared to other states of Australia, the maximum of the people residing here is of British descent. The state has this tendency to receive less immigration compared to all the other states of the country. It is being recorded that around 65% of the inhabitants out here are descendants of a projected 10,000 founding families from the time of the 19th century. Around the year 1996, 80% or more of Tasmanians were born in the state and around 90% born in Australia, Great Britain, Ireland and also New Zealand. The homogeneity of the state makes it an appealing as well as attractive, place to find out about population genetics.
POPULATION DENSITY AND GROWTH OF TASMANIA:
The population density of Tasmania is 7.5 people per square kilometer.  Tasmania lacks a good growth and has been clearly the reason for its lack of any significant demand drivers for civil infrastructure and also a reason for poor economic performance of the state. The national population grew by 1.6 percent in the year 2013-14, Tasmania on the other hand recorded a low of 0.3 percent. As compared to other states in the country, the growth out here is very low and that is hampering the economy of Tasmania a lot.
FACTS ABOUT TASMANIA:
  1. The first novel of Australia was published out here in Hobart.
  2. The very first legal Casino to have opened was the Wrest Point Casino.
  3. The first city to introduce parking meters was Hobart.
  4. The very first Australian city to have an electric tramway was Hobart. The tramway started operating by the year 1893.
  5. Around 42% of Tasmania is a World Heritage area, marine, national park and forest reserves.
  6. The state of Tasmania is almost the size of Sri Lanka as well as Ireland.
  7. The state was the first Australian colony that made a compulsory education system in the year 1868.”
View from other living room window.

When we arrived in Hobart a few days ago after picking up the rental car, our intention was to take the shortest route to Penguin in order to get situated as quickly as possible. Once we began on the road, in awe of the scenery, we asked ourselves, “What’s the hurry?” We had all the time in the world. 

Ocean views along the highway.

And, after 33-nights at sea, to now be traveling on land through some of the most exquisite scenery in the world, it wasn’t a difficult decision. We approached the coastal highway signs and were on our way, looking at each other smiling from ear to ear, knowing we’d made the most sense and worthwhile choice.

White sand beaches with rarely a human in sight.

If we took the time to see the east coast of the on our way to Penguin, we’d avoid backtracking later on when we’d want to see more. Plus, when we leave in six weeks to head to the Huon Valley for another six weeks, we’ll have the opportunity to take yet another route along the western coast as the roads allow.  

Traveling through Tasmania we discovered endless bodies of water, including while driving on inland roads.

We’ve discovered its not a simple drive around the perimeter to travel the coasts of this Australian state. Adequate roads are sparse in many areas of this low population state. As a result, the route didn’t allow us to see every part of the eastern coast due to inaccessibility but we managed to see as much as we could. 

We drove through many mountain ranges we spotted on the horizon.

It wasn’t many kilometers/miles from Hobart to Penguin via this route, but it was slow going through many winding mountainous roads, oftentimes reminding us of the roads we traveled in the mountains of Tuscany, Italy, many moons ago.

Forests, fast moving rivers, streams and ocean inlets enhanced the views.

Also, from time to time, we became reminiscent about New Zealand and its lush rolling green hills, panoramic ocean views and picture-book farm after farm of sheep, cattle and horses. 

We hardly encountered any other vehicles on the road over the weekend drive.

On a few occasions, we even spotted the unusual Belted Galloway cattle (see our post here) that we’d seen nearby the alpaca farm where we languished in pure pleasure for three months beginning this past January.

From one area to the next the scenery changed.  With almost half of Tasmania’s entire population living in Hobart, most terrain consisted of the untouched areas of pure beauty.

Over these next few months in this special land, we’ll make every effort to ensure a good experience to share with all of you both in story and photos. Each day, we’ll be on the watch for the unique, the outside-the-box adventure and those special occasions when the simplicity of life in itself provides an inside peek to a new and exciting morsel that warms us to the core.

Winding river.

We only ask ourselves to achieve a modicum of understanding, a depth of emotion and the gift of the essence of life in Tasmania we’ll always carry with us in our hearts and minds forever. For now, once again, we are home.

