Upon arriving at Melbourne Tullamarine Airport, Daniel and I made our way to the SkyBus (how come Melbourne can get airport transfers right and Sydney still can’t?). Saying our farewells – Dan was continuing on home to Sydney while I was meeting Justin at the end of the SkyBus, I boarded the transfer and arrived in Southern Cross station (aka Spencer St station) just like the ads had said: 20mins!
Justin in town, we decided to walk to 20mins to the hostel (yup…Alex sometimes roughs it in budget accommodation and isn’t always staying in a Holiday Inn!). Checked in to our private room, we walked towards North Melbourne and explored the restaurants/cafes looking for somewhere budget and appealing to have dinner, eventually finding the comedy lounge where tonight Jimoin was performing, but unfortunately for us, it was bookings only! So we settled for Malaysian, which turned out to be more a mixture of Thai and Chinese. Our first night done in Melbourne, we capped it off with a viewing of Slumdog Millionaire – an awesome but eye-opening movie.
Our main full day in Melbourne, we woke up fairly late and wandered down to the city through the Victoria markets, down through Lonsdale, Collins and Bourke Streets before arriving at Federation Square and down along the Yarra to walk to Rod Laver Arena (home of the Australian Open for those of you playing at home). We were mucking around the arena when the gorgeous Alicia Molik walked pass us on her Blackberry…HOT. From there it was a hop skip and jump away from the MCG where we bought our tour ticket and was guided through the members area and areas that are usually off limits by a Melbourne Cricket Club member. The MCG is simply amazing – it's a beautiful sports arena that definitely deserves being treasured by the Victorians (only they could fill it to the brim like they do every couple of months for the AFL!).
To round off the day, we caught the free City Circle tram over to Docklands out of curiosity to see what all the fuss was about the Southern Star, which is now effectively a giant non-moving wheel, all for a measly $100million. Seeing all the Collingwood and Richmond supporters around the Docklands precinct notified us that there would be a game on in the city tonight, so we strolled to the newly named Etihad Stadium (it was previously named the Telstra Dome) and purchased 2 $10 tickets – cheap good quality and Melbourne specific entertainment! The game was fairly exciting and the pies eventually downed the tigers (i.e.: Collingwood beat Richmond) 1.13.10.97 to 2.3.15.51 (that's: Super-goal [9]. Goal [6]. Behind [1]. Total). Satisfied with a sporty and truly Melbourne day out, we made our way back to the hostel and rested for a scorcher or a day, and our last day in Melbourne!
Checking out on Friday at 10am, we dropped our bags off in the lockers provided by YHA and again walked down to the city towards Bourke St, down along La Trobe St, passing by RMIT University and other Melbourne icons. We wandered past Flinders St station and down along the Yarra on to crown casino. Trying our luck on the pokies, we won a couple of dollars, but kept playing away in hope for that big jackpot but alas, ended up losing it all again! After lunch, there was a prize giveaway version of The Price Is Right which sounded in theory interesting, but oh how disappointed we were if you can imagine an overly enthusiastic host who screamed down the microphone to a slightly more than disinterested crowd, add to the mixture not one but 2 dumb assistance and you have half an hour drivel (yet we stupidly stayed…).
Having completed most of what we wanted to do in Melbourne, we did what everyone else does when they come to Melbourne and we shopped! Myer was slightly disappointing, but DJs ended up being a bad decision – 2 Marcs shirts and $200 on the credit card later, I had reached my limit. A relaxing drink back at the hostel before the collection of our luggage and we headed off to Tullamarine to check in for our flight home. As we had arrived about an hour early or so, we tried our luck and was fortunate enough to get bumped onto an earlier flight, getting home earlier and thus reducing the amount of time we needed to wait at the airport.
An uneventful hour later (save for the 2 dumb blondes behind us talking non-stop for the full hour and spraying deodorant when we landed before we got off the plane, and the head flight attendant telling everyone off for chatting during the safety demonstration – she waited for the plane to fall silent…), the all female Virgin Blue crew had us touching down in Sydney just past 9pm. I’m home for the weekend – just enough time to do the washing, work a couple of hours to top up cash and to pack again for the US on Monday!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Hobart, February 2009
Daniel and I flew down on the morning of Tuesday the 24th of February 2009, arriving late morning into Hobart International Airport on a cool and cloudy summer’s day in the Apple Isle. Walking through the International arrivals gate cause us to chuckle slightly, because we did feel like we had landed somewhere foreign lol.
Car rented, we began the short drive from the airport into the city (about 30mins) and we found the hotel quite easily, being such a small city and armed with a map – the lady at the rental counter actually advised us against getting a GPS! Checked in bags stowed, we jumped back into the car and made our way to the downtown area looking for something to eat. A short wander along their version of Pitt St, Elizabeth St, we headed towards the bay area/wharfs and found some very nice cafes. True to the Tasmanian cuisine, I tried the smoke salmon crepe and was happy – salmon = yum-yum! Bellies full, we meandered back along Elizabeth and the shops and back to the car, where the 3 hour parking in the CBD cost us a grand total of $1!
Our next stop was a small town called Richmond, about 30mins north west of Hobart. It's described as a quaint little English town and when we drove in, we were pleasantly surprised that it did indeed feel like we had been transported to the 19th century in rural England. There were a few historical sights important to Australian history – including the country’s oldest bridge and oldest Catholic Church. The countryside from Richmond was spectacular, but also a little sombre because of the dried grassy hills, clearly showing that even places like Tasmania are suffering from the drought that is ravaging the entire country.
Heading back into Hobart, the day was still young so we made the decision to go up to Mount Wellington this evening so we would have a longer day tomorrow to go to Port Arthur. The drive up the mountain took about 45mins or so and as we got higher and higher up the mountain, the clouds began to swirl around and the fog got heavier. By the time we arrived up at the pinnacle of the mountain, we couldn't only see about 10-20m in front of the car. What we didn't expect however, was how cold and windy it was up there. Getting out of the car, we were hit with a blast of cold air more akin to Europe in the winter than what is usually found in the Australian summer. The car began developing frost in the short amount of time we were up in the clouds. Running around the observation areas because it was so cold, our breath was sapped from us and we were blown in all manner of directions at the will of the winds.
As we made our way down the mountain though, the clouds began to disperse and Hobart slowly began to appear in the valley below, truly one of the most spectacular views of a city I have seen. The rest of the night, we enjoyed a nice dinner along the waterfront at WestPoint Casino.
