Yesterday evening, I came down with a sore throat and cough, and Anita had other flu-like symptoms and coughing. We watched the Grand Finale show, then had dinner. It was while we were finishing dinner that we both started to feel unwell. We kept waking up coughing or waking each other coughing.
We were awake from 5ish and managed to have some breakfast at 6 am, keeping away from other people. We were off the ship before 7 and on the train to the airport. Fortunately our 1.45 pm flight could be changed to 10.35 am.
Anita has been a lot worse than me today. I was able to drive us home from the airport, thank our house sitter from a safe distance, and deal with Bluey and Tilly. But that is all!
We packed most of our gear this morning, ready for tomorrow’s early morning disembarkation. We are due to leave the ship at 7.45 am, but our flight from Sydney to the Gold Coast doesn’t depart until 1.45 pm!! We are going to be sick of the airport.
We went early to get seats to see the band Simply Bushed, then saw some of Bill Chambers’ concert. His youngest son was playing in the band.
Tonight we saw the final concert where each of the key performers sang two numbers. After Beccy’s gig, we left so we could get into the dining room before the crowd. We overheard people talking about a woman who has Covid and is confined to her cabin. The problem is that it was her husband who provided this information, and he apparently was not staying in their cabin.
Our ship departed Noumea late yesterday and cruised the Pacific Ocean all night and all day today. This was our view …
… until this ship sailed past in the opposite direction about a kilometre away from us.
We had breakfast with a friend while sitting outside at the back of the ship. The only show we saw was Ricky Albeck and The Belair Band. His mum Beccy and grandma Carol were in the audience, and Ricky persuaded Carol to sing These Boots Are Made For Walking.
Most bands have their speakers way too loud. I have been wearing earplugs most of the time! At any time, there can be up to four shows happening at once, but most of the venues are not designed for musical performances, so the acoustics are terrible. The sound in the main theatre is excellent, until the drumming volume is increased and drowns out the vocals and other instruments.
We met up with Beccy and other Roadies for a drink and ended up having dinner with a large group of Roadies.
Overnight our ship sailed from Lifou to Noumea. We are berthed opposite the dock where coal is being unloaded. The coal probably came from Newcastle! The power station is nearby.
The view from the portside of the ship was better, even with hundreds of containers on the dock.
We went ashore and were taken into town by a shuttle bus. It was warm and humid, so we kept under the shade of shop awnings. Most buildings look tired, probably due to the high annual rainfall and proximity to the ocean. A couple of interesting old buildings were boarded up. All buildings have steps or ramps to the ground floor to avoid flash flooding. Some of the drains were smelly.
We noticed a significant police presence around the town. A police van with several officers was stopped under shade in the main park. A meeting or demonstration in support of independence was taking place near the port, with many participants carrying the Kanak independence flag. Both the French Tricolour and the Kanak flags can be flown, but we only saw the Tricolour on official buildings.
The last referendum on the issue of independence was boycotted by the Kanak community because so many were in mourning following a large number of Covid deaths. Consequently, the outcome of the referendum was an overwhelming rejection of independence.
We were back on board in time to have lunch. As we were getting coffees, Beccy took a seat nearby to have her lunch. We sat with her and talked dogs. After a visit to the pool, we were going to listen to a singer playing in the Centrum, but the bass noise was unbearable.
Beccy’s first concert tonight was terrific! Some Roadies were going to see it again. The top entertainers perform two concerts on their allocated night – the first at 6 pm and the second at 9 pm, with a 90 minute break between shows. Bec had lots of energy, was funny, and the Hussy Hicks and rest of the band were great.
Early this morning we could see land for the first time in two days. The ship anchored about 300 metres from Lifou Island. We dawdled over breakfast as we didn’t need to rush to go ashore. I took photos of two churches from the ship at 10x magnification. In the 1860s the Catholics and Anglicans battled for religious control of Lifou. The Catholics won.
