Day 104 - Final Day

Day 104 – Bay of Islands to Sydney – Monday 27/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 14C – 19C

Sunrise – 6.43am

Sunset – 6.13pm

Time difference – plus 1 hours ex Sydney ( we will put it back an hour tonight..wonder why ? :)

At 00:45am Sun Princess crossed into the Australian Ship Reporting area. During the course of the day we continued on a westerly course, and at 12 noon we were 335 miles east of Sydney.

So, this is it. The day that seemed like an eternity away when we left port on the 16th of May has arrived. Our last day of cruising the world. Normally a sea day would be one of relaxing and chilling out. Not today, we had so much to do, people to see, farewells to make, the day absolutely flew by far too quickly.

Well the bags are packed and weighed (thanks to Ian and Mary's hand scales)....and the verdicts is ….we did it, we had to play switcheroo with heavy stuff here, and light stuff there, but eventually we got all four bags under 23kgs...just, so no additional luggage fees we trust.

We had a lunch for Wendy's birthday today. Her birthday is actually tomorrow, but alas we wont be together tomorrow. Donna was one off the major bingo jackpot...yet again !!! There were quite a few 'End of World Cruise' activities around the ship, which were all quite good.

Cool Cruiser drinks this afternoon with all our friends who did the full world cruise today. What an amazing thing that has been, what started as a little thread of a roll call on Cruise Critic, became a big family of over 100 people travelling the world together. I know there will be many folks we probably will not see again, there will be some we come across on other cruises, and there have been some very strong friendships made. We already have a catch up lunch planned in Brisbane at the end of September, and looking at a visit to Sydney in October to see others :)

Our last dinner with our wonderful dinner table partners tonight, and we took the opportunity to celebrate Wendy's birthday again – she's worth a double celebration :)

But the day was really all about saying farewell to all the people whom we have met, and there were so many, not just the Cool Cruisers, but all the other people we met over meals, on tours, in bars, around the pool deck, it really does add up to a lot of handshakes :)

Tomorrow morning at 5.30am the 76th, and final, pilot of this epic voyage will climb aboard to guide us into Sydney Harbour. Shortly afterwards we will pass between North Head and South Head and enter Sydney Harbour.

At 6.20am we will pass abeam of the Sydney Opera House, passing beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, just like we did 105 days ago on the 16th of May on the way out to start this magnificent cruise of a lifetime. We will then turn to port around Millars Point and reach our berth at Darling Harbour. I think its about now that we start beating out the words to that famous Peter Allen song about calling Australia home.

We are the first group disembarking, meeting at 7.30am, as we are on a noon flight to Brisbane.

This is the last post that we will make from aboard the Sun Princess. We we get home I will finish posting a few photos from the last ports, and post a review of the cruise.

It has been a blast. I will admit there were days when I struggled to write anything of interest, but I guess your gunna get that when you have a cruise with so many sea days. I know the time difference may have made the continuity a bit disjointed at times, and also when we had many port days in a row when we were cutting through Europe. I am glad that I kept up the daily blog, as we now have a journal/diary of our holiday, that I am sure we would not have had otherwise.

As I mentioned during the blogs, the navigational information I posted each day was a lift from the Navigator notes that came in the Patter each day. I put them in mainly for my benefit, so that I can track where we went when we got home, but I also thought that some folk may have seen an interest in them.

We really appreciate your positive comments and support, we did read them all, but in the main we were not able to reply either due to crook internet connection, or wanting to preserve internet minutes, but rest assured they were all read and appreciated. I would also like to acknowledge the bloggers of previous world cruises, your pioneering blogs gave me the inspiration and motivation to write this, as I got so much pleasure from reading your blogs.

Errrr thats ah, thats ah, thats all folks :)

Day 103 - Sydney, we have a problem :)

Day 103 – Bay of Islands to Sydney – Monday 27/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 11C – 18C

Sunrise – 6.09am

Sunset – 5.36pm

Time difference – plus 1 hours ex Sydney (back an hour last night)

Throughout the day Sun Princess followed a westerly course towards Sydney. At noon we were 205 miles west of Three Kings Islands. Three Kings Islands, or Manawa Islands are a group of 13 islands 55km north west of Cape Reinga, the northern most point of New Zealand, where the South Pacific Ocean and Tasman Sea converge.

An interesting start to the day today , the ship lost its power. I was woken at 5am, and the first sign to me that something was not right was the toilet did not flush. Out in the corridor only auxiliary/emergency lights were on, as was the case in the Atrium. As the ships engines were not running, it was very quiet, and we were just bobbing around in the ocean. Clearly the ship does not want the World Cruise to end either :)

The Captain came on the PA for a follow up announcement ( I must have been asleep during the first announcement) to advise that engineers were working on the problem, and that we will be stopped whilst they do so, and that there was no cause for alarm. Donna went out on the Promenade deck where the pitch black of night still held court, and the ship was making that creaking metal noise of a ghost ship ooooooooooooooh ahhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Nothing was gunna stop the early morning jogger doing his best to wake up the folks sleeping in the cabins on deck 6, below the Promenade deck. Every morning since we left Sydney 14 weeks ago, he is out there at 5.30am – 6am banging the boards.

