General Chat

I'm back you scurvey crew - I'll be catching up on all the news and I'll talk to you all later. Welcome Butch:-))

Sue xx

Welcome home Sue!!!!!

I hope that your Cruise was very pleasant and relaxing.

~~~~~~~~~ to the odd Kiwi :0))

Allan

Scurvey - that must've been the fish that Janey ate - it kept sliding back and forth in your stomach.

I have been called curvey but never scurvey before.

Welcome back Sue. Hope you had a lovely time and that the ground is keeping still for you.
Tec has been very good - at least, I haven't caught him doing anything wrong - and Allan......well, he skipped off a few times but was far better behaved this time than he was before.
Tell us where you went and what you saw.

Hello:-))

Well - we're back and looking at the suitcases trying to decide whether to unpack or just "chill" for the rest of the day. This morning we were up at dawn to watch our approach to Sydney Harbour. It was magical to see the Bridge at dawn. We were filled with a mixture of gladness to be back home and sadness that our holiday is over.

Now I'm going to make you all laugh. We set sail at 4 pm on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday we got up to a rocky ship. I was SICK ALL DAY. I couldn't believe it!!! I took a couple of tablets and slept all afternoon. At dinner I ate 2 dry breadrolls and then felt a little better. On the Friday the sea was calm and blue and all was well. We arrived in Noumea early Saturday morning. We went on shore where we booked a tour. A mad Belgian fellow drove us around in a battered van and gave us a wonderful tour. He took us up a hill and we were able to take in the view of the harbour and beaches. However we didn't like the town very much and we thought the people were rather rude and unfriendly and unwilling to speak English. Next day we arrived in Lifou - a small New Caledonian island. The local speak English and French and are very friendly. The children are gorgeous. They are very gracious and dignified people and don't allow visitors to give their children any money as this encourages them to beg. We were taken to a small village where we met some local people who were happy for us to ask questions about their way of life and take photos. OH went snorkeling at the beach while I lounged on the white sands.

On Monday we docked in Port Vila in Vanuatu. We loved the island the minute we went ashore. There were markets dockside and so many taxis all offering to show us around the island and the town. However we had booked a tour to a nearby village. We were driven to the village by a lovely young man who spoke very little English but was very gracious. We were taken through the jungle and as we were walking along the track a "native" jumped out at us waving a spear and shouting. We all jumped:-)) Around the next bend we were greeted by more warriors before being taken to a large hut. There we were shown tools, weapons, food and the group sang and danced for us. We were shown how they cook and preserve their food. The lovely ladies showed us basket weaving and some lovely fabrics. We were treated to the best bananas we have ever tasted as well as fresh coconut milk. Again - beautiful, gracious people. We then went back to the port and shopped at the markets:-))

Tuesday saw us arrive on Pentecost Island. By far one of the most wonderful places we have ever seen. We were greeted by dancers and singers who made us feel very welcome. We were welcome to visit the small school and speak to the children. We were able to play with the beautiful children who love having their photo taken. We were then privileged to see the local tradition of N'go - the original bungee jumping. The men - and some children - have their ankles bound with vines. They then dive head first off the tower. This is intended to ensure their yam crops are plentiful. As only 2 ships a year go to the island during the time the people do this we felt very grateful to see this. We then spent the afternoon swimming in the warm water before returning to the ship. Paradise.

I was able to get the postal address of the school as they are always in need of books, pencils etc. They are self funded so don't always find it easy to provide the children with the items they need. So now I'm going to get as many donations as possible and post them to these beautiful children. I'm also going to speak to our daughter's partner about donating some books as they are trying very hard to start a library for the school. It would be so easy to make a difference.

We then spent 3 days at sea - 2 of which were rather bumpy but I wasn't sick again thank goodness. We met some wonderful people. The food was great. We spoke to many waiters, bar crew and our cabin steward all from varied nationalities. We took lots of photos, danced and tried various cocktails and martinis. We played trivia, listened to some great music and laughed at some dreadful karaoke singers. We watched some wonderful shows at night. A great holiday:-)) Will we do it again? Not in the near future but one day I'm sure.

Love to you all.

Sue xx

Sue,

It sounds like you and Mr Sue had a magical experience (except for the first day)

Yours wasn't the cruise ship that nearly rammed a bridge in Brisbane, was it?

Whatever, I'm pleased that your overall experience was so positive!!

Now all you have to do is the washing :o))

Allan

What a wonderful trip you had (first day exception).

I am never very good about returning home - even if it is just a trip away here in NZ - I always feel sad that my holiday is over. (I am okay when I go to the shops)

A lot of the various islands can do with help in the education sector.

One of the private schools here sent all their desks to Samoa after the Tsunami and each pupil-owner of each desk gave a gift of stationery plus a letter and picture about themselves.

Persey the odd kiwi (who just got up to get a drink - it's way past midnight )

Good Morning/Evening Everyone,

Good to see you back Sue - sounds like you had a wonderful holiday, but who wouldn't in that part of the world. I always thought the peoples of the Pacific Islands are some of the most charming people in the world. They seem so often to be forgotten in the grande scheme of things. We hear so little of them in the West, and because they are a proud people they seldom ask for help or financial aid.
It is a wonderfully generous idea of yours to try to donate books etc to the school you mentioned. Good luck with that.
Anyway, I'm so glad you both enjoyed your holiday.

Hi Butch - Welcome to the thread - we could do with more male posters on this thread to even up the score with the Sisterhood.
I'm known as Tec, and I'm a Pom, living in Wales.

Tec.

Hi everyone.
I'm still in the land of the living. I had a headache/sorethroat the last cople of days and I went to bed early.
I'm glad you had a nice holiday Sue. I'm not going to go and read the things i've missed.i hope everyone is ok.
Emma my niece is still over here. She and Marco should have flown back to Frankfurt yesterday but they're still here.
Hi Butch.

Good evening/morning to you all

