Author Archives: Mel

2017 is going to be known as “the year of the kitchen makeover” so our holiday adventures have been somewhat reduced to accomodate this. At the moment our only planned trips are:

April: 9 days at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival including gigs by Will Anderson, Des Bishop, Joel Creasey and a bunch of others I can’t remember. 

July: a short trip to Sydney tacked on at the end of a work conference. We are (very excitingly!!) going to see Neil de grass Tyson speak *geeks out*. 

NYE 2017: A week in Singapore, hopefully staying at Hotel Fort Canning for a mix of resort life and city adventuring. We will see how the kitchen budget goes before deciding on that however! 

The night before disembarking we were given some paperwork to explain the process. One of the things to keep in mind if you do this in the future is it’s not a quick process AND there are limited taxis to White Bay Terminal. So we have now learnt to book your return flight MUCH later on in the day…like 6hrs minimum after the docking time. I booked for 2:30pm thinking that a 9am dock would leave plenty of time……we got lucky with one of the early disembarking times but people were scheduled to get off as late as 11:30am. 

Overall cruise and Pacific Eden thoughts

Positives:

• It was pretty relaxing. Massages, cocktails, reading, naps and so on. B wants me to particularly emphasise the massages haha. 
• Free food is always a positive! The food quality was quite good in the free places and in the places with a cover charge it was VERY good. The Pantry was an interesting twist on a buffet experience and worked quite well once we had the lining up thing worked out. 
• The Chef’s Table experience was excellent. Highly recommend. 
• There’s a huge variety of music and activities to suit all tastes. We listened to jazz, contemporary music and could have gone clubbing if we wanted to. 
• The huge variety of spaces! Although more pool space would be nice, I loved finding a quiet lounge somewhere to read, drink cocktails and look at the ocean. 
• The kids were not as annoying as I thought they would be (with one notable exception of a little brat in the pool area).
• Day spa was many $$$ but excellent. We went twice, that’s how good it was. B rates it as his best massage ever. 

Negatives: 

• While neither of us got sick (#operationnoblowchunks was a success!) we did both feel queasy at times – B felt uneasy for nearly the whole time and only started to settle on the last night. 
• Kids running around unsupervised and behaving like little asshats, especially in the pool. P&O are pretty clear there is no lifeguard or provided supervision so it would be nice if the real shit head kids actually had an adult supervisor to tell them to pull their heads in and not harass others. 
• The pools are small and there are not enough lounges. People “dibs” them for others at 7am and it’s a pain in the ass because after that, you just can’t get a space. 
• The tender boats and the lining up process were pretty frustrating for the day trip. They didn’t call our tour out and then got lippy with me about not listening (you can all probably guess how that went for them….) grrrrr. So, always book a shore tour to get priority but avoid booking an early one in case you miss it! 
• While the cruise cards make things easy, it’s important to know that they hold your covered funds as well as billing you the final amount if you provide a debit card or credit card. I though people were idiots for not linking up a bank card and having to add cash to their accounts, but now I know why they do it – for up to 10 days we will have double charges on our bank account! 

Would we do it again? 

B says: Probably not. It’s a bit worrying how many people said this was a great trip, really smooth, smoother than normal and that I still felt icky most of the time! I did like those massages though and using the “cruise card” for everything was so easy and efficient.

Mel says: I would. I struggled a bit with motion sickness but unlike B, I was able to control it every time except once with basic drugs (travacalm). I loved the relaxation elements, they were exactly what I wanted in a holiday. In fact….I’ve already booked another cruise for 4 of us this time next year in P&O’s $1 deposit deal! GIRLS TRIP! 

1. Sleeping in and naps with Captain Fluffynuts (note: this is not a new nickname for B). 

2. Roaming around the boat looking for good photo spots. 

3. Reading in comfortable lounge chairs with spectacular views. My reading material of choice is Terry Pratchett novels while B prefers a book about the secret history of ASIO 😴

4. Cocktails – see previous photo. 

5. Massages. 

6. Food. 

Pretty much exactly the reasons we booked this trip! Ahhhh relaxation. 