Waking up leisurely the next morning, we checked out of St Ives and pulled into Maccas to get some ‘healthy’ breakfast to start the day. We were heading out of Hobart for good this morning so filled up on petrol and made our way along the Tasman/Arthur highway down to Port Arthur. Along the roads, we encountered numerous numbers of road kill, which was saddening. I also need to include here that there was no mobile phone reception once we had passed the airport at the north of the city, not even Telstra reaches this far down south! [You head north of Hobart and the airport before swinging east and continuing down to the south towards Port Arthur].
Port Arthur was a sombre sight as it has so much sad history, as well as the massacre not too long ago. We stopped in at Seven Mile Beach on the way to the airport and arrived in time to check in for our Qantas flight up to Melbourne with all the businessmen going back for the day.
Car rented, we began the short drive from the airport into the city (about 30mins) and we found the hotel quite easily, being such a small city and armed with a map – the lady at the rental counter actually advised us against getting a GPS! Checked in bags stowed, we jumped back into the car and made our way to the downtown area looking for something to eat. A short wander along their version of Pitt St, Elizabeth St, we headed towards the bay area/wharfs and found some very nice cafes. True to the Tasmanian cuisine, I tried the smoke salmon crepe and was happy – salmon = yum-yum! Bellies full, we meandered back along Elizabeth and the shops and back to the car, where the 3 hour parking in the CBD cost us a grand total of $1!
Our next stop was a small town called Richmond, about 30mins north west of Hobart. It's described as a quaint little English town and when we drove in, we were pleasantly surprised that it did indeed feel like we had been transported to the 19th century in rural England. There were a few historical sights important to Australian history – including the country’s oldest bridge and oldest Catholic Church. The countryside from Richmond was spectacular, but also a little sombre because of the dried grassy hills, clearly showing that even places like Tasmania are suffering from the drought that is ravaging the entire country.
Heading back into Hobart, the day was still young so we made the decision to go up to Mount Wellington this evening so we would have a longer day tomorrow to go to Port Arthur. The drive up the mountain took about 45mins or so and as we got higher and higher up the mountain, the clouds began to swirl around and the fog got heavier. By the time we arrived up at the pinnacle of the mountain, we couldn't only see about 10-20m in front of the car. What we didn't expect however, was how cold and windy it was up there. Getting out of the car, we were hit with a blast of cold air more akin to Europe in the winter than what is usually found in the Australian summer. The car began developing frost in the short amount of time we were up in the clouds. Running around the observation areas because it was so cold, our breath was sapped from us and we were blown in all manner of directions at the will of the winds.
As we made our way down the mountain though, the clouds began to disperse and Hobart slowly began to appear in the valley below, truly one of the most spectacular views of a city I have seen. The rest of the night, we enjoyed a nice dinner along the waterfront at WestPoint Casino.
Waking up leisurely the next morning, we checked out of St Ives and pulled into Maccas to get some ‘healthy’ breakfast to start the day. We were heading out of Hobart for good this morning so filled up on petrol and made our way along the Tasman/Arthur highway down to Port Arthur. Along the roads, we encountered numerous numbers of road kill, which was saddening. I also need to include here that there was no mobile phone reception once we had passed the airport at the north of the city, not even Telstra reaches this far down south! [You head north of Hobart and the airport before swinging east and continuing down to the south towards Port Arthur].
Port Arthur was a sombre sight as it has so much sad history, as well as the massacre not too long ago. We stopped in at Seven Mile Beach on the way to the airport and arrived in time to check in for our Qantas flight up to Melbourne with all the businessmen going back for the day.
Days 13 and 14 - Final Days at Sea
The final 2 days at sea was a final chance for us to do the activities on board we hadn’t yet got a chance to do and to spend the last couple of days relaxing before we had to come back to reality. Some interesting highlights included:
So that is all for the Pacific Dawn, Fijian Treasures cruise with your passengers (Zoltina-J like sweeping hand movements), Tori, Andrew, Rob and I. Hope you found the blog entries at least mildly amusing! :-p
- The cooking demonstration (even the French Canadian cook made fun of New Zealand – “we have to buy something from them [cream] because you know, the economy is bad there, run by too much baaaaaaaad politicians”. LOL)
- The kitchen galley tour, where we saw how and where is prepared (and got to ride 2 sets of escalators – escalators on a cruise ship!!!). It was an awesome sight, and heaven for Tori and I who are white good fanatics hahaha.
- We attended the Captains Club cocktail party where free (yes FREE) cocktails; wine and champagne were handed out. Lets just say we stocked up during the 2 hours lol.
- There was a champagne fountain and baked Alaska (cos everyone loves a baked US state…) in the mid-ship, and that night, Zoltina-J (our ‘delightful’ cruise director decided to wear a dress of the Australian flag – GAG).
- We won twice more at trivia – key rings and caps today!
- On the last day of the cruise, I had 2 main breakfast dishes, 2 mains and dessert for lunch and the full 4 courses for dinner… I felt like a fat heffer!
So that is all for the Pacific Dawn, Fijian Treasures cruise with your passengers (Zoltina-J like sweeping hand movements), Tori, Andrew, Rob and I. Hope you found the blog entries at least mildly amusing! :-p
Day 12 - Isle of Pines
After a fun filled pirate night, we woke up again early for the lazy breakfast in the dining room. The morning was fairly quiet as a lot of people were milling around the ship waiting for their tender ticket to be called. What we didn't realise that there was a reason why everyone was waiting – again two of the 4 tenders had broken down and so they were relying on half the tender capacity to get everyone to shore. A *short* hour and half later, we finally arrived on the island and began walking down the main road (its not very main…). Passing what seemed to be countless numbers of stray dogs, we ended up finding a quiet section of the main beach to spread out and lie down.
Andrew and I went into the cool/salty water and the sand here on the isle is definitely different to any of the other islands we have visited so far – it is definitely more clay like and is a lot more compact/finer on your feet. Because of that however, it also make it a lot more sticky and harder to get off when you come out of the water. A couple of hours at the beach later, we slowly made our way back towards the line to the tenders and surprisingly, we didn't have to wait very long before we were on our way back to the ship. It was sad that this was going to be our last tender and port on board the cruise. Too late for lunch at the restaurant, we went and stuffed ourselves full with food and headed up to afternoon trivia/relaxing in The Dome with some drinks while the ship was getting ready to depart. It was an uneventful departure and afternoon.
