Deckchair Diaries

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Deckchair Diaries

Just a couple of young(ish) travelers living the high life exploring our beautiful world, find us a

27/03/2024

Hobart, TAS

Unfortunately the weather didn’t want to play nice this day, and we had showers throughout the day. That didn’t stop us exploring the oldest brewery in Australia.

27/03/2024

Burnie, TAS
What a surprising little city!

After being greeted by the town mayor, we explored waterfalls, rhododendron gardens, spotted wild platypus and took a quick visit to the beach (unfortunately we didn’t have time to take a dip, but it may have been too cold anyway).

21/03/2024

Adelaide

We took a tour with Tipsy Touring up to the Barossa Valley for a day of tasting all the local delights including chocolate, wine and gin.

19/03/2024

Albany, WA

We started the day up in the clouds on Stony Hill, from there we got to see some spectacular views of the surrounding area.

After that we visited a beach that held some of the remnants of an old whaling station, and the next stop was another old whaling station that has been converted to a museum where we enjoyed some delicious morning tea.

The next stop was The Gap and The Natural Bridge, some beautiful natural formations in the rocks along the coastline. Unfortunately the photos don’t do it justice, especially The Gap and its roar as the water hits the rock.

The last stop was a wind farm that supplies 80% of the power to the Albany area. It was so quiet and peaceful up there.

Overall it was a wonderful day in Albany with the Busy Blue Bus.

17/03/2024

Busselton

Since we enjoyed our last visit to Busselton so much we decided to do a “repeat”. We hired Bill from Esquire Charters to drive us around in his Rolls Royce for the day.

17/03/2024

Friday in Freo

Since we have been there a few times we just had a quick visit. We visited Republic (a gin distillery) and tasted a few gins before buying a couple to take home 🍹

14/03/2024

Lovely day in Geraldton today

After catching the shuttle into town we walked up to the museum, which included walking past the HMAS Sydney II Memorial (we weren’t brave enough to walk up the hill in the heat, we will save that for a future visit). After that we walked back into town and did a bit of shopping, before walking out to the Cathedral. The Cathedral had some beautiful stained glass windows, but my favourites were the four round ones. At least three of the four round ones have little red setter dogs hidden in them (I have only been able to find one so far). After all that walking we headed back to the ship for a late lunch and a relaxing afternoon onboard. Just sailing out of the harbour now.

12/03/2024

Stunning day at Exmouth today 🏝️

We hired a car to drive out to Turquoise Bay, did some snorkeling and swimming, then drove up to the Vlamingh Head Precinct to check out the view.

10/03/2024

Unfortunately we had to divert back to Darwin yesterday afternoon to medivac two passengers. We had a report earlier from the captain that both passengers are stable in the Darwin hospital which was a relief to hear. The diversion does mean we miss out on the Kimberly Coast cruising that was scheduled for today, but well worth it to save lives. We are now steaming at full speed towards our next port of call in Exmouth in two days.

10/03/2024

🍫 Chocolate Demonstration 🍫

This morning two of the chefs gave a quick chocolate demonstration on how to make and decorate large Easter eggs. The best part was at the end they gave away the two eggs they decorated (we didn’t win) and let us eat the unused decorative pieces (they were delicious!) 🤤

09/03/2024

Darwin
We didn’t do much in Darwin as we caught up with family, but did spend some time down at the Waterfront enjoying the lovely location 💚

05/03/2024

First port of call - Cairns

It was a hot day, nearly 34° at the Cairns Lagoon. Perfect weather for a swim before walking back to the ship for lunch

01/03/2024

Ready for our next adventure, cruising around Oz on this beauty 🇦🇺

18/12/2023

One last look at the Carnival Splendor as we left Sydney after our cruise 🛳️

18/12/2023

Green Eggs and Ham!!

On Carnival Splendor they offer a Dr Seuss breakfast where you get to meet some of the Dr Seuss characters and even eat green eggs and ham for breakfast (I wasn’t that brave). It was a small additional cost for the experience, but well worth it! We even had a special guest as it is the Christmas season 💚

18/12/2023

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 🎄

They held a carols night on the Carnival Splendor, and we even saw “snow” despite being in the middle of the South Pacific 🎄 ❄️ 🎶

18/12/2023

Dr Seuss is on the loose!

During one of the sea days on the Carnival Splendor they let the Dr Seuss characters lead a crowd from the back of the ship to the front of the ship, before they read/acted out a Dr Seuss story. During the walk from the back of the ship to the front of the ship they gave the kids (and the young at heart) pom poms and colourful cow bells to shake. It was loud and chaotic, but so much fun!

17/12/2023

Port Vila, Vanuatu

We have been to Port Vila a few times before, and were considering getting off there (just so we would have one day off the ship during the cruise) but when we realised it was Sunday and most local businesses and markets were closed, we once again chose to stay on the ship and enjoy its amenities whilst most of the guests were off exploring.

On our 10 day cruise we were originally scheduled to stop at 5 ports, but Mare got cancelled well before we left and unfortunately Mystery Island was cancelled on the day due to weather.