Tender boats have to transport passengers to the small jetty. We got a ticket for the thirteenth tender. The seats were not designed to accommodate fat bottoms, tall people, or those with disabilities. As lifeboats, they take 150 passengers, but only 120 when tenders. It is a slow process loading tenders, so I hope we never have to hurry onto lifeboats! Today, they dropped off passengers and returned empty to collect more. It wasn’t long before people were coming back on board as there isn’t much to do or see on the island unless snorkelling.
The ship dwarfs the tenders.
We wandered around for an hour, then headed back to the ship. It was hot and humid and we hadn’t planned to go swimming.
The water is a wonderful deep clear blue beside the ship, and a lighter blue under the jetty. We saw a turtle come up from the bottom to breathe, then go back down.
Back on board we had our first swim in the adults only pool. It was very buoyant thanks to the salt water.
We caught up with Beccy and other Roadies before having dinner in the very busy main dining room.
Last night we had a request to keep an eye out for a young woman travelling alone on this ship. She is a Beccy fan. I sent her picture to one of our Roadie mates this morning, and she spotted the young woman an hour later! Not bad on a ship with over two thousand passengers. Beccy is happy to have her photo taken with her young fan.
The upper decks were open today as the wind had eased. Yesterday, every deck was covered in salt spray, and the wind made it too dangerous to be on decks 12 and 13. We walked the circuit a few times with a couple of Roadies. I have done over 7,000 steps walking nowhere!
We had a laugh watching people playing putt putt golf as the wind and listing of the ship dictated where the ball went. I took photos of some of the facilities on the upper decks. There are lots of weird things on top of the ship outside, and a fancy bar and disco inside. The kids were supervised on the rock climbing wall, but not in the video games room.
The only artists to play at the Centrum without making excessive noise have been Ashleigh Dallas and her father. The Hussy Hicks were seated next to us at lunchtime. They haven’t liked the loud noise at some venues.
We were having lunch in the dining room, when the Hussy Hicks were seated at the next table. It was good to have a chat with them.
We caught up with Beccy and the other Roadies before going to the James Johnston concert. Anita thinks he is a terrific young entertainer, but I don’t share her enthusiasm. He has been nominated for multiple Golden Guitars, but I found his songs to be repetitive.
The food on board is not brilliant. Pastries and scones have a high proportion of flour to other ingredients, so are dry and not very tasty. Food is available most of the day at different restaurants and cafes. The specialty restaurants are having trouble attracting diners, possibly because of the extra cost. On Viking cruises, the challenge was to ensure able to book a table in those restaurants where there was no additional charge.
We bought coffee packages but are not keen on the Starbucks coffee served on the ship as they are too weak.
One of the best features of theBrilliance of the Seas is the decor and artworks.
The worst aspect of this cruise is the high volume music. I have to use ear plugs to be able to listen! The main theatre isn’t too bad, but other smaller venues were not designed for multiple instruments and speakers, so the singing and music becomes just a blur of excessively loud noise.
We caught up with Beccy this afternoon together with her first family. She regards us as her Roadie family. This may become a daily catchup for Roadies.
Anita had tried to go to the pool early this morning, but her access card would not open the door. She went down to reception, and a worker returned to the pool with her and used his card to let her in the pool area. The reason her card didn’t work was the pool doesn’t open until 8 o’clock!
After packing most of our gear, we walked to Harris St for coffee and croissants. We had a second coffee in the casino before catching the taxi from hell. The cab pulled up at the Star Casino rank, and the driver loaded our bags in the boot. The cab smelled of cigarettes, the driver spoke nonstop in a foreign language into a mouthpiece, and he drove too fast and erratically. I was recalling the increased risk of drivers being distracted when talking on a mobile phone! There was one near miss with another taxi.
When we arrived at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, no fare amount was shown on the meter. He told us the fare was $48, so without thinking, we handed him a fifty dollar note. We were distracted seeing friends as the driver unloaded our bags, and clearly we had not appreciated what was going on until after he had left. We are out of practice travelling, so it was a good reminder for us to double-check everything before each trip. The fare should have been about $20. We didn’t notice the name of the taxi company, his name badge, or anything else that might have allowed the slimebag to be identified.
