February 28
Hamilton Island
Today was a gorgeous day at a tropical island, exactly the kind of day you go on a cruise for. I got off the ship with Terry and ended up running into a youth staff friend (Keely) and the three of us set out for the recommended activity, rent a golf cart and drive around the island. So for $60 Australian (about $40 US) we split the “buggy” as they called them, and set off for whatever we could find. And being the responsible driver that I am, I was the chosen chauffeur as I took my group in whatever direction caught my ever changing fancy. Let me mention these are usual carts with the usual driver’s seat on the left, yet the law dictated that we drove on the left side of the road…so that was all good fun for me (and totally disorientating).
So we drove up and down hills, anywhere the roads could take us on the island resort. And really, that’s all the island was, a large resort that also held private estates. And the lack of power and un responsive brakes aside, we had an nice time driving in the 95+ degree weather.
Me, driving as frivolously as possible, once decided to make a turn down a little used road that caught my eye, taking us to a dead end that seemed to have a trail down to the water. Following the resemblance of a path, I got down to the shore (comprised of a large, black rocky formation). It was gorgeous and inaccessible any other way, always the sign of a good find. So after proper appreciation of the site I turned to head back, where suddenly, a gigantic lizard crosses my path. Now I don’t mean one of those tree lizards you see in Florida, but I mean a 4-foot long Godzilla lizard like I’ve never seen in the wild before. He must have been sun bathing on the rocks and I spooked him enough to send him back to his den, which I followed him to. Anyways, point is that I saw Godzilla and it was really cool. My friends, afraid of making the climb down, missed the Lizard King, but fear not, I did take pictures.
The next highlight was just a stop at the beach. My group walked on the beach or a while, which was actually really nice because believe it or not, I don’t get that many chances to just go to a beach and relax, I’m usually exploring some sort of city. But it was great just being able to take my shoes off and walk in the perfect water. I eventually did dive in, not wearing a bathing suit and thus sacrificing my future comfort in wet cotton shorts, but it was totally worth it.
We eventually headed out, dropped off the “buggy” and headed back to the tender for our return to the ship. It was a great day though, for not only could I amuse myself in a golf cart, but I got to go swimming at a lovely island beach. As always, thanks for reading!!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
At Sea
February 27
At Sea
Nothing to say, just another sea day…though I did have some new reading material to hold my attention thanks to yesterday…ha
At Sea
Nothing to say, just another sea day…though I did have some new reading material to hold my attention thanks to yesterday…ha
At Sea/Brisbane
February 25-26
At Sea/Brisbane
*****Parental Guidance Recommended for following post*****
(I feel so official putting that there – ha. But seriously, younger readers, ask Mom or Dad first)
The sea day was nothing unusual, just hanging around the ship and a show at night. The next day in Brisbane, however, was a little more eventful.
First, we got our new guitarist on the 26th (we did last night’s show without a guitarist). And oddly enough, the new guitarist is not only from Chicago, but is actually an old friend who went to Roosevelt with me! His name is Austin, and though I didn’t play with him much in college, I certainly knew him well enough. Furthermore, he’s originally from Cary, so imagine that, two guys in the same band from practically the same city meeting up totally by chance in Australia. Anyways, he’ll be a great guitarist for the band and I’m excited to have him here.
Next, my day in Brisbane! I got off the ship as soon as I was released from boat drill and had some food, which after a 40 minute bus ride into the city, got me in at about 1:00. I got off the ship with two of the photographers, Janusz (who went rafting with me) and Matthew (a Welsh guy who I can barely understand). The first hour or so was spent walking down to the gardens and through the mangroves, until we crossed the river that the city is built around and continued walking. This eventually brought us to a beach, which was actually just a huge pool with sand brought in to imitate a beach, situated right next to the incredibly dirty river with perfect views of the city. Additionally, there were nice views of the beach goers, 3 out of 4 of which were female (my perfect beach). But seeing as neither my friends or I brought bathing suits, we just sat around for a while enjoying the favorable vantage point.
As we sat at the beach, two friends happened to wonder by and stopped to chat, informing us of an event going on a couple blocks away that we just couldn’t pass up – the Sexpo (and expo about, well, you know…). Janusz, for whatever reason, decided to stay behind while the rest of us made our way to the convention center for what we were sure would be a good time.
We arrived and after paying our $25 entrance fee (about $15 US), we were greeted at the door with a goody bag containing a few magazines, a video, and a couple other fliers all of a nature I’m sure you can guess. We walk in, get on the other side of the black wall, and are found looking a convention hall filled with odd toys, events, rides, services, and strippers. The place was very clean, let me make that much clear, and people weren’t running around topless or anything, but some tried to get as close to it as possible. Anyways, the best part of the story begins with the 2:45 performance on the main stage – a full on poll dance.
The girl performing did a very nice job, and I’ll leave all other details up to your imagination, but I do have pictures if anyone’s dying for more info. Her 10 minute dance was followed by an announcer who asked for volunteers for the next show – volunteering that would include hypnosis. And you know me, so I immediately went into the tent indicated to be prepped for the hypnosis thing, something I’ve yet to experience.
So there I am sitting in this tent with 16 other people listening to some Australian hypnotist talk to us about what’s going to happen and how he won’t make us do anything compromising in the next show, and that this precursor is to determine who can fall into the deepest hypnotic state (certainly preferable for any kind of public showing). I’m sitting on the floor, there are about 6 chairs behind me, and another decent number of people are standing towards the back. So he turns on some sound track that is blaring “relaxing” music out of a speaker way too close to me and I’m immediately bothered by it. He begins talking, telling us to relax, saying how our eyes are getting tired, our arms feel like led, and all the usual stereotypical hypnosis stuff, and all while swinging a watch from a chain – classic. Then, after a count down from ten, we were told to drop our heads and become totally relaxed, I played along. From this “relaxed” state with our head hanging down we were talked deeper into our relaxation and our trance, till the hypnotist felt confident in asking the group to perform simple activities, which is when the fun really starts.
It begins with him asking to put our arms out in front of us, tells us to pretend we’re a typewriter (which confused me because I didn’t know rather to pretend I was the actual machine or the person using it), and changes the music to sounds that resemble typing. He asks us to imagine as vividly as possible, I can tell the people next to me are getting into it, and I’m still not sure if I’m the machine or the user. But that ended and we went to the next pretend situation – we were now pianists. He plays “The Entertainer” and I pretend I’m playing along, but like actually playing along cause I know the notes. Anyways, that finishes a couple minutes later and I’ve totally messed up the first two role playing exercises (mind you, I did go into this trying my best to help him hypnotize me and am still trying, it’s just not going so well). Next I’m on a bicycle, another activity the girl sitting next to me took full advantage of. This was followed by driving in our dream car – I continued to imagine as best I could. Then he lost me again when he asked the group to milk a cow and started playing “Old McDonald” or some weird tune like that. Then we were to imagine the cow only had one “teat”, which lost me completely. I tried, but was just sitting there thinking this was stupid by that point. We continued on, he asked us to return back to the relaxed position with our heads dropped and the guy behind me slumps so far forward he’s actually leaning on me – jerk. Then we’re back to activities that I didn’t care to remember and eventually return to the relaxed phase again.
Now he says “if I tap you on the shoulder, I’m talking to you.” I figure this is it, he’s going to call me out for not buying any of his tricks, and lo and behold, he taps my shoulder. I start listening for further directions with my eyes closed…nothing happens. He taps me again with slightly more vigor and I look up to see him signaling me to stand. I approach him and find him staring at my eyes with way too much intensity when he asks me my name. “Mike” I say, maybe slightly to jovially. This is followed by him snapping his fingers and waving his hand in front of my face (a little too Jedi knight-ish) while saying “you have no name.” He gives it a moment and repeats the question, “what’s your name?” Again, I say “Mike,” totally unaffected. He thanks me, shakes my hand, and I leave while the remainder of the group sits there in some trance oblivious to the fact that I’ve left. And there ended my scientific study of Hypnosis.
I then found my friends, checked out a couple last minute things, picked up a last minute photo with the sexpo girls, and the group made its way back to the ship. And that’s it for my Brisbane experience, one I certainly won’t forget, and one where the pictures are going to be put in a file where they don’t show up unwanted on my screen saver. Thanks for reading!
At Sea/Brisbane
*****Parental Guidance Recommended for following post*****
(I feel so official putting that there – ha. But seriously, younger readers, ask Mom or Dad first)
The sea day was nothing unusual, just hanging around the ship and a show at night. The next day in Brisbane, however, was a little more eventful.
First, we got our new guitarist on the 26th (we did last night’s show without a guitarist). And oddly enough, the new guitarist is not only from Chicago, but is actually an old friend who went to Roosevelt with me! His name is Austin, and though I didn’t play with him much in college, I certainly knew him well enough. Furthermore, he’s originally from Cary, so imagine that, two guys in the same band from practically the same city meeting up totally by chance in Australia. Anyways, he’ll be a great guitarist for the band and I’m excited to have him here.
Next, my day in Brisbane! I got off the ship as soon as I was released from boat drill and had some food, which after a 40 minute bus ride into the city, got me in at about 1:00. I got off the ship with two of the photographers, Janusz (who went rafting with me) and Matthew (a Welsh guy who I can barely understand). The first hour or so was spent walking down to the gardens and through the mangroves, until we crossed the river that the city is built around and continued walking. This eventually brought us to a beach, which was actually just a huge pool with sand brought in to imitate a beach, situated right next to the incredibly dirty river with perfect views of the city. Additionally, there were nice views of the beach goers, 3 out of 4 of which were female (my perfect beach). But seeing as neither my friends or I brought bathing suits, we just sat around for a while enjoying the favorable vantage point.
As we sat at the beach, two friends happened to wonder by and stopped to chat, informing us of an event going on a couple blocks away that we just couldn’t pass up – the Sexpo (and expo about, well, you know…). Janusz, for whatever reason, decided to stay behind while the rest of us made our way to the convention center for what we were sure would be a good time.
We arrived and after paying our $25 entrance fee (about $15 US), we were greeted at the door with a goody bag containing a few magazines, a video, and a couple other fliers all of a nature I’m sure you can guess. We walk in, get on the other side of the black wall, and are found looking a convention hall filled with odd toys, events, rides, services, and strippers. The place was very clean, let me make that much clear, and people weren’t running around topless or anything, but some tried to get as close to it as possible. Anyways, the best part of the story begins with the 2:45 performance on the main stage – a full on poll dance.
The girl performing did a very nice job, and I’ll leave all other details up to your imagination, but I do have pictures if anyone’s dying for more info. Her 10 minute dance was followed by an announcer who asked for volunteers for the next show – volunteering that would include hypnosis. And you know me, so I immediately went into the tent indicated to be prepped for the hypnosis thing, something I’ve yet to experience.
So there I am sitting in this tent with 16 other people listening to some Australian hypnotist talk to us about what’s going to happen and how he won’t make us do anything compromising in the next show, and that this precursor is to determine who can fall into the deepest hypnotic state (certainly preferable for any kind of public showing). I’m sitting on the floor, there are about 6 chairs behind me, and another decent number of people are standing towards the back. So he turns on some sound track that is blaring “relaxing” music out of a speaker way too close to me and I’m immediately bothered by it. He begins talking, telling us to relax, saying how our eyes are getting tired, our arms feel like led, and all the usual stereotypical hypnosis stuff, and all while swinging a watch from a chain – classic. Then, after a count down from ten, we were told to drop our heads and become totally relaxed, I played along. From this “relaxed” state with our head hanging down we were talked deeper into our relaxation and our trance, till the hypnotist felt confident in asking the group to perform simple activities, which is when the fun really starts.
It begins with him asking to put our arms out in front of us, tells us to pretend we’re a typewriter (which confused me because I didn’t know rather to pretend I was the actual machine or the person using it), and changes the music to sounds that resemble typing. He asks us to imagine as vividly as possible, I can tell the people next to me are getting into it, and I’m still not sure if I’m the machine or the user. But that ended and we went to the next pretend situation – we were now pianists. He plays “The Entertainer” and I pretend I’m playing along, but like actually playing along cause I know the notes. Anyways, that finishes a couple minutes later and I’ve totally messed up the first two role playing exercises (mind you, I did go into this trying my best to help him hypnotize me and am still trying, it’s just not going so well). Next I’m on a bicycle, another activity the girl sitting next to me took full advantage of. This was followed by driving in our dream car – I continued to imagine as best I could. Then he lost me again when he asked the group to milk a cow and started playing “Old McDonald” or some weird tune like that. Then we were to imagine the cow only had one “teat”, which lost me completely. I tried, but was just sitting there thinking this was stupid by that point. We continued on, he asked us to return back to the relaxed position with our heads dropped and the guy behind me slumps so far forward he’s actually leaning on me – jerk. Then we’re back to activities that I didn’t care to remember and eventually return to the relaxed phase again.
