Thursday, April 12, 2018

Celebrity Solstice Australian Cruise


Celebrity Solstice                           March 30-April 11, 2018


Larry and I flew from Alice Springs, Australia around noon to Sydney arriving around 3:30pm. We watched the latest Denzel Washington movie, Roman J. Israel, Esq.  After gathering the luggage we caught the train into Circular Quay where we stayed in the famous Mercantile Hotel, circa 1800's.

After a great dinner downstairs, we walked over to the pier, just a block away to see the Opera House and Sydney Bridge all lit up for the night. What a sight!


The next morning we headed over to the pier at Circular Quay to have the smoothest ever check in to the Celebrity Solstice. In less than an hour we were on board having a welcoming Samoa beverage. Very nice.
                                                That night we had a scenic sunset sail away. 

While leaving Sydney Harbor, we passed by some tall cliffs going into the Pacific.


                       The next morning we awoke in Newcastle, Australia....the state of Queensland.

The ship docked in an industrial port at the mouth of the Hunter River just outside of the city. The only way to exit the ship was to take a bus  directly off the ship for a 20 minute ride into the city.
Upon arriving in Newcastle Larry and I enjoyed the walk down the scenic esplanade to the beach.

Nine years ago we visited Newcastle which I quickly renamed Nude Castle. In 2009 Topless sunbathers were soaking up the sun. Today an embossed saying on the sidewalk called these 21st century sunbathers to be foolhearty and that the beach was no longer accepting that behavior.   HA! 

On this busy Saturday before Easter, not one topless beach goer was present, although there were lots of surfers and sun worshippers lying in the sand.


We walked past the Australian Lagoons that were created for safe swimming areas that have been engineered to take in the ocean waters and leave the crocodiles, sharks, and jelly fish out in the open seas.


                        The ocean scenery was gorgeous...on the Saturday before Easter Sunday.


          We trudged on up the hill to Fort Scratchley, an Australian military fortification.



Many volunteers were dressed in authentic uniforms.
Canons were fired here to ward off the Japanese during WW II. Is Larry aiming for me???
We took a nice little stroll through the town shopping area stopping for a fresh fruit drink. We went back to the ship ready for the next leg of our trip. Fort Scracthley’s rein-actors fired a cannon salute to our ship as we left the harbor making for an exciting sail away. 

                                                                                        
That evening we had a fabulous full moon.
The next morning was Easter Sunday...the ship was all decorated up so nice.

a carved bunny in a watermelon

                  Easter Sunday and Monday we sailed the Coral Sea. I love the sea days!

Sea days are full of reading, watching movies, water color painting, going to informative talks and using the on board gym. Usually we walk the ship track but the Solstice does not have the normal walking deck that circles the ship’s circumference . The top of the ship has a jogging track, small that it may be, it doesn’t take long to make a lap.
                                      The Solstice boasts two pools....one inside and one out.


The most unusual thing about the ship was that it had a grass lawn. It was used for outside lawn games and starlight  evening movies.

Our next stop, Airlie Beach, Queensland was canceled due to Cyclone Iris…so we got another lovely day at sea…even though it rained.



The next morning we anchored  in the Coral Sea outside of Cairns, our second destination. A thirty minute tender boat ride to Yorkey’s Knob and then a 45 minute bus ride into the ‘Capitol of Tropical North Queensland’ took us into the heart of Cairns.
It was a very spread out city banked between mountains, river and sea.The area had gorgeous rolling green mountains and was surrounded by lush tropical rainforests....What a contrast from the deserts of Uluru.
                                               We walked through Forgarty Park and by the Casino.


The Marina had a some really nice boats.

                                    We certainly felt the love in this tropical part of Australia.

                                                                 What a catch!

                 This local boy was so excited about his catch that he brought it out to show us.



We spent the morning touring the esplanade, marina, and lagoon.

The lagoon was unique here. The sand lead the way into a chlorine filled body of water right beside the sea.

The sun was quite hot here so we headed back to the ship after a nice lunch. The second day of Cairns, Larry and I just enjoyed the ship amenities. It was fun having the ship all to ourselves.




Our third stop was at Port Douglas, Queensland. What a lovely place! Our favorite stop!

After a 30 minute catamaran took us into the Reef Marina, Larry and I walked ten minutes into the town.
                The clean streets were lined with lots of chic coffee shops and restaurants.
                            We walked through the town to Jalun Park and then up to the lookout!
                                      What a fantastic hike with views of the Coral Sea.


                     The sun was very hot today so we looked for all the shaded areas that we could find.

                                                We spotted our ship sitting out in the sea.



Afterwards we slipped into our bathing suits and took a dip in the town lagoon that was netted and protected from crocks and stinging nettles. It was a refreshing way to spend the midmorning in the heat of the day.
As we sailed north we came closer to the equator and some of the hottest areas on our planet.  After our refreshing swim we walked back through the town to have lunch and ice cream.  It was nice to get back to the air conditioned ship upon returning.

Saturday we cruised by Willis Island. One of the three resident Australian Meteorolgist  from Willis Island spoke to us about his job, studying the cyclones and other weather condition that pass through Australia.

While cruising the area we enjoyed spotting the hundreds of the masked, Brown