Cruising the South Seas
30 May 2016
The annual visit of the IFBB Pro bodybuilding circus was in March. Jay and I went to the prejudging and the Expo where I was significantly disadvantaged by the lack of age handicaps on the rowing ergo competition. We saw a few of the pros training at our gym, including Kai Greene and Cedric McMillan.
We did not go away over Easter as I was on call for St Vincent's on Easter Saturday. Instead we had a visit from my cousin Elizabeth from Canberra and her partner Tom so we went to Southbank for lunch. My birthday was soon after Easter. For the first time in years I worked part of the day. We had dinner at The Estelle in Northcote but the main treat was the following weekend when we went away.
Jim came to visit from Sydney for the weekend after my birthday. On the Sunday we all went together to the airport for him to fly home and for us to head to Tahiti via Auckland. We met Beau and Simon in Auckland and arrived together in Papeete.
After one night in Papeete we boarded the "Marina", an Oceania cruise ship, for an Atlantis cruise to various islands in French Polynesia. It was a smaller ship than we had previously been on, with about 1200 passengers. The standard of the ship both in accommodation and food was a definite step up from the Celebrity ships we had been on before.
We spent seven nights visiting five islands, including an overnight stay moored in Bora Bora. It was the first cruise for Beau and Simon and we did many of the activities together. The highlight for all of us was the two hours we spent on jet skis on the lagoon in Bora Bora. It was exactly as depicted in post cards.
The cruise had many of the usual evening parties we had experienced previously with Atlantis. The crowd was a little smaller and also older than on previous cruises so even the white party didn't go the whole night. Nonetheless we were pretty tired by the time we disembarked in Papeete. We met some great guys on the cruise as well as catching up with quite a few guys from the US we had not seen for a few years.
Jay and I stayed another two nights in Tahiti, renting a car and driving around the island to see the tourist sights. I made an album of photos online as well as a short video (embedded below). We arrived home in time for work on Friday. Jay went straight back into a very busy period of preparation for Google I/O, where some work from his studio was to be featured.
While we were away, Dad bought a wheelchair van. We had been renting one to take Mum out now that she is not able to walk, and owning a van was going to be a lot easier than travelling to near to airport to pick up a rental. The first long-distance trip we did was to Sorrento for the day. Mum seems to get quite a lot of enjoyment from going out and so we have been doing quite a few half-day trips with her.
The rowing club hosted our annual regatta at the end of April which drew a big crowd of competitors from around the state. It featured one race in eight-seat sculls which is an unusual configuration for a boat. We have kept one of our boats rigged that way as quite a few members have been keen to try it.
At home we have been occupied with what we hope is the final attempt to repair the leak. The doors onto the deck were removed and reflashed and the tiles and membrane on the deck were taken up and relaid. Mercifully there has been no leak since, so we should be able to get the interior plaster repaired safely soon. Close to home we have had to contend with newspaper write-ups of both the new croissanterie and doughnut shop in our street. The queues for croissants have been particularly ridiculous with people waiting hours to buy them.
In July we are planning to visit Jay's parents in Thunder Bay and on the way we will see friends in San Francisco and Boston and also visit Washington DC.
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We did not go away over Easter as I was on call for St Vincent's on Easter Saturday. Instead we had a visit from my cousin Elizabeth from Canberra and her partner Tom so we went to Southbank for lunch. My birthday was soon after Easter. For the first time in years I worked part of the day. We had dinner at The Estelle in Northcote but the main treat was the following weekend when we went away.
Jim came to visit from Sydney for the weekend after my birthday. On the Sunday we all went together to the airport for him to fly home and for us to head to Tahiti via Auckland. We met Beau and Simon in Auckland and arrived together in Papeete.
After one night in Papeete we boarded the "Marina", an Oceania cruise ship, for an Atlantis cruise to various islands in French Polynesia. It was a smaller ship than we had previously been on, with about 1200 passengers. The standard of the ship both in accommodation and food was a definite step up from the Celebrity ships we had been on before.
We spent seven nights visiting five islands, including an overnight stay moored in Bora Bora. It was the first cruise for Beau and Simon and we did many of the activities together. The highlight for all of us was the two hours we spent on jet skis on the lagoon in Bora Bora. It was exactly as depicted in post cards.
The cruise had many of the usual evening parties we had experienced previously with Atlantis. The crowd was a little smaller and also older than on previous cruises so even the white party didn't go the whole night. Nonetheless we were pretty tired by the time we disembarked in Papeete. We met some great guys on the cruise as well as catching up with quite a few guys from the US we had not seen for a few years.
Jay and I stayed another two nights in Tahiti, renting a car and driving around the island to see the tourist sights. I made an album of photos online as well as a short video (embedded below). We arrived home in time for work on Friday. Jay went straight back into a very busy period of preparation for Google I/O, where some work from his studio was to be featured.
While we were away, Dad bought a wheelchair van. We had been renting one to take Mum out now that she is not able to walk, and owning a van was going to be a lot easier than travelling to near to airport to pick up a rental. The first long-distance trip we did was to Sorrento for the day. Mum seems to get quite a lot of enjoyment from going out and so we have been doing quite a few half-day trips with her.
The rowing club hosted our annual regatta at the end of April which drew a big crowd of competitors from around the state. It featured one race in eight-seat sculls which is an unusual configuration for a boat. We have kept one of our boats rigged that way as quite a few members have been keen to try it.
At home we have been occupied with what we hope is the final attempt to repair the leak. The doors onto the deck were removed and reflashed and the tiles and membrane on the deck were taken up and relaid. Mercifully there has been no leak since, so we should be able to get the interior plaster repaired safely soon. Close to home we have had to contend with newspaper write-ups of both the new croissanterie and doughnut shop in our street. The queues for croissants have been particularly ridiculous with people waiting hours to buy them.
In July we are planning to visit Jay's parents in Thunder Bay and on the way we will see friends in San Francisco and Boston and also visit Washington DC.
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