17/12/2023

Lifou, New Caledonia

As we had been to Lifou before we again chose to stay on the ship and enjoy its amenities whilst most of the guests were off exploring.

On our 10 day cruise we were originally scheduled to stop at 5 ports, but Mare got cancelled well before we left and unfortunately Mystery Island was cancelled on the day due to weather.

17/12/2023

Noumea, New Caledonia

As we had been to Noumea before we chose to stay on the ship and enjoy its amenities whilst most of the guests were off exploring.

On our 10 day cruise we were originally scheduled to stop at 5 ports, but Mare got cancelled well before we left and unfortunately Mystery Island was cancelled on the day due to weather.

17/12/2023

Every day we would return to our room to find a new towel animal hanging out on our bed 🐘 🦒 🐻 🐶 🐰 🦀

Any guesses what the second last one is meant to be? ❔

17/12/2023

Exploring the Carnival Splendor on our first day on board. We had a balcony room, which had lovely views on the Sydney Harbour Bridge whilst we were docked in Sydney.

There were plenty of activities to do on board (mini golf, water slides, basketball court just to name a few) and plenty of places to relax too (although you sometimes had to be quick to get a deckchair in the more “premium” spots).

Sailaway saw a lot of people on the outer decks enjoying the views as we left the beautiful Sydney Harbour (still one of our favourite departures on a cruise ship).

16/12/2023

Whilst in Sydney we had to stop at the new Lego store (apparently it is the largest Lego store in the world). There were so many Lego installations in the store, including these giant sized “minifigs” (some were brick built others were not 🧱)

16/12/2023

Whilst in Sydney we had to stop at the new Lego store (apparently it is the largest Lego store in the world). There were so many Lego installations in the store, including this spectacular tree with quite a few residents inside 🧱

16/12/2023

Some spectacular views catching the ferry from Taronga Zoo Sydney to the Overseas Passenger Terminal ready to catch the Carnival Splendor earlier this month 🛳️

14/12/2023

Last stop on the Taronga Zoo Sydney Roar and Snore experience was a visit to the Education Rooms and animal care area.

In the Rainforest Room we got to see a variety of rainforest animals living together in harmony, including some cotton-top tamarins, some bleeding heart doves, and other small creatures. The dove looks like it is injured, but that red patch on its chest is part of its natural plumage.

In the animal care area we met a ring tail possum, and saw a koala and some kangaroos. The zoo is able to release well over 90% of their animal hospital patients back into their native habitats, but some are not fit for release (or not native wildlife in Australia so cannot be released) so they sometimes become educational tools for the zoo.

14/12/2023

Before breakfast on the Taronga Zoo Sydney Roar and Snore experience we got to take another behind the scenes tour of the zoo, this time visiting some Aldabra Giant Tortoises, the giraffes, the chimps and a cassowary. We even got to feed one of the giraffes some carrots and the team gave us a lot of information about the different animals we saw on our walk.

If you love learning about animals, supporting wildlife conservation and unique experiences we thoroughly recommend the Roar and Snore experience at Taronga Zoo.

14/12/2023

After our Taronga Zoo Sydney Roar and Snore dinner we were given a night time tour of the zoo, where we saw camels, seals, the sun bear and a tiger. We did look for the red pandas too, but they didn’t want to be found. The keepers used red torches as it doesn’t hurt the animals eyes (white light would).

The sun bear at Taronga is related to one of the sun bears we saw at / in Canberra during our last zoo visit.

14/12/2023

Just some of the MANY reasons we fly with Qantas 🍨 🥂

We have a layover of a few hours in Brisbane after the cruise, and whilst we were sitting enjoying a cold beverage or three the Qantas Club staff brought out Christmas Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches for the passengers to enjoy.

Plus, I have discovered a new favourite drink, the Qantas Sofi Sky Spritz. Perfect with some ice and a lemon garnish. Thanks to the gents at the bar for the recommendation 🍹

And to top it all off, they just brought around Christmas plum pudding - yum! 🍓

06/12/2023

The accommodations at Taronga Zoo Sydney’s Roar and Snore are glamping tents with everything you need for the experience. Our room had a double and a single bed in it, although we only used the double during our stay.

The view from the viewing deck was spectacular, and watching the city light up was a special experience.

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Albany, WA We started the day up in the clouds on Stony Hill, from there we got to see some spectacular views of the surrounding area. After that we visited a beach that held some of the remnants of an old whaling station, and the next stop was another old whaling station that has been converted to a museum where we enjoyed some delicious morning tea. The next stop was The Gap and The Natural Bridge, some beautiful natural formations in the rocks along the coastline. Unfortunately the photos don’t do it justice, especially The Gap and its roar as the water hits the rock. The last stop was a wind farm that supplies 80% of the power to the Albany area. It was so quiet and peaceful up there. Overall it was a wonderful day in Albany with the Busy Blue Bus.

Stunning day at Exmouth today 🏝️ We hired a car to drive out to Turquoise Bay, did some snorkeling and swimming, then drove up to the Vlamingh Head Precinct to check out the view.

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