Phuket, Thailand

Monday March 31

Today it's Phuket. We have made friends with a lovely Canadian couple (originally from NZ) and hired a cab with them into town - about 20 mins from the ship. Like so many places in Asia, the wiring code for buildings is very interesting and we wonder how they ever work out which wire needs repair. The Thai people are lovely as usual and haven't hassled us too much. We have walked around the old town taking in the sights, sounds and smells - some gloriously spicy and others plain nasty - especially the drains. It is very hot and humid so we have stopped frequently in whatever shade we can find and watched the world go by. We are currently enjoying a hot lemon tea in a street-side stall that looked safe to do so. We have a cab driver booked to return us to the ship whom we have not yet paid for the trip here so we are expecting to see him when we get back to our meeting point!!

Tonight is not a special formal occasion on the ship so we plan to eat early, go to the early show then retire early. Good grief - hope we are not becoming like many of our fellow passengers! We have enjoyed the older age range because they retire early most nights leaving the ship's entertainment areas to the "younger" ones - it is not often we are in that category these days so we are enjoying it while we can.

 

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Georgetown, Penang

Sunday March 30

Due to our berth not being available this morning we had to be tendered to the dock in Georgetown, but fortunately the ship would be able to berth by early afternoon when we would be returning from our independent touring. While waiting for the tender we got chatting to a kiwi couple who live in Canada and we decided to share a local taxi and tour around together.

After being besieged by bus and taxi drivers we agreed a price with one of them and set off to see the sights. The drive through the old town was interesting and we passed a lot of Buddhist temples with intricate carvings and multi colours. We were headed for the funicular railway at Penang Hill, but unfortunately it seemed like half the town were headed there as well! A 30 minute drive became more like an hour, but to our surprise we were able to board the railway straight away. It was an exhilarating ride and the quickest funicular we have been on.

Due to the high humidity (and smog) the view was very hazy but we were all surprised how big Georgetown was, but at least the mix of old colonial buildings and modern high rise condos was visible. The traffic was a bit less congested on the return trip so our driver took us for a scenic drive past most of the major tourist sites and added his take on the history and culture of the town like all good taxi drivers do! It was very nice to get back onto the ship and cool off after our touring in the heat and humidity.

 

 

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Port Klang, Malaysia

Saturday, March 29

First port of call - KL. Having spent considerable time here on a previous trip and the fact that our ship docked some 40 kms from the city centre, we decided to stay on board and have a relaxing day. Given the busy lead-up to our trip, this proved to be a great choice.

We awoke at an obscene hour, had a leisurely brunch, then took off for an exploration of our new home. We are really impressed with this ship - it is much smaller than any other we have cruised on but has a lovely intimate feel to it. Some of the decorator touches are what our dear English friends would call "gopping" but by and large it is reasonably tasteful.

Because we are on a "Collectors Voyage", we are entitled to some nice privileges so have been busy booking into special dinners for occasions like our 32nd Wedding Anniversary & Al's birthday. What a life! We have also spent some time in the ExplorersLounge with the iPad and accompanying "Dummies" book trying to improve our skills so hopefully you can look forward to improved blogs as we go along.

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Sailing from Singapore

After an effortless boarding we're all ready to sail, which is why I am sending a quick update before the lifeboat procedure - we wouldn't want to miss out on that! We attended a pre cruise drinks party and luckily won a bottle of champagne, so a good start to the trip. Our cabin is very good and have already met some lovely people from Canada.

Singapore is a lovely modern city and above are a few pics, as well as one on board the Rotterdam.

 

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Off to Singapore

March 26: After a hectic last few days trying to get everything done before we left home we finally got away and what hasn't been done will have to wait until we get back! My brother in law Dave picked us up and with my sister Heather we had a lovely dinner in Lygon St on the way to the airport hotel where we're staying before our flight to Singapore. Now that we're here (and after some nice wine) we're starting to relax!

March 27: We were given a cool rainy send off from Melbourne as we waited to board our flight. Now we're getting excited, but will miss our family and friends. Singapore has given us a typical hot and humid welcome, and we're really happy with our hotel which is quite near the famous Raffles hotel and the new Marina Bay area.

Tomorrow we board the Rotterdam ship which will be our home for the next 6 weeks, and we're really looking forward to visiting lots of new countries and cities on this trip.

 

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The Other Melbourne

This week we had the pleasure of sharing our Melbourne with friends, Bob and Max from Melbourne in Florida! I've known Bob and Max for 40 years, having first met them at Camp Timlo in upstate New York where I was a counsellor and they were the head counsellors. This was their first visit to Australia and they only had 3 full days in Melbourne, but we had perfect autumn weather so we were able to fit in a lot to show them the highlights of Melbourne.

Highlights included the Healesville Sanctuary, a day in the city, and a day driving around the bay to Frankston via the bathing boxes at Brighton beach.

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