The ocean surrounding Tasmania is bright blue as compared to sandy brown waters we’d seen when we lived at Trinity Beach, Australia beginning mid June in 2015. Was that really a year and a half ago?

More photos of our vacation home will follow in future posts after we’ve had a chance to put all of our stuff in order.  Soon..

Photo from one year ago today, December 5, 2015:

On our three years of travel anniversary in Fiji, we posted this photo when we’d visited the Namale Resort for a tour and luncheon celebration. For more photos, please click here.

Tasmania…Breathtaking beauty…We’re still on the road…Most perfect travel day yet!

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View from the veranda of the Pelican Point Sanctuary in St. Helens, Tasmania.

It was a perfect travel day. We disembarked the ship with ease, found a porter to assist with our awaiting luggage, breezed through immigration, picked up our confiscated power strips and were on our way to the airport, all within 30 minutes.

As we’d expected, we arrived a little too early at the domestic airport, even having to wait for 30 minutes to check our bags. Jetstar has a requirement that bags can’t be checked any sooner than two hours before departure. 

The bed and duvet in the suite were comfortable and warm. The room had a kitchen, spacious bath and large entry room.

The 30 minutes breezed by as well as the waiting period for boarding. In row 4 on the plane, we were comfortably situated in our seats in no time at all. The 90 minute flight was routine and seamless.

Seated area near the large flat screen TV.  Free Wi-Fi was included.

The small domestic airport in Hobart appeared to have only one baggage conveyer. Within 15 minutes we were on our way down the road with the bags on a trolley and anxious to get on the road.

The exterior of the highly rated Mohr and Smith restaurant in St. Helens.

The goal was to make it to our new vacation home in Penguin, Tasmania by yesterday afternoon. Once we began the four hour drive in the new well equipped rental car from the Hobart Airport, which was the fastest rental car process we’d ever experienced, our plan changed.

The atmosphere was trendy and inviting.

With a full sized map book in hand, given to us by the friendly rep at the counter, we made the decision to forgo the shortest route across the island and take the scenic route along the ocean. Doing so, doubled the time required to get to Penguin.

By 5:00 pm, stopping many times for exquisite photos, we decided to spend the night in St. Helens, an ocean/lake town.  We were hungry and tired from the long travel day, having disembarked the ship by 7:15 am, flown from Sydney to Hobart, hauled our bags to the rental car facility, and drove for four hours, we were ready to pack it in for the night.

After 33 nights of complimentary cocktails and wine at the Diamond Club on the ship, neither of us had any interest in drinking alcohol. Most likely, we won’t drink again until the next cruise in three months.

With another four hours of driving ahead of us, we used our Australian hotspot, got online in the car and booked one of three hotels available in the area. We choose the Pelican Point Sanctuary, the highest rated (four stars) in the area at US $156, AU 209, a night (with tax) and couldn’t have been more pleased.

Locally caught thick white fish atop a bed of asparagus and a sautéed zucchini patty. It was delicious and worthy of a five star review on TripAdvisor. 

The quaint resort was surrounded by lake, mountain and ocean views with cattle in the backyard, ducks and geese on various ponds and frogs chirping through the night. We couldn’t have been more at home for the night.

Tom’s meal consisted of Chicken Kiev atop a bed of garlic mashed potatoes, pea puree and roasted carrots.

The manager arranged a dinner reservation for us at 6:15 at the popular restaurant, Mohr and Smith, a short drive from the resort, where we had a perfectly prepared gourmet meal for US $53, AU 72. We were so thrilled with the meal, we wrote a review on TripAdvisor as soon as we returned to the resort. By 9:30, I was asleep, Tom shortly thereafter.

Tom ordered fries as a side while I had a crunchy salad of mixed greens and sprouts.

It’s 6:45 am now as I prepare today’s quick post.We’re anxious to get back on the road to take more photos during one of the most beautiful drives we’ve ever taken in our four years of world travel. Tasmania doesn’t disappoint.

Cattle in the back yard of the resort.

By 8 am, we plan to be on the road to head to Binalong Bay and then, back on the scenic route along the coast to Penguin.  Once we’re unpacked and situated in the house, we’ll grocery shop with a plan to make our first meal in over three months. 

