Sailing On The Ocean, The Tide Rolls High!

So when I left off, we had boarded the Pacific Sun and set off on our high seas adventure! It was terribly exciting, watching the tug boats push us off, the kids getting terribly excited (Bethany though decided it was an appropriate time to try and hide on the deck)

- finally we were off on our adventure! But then the first little hiccup struck, something that really shouldn't have affected me, having grown up on boats - but did. You see, when sailing on the ocean, the tide rolls high...

And roll it did! Coming out of Newcastle harbour! The waves started to get quite large, and although it wasn't really rough, by any standards - it was enough to have myself and my sister Mel feeling somewhat seedy - and just before dinner!

The family had adjourned to the Burgundy dining room for dinner that night. On board the Pacific Sun there are 2 dining rooms - Burgundy and Bordeaux - they both serve the same food but the Bordeaux is just that little more (allegedly) up market - so you usually have to make a reservation. We couldn't get one, so the Burgundy it was - which was fine - but when the ship is a-rocking and a-rolling, and you start to feel a bit off - well, that's not when you want to be ordering a 3 course meal! I think I managed the chicken soup and that was pretty much it... Fortunately, my sister Beck is a walking chemist, and she had come prepared with a whole swag of Stemotil, which Mel and I eagerly wolfed down - and instantly felt a whole lot better.

That evening was our first at exploring all the ship had to offer. I decided to go check out some of the night time activities - as advertised in the Pacific Daily, the newsletter that they give you each night advertising the next days' activities. Firstly we headed off to the Atlantis lounge to see the show - it was Ugly Dave Grey - and whilst it was ok, it wasn't really that funny. After that, according to the Daily, there was a "singles mingles" event in the Oz Bar, so off I went. Unfortunately, I suspect I was probably the only single on the cruise - cos no one else turned up! So I set off to explore the ship anyway... There is just sooo much on board - there's a gym, the 'oasis' (childfree, with sauna and spa), a beauty salon (for hair and so on), the Lotus Day spa (lots of massages and treatments), the Oz bar, the Terrace lounge, the Atlantis lounge (with 2 shows nightly), smuggler's bar, the casino, two pools, the buffet... lots of stuff! Plus a library that by night becomes an amazing steakhouse, and the speakeasy bar - with a bench designed like a piano (leading actually to the piano). So much to do....

The next morning, after enduring a sleepless night of Mum and Dad snoring (I was in a cabin with both them and Lach), I got up early (I couldn't sleep anymore anyway with all the snorts and whinnies from M and D). I'd decided that I wanted to go to the gym. Unfortunately when I got there (at 6.30am) it was totally busy - all the equipment was in use - so I decided to go looking for the so-called running track. As I was looking, suddenly the gym guy Tim (from Sweden) comes out, and asks if anyone is there for boot camp. I thought, why not - so I joined in. It was really good actually, but very hard work - you try running around the deck of a rolling ship raising a car tire up and down above your head! However what I hadn't realised, was that the boot camp was a charge activity - which cost me $10. Worth it, though.

That day was a day at sea, but unfortunately the weather was unpleasant - so whilst there was technically a lot on, according to the daily, I quickly realised that there wasn't a lot on simultaneously - so if you weren't interested in belly dancing at 11, then you didn't have anything else to do at 11. Fortunately Beck and I were, so we checked it out. And prior to that, Mum and I checked out the church service (which was somewhat brief - 2 hymns, a prayer and a poem - but still it was something). Other activities that I participated in was line-dancing, which surprisingly I really enjoyed - plus it is really quite tricky to do when the ship is rocking up and down! Gives a whole new meaning to the word 'grapevine'...

The next day, Monday, we were in port - in Brisbane. When we originally booked the trip, the boat was going to Brisbane, but not taking on passengers there. However they eventually opened up bookings to Brisbane so we did get some 300 new passengers on board. Mel had been feeling unwell though, and I had been feeling cold (with the rain) so when we arrived in Brisbane, we disembarked and spent the morning at Toombul - Mel at the doctor, and I in the flat getting a jumper. We made it back for lunch and spent the afternoon playing scrabble and other board games.