Now he says “if I tap you on the shoulder, I’m talking to you.” I figure this is it, he’s going to call me out for not buying any of his tricks, and lo and behold, he taps my shoulder. I start listening for further directions with my eyes closed…nothing happens. He taps me again with slightly more vigor and I look up to see him signaling me to stand. I approach him and find him staring at my eyes with way too much intensity when he asks me my name. “Mike” I say, maybe slightly to jovially. This is followed by him snapping his fingers and waving his hand in front of my face (a little too Jedi knight-ish) while saying “you have no name.” He gives it a moment and repeats the question, “what’s your name?” Again, I say “Mike,” totally unaffected. He thanks me, shakes my hand, and I leave while the remainder of the group sits there in some trance oblivious to the fact that I’ve left. And there ended my scientific study of Hypnosis.
I then found my friends, checked out a couple last minute things, picked up a last minute photo with the sexpo girls, and the group made its way back to the ship. And that’s it for my Brisbane experience, one I certainly won’t forget, and one where the pictures are going to be put in a file where they don’t show up unwanted on my screen saver. Thanks for reading!
Sydney
February 24
Sydney
Another day back in Sydney and another day that I was able to meet up with my friend Belinda. This was the same friend who I met the first day that I flew into the city, and seeing as she lives there, I figure there’s no better guide to walk around with. I found her around 10:30 at the pier and we set out into the city. We did some meandering, the weather was perfect just to be out walking, and eventually made it to a harbor area where we could sit down for a bit and order smoothies. We left from there for a walk down to china town, found a cool little book store, and then returned to the pier. Belinda had a party to go to at the hotel where she worked and we separated just before 2:00. The highlight of the day, however, was that I finally found decent hat to wear. After searching for the past month for a cool fedora styled hat, I got one, so I guess that’s exciting – totally frivolous, but exciting none the less.
That excursion was followed by me finding my free internet area, making a phone call home, and eventually returning to the ship for departure. The rest of the day on the ship was pretty laid back. But today we leave for our circumnavigation of Australia, a 35 day trip that takes us around the entire continent, and one more thing to impress my friends with, ha. Anyways, stay tuned for more posts, thanks!
Sydney
Another day back in Sydney and another day that I was able to meet up with my friend Belinda. This was the same friend who I met the first day that I flew into the city, and seeing as she lives there, I figure there’s no better guide to walk around with. I found her around 10:30 at the pier and we set out into the city. We did some meandering, the weather was perfect just to be out walking, and eventually made it to a harbor area where we could sit down for a bit and order smoothies. We left from there for a walk down to china town, found a cool little book store, and then returned to the pier. Belinda had a party to go to at the hotel where she worked and we separated just before 2:00. The highlight of the day, however, was that I finally found decent hat to wear. After searching for the past month for a cool fedora styled hat, I got one, so I guess that’s exciting – totally frivolous, but exciting none the less.
That excursion was followed by me finding my free internet area, making a phone call home, and eventually returning to the ship for departure. The rest of the day on the ship was pretty laid back. But today we leave for our circumnavigation of Australia, a 35 day trip that takes us around the entire continent, and one more thing to impress my friends with, ha. Anyways, stay tuned for more posts, thanks!
At Sea
February 22-23
At Sea
We had our usual two days at sea as we traveled back to Sydney. There was that much that developed these two days and I spent most of my time with a book or my computer.
On the less normal side of things, one of the dancers was having a birthday and had a cross-dresser-themed party. I went up to check it out, but wearing my tux pants and a white undershirt, was slightly underdressed for the occasion. This was fixed by tying up my shirt around my chest, as I’m sure you can imagine, and instantly I fit right in...which is surely not a good thing. Anyways, I gave some people some great pictures, seriously stretched out my undershirt, and again compromised whatever integrity I have left.
The other development was that Gus, the guitarist, is leaving the ship. He had signed on with me, but after his numerous bouts with seasickness and some unfamiliarity with the gig itself, it had been decided it wasn’t maybe the right fit. Anyways, the actual point is that I lost my Spanish teacher! Gus was working with me a lot with Spanish and was always more than patient with me, which means I’m going to have to find a new Spanish friend. Well, regardless, I’m wishing him the best and hope he finds something that works out better for him the future. And that’s about it, Thanks!
At Sea
We had our usual two days at sea as we traveled back to Sydney. There was that much that developed these two days and I spent most of my time with a book or my computer.
On the less normal side of things, one of the dancers was having a birthday and had a cross-dresser-themed party. I went up to check it out, but wearing my tux pants and a white undershirt, was slightly underdressed for the occasion. This was fixed by tying up my shirt around my chest, as I’m sure you can imagine, and instantly I fit right in...which is surely not a good thing. Anyways, I gave some people some great pictures, seriously stretched out my undershirt, and again compromised whatever integrity I have left.
The other development was that Gus, the guitarist, is leaving the ship. He had signed on with me, but after his numerous bouts with seasickness and some unfamiliarity with the gig itself, it had been decided it wasn’t maybe the right fit. Anyways, the actual point is that I lost my Spanish teacher! Gus was working with me a lot with Spanish and was always more than patient with me, which means I’m going to have to find a new Spanish friend. Well, regardless, I’m wishing him the best and hope he finds something that works out better for him the future. And that’s about it, Thanks!
Bay of Islands
February 21
Bay of Islands
Today was much nicer than the previous rain in Auckland, but due to an afternoon rehearsal and an early crew all-aboard I had been allotted approximately 30 minutes in port after factoring the 30 minute tender ride to the pier. But it was my last day in Bay of Islands and my last time in New Zealand for about a month so I was determined to get off – that and I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch and really needed to eat something. I got off the ship with the trumpet player, who after seeing the pier location and realizing the little time we actually had, turned around and got right back on the tender. Me, on the other hand, started running into the small city where I stopped at the first bakery I could find and bought some large bread thing with cheese and tomatoes and peppers, which was delicious and totally worth the run over there. I ate my lunch quickly and then made the run back to the pier to catch the last possible tender without being late. It was a short time in port, but I’ll take what I can get.
There was a show that night and that’s about it for Bay of Islands. Thanks for reading!
Bay of Islands
Today was much nicer than the previous rain in Auckland, but due to an afternoon rehearsal and an early crew all-aboard I had been allotted approximately 30 minutes in port after factoring the 30 minute tender ride to the pier. But it was my last day in Bay of Islands and my last time in New Zealand for about a month so I was determined to get off – that and I hadn’t had breakfast or lunch and really needed to eat something. I got off the ship with the trumpet player, who after seeing the pier location and realizing the little time we actually had, turned around and got right back on the tender. Me, on the other hand, started running into the small city where I stopped at the first bakery I could find and bought some large bread thing with cheese and tomatoes and peppers, which was delicious and totally worth the run over there. I ate my lunch quickly and then made the run back to the pier to catch the last possible tender without being late. It was a short time in port, but I’ll take what I can get.
There was a show that night and that’s about it for Bay of Islands. Thanks for reading!
Auckland
February 20
Auckland
To remain consistent with my extreme lifestyle, today was meant to bring bungee jumping of a huge bridge in Auckland. However, due to rain, I opted for my other extreme activity…finding internet access. And after delaying my exit from the ship, running through the rain, and ordering a cappuccino, I was sitting in a café getting my much needed internet fix. This was then followed by an extreme trip to the grocery store, where I bought some extreme wine and cheese, and walked back to the ship in an extreme way. Yeah, maybe not, but I have to make up for not bungee jumping somehow.
Honestly, I can’t really remember much else from my last visit to Auckland. The rest of the day panned out as usual and my bungee jumping has been deferred till some later date – but you know you’ll be sure to hear about it when it happens. Seeya!
Auckland
To remain consistent with my extreme lifestyle, today was meant to bring bungee jumping of a huge bridge in Auckland. However, due to rain, I opted for my other extreme activity…finding internet access. And after delaying my exit from the ship, running through the rain, and ordering a cappuccino, I was sitting in a café getting my much needed internet fix. This was then followed by an extreme trip to the grocery store, where I bought some extreme wine and cheese, and walked back to the ship in an extreme way. Yeah, maybe not, but I have to make up for not bungee jumping somehow.
Honestly, I can’t really remember much else from my last visit to Auckland. The rest of the day panned out as usual and my bungee jumping has been deferred till some later date – but you know you’ll be sure to hear about it when it happens. Seeya!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tauranga/Mount Monganue
February 19
Tauranga
Well, the tour worked out – I got to go rafting! But not without some difficulties…
I left it last night where I was just about to send the tour operator an email about final numbers, and that’s what I did as soon as I finished writing my blog. Without yet having found the other person on the ship who I was told was organizing the tour, I sent out an email 3 minutes before it was due letting the operator know to use whatever number the other crew member gave him, or if he hadn’t heard from the other crew member, that the number was 8 people (I figured that was a large enough number for him to work with us on the tour, despite me at the time knowing of 3 other people who were actually interested).
Anyways, I was lucky enough to have the internet on the ship fail last night, right when I really would have needed it working. This really complicated essential communications for a tour that was supposed to happen the next day. That aside, I did eventually find the other crew member who was said to be organizing the tour. When I talked to her that night I found out that she had no idea what the price was, pick up time, how to pay, and that she hadn’t checked her emails for a week, meaning she certainly hasn’t contacted the tour operator recently in regards to the rafting trip. I took some of her names from the list, made a few phone calls, and eventually sent out an email a midnight that night to the operator, much later than he’d asked for to get a final confirmation. That being done, I went to bed hoping that I’d get an email back in the morning saying the tour was still going to happen.
So that brings me to today, when I woke up early to check my email and find out whether or not this tour was actually going to happen. The internet was working again and I had gotten a reply from the operator, we were set up to leave that morning around 10:30-10:45...perfect. So next step – I called everyone on my list to confirm that the tour was going out that morning. I called the girl who was previously setting up the tour and she was still able to go, but after she called her contacts, she let me know all her people backed out, not good. I called the two friends of mine who I knew were ready to go, they paced their stuff and met me at the gangway. Meanwhile, the other names I had received weren’t returning my calls or pages, meaning the group that was supposed to contain 10 people had been diminished to just 3, not enough for a raft. So there I am, outside the gangway 15 minutes before the pick up time, standing there with my two friends trying to figure out how to get another few people on the tour. The girl who previously tried to organize the group did show up, but was of absolutely no use in filling out the group furthermore. So my friend Moody (he goes by his last name), started recruiting some more people while I checked the bus status and made sure everything was organized with the tour operator.
The bus was running late, thankfully, and that gave us some time to gather a few more people together. In the meantime, we were able to get a hold of a few people who were in rehearsal that had been interested in the trip, and told them to hustle down to the pier as soon as rehearsal let out. Also, there was a photographer who was interested, and due to the delays, was also able to run inside and get his stuff together when he was let off work early. By about 11:10 we had left the pier with a total group of 8, exactly the number I’d quoted the tour operator originally. I could finally relax and enjoy the tour.
We drove to the rafting company’s site where we were given gear, signed our waiver, and transported to the river. After a quick training we were off in two separate rafts, my raft in front. I was especially excited for the tour because this was going to be the first time I really got to test my camera’s underwater and shock-resistant abilities. So with a paddle in hand and my camera dangling by a lanyard from my life vest, we hit the first of three waterfalls.
The first two weren’t especially spectacular, I was almost even a bit disappointed. It was still nice to be out in a raft and doing something this cool, but we rode through those drops with little difficulty. The only problem was that the line I was grabbing onto somehow smashed my fingers, which gave me a lot of concern for the larger drop that was to come. We went through some more decent rapids before approaching the highlight of the trip, a 21 foot waterfall. This is the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, meaning I figured the bragging rights of having done it would be worth whatever it cost. Anyways, we set up for the fall, brace ourselves down inside the raft, and make the drop. When a raft with 7 people falls from 21 feet straight down, there’s a decent amount of downward momentum fighting floatation. The result: a fully submerged raft. Yeah, we went off the waterfall, went fully under the water, and then popped up sideways in the pool below (the group bought pictures, so I’ll try to post those online). That right there made up for any disappointment from the first two falls. We then watched the other raft make the plunge, where it surfaced with one less person…my friend Moody – so that was funny.