Last night’s waning sun from the resort.

For the first time in months, we slept without air con, bundled under a fluffy duvet. Although it’s almost summer in Tasmania (starts on December 21st) we have no doubt it will be cool over our three months on the island.

There was a pond outside our room with three ducks.

We’ll be back tomorrow with many fabulous scenic photos and the ongoing story of our getting settled into yet another home in our world travels. Stay tuned, dear readers, it will quite a show at this special location!

Photo from one year ago today, December 4, 2015:

Savusavu Bay and Nawi Island, in Fiji, a site atop a hill in the village. For more photos, please click here.

Final cruise expenses…Day to disembark….Off to Tasmania this morning…

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Our friend Stan’s photo of the sunset on our last night aboard the ship. Well done, Stan, thanks for sharing!

“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”

Miniature representations of schooner located in the Schooner Bar.

Today, as you read this post, we’re at the Sydney airport awaiting our upcoming flight at 10:35 am in Tasmania, Australia. Without a doubt, we appreciated each moment of this long cruise.

It took a while, but we got these figures together to share with our readers which now will include many wonderful people we’ve met aboard the ship. We’d love to see what others may have spent during their cruise, if any of our new readers would like to share. We can certainly keep it confidential if you’d prefer.

Photo in camera shop.

The cost for the 33 night Australian cruise was as follows:

Total Cost of Cruise  $9,105.74,  AU $12,269.65

Total Cruise Costs: US $11,249.58,  AU $15,161.36		 Total Cruise Bill: $582.04, AU $784.28

Cost for Cruise for Balcony Cabin #9030

Cruise Charges                                              $7,291.00
Senior Rate
Taxes                                                      960.04                                            
Prepaid Gratuities                                    854.70*        
                                            –
Total Cost (US)                                  $ 9,105.74

As for incidentals we spent when off the ship:
Clothing & Perth Visit:                                 340.00  
Sydney Pharmacy (toiletries)                       199.00
Grand Total for Incidentals:                $  539.00

Total Transportation/Hotel Costs:
Airfare Bali to Sydney:                                690.26
Hotel Sydney                                              272.54
Taxi Sydney Airport to Hotel                          60.00
Grand Total for Trans/Hotel              $ 1,022.80

Breakdown of Cruise Bill
Wi-Fi Voom for both legs                              747.66
Laundry (3 times)                                          74.97
Beverages not inc. Diamond Club                  174.10
Shuttle bus                                                    20.00
Shopping                                                     222.95
Luggage                                                        42.46
Cabin credits                                              – 700.00
Total cruise bill                                      $   582.04

Grand total for all expenses:         US $11,249.58  AU $15,161.36
Average cost per day:                    US $     358.53  AU $      459.44

* In the past 24 hours we handed out additional cash gratuities of US $200 spread among several staff members, including the dining room manager who facilitated my meals; our cabin steward; the bartender in the Diamond Lounge; Richardo our Diamond Club rep;  and our waiter in Cascades dining room. Although we’d paid the above mentioned US $854.70 in the cost of the cruise itself, we felt these extra gratuities were warranted.  This additional sum is not included in the above totals.

Painting in the gallery.

This morning, thanks to our host Richardo in the Diamond Club, we were given early disembarking tickets (#2) which easily facilitated the necessity of making it to the airport at least one hour before our scheduled 10:30 am flight to Tasmania. As it turned out we arrived a little too early and had to wait 30 minutes in order to check our bags.

The card room where bridge and other games are played.

Last night, we left our checked bags outside our cabin door where they were whisked away to the baggage collection area at the Port of Sydney once the ship docked early this morning. 

Once we disembark we collected our bags, grabbed a taxi and were our way to the airport, a 30-minute drive with little traffic since its Saturday here today. The process of disembarking the ship was seamless with no stress or worry.

Painting of wood boat.

We’ve had a most extraordinary cruise, made many new friends, including Lois and Tom and Cheryl and Stan and many more; spent time with old friends Michelle and Carlo in Perth; experienced some lovely ports of call; dined on excellent food; and during this entire period, we did exactly what we wanted to do each and every day.