We also had the opportunity that afternoon to catch up with Grandma and the Heads. They came down to say hi so we had coffee at the wharf - which was really nice. Plus then they got to wave us off, as we finally set off for the high seas....

The Storm Before The Calm

So firstly I have to apologise for not really keeping up to date with my blogging. To be honest, I've been quite busy with mundane things - and that's not of any interest to anyone, now is it? But finally I have some things which are blogworthy... I had an extremely whirlwind week leading up to our impending first family holiday ever. Everyone else was getting quite excited, but I wasn't able to join in with their sentiments, because of the huge list of things I needed to achieve before the trip could actually take place. For me, this week truly was like the storm before the calm. Firstly I had to organise my packing - no small task as, those who know me well, would know that this is the one thing I detest the most about going on holiday - because I agonise over every single item I pack, and then start to fret over how much stuff I have. What made this all the worse was the fact that not only did I have to pack for 2 different seasons (the hopefully warm, sunny and bright weather of the cruise, and the unfortunately cold, damp and depressing weather of Melbourne afterwards), but that I also had to have it all packed a week before the actual trip. This was because of a couple of reasons, but primarily because I really needed to avoid checking my luggage in on my flight at all costs - I was flying with dodgy Jetstar after all, and timing was essentially down to the wire, with my arriving on the morning of the cruise. So Mum and Dad "offered" to cart my luggage with them as they were driving down to Newcastle - alas leaving several days beforehand... But beggars can't be choosers, so I sorted it out. Painfully. And that was the Sunday. Then I had to endure the week from hell at school - marking, marking, and yes, more marking - but this is a huge problem because firstly, I detest marking, and secondly, I'm really slow at it - because I want to be totally sure that I get it right for the sake of the kids. So that was a nightmare - because I couldn't do everything else I had to do until I did this. Then I had to do my verification submissions (aka moderation hell for teachers), SAIs (aka administrative b.s. which doesn't actually mean anything but causes a major headache for Heads of Department for no real reason at this point), and I also had a staff end of term thank you dinner as well - busy, busy, busy! Oh and a concert to organise and a visit to the opera with some students. Throw into all of this the wonderful visit of my dearest friend Heather from the UK and you will see Kylie was a very busy girl. It all however came to a head on the Wednesday evening when I was up until 3am trying to burn DVDs for the verification submission due, at the really stupid hour of 9am on Thursday morning (like, the thing isn't even due at the Board until the second day back after the holidays!) - suffice to say I was very tired and stressed the next day. Fortunately that was when I got to catch up with Heather, in Coolum - such a lovely time we had! It was all worth it... Then finally, Saturday came, and everything went surprisingly smoothly (well, except for the short delay as the cab I had booked came a bit late!). Actually it all was a bit of a miracle - 12 people needed to travel separately to Newcastle and arrive at the Port by 1.30pm for boarding on the Pacific Sun - so many things could've gone wrong. Mum and Dad drove down (3 days in advance) - the car nearly wasn't ready 2 days prior and needed a bit of work (and a new battery upon arrival!). Beck and her family were driving down on the Friday, towing a caravan - their luck with cars is dodgy at best, but fortunately all went smoothly. Mel and her family were flying down the night before - with the aforementioned trouble-ridden Jetstar - whilst they had some delay (inevitable with Jetstar!), they made it (albeit it later than expected) - although they had bigger problems the next day with the traffic around the port and with trying to return their hire car in time - but it all worked out. And then there was me, flying down at the crack of dawn o'clock on Saturday morning - last to leave, but still had some timing issues as had to get picked up by Mum and Dad sometime and somewhere in Newcastle - and yet all of these things came off and we arrived literally within a few minutes of each other at the Port. Finally our boarding time came and we were off! After months of planning, the holiday of a lifetime is finally here! Stay tuned for updates of our adventures...