DAY 15 - Wednesday, 26th Sept. - Sea Day

We now have another two sea days whilst we sail across the South China Sea, destination Hong Kong.   Had ideas of going to Zumba Class this morning, but didn't make it – but did manage another morning Trivia, failed miserably.  We also caught a glimpse of our cabin steward starring in the Animal Towel Folding – he's never done this for us – so he's in big trouble!!  We also had thoughts of going to the Australian Pie Buffet for lunch, but the food police intervened…..

 

Things haven't changed in the LAUNDRY!!!  OMG – don't dare put your head in the door if it is 'full' – cause you'll get the angriest glares!!  As it is 147 paces from our cabin down the 'long corridor' to this most unpleasant spot, it's almost a workout - that is when you do manage to put washing in and then dry it, which is  six trips!!  Only two washing machines & dryers & 1 ironing board on a limited number of floors is not quite enough!!

 

This afternoon the ballroom dancers were treated to Afternoon Tea in the Vista Lounge with the orchestra – didn't partake, just took a picture.  At 4pm went to the "Rocky Mountain Echoes with Trevor Knight" – really good again as he sang lots of songs written by John Denver.

 

Back to the cabin to do some more 'blogging', then off to dinner, and it's Formal Night again – guess what was on the menu tonight – YES those delightful Lobster Tails – and the boys had 2 each!!!   Afterwards we enjoyed lots of fun and laughter as Bayne Bacon entertained us – he's a multi-instrumentalist, has a great voice too and a very dry sense of humour.

 

PHOTOS:   Afternoon Tea waiters;  Afternoon Tea with the orchestra in the Vista Lounge;  Our very long corridor;  2^nd Formal Night and Colin sporting his new 'dinner jacket';  Danilo shelling the lobster;  Superb meal!!

 

Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia Photo's

DAY 14 - Tuesday, 25th Sept. - Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia

 

 

Just a short distance sailing north during the night, and we arrived at Kota Kinabalu around 7am.  Again we had organized a ship's tour for the afternoon so we wandered around the dock during the morning pottering in and out of the little markets, Colin got on the treadmill, we had a very early lunch, and then "joined the queue" at 12.30 to disembark – this time getting better seats, four from the front and in a lovely air-conditioned bus.

 

Our tour guide this afternoon was John - very cheery and spoke good English.  Well he was very cheery until he began talking about the fact they were 'head hunters' – as opposed to cannibals – these guys  don't eat you, they just cut your head off…..

 

Our first stop was at the Sabah Museum which has a heritage village and several galleries highlighting Sabah's history and culture, as well as traditional architecture including a Skull Hut (nice) and Murut Longhouse – all very interesting.  We then went to another water village but not by boat - again blown away by the way these people live – think it is actually cleaner for these people rather than the poor people living on the land, as there was not much rubbish lying around, it conveniently just gets flushed away!!

 

Our next stop was at the night markets – well it was late afternoon and they were actually just setting up for these and it was totally extraordinary – hundreds and hundreds of stall holders selling everything you could possibly imagine.  The outdoor fruit and veg market looked really good and it was piled high, the fish and meat looked good too – BUT!!! – so amazing that there were no flies.  Apparently most of the white & blue collar workers living in Kota eat at the markets nightly so it must be bedlam when they all arrive.  All of the craft, jewellery, materials etc., were 'packed to the brim' inside, in hundreds of corridors – sadly we were only given about 20 minutes here, so there was no time to linger – however, I did manage to find a really nice piece of batik material.

 

Kota Kinabalu is a really nice place, beautiful beachy harbour with many parks, lovely tree lined streets and lots of colourful tropical plants.  Unlike many Asian cities and towns, there were hardly any motorbikes to be seen, mainly because of the torrential rain and heat – just lots of little cars.

 

After dinner we watched Patricio Rodriguez who is a comedy vocalist and Latin-American entertainer – from Sydney!! – and he was pretty good.

 

PHOTOS:  Village leaf weaver;  Inside the Scull Hut;  Beautiful & colourful beaded jewellery;  Would you like to buy this block of land?;  Homes in the water village;  Preparing for the Night Markets;  A basket of White Bait;  Any takers for a chilli or 'ten thousand'?;  Good looking meat, but in this heat?;  Two cute little boys;  BBQ – what is that?;  Like to buy a belt Mr. – can make to size!!;  Many flags aflying with the Flag of Malaysia.