Tonight’s entertainment on board the Pacific Dawn was a magic act, but the show was definitely more comedy than magic (i.e.: the tricks were of little substance). It is surprising how exhausting it can be to do absolutely nothing at the beach, cos getting back to the cabin, I fell asleep almost as soon as I lay down!
Andrew and I went into the cool/salty water and the sand here on the isle is definitely different to any of the other islands we have visited so far – it is definitely more clay like and is a lot more compact/finer on your feet. Because of that however, it also make it a lot more sticky and harder to get off when you come out of the water. A couple of hours at the beach later, we slowly made our way back towards the line to the tenders and surprisingly, we didn't have to wait very long before we were on our way back to the ship. It was sad that this was going to be our last tender and port on board the cruise. Too late for lunch at the restaurant, we went and stuffed ourselves full with food and headed up to afternoon trivia/relaxing in The Dome with some drinks while the ship was getting ready to depart. It was an uneventful departure and afternoon.
Tonight’s entertainment on board the Pacific Dawn was a magic act, but the show was definitely more comedy than magic (i.e.: the tricks were of little substance). It is surprising how exhausting it can be to do absolutely nothing at the beach, cos getting back to the cabin, I fell asleep almost as soon as I lay down!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Day 11 - Mystery Island, Vanuatu
We arrived here at the mysterious Mystery Island sometime early in the morning (I was not even conscious when we dropped anchor) and I was awoken by the loud sounds of the tenders being lowered into the water so that we could be tendered ashore. Once we were all dressed and showered, we made our way down to breakfast slightly later than usual but none the less, had a bellies full with food and ready for a day out on the island.
Mystery Island is the southern most island in the Vanuatu group of islands and is a tiny island approximately 1km2 in area. It takes less than a minute to cross from one side of the island to the other and approximately 45mins to walk around the entire island. It is also uninhabited by anyone as the locals believe it to be haunted. The island is most famous for being used during World War 2 by the English and American as a landing strip to land (and I suspect refuel) their planes. The tender process this morning went incredibly smoothly, and we were pretty much able to get onto a tender straight away. On arrival onto the island, we were greeted with some island music and also stalls of local arts and crafts.
We found a quiet spot along the beach, which was quite difficult as there over a thousand passengers that were on the small island looking for the same thing as we were – warm waters and somewhere to lie down like a beached whale lol. Once settled, Andrew and I went into the water while Rob and Tori were too sunburnt and sore to head in. The waters were a little dirty from the rain and storms of the previous couple of days, and indeed, it had continued to rain as we were in the water and later when we had gotten out and were lying on the beach. The rain however, wasn't too bad as it was fairly light and was only intermittent.
After enough of sun, rain, sea and sand, we wandered along the local markets (set up by the locals from the much larger island across the bay) and made our way to the airstrip where we did a couple of Jetstar Jumps on the runway and hung out on the beach found on the other side of the island. The lines for the tender back were incredibly long so Tori and I got Rob and Andrew to line up while we continued to enjoy the waves hitting the beach and took some photos of hermit crabs crawling along the sand. As the line moved (there had been an issue with one of the tenders halfway through the morning and also an accident which held up the embarking and disembarking of the tender, Tori and I came back in line and were told off by some fat moles.
Back on board, we de-sanded and made our way down to the dining room to get some much needed lunch. This afternoon was a fairly uneventful one spent sleeping and napping, getting ready for some high seas action at Pirate Night tonight. There was a lot less people dressed up tonight than there was last night. After dinner, we went to the Pirates of the Pacific show which was pretty funny to watch – lots of sexual innuendo…
Mystery Island is the southern most island in the Vanuatu group of islands and is a tiny island approximately 1km2 in area. It takes less than a minute to cross from one side of the island to the other and approximately 45mins to walk around the entire island. It is also uninhabited by anyone as the locals believe it to be haunted. The island is most famous for being used during World War 2 by the English and American as a landing strip to land (and I suspect refuel) their planes. The tender process this morning went incredibly smoothly, and we were pretty much able to get onto a tender straight away. On arrival onto the island, we were greeted with some island music and also stalls of local arts and crafts.
We found a quiet spot along the beach, which was quite difficult as there over a thousand passengers that were on the small island looking for the same thing as we were – warm waters and somewhere to lie down like a beached whale lol. Once settled, Andrew and I went into the water while Rob and Tori were too sunburnt and sore to head in. The waters were a little dirty from the rain and storms of the previous couple of days, and indeed, it had continued to rain as we were in the water and later when we had gotten out and were lying on the beach. The rain however, wasn't too bad as it was fairly light and was only intermittent.
After enough of sun, rain, sea and sand, we wandered along the local markets (set up by the locals from the much larger island across the bay) and made our way to the airstrip where we did a couple of Jetstar Jumps on the runway and hung out on the beach found on the other side of the island. The lines for the tender back were incredibly long so Tori and I got Rob and Andrew to line up while we continued to enjoy the waves hitting the beach and took some photos of hermit crabs crawling along the sand. As the line moved (there had been an issue with one of the tenders halfway through the morning and also an accident which held up the embarking and disembarking of the tender, Tori and I came back in line and were told off by some fat moles.
Back on board, we de-sanded and made our way down to the dining room to get some much needed lunch. This afternoon was a fairly uneventful one spent sleeping and napping, getting ready for some high seas action at Pirate Night tonight. There was a lot less people dressed up tonight than there was last night. After dinner, we went to the Pirates of the Pacific show which was pretty funny to watch – lots of sexual innuendo…
Day 10 - Port Villa, Vanuatu
On arrival this morning into the Vanuatu capital of Port Villa, the four of us got ready to head down to the Palm Court restaurant because we had to get ready early for our shore tour today. We made it down to the tour meeting point at about 9am and was called up soon after, enduring the tropical rain that came in and out over the 15min we waited. Once on the tiny little bus, we got settled in and then began our journey to a beach resort where our kayaking tour was going to take place. Sun screened up and with our hats on (we did Slip, Slop and Slap), we got ready for the kayaks and set off into the water. It was a beautiful journey and once we got to our first stop atop a particularly nice reef spot, some of us went into the water and swam around (others capsized their kayaks and didn't have a choice lol). The second stop was atop an underwater island and again, we all got off the kayaks to swim in the warm waters. We had a brilliant time and it was very relaxing – all we needed was a bit of music and some drinks hahaha.