We continued on down the river. There were a few more rapids, one of which actually through the guide sitting on the back of the raft into the water. Because of how we went down the rapid, the back of the raft bounced up hard and threw him flying off of it, which he said hasn’t happened in years. Meanwhile, the rest of us still in the raft, go careening at full speed into a rock wall because our guide who gives the orders for forward or back is swimming behind us. The guide who went flying thought it was hilarious, the girl that almost got her head taken of by a rock ledge probably felt otherwise.
The last feature of the run was what the guides called river surfing. Usually, after the downward movement of water in a rapid, there is an upward bulge of water that you can position a raft on top of. Then, with two people in the front (me being one of them), you can dig the front of the raft into the water and get a ton of water in your face...which I’m sure is more fun than it actually sounds. Anyways, it was cool that the raft would sit on the proceeding bulge while I stared at the fast moving water right under me, which we have some good pictures of as well.
We finished the run, exited the raft, and were then transported back to the original building where it all began. After a change of clothes and us purchasing a CD of pictures taken by the professional photographer, we headed back home. We made a quick lunch stop at a convenience store, where I had a meatloaf sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and a large slice a really nice cheese. I wasn’t sure that I’d like it when I bought it but it ended up being absolutely delicious (yeah, a meatloaf sandwich, go figure).
Just cause I can’t help but mention it, we drove through a city on the way to and from the river named Te Puke. I’m sure it’s not pronounced as I would like it to be, but it was really amusing to me and my 5 year old sense of humor. From the Te Puke Car Repairs to the Old Te Puke Cemetery, it just never got old. Definitely a blog-worthy city! Maybe I should have gotten some Te Puke souvenirs…ok, I’ll stop.
Back at the ship I went through the pictures, rested for an hour, and then headed out again with Moody to climb the same mountain that I climbed last time in port. We jogged over to the base of the mountain, made the climb, and quickly came back down as we were running out of time for the day. But it was a great day off the ship and certainly one of the most physical of my ship excursions.
I went to the show that night and enjoyed a night off, nice! Thanks for reading and be sure to check for the pics!
Tauranga
Well, the tour worked out – I got to go rafting! But not without some difficulties…
I left it last night where I was just about to send the tour operator an email about final numbers, and that’s what I did as soon as I finished writing my blog. Without yet having found the other person on the ship who I was told was organizing the tour, I sent out an email 3 minutes before it was due letting the operator know to use whatever number the other crew member gave him, or if he hadn’t heard from the other crew member, that the number was 8 people (I figured that was a large enough number for him to work with us on the tour, despite me at the time knowing of 3 other people who were actually interested).
Anyways, I was lucky enough to have the internet on the ship fail last night, right when I really would have needed it working. This really complicated essential communications for a tour that was supposed to happen the next day. That aside, I did eventually find the other crew member who was said to be organizing the tour. When I talked to her that night I found out that she had no idea what the price was, pick up time, how to pay, and that she hadn’t checked her emails for a week, meaning she certainly hasn’t contacted the tour operator recently in regards to the rafting trip. I took some of her names from the list, made a few phone calls, and eventually sent out an email a midnight that night to the operator, much later than he’d asked for to get a final confirmation. That being done, I went to bed hoping that I’d get an email back in the morning saying the tour was still going to happen.
So that brings me to today, when I woke up early to check my email and find out whether or not this tour was actually going to happen. The internet was working again and I had gotten a reply from the operator, we were set up to leave that morning around 10:30-10:45...perfect. So next step – I called everyone on my list to confirm that the tour was going out that morning. I called the girl who was previously setting up the tour and she was still able to go, but after she called her contacts, she let me know all her people backed out, not good. I called the two friends of mine who I knew were ready to go, they paced their stuff and met me at the gangway. Meanwhile, the other names I had received weren’t returning my calls or pages, meaning the group that was supposed to contain 10 people had been diminished to just 3, not enough for a raft. So there I am, outside the gangway 15 minutes before the pick up time, standing there with my two friends trying to figure out how to get another few people on the tour. The girl who previously tried to organize the group did show up, but was of absolutely no use in filling out the group furthermore. So my friend Moody (he goes by his last name), started recruiting some more people while I checked the bus status and made sure everything was organized with the tour operator.
The bus was running late, thankfully, and that gave us some time to gather a few more people together. In the meantime, we were able to get a hold of a few people who were in rehearsal that had been interested in the trip, and told them to hustle down to the pier as soon as rehearsal let out. Also, there was a photographer who was interested, and due to the delays, was also able to run inside and get his stuff together when he was let off work early. By about 11:10 we had left the pier with a total group of 8, exactly the number I’d quoted the tour operator originally. I could finally relax and enjoy the tour.
We drove to the rafting company’s site where we were given gear, signed our waiver, and transported to the river. After a quick training we were off in two separate rafts, my raft in front. I was especially excited for the tour because this was going to be the first time I really got to test my camera’s underwater and shock-resistant abilities. So with a paddle in hand and my camera dangling by a lanyard from my life vest, we hit the first of three waterfalls.
The first two weren’t especially spectacular, I was almost even a bit disappointed. It was still nice to be out in a raft and doing something this cool, but we rode through those drops with little difficulty. The only problem was that the line I was grabbing onto somehow smashed my fingers, which gave me a lot of concern for the larger drop that was to come. We went through some more decent rapids before approaching the highlight of the trip, a 21 foot waterfall. This is the largest commercially rafted waterfall in the world, meaning I figured the bragging rights of having done it would be worth whatever it cost. Anyways, we set up for the fall, brace ourselves down inside the raft, and make the drop. When a raft with 7 people falls from 21 feet straight down, there’s a decent amount of downward momentum fighting floatation. The result: a fully submerged raft. Yeah, we went off the waterfall, went fully under the water, and then popped up sideways in the pool below (the group bought pictures, so I’ll try to post those online). That right there made up for any disappointment from the first two falls. We then watched the other raft make the plunge, where it surfaced with one less person…my friend Moody – so that was funny.
We continued on down the river. There were a few more rapids, one of which actually through the guide sitting on the back of the raft into the water. Because of how we went down the rapid, the back of the raft bounced up hard and threw him flying off of it, which he said hasn’t happened in years. Meanwhile, the rest of us still in the raft, go careening at full speed into a rock wall because our guide who gives the orders for forward or back is swimming behind us. The guide who went flying thought it was hilarious, the girl that almost got her head taken of by a rock ledge probably felt otherwise.
The last feature of the run was what the guides called river surfing. Usually, after the downward movement of water in a rapid, there is an upward bulge of water that you can position a raft on top of. Then, with two people in the front (me being one of them), you can dig the front of the raft into the water and get a ton of water in your face...which I’m sure is more fun than it actually sounds. Anyways, it was cool that the raft would sit on the proceeding bulge while I stared at the fast moving water right under me, which we have some good pictures of as well.
We finished the run, exited the raft, and were then transported back to the original building where it all began. After a change of clothes and us purchasing a CD of pictures taken by the professional photographer, we headed back home. We made a quick lunch stop at a convenience store, where I had a meatloaf sandwich with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, caramelized onions, and a large slice a really nice cheese. I wasn’t sure that I’d like it when I bought it but it ended up being absolutely delicious (yeah, a meatloaf sandwich, go figure).
Just cause I can’t help but mention it, we drove through a city on the way to and from the river named Te Puke. I’m sure it’s not pronounced as I would like it to be, but it was really amusing to me and my 5 year old sense of humor. From the Te Puke Car Repairs to the Old Te Puke Cemetery, it just never got old. Definitely a blog-worthy city! Maybe I should have gotten some Te Puke souvenirs…ok, I’ll stop.
Back at the ship I went through the pictures, rested for an hour, and then headed out again with Moody to climb the same mountain that I climbed last time in port. We jogged over to the base of the mountain, made the climb, and quickly came back down as we were running out of time for the day. But it was a great day off the ship and certainly one of the most physical of my ship excursions.
I went to the show that night and enjoyed a night off, nice! Thanks for reading and be sure to check for the pics!
Wellington/At Sea
February 17, 18
Wellington/At Sea
I was hoping to catch up with my friend again today in Wellington, but communications didn’t exactly work out and I ended up getting of the ship later with a friend from the ship. I had a rehearsal in the morning for the show that night, a show where my friend Terry was the featured performer. He’s the lead singer on the ship and put together his own show, and luckily for him, the ship has been letting him perform his show during the cruises as a headliner act so that he can get used to performing it. Anyways, we did the rehearsal and then I got off the ship with Terry.
Today Wellington must have had the best weather in recent memory, or at least so was the consensus of everyone on the ship I talked with. Terry and I took a shuttle into the city and decided to make our way over to the Te Papa museum, a free museum that I’ve heard nothing but great things about.
On the way over to the museum, I came across a music store, something I can never help but go in. I’ve been looking for more saxophone reeds, and luckily, this place had some. I ended up buying a random collection of reeds to try out on my mouthpieces as I continue to fine-tune my sax set up. I bought some really obscure Australian reeds too, so I’m excited to see what happens with those.
Moving on, we made our way to the museum, where I was immediately impressed at it’s size, design, and free price. The highlight of the museum was that colossal squid that they had on display. Yeah, one of those giant squids you hear about every so often – well they had one and I saw it! This is the only colossal squid on display to the public, and was caught somewhere in Antarctica and donated to the museum. Apparently, the Squid had been pulled up by a research fishing vessel, and having seen a line of hooked fish, the squid grabbed one and didn’t ever figure out to let go till it rose to the surface and was near death. It was then brought aboard the ship, frozen, and then carefully thawed at the museum and put on display. Anyways, it was cool to see it myself and watch the videos about it.
We eventually left the museum, grabbed a coffee somewhere, enjoyed the weather and headed back to the ship so that Terry could prepare for his show. The show went fine, I had a solo where I went to the front of the stage, and that’s about it for the day.
I’m actually writing this on the 18th, so I don’t know yet how the day’s going to end, but I figure I should just do it now before I put it off for a week. We’re sailing today and are supposed to sail around some Volcanic Island that I’ll hopefully be able to see after rehearsal. Otherwise, I’m trying to help put together a tour for tomorrow to go rafting, but have been sitting in my room unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the other person who’s been putting the tour together. What happened was I tried to get the tour together for some of my friends, contacted the operator and was told there’s someone else on the ship trying to do the same thing and that we should combine groups. I’ve been trying my best over the past 24 hours to contact this other person but have had no luck at all, meanwhile, I’m 45 minutes away from needing to have told the tour operator a final number. Hopefully everything works out and I’ll get to do this tour tomorrow, but nothing has been clearly arranged and we might have waited just a bit too long to get this tour scheduled…fingers crossed though. And that’s about it for today, seeya!
Wellington/At Sea
I was hoping to catch up with my friend again today in Wellington, but communications didn’t exactly work out and I ended up getting of the ship later with a friend from the ship. I had a rehearsal in the morning for the show that night, a show where my friend Terry was the featured performer. He’s the lead singer on the ship and put together his own show, and luckily for him, the ship has been letting him perform his show during the cruises as a headliner act so that he can get used to performing it. Anyways, we did the rehearsal and then I got off the ship with Terry.
Today Wellington must have had the best weather in recent memory, or at least so was the consensus of everyone on the ship I talked with. Terry and I took a shuttle into the city and decided to make our way over to the Te Papa museum, a free museum that I’ve heard nothing but great things about.
On the way over to the museum, I came across a music store, something I can never help but go in. I’ve been looking for more saxophone reeds, and luckily, this place had some. I ended up buying a random collection of reeds to try out on my mouthpieces as I continue to fine-tune my sax set up. I bought some really obscure Australian reeds too, so I’m excited to see what happens with those.
Moving on, we made our way to the museum, where I was immediately impressed at it’s size, design, and free price. The highlight of the museum was that colossal squid that they had on display. Yeah, one of those giant squids you hear about every so often – well they had one and I saw it! This is the only colossal squid on display to the public, and was caught somewhere in Antarctica and donated to the museum. Apparently, the Squid had been pulled up by a research fishing vessel, and having seen a line of hooked fish, the squid grabbed one and didn’t ever figure out to let go till it rose to the surface and was near death. It was then brought aboard the ship, frozen, and then carefully thawed at the museum and put on display. Anyways, it was cool to see it myself and watch the videos about it.