Today was our first….and only….shore day. Hello Fraser Island! We had a canoe trip booked as well as plans to complete a nature walk and just lay on the beach like loveable lumps. It was an early start (ergh, 6:30am alarm) and anyone who knows B will know how much hard work it is to get him out of bed at that time. I wish there were human versions of shmackos I could just put in front of his nose to lure him into the shower….
First thing today was managing the tender boat process. To get from the cruise ship to shore, we had to catch a small tender boat. This involved lining up with a crowd and a small boat ride – two things neither of us are very fond of. We both dosed up on sea sickness pills and it was manageable. Our planned activity for the day (shore trip) was canoeing the sandy straits and it was an early activity, 9am, to try and avoid the really brutal heat of the day. We canoed up to one end of the sandy straits and back, successfully managing not to capsize. 

We then for a walk up to a lookout point (1.2kms up) and got some very pretty photos. 

We walked down to the other side of the Lookout which brought us out near the ocean again. On our beach walk back we saw lots of tiny crabs doing their “burrowing” trick. No dingoes though. 

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After spending the morning exploring Fraser Island, we decided to head back earlier than the crowds. Turned out to be a GREAT decision as I finally got a much coveted sun lounge and there was no line at the bar! 

So, I’m going to post this and the join B in a sun lounge afternoon nap 😴 and 

Breakfast: The Pantry (free) bacon and eggs 

Lunch: The Pantry (free) carvery meat and veg  

Dinner: The Chefs Table! This is a matched dinner and wines degustation by the executive chef on the boat for a small group of about 30 people. We get to eat some delicious degustation style food, meet the executive chef and tour the galley as well. 

Turns out you wake up early on cruises. If the screaming butthead children in the hallway don’t do it, the inefficient curtains in your room will when the sun comes up. Our first stop today was breakfast and we tried out the Waterfront, which is the second free restaurant on board. Not too bad, although it’s a seated restaurant with table service as opposed to the “free for all” in The Pantry. I think we both agreed we prefer the food court approach. 
After breakfast, we went to the pool to lounge about. This was when we discovered that on a cruise, people nab ALL of the sun lounges at 7am and don’t give them up all day, which was a bit disappointing for me. Instead of lounging around reading, I was relegated to a corner next to the ping pong table full of annoying kids and a very uncomfortable chair. At least the cocktail was tasty! Eventually (after 6 ping pong balls to the back of the head), I gave up on the pool deck and relaxed in the cabin instead before our 2pm couples massage. Bliss! Love a good hot stone massage. It was so good we booked another one for Thursday (our next full day at sea). 

At 4:30pm I went to play bingo – so excited! I used to play it all the time when I was younger and I do variations of it at school pretty frequently as well. MY EXCITEMENT LEVELS WERE HIGH! B was…less excited….he came along for the fun though and helped me mark numbers. When playing bingo, it’s important to have all the essentials: playing card, marker and frozen toblerone cocktail. 

Dinner was at Salt Grill by Luke Mangan which is an affiliated restaurant on board that you have to reserve fairly early on. It’s definitely not a free one ($49 cover charge) but the set menu and wine options were delicious. B happily ate some prawns, we both had steaks and the desserts were top notch. 

Side note – when cruising you should always mention a special occasion. I was talked into specifying something “special” when we booked (I chose our anniversary….which is in 6 months lol) and today they put a sign on our door, every staff member we met wished us happy anniversary AND we got free cake delivered to our room!

Amazing. 

Mel 
Breakfast: Waterfront (free) with some decent bacon and eggs. 

Lunch: The Pantry (free) mmmmm tacos 🌮 

Dinner: Salt Grill by Luke Mangan (definitely not free and had a long reservation list). Food was yum though! 

Mel’s alcoholic beverage intake for today: 4 cocktails + 1/2 bottle of Wirra Wirra Shiraz 

We boarded the Pacific Eden at White Bay Cruise Terminal at 12:30pm. The check in process was pretty simple: ticket + ID + credit card to link to cruise cards and we were ready to board. The departure through Sydney Harbour was smooth and we had the good side of the boat with great views off our balcony. 

Our room is 9087 which is mid ship and has a balcony – these were the two things that came up as most recommended for people like B who get severe sea sickness. The view from the balcony was pretty amazing and B was suitably impressed with the cabin size and functionality. 

The first thing we did was go and find the reservations desk to book dinner each night, including some of the nicer restaurants on the boat (the ones that charge) like Salt Grill by Luke Mangan and the Chef’s Table. We also booked in for a couples massage at the day spa tomorrow. So far, B’s sea sickness was going well although he was definitely noticing the movement when we were at the far end of this ship. After eating some (free) lunch at The Pantry, which is some kind of disastrous buffet/food court abomination, we decided to numb the motion sensation with a nervous system suppressant – a cocktail! Mmmm. 