It was then our time to paddle back to the beach for some coconut drinks, banana and peanuts that were al grown locally and really great food. The nice sea breeze and bright sunshine topped off a great morning over all. The tour bus dropped us back to the ship and we had some lunch in the buffet, as we wanted to come back out to Port Villa since we were told that the duty free shopping here is incredibly cheap. We strolled along a couple stores, just checking out the prices and indeed, there were some items (particularly alcohol and cigarettes that were really cheap). Perfume and other stuff weren’t exactly that cheap either, but I did end up finding some Vera Wang for Men, my favourite eau de toilette, was on sale for 40% off and so the 100ml bottle came to $50 woot! We also ended up getting some alcohol at the store that was the cheapest in Port Villa (pretty much everyone on the ship was getting the maximum limit there). The four of us ended up getting 5 bottles and it was indeed really cheap – the triple distilled Smirnoff I got was $19.
We enjoyed a tropical smoothie at the beach and then came back to the ship to come back into the cabin to ready us for the sailaway. Dinner tonight was tropical island dress themed and everyone had leis, Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts. It was a very carnival like atmosphere and a very enjoyable night. Andrew even got a second birthday cake 2 days late, so that was fun as he got embarrassed when everyone was singing to him for the second time hahaha. Looking forward to Mystery Island tomorrow.
It was then our time to paddle back to the beach for some coconut drinks, banana and peanuts that were al grown locally and really great food. The nice sea breeze and bright sunshine topped off a great morning over all. The tour bus dropped us back to the ship and we had some lunch in the buffet, as we wanted to come back out to Port Villa since we were told that the duty free shopping here is incredibly cheap. We strolled along a couple stores, just checking out the prices and indeed, there were some items (particularly alcohol and cigarettes that were really cheap). Perfume and other stuff weren’t exactly that cheap either, but I did end up finding some Vera Wang for Men, my favourite eau de toilette, was on sale for 40% off and so the 100ml bottle came to $50 woot! We also ended up getting some alcohol at the store that was the cheapest in Port Villa (pretty much everyone on the ship was getting the maximum limit there). The four of us ended up getting 5 bottles and it was indeed really cheap – the triple distilled Smirnoff I got was $19.
We enjoyed a tropical smoothie at the beach and then came back to the ship to come back into the cabin to ready us for the sailaway. Dinner tonight was tropical island dress themed and everyone had leis, Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts. It was a very carnival like atmosphere and a very enjoyable night. Andrew even got a second birthday cake 2 days late, so that was fun as he got embarrassed when everyone was singing to him for the second time hahaha. Looking forward to Mystery Island tomorrow.
Day 9 - At Sea
Today was an incredibly lazy day at sea, with about 8 hours of the day spent a marathon of The Hills, finishing most of Season 3 (so glad Spencer and Heidi broke up, but still disliking Heidi and hating Spencer). Going to breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Palm Court dining room and going to the gym for an hour to feel less guilty about lying in bed all day (literally). Tonight was the second formal night of the cruise and all of us made an effort to look nice because it was Valentines Day today (or what I prefer to call it – singles awareness day).
As I was a bed bum today… in the words of our captain “there is nothing to see here”.
As I was a bed bum today… in the words of our captain “there is nothing to see here”.
Day 8 - Savusavu, Fiji
After a nice day in Suva, we were looking to getting into Savusavu as it looked to be another relaxing port where the prospect of the beach beckoned. Tori and Andrew had a shore excursion early in the morning, so Rob and I took the opportunity to have a sleep in before going up to the buffet for a late breakfast. While eating, we heard over the PA that 2 of the 4 tenders had broken down from Dravuni Island (something to do with the engines) and so there was a limited service to Savusavu. This mean that by the time we got to get tickets to come off the ship, we were about 10 tickets behind the current tender call, so we had a while to go. By the time we finally got called up and had boarded the tender headed for Savusavu it was fast approaching noon.
On arrival to the island we bumped into Andrew and Tori who had just finished their tour to the pear farm and so we walked the main street of Savusavu looking at the local souvenir stores and markets before deciding on a café/beer garden for lunch, chosen due to the rowdy Aussie crowd (all from the ship) and the music coming from within. The locals were extremely friendly and were quite patient putting up with all us Aussies from the ship lol. I wasn't feeling in the eating mood since I had had such a late lunch, so ordered something that was called the Kailoma special, and all fruit smoothie made from a mixture of locally grown fruits such as pineapple, papaya and banana. It had a fresh taste and not totally bad – felt quite healthy actually. The others got chicken schnitzel, chicken/salad sandwich and a massive pizza with local ingredients. Andrew also got Fiji Bitter, which is basically VB but made in Fiji, by the Fosters Group (the only group unoriginal to just put a place name followed by Bitter for a beer name…).
After lunch, we headed back to the ship because it had begun to rain (thus cancelling out any possibility of going to the beach) and the line for the tenders back to the ship had already begun to snake around the corner down the main street. We waited in line in the rain (refreshing) and it took about an hour or so to actually get onto a tender. This wait was made all the more worse because we were waiting where there was wi-fi but even though I had the password correct to logon (I guessed out of pure luck), it wouldn't connect to any websites – so close yet so far!
Once back on the ship, we just hung out in the cabin (me watching The Hills) while waiting for the ship to depart Savusavu and then had to begin to get ready for dinner because we were going up to the steakhouse for Andrew’s dinner. The dinner was absolutely fantastic with huge dishes. I had the Wagyu beef short ribs so that I can now say I have officially have had Wagyu. Rolling down the elevators completely full from dinner and very satisfied with a great birthday night (and a tad too much wine on my behalf), we attempted the musical trivia quiz that was on tonight, but failed by1 point to join the other groups ahead of us with points in the incredibly embarrassing tie breaker where a member from each team had to so sing a range of songs from musicals.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!
On arrival to the island we bumped into Andrew and Tori who had just finished their tour to the pear farm and so we walked the main street of Savusavu looking at the local souvenir stores and markets before deciding on a café/beer garden for lunch, chosen due to the rowdy Aussie crowd (all from the ship) and the music coming from within. The locals were extremely friendly and were quite patient putting up with all us Aussies from the ship lol. I wasn't feeling in the eating mood since I had had such a late lunch, so ordered something that was called the Kailoma special, and all fruit smoothie made from a mixture of locally grown fruits such as pineapple, papaya and banana. It had a fresh taste and not totally bad – felt quite healthy actually. The others got chicken schnitzel, chicken/salad sandwich and a massive pizza with local ingredients. Andrew also got Fiji Bitter, which is basically VB but made in Fiji, by the Fosters Group (the only group unoriginal to just put a place name followed by Bitter for a beer name…).