We’re anticipating this next leg of our journey with enthusiasm and a sense of adventure. I can’t wait to spot our first Tasmanian Devil. Photos will follow, of course. Tomorrow, we’ll be back with photos of our new home and others, we’ll have taken on the almost four hour drive from Hobart to Penguin.

Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, December 3, 2015:

With Savusavu, Fiji located on a mountain, steep roads are required to access most properties. For more photos, please click here

Day 33…Circumnavigating the Australian continent…Final day aboard ship…Final expenses tomorrow…

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The narrow peninsula in Newcastle, Australia was a pretty scene from the balcony.

“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”

Art from the gallery. There have been numerous art auctions aboard the ship. Luckily, we have no reason to participate, especially, as Tom says,”We don’t have any walls!”

With the recent changes in the ship’s itinerary, many passengers have been disappointed. As the captain explained in yesterday’s talk in the Aurora Theatre, the changes were necessary to avoid a hurricane (referred to as a typhoon in this part of the world). 

He displayed the weather maps on the screen and after seeing these the disgruntled passengers accepted that the change in itinerary was not only necessary but prudent by the conscientious captain.

Early this morning, the ship made for Newcastle, Australia.

As our day wore on, we stayed at our table in the Latte tudes Café while many passengers who’d attended our seminars stopped by to say hello and chat, sharing many wonderful travel stories of their own. That couldn’t have been more entertaining.

The lively city center of Newcastle.

There were numerous activities occurring in the Centrum under which we could easily watch from our café table, including dance practice for tonight’s passenger performance of Michael Jackson’s Thriller (kudos to those brave souls) and later in the day, the popular “egg drop contest.”

To compete in the egg drop, passengers found various supplies throughout the ship to create some sort of device they could use when they dropped their single egg onto the Centrum floor from the railing on an upper deck. Seeing these homemade contraptions float from above to break the egg or not, was hilarious with lots of crowd participation.

Fort Scratchley Historical site.

After the daytime festivities ended, we headed back to our cabin to get ready for the evening’s entertainment, happy hour in the Diamond Lounge with our two couples and a dinner for Tom and I in the specialty restaurant, Chops, hosted for us by the ship as a show of appreciation for our seminars.

Christ Church Cathedral.

Of course, going forward, should we decide to pursue it, the cruise lines corporate office works out a contractual arrangement for speakers with considerably more compensation than two bottles of wine and a dinner in a pay-for specialty restaurant. 

Generally, lecturers are provided with a complimentary cabin for two for the entire cruise. We’ll see how that rolls out for us, if we find it to be a possibility for the future. Only time will tell as we contemplate the potential options.

Esplanade along the shoreline.

We stayed with our friends in the Diamond Lounge until it was time for their dinner. Shortly after they left, we chatted with a couple who’d attended our seminars and then headed to “Chops Steak House.” The meal proved to be a truly extraordinary with the biggest, most tender melt-in-your-mouth-perfectly-cooked filet mignon steaks we’d had in a number of years. 

Newcastle Ferry Wharf.

After dinner, we gathered with hundreds of passengers in the Centrum for the 10:00 pm party. As it turned out, we “danced the night away.” Although I drank three glasses of wine over a period of eight hours with lots of water in between, today I’m sure feeling it. Whew!

Was it the dancing? Was it the lack of sleep which has been an issue during this entire cruise? We were late getting to bed most nights, getting up way too early each morning for the past 33-days. We didn’t want to miss a thing. But, now we both feel a little rest in Tasmania might be on the agenda.  We’re exhausted from having too much fun!

Pleasant scene in Newcastle.

Today’s a busy day. I have two posts to prepare; today’s, and tomorrow’s final expenses post which usually requires additional time to put together. We have to pack (we’d unpacked everything for this long cruise) leaving our bags outside our door tonight before 10:00 pm. 

Next we need to check in for our flight (Wi-Fi issues today preventing us doing so right now), pay for overweight luggage, map directions to the house in Penguin and get the access code from the owners which I requested by email this morning.

We’ll spend tonight with our friends, the final happy hour and dinner in the Cascades dining room. We’ve all exchanged email addresses and surely will stay in touch. Spending time with our little group has only added to the fine experience we’ve had on our first over 30-day cruise.

