Where else but Queensland

Perfect one day and ---- the next LOL. Well we were warned about the fickle weather at this time of the year and it is living up to its reputation LOL. Di blames me totally and says that until we moved up here Qld was always perfect -HMMMMMMMMMMMM

Pretty ordinary day today so got some painting done on the new one which is currently called "My Rock" and represents Ron in rock, well sort of : - )

Last night Mark and Caroline came to dinner and it was their first anniversary of being in Agnes, so they arrived with a bottle of Verve and one of Grange, what a way to celebrate LOL. Many drinks later and one of Ron's great Banana and Passion fruit souffle's we all called it quits and went our merry merry ways LOL.

AAAAAAAAAH yes our pool

As you can see another perfect day in paradise. We dropped into the pool the other day to take some pics for the next Sunrise newsletter and what a day it was. Not only did we get some great pics but ended up spending a couple of hours reading, swimming and generally lying around LOL. At one point we looked up above the pool and 6 sea eagles were circling around us - bliss.

There goes another one, just like all the other ones LOL

How does that song go ? I'm a lumberjack etc etc etc'. Never let a tree get in the way of Ron and a saw but in his defence it is over the fire trail. To celebrate his ability to topple almost anything on the block, he just bought a new Skihl, what will he do with that LOL.

Look what I did

It was a dull overcast day so off to the red rock we went for a fish.  The day at the rocks started very slowly with Ron on one side of Red Rock and moi on the other. An hour went by when he appeared asking if I was having any luck as he was getting not a nibble. We decided to give it another 15 minutes to see if our luck would change.

All of a sudden he appeared with a rock cod, 5 minutes later with this dart and another as big 5 minutes after that. Then my spot started to bite and I spent the next 30 minutes hauling in dart of all sizes, most of which I had to toss back as they were still in preschool. All in all a great day on the rock with the promise of a wonderful fish dinner to come.

 "I bought you a new whipper snipper" 

well that's what he said. Apparently I misunderstood and thought that it was mine, but as you can see I haven't had much of a chance to use it yet LOL.

Our newest neighbour has set up house at the China Beach club house and seems to be right at home.

OL' Friend

A big old Bloodwood which is just at the back of Sunrise. Must have been a massive tree when alive because it still dominates in death.

We're Safe

Cyclone devastation ? NO Ron and his chain saw devastation.

Thank you for all the calls about how we were fairing in the cyclone, well the good news is that Agnes Water was totally spared from any of the winds and rain. The Gods have smiled on us again. 

Just Hanging around on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Fred the frill neck

Good Morning from Cyclone Alley

Febe has a new home. After years of hanging around hotel bars and the odd (unauthorised) excursion into the nearby neighbourhoods Febe has finally found somewhere to call home.  He is now in charge of house 2 and looks after those other two women




Those worldly women are hanging around at the other end of house 2. Not quite NYC or LA but they will get used to it. LOL

This one is for Bruce. Just thought you would like to see how our pool looks and it is about the same size that you were talking about. We find it great and use it almost every day. Also as you can see a perfect place to grow our herbs LOL.

I know I showed the Bloodwoods before but they just get better and better. Our whole block is now in flower. Over the last three days we have planted another 150 rain forest trees around the back of our block as a further fire safety measure. When they have grown in the combination of Bloodwoods and evergreens will look great - can't wait.

Not everyone thinks the big rains were a bad thing

This amorous coule are taking advantage of the time of plenty and getting into the swing of the season LOL. She would be about 40cm long and poor ol' him is only about 10cm. Talk about cougars LOL.

a little further down the track was this very very healthy looking "Lace Monitor". He/she would be 6 ft in length and looking very fat. Obviously there is alot of food around at the moment.

Even the trees are getting into the swing of the big wet. Our trees have grown heaps and bounds in the last couple of weeks. The grevillias are going crazy and as you can see the beautiful Bloodwoods are springing into flower and the birds think it's christmas all over again. The black cockies haven't shown up yet but I am sure they won't be far away.

Not everything is happy though. The ocean is a dirty brown with all the fresh water pouring into it. There are piles of driftwood coming up on the beaches after having been washed down the rivers and out to sea.

We have been told that the brown stain goes all the way to the reef, 40klms away.

The Flood,

We are well and dry but would love some fresh milk LOL. We have been isolated from the world since Christmas eve with access to Gladstone being restored last week but cut off again on Wednesday. Highway 1 has been closed at Rocky since christmas so nothing coming from the north and Gympie and Caloundra have been cut for the last week so nothing coming up from the south. Brisbane as you probably know is underwater so nothing coming from there.

and so we are steaming home 

Our room with a view, but not for much longer. As we steamed across the ditch the seas got bigger, the swell more pronounced and those ever present albatross where winging their way along with us.