After lunch, we headed back to the ship because it had begun to rain (thus cancelling out any possibility of going to the beach) and the line for the tenders back to the ship had already begun to snake around the corner down the main street. We waited in line in the rain (refreshing) and it took about an hour or so to actually get onto a tender. This wait was made all the more worse because we were waiting where there was wi-fi but even though I had the password correct to logon (I guessed out of pure luck), it wouldn't connect to any websites – so close yet so far!
Once back on the ship, we just hung out in the cabin (me watching The Hills) while waiting for the ship to depart Savusavu and then had to begin to get ready for dinner because we were going up to the steakhouse for Andrew’s dinner. The dinner was absolutely fantastic with huge dishes. I had the Wagyu beef short ribs so that I can now say I have officially have had Wagyu. Rolling down the elevators completely full from dinner and very satisfied with a great birthday night (and a tad too much wine on my behalf), we attempted the musical trivia quiz that was on tonight, but failed by1 point to join the other groups ahead of us with points in the incredibly embarrassing tie breaker where a member from each team had to so sing a range of songs from musicals.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANDREW!
Day 7 - Suva, Fiji
The day after Dravuni Island was immediately followed by a port day in Fiji’s capital, Suva. From the ship, the city looked a bit more run down than what we saw in Noumea, but had a certain buzz about, offering some promise. After breakfast we made our way down to the gangway to leave the ship and begin our wondering around the nation’s capitol. Our first encounters with the Suva locals were not great as there were a lot of Fijian Indians around the ship trying to get us to go with them in their taxis’ or require their services to guide us around the city. We tried avoiding them, and I just plain ignored them (a skill which I acquired last time we went to India).
There was a couple of interesting sights, but nothing really appealing until we arrived outside the doorstep of a department store called Prouds. Now this is a store that is owned by the same company we know as Prouds, ‘The Jewellers’ but this store was beyond just selling jewellery with merchandise from perfumes, clothing, luggage, electronics, confectionary and even Wedgwood. The prices were definitely cheaper than what we had seen in Noumea, but still not exactly cheap when comparing with prices from home or on the ship.
We continued down along the main road just wandering into pharmacies (we all have our little battle wounds with the sun or bush tracks lol), souvenir stores etc until we arrived at a big shopping centre, called MHCC. In there, it was part Kmart, part Myer and they even sold things like Burwood BBQs and Coleman camping stuff as well as Bonds Underwear and other stuff. Nothing really tickled our fancy, even in the supermarket (it was pretty pricey in there I think because it was a bit higher end). Tori and Rob called it a day, but Andrew and I were intent on finding an Internet café (well I was more eager to check my Facebook and emails hahaha). The first one we found was interesting to say the least – porn movie covers lined the walls with other mainstream movies and there was some sort of insect flying around (I think it was a wasp, but it looked so big it could have been a dragon fly). Staying a couple of mins waiting to be served, we decided to leave and were confronted with the sight of a homeless man peeing in the side alley… charming.
We continued walking along towards the busier part of town where we had come from and passed a Dick Smith store but it was incredibly disappointing as it was the size of a small bedroom and didn't really sell anything worth buying (Arlec seemed to be a popular brand…). We finally found a decent Internet café and caught up at home for about an hour before getting hungry and returning to the ship for lunch. Cooled down and bellies full, Andrew and I came back ashore to head to a supermarket we had seen from the ship that was behind what appeared to be Suva’s main bus terminal. The layout of the terminal, or lack thereof, coupled with the atmosphere and really old world sense brought back memories of some places we visited while in Mumbai, only much less dirtier and more pleasant smelling.
We finally found the supermarket and wandered down the aisles marvelling at the local products and unique items they stocked in this much more traditional supermarket than the one we had visited earlier. The highlights included a 900g metre long bar of Colgate/Palmolive soap that came in a range of colours including fluoro pink, green and yellow. Pepsi Café Chino (a video which I will upload to show you the taste test of), and a range of Tim Tams that came in Choco Vanilla, wafer flavours and others I don't quite remember. This supermarket was also much cheaper and was more of what we expected, and liked, about Fiji. Back on board for the afternoon, we bummed around the cabin until dinnertime and then went to the multi media trivia, which was a lot of fun, and we ended up winning! Overall, a great end to a fantastic day in Fiji’s capitol.
There was a couple of interesting sights, but nothing really appealing until we arrived outside the doorstep of a department store called Prouds. Now this is a store that is owned by the same company we know as Prouds, ‘The Jewellers’ but this store was beyond just selling jewellery with merchandise from perfumes, clothing, luggage, electronics, confectionary and even Wedgwood. The prices were definitely cheaper than what we had seen in Noumea, but still not exactly cheap when comparing with prices from home or on the ship.
We continued down along the main road just wandering into pharmacies (we all have our little battle wounds with the sun or bush tracks lol), souvenir stores etc until we arrived at a big shopping centre, called MHCC. In there, it was part Kmart, part Myer and they even sold things like Burwood BBQs and Coleman camping stuff as well as Bonds Underwear and other stuff. Nothing really tickled our fancy, even in the supermarket (it was pretty pricey in there I think because it was a bit higher end). Tori and Rob called it a day, but Andrew and I were intent on finding an Internet café (well I was more eager to check my Facebook and emails hahaha). The first one we found was interesting to say the least – porn movie covers lined the walls with other mainstream movies and there was some sort of insect flying around (I think it was a wasp, but it looked so big it could have been a dragon fly). Staying a couple of mins waiting to be served, we decided to leave and were confronted with the sight of a homeless man peeing in the side alley… charming.
We continued walking along towards the busier part of town where we had come from and passed a Dick Smith store but it was incredibly disappointing as it was the size of a small bedroom and didn't really sell anything worth buying (Arlec seemed to be a popular brand…). We finally found a decent Internet café and caught up at home for about an hour before getting hungry and returning to the ship for lunch. Cooled down and bellies full, Andrew and I came back ashore to head to a supermarket we had seen from the ship that was behind what appeared to be Suva’s main bus terminal. The layout of the terminal, or lack thereof, coupled with the atmosphere and really old world sense brought back memories of some places we visited while in Mumbai, only much less dirtier and more pleasant smelling.