About 5.45am all the lights came back on, and daybreak was upon us, so the eeriness dissipated, and then it sounded (or felt) like engines were running. At 6.05am the Captain reported that the systems were being gradually being turned on, as power was restored to each component individually, and that he expected that we would be underway shortly.

6.30am, and it was now full daylight, though the cloud was hiding the sun. We were still bobbing round in the ocean, though the normal ships sounds were returning, air conditioning vents were humming, and the glorious sounds of the vacuum toilets sucking away the things that need to be sucked away. The lifts were all disengaged at deck 7, with doors ajar. I had visions of hordes of people at every foyer on every other floor forlornly waiting for those darn lifts to come :)

At 7.35 and away we go again. The Captain reported that systems continue to be staged on, and that we would be back up to normal speed shortly, and does not anticipate any delay to our arrival in Sydney. He was spot on, within 10 – 15 minutes we were running as if nothing had happened.

The problem was that the transformer which converts 6000 volts of power down to 440 volts blew a sausage (my technical term). Given that, it was quite remarkable that they were able to have it fixed so quickly, full credit to the crew.

The rest of the day was much less exciting, our usual sea day routine, but with more indoors than outdoors as it was a tad chilly on deck.

And so the packing begins eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You kinda collect the odd bib and bob over 14 weeks, so now the challenge of packing. Space is not the major hurdle as we brought an extra case with us. Our limiter is the airline luggage allowance, so it is about now we get a little jealous of our Sydney friends who have just kept buying extra suitcases without a care in the world – One couple in particular, who shall remain nameless have the luxury of 9 suitcases, lucky doers :)

Our last formal night tonight, so a full dining room, as you would expect.

One last day tomorrow !!!

Day 102 Bay of Islands

Day 102 – Bay of Islands NZ – Sunday 26/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 11C – 18C

Sunrise – 6.51am

Sunset – 6.00pm

Time difference – plus 2 hours ex Sydney

In the early hours of the morning Sun Princess paralleled the north eastern coast of New Zealand. At 5am we passed Cape Brett, 45 minutes later we passed abeam of Okaha Island and entered the Bay of Islands, at which time the pilot will climb on and guide us to our anchorage in the bay.

Once anchored, we commenced tendering operations to Waitangi Wharf. The tender route is 1.9 miles long, so it takes about 20 – 25 minutes each way.

Today we elected to be a little adventurous for our last port call of the cruise, by doing a spot of kayaking. Given our lack of experience, I think we can call it adventurous :). Off the tender and a short walk to where our kayaks were waiting for us. A short briefing and fit our and we were off.

It would be fair to say we were a little shaky at the start. I was in the drivers position, the rear seat, so I had control of the rudder. For the first 20 mins or so, Donna was a annoyed at the movement on the kayak that I was causing when I paddled, but we settled down to a nice casual pace – the favourable current assisted !

After about 45 mins of slow paddling through the sheltered waters of the Waitaingi Estuary we came to the Haruru Falls. We chose not to test our skill by paddling under the waterfall, but we did enjoy refreshments on the beach resort gardens.

The paddle back was a bit tougher, the tide was coming in, so a strong current, and into the wind, which had picked up, making it a little choppy. It was not overly onerous, but enough to make you feel you had a workout.

After our kayaking experience, we popped into the local town of Paihia for a feed of fish and chips on the beachfront, before a casual 20 minute stroll back to the wharf to catch the tender. We stepped on board for the 39th, and final time this cruise. Next time we step off we will be in Sydney town!!

A refreshing shower and change was well needed when we got back on board. To our surprise we find the sea scanner has finally been repaired. We have so missed being able to track our progress on channel 49. It went on the blink about 2 months ago, it was hoped to be repaired before Dover, but here we are with just 2 sea days and a straight line back it is working. Good news for those getting on board in Sydney :)

We were the fortunate guests of the very hospitable Pam and Randy for another sailaway party in their suite and balcony. We have been so lucky to be a part of all this. We had so much fun, and drank so much it was touch and go if Donna was going to be allowed to get into the Dining Room :) A lovely way to end our last port visit, and a fitting place for the final SHB photo of the cruise. This was our second visit to NZ, and the scenery and landscape is as good as you will see anywhere in the world – we are qualified to say that now :)

The SHB Hat is looking a bit weary, tatty and dirty. Donna did give it a stitching to keep it together, but we did not want to wash it for fear of falling apart. So to all members of the Stolen Hat Brigade – we have done our duty, with a SHB photo in every port visited over the last 14 weeks. I will make a special Facebook album to commemorate its journey. I think it will need to be retired from active service now.