One last lap around the promenade deck to say "Goodbye" to the crew in the anchor and chain area (they got to know me walking past, lap after lap) and a final look back at the land of the "Long White Cloud" and yep it was there in all it's glory.

The end

See you tomorrow with the flood update

Finally we are on the way home....

On the cruise there are two nights that are "Formal wear only" in the main restaurants and one of these nights was reserved for the trip home.  Lots of glamorous frocks (some not quite so), lots of perfume (the duty free shop must have been doing overtime) and plenty of suits for the fellas.

This fun couple we meet one day at lunch and from then on kept running into each other daily. As you can see they were getting right into the swing of the season. HO HO HO

Now I am not doing names because I haven't asked the 

 the table for permission to use the picture. Every night of the cruise we met at 7.45pm for the extravagant 5 course dinner and compulsory bottles of wine. One night I was missing (locked up in quarantine), another was seasick on the way over, but if possible we all made the effort to catch up on what each other had been up to. I think we were one of the very few tables that did this because on the first night the dining room was packed, but as the trip went on the tables split up and in the end we were usually one of the only full tables.  Our waiters were Percy and Michael and they had to put up with us every night.

A big thanks to everyone on our table for making the trip that much more enjoyable.

Milford Sound

We woke up this morning sailing through Fiordland, unfortunately the weather was not very kind to us as there was alot of very low cloud. But as we cruised up through this amazing place the cloud slowly started to lift and as we entered Milford Sound we finally got to see this wonderful place.

It was truly an amazing experience to sail in this very large ship up the sound. The waterfalls, the steep canon walls, the crystal clear water and the snow capped peaks.

Wonderful place and we would happily go back via road to be able to experience it from the inside.

Tomorrow the "Last Supper" on the way home

Dunedin

As you can see it's another one of those cities that embraced the deco culture. The day we arrived in Dunedin it was showery so umbrella and raincoats were the order of the day. Pretty city probably the most livable of the cities so far. Great cafe culture, good food and some very good shopping.

We wandered all over this up and down town including visiting the brewery and a leather maker (can't get leather out of the blood LOL) and bought a great money belt. Hand made and much much better than anything I had seen in Oz.

Next door to the museum was a very new Chinese Garden complex and one of the best I have seen. Apparently Dunedin's sister city is Shanghai and they donated this garden to Dunedin. Built and carved in Shanghai and then transported over to the shakey Isles. If you have been to the famous San Yang (I think that's how it's spelt) gardens in China you will see that they have used the same techniques - very very striking and peaceful. It's only 12 months old so needs some time, if I am in the neighbourhood in 10 years time it will be on the top of my must see list.

While we were away the crew did play

The Xmas decorations arrived

tomorrow Milford Sound and the absolute highlight of the trip

Shaky city - Christchurch

Firstly I thought you might want to see our spacious cabin - wardrobes just inside the door on the left and the bathroom is on the right. I am standing on the balcony to take this pic. It was only on checkout that we saw the cabins on the floor above, much much more spacious. So if you ever are looking at Dawn Princess for a trip get deck 10.

Well Christchurch is looking good considering that only a couple of months ago it had that devastating earthquake of 7 with lots and lots of damage. It is a very pretty city with lots of churches and is also the centre of the Antarctic expeditions for 7 countries including the USA, so off to the Antarctic centre we went.

With any polar exhibition you must have the penguins and they looked remarkably like their relies at Phillip Island.

Included in the tour was the experience of -8 in gale conditions at the "Cool" room. 

Almost had a white christmas.

Back to the cruise and today it's off to Wellington

The first thing each day is to work out which way to start walking as it all looks the same LOL. This is the view from outside our cabin.  When you get off the accommodation decks then they start the real onboard style of decoration, below is the foyer to the casino/art auction and library area. Lots of bling and things.

Wellington is the home of "Wellywood" and also where Peter Jackson lives and the home of some amazing studios - all built on the success of Lord of the Rings. 1 in 10 Kiwis had a direct involvement in the making of the film, either through roles as supporting casts or just the amazing assortment of poeple involved in the catering and non film activities.

Now as a LOTR tragic, having read the books 25 + times and all the other Tolkien books it was very exciting to visit the locations of the films so off we went. First stop was the special effects studio and waiting to greet us was Gollum.

The effects studio was very interesting but you were kept well away from anything that was creative and most of the time spent in a souvenir shop - shame.