~~~~~~~~ to Pat. Pat I hope that you soon cast off whatever 'bug' is affecting. I think that your niece will be with you for a few more days yet!

Good evening CC and Tec.

CC I also remember, William Hartnell, and his grand-daughter. Although I haven't watched the series recently (rather llike Home & Away!!) the early ones were fantastic, and all before computer generated graphics.

Allan

Hello, lovely people. I've missed you.....really I have:-)))

Today we unpack and wash. I was still finding my land legs yesterday and felt a little woozy. We spent the afternoon on the computer looking at the photos we took while away. We have a particularly good one of the Harbour Bridge and Opera House just as the sun is rising behind them and some great shots of the locals on the various islands.

It will be difficult getting back into doing housework. I haven't made a bed, cooked, washed dishes or clothes while being away - I could get used to that. However our lovely cabin steward who ails from Mumbai probably would be better off on the ship. How funny some people are and how they miss out on getting to know some interesting folk. We chatted with various crew members and found out interesting things about so many people from a number of nationalities. Yet when we spoke to fellow passengers we were surprised to find that some people didn’t know where their cabin steward came from nor were they interested – the steward was just someone who cleaned up after them. We met a lovely young man from Vanuatu who told us all about his family and his childhood. We hopefully improved his English as he asked us for words and pronunciations whenever we spoke to him.

We were also surprised that many passengers felt sorry for the people who lived on the various islands. They felt they were poor because they don’t live as we do. Of course this is looking at things from our perspective. The two villages we were privileged to visit were self-sufficient communities. They look after their youngsters and their elderly. Their young people don’t drink nor take drugs. They eat off the land supplemented with food they are able to buy when various vessels visit the islands. They have medical centres and of course they listen to modern music on radios and mobile phones but basically they are unspoiled by modern society. Any money they are able to earn or comes from visitors is shared amongst the community. No-one goes hungry if someone else has food.