We eventually left the museum, grabbed a coffee somewhere, enjoyed the weather and headed back to the ship so that Terry could prepare for his show. The show went fine, I had a solo where I went to the front of the stage, and that’s about it for the day.
I’m actually writing this on the 18th, so I don’t know yet how the day’s going to end, but I figure I should just do it now before I put it off for a week. We’re sailing today and are supposed to sail around some Volcanic Island that I’ll hopefully be able to see after rehearsal. Otherwise, I’m trying to help put together a tour for tomorrow to go rafting, but have been sitting in my room unsuccessfully trying to get a hold of the other person who’s been putting the tour together. What happened was I tried to get the tour together for some of my friends, contacted the operator and was told there’s someone else on the ship trying to do the same thing and that we should combine groups. I’ve been trying my best over the past 24 hours to contact this other person but have had no luck at all, meanwhile, I’m 45 minutes away from needing to have told the tour operator a final number. Hopefully everything works out and I’ll get to do this tour tomorrow, but nothing has been clearly arranged and we might have waited just a bit too long to get this tour scheduled…fingers crossed though. And that’s about it for today, seeya!
Christchurch
February 16
Christchurch
Last time I was in Christchurch I remained in the port city of Lyttleton for my hiking excursion, so I figured I should go see the actual city this time around, and that’s what I did. After hoping on a bus and making the trip into the city, I looked around for a bit and my first stop was at a large chessboard with 3-foot-tall pieces where too guys were playing. I watched that for 20 minutes or so, or at least till I figured out I was standing in New Zealand watching two people I didn’t know play chess. I moved on.
I walked for a while around the city, simply traveling in which ever direction seemed interesting at the time. I went in a few shops, grabbed a cappuccino, and eventually made it back to the bus to be taken back to the ship. I don’t know that there’s really that much more to tell you about as I didn’t really do anything but meander through the city. It was a beautiful city, slightly cold, and had a lovely river running through it, but that’s about all I got for you…
I returned to the ship, played a show for a humorous impressionist, and that’s about it. Thanks!
Christchurch
Last time I was in Christchurch I remained in the port city of Lyttleton for my hiking excursion, so I figured I should go see the actual city this time around, and that’s what I did. After hoping on a bus and making the trip into the city, I looked around for a bit and my first stop was at a large chessboard with 3-foot-tall pieces where too guys were playing. I watched that for 20 minutes or so, or at least till I figured out I was standing in New Zealand watching two people I didn’t know play chess. I moved on.
I walked for a while around the city, simply traveling in which ever direction seemed interesting at the time. I went in a few shops, grabbed a cappuccino, and eventually made it back to the bus to be taken back to the ship. I don’t know that there’s really that much more to tell you about as I didn’t really do anything but meander through the city. It was a beautiful city, slightly cold, and had a lovely river running through it, but that’s about all I got for you…
I returned to the ship, played a show for a humorous impressionist, and that’s about it. Thanks!
Dunedin
February 15
Dunedin (Port Chalmers)
Today we were docked in Port Chalmers, the port town of Dunedin. My plan was to rent a bicycle with a friend and go riding. However, either due to chance or last night’s party, my friend backed out claiming not feeling well enough for a bike ride, so I went to the crew office myself to rent a bike.
With today being the first day on the cruise in New Zealand, the ship got hit pretty hard with customs procedures, resulting in over 50 crew members getting cigarettes/alcohol confiscated by the authorities. Oddly enough, it was confiscated because they claimed too much…who knows how that works. Anyways, when I went to rent my bike, the office said that it’d have to be cleaned and passed through customs, who I was warned would be slightly impatient due to the recent events. I was advised not to rent a bike today and instead opted to go running by myself through the port area.
I got off the ship, made a left turn, and just began running along the waterfront following a road that ran the perimeter of the bay area. I had no actual goal other than to run and did that basically till I couldn’t go much further.
This area of New Zealand, along with many areas in the country where we dock, is extremely hilly. I had wanted to climb to the top of one of the hills/mountains and was looking for a trail during my run, but soon noticed that most of the roads and paths I found were private residences and fields of sheep. I did find one hill, however, where I was able to walk through an empty field, littered with dried up sheep droppings, and get some better views. I walked the field for a while till two things happened. First, I started to see the house that owned the property, and not wanting to be interrogated about trespassing through a sheep field, preferred to keep my distance. Second, I made a turn around a fenced of area and found myself 15 feet away from a sheep who had wandered far away from his herd. She looked at me with some evil New Zealand rabid sheep glare and ran off in the other direction, probably figuring that I was just scary enough not to mess with. OK, maybe not quite like that - it was probably just as startled as I was, and she turned and slowly waddled away as I stood against the fence not exactly knowing how to handle a potential guard-sheep issue. Following that exchange, I made my way back over the orginal fence I jumped and returned to running down the road.
I stopped later when I felt I’d traveled an ample distance from the ship and began walking back. I had made it quite some distance during that time, and figuring New Zealanders to be a nice group of people, I made an attempt to hitch hike my way back to the ship. There was really only that one road and it lead directly to the ship so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to get me there. So I warmed up my thumb, started walking and looked for the next passing car to signal.
Honestly, I’m wasn’t totally comfortable with the hitch hiking idea and can’t say I made a huge effort to get a ride. I walked facing the direction of the ship, not looking at the cars I was soliciting, with my arm slightly out at my side, thumb extended…over the water bottle I was carrying. I figured any one who would stop for such an unenthusiastic attempt at hitch hiking would have to be really friendly. Well, no one stopped and I walked the entire distance back to the ship with my arm slightly further from my side than natural.
The walk back took 90 minutes (what would have been perfect hitch hiking distance). It was a nice walk though, I took some pics, and upon arriving back in the port area saw my friends at a bar where they invited me over for some drinks. I sat there talking with them, some passengers, and some old gnarly seadogs covered in tattoos that were somehow inscribed onto they’re leathery skin. One guy sitting near me had a full beard that was tar stained around his mouth from excessive smoking, which was one of those things that’s so hard to look at simply cause it’s gross, but you keep checking back to make sure you saw what you think you saw, almost trying to figure out a different explanation to make you feel better about the guy sitting by you. That lasted till I had to get back on the ship where I played a jazz set that night and that’s about all. Thanks for reading!
Dunedin (Port Chalmers)
Today we were docked in Port Chalmers, the port town of Dunedin. My plan was to rent a bicycle with a friend and go riding. However, either due to chance or last night’s party, my friend backed out claiming not feeling well enough for a bike ride, so I went to the crew office myself to rent a bike.
With today being the first day on the cruise in New Zealand, the ship got hit pretty hard with customs procedures, resulting in over 50 crew members getting cigarettes/alcohol confiscated by the authorities. Oddly enough, it was confiscated because they claimed too much…who knows how that works. Anyways, when I went to rent my bike, the office said that it’d have to be cleaned and passed through customs, who I was warned would be slightly impatient due to the recent events. I was advised not to rent a bike today and instead opted to go running by myself through the port area.
I got off the ship, made a left turn, and just began running along the waterfront following a road that ran the perimeter of the bay area. I had no actual goal other than to run and did that basically till I couldn’t go much further.
This area of New Zealand, along with many areas in the country where we dock, is extremely hilly. I had wanted to climb to the top of one of the hills/mountains and was looking for a trail during my run, but soon noticed that most of the roads and paths I found were private residences and fields of sheep. I did find one hill, however, where I was able to walk through an empty field, littered with dried up sheep droppings, and get some better views. I walked the field for a while till two things happened. First, I started to see the house that owned the property, and not wanting to be interrogated about trespassing through a sheep field, preferred to keep my distance. Second, I made a turn around a fenced of area and found myself 15 feet away from a sheep who had wandered far away from his herd. She looked at me with some evil New Zealand rabid sheep glare and ran off in the other direction, probably figuring that I was just scary enough not to mess with. OK, maybe not quite like that - it was probably just as startled as I was, and she turned and slowly waddled away as I stood against the fence not exactly knowing how to handle a potential guard-sheep issue. Following that exchange, I made my way back over the orginal fence I jumped and returned to running down the road.
I stopped later when I felt I’d traveled an ample distance from the ship and began walking back. I had made it quite some distance during that time, and figuring New Zealanders to be a nice group of people, I made an attempt to hitch hike my way back to the ship. There was really only that one road and it lead directly to the ship so I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to find someone to get me there. So I warmed up my thumb, started walking and looked for the next passing car to signal.
Honestly, I’m wasn’t totally comfortable with the hitch hiking idea and can’t say I made a huge effort to get a ride. I walked facing the direction of the ship, not looking at the cars I was soliciting, with my arm slightly out at my side, thumb extended…over the water bottle I was carrying. I figured any one who would stop for such an unenthusiastic attempt at hitch hiking would have to be really friendly. Well, no one stopped and I walked the entire distance back to the ship with my arm slightly further from my side than natural.
The walk back took 90 minutes (what would have been perfect hitch hiking distance). It was a nice walk though, I took some pics, and upon arriving back in the port area saw my friends at a bar where they invited me over for some drinks. I sat there talking with them, some passengers, and some old gnarly seadogs covered in tattoos that were somehow inscribed onto they’re leathery skin. One guy sitting near me had a full beard that was tar stained around his mouth from excessive smoking, which was one of those things that’s so hard to look at simply cause it’s gross, but you keep checking back to make sure you saw what you think you saw, almost trying to figure out a different explanation to make you feel better about the guy sitting by you. That lasted till I had to get back on the ship where I played a jazz set that night and that’s about all. Thanks for reading!
At Sea
Feb 12-14
At Sea
Again, we had another long stretch of sea days, which is always good for reading and practicing, meaning I’ve been happy. The second day, however, we were in pretty rough seas. The guitarist, who signed on with me and is brand new to ships, has found out that reading music and the large swells felt in the theater results in him making frequent trips to the bathroom. He ended up missing both shows that night do to his vomiting, a situation I’m certainly not envious of. The unfortunate thing, however, is that this probably means he’ll be sent home. This is bad on two accounts, first, I feel bad for him because it’s his first ship, and second, he’s been my Spanish teacher, so he can’t leave! Unfortunately the ship isn’t likely to put my desire to learn Spanish above having a functioning, dependable guitar player in all weather conditions.
The 14th was spent back in the fjords, and was again missed. I just don’t have much of a desire to dress in my blacks and stand outside looking at scenery I feel like I’ve seen before. Maybe I’ll catch it next time though – we’ll be back in a month or so.
The only other thing that happened was a Valentine’s Day party, during most of which I sat in the adjacent mess and worked on my computer. I stepped into the party for a moment only to find I have no desire to blow out my eardrums listening to terrible music cranked too loud and hang out around fellow crew smelling of body odor and the inevitable intoxication that accompanies any party with free drinks. I returned to my room, slept well, and woke up ready for the next day that was too be spent in Dunedin.
At Sea
Again, we had another long stretch of sea days, which is always good for reading and practicing, meaning I’ve been happy. The second day, however, we were in pretty rough seas. The guitarist, who signed on with me and is brand new to ships, has found out that reading music and the large swells felt in the theater results in him making frequent trips to the bathroom. He ended up missing both shows that night do to his vomiting, a situation I’m certainly not envious of. The unfortunate thing, however, is that this probably means he’ll be sent home. This is bad on two accounts, first, I feel bad for him because it’s his first ship, and second, he’s been my Spanish teacher, so he can’t leave! Unfortunately the ship isn’t likely to put my desire to learn Spanish above having a functioning, dependable guitar player in all weather conditions.
The 14th was spent back in the fjords, and was again missed. I just don’t have much of a desire to dress in my blacks and stand outside looking at scenery I feel like I’ve seen before. Maybe I’ll catch it next time though – we’ll be back in a month or so.
The only other thing that happened was a Valentine’s Day party, during most of which I sat in the adjacent mess and worked on my computer. I stepped into the party for a moment only to find I have no desire to blow out my eardrums listening to terrible music cranked too loud and hang out around fellow crew smelling of body odor and the inevitable intoxication that accompanies any party with free drinks. I returned to my room, slept well, and woke up ready for the next day that was too be spent in Dunedin.