We inaugurated a few friends into the SHB now. They are worthy members, and we will post their photos in due course also

At 4pm we weighed anchor and exited the bay. During the night Sun Princess will parallel the north eastern coast of New Zealand, then chuck a leftie, and straight line for two days to Sydney.

Day 101 - Auckland

Day 101 – Auckland – Saturday 25/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 13C – 17C

Sunrise – 6.31am

Sunset – 5.48pm

Time difference – plus 2 hours ex Sydney.

During the early hours of the morning Sun Princess followed various southerly courses through the Jellicoe Channel towards the Pilot boarding ground. At about 5.45am, when about 3 miles west of Billy Goat Point on Motutapu Island, embarked the harbour pilot for Auckland. We entered Ringitoto Channel and followed the buoyed route into Auckland Harbour.

Our first familiar port in over 3 months of sailing round the world. Auckland has that Aussie feel so much that it almost feels like we are home already (though I am sure Kiwis would disagree strongly :). We wandered up to the buffet to break our fast, and bumped into a few friends, who did a resounding Happy Birthday song for Ross.

We had no agenda today, so we waltzed around the city. We had carried a bag of clothes off with us, to donate to one of the charity bins , or similar – gotta get that luggage weight down a bit for the flight home. Donna spotted a hairdresser open early, and had a much wanted tidy up, and right next door was a Recycling Boutique ( a much nicer word than Op Shop) , so we donated our clothes there.

Found some free wifi for a quick catch up, and to try and clear the outbox a little. I have over 100 emails sitting in the outbox, each with a photo attachment, so I was hoping to clear the outbox today, a forlorn hope as it turned out. I did get about 10 away, before I accidently deleted about 25 grrrrr.

We had arranged meet son-in-law, Wayne, for Lunch today. He is with the RAAF, and here in Auckland on exercise, so it was good timing for a catch up. We went to the Brewery Hotel, where I tried a local brew, and had a Brewers Pie (of course). It was a nice lunch, we had wanted a plain pub lunch, and thats what we got, a good and hearty one too :)

We did a bit of shopping, before Wayne headed home, and then back on board. I tried to work out which photo emails I deleted, and set them up in the can again, some folk may get a double up, but I am sure they wont mind.

Quite a big contingent of folk joining the ship for the last 3 nights home, about 200 I believe. The average age of the passengers reduced significantly, with quite a few young families joining.

Tonight we had a birthday dinner for Ross, attended by some of the gang. It was a lovely evening, and a nice way to end a nice day

At 8pm we moved astern into the channel, then swung the bow to port before retracing our tracks through the Rangitoto Channel. An interesting occurrence tonight, at 9pm, so about an hour after we left port, we noticed the ship stopped, reversed for about 5 minutes, and then went forward again. Now I wonder what that was about? We then continued on, back into the open sea towards our next, and final port of call, Bay of Islands.

Day 100 !!!

Day 100 – Pago Pago to Auckland – Friday 24/8/2012

Weather – Mostly cloudy 13C – 17C

Sunrise – 6.31am

Sunset – 5.48pm

Time difference – plus 2 hours ex Sydney.

At 1.15am this morning Sun Princess crossed from the Western Hemisphere to the Eastern Hemisphere. At 6am we passed 122 miles west of Macauly Island and continued on a south- south-westerly course towards Auckland.

Brrrrr, the early morning walkers are wearing jumpers, trackpants and beanies !!!!!!!

Day 100 !!! Hard to believe that we have been away so long, even harder to believe that there are only 4 nights left. 2 days on land, and 2 at sea are all that remain

Yet another relaxing sea day, just like all the others :) I wonder how long it will take us to get back to 'normal' , though we dont really have a 'normal' now, so it may never happen :)

Much socialising again today, as we start to do the rounds of sharing our thoughts with the 100 odd people that we have come to know quite well now. We had the last 'usual' CC drinks today, to say farewell to the NZ folk who are off tomorrow. We are having the last last last catchup on our last day, Tuesday, with all the CC roll callers who started the journey with us in Sydney on 16 May – I think that will be a little sad to say good bye to so many friends.

Already there are plans for reunions, catchup etc , all over the world !!!

Tonights key entertainer was Maggie Scott again, back for a second show. It was standing room only, and she got a well deserved standing ovation, she has been one of, if not the best entertainer of whole cruise from our perspective.

Auckland town tomorrow :)

Honolulu Photos

SHB photo at Waikiki Beach. Germaine's Luau. Hangin Loose. Turtle Beach. USS Arizona Memorial. USS Missouri. Punchbowl Memorial Gardens.

Tahiti photos