City view of Newcastle.

Would we consider this long of a cruise in the future?  We might.  However, after this lengthy cruise, we’ve lost interest in the possibility of 60 or 90 days (or more) world cruises. We do look forward to our feet firmly implanted on the ground and once again, setting up housekeeping at the upcoming first location in Tasmania.

Actually, we’re chomping at the bit to cook our first meal in over three months. As in turned out, we only cooked for 42 days in Phuket, Thailand out of the past six months. During that period, I was still suffering with the spinal injury.

Now, fully recovered and totally pain free, I’m looking forward to our day to day activities and being able to get out and about at our leisure for some sightseeing and exploring.

It’s a whole new day, a new adventure and a new leg in our ongoing world travels which we’ll continue to excitedly share with each of you each day.

Be well, dear friends.

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

Private pier at  the Jacques Cousteau Resort in Fiji. For more photos, please click here.

Day 32…Circumnavigating the Australian continent…Seminar Part 2 was a success!! Thoughtful email from attendees!

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We were surprised by the number of attendees at our second presentation.

“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”

Zebra’s painting located in the gallery.

Those of our readers who’ve followed along with us over these past years know how humbled and in awe we are in our lives.  We never fail to remind ourselves to be grateful for each and every day of this unusual life and… for life itself.

Awakening each morning to the joy of another day of life is a gift in itself. Good health, being together, living within our means and the love of our family, friends and new people we meet along the way only adds to the exquisite pleasure of traveling the world.

The huge Colony Club was also packed for our second presentation.

We ask ourselves, is it luck? The perception may be that we “landed on something.” As we look back over our lives, we realize that getting to this point wasn’t a stroke of luck. We gave up a lot and, over the long haul, we worked hard to make it possible.

Many find our lifestyle foolhardy and impractical. Others revel in a sense of wonder over our “bravery.” We aren’t foolhardy and we aren’t brave. Is it foolhardy to fulfill a dream one is capable of turning into a reality? Is it brave to jump into the cool water of a pool on a hot day? No bravery required here.

Tom was enjoying himself during our presentation.

Then, what is it, if not luck? Many years ago I taught sales/motivational classes centered around the Dale Carnegie concept of the fact that there are five steps to making a sale;  Attention, Interest, Desire, Conviction and Close. 

In essence, subconsciously we maneuvered our way through these five steps as we made the decision to travel the world as follows:

1.  Attention: That day in January, 2012 when I asked Tom what he wanted to do when he’d be retiring on October 31, 2012.  He got my ATTENTION but could we make it work?
2.  Interest: Once we started investigating the possibilities, both financially and logistically, we developed a strong INTEREST in pursuing it further.
3.  Desire: Once we realized it was feasible a powerful sense of DESIRE kicked in and we began to embrace the concept.
4.  Conviction: The more we researched, the more committed we became and during the first 30 days, a powerful feeling of CONVICTION to make it happen captured us both.
5.  Close: Like the finale of an actual sales transaction, we truly CLOSED when we began to pay deposits on future bookings and planned for the sale and disposal of all of our worldly goods.

The ship is beautifully decorated for Christmas.

These thoughts came to mind from so many years ago, as my brain was spinning with the enthusiasm we both are feeling from the second of two seminars we conducted for passengers aboard Royal Caribbean Radiance of the Seas. 

The positive feedback we’ve received from attendees both in person throughout these past days and by email has truly been overwhelming and appreciated. Who knew? Not us. We expected a handful of attendees when in fact there were in excess of 100 at each presentation. Go figure. 

Even staff at the customer service desk is prepared for Christmas.

If we’d had more lead time to prepare and announce the two part series, surely we’d been able to garner more attendees. We can’t stop smiling. This happy and fulfilling experience will stay with us for a long time. 

Will there be more in the future? In the next two days, we’ll be talking to Kevin and Steve, activities director and cruise directo,r respectively, to see if this can lead to something that appeals to us in the future. 

With bookings well into 2018, we’ll have to see if it is a possibility for us since it’s unlikely we’d want to change our itinerary going forward. We’ll see how and if it rolls out.

The ship is decorated for Christmas.

Last night, before bed, we checked our email to find this message:
On Wed, Nov 30, 2016 at 1:51 PM, Mary wrote:

Dear Jess & Tom,
We have attended both of your presentations and have enjoyed them thoroughly.  Jess, you are a better speaker than MANY of the presenters we have had on many cruises.  Good amount of both information, humor, pictures, and you have no repetitive phrases or awkward pauses – brilliant!  I was a high school science teacher for over 20 years and have some familiarity with quality speaking

The other day we introduced ourselves to you in the Windjammer.  We are the 2 gals who have lived full time in an RV for 22 years, while also doing international land trips, and many cruises.  I’m sure we have been in more countries than you have, yet that doesn’t matter – we still learned a few things from you.  Thank you for that

Since we often travel spontaneously, with hardly any plans, and no reservations, and hardly ever stay anywhere longer than 3 weeks, we found it very interesting to learn of your travel style.  You are right;  people have to discover what works for them, no matter what anybody else does.  But you gave some excellent tips which everyone should know, just to be safe.

Hoping to cruise with you again some time.

Warmest regards,  Mary & Elaine

We are so appreciative of this message from these lovely people. It means the world to us to hear from those we meet in our travels, especially when they take a few minutes to say hello or share their story. Thanks to Mary and Elaine for sharing your thoughts with us!

In the interim, we’re down to our last few days aboard the ship, cherishing every single moment of this extraordinary adventure, made all the more exciting by the serendipity of our lectures and making so many new friends aboard the ship.

Luck? Maybe a touch. Happiness? In abundance.

Photo from one year ago today, December 1, 2015:

In Fiji, one year ago, we drove under canopy of trees in a nearby neighborhood. For more details, please click here.

Day 31…Circumnavigating the Australian continent…Seminar #2 this morning at 10:15…Devices we use…Logistics of world travel…

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The ship has been decorated for Christmas and looks beautiful.

“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”

Another piece of art from the ship’s gallery.

Today, as we prepared the final details of our upcoming seminar, we thought it made sense to post the photos of the digital equipment we’ll be discussing during the presentation.

RFID (Radio Frequency ID) wallets which can’t be scanned with illegal devices in an attempt to steal identity.
RFID passport holder.

As a result, today’s post will include little verbiage and more photos. By doing so, it will be convenient and expedient for Tom to bring up the photos as we describe each item.

Universal adapters.  Without these, we’ve had serious electrical issues.

Tomorrow, we’ll share details about the agenda covering the logistics of world travel with less emphasis on where we’ve been and what we’ve seen. Also, we’ll include the response from our audience as to these topics which some may find less interesting than the details of our travels.

Portable hot spot devices for various countries.  In many countries we haven’t needed to use these.  In others, they were our only means of Wi-Fi.  The two black devices top center, may be used in many countries, but often don’t work as well as each country’s own device.

However, it’s all a part of the experience for those who choose to experience traveling over the long haul. It’s not always as romantic and exciting as it may to be.

Flash drive, a must for the savvy traveler.
Our unlocked SIM card (mini or full size SIMs work) smart phones.

Our cruise is quickly winding down with only three days until we disembark the ship to make our way to the airport for our upcoming three month visit to Tasmania.

Collapsible camera tripod.
Portable canner.

We’ll be back tomorrow with more. Please check back then!

Photo from one year ago today, November 30, 2015:

This is a popular snorkeling area in Savusavu, Fiji with considerable coral reefs. For more photos, please click here.

Day 29…Circumnavigating the Australian continent…Finally at a port of call in NZ…Did we forget something?

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Boats at the port of Tauranga, New Zealand. We have so many fond memories of our three months in this beautiful country.

“Sighting on the Ship in Australia”

Glass sculpture in hallway.

The second leg of this 33 night cruise is our 16th cruise in four years, averaging at one cruise every three months.  That’s not to say we’ve booked cruises for such an arbitrary schedule as four per year. It’s just an average.

During our first year of world travel, we embarked on eight cruises in a little over five months. Then, we had a 14 month gap with no cruises at all.  From there, we slowed down a bit to the current total of 16 cruises. 

While taking this photo I thought, “Hmm…this looks familiar.” We’ve only taken about 10,000 photos since taking this shot. It would be easy to forget.

We book cruises when we find good deals with lots of perks in locations convenient to where we are at any given time. Different from many cruise enthusiasts, we don’t necessarily focus on new ports of call we’ll visit, although this is of interest to us.

Instead, we focus on our joy of cruising and using a ship as our temporary home for a few weeks and in this case, for over a month. Sure, the cost for cruising generally exceeds our preferred average daily cost of around US $200, AU 268, including vacation rental fees, transportation, visas, food, insurance, entertainment, Internet and miscellaneous.

Forest along the seaside in Tauranga.

In five days, we’ll be sharing our total expenses for this 33-night cruise, including average daily costs, our final cruise bill for both legs and any incidentals we may have purchased along the way. Please check back for these totals.

After our change in course, due to inclement weather, the last week’s cruise itinerary has changed dramatically. Today, we’re in Tauranga, New Zealand during which a funny thing happened to us. Well, it was funny to us anyway.

The town of Tauranga, New Zealand.

“Tauranga total population

  • 114,789 people usually live in Tauranga City. This is an increase of 10,905 people, or 10.5 percent, since the 2006 Census.
  • Its population ranks 6th in size out of the 67 districts in New Zealand.
  • Tauranga City has 2.7 percent of New Zealand’s population.”

After four days at sea, passengers were chomping at the bit to get on land. We never mind sea days.  The ship has been our home for this month and we’re happy whatever we’re doing, wherever we dock.  It’s not unlike our daily lives. 

Not only are we grateful and enjoying the exciting days, we’ve found the quiet and mundane days to be enjoyable in their own way, as is the case for many of you. Not every day has to be emblazoned in our minds as highly memorable.

Shipping yard in Tauranga.

With today’s port of call of Tauranga, we decided to get off the ship. I took a few photos from our balcony early this morning. Neither of us were hungry, so we decided to skip breakfast and eat later if we’re hungry.

As always, we set up our laptops in our usual Latte tudes Café on the fifth deck where we are often able to find comfortable seating with enough activity in the background to further entertain us while we work on the day’s post.

As we walked toward the port exit, everything started looking familiar.

This morning, we met with Kevin, the ship’s activity director, to discuss a possible Part 2 of yesterday’s successful seminar. He’d received lots of positive feedback from passengers wanting to hear more of our story.

Of course, we’re flattered to hear this including all the positive feedback we received all day yesterday and again this morning after yesterday’s “event.” We couldn’t be more pleased that our seminar was a success. 

A seagull hoping for a morsel from tourists.

Now, we’re scheduled to conduct Part 2 in two days, another sea day, and we hope for yet another good turnout. What a great opportunity for us! This morning instead of preparing the post, we created the new agenda and we’re comfortable with the content.

Since this information is so readily available in our minds no rehearsal is required, only the agenda to refer to on my laptop during the presentation. No stress.  No worries. We’re totally at ease with the entire process.

Once we completed the agenda, we decided to postpone preparing the post and head out to see Tauranga. It’s cool here today, so we bundled up in jeans and parkas planning to spend a few hours visiting the town, a not too distant walk from the port.

Here’s another of New Zealand’s beautiful skies.

Once we entered the port exit gate, we looked at one another and laughed aloud. We walked this entire town in January when our then ship visited this same port of call. Somehow we’d both forgotten we’d already toured this charming town. 

Cold and windy, we turned around and returned to the ship, but not before we took today’s several photos.  There was no point in spending too much time in a port of call we’d already explored at length.  Here’s the link to our original visit in January, 2016.

Once back on board, we busied ourselves working on today’s post and photos and so on, when done, we may just make a stop at the Windjammer Café on deck 11 for a light bite to eat.

We hope all of our family, friends/readers in the US had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and warmest regards to all of your throughout the world. Thanks for hanging with us through this lengthy cruise

 Photo from one year ago today, November 28, 2015:

The beach along this area in Fiji was mostly rocky. For more details, please click here.