Sydney
February 10, 11
Sydney
Today’s turn around procedures were slightly odd because of another ship being in port with us and sitting at our pier. We knew it was going to happen, but this meant getting all the old passengers off and the new on using tenders, which you can imagine is not very crew friendly. Luckily, I don’t have to help with any of that, but it still meant I couldn’t get off the ship in the morning and that returning to the ship will involve a tender, which isn’t exactly preferred. Anyways, I got off the ship in the early afternoon, and after sitting on a tender for an hour waiting for a different pier to clear, I stepped back into Sydney with Terry and we set out for whatever was going to happen.
The first stop of our meandering was at a free Internet signal thanks to a coffee shop. I got a mediocre cappuccino and sat online till my battery died, but was able to do a lot of work and make a phone call home during the process. Internet usage, after 2 weeks of struggling to find anything free, was a wonderful way to start the excursion.
Moving on, Terry and I looked for a place to get lunch/dinner, more so dinner with each passing minute. After a good deal of walking, a chocolate bar to hold us over, and dealing with the occasional drizzle, we came across a pub with $6 pasta dishes. The meal was ok and of a portion you’d assume $6 might buy, but hey, at least now I wasn’t starving.
The next stop was at a music club/bar that I knew my friends were going to be heading to later that evening, I figured around 10PM, we got there at 8. I more so went to see who was playing and just to go on a walk in a direction I’ve yet to travel. The bar looked decent, but having arrived two hours early, we weren’t about to wait and moved on to the next place that caught our eye.
Terry had an urge to go to the Casino that night, and myself, having never been to a casino (aside from the Monte Carlo in Monaco, la-ti-da) figured that it’d be interesting. I planned out the walking path and we set out down the streets of Sydney.
15 minutes into the walk we were greeted by a large number of black birds flying down the streets 100 feet above us. Unsure about what kind of birds they were, Terry asked the nearest person, where we ascertained they weren’t birds at all, but gigantic bats! We kind of figured they were bats by the shape of the wings, but it just seemed too Batman-esque to be happening in a large city such as Sydney. Nevertheless, dozens of bats flew right over our head coming from the park we were on our way towards. I was thoroughly amused for the next 10 minutes looking at these bats everyone else seemed not to notice.
Along side the park, while looking around for more bats, I spotted something in the grass. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like some strange combination between a squirrel and a kangaroo. Matt (my brother) has been jokingly wanting me to find him a tree kangaroo, and due in part to my knowing nothing about the animal, the darkness, and an unwavering desire to please my brother’s completely outrageous requests, decided that the foreign animal I was looking at must be the elusive tree kangaroo (and no, I was not drunk). Anyways, I jumped over the barricade into the park, stealthily ran towards the animal, chased it up a tree, and the photographed it as best I could…drawing the eyes of all those who saw me. Excited that I had photographed a tree kangaroo, I returned to the sidewalk and we pressed on towards the casino.
The casino was a really nice place, very clean and flashy, and certainly an interesting part of the evening. Most of the time was spent watching Terry gamble playing 3 card poker, a game I had no idea existed. I also did some wandering around, became a member of the casino (completely free and entitled me to 3 free coffees!), and eventually did some gambling of my own. With my $50 Australian, all I had in my wallet, Mr. Big Spender hit the roulette wheel. The roulette wheel hit back. I was out $50 within 6 minutes and ready to move on. In all honesty, it was fun and I’d have kicked myself back at the ship if I didn’t at least risk something. Anyways, $50 Australian is only about $35 US, so that makes it OK, right? Following that, I played a couple games of Keno as a joke, losing $3, walked around the casino a bit more, and headed back to the ship, returning at about 3:30 AM.
I stayed on the ship the next day seeing as the gangway was restricted to crew due to passengers boarding the ship. Nothing really happened that day while I sat in my cabin. I did however show my picture of the tree kangaroo to my roommate (who is from Sydney). He didn’t call it a tree kangaroo...he called it a “possum”. Well there went my excitement, but I do maintain that the Australian “possums” are nothing like the ones in the states.
Oh, that all aside, I’ve been learning Spanish the past week. I practice daily with the guitar player, Gustavo, who is from Argentina. I have a number of listening programs and 4 years of high school Spanish to dig out of my memory, but it’s a fun, frustrating challenge. We’ll see how fluid I can become in the next 3 months. Hasta Luego!
Sydney
Today’s turn around procedures were slightly odd because of another ship being in port with us and sitting at our pier. We knew it was going to happen, but this meant getting all the old passengers off and the new on using tenders, which you can imagine is not very crew friendly. Luckily, I don’t have to help with any of that, but it still meant I couldn’t get off the ship in the morning and that returning to the ship will involve a tender, which isn’t exactly preferred. Anyways, I got off the ship in the early afternoon, and after sitting on a tender for an hour waiting for a different pier to clear, I stepped back into Sydney with Terry and we set out for whatever was going to happen.
The first stop of our meandering was at a free Internet signal thanks to a coffee shop. I got a mediocre cappuccino and sat online till my battery died, but was able to do a lot of work and make a phone call home during the process. Internet usage, after 2 weeks of struggling to find anything free, was a wonderful way to start the excursion.
Moving on, Terry and I looked for a place to get lunch/dinner, more so dinner with each passing minute. After a good deal of walking, a chocolate bar to hold us over, and dealing with the occasional drizzle, we came across a pub with $6 pasta dishes. The meal was ok and of a portion you’d assume $6 might buy, but hey, at least now I wasn’t starving.
The next stop was at a music club/bar that I knew my friends were going to be heading to later that evening, I figured around 10PM, we got there at 8. I more so went to see who was playing and just to go on a walk in a direction I’ve yet to travel. The bar looked decent, but having arrived two hours early, we weren’t about to wait and moved on to the next place that caught our eye.
Terry had an urge to go to the Casino that night, and myself, having never been to a casino (aside from the Monte Carlo in Monaco, la-ti-da) figured that it’d be interesting. I planned out the walking path and we set out down the streets of Sydney.
15 minutes into the walk we were greeted by a large number of black birds flying down the streets 100 feet above us. Unsure about what kind of birds they were, Terry asked the nearest person, where we ascertained they weren’t birds at all, but gigantic bats! We kind of figured they were bats by the shape of the wings, but it just seemed too Batman-esque to be happening in a large city such as Sydney. Nevertheless, dozens of bats flew right over our head coming from the park we were on our way towards. I was thoroughly amused for the next 10 minutes looking at these bats everyone else seemed not to notice.
Along side the park, while looking around for more bats, I spotted something in the grass. I couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like some strange combination between a squirrel and a kangaroo. Matt (my brother) has been jokingly wanting me to find him a tree kangaroo, and due in part to my knowing nothing about the animal, the darkness, and an unwavering desire to please my brother’s completely outrageous requests, decided that the foreign animal I was looking at must be the elusive tree kangaroo (and no, I was not drunk). Anyways, I jumped over the barricade into the park, stealthily ran towards the animal, chased it up a tree, and the photographed it as best I could…drawing the eyes of all those who saw me. Excited that I had photographed a tree kangaroo, I returned to the sidewalk and we pressed on towards the casino.
The casino was a really nice place, very clean and flashy, and certainly an interesting part of the evening. Most of the time was spent watching Terry gamble playing 3 card poker, a game I had no idea existed. I also did some wandering around, became a member of the casino (completely free and entitled me to 3 free coffees!), and eventually did some gambling of my own. With my $50 Australian, all I had in my wallet, Mr. Big Spender hit the roulette wheel. The roulette wheel hit back. I was out $50 within 6 minutes and ready to move on. In all honesty, it was fun and I’d have kicked myself back at the ship if I didn’t at least risk something. Anyways, $50 Australian is only about $35 US, so that makes it OK, right? Following that, I played a couple games of Keno as a joke, losing $3, walked around the casino a bit more, and headed back to the ship, returning at about 3:30 AM.
I stayed on the ship the next day seeing as the gangway was restricted to crew due to passengers boarding the ship. Nothing really happened that day while I sat in my cabin. I did however show my picture of the tree kangaroo to my roommate (who is from Sydney). He didn’t call it a tree kangaroo...he called it a “possum”. Well there went my excitement, but I do maintain that the Australian “possums” are nothing like the ones in the states.
Oh, that all aside, I’ve been learning Spanish the past week. I practice daily with the guitar player, Gustavo, who is from Argentina. I have a number of listening programs and 4 years of high school Spanish to dig out of my memory, but it’s a fun, frustrating challenge. We’ll see how fluid I can become in the next 3 months. Hasta Luego!
At Sea
February 7-9
At sea
The next three days were spent at see traveling back to Sydney. The first day, however, was spent going through the New Zealand fjord land, a site that I for the most part…slept through. I did catch the last part of the third fjord that we sailed through, only to see that it’s exactly like Norway, and though very beautiful, isn’t exactly anything new to me. Maybe the sleep was worth it, but either way, we’ll be back and I’ll catch it next time around.
The other sea days weren’t really anything to speak of. I just spend most of my time online and with my books, of which I’ve now finished Atlas Shrugged and absolutely loved it. Next is the totally unrelated Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, so we’ll see how I do making the switch. Otherwise there’s not much more to say, but I’m excited to be going back to Sydney to spend my first overnight doing whatever strikes me.
At sea
The next three days were spent at see traveling back to Sydney. The first day, however, was spent going through the New Zealand fjord land, a site that I for the most part…slept through. I did catch the last part of the third fjord that we sailed through, only to see that it’s exactly like Norway, and though very beautiful, isn’t exactly anything new to me. Maybe the sleep was worth it, but either way, we’ll be back and I’ll catch it next time around.
The other sea days weren’t really anything to speak of. I just spend most of my time online and with my books, of which I’ve now finished Atlas Shrugged and absolutely loved it. Next is the totally unrelated Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, so we’ll see how I do making the switch. Otherwise there’s not much more to say, but I’m excited to be going back to Sydney to spend my first overnight doing whatever strikes me.
Dunedin
February 6
Dunedin
Dunedin is another town that is preceded by a smaller port city, and being less mountainous around the port area, I decided to opt for a more normal itinerary and took a bus into the main city. The town of Dunedin has a good deal of shopping, and from what I was able to see while walking around with Terry, that’s about it. We didn’t venture all that far and much of our time there was spent in an internet café.
Probably the single most eventful part of that day was that while I was walking through the streets, some insect, probably a bee, came out of no where and stung me on my right hand pinky finger! Two things make me mad about this situation: 1) I didn’t even see the bee when it stung me, and it’s sort of depressing not actually being able to see your aggressor, and 2) how is it I can travel through fields and forests and trails where no one goes with out a scratch, but can’t walk through a metropolitan area without getting attacked by some bee flying in stealth mode? Anyways, it hurt as expected, but luckily I’m not allergic to bees and I just hoped that the New Zealand bees wouldn’t pull out some unforeseen allergy.
We eventually left the city, my pinky finger slightly swollen, and headed back to the port city where I went to a grocery store for laundry detergent and returned to the ship.
That night was meant to be a night off while the pianist in the band played a jazz set upstairs. This was all going to go to plan till the pianists roommate was feeling ill, went to the doctor, and consequently got the pianist pulled into the medical center for questioning about the possibility of quarantining the room (which would be standard procedure for certain illnesses as we can’t allow the entire ship to get sick). Well, during the interrogation, the pianist wasn’t going to be on time to his gig, and as you might have well guessed, I ran upstairs to play the gig myself with the trombone player playing his horn with me. It was nice to get on a piano again like that, and after the first tune, the trombonist relaxed in the knowledge that this sax player actually does know how to play piano, and we had a nice hour long set which was well received by the guests listening to it.
Anyways, that’s about it for today and for this cruise as we start the trip back to Australia tomorrow. Seeya!
Dunedin
Dunedin is another town that is preceded by a smaller port city, and being less mountainous around the port area, I decided to opt for a more normal itinerary and took a bus into the main city. The town of Dunedin has a good deal of shopping, and from what I was able to see while walking around with Terry, that’s about it. We didn’t venture all that far and much of our time there was spent in an internet café.