No-one on Lifou or Pentecost Island beg for money. They all offer something in return. A song and dance, a chance to see a fruit bat in a cage or even some whale teeth. You can watch the ladies make baskets or demonstrate some of their crafts. They offer fresh coconut milk or cooked yams etc. but they don’t put a price on anything – it is up to you as to whether you donate some money.

Sue xx

Hello Pat,
Been wondering where you were, anyway good to see you here, and I hope you feel better soon. I am also not at my best at the moment, but that's down to gallopping old age.
Very difficult for people trying to get wherever they want to be isn't it, but lets hope the problem with the volcanic dust cloud is over soon.

Tec.

Sue, it is great to have you back, but the downside of that, for you, is that it means the holiday is over.

However, you will always retain the memories, and of course, the photos.

The attitude of some passengers really does suprise me. If it was a fixed hotel, and the staff changed daily, I can understand why it would be difficult to establish a rapport with staff, but where you are all basically confined to a finite space, and seeing each other on a very regular basis, it smacks of snobbery.

Or a "they're only glorified servants" mentality.

I'm certain that those who make the effort to become friendly with the staff receive a far higher standard of service!!

Allan

Hi Allan,
i remember Willaim Hartnoll as Dr Who. i was about 6 then and I was very frightened. My niece isn't with me. She's with my sister in Portsmouth. I think she's trying to get back by either rail or coach.
Hope you feel better soon Tec

Hi Pat, at least you have access to alternative types of travel to access the rest of Europe.

I think that most Asian fights and flights to the Middle east are still leaving Australia, but obviously, no direct flights to Europe.

Chaos reigns

Allan

Hi, Allan, Tec and Pat:-)) Sorry you aren't feeling well Tec and Pat - I hope you feel better soon.

We haven't seen much of the news while we've been away so were unaware of the Iceland disaster. How is it affecting the people in Iceland? A number of years back a volcano erupted in the Phillipines - you may remember Allan. A large part of Asia and Indonesia were covered in ash and dust.

Sue xx

Good Morning Allan, Sue,

In my experience most passengers aboard ship treat the crew with respect, but I have seen some shocking examples of bad behaviour from passengers toward crew members, especially the catering/cabin crew.
I always worked on two class ships. First and Second, or Tourist as it was called. The First Class passengers were invariably better behaved toward crew members than the Tourist passengers. I think this was probably due to them being more accustomed to service.
Most passengers were nice people, but I've known some shockers, who wouldn't dream of behaving that way ashore - takes all sorts.
Crew members who were badlt treated were very adept at getting their own back lol.

Tec.

Hello Tec - our cabin steward was wonderful. He looked after us very well, was friendly and courteous. We learned so much about life in another country just by chatting and listening.

We thought the majority of people were great and we became friendly with a number of people. However there were some who we avoided and noticed most people avoided them also. The one most people stayed away from was an older gentlemen who had taken dancing lessons before the cruise. He wore a sign asking for ladies to dance with him. As the cruise wore on he began to annoy women by not taking no for an answer when he asked them to dance. He would ask regardless of whether the lady was with a companion or not. As we often sat in one of the lounges and listened to the music we noticed that he was becoming quite offensive. Women began to avoid eye contact or leave the lounge when he arrived. After a few nights we noticed that he wasn't frequenting the lounge anymore or would sit quietly at the back. We found out that he was asked to leave the ladies alone after a number of complaints. A very unpleasant man.

Sue xx

Tec, it takes all sorts, but there is no reason to be show disrespect to anyone. I suppose that those taht do display that trait would be among the first to cry 'Discrimination' if it happened to them.

Sue, ironically Iceland isn't affected. The Volcanic Ash is so high tha it has been caught in the jet stream and caried all over Europe and Scandinavia. it is a very fine silica type of dust that forms glass in the engines of planes which fly through it.

Apparently, it is the biggest closure of air-space since the twin towers bombings.

Allan

Hello everyone. Another lovely day started here. Yes, thousands of travellers are stranded waiting to go to England and Europe, so the problem is world-wide.
I, too, have wondered how Iceland is faring?