We finally found the supermarket and wandered down the aisles marvelling at the local products and unique items they stocked in this much more traditional supermarket than the one we had visited earlier. The highlights included a 900g metre long bar of Colgate/Palmolive soap that came in a range of colours including fluoro pink, green and yellow. Pepsi Café Chino (a video which I will upload to show you the taste test of), and a range of Tim Tams that came in Choco Vanilla, wafer flavours and others I don't quite remember. This supermarket was also much cheaper and was more of what we expected, and liked, about Fiji. Back on board for the afternoon, we bummed around the cabin until dinnertime and then went to the multi media trivia, which was a lot of fun, and we ended up winning! Overall, a great end to a fantastic day in Fiji’s capitol.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Day 6 - Dravuni Island, Fiji
Bula!
Waking up to the glorious views of Fiji today promised to be a great day and began so with a nice breakfast again around 8am. A quick breakfast later, we were packing out beach bags and headed down to grab a tender ticket to leave the ship for shore. We ended up having to wait about half an hour before our ticket was called, but even once our ticket number had been called, we were held in the mid-ship stair case for another 15mins or so due to the sheer number of people that were waiting to get off at the same time with us and who had been called too. I utilised this time wisely and ended up playing a game of solitaire, which I did end up winning (yay!). To be honest though, once the line started to move, we did get onto a tender very quickly and was soon hopping off at Dravuni Island.
As Dravuni Island is quite a small island (it is inhabited by less that 200 people), there was not much to do besides sit on the beach and go for a swim. Once our feet had touched the golden sands of the beach, we made our way to a less crowded section of the beach and set up our stuff for the day, layering on the sunscreen in the hot south pacific sun. All protected it was time to hit the water in the clear warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. The coral and seaweed surrounded the areas around the beach and was clearly visible to the naked eye even from above the water (as we didn't have any snorkelling gear). Frolicking in the water, I eventually tired of the water and got dried to do a bit of exploring of the tiny island.
Andrew and I followed a walking track that led towards the peak of the mountain on the island. What began as quite an easy trek (in bare foot) began to get more difficult and rougher on our feet. The still humidity of the air surround us and the lack of the cool gentle sea breeze that we had enjoyed along the beach was also not to be found higher up on the mountain made the trek even more difficult. After about 20mins in the scorching sun and stifling humidity, I had sweat dripping down my face and shoulders and the lashings the grass was giving my feet were enough to make both of us give up on making it to the higher second peak and be satisfied with making it to the first peak. Even from that lower point, the views of the ship and the island’s rainforest and beaches were breathtaking (or what breath we had left that could be taken) and well worth the effort.
A little more time looking at the beach and heading further along a strip where there weren’t any people to be scene cemented Fiji as an unspoilt slice of beach paradise. Before heading back to the ship, we strolled along the village area looking at the sarongs, offerings of coconut and other arts and crafts on display. Fiji had certainly lived up to expectations and definitely outshone New Caledonia as the true idyllic south pacific getaway.
One our tired bodies were delivered back to the air conditioned comfort of the ship and all the sand had been transferred from our bodies to the floor of our bathroom, the rest of the day was spent relaxing in the confines of the cabin (were I watched more episodes of The Hills) and resting until dinner time. Tonight’s entertainment after the meal was movie quote trivia, an excruciatingly difficult quiz considering we only answered 4 out of 20 questions correctly. Hopefully tomorrow night’s Multi-Media Trivia will be more suited to our knowledge.
Waking up to the glorious views of Fiji today promised to be a great day and began so with a nice breakfast again around 8am. A quick breakfast later, we were packing out beach bags and headed down to grab a tender ticket to leave the ship for shore. We ended up having to wait about half an hour before our ticket was called, but even once our ticket number had been called, we were held in the mid-ship stair case for another 15mins or so due to the sheer number of people that were waiting to get off at the same time with us and who had been called too. I utilised this time wisely and ended up playing a game of solitaire, which I did end up winning (yay!). To be honest though, once the line started to move, we did get onto a tender very quickly and was soon hopping off at Dravuni Island.
As Dravuni Island is quite a small island (it is inhabited by less that 200 people), there was not much to do besides sit on the beach and go for a swim. Once our feet had touched the golden sands of the beach, we made our way to a less crowded section of the beach and set up our stuff for the day, layering on the sunscreen in the hot south pacific sun. All protected it was time to hit the water in the clear warm waters of the Pacific Ocean. The coral and seaweed surrounded the areas around the beach and was clearly visible to the naked eye even from above the water (as we didn't have any snorkelling gear). Frolicking in the water, I eventually tired of the water and got dried to do a bit of exploring of the tiny island.
Andrew and I followed a walking track that led towards the peak of the mountain on the island. What began as quite an easy trek (in bare foot) began to get more difficult and rougher on our feet. The still humidity of the air surround us and the lack of the cool gentle sea breeze that we had enjoyed along the beach was also not to be found higher up on the mountain made the trek even more difficult. After about 20mins in the scorching sun and stifling humidity, I had sweat dripping down my face and shoulders and the lashings the grass was giving my feet were enough to make both of us give up on making it to the higher second peak and be satisfied with making it to the first peak. Even from that lower point, the views of the ship and the island’s rainforest and beaches were breathtaking (or what breath we had left that could be taken) and well worth the effort.
A little more time looking at the beach and heading further along a strip where there weren’t any people to be scene cemented Fiji as an unspoilt slice of beach paradise. Before heading back to the ship, we strolled along the village area looking at the sarongs, offerings of coconut and other arts and crafts on display. Fiji had certainly lived up to expectations and definitely outshone New Caledonia as the true idyllic south pacific getaway.
One our tired bodies were delivered back to the air conditioned comfort of the ship and all the sand had been transferred from our bodies to the floor of our bathroom, the rest of the day was spent relaxing in the confines of the cabin (were I watched more episodes of The Hills) and resting until dinner time. Tonight’s entertainment after the meal was movie quote trivia, an excruciatingly difficult quiz considering we only answered 4 out of 20 questions correctly. Hopefully tomorrow night’s Multi-Media Trivia will be more suited to our knowledge.
Day 5 - At Sea
Today was another day at sea while we sailed from the dreadfully boring Nouvelle Calédonie (New Caledonia) to a more promising Fiji. So after waking up at the now routine 8am, we headed down to have some breakfast before we needed to get ready to go into the International Show Lounge where the ship’s captain (Lorenzo to us, but Captain Paoletti to you) gave a virtual bridge tour about the Pacific Dawn.