Probably the single most eventful part of that day was that while I was walking through the streets, some insect, probably a bee, came out of no where and stung me on my right hand pinky finger! Two things make me mad about this situation: 1) I didn’t even see the bee when it stung me, and it’s sort of depressing not actually being able to see your aggressor, and 2) how is it I can travel through fields and forests and trails where no one goes with out a scratch, but can’t walk through a metropolitan area without getting attacked by some bee flying in stealth mode? Anyways, it hurt as expected, but luckily I’m not allergic to bees and I just hoped that the New Zealand bees wouldn’t pull out some unforeseen allergy.
We eventually left the city, my pinky finger slightly swollen, and headed back to the port city where I went to a grocery store for laundry detergent and returned to the ship.
That night was meant to be a night off while the pianist in the band played a jazz set upstairs. This was all going to go to plan till the pianists roommate was feeling ill, went to the doctor, and consequently got the pianist pulled into the medical center for questioning about the possibility of quarantining the room (which would be standard procedure for certain illnesses as we can’t allow the entire ship to get sick). Well, during the interrogation, the pianist wasn’t going to be on time to his gig, and as you might have well guessed, I ran upstairs to play the gig myself with the trombone player playing his horn with me. It was nice to get on a piano again like that, and after the first tune, the trombonist relaxed in the knowledge that this sax player actually does know how to play piano, and we had a nice hour long set which was well received by the guests listening to it.
Anyways, that’s about it for today and for this cruise as we start the trip back to Australia tomorrow. Seeya!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A now, a word from our sponsers....
Hey Everyone!
So I've been a little slow getting these posts online, but alas, here they are. I put up about half of them now, I'll put up the other half in a few days so I don't totally overwhelm everyone. But things have been great as you'll read in the blog and I've been doing just fine out here. As always, feel free to email me at anytime or leave a message on this site, I'll get those too. Be sure to keep checking for more entries as I will, as always, have a blog for everyday I've spent on a ships. Talk to you soon!
So I've been a little slow getting these posts online, but alas, here they are. I put up about half of them now, I'll put up the other half in a few days so I don't totally overwhelm everyone. But things have been great as you'll read in the blog and I've been doing just fine out here. As always, feel free to email me at anytime or leave a message on this site, I'll get those too. Be sure to keep checking for more entries as I will, as always, have a blog for everyday I've spent on a ships. Talk to you soon!
Christchurch
February 5
Christchurch
For my first visit to Christchurch I did the usual: find something big to climb and see how high I can get.
Technically I was in the port town that leads into Chirstchurch, named Lyttleton, and that’s where I did my climbing. I started out by making my way up to some small castle that had originally been used for navigation and signaling approaching ships. After a quick look around there, I continued walking through the neighborhood in any direction that headed up.
The road soon stopped and turned into an overgrown dirt road. It’s at this point that I start getting nervous because while I’m walking through the weeds and grasses, all I can think about are the possibilities for snakes and spiders I have absolutely no knowledge of. Meanwhile, the further I travel down the path, the more overgrown it gets till it diminishes to what is barely even a foot path through high grasses scattered with strange spider webs I’ve never seen, but I push on with growing trepidation. Soon I’m walking through a field surrounded by these strange webs knit around single reeds and trying to negotiate a trail that maybe gets used a few times per season. But I can see an out cropping of rocks at the top of the trail, something that usually means a gorgeous view, and that was all the encouragement I needed to risk my life for the sake of the hike.
Thankfully I was right and the outcropping was a ridge with unobstructed views, and breathtaking views at that. I walked for a ways along this ridge, always trying to get higher, still seeing a slight resemblance of the trail I originally pursued up there. I climbed higher, the views got better, and the trail eventually tapered off into nothing and I was left about as high as I was willing to travel. Not being too eager to climb through dense foliage or up rock faces alone, I turned around and made my decent. In the meantime, I’m enjoying myself taking pictures and videos, making a mockery of The Lord of the Ring (which was filmed in New Zealand) with ridiculous narrations and camera angles.
The decent down the rocks and through the fields was met with less anxiety simply because I had no other choice but to get off my mountain, and soon I was back on paved roads without a trace of spider bites. The next goal was to travel a similarly underappreciated trail that I had picked out from my previous vantage point. I was quickly running out of time though, and due to some port restrictions, I cut my next quest short to allow ample time to get back to the ship. Maybe next time I’ll get my chance, with the only thing standing in my way being an opportunity to skydive! But we’ll see what happens, thanks for reading!
Christchurch
For my first visit to Christchurch I did the usual: find something big to climb and see how high I can get.
Technically I was in the port town that leads into Chirstchurch, named Lyttleton, and that’s where I did my climbing. I started out by making my way up to some small castle that had originally been used for navigation and signaling approaching ships. After a quick look around there, I continued walking through the neighborhood in any direction that headed up.
The road soon stopped and turned into an overgrown dirt road. It’s at this point that I start getting nervous because while I’m walking through the weeds and grasses, all I can think about are the possibilities for snakes and spiders I have absolutely no knowledge of. Meanwhile, the further I travel down the path, the more overgrown it gets till it diminishes to what is barely even a foot path through high grasses scattered with strange spider webs I’ve never seen, but I push on with growing trepidation. Soon I’m walking through a field surrounded by these strange webs knit around single reeds and trying to negotiate a trail that maybe gets used a few times per season. But I can see an out cropping of rocks at the top of the trail, something that usually means a gorgeous view, and that was all the encouragement I needed to risk my life for the sake of the hike.
Thankfully I was right and the outcropping was a ridge with unobstructed views, and breathtaking views at that. I walked for a ways along this ridge, always trying to get higher, still seeing a slight resemblance of the trail I originally pursued up there. I climbed higher, the views got better, and the trail eventually tapered off into nothing and I was left about as high as I was willing to travel. Not being too eager to climb through dense foliage or up rock faces alone, I turned around and made my decent. In the meantime, I’m enjoying myself taking pictures and videos, making a mockery of The Lord of the Ring (which was filmed in New Zealand) with ridiculous narrations and camera angles.
The decent down the rocks and through the fields was met with less anxiety simply because I had no other choice but to get off my mountain, and soon I was back on paved roads without a trace of spider bites. The next goal was to travel a similarly underappreciated trail that I had picked out from my previous vantage point. I was quickly running out of time though, and due to some port restrictions, I cut my next quest short to allow ample time to get back to the ship. Maybe next time I’ll get my chance, with the only thing standing in my way being an opportunity to skydive! But we’ll see what happens, thanks for reading!
Wellington
February 4
Wellington
I’ve actually been looking forward to Wellington for some time now simply because I have a friend, the trumpet player from my first ship, who lives there. He was busy during the first part of the day leaving me the early afternoon to do some exploring.
I had gotten a map in the terminal building and headed out with a few things in mind, but due to the cold weather and less than sunny skies, I kept my activities low key. I did a lot of wandering around really, and then mix in some unsuccessful attempts at finding Internet connections in New Zealand and you have the main part of my day.
After a lot of walking I met my friends at some pub my buddy from the ship picked. The bass player here actually knows my old friend, Lex, probably because they’re both from New Zealand, and we all met up with a few others and hung out for a while. After the left the Pub, Lex took a dancer (who also knows him) and I from the ship over to his house where we had tea and talked about what’s new. 40 minutes later he drove us back to the shuttle where we were almost late getting back on the ship, but no problems there. And that’s probably about all for Wellington. We’re hoping Lex has more time when we return so that we can do something a little more exciting than sitting at his place drinking tea, but hey, it’s always cool to see old friends!
Wellington
I’ve actually been looking forward to Wellington for some time now simply because I have a friend, the trumpet player from my first ship, who lives there. He was busy during the first part of the day leaving me the early afternoon to do some exploring.
I had gotten a map in the terminal building and headed out with a few things in mind, but due to the cold weather and less than sunny skies, I kept my activities low key. I did a lot of wandering around really, and then mix in some unsuccessful attempts at finding Internet connections in New Zealand and you have the main part of my day.
After a lot of walking I met my friends at some pub my buddy from the ship picked. The bass player here actually knows my old friend, Lex, probably because they’re both from New Zealand, and we all met up with a few others and hung out for a while. After the left the Pub, Lex took a dancer (who also knows him) and I from the ship over to his house where we had tea and talked about what’s new. 40 minutes later he drove us back to the shuttle where we were almost late getting back on the ship, but no problems there. And that’s probably about all for Wellington. We’re hoping Lex has more time when we return so that we can do something a little more exciting than sitting at his place drinking tea, but hey, it’s always cool to see old friends!
Napier
February 3
Napier
Today was another get out and explore day. Again, I got off the ship with Terry, along with a couple of other friends to walk through the city. We did some shopping, for what ever reason I’ve been looking around for a cool hat (fedora style) to wear in port, but I wasn’t able to find one today. When we got tired of walking through the city we made our way out to the beach and bought some ice cream. I, for absolutely no logical reason, bought maple syrup and hazelnut ice cream, or something to that extent. Needless to say, it tasted like pancakes, and though it was decent ice cream, the breakfast experience wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. But hey, I’m always up for trying something new – have you ever had pancake ice cream?
The group returned to the main part of the city and broke off, Terry and the other guy went to a café, myself and a youth staff girl (Tina) went on our own excursion. After walking along the beach for a while, we came to a botanical garden. The highlight of the garden seemed to be a large waterfall feeding a pond that ran through it, and after some pictures and close up examinations, I came across what looked like what could have been a trail. Well, that’s all the encouragement I need to climb up the side of another cliff as I escape from my botanical A.D.D.
Tina, luckily, was up for a climb and followed along as I pulled myself up onto the path using vines and tree roots to get above the first cliff. I was able to make the limb in my walking shoes, Tina did it in flip flops. We slowly made our way through the wooded incline following a thin strip of dirt I figured was a trail, putting our lives at the mercy of the vines we used as climbing rope (which I’m very carefully to test before putting my life on the line). Soon enough we were above the waterfall, which to my dismay, originated from nothing than a small concrete pool fed by pipes that must have been coming from the pond below – there goes the magic of New Zealand. Anyways, I got over it and we pushed forward to the top. The climb culminated at this thin dirt out cropping, which is probably one of the more dangerous places I’ve been on these hikes of mine. To my right was a huge vertical drop to the street, my left would have left me hanging in branches far below, all while I walked forward on a narrow curved ridge of dirt. Meanwhile, Tina is ahead of me in flip flops. At the end of the dirt ridge sat a house placed at the extreme end of the neighbor hood. Due to the thinness of the area we’d climbed ourselves into we had two options – a: climb back down (which wasn’t going to happen because we were lucky enough to climb up that ridge without fatal injuries, or b: jump a fence and walk through the house’s thin back porch area. Well, we did just that, jumped a fence and walked within feet of opened doors and who knows how many inhabitants, exited the gate on the other side, walked down the drive way and on to solid pavement with out any further awkwardness.
We made our way back through the community and hopped a shuttle back to the ship and everything was back to normal. I went up to the gym soon after and the rest of the day played out as usual – thanks!
Napier
Today was another get out and explore day. Again, I got off the ship with Terry, along with a couple of other friends to walk through the city. We did some shopping, for what ever reason I’ve been looking around for a cool hat (fedora style) to wear in port, but I wasn’t able to find one today. When we got tired of walking through the city we made our way out to the beach and bought some ice cream. I, for absolutely no logical reason, bought maple syrup and hazelnut ice cream, or something to that extent. Needless to say, it tasted like pancakes, and though it was decent ice cream, the breakfast experience wasn’t exactly what I was hoping for. But hey, I’m always up for trying something new – have you ever had pancake ice cream?
The group returned to the main part of the city and broke off, Terry and the other guy went to a café, myself and a youth staff girl (Tina) went on our own excursion. After walking along the beach for a while, we came to a botanical garden. The highlight of the garden seemed to be a large waterfall feeding a pond that ran through it, and after some pictures and close up examinations, I came across what looked like what could have been a trail. Well, that’s all the encouragement I need to climb up the side of another cliff as I escape from my botanical A.D.D.
