New blog is now up!

As promised, here's the address of the new blog for this year's trip. Hope you enjoy it!

http://philipsbigtrip.blogspot.com/

Please feel free to pass it on to all your friends, and sign up as a follower :-)

Best wishes

Philip

POSTSCRIPT: How the hell did that happen???

I was just browsing online, and having a few casual email exchanges with my travel agent, when suddenly I found myself booked for another long cruise: Dawn Princess, Dover to Auckland, 48 nights, departing 17 July 2011. Now while everyone assures me that I don't actually lose my deposit if I cancel before mid-March, IS THAT REALLY LIKELY TO HAPPEN???? Nope, I think I'm on my way again. Great thing is that out of the 17 ports, 12 are new. So it's like an entirely different trip, isn't it?? ISN'T IT???

Well that's what I keep telling JB anyway. JB has declined my invitation to join me on the cruise, but we'll do 3 weeks in Europe first, before she flits off to Canada and USA for conferences... BJ on the other hand is already looking forward to being dragged back out of the bottom draw, and accompanying me... ah, true friendship!!

Will post a link here to the new blog once I get it sorted out. WHAT FUN!!

Auckland... Wellington... Home

Quote of the day: “Make sure you finish your blog off properly. Don’t just leave it hanging at the last port like some people do.”

After a late night last night saying goodbye to friends around the ship (all except Mr Gadget Man, who unfortunately was down with sea sickness) it was a rude awakening at 5:30am as the booster engines rumbled down below, signaling our arrival in Auckland. It was even ruder to discover it was a mere 11°C outside… I decided to stay in my cabin to watch the sail in.

There was time for a final breakfast in the dining room before disembarking, but not time for coffee and a crossword. I queued up one more time to drop my cruise card into the slot, collected my bags inside the terminal, then made my way across the road to meet a young friend I’ve known for a long time (does that work for you, K?). She kindly dropped me off at the airport, and before I could seriously catch up on any sleep, I was back in Wellington.

A quick unpack, then off for a decent coffee and scone in one of my favorite cafes. Wonderful! I then sat in the sun on Oriental beach, listening to my iPod, and savoring the view. It might not be Deck 7 on the Dawn Princess, but it comes pretty close…

To finish, a few random observations and comments, which others thinking of a seriously long cruise may find helpful:

1. To be successful, it requires effort and commitment. If you are traveling with a partner or spouse, make sure you both have the same level of commitment. Compromise might work for a 7-day cruise, but not for over 3 months.

2. Do breakfasts in the dining room. The omelets are to die for.

3. Avoid the laundry. It’s a hotbed of unfounded rumour and discontent!

4. Talk to the crew as equals, and get to know them. They are lovely people, and over time you will hear some amazing stories.

5. Try to make friends with people who are different to your friends back home. This will enrich your experience.

6. Take some tours from the ship where they are the best option, but do you own thing sometimes too. Do your homework before you leave so you know what you want to see and do.

7. Chill. You’re on a cruise ship, and at sea. Shit will happen, as it would in the same period of time at home. And once you start moaning, it’s a downhill spiral…

8. And if you do need to complain about something, do it with a smile and you may well find you get a better result.

So thank you everyone for your interest in my blog. Thank you for your comments, emails and for stopping on board to talk about it. It’s been fun to write - all 72 posts of it...

That’s all folks… “Live long and prosper.” I’m so glad I got to see that movie again!

On the downhill slide to Auckland...

Quote of the day: “I don’t really know why I’m still buying things. I promised myself I wouldn’t this time. I’ve still got bags of stuff I bought on last year’s round the world cruise I haven’t even opened yet.”

Apparently I slept right through Saturday 28th… no, wait a minute – we crossed the dateline… Phew, had me worried there…

The temperatures are steadily dropping, the seas are increasing, and we’re all trying to fit everything into the suitcases. Last night I had planned on watching a movie outside on the big screen, but it rained. The rest of the entertainment was repeats from earlier in the cruise. There’s a definite feeling that things are drawing to a close.

So today will be a day of meeting friends for a final lunch, followed by a final dinner with my dinner table, and a final drink with Mr Gadget Man. BJ says cut the nostalgia, and just get on with it. He reckons his days at sea are over, and now wants to retire to a high rise city apartment, where he can ignore the world, and dream of the good old days in Gibraltar. However I suspect that his real fate will be to be stuffed into a draw somewhere, to languish until I take him on his next adventure… which I’m already starting to think about…

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Quote of the day: “I’ve put on 10kg during this cruise so far, and now this is the only shirt that still fits.” Guy in the laundry today.

