All at sea ...

Things got a little quiet on my blog here didn't they? I didn't mean to just disappear like that ... but you know how time can just get away from you, and it really did!

Those of you that know me on the Facebooks will have already seen some of these pictures, but for those of you not in the know, some of my family and I have just returned from a super-fun cruise to the Pacific Islands, and we had the very best time! And to make it super special, there were four generations of us: Camo, myself, my Mum and my Nanna.

We flew over to Sydney on Saturday the 12th, and journeyed to Circular Quay where our chariot was waiting ... OMG, I have never seen such a large ship in all my life! Camo and I had a fabulous balcony cabin together, it was the fourth one back in the first row of balconies above the portholes you see there ... Room 5115 - it was wonderful! And Mum and Nanna were in 5116.

Once boarded we were ushered up to the Lido Deck to take advantage of the wonderful buffet lunch, and of course we had to indulge in some celebratory cocktails ... after all, we were on holidays! And may I say, they were delicious, and the cocktails became a tradition we upheld each and every day on the boat.

At 6.00pm on the dot we were underway. The ship was berthed directly across from the Sydney Opera House, and so there were so many photo opportunities as we left and then sailed by. I was amazed by how smoothly we progressed through the harbour ... but when we were in open water, oh my goodness it was rough! We had 4 metre swells, and thanks to our thoughtful crew's advice we medicated to save from sea sickness.

Cameron took frequent advantage of the ice-cream buffet ... it was open 24 hours a day, and a couple of serves each day became mandatory! I may have indulged too ... can't prove anything :-)

The restaurant on board was just so opulent - we felt like royalty and ate breakfast and dinner here most days. Here are Mum and Nanna looking expectant. I don't have any pictures of myself sadly ... I was always on the other end of my camera, but I'll hopefully be able to wrangle some from my Mum (fingers crossed)!

Our first day on shore was on the beautiful Isle of Pines - the beach was simply idyllic. We tendered ashore on the life-boats as the water was not deep enough for the ship to get too close - they shuffled back and forth for the passengers all day long. I think this was my favourite stop - we swam in the warm water and played in the sand. The locals spoke only a little English, mainly French, so I joked with my Mum that my college education paid for itself this trip with my basic grasp of their language.

And here we are back on the ship again - Mexican night in the restaurant. Cameron made great friends with our waiters Elmer, and in the background there Shri.

Bafflingly I don't seem to have any pictures of our next stop in Mare which are worth sharing, so I'll have to check and see what Mum has.

Our third stop was the beautiful island of Noumea. Oh my goodness, it was just gorgeous. We had a tour of the island, and I may or may not have participated in a little retail therapy. (Of course I did!!)

And then after a few more days at sea, we were back in Sydney again. Because my Nanna had never been to Sydney before, and we had some hours to kill before our flight back to Adelaide, we did a tour of some of the sights in Sydney. In this picture we're at the Sydney Opera House looking back to where our ship was berthed.

Oh my goodness, we really did have just the very best time. I had packed some stitching to do in quiet moments, and I can say that I didn't sew one single stitch, we were so busy and had so much to see that I didn't feel the need for busy hands at all. I can definitely say I have the cruising bug now, and can't wait until I can go again!