Tina, luckily, was up for a climb and followed along as I pulled myself up onto the path using vines and tree roots to get above the first cliff. I was able to make the limb in my walking shoes, Tina did it in flip flops. We slowly made our way through the wooded incline following a thin strip of dirt I figured was a trail, putting our lives at the mercy of the vines we used as climbing rope (which I’m very carefully to test before putting my life on the line). Soon enough we were above the waterfall, which to my dismay, originated from nothing than a small concrete pool fed by pipes that must have been coming from the pond below – there goes the magic of New Zealand. Anyways, I got over it and we pushed forward to the top. The climb culminated at this thin dirt out cropping, which is probably one of the more dangerous places I’ve been on these hikes of mine. To my right was a huge vertical drop to the street, my left would have left me hanging in branches far below, all while I walked forward on a narrow curved ridge of dirt. Meanwhile, Tina is ahead of me in flip flops. At the end of the dirt ridge sat a house placed at the extreme end of the neighbor hood. Due to the thinness of the area we’d climbed ourselves into we had two options – a: climb back down (which wasn’t going to happen because we were lucky enough to climb up that ridge without fatal injuries, or b: jump a fence and walk through the house’s thin back porch area. Well, we did just that, jumped a fence and walked within feet of opened doors and who knows how many inhabitants, exited the gate on the other side, walked down the drive way and on to solid pavement with out any further awkwardness.
We made our way back through the community and hopped a shuttle back to the ship and everything was back to normal. I went up to the gym soon after and the rest of the day played out as usual – thanks!
Tauranga
February 2
Tauranga
Technically, I was just outside of Tauranga at Mount maudu-something (I have no idea what it was called). Anyways, I got off the ship with my friend Terry (singer from the first contract) and climbed the mountain the town was named after. It was a decent climb and the mountain was large enough to make it worth it, and to make things easier, there was something we could use to climb it that I almost never use…a path. So we set out up this path and made it to the top some time later.
It’s hard to describe the view at the top, but it was certainly worth the climb, and after a few pictures and me climbing on various objects unnecessarily, we made our way down the other side. We followed a different path down, one that took us across the front of the mountain and lead us to the perfect beach below. After some more walking, we decided to head back into the city to stop at a bar and see how the Super Bowl was progressing.
We arrived at a bar that was showing the game and was packed with Americans from the ship. It was the fourth quarter and perfect timing to catch the most exciting part of the game, especially for someone like me who doesn’t quite follow football. I can honestly say I had no idea who was even playing the day before…I guess I should be ashamed, but I’m not. The game was interesting none the less, and being in a bar where some people were actually emotionally invested in one team or the other made it fun. But it was really neat being able to watch this classic American sport sitting in a ocean village in New Zealand having drinks and nachos – and immediately after an intense hike in perfect weather.
The game ended, the bar immediately cleared out, and Terry and I made our way back to the ship. I’m hoping I can spend the next Tauranga sky diving or white water rafting, and so long as I don’t have a rehearsal late morning like I did today, I should be all set for my next time in port. Thanks for reading!
Tauranga
Technically, I was just outside of Tauranga at Mount maudu-something (I have no idea what it was called). Anyways, I got off the ship with my friend Terry (singer from the first contract) and climbed the mountain the town was named after. It was a decent climb and the mountain was large enough to make it worth it, and to make things easier, there was something we could use to climb it that I almost never use…a path. So we set out up this path and made it to the top some time later.
It’s hard to describe the view at the top, but it was certainly worth the climb, and after a few pictures and me climbing on various objects unnecessarily, we made our way down the other side. We followed a different path down, one that took us across the front of the mountain and lead us to the perfect beach below. After some more walking, we decided to head back into the city to stop at a bar and see how the Super Bowl was progressing.
We arrived at a bar that was showing the game and was packed with Americans from the ship. It was the fourth quarter and perfect timing to catch the most exciting part of the game, especially for someone like me who doesn’t quite follow football. I can honestly say I had no idea who was even playing the day before…I guess I should be ashamed, but I’m not. The game was interesting none the less, and being in a bar where some people were actually emotionally invested in one team or the other made it fun. But it was really neat being able to watch this classic American sport sitting in a ocean village in New Zealand having drinks and nachos – and immediately after an intense hike in perfect weather.
The game ended, the bar immediately cleared out, and Terry and I made our way back to the ship. I’m hoping I can spend the next Tauranga sky diving or white water rafting, and so long as I don’t have a rehearsal late morning like I did today, I should be all set for my next time in port. Thanks for reading!
Auckland
February 1
Auckland
There’s probably not much to say about today in Auckland, aside from that I walked around sporting a brand new sun burn that I was doing my best to keep out of the sun. Also, this meant my first stop in Auckland was to a supermarket where I could pick up some essentials, like sunscreen, so that I can go back to enjoying New Zealand. I picked up what I needed and headed out to find the next most important item, an internet connection.
A god distance of walking later, I came across a decent café with internet, sat down, and made a Skype phone call home. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Skype, it is an internet calling service, wherein it’s free to join, you can call any phone number, and it costs about 2 cents a minute to call the states. In about 50 minutes of talking with the complete other side of the planet, I spent less than a dollar – nice. So that was my other big event.
From there on out, I just walked around looking at the city. There is a large space needle-ish building in Auckland that caught my attention. For a fee, you could either jump off of it, walk around a thin catwalk outside of it, or both. I figure I’d be very much into the both option. Except from talking to friends, I found out the jump isn’t bungee, but some controlled decent where you “fall” hanging from a wire. I don’t know that I’m as excited anymore, but we’ll see what I decide to do next time I’m in town.
I then returned to the ship and spent the rest of the day hanging out doing whatever. Thanks!
Auckland
There’s probably not much to say about today in Auckland, aside from that I walked around sporting a brand new sun burn that I was doing my best to keep out of the sun. Also, this meant my first stop in Auckland was to a supermarket where I could pick up some essentials, like sunscreen, so that I can go back to enjoying New Zealand. I picked up what I needed and headed out to find the next most important item, an internet connection.
A god distance of walking later, I came across a decent café with internet, sat down, and made a Skype phone call home. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Skype, it is an internet calling service, wherein it’s free to join, you can call any phone number, and it costs about 2 cents a minute to call the states. In about 50 minutes of talking with the complete other side of the planet, I spent less than a dollar – nice. So that was my other big event.
From there on out, I just walked around looking at the city. There is a large space needle-ish building in Auckland that caught my attention. For a fee, you could either jump off of it, walk around a thin catwalk outside of it, or both. I figure I’d be very much into the both option. Except from talking to friends, I found out the jump isn’t bungee, but some controlled decent where you “fall” hanging from a wire. I don’t know that I’m as excited anymore, but we’ll see what I decide to do next time I’m in town.
I then returned to the ship and spent the rest of the day hanging out doing whatever. Thanks!
Bay of Islands, New Zealand
Jan 31st
Bay of Island, New Zealand
Day one in New Zealand and my first time off the ship since signing on four days ago! I stepped off the ship into a gorgeous looking port, 90+ degree weather, a beautiful blue sky, and an imminent sunburn.
I left the ship with a few friends who were planning to find lunch off the ship somewhere, and seeing as I had no idea what to expect in the port, I decided to tag along. After a decent walk along the water, we came to the downtown area of the city and found a restaurant where we sat outside and ordered Fish and Chips and a local brew. And let me say, sitting outside eating lunch like that, after leaving the ice cube known as Chicago, was a much-appreciated change of scenery. We finished lunch, the group set off to walk around a bit more, and I eventually broke off with two friends to walk further down along the waterfront.
This point on there isn’t that much more exciting about the day ashore. The highlights of my day after lunch consisted of seeing the largest pine tree I’ve ever witnessed, a beach entitled “taiputuputu puhi beach” (or something like that), and being able to walk back to the ship with my shirt off looking at gorgeous beaches, clear water, and perfect scenery (just because I need to really drive the point home that New Zealand is way nicer than Chicago in Jan and I take pleasure in telling you all about it).
But, all my enjoyment did take its toll. Upon returning to my cabin, I found my arms and neck to be significantly burned. I was surprised because I don’t burn easily and wasn’t expecting any issues being outside for the few hours I spent in the city…then I remembered how people have told me there’s no ozone over this part of the world. Now I’m reminded of the ozone thing every time I put a shirt on. The first thing I plan on doing at my next port is buying sunscreen, this burning stuff isn’t going to happen any more during this cruise.
I had the rest of the night off though, of which was split between drinks with some Bulgarian engineer named Nikolai who is obsessed with rock music, and going to a back deck party to play happy birthday for Nikolai’s friend on my sax. Seriously, I must meet the strangest people around and there’s no logical explanation as to why they always have some sort of affinity toward me. I’m still trying to figure out whether this is a gift I should be proud or weary of, but I guess we’ll find out.
That’s about it for the 31st though - so long January and hello to the next three months of southern hemisphere excursions. Thanks for reading!
Bay of Island, New Zealand
Day one in New Zealand and my first time off the ship since signing on four days ago! I stepped off the ship into a gorgeous looking port, 90+ degree weather, a beautiful blue sky, and an imminent sunburn.
I left the ship with a few friends who were planning to find lunch off the ship somewhere, and seeing as I had no idea what to expect in the port, I decided to tag along. After a decent walk along the water, we came to the downtown area of the city and found a restaurant where we sat outside and ordered Fish and Chips and a local brew. And let me say, sitting outside eating lunch like that, after leaving the ice cube known as Chicago, was a much-appreciated change of scenery. We finished lunch, the group set off to walk around a bit more, and I eventually broke off with two friends to walk further down along the waterfront.
This point on there isn’t that much more exciting about the day ashore. The highlights of my day after lunch consisted of seeing the largest pine tree I’ve ever witnessed, a beach entitled “taiputuputu puhi beach” (or something like that), and being able to walk back to the ship with my shirt off looking at gorgeous beaches, clear water, and perfect scenery (just because I need to really drive the point home that New Zealand is way nicer than Chicago in Jan and I take pleasure in telling you all about it).
But, all my enjoyment did take its toll. Upon returning to my cabin, I found my arms and neck to be significantly burned. I was surprised because I don’t burn easily and wasn’t expecting any issues being outside for the few hours I spent in the city…then I remembered how people have told me there’s no ozone over this part of the world. Now I’m reminded of the ozone thing every time I put a shirt on. The first thing I plan on doing at my next port is buying sunscreen, this burning stuff isn’t going to happen any more during this cruise.
I had the rest of the night off though, of which was split between drinks with some Bulgarian engineer named Nikolai who is obsessed with rock music, and going to a back deck party to play happy birthday for Nikolai’s friend on my sax. Seriously, I must meet the strangest people around and there’s no logical explanation as to why they always have some sort of affinity toward me. I’m still trying to figure out whether this is a gift I should be proud or weary of, but I guess we’ll find out.
That’s about it for the 31st though - so long January and hello to the next three months of southern hemisphere excursions. Thanks for reading!
Sydney/Sea Days
Jan 27-30
Sydney/Sea days
Well, already I’ve managed to procrastinate with writing these posts and am a week delinquent. Not like the first few days on a ship are important or anything….
Anyways, The bus took me to the ship with the 100+ other sign-ons, way more than the crew office was equipped to handle. This meant standing outside for an hour, going through really long lines, and watching the sign on process being executed in the least efficient means possible. Anyways, I made it on the ship, saw many of my old friends in the process, and started to get settled.
I’m rooming with a guy from Sydney, he’s 18 years old and the trombone player. At this point in time, I hadn’t met him and wouldn’t meet him for another day – seeing as we were in Sydney for an overnight, he got off the ship to spend time with his family. This gave me a little more room to get the cabin set up and made things a little easier.
I had the rest of the night off, and seeing as all my friends were off the ship exploring Sydney and I was stuck on due to being a new hire, I was able to just cool down.
I still didn’t receive my seapass card on the 28th, meaning I still couldn’t get off the ship or get online. I really felt as if I was grounded, not allowed to do anything. But hey, it’s more mandatory cool down time, so I did some reading and some other work and kept myself occupied. I had a quick training before we sailed and then two welcome aboard shows at night.
The band is good and I think I’ll do fine here. The horn players are all solid, and I think I’ll be OK with the music director. The MD is a polish guy who plays the alto sax chair. The band seems to dislike him for the most part, it seems to be mostly because he’s hard on them during rehearsal, but after the horrors of my MD on the Queen Victoria, I think this guy will be just fine. I’d rather have a demanding MD anyways, it really does a lot to make the band sound good. But now the job has started back up again, and as always, it almost feels as if I’ve never left. It is nice though coming back to a ship I’ve already had experience on – it means I save myself a week of getting utterly lost in every possible corridor.
The 29th and 30th were both sea days, so nothing big to write about there. I finally got my sea pass card on the 29th and was able to go online and see all the emails I’ve been unable to respond to. But now that I have my card and account all set up I’m about as settled in as I can hope to be.