The first people we met up with in the queue for Cruisin’Country were Beccy and the Hussy Hicks, Lisa and Jules. Lisa’s parents and sister are on board, so she will be juggling her time between work, friends and family. There are at least 20 other Roadies on board the Royal Carribean ship Brilliance of the Seas. We will be at sea for two days, spend three days around Noumea and Lifou, then spend two days sailing back to Sydney. Live country music will be being played somewhere on the ship from 8.30 am to 1.30 am, not that we are likely to see much after 10 pm!
The ship was built in 2002 and refurbished in 2013. Some parts look shabby, such as the cupboards and drawers in our cabin. The shower is tiny compared to those on Viking ships.
It was good to see views of Sydney, but we don’t miss this huge city.
We had a late lunch with some of our friends. Unfortunately, two other friends had their holiday ruined thanks to a cancelled flight out of Adelaide yesterday. They were rebooked on a flight which went to Hobart and Melbourne before coming to Sydney. They there were not able to get to the ship before she sailed.
The ship issued room cards in orange or purple, and this determined whether passengers ate early or late in the dining room, and whether they saw the late or early evening show. There was a major cock-up as we were all issued the wrong colour. New room cards are being printed overnight.
We enjoyed this evening’s shows performed by Amber Lawrence and McAlister Kemp. We tried to watch Hayley Jensen, but there were too many loud drunks. Our final outing was in the Colony Room, listening to Ricky Albeck and the Belair Band – Ricky is Beccy’s son. She is in the audience, and so is her mum and sister-in-law.
We could see the top of the colourful HOTA building from the 14th floor of our hotel room. It was a clear sunny day.
We left the hotel at 7.30 am to drive to the airport. Traffic wasn’t too bad given the amount of roadworks along the Gold Coast Hwy. At the long-term carpark, there was a sign stating only pre-booked cars could enter. Fortunately, we had pre-booked our parking, but it took a while to find an empty space. We took note of its location and how to walk back to the car, not wanting to rely exclusively on the GPS tracker.
Breakfast in the Qantas lounge was OK, but we were called to the departure gate too soon. Passengers were disembarking from another plane and coming in via the Gate we were supposed to leave by. Our plane was on the tarmac with a mobile ramp for access. The plane was full, so we were glad we booked business seats.
Dark clouds hovered over Sydney’s airport as we landed, but there was very little rain. Our driver was waiting at the luggage carousels to take us to the Darling at the Star Casino, where we will stay for one night. Our room was ready so we left our luggage and went for a walk around Pyrmont.
The former Pyrmont Public School was built in 1884. It is a very impressive building.
We had lunch in the Sovereign room in the casino, and then I walked further exploring the area. I have done over 11,000 steps today.
Dinner at the casino was in the Italian restaurant. We came home with two desserts – cheesecake and tirimisu.
Our Bluey apparently waited at the front door for three hours for us to come home. He spent the day with our house sitter on the couch watching golf on TV!
We had the beach to ourselves this morning, apart from our two regular swans. The rain has had a strange impact on the sand around the storm water pipes. There is erosion behind the outlet.
When we made up the bed for our house/pet sitter, the critters must have thought we were all going on a trip in the caravan. They hung around, keeping a close eye on us. Their only experience of us packing and taking bags out to the car has been when we load bedding, clothes and food into the caravan.
I went out for a quick trip to the shops. When I got home half an hour later, Bluey was waiting at the door bouncing around, so glad I had come back! We had a few friends for lunch, and the critters sat on separate corners of the dining room rug, keeping an eye on us. They knew something was different.
Our friend will be house sitting and looking after our precious pets for a few days. I walked to the beach with her and Bluey just as the storm was threatening. One of our neighbours posted this stunning photo on FB.
We are staying at the casino tonight and will fly down to Sydney tomorrow morning.
Committed Travellers 