Sea Days

I love cruising for a variety of reasons and have spent more than 500 of my days at sea on various ships.

Most of this time has been spent in recent years on our favourite cruise line. When we were young and single both Robert and I cruised separately around the Pacific. Our cruising today is much more relaxed and comfortable than in last century.

I now find the port intensive cruises where we visit a new site each day are exhausting. I have developed a love of  "Sea Days" that give us a chance to sleep in and recharge our batteries in between our explorations. 

On our recent cruise last month we had about half of our days at sea, we were fully occupied with, games, lectures, leisurely meals and socialising. My favourite activity was a series of workshops/lectures with professional photographer, Benedict Brain who encouraged us not just to take photos but to Make Photos. As well as sharing many practical tips Ben talked philosophically about photography. He made this person who takes snapshots think about taking and making photographs.

I spent much time on those Sea Days experimenting with my phone camera, exploring new apps and thinking about and playing with my photos.

While on board I took many shots of the sea, some of which I put in this collage. Thanks to Ben for encouraging me to try different things.

Settling in

Thrilled to be safely back on board our floating home. RSSC Voyager. I think we'll be quite comfortable for the next few weeks. 

Unplugged

After nearly a fortnight offline while we cruised through Australia's Kimberley area on the Coral Adventurer I am now back at my keyboard playing catchup.  I considered buying an expensive internet package several times during the cruise but  was cautioned by those who had done so that it was a waste of money for poor and patchy connections. 

Ready to board our floating home in Darwin, NT

On my "to do" list today was an update of my GeniAus Travel Map on Google's My Maps. I was so disappointed to find that many of the remote places we visited are not in the Google maps database so my update is not complete. I am loathe to add the places now as I'm not sure how to determine correct GPS coordinates - a task for another day. I wish I could have added them at the time I was there so I could gauge accurate GPS locations. 

Some people find being unplugged from the internet and mobile phones restful. I found it most frustrating returning to a world where I wasn't able to connect with my family, share the joy of my journey with friends, post to my blog and find answers or seek information on many topics. I was concerned that the kids would hear about the Covid cases on board and worry about our health and welfare. I wish I could have been able to avoid this.

This display which didn't provide much info was only available in the ship's lounge

In the cabins or on the ship there were no TVs with access to news channels. I missed knowing what was going on in the world but was pleased that I wasn't being bombarded with pre-election nonsense. As the journey's itinerary was flexible it would have been helpful to have been able to follow a livestream of our journey's progress and the view from the bridge. 

I have travelled on other cruise lines eg Regent Seven Seas, Scenic and Viking that include internet in their packages and/or have TVs in the rooms. While we don't overuse the TV or access the movies on offer it's a facility I love to have. Being able to have reasonable internet access (no need for super high speeds) would have further enhanced our wonderful journey of discovery. 

Ten years ago...

 ...we set sail on a round Hawaii cruise on The Pride of America.

It wasn't the most luxurious ship afloat but it was a fantastic vehicle to have a fabulous holiday with one of our families while visiting a few of the Hawaiian Islands. We hired a people mover at each of the ports to see the sights, have a few dips and indulge in a spot of shopping.

Following are a few memories in no particular order.

Cancelled again

So our Darwin to Broome cruise in July has been cancelled as Ponant (and several other lines) still don't have permission to sail in Australia. Another casualty of Covid. 

 
Our super dooper Travel Agent Adam from https://www.facebook.com/TA.Toronto is booking us for a later date on a Coral Expeditions voyage.

Flying High

 We enjoyed our first helicopter excursion from the Scenic Eclipse so much that, as soon as we landed, we raced off to sign up for a second flight. While our credit cards will take a massive hit from this decision, we know that our memories that will last forever will make it worth the short term fiscal pain. 

I was lucky, on this second flight near Booth Island to score the co-pilot's seat so I had even more spectacular views than on our last flight. Here is just a small selection of our snaps that do not do justice to the magnificent vistas we saw.

Control Panel

The Mother Ship

Safe Landing