From there it was off to the setting of "Rivendell" somewhere I have always wanted visit, even when it only existed in my imagination. On the bus and through Wellington to a park just on the outskirts of town. As it was the beginning of school holidays there were masses of children running around enjoying the park which totally destroyed the grace and beauty the Rivendell was meant to represent - oh well off to the park setting where Frodo crosses the river to get into Rivendell. A beautiful national park about 60 klm out of town and you could visualise the chase scene.

Last stop was the stone mountain of "Helms Deep" and the scene of the epic battle. Well it's a quarry just on the outskirts of town. Peter Jackson apparently bought the quarry for a year and with lots and lots of very clever tricks made it into Helms Deep, unfortunately now it looks like a quarry anywhere.

Off to Christchurch tomorrow.

Hello from the "Isle of Agnes"

Short break from the cruise, just thought you might like an update on what's happening here at the moment.

Agnes has been cut off from the mainland for the last 3 days with both access roads underwater. Bundy - Agnes 3 meters of water and the bridge has suffered massive damage and probably won't open for several weeks. Miriam Vale to Agnes under 2 meters of water and if it stops raining NOW "may " open in 4 - 5 days. Currently there are trees down over the roads between here and town, panic buying has started as people here on holiday realise that it will be here longer than planned and no new supplies can get through.

We have just been informed that 16 really stupid people tried to beat the floods and made a break for Miriam Vale. They got as far as the high ground between the two channels of Baffles creek (6ft over the road) and there they stay. At least most of them were towing vans so they have somewhere to sleep but if this keeps up they will go under and probably have vans and cars washed away.

Last night the deluge continued with 6 inches of rain and the forecast for the next 48 hours is more of the same so things are looking pretty grim for those in tents and living in low lying areas etc.

On a happier note our wine fridge is almost full so we can hang out for another month.

Day 5 and it's Napier

We woke to find that we were parked behind the Rhapsody of the Sea and having the two big ships nose to tail was quite impressive.

We didn't take a tour here as we had the Deco walking tour booklet courtesy of Lyn P so off we headed as soon as breakfast was finished.

This is a very pretty Art Deco city as it was destroyed by earthquake in 1934 (I think) and they had to totally rebuild almost all the central city area. Our first stop was the Napier theatre.

This is a good example of the city architecture. The foyer light fittings and carpets are all original or made to the exact same quality and design as the originals.

The light fitting in the main theatre is breathtaking. This light takes up almost the entire ceiling. The centre section changes colour very slowly so when you look up again it's like a whole new fitting. As with most of these great buildings the locals had to fight to save it from developers who wanted something "nice and new".

The lights in the foyer are a treat. Never seen anything like it in a deco building - so modern but original.
I can't possibly show you all the deco buildings as there are 93 in the CBD but if you ever get the chance to do Napier it is well worth a look.

In true sailing style Napier put on a 30's brass band to play us away. Complete with vintage cars and people in costume to wave us away. I was concerned that the band might just play "Nearer my god to thee" as we sailed away but thank god they didn't.

Room with a view

Everyone knows we are now back on terra firma and that all the cruise updates are running two weeks behind but I will do my best to cover most things that happened on the trip.

Day three

Still making our way across the "ditch" and the captain announces that there is a serious viral outbreak onboard and that the whole ship is going onto "Red Alert" to try and combat this outbreak. Of course when you have almost 2000 people with various ailments then you can only expect that hi-gene is easily compromised. Bingo, I came down with the lergy. Quarantine for 48 hours in my cabin. The advantages were that I had the cleanest cabin onboard which was cleaned 3 times a day by people in masks, goggles and large spray bottles. It did also mean that room serviced knew their way to C345 and that drinks and food (all except my dinner on night two which they totally forgot) were bought to me. They also very kindly did all my laundry FOC.

This of course included our stay in Auckland. Pictured above is all I got to see of Auckland and the people that lived in the apartments on the dock were very very happy to see us sail as I spent all day sitting on the balcony watching them LOL.

Day four 
Off to Rotarua to see some old geysers. The boat moored approximately 100klms away at a placed called Tarasomething which is on the east coast and very pretty holiday destination for most north islanders. We bussed it down to the geyser national park and had lunch on top of a scenic hill overlooking the town.  This was our first real experience of a lot of very overweight people stampeding to the buffet, not a pretty picture. The lunch also included the compulsory Maori song and dance show.

Champagne pool, very pretty with lots of colour. Most of the colour is the result of the very high levels of arsenic. The water temp here is 200 degrees. Great for doing the dishes.

One ol' geyser with another.