Otherwise, the 29th was a guest entertainer’s show and the 30th was a big band set. The MD seems really happy with how I’m playing, which considering I’m playing tenor sax for the first time on a ship gig, makes me feel better about playing that horn. I am working hard though to listen and blend, trying to fit into the section as seamlessly as possible and I think he’s noticing that. And if anything, it means I’m winning over points with him, which considering the band doesn’t seem to get along with him all the time, a few brownie points could come in handy sometime.
So that’s all for the first few days, tomorrow will be my first stop in New Zealand, can’t wait to tell you about it!
Sydney/Sea days
Well, already I’ve managed to procrastinate with writing these posts and am a week delinquent. Not like the first few days on a ship are important or anything….
Anyways, The bus took me to the ship with the 100+ other sign-ons, way more than the crew office was equipped to handle. This meant standing outside for an hour, going through really long lines, and watching the sign on process being executed in the least efficient means possible. Anyways, I made it on the ship, saw many of my old friends in the process, and started to get settled.
I’m rooming with a guy from Sydney, he’s 18 years old and the trombone player. At this point in time, I hadn’t met him and wouldn’t meet him for another day – seeing as we were in Sydney for an overnight, he got off the ship to spend time with his family. This gave me a little more room to get the cabin set up and made things a little easier.
I had the rest of the night off, and seeing as all my friends were off the ship exploring Sydney and I was stuck on due to being a new hire, I was able to just cool down.
I still didn’t receive my seapass card on the 28th, meaning I still couldn’t get off the ship or get online. I really felt as if I was grounded, not allowed to do anything. But hey, it’s more mandatory cool down time, so I did some reading and some other work and kept myself occupied. I had a quick training before we sailed and then two welcome aboard shows at night.
The band is good and I think I’ll do fine here. The horn players are all solid, and I think I’ll be OK with the music director. The MD is a polish guy who plays the alto sax chair. The band seems to dislike him for the most part, it seems to be mostly because he’s hard on them during rehearsal, but after the horrors of my MD on the Queen Victoria, I think this guy will be just fine. I’d rather have a demanding MD anyways, it really does a lot to make the band sound good. But now the job has started back up again, and as always, it almost feels as if I’ve never left. It is nice though coming back to a ship I’ve already had experience on – it means I save myself a week of getting utterly lost in every possible corridor.
The 29th and 30th were both sea days, so nothing big to write about there. I finally got my sea pass card on the 29th and was able to go online and see all the emails I’ve been unable to respond to. But now that I have my card and account all set up I’m about as settled in as I can hope to be.
Otherwise, the 29th was a guest entertainer’s show and the 30th was a big band set. The MD seems really happy with how I’m playing, which considering I’m playing tenor sax for the first time on a ship gig, makes me feel better about playing that horn. I am working hard though to listen and blend, trying to fit into the section as seamlessly as possible and I think he’s noticing that. And if anything, it means I’m winning over points with him, which considering the band doesn’t seem to get along with him all the time, a few brownie points could come in handy sometime.
So that’s all for the first few days, tomorrow will be my first stop in New Zealand, can’t wait to tell you about it!
Chicago to Sydney
Jan 24-26
Chicago to Sydney
I’m thinking I never actually completed my last cruise blog, so I’ll do so now…
I was on the Nav, I got on a plane, I flew home. Can’t wait for my next ship.
So here I am, writing to you from Sydney Australia sitting in my cabin preparing for my next 3 months at sea. I flew out on Saturday (24th) to begin my two part trip. The first leg was on United to San Francisco, and was nothing special. The second leg was also United and took me from California to Sydney in around 14 hours. For whatever reason, I was unable to pick my own seat for the flight, and after my Chicago flight got in a little late, I was stuck with whatever seat they gave me for the 14 hour flight, not exactly a preferable situation. The plane ended up being packed and I got put in row A, a window seat. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a seat simply because I like to move once in a while every 14 hours, but the novelty of having a window almost makes it worth it. Somehow, I managed the entire flight without getting out of my seat (aside from using the bathroom 30 minutes before landing), a feat that for whatever reason I’m proud enough of to share with the online community. But we landed in Sydney at 8 am on the morning of the 26th and I began my journey.
After customs, I went in search of a ride to my hotel. The Royal Caribbean rep didn’t have any information for me and suggested I take a cab, which is not the greeting I was hoping for after 20 hours traveling time. I took her advice, exchanged some money, and got a cab to take me the couple miles necessary to my hotel. The hotel was average, I got my room and jumped in the shower to clean off the feeling 20 hours of inactivity leaves you with. During the shower I heard someone come into my room, catching me a little off guard. I was expecting to be put with a roommate, but hoped for at least a couple hours rest before I had to deal with it. Anyway, the guy was a chef from Jamaica and soon left the room to hang out with his friends.
After a short break, I decided to call up my own friend who lives in Sydney and is a friend from my first contract, Belinda. After four 30-second phone calls (apparently all you get for 50 cents), we figured out I was to meet her down town at the Queen Victoria Building (I figured that’d be easy enough seeing as I was just on the Queen Victoria Cruise Ship). I figured out the train was the best option into the city, hopped on, and made the 15 minute trip. Belinda and I found each other soon after I arrived and we started our tour.
Turns out, this Monday that I happen to come into the city is “Australia Day,” meaning Sydney gets packed with people, outdoor food stands, the pubs fill up, and people run around with Australian flags draped around their bodies, with or without clothing. I told Belinda to take me through the city showing me things about Australian Culture that I should know about. This meant eating a really nice meat pie, vegemite toast, calling ketchup “sauce”, and trying a couple different beers – VB and pure blonde. That aside, we simply walked through the city fighting the crowds, trying to get an idea of what Sydney is all about. One of my highlights for the day was that right at the Queen Victoria Building, someone had put a piano. This was entitled the “green piano,” had been painted green, and was there for anyone to play. It was actually interesting to see how many people would actually go up and play something (which for people that seemed to have studied piano, always ended up being ragtime, who knows why). Obviously, me being the ham that I am and the fact that I had a female tour guide, I sat down and played a few things. The piano sounded like garbage, many of the keys were sticking at this point, and the fact that it had started to rain at this point made the whole experience that much more ridiculous. Yeah, the piano is sitting outside of the building with nothing to keep it dry. Actually, someone had put a potted plant on top of it, maybe for no other fact than it could watered by any precipitation having a piano in the open encourages. A bunch of crazy Australians came over and talked with me or clapped when I finished, so I guess I got what I was after.
Speaking of Australians talking, I think it’s absolutely hilarious hearing all these people speaking with an Australian accent. More so than the English, Irish, or any other country with a strong accent, hearing people talk down under just makes me laugh. That and I swear I saw the Thornberries in the airport (Cartoon show).
But back to my day, following the green piano incident, Belinda helped me get the right train ticket back to my hotel and we left figuring we’d hit the beaches next time I’m in port.
I went back to the hotel and slept for the later half of the day till I woke up with my alarm around 9:30 PM for dinner. I took my $25 allowance from the ship and spent it at the bar on a really nice burger (a wagyu burger…I think). While I was talking to the bar tender about working on ships, a couple behind me heard me say I was a musician and called me over. The husband ended up being a country music singer in town for some festival, where as his wife used to be married to the guy wrote “Tainted Love”, if I remember correctly. They were waiting for a cab to pick them up, so I sat with them for the next 20 minutes talking about ships and places where the husband plays country music. They now live in Wyoming, and his accent certainly supported it, but he’d been playing a lot of music in Key West, which gave us something to talk about.
The cab eventually came, they left, and I went up to my room to collapse and hopefully get a good night of sleep to reset my internal clock. Tomorrow I’ll get picked up in the morning to head out to the ship, but so far we’re off to an interesting start of another Mike Potts cruise ship adventure!
Chicago to Sydney
I’m thinking I never actually completed my last cruise blog, so I’ll do so now…
I was on the Nav, I got on a plane, I flew home. Can’t wait for my next ship.
So here I am, writing to you from Sydney Australia sitting in my cabin preparing for my next 3 months at sea. I flew out on Saturday (24th) to begin my two part trip. The first leg was on United to San Francisco, and was nothing special. The second leg was also United and took me from California to Sydney in around 14 hours. For whatever reason, I was unable to pick my own seat for the flight, and after my Chicago flight got in a little late, I was stuck with whatever seat they gave me for the 14 hour flight, not exactly a preferable situation. The plane ended up being packed and I got put in row A, a window seat. It wouldn’t be my first choice for a seat simply because I like to move once in a while every 14 hours, but the novelty of having a window almost makes it worth it. Somehow, I managed the entire flight without getting out of my seat (aside from using the bathroom 30 minutes before landing), a feat that for whatever reason I’m proud enough of to share with the online community. But we landed in Sydney at 8 am on the morning of the 26th and I began my journey.
After customs, I went in search of a ride to my hotel. The Royal Caribbean rep didn’t have any information for me and suggested I take a cab, which is not the greeting I was hoping for after 20 hours traveling time. I took her advice, exchanged some money, and got a cab to take me the couple miles necessary to my hotel. The hotel was average, I got my room and jumped in the shower to clean off the feeling 20 hours of inactivity leaves you with. During the shower I heard someone come into my room, catching me a little off guard. I was expecting to be put with a roommate, but hoped for at least a couple hours rest before I had to deal with it. Anyway, the guy was a chef from Jamaica and soon left the room to hang out with his friends.
After a short break, I decided to call up my own friend who lives in Sydney and is a friend from my first contract, Belinda. After four 30-second phone calls (apparently all you get for 50 cents), we figured out I was to meet her down town at the Queen Victoria Building (I figured that’d be easy enough seeing as I was just on the Queen Victoria Cruise Ship). I figured out the train was the best option into the city, hopped on, and made the 15 minute trip. Belinda and I found each other soon after I arrived and we started our tour.
Turns out, this Monday that I happen to come into the city is “Australia Day,” meaning Sydney gets packed with people, outdoor food stands, the pubs fill up, and people run around with Australian flags draped around their bodies, with or without clothing. I told Belinda to take me through the city showing me things about Australian Culture that I should know about. This meant eating a really nice meat pie, vegemite toast, calling ketchup “sauce”, and trying a couple different beers – VB and pure blonde. That aside, we simply walked through the city fighting the crowds, trying to get an idea of what Sydney is all about. One of my highlights for the day was that right at the Queen Victoria Building, someone had put a piano. This was entitled the “green piano,” had been painted green, and was there for anyone to play. It was actually interesting to see how many people would actually go up and play something (which for people that seemed to have studied piano, always ended up being ragtime, who knows why). Obviously, me being the ham that I am and the fact that I had a female tour guide, I sat down and played a few things. The piano sounded like garbage, many of the keys were sticking at this point, and the fact that it had started to rain at this point made the whole experience that much more ridiculous. Yeah, the piano is sitting outside of the building with nothing to keep it dry. Actually, someone had put a potted plant on top of it, maybe for no other fact than it could watered by any precipitation having a piano in the open encourages. A bunch of crazy Australians came over and talked with me or clapped when I finished, so I guess I got what I was after.
Speaking of Australians talking, I think it’s absolutely hilarious hearing all these people speaking with an Australian accent. More so than the English, Irish, or any other country with a strong accent, hearing people talk down under just makes me laugh. That and I swear I saw the Thornberries in the airport (Cartoon show).
But back to my day, following the green piano incident, Belinda helped me get the right train ticket back to my hotel and we left figuring we’d hit the beaches next time I’m in port.
I went back to the hotel and slept for the later half of the day till I woke up with my alarm around 9:30 PM for dinner. I took my $25 allowance from the ship and spent it at the bar on a really nice burger (a wagyu burger…I think). While I was talking to the bar tender about working on ships, a couple behind me heard me say I was a musician and called me over. The husband ended up being a country music singer in town for some festival, where as his wife used to be married to the guy wrote “Tainted Love”, if I remember correctly. They were waiting for a cab to pick them up, so I sat with them for the next 20 minutes talking about ships and places where the husband plays country music. They now live in Wyoming, and his accent certainly supported it, but he’d been playing a lot of music in Key West, which gave us something to talk about.
The cab eventually came, they left, and I went up to my room to collapse and hopefully get a good night of sleep to reset my internal clock. Tomorrow I’ll get picked up in the morning to head out to the ship, but so far we’re off to an interesting start of another Mike Potts cruise ship adventure!
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