We did an emergency drill before leaving the dock and then both of us took some sea sickness tablets for the trip out of Sydney Harbour – we had been forewarned this can get very rough. Luckily I have very good drugs and the alcohol helped so there was no puking. We went to dinner at Angelo’s which was interesting – it’s an included restaurant with a “cover charge”. Hmmm. Very tasty though. After dinner we relaxed in the room, admired the view, ate cheese and drank wine. 

The night was quite rough – even with the alcohol we were both struggling a bit (me with a horrendously uncomfortable bed, B with the boat moving a lot) but overall #operationnoblowchunks was deemed successful day 1!

Breakfast: the rocks cafe on George Street, Sydney (average food and very expensive) 
Lunch: Indian at The Pantry (free) which was pretty much what you would expect from food court food 

Dinner: Angelo’s Italian (an included restaurant with a $50 cover charge) was pretty tasty

Alcoholic drinks consumed by mel today: 4 cocktails + 1 bottle of wine 

We arrived in Sydney at 3pm (only a 45min flight from Canberra) having arranged to stay one night before boarding the cruise ship at 1pm on Monday. Bear was pretty sad to see us go but he will have a fantastic week staying with his 3rd favourite human in the house. 

Our hotel was Holiday Inn at The Rocks which is an amazing location to the left side of Circular Quay but without the insane price tag of some other hotels – this was $220 for the night and is 1 min walking distance from the bridge, 5 mins from Circular Quay station and only 8 mins walk from the Opera House.

We went for a wander after first arriving and checked out Opal Minded which is an amazing opal jewellery store. The sales lady let me look at a necklace which was $120000!! Then she tried to sell me one of their cheaper prices – only $3200 – instead. Lol. Some really amazing pieces though. After that, we had a look at some street performers, wandered around the Opera House and had some dinner at the Opera Kitchen while waiting for our 7pm Club Swizzle cabaret show to start in the Opera House studio theatre. 

Last time I went to a performance at the Opera House was close to 10 years ago and the biggest change is outside. What used to be a closed off walkway is now all pop up bars and eateries and they are soooo busy! It’s a great atmosphere and clearly a popular venue. 

Club Swizzle was a great cabaret and comedy performance. It’s showing for the rest of the month here so I recommend googling it if you are Sydney bound at any point. We paid for posh seating and had our own table for two with table service up on the balcony. Worth it as the bar lines were a bit nuts. 

On the stroll back we took some very pretty night time photos (and ate a bacon deluxe since we had drunk 2 bottles of wine 🍷 ) before being all tucked into bed by 11pm. 

Next up: CRUISE TIME! 

To recover from the year that was 2016, we decided to book a 4 night cruise on P&O’s Pacific Eden boat. We fly into Sydney on Jan 8th, have a fab night at a hotel with a cabaret show (Swizzle) before hopping on the boat on Jan 9th. 

The cruise departs Sydney 5pm on Jan 9th with a full day at sea, before a day trip to Fraser Island and then a full day at sea coming back at stupid o clock on the final day. It will be a short, but hopefully sweet, break.
The positives of a cruise and why we picked it:

1. The price. Just unbeatable for a 4 night holiday really! We price matched it to Hamilton Island (which we did a few years ago – it was amazing) and it came out at about 30% of the cost. Seriously. 

2. Chill time. Phones don’t really work well so no phone/email contact at all is very attractive to us both. Just time together. 

3. Something new, something different, something not tried before by either of us. 

The potential negatives we had to consider:

1. We don’t like people very much (lol) which is why our shore tour on Fraser Island is the smallest one, with 2 people per canoe. Will be interesting to see just how crowded it is on the cruise boat…

2. B gets very sea sick. I get less violently sea sick than he does. The stats seem to be 50/50 as to whether we will get sick on a giant boat (since movement is so different) but we have good meds and he can also get the jab if needed. He still wants to try it since cruises are so cheap and there are so many available to us from this side of the country. 

So….bring on our first cruising date of Jan 9th! 

Mel 

P.S. We have a puppy sitter for Bear this time around – he’s so excited! He loves his friend Dan.