Some of the highlights included the following facts:
- The ships gets most of its water through its two desalination plants or osmosis plant located on the ship, with occasional land water in Sydney or Noumea purchased and mixed with the water generated on board.
- The ships generates electricity from 4 diesel generators which in turn is used for both services and to propel the ship’s two electric propellers.
- When tonnage is referred to about a ship, it does not refer to the ship’s weight, rather it is a reference to the capacity of the ship (i.e.: volume).
- There are 9 telephones in the captain’s cabin/living quarters, including 1 above the toilet.
When sailing into a port, the ships three flags represent the country of registration, the ship’s company flag (i.e.: P&O) and the flag of the country it will be sailing into. - The captain can perform legal weddings (as he is Bahamian registered) but as soon as you step off the ship, it is null and void).
Once the virtual bridge tour was over, it was back to the cabin for a bit of a rest (and quietly, I was watching the Bratz movie, more because it was so bad I couldn't stop watching than anything else…). Lunch was served shortly after and then it was up to The Dome to check out what was supposed to be a ‘cruise fair’. This was basically an excuse for the ship to hold and event where they could sell more wine or something that is related to Valentines Day. It was back to trivia for our afternoon delight, but we were none the less unsuccessful in winning any P&O merchandise because we were so bad at the questions. Before dinner was another opportunity for me to have a bit of a work out in the gym (and watching Andrew drop his phone onto the treadmill along with the horrified looks on some guys face as he watched Andrew stumble trying to pick up his phone as the treadmill continued to rotate). The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, save for the beginning to watch some episodes of The Hills for the first time.
Day 4 - Noumea, New Caledonia
We arrived sometime early in the morning and awoke to see the ship docking into the port from our cabin window. With the warm humid air of the south pacific around us, we made our way down for breakfast to have something to eat. Once we were full and filled with energy to head off, we came down the gangway to be greeted by the hot stifling humidity, at 8.45am.
The first hour or so was spent aimlessly wandering around the town (they call it a city, but lets be honest here and have a think about it – the failure to have any buildings taller than 3 stories does removes any opportunity they have in calling this town a city).
Once we had finally decided that aimlessly wandering in this humidity and heat was waste of one’s energy, we decided on a plan of action (well, I did), and visited the visitor information office to find out how to get to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Bus ticket and map in hand, we ventured out to test out the public transport of Noumea. Boarding a non-air-conditioned bus, the French influence certainly became clear. Like the hordes of Renaults, Peugeots and Citroens, the French have also passed on they’re driving and parking skills on to the New Caledonians. I do believe the concept of braking and accelerating smoothly is foreign to the people of Noumea, something that does not provide the most comforting ride on a bus while standing in the aisle.
A 30min bus ride later and we arrived at the Tjibaou cultural centre only to find that like all of New Caledonia’s tourist attractions are closed on a Monday, and guess what? We had arrived on the Monday! So not only was the cultural centre closed, so were the aquarium, museums and the zoo. Thanks to P&O for providing us with so many tourist choices here in Noumea! Instead, we caught the bus right back to the city and wandered down to the supermarket (confusingly called Casino) where we bought some necessities such as coke, water and chocolate… It was then right back on the ship for lunch, finding out that the lunches served in the Palm Court dining room are very nice (we had been eating at the buffet until now).
Another lazy afternoon spent in the cabin resting before making it up onto deck to watch the ship sailaway. While leaving, it brought out the joke usually reserved for Adelaide and changed with a marine twist – “What is the best view of Noumea?” “The view of it as we sail away…”
The first hour or so was spent aimlessly wandering around the town (they call it a city, but lets be honest here and have a think about it – the failure to have any buildings taller than 3 stories does removes any opportunity they have in calling this town a city).
Once we had finally decided that aimlessly wandering in this humidity and heat was waste of one’s energy, we decided on a plan of action (well, I did), and visited the visitor information office to find out how to get to the Tjibaou Cultural Centre. Bus ticket and map in hand, we ventured out to test out the public transport of Noumea. Boarding a non-air-conditioned bus, the French influence certainly became clear. Like the hordes of Renaults, Peugeots and Citroens, the French have also passed on they’re driving and parking skills on to the New Caledonians. I do believe the concept of braking and accelerating smoothly is foreign to the people of Noumea, something that does not provide the most comforting ride on a bus while standing in the aisle.
A 30min bus ride later and we arrived at the Tjibaou cultural centre only to find that like all of New Caledonia’s tourist attractions are closed on a Monday, and guess what? We had arrived on the Monday! So not only was the cultural centre closed, so were the aquarium, museums and the zoo. Thanks to P&O for providing us with so many tourist choices here in Noumea! Instead, we caught the bus right back to the city and wandered down to the supermarket (confusingly called Casino) where we bought some necessities such as coke, water and chocolate… It was then right back on the ship for lunch, finding out that the lunches served in the Palm Court dining room are very nice (we had been eating at the buffet until now).
Another lazy afternoon spent in the cabin resting before making it up onto deck to watch the ship sailaway. While leaving, it brought out the joke usually reserved for Adelaide and changed with a marine twist – “What is the best view of Noumea?” “The view of it as we sail away…”
Day 3 - At Sea
After a fairly rough night at sea – I woke up with the feeling that I was on a never ending roller coaster, we began the day in a similar fashion to day 2, having breakfast fairly early in the morning. Rather than having a sleep in the cabin however, we decided to make use of our napping time and headed up to the Lido Deck (deck 12) to lie on the deck chairs and get a little bit of tanning under our belts while we slept thus killing two birds with the one stone, figuratively speaking of course. Dozing in the sun listening to music ended up helping quite well with my seasickness, which had gradually gotten worse over night due to the rougher seas.
An early lunch was in order up in the buffet, but this however, was preceded by the captain’s announcement, which happens generally around noon everyday. Our captain for this cruise is Lorenzo Paoletti and below are some of our favourite selection of quotes from his announcements:
- As we are at sea, there is nothing to see around us…
- The ship has 500 CCTV cameras, even in public areas…
- What can I say about the weather – it is a lovely day and it is a Saturday.
Lunch over, it was again back to the cabin for a little rest, but once I was woken, I made a decision to go to the gym and try to get active on board instead of just eating and sleeping. A 45min workout on the treadmill ensued and the exercise helped me feel a bit more energetic and less inclined to bumming around the cabin. The afternoon delight today was an hour of Seahorse racing, which unlike the rather exciting images it brings out in your mind, actually involves people holding wooden horses (not as your would have thought, wooden seahorses), and walking down one square at a time depending on whether or not their number (1-6) is rolled on the die. The eventual winner is decided in go-go-stop fashion by stepping off the ‘racetrack’.
