The weather

All it does is rain. Not much summer this year.

And then we had hail.....

 Both V.Ws were damaged as well as the solar panels on the roof of the house.

The roof of the deck now has holes but we were planning to replace it thus year anyway.

The willow tree is also dying.

Here it is in 2025

 and in 2017.

 It started dying in the drought and then was battered by the hurricane back a few years ago and has never recovered. 

Crown Princess - Boxing Day - Disembarking

An early breakfast overlooking the Opera House as we had to be out of the room by 8:30.

And we hopped on a train and went straight to the airport, were we where so early for our flight that we had trouble checking in. Then we spent about 5 hours in the Qantas lounge and I started uploading my blog posts.

The ship now has a 3 night cruise to Eden.

Then its to Fiji  for New Years.

The doggies were happy to see us when we picked them up on the 27th.

https://www.princess.com/en-au/ships-and-experience/ships/bridgecams

Crown Princess - Day 12 - Christmas Day

Its the last day of the cruise and finally the weather is good enough for the passengers to be out on deck.

It was a novelty for some to have a hot Christmas so there was a pool party.

And a prize for the person in the best Christmas outfit.

We struggled to get a seat for dinner, I had been trying to book a table since day 1.

But others who were wiser  must have booked before the cruise even started.

But, luckily we went in early and had a table for two.

 Sorry about the shadow from my phone.

And then to pack up and leave the bags outside the room by 9:30 that night.

Here's Ryan our steward.

Bye Ryan, thanks for everything.

I'm still getting lost and its the last day!

Because the lifts are in a circle its really disorientating.

We are on the elephant side of the ship...

And that's nearly it.

Home tomorrow.

 

 

Crown Princess - Day 11 - Christmas Eve and a slow trip home...

Here we are at dinner in the Michelangelo restaurant on Christmas Eve.

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And now to share all my lovely photos from Port Arthur....

And that's all the photos! 

We were lucky to be on the right side of the ship so I could take photos from the cabin. 

They sent over a test tender and Captain Mario decided it was too rough for a safe trip.

So unfortunately Port Arthur is cancelled a we turned around to take a slower journey back to Sydney.

I fell sorry for locals who run the tours as it must be disappointing financially for them. 3000ish people suddenly not visiting.

The Cafe! All stocked up for this onslaught which didn't happen.

Also the gift shop. Graham hasn't even bought a souvenir t-shirt on this trip. 

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I've bought Christmas presents for Rose and Hailey at the cruise markets in Hobart, but I've bought nothing for Sean & Andrew, or ourselves!

(I did the little kids presents prior to Christmas but have got them little souvenirs. The girls a carved pencil from the Babushka shop in Melbourne and Hamish a blow up Crown Princess ship which hilariously cost $2.00. )

So near, yet so far!

 

 

The crew were scrambling  to put on quizzes and activities for the unexpected sea day.

But because we were up early for the cancelled tour, we settled down in the lounge to have a coffee.

 

 We watched the cruise director, Dan, tape the Christmas day 'Wake Show' which you can watch each morning on your cabin TV to find out what activities are on around the ship. He also interviews crew members, which is interesting and funny. Dan HATES cats, its a running gag.

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I will now tell you about the medallions.

Instead of a card we were issued with a medallion on a lanyard.

 You are able to order food or drink on the menu on your phone and there are sensors all over the ship pin pointing exactly were you are and they bring your order to you.

 The medallion is also the key to your room, and your door unlocks while you are walking up the hall! One orders a drink at the bar, and the bartender will say, Mrs Kim right.Thank you Mrs Kim.. They pick up who you are by the medallion. A photo of the passenger also appears on their screens! 

 

 

There was a Christmas show with songs about snow...

Crown Princess - Day 10- Hobart

After sailing around the top of Tasmania we have arrived early in the morning in Hobart,

 As we had a refund from our tour on Kangaroo Island we decided to book a bus tour. 

We also were given $150.00 ship credits each which paid for my Birthday meal and went towards our beverage package.

 First stop was a guided tour of Hobart's Botanical gardens.

Where we learnt about the Huon pine.

Its only around 16 degrees. I certainly didn't bring warm enough clothes, at least when you are not hot and sweaty you can get more than one days wear out of your clothes.

A lot of the sandstone in the gardens has been recycled from buildings being demolished

 

ANNIVERSARY ARCH

The archway commemorates the 150th Anniversary of founding of the Botanical Gardens in 1818.

The arch was originally constructed in 1913 to span the entrance of the Australian Mutual Provident Society's original Elizabeth Street building. When that building was demolished, AMP donated the arch to the Gardens. It was re-erected in 1968 in time for celebrations of the Gardens' 150th Anniversary.

 https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/government/state/display/101263-royal-tasmanian-botanical-gardens-anniversary-arch

 

.We then headed to Mount Wellington while the weather held

Only made it by the skin of our teeth.

Got off the coach, snapped a few pics,  then watched the mist roll across, bringing with it icy rain.

Brrrrrr....

It was only about 5 degrees so everyone was back on the coach pretty quickly.

It gave us time to have bit of a sight seeing tour around Hobart before being returned to the ship.

Then we went for wander to find some lunch and found a very nice Fish and chip place on the wharf.

 

https://www.mures.com.au/lower-deck/

 

 
 

We passed this bronze statue taking a selfie with the ship.

Louis Bernacchi was a scientist, photographer, and writer. In 1898 he set out on the Southern Cross and became the first Australian to winter in Antarctica. In the artwork, he stands by his camera holding a flag as he takes a self-portrait (what we’d now call a “selfie”) of him and his husky dog Joe. He later joined Robert Scott on a 1901 expedition, taking Joe along with him for the journey.

 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/heading-south-statues-at-hobart-harbour 

 

 We didn't sail until night as its only a short way to our next stop at Port Arthur.

In a few days It will be the 50th anniversary of the Tasman bridge falling down. (5th of January). 

Hobart is getting ready for the Sydney to Hobart race yachts.

Port Arthur tomorrow and going over by tender to join our tour, fingers crossed....