Bit of a Blog : Solstice : Auckland – Fremantle – Sydney : February 14th 2016

[OzKiwiJJ]

Wonderful blog, Linda, and great photos. Brings back happy memories of our Solstice cruise over Christmas.

[NorbertsNiece]

My gosh Linda, you did more in a day in Melbourne than I would do in a year!! There are some places in your photos that I haven't even seen, or maybe just not paid attention, and I've lived here for 17 years!! I think I need to get out more - :p! You certainly do make our lovely city look wonderful in your photos, and the same with Sydney.

 

I could live in Melbourne. Without a shadow of a doubt. Wonderful vibe.

 

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Clocks go back an hour tonight. Again.

 

Had a super day talking to all sorts of people about all sorts of things. Did some fine jewellery window shopping today..... those chocolate diamonds are gorgeous. They had a Michael Kors raffle or something today which I missed so I checked out the price of their bags.... heh.... I'm good with M&S ta very much. Price of a cruise some of them!!

 

Tomorrow I've organised a CC lunch in the MDR. Have to hand my passport in tomorrow morning; had two forms to fill out, one to exit Australia and one to enter Bali. Chic night tomorrow..... lobster tail night. Head waiter told me he had a guest eat 12 one night......

[NorbertsNiece]

Back in my room with my feet up. Two hours at dinner these days is playing havoc with my hip.

 

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Sat in Cafe al Bacio a pod of dolphins swam by..... if you squint you can see tiny dorsal fins

 

 

 

These guys are guests and have been entertaining others...... here they were performing 'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off'. Wonderful.

 

 

 

A picture of a bowl of soup.....

Some rather good fish

[NorbertsNiece]

 

A bowl of GF tiramisu

 

I'd spent time getting those bar pics that day.

[NorbertsNiece]

 

I had occasion to look for this today.... in the bathroom ceiling.... fortunately I had the right adapters with me

 

 

Walk around up top

 

 

 

 

There had been a band playing here earlier

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

 

There's a very long line back in to the casino to disembark

 

 

 

Waltzing Mathilda

 

 

There is a dog on duty here

 

 

The train station is near the pier

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

Apologies for some iffy angles

 

It's quite a long drive into town

 

 

 

 

 

Heading inland

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

Distinguished soldier, sailor, linguist, musician and painter Colonel William Light (1786–1839) was the first surveyor-general of South Australia. REad more about him here

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

 

There is a fringe festival in full swing

 

[NorbertsNiece]

It's a long, very straight road towards Mount Lofty 15km to the east; 710 metres above sea level.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Can see the sea.... from the ship can see Mount Lofty but I'm not sure I panned over far enough to see the ship that far away.

 

 

 

We head to Cleland Wildlife Park..... cute koala alert.

 

Very different forest range to the rain forests previously experienced.

 

 

Our car and while I think about it can highly recommend Bob from Saviconnect.com.au

 

 

Termite mound

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

His name is Arthur

 

 

He's totally adorable

 

[NorbertsNiece]

He's clearly really close to his handler and goes to her easily. Told you he's cute.

 

 

 

 

Other animals encountered in no particular order

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

I love the Koala pic above but I think this is my favourite pic of the day

 

 

Then there's this fella

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

Mistletoe

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

That's a wallaby. Seriously

 

 

 

 

 

I clicked

 

 

And they flew up there

 

[NorbertsNiece]

We head to Hahndorf. This is a very charming town, steeped in history and a very popular tourist attraction. the story of how this town came to be created in 1839 can be read here

 

 

 

There are many international retailers here too

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

So many

 

 

 

They are having a little market inside

 

Edited February 29, 2016 by NorbertsNiece

[NorbertsNiece]

 

 

 

 

 

[NorbertsNiece]

I hope I've given you a sense of how pretty this town is..... I stuck to the main street. As with everywhere I've only posted a few pics. I actually ran out of camera battery charge today.

 

We'd driven past here on our initial drive through and this is where I have lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was brought up on sauerkraut.....

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Vineyards on the way back

 

 

This is a steep run down to sea level...... they have special run offs

 

 

Back to Adelaide

 

 

 

 

Preparing for sail away

 

[NorbertsNiece]

 

Preparing sushi in the Oceanview

 

 

 

I ask to sit alone in the MDR and I actually achieve it!! No neighbours

 

 

You've seen this before....

 

 

Prosciutto starter as last time and steak dianne this time

 

[NorbertsNiece]

Forgot that I'd taken pics with my mobile phone when the charge ran out on the camera

 

Adelaide

 

 

 

 

 

Cement works I believe

 

 

As well as returning passengers people are embarking for the 3 sea days to Fremantle

 

[NorbertsNiece]

This was on my bed

 

 

I'm not going to lie..... I'm concerned.....

 

From the UK Govt travel advisory site for Indonesia

 

Summary

 

Still current at:29 February 2016

Updated:25 February 2016

 

Latest update:

Summary - recent indications suggest that terrorists may be in the advanced stages of preparing attacks in Indonesia; the overall level of advice has not changed and you should exercise a high degree of caution

 

It goes on to say :

 

You should be particularly vigilant during holiday periods like Easter, Christmas, New Year, Nyepi (Balinese New Year, 9 March 2016) and Independence Day (17 August).

 

Will be in Bali on the 7th.

 

Words of re-assurance welcome.

[Wastegirl]

Had to chuckle when I saw your photo of the coast as you were leaving Outer Harbour in Adelaide, in the group of people lining the edge waving at the ship were myself, my sister and our husbands. We had popped down to re live our memories of taking the Solstice across the top last year and to check out our cabin positions for our NZ trip next year :D

 

You certainly had a lovely day for touring around Adelaide and your photos look great.

 

By the way, make sure you are up top for viewing when going through the Arafura Sea (between Australia and New Guinea) as this was a highlight of the trip with the Pilot giving updates all through this area. It was not widely advertised by Celebrity and many people did not realise what was happening. The Pilot also gave a talk in the Theatre the day before which was very interesting.