This was the last port for me, so unfortunately the last gasp for my voyage. Despite the weather forecast, it turned out to be a lovely sunny day, with not a lot to do. I had expected there would be a little more to Pago Pago than there was, but it was such a friendly place that I had a great day anyway.

Again I opted for a tour, and that was definitely the way to go. It got us out of town, and gave us the chance to see something of the beautiful scenery, see the locals call the sharks and turtles up from the sea, and ride in a rickety, hard-seated, non-air conditioned bus complete with bald tyres. With the steel showing through, I’m sure it was a death trap. Thankfully it didn’t go very fast…

Seeing the wrecked houses from the tsunami along the waterfront was a sobering reminder of what the forces of nature can do in this part of the world. Recovery is obviously taking a long time...

Mr Gadget Man had a field day, with a whopping 550 photos taken! I’m sure he was trying to see if he could break the shutter on his camera… We followed up the tour with a late lunch at a Sushi place near the pier, which was excellent. We ordered off the menu – checked out what the locals were having and asked for the same. That was followed by a wander around town, just to assure ourselves that there really was nothing there, and a quick peek at the souvenir stalls, before heading to the pizzeria on board – and this time it was open! First and last time, but I would rate their pizzas…

In preparation for my return to the real world, I’m progressively modifying my diet: the deserts pretty well went west last week (just mixed berries now), the wine was dropped several nights ago when I finished a bottle, no more bread rolls with dinner as of yesterday, and the wonderful scones with jam and cream for afternoon tea were off the menu today. So how boring is that??? Well maybe just one more round of scones before Tuesday…

Tahiti day number two...

Quote of the day: “I see it says we cross the date line in a couple of days. Does that mean we lose a day or gain a day? It’s all so confusing.”

I think I’ve discovered Paradise: Moorea. White sandy beaches, palm trees, a gentle breeze, warm, clear water, guitars playing and two part harmony over a barbecued lunch… yep, that sounds like it to me.

With just 3 tours to choose from, and little to do here on your own, Mr Gadget Man (MGM) and I, and about half the ship, opted for the beach and burn tour with food. I chose on the basis of the menu, and it proved to be a great choice. So we tendered in from the ship to the bay (no real township here), then took a small boat to a remote lagoon… or at least it was remote until the other tour boats flocked in, but hey, that’s part of the deal. Fortunately, while most people worked on achieving the popular lobster look, several of us wandered off to the next bay, and some peace and quiet… wonderful!

Back at the beachfront, we watched the kids play “kiss the stingray”. The locals assured us all that the stingrays here aren’t dangerous, and as no one got stung, I guess he was right. I just hope Mum and Dad tell the kids that the stingrays back home aren’t so cuddly.

I achieved a personal best today in the photo stakes – 24 shots. Somehow, MGM managed to squeeze 250 shots into the same period of time, plus video! Remind me never to accept an invite to an evening of his home movies of the trip – I’d be there a week! (Sorry man – just joking – really!)

Tahiti stop number one...

Quote of the day: “So who’s bright idea was it to come to Tahiti on a Sunday?”

We came to Papeete, Tahiti, and everything was closed… well just about everything. All the major shops were closed, with just a few tourist places open. Church and family lunch are the big events for Sunday in this part of the world. So yes, the ports lecturer was right in recommending we took a tour - you really needed to get out of town to see the beauty of this place.

So I decided to take it easy, with a “Highlights” tour. It consisted of a leisurely drive along the west coast of the island, taking in waterfalls, blowholes, tropical flora, with the occasional historical site thrown in. There was much talk of Mutiny on the Bounty, and James Norman Hall, and Captains Bligh and Cook, but for me it was really all about soaking up the atmosphere, and enjoying a relaxing day.

After the tour, there was time for a wander around town, plus a siesta, before heading out to the cultural show and food vendors stationed along side the pier. This is apparently a regular event, not just something organized for the tourists, and lots of locals turned up. I declined the offer of hula dancing with the performers, on the basis that I hadn’t had enough to drink to let myself look that ridiculous…

In theory we don’t have to be back on board until something like 3:30am, but I think most bars and eateries will be closed by midnight. Then it’s just a 2 hour sail across to the island of Moorea, and another laid back day in Paradise…