Our World Adventure 2018 - by land and sea

A bit of Sydney and Melbourne We’re on our own for a couple of weeks – very different style of travel, but more what we are used to doing. We had two enjoyable days in Sydney while again staying with a with Colleen. We found the “I’m Free” walking tour at the town hall. As it happened, our guide was the founder of the company (now has tours in Melbourne, too). We ate at a recommended café on a back street in the Rocks (Playfair Café) – good food and reasonable prices. Later we took a ferry up the river to Parramatta. There isn’t much of interest in the town, but the ferry ride was fun. It started raining as we walked around a bit and with less-than-clear late afternoon ferry options back to Sydney, we took the train back into the city. We had several thoughts for our last day but ultimately decided to take the bus to the famous Bondi Beach and walk along the coast to Coogee Beach, stopping at Bronte Beach for a fish lunch. It’s a six km walk, paved with stairs here and there

Sydney and north with friends Our first week in Australia was a whirlwind trip – seeing as much country as our friends could manage in a short time period. Our first day was stressful in advance but not in actuality. On our previous QE cruise we were able to do the Australian Immigration on the ship between Auckland and Sydney but this time we had to do it on land and we had a train to catch. I stressed for several days but it went very smoothly and super quick. We had to get an Opal Card (can keep it forever 😊 ) to add money to for local and regional trains, ferries, and buses. It really worked well but we didn’t want to load too much since there are no refunds (and you have to put specific amounts on, not just what you need). Anyway, we used it a lot that week. We took the train to meet Robyn and Cecilia, friends from our previous cruise on the Queen Elizabeth north of the city on Day 1 to go out on their yacht with them. It’s a life we aren’t used to at all, so it was

We were till in a 50 % mode for our sea days (half rocking and rolling and half smooth sailing). We  seem to be handling the seas fine. A number of people in our Cruise Critic group and table mates have become ill - the dreaded cough. It would be nice if cruise lines would be a bit more proactive and not just leave it to individuals to share their illnesses as they want. We have left several venues due to people coughing all around us (or at least changed seats). Maybe having masks available would help - or at least to strongly recommend the use of them. Arrival in Auckland was on a really nice day -  our first order of business was to find the yarn store in the Queen's Arcade. A purchase of a couple of skeins with a blend with possum was easily obtained and we were ready to meet our friends (from the 2015 World Cruise) at the ferry drop-off area. They live a ways north of Auckland - nice country but they've moved several times to stay ahead of the burgeoning suburbs. We enjo