DAY 13 - Monday, 24th Sept. - Sabah, Brunei

We docked at the port of Muara early this morning after sailing up the north western coast of Borneo, which meant we treated ourselves to a Horizons brunch and another yummy omellete, with the works!!!  It's very, very warm outside…

 

Our afternoon Princess Tour took us into the capital of Brunei, Bandar Seri Begawan – we drew the short straw as we ended up on the back seat of the bus for a 40 minute drive into town!  Our tour guide was Eric and spoke good English and didn't stop talking all afternoon…..  From the bus window we could see lots of tropical vegetation and plenty of homes and shops, of all standards and types of construction, but not too many palatial ones.  It was a holiday today as they were celebrating "Teachers' Day.  Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah is the 29^th ruler of his dynasty, which is the largest continuous royal family in the world and the country's wealth comes from their rich oil and natural gas reserves.

 

Our first stop was at the Royal Regalia Museum which houses the Crown Jewels of Brunei as well as the spectacular golden Royal Chariot, coronation crowns, ceremonial weapons and a collection of photographs of the Sultan…. all absolutely breathtaking!  This Royal Chariot was not horse-driven but man-driven, with 48 men at the front and 48 at the rear…..

 

We were then taken to Kampung Ayer Water Village and that was an eye opener too….  We donned life jackets and were taken by water taxi around this massive complex of what looked like mainly derelict, but colourful villages on stilts over the water, with heaps of boats whizzing by (no speed limit).  These families own their homes which are passed down by generation and although are terribly basic on the outside, are quite large, and also very basic inside…..  We went into one of the homes for 'afternoon tea' - lots of little morsels wrapped in leaves and some nice sweet miniature style donuts and little plain cakes – Colin was a lot gamer than I was. This was set up in the first room which was set up for visitors, then we walked through the hallway and beyond to the kitchen (they had 5 microwaves!) – didn't see the bedrooms!  They have electricity and water but no sewerage system – just the natural one which is tidal twice a day!!! Strangely it didn't smell!!!  I'm sure they love their way of life, they all seemed happy and we too were also very happy to 'get back home again'.

 

We missed dinner at the dining room for the first time as we went to see Lisa Crouch again at the early timeslot, thinking she would put on a different show (it did say in the "Patter", back with a brand new show) but it was exactly the same, word for word, every joke in the same order and she even wore the same clothes….. bit disappointing, but  she has got talent.  We then had time to see Trevor's late night show, which was not disappointing.

 

PHOTOS:  Beautiful ladies;  Golden Royal Chariot at the Royal Regalia Museum;  2 Stilt houses at Kampong Water Village;  Inside one the houses for afternoon tea – bet they all don't look like this!!;  Looking over to the water village across,  the Brunei River;  a Ferrari boat;  the Jame'asr Hassanal Bolkiah Mosque;  Flag of Brunei.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Day 12-Sunday, 23rd Sept.-Sea Day

               

 

Can't believe how quickly these days are slipping away and it's Sunday again, which means Sunday Lunch with our Cruise Critic mates, and we are joined by an American couple who actually didn't participate in the internet chatter, but watched the site leading up to the trip.  No Roast today but a hearty 3 course lunch and then it was up to Vista Lounge at 1.30pm to listen to Trevor Knight's "Triumph of the Horse" and his delightful horsy tales – another fabulous talk.

 

Time again for another pounding of the Promenade for me (Colin did the treadmill) – the ocean is just so beautiful – most people were asleep on their deck chairs, with their books propped on their chests – but they're allowed to do that – it is "Nanna Nap" time anyway!!

 

Saw a great show in the Princess Theatre tonight – Lisa Crouch – they call her 'the powerhouse diva' and she certainly was that, fantastic range and sang some great songs, along with some good comedy.  She's a Sydney girl, similar age to us, but we have never heard of her before…… looking forward to seeing her again!!

 

PHOTOS:   Us with Trevor Knight – doesn't he look like John Denver?   and Colin in the gym having a workout.

DAY 11 - Saturday, 22nd Sept. - Sea Day

              
With 2 port days in a few days time, everyone is chatting about what they will be doing and of course, the Destination Presentations are as popular as ever – we tried to get into one today but the Theatre was packed out – so got some glimpses of it on our telly later in the day.  We are reminded now that we have to be there half an hour early and take a book!!!!   

 

Apart from being a great musician and singer, Trevor Knight is also an international horseman and horse whisperer and he gave a wonderful presentation this afternoon in the Vista Lounge on "The Wisdom of Horses".  He spoke about his experiences beginning in childhood when he decided he wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up…… and how his love of horses grew from when he first came to Australia and got a job in the Snowy Mountains as a stockman during the summer, and musician during the winter. He then spoke about all his beautiful horses and it was very emotional……  to be continued tomorrow.

 

It was also a Country themed Outback Barn Party tonight in Vista – put our moleskins and jeans on but it wasn't all that it was 'cracked up' to be so ended up in the Wheelhouse Bar, and had our first dance, I think since our last cruise!!!

