20. Trip #2 Australia and New Zealand

Cosmo looking at the camera as I talk to him

I felt a bit guilty leaving poor Cosmo at home for 3.5 weeks but neither the cruise ship nor Australia and New Zealand allow pets so there was no way to take him. Luckily Dawne has offered to visit him almost daily and Paula, Ashley M, and Elizabeth offered to stop in occasionally as well. I have two cameras set up where I can watch him and talk to him. So far he still sleeps in the bedroom and I can usually find him there. He’s a bit confused when I talk to him, but I think he still prefers that to not hearing from me at all.

Spying on Cosmo

Breakfast in Sydney

My Qantas flight was supposed to be almost 15 hours but wind was on our side so our flight time was only 14 hours. However, since Sydney airport does not allow flights to arrive before 6am, we had to sit on the plane at the gate for 45 minutes before we could leave. Being on a plane for 15 hours (counting boarding) is really really long. Needless to say, I was very happy to finally arrive at my hotel (Worldmark timeshare) and drop my bags so I could explore Chinatown in the early morning. Nancy, Chris, and Audrey met me for breakfast then joined me on a quest to locate Minties for a couple friends of mine back in California. We had it on good authority that Woolworths carried them, but the first one we went to did not. I asked someone who explained that this was a Metro Woolworths so they didn’t have a complete selection. We located one that did not have “Metro” in its name and walked to that one only to discover that it was also a metro even though google did not list it as such. Out of desperation we tried a few random convenience stores with no luck and at this point we were pretty tired so we limped back to our hotels. On the way I spotted a BBQ sign at a booth on the street corner and walked over to investigate. Will2Live was giving out free food to the homeless and anyone who felt hungry at the moment. We declined the offer of food but did donate to their very worthy cause. Their tagline is ”Help and Dignity for Australia’s Homeless” and their mission is “To provide the support and basic human needs to the marginalized and disenfranchised members of society.” Pretty awesome!

Will2Live giving out free food to people on the streets of Sydney

cool building with plants all around it

Audrey found Minties!

Later that afternoon Audrey continued the quest and located a small bag of Minties. I still was on the lookout for a larger bag, but at least I now had something to bring back. I did finally make it to a “real” Woolworths and got a large 1kg (2.2lb) bag to bring home. We tried some and they are like mint flavored taffy. Pretty good but not my style. Good thing they are not for me.

Over the next 2 days, we explored Sydney, eating at rooftop bars, ferrying to Watsons Bay for a hike and lunch, and checking out the night market.

having dinner and drinks at a rooftop restaurant

Diane and I in Sydney

beef bowl at the Fish bowl restaurant

year of the snake sculpture in Sydney Chinatown

waiting in line to check into the cruise ship

On the day of the cruise, we took an Uber to the cruise terminal and were able to board the ship a bit early so we grabbed our first meal at the Horizons buffet. I got a little bit of many items and this began several days of way too much food.

on my cabin balcony in Sydney

My first meal on the ship, lunch at the buffet with small tastes of 14 different dishes

Toasting our departure from Sydney

Three signed lithographs

for US$300

Diane and I went to the first art auction and while it was still run by Park West (they basically run all art auctions on all cruise ship lines), it seemed better than the ones I remembered. There was reasonably priced art for $300 and $800, but I’m not an art collector and I’m following my sister’s advice to get art that has meaning for me, like a souvenir from a trip (theoretically purchased from a local such as the painting she bought from an aboriginal painter in the Australian outback). I did win a free print which I paid $23 shipping for, so not exactly free but I liked it. They also fed us glasses of champagne to loosen up our bidding arms and overall it was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon. Just don’t buy anything!

the free lithograph I won

an interesting painting with two of my favorite subjects, elephants and balloons

My first dining room dinner

We had our first formal dinner that night and met our waitress Gladys with assistant waiter Alberto. We started off getting an appetizer or two, a main (sometimes also ordering a main to share with the table), and a dessert. Add in the breakfast buffet and the lunch buffet and things got out of hand very quickly. After 5 days of stuffing myself I finally wised up and tried to stick with just one meal besides dinner and tried sharing the main course when possible. Gladys and Alberto are both from the Phillipines and a couple of nights she has had the chef make us special dishes to share that she brings in addition to our regular main. We haven’t gotten to know them as well as our previous waiters, I think because all our meals have been early seating so we aren’t lingering afterwards and chatting with them.

We ran into our dining room server Gladys in the breakfast buffet