A horse auction concluded the race with horses fetching up to $250 (you did read correctly, $250 for a wooden cut out of a horse) that is to be raced at the end of the cruise, and the owner of the winning horse collects the main jackpot prize of around $2000.
It was the formal night, but the four of us got out of the formality of formal night and got away with as casual dress as possible. We have also exchanged our cash for French Pacific Francs and as Rob says, we are “Mille-onaires” lol. A$1 equates to about FRF60. So our $20 = about FRF1200 … Yay! The night’s entertainment was to meet the officers of the cruise and a family of four doing certain circus followed that – it was one of the most bizarre and time wasting shows ever dreamt up of, an hour of our lives we certainly won’t be getting back. Tori wants me to mention child slavery (and thus this sentence fulfils that wish).
Day 2 - At Sea
The second day aboard the Pacific Dawn, and our first full day at sea started early at 8am in order to make breakfast at the Palm Court dining room. A hot breakfast served and our stomachs full, we meandered back to the cabin to go back to sleep. This would set the tone for the rest of the day. Awakening from our slumber, due to the strange snoring and chocking sounds of Rob, it was time for us to make our way back up to the buffet line and feed our tired bodies. The usual selections of salad, pasta, roast meats and desserts were again on offer, but due to rougher seas, my appetite was rather limited and instead of piling up two plates of everything offered, I stuck to a more limited and comforting meal size.
Our bellies again full; we made a beeline back to the cabin for another catnap waking in time to find the International Show Lounge where a round of Pacific Deal or No Deal was to be played. This was hosted by the ‘delightful’ Shardae whom on our first encounter assumed one of the bongo band members was from Jamaica because he looked like one of the other members in the band (I believe the direct quite was “you can see how I thought that”). She’s from New Zealand, so she can’t help herself… thought I’d thrown in a bit of casual racism in my blog, and everyone likes paying out the Kiwis. Andrew was chosen to hold briefcase number 15 but failed to win anything [boo].
It was back to the cabin for a pre-dinner sleep and then made our way down to the Palm Court dining room to be told to return 30mins later. We stopped in the Promenade Bar for some drinks and once those were polished off, we returned for our dinner. Once concluded (and the suffering of inane dinner banter was over), we caught a couple of mins of a comedian described in the Pacific Daily, the daily onboard newspaper, as “a funny guy” whom we believed deserved some inappropriate heckling. The night ended with some peaceful time out on deck watching the waves crash against the front of the ship and some fresh ocean air.
Our bellies again full; we made a beeline back to the cabin for another catnap waking in time to find the International Show Lounge where a round of Pacific Deal or No Deal was to be played. This was hosted by the ‘delightful’ Shardae whom on our first encounter assumed one of the bongo band members was from Jamaica because he looked like one of the other members in the band (I believe the direct quite was “you can see how I thought that”). She’s from New Zealand, so she can’t help herself… thought I’d thrown in a bit of casual racism in my blog, and everyone likes paying out the Kiwis. Andrew was chosen to hold briefcase number 15 but failed to win anything [boo].
It was back to the cabin for a pre-dinner sleep and then made our way down to the Palm Court dining room to be told to return 30mins later. We stopped in the Promenade Bar for some drinks and once those were polished off, we returned for our dinner. Once concluded (and the suffering of inane dinner banter was over), we caught a couple of mins of a comedian described in the Pacific Daily, the daily onboard newspaper, as “a funny guy” whom we believed deserved some inappropriate heckling. The night ended with some peaceful time out on deck watching the waves crash against the front of the ship and some fresh ocean air.
Day 1 - At Sea
A big hello from aboard the Pacific Dawn (previously known as the Regal Princess… I guess she’s no longer become so regal and has had her princess title stripped from her).
So lets start from the very beginning. Boarding the cruise began sometime shortly after noon once we had deposited our bags and passed through the check-in counters where we had to register our credit card details for our on board cruise card (there was a brief moment in time where I began to wonder whether or not my credit card would get declined due to recent reckless spending…). Customs and immigration was a breeze, even with Tori yelling out “How cool is that?! They get to carry guns on them [the immigration officer]”.
Upon arriving in our cabin, we discovered that our baggage had in fact been incorrectly label by the clever Tori who had put down D177 instead of our actual cabin, C177. Throughout the afternoon (after a little buffet lunch cos we were starved), we had to check to see if we could find our bags. Sailing away was viewed from the front of the ship in The Dome where some celebratory drinks and picture opportunities presented themselves. At random times throughout the afternoon, we would find one of our bags sitting in a crew only area or in a hallway while we were wandering. Baggage accounted for; we set out to find some dinner and ended up queuing up at the Palm Court dining room. Because it is an opening dining system, if you don't book a table, you usually end up on a shared table with other passengers. After general chitchat throughout dinner, we headed back to the cabin to spend the rest of the night playing DS, reading or in my case, watching some TV downloaded prior to our departure. A rather uneventful day on the Pacific Dawn, but none the less, quite relaxed and casual.
So lets start from the very beginning. Boarding the cruise began sometime shortly after noon once we had deposited our bags and passed through the check-in counters where we had to register our credit card details for our on board cruise card (there was a brief moment in time where I began to wonder whether or not my credit card would get declined due to recent reckless spending…). Customs and immigration was a breeze, even with Tori yelling out “How cool is that?! They get to carry guns on them [the immigration officer]”.
Upon arriving in our cabin, we discovered that our baggage had in fact been incorrectly label by the clever Tori who had put down D177 instead of our actual cabin, C177. Throughout the afternoon (after a little buffet lunch cos we were starved), we had to check to see if we could find our bags. Sailing away was viewed from the front of the ship in The Dome where some celebratory drinks and picture opportunities presented themselves. At random times throughout the afternoon, we would find one of our bags sitting in a crew only area or in a hallway while we were wandering. Baggage accounted for; we set out to find some dinner and ended up queuing up at the Palm Court dining room. Because it is an opening dining system, if you don't book a table, you usually end up on a shared table with other passengers. After general chitchat throughout dinner, we headed back to the cabin to spend the rest of the night playing DS, reading or in my case, watching some TV downloaded prior to our departure. A rather uneventful day on the Pacific Dawn, but none the less, quite relaxed and casual.
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