 

PHOTOS:  Musical melodies with "The Lady Hit Trio";   Think the food police should be doing more – Colin's eyes are popping out of his head (as they were when taking the first photo). 

  

DAY 10 - Friday, 21st Sept. - Sea Day

Darn, had such a good night last night we (I) forgot to put out our brekky order, so it was up to Horizons – but we were good!!  With Trivia, morning tea and writing up some more blog, it was lunchtime already!   We are today navigating through the Indonesian Archipelago and didn't actually cross the Equator until today.

 

The afternoon just slipped away and it was good to see that our Swanees beat Collingwood and we're in the Grand Final.   We got to Showtime early for some good seats to watch Trevor Knight (hoping it was the Trevor Knight of years gone by who played around the pubs in Sydney - and it was).  He's had a very interesting life – calling Slim Dusty his 'other Dad' and has lived all over the world and 'dropped' many familiar names of people he has worked with.  He sang songs from Neil Diamond, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and John Denver – even looks like John Denver, and, of course, he doesn't have his long hair and long beard anymore – great show and we look forward to seeing/hearing more of him over the next few days.

 

PHOTOS:   Think this couple have been onboard far too long – they're 'petrified';   our Head Waiter cooking up the most scrumptious pasta – you could smell the garlic just walking into the Dining Room.

  

  

DAY 9 - Thursday, 20th Sept. – Sea Day

               
This morning we passed through the Timor Sea and our biggest query today was - 'What are we going to do today?'  With four sea days now, it is going to be so relaxing!!  Regarding Trivia, we are now hiding in the rear of the Vista Lounge and doing it on our own – getting ready for the next cruise, when we will know it all!!

Far too hot now to sun ourselves as we getting very close to the Equator and there was no breeze, so to conserve energy, we lay on the deck chairs and did a bit of reading.

 

After dinner, we went to the "Crossing the Line Party – Pirates & Buccaneers Ball" on the Poop Deck and enjoyed watching all the pollywogs become shellbacks, with King Neptune in attendance of course.  As it was nighttime and there was not going to be any  'washing off the gunk in the pool', it was quite a sedate ceremony – just kissing that great big, wopping, smelly fish!!  Derringer played great music and we had a fun time – everyone looks and acts a little younger tonight, and without the pros', we danced the night away.

 

PHOTOS:   King Neptune;  Conga Line;  Kissing the fish;  Buccaneer Dave;  Our King Neptune and some of the staff;  Captain Hook, his harem & spot the familiar face;  With our Captain Mario Ciruzzi.  

  

  

  

  

  

  

DAY 8 - Wednesday, 19th Sept. - Darwin

 

No cabin brekky this morning, straight up to Horizon and got stuck into a delightful omelette, with the works.  The heat suddenly hit us as we disembarked – it was 42degs. – but there was a bit of a breeze around the port.  We walked up town, through the tantalizing beach area and apartment blocks and strolled through the Mall up to Woolies to buy some greeting cards to send home, and also some more 'lemonade'.  Patted a crocodile, well a little tiddler, and too hot for coffee, so a milk shake hit the spot.

 

Strolled back to the ship to write up the cards and have lunch and then repeated our morning walk up town – this time to post the cards and buy some more 'lemonade' – boy are we thirsty!!!

 

A spectacular sunset sailaway as we leave Australian waters and it really feels like we are on our way now.  It was good to catch up on the phone with the family and friends.  No show tonight but they did have a Passenger Feud Gameshow, didn't stay long at that…..

 

PHOTOS:  Darwin Wave Pool;  Foreshore apartments;  Baby Croc;  Nicotine & What Shop;  Christ Church Anglican Cathedral – a reminder of Cyclone Tracy which hit in 1974, destroying all but the porch and gateway (new Cathedral constructed in 1976).

Day 7 - Tuesday, 18th Sept - Sea Day

 

Yet another relaxing sea day before Darwin tomorrow - just so beautiful cruising in this glorious weather.  Not a great deal to report, we're just chilling and loving it (but we are now 1 week into our voyage)……    Pretty good Trivia result today 18/25 (that was worth recording) AND we were back to four – Mike is our brains!!! 

 

We misbehaved this afternoon as we took up the invitation to have 'high tea' with our 'friends of friends' – wow!!!..... -  it was not that long since we finished lunch and there were so many delicious little morsels to devour - then came the torture – back to the Prom Deck to walk off the scones and cake!!

 

We had a newcomer join our table for dinner – we are now 7 - a gentleman on his own and he's very chatty.  After another amazing dinner, don't know how anyone could complain about the food, we saw the final show combining Adam Scicluna & Michael Young, and it was sooo good.

 

PHOTOS:   Some of the delightful morsels at 'high tea';  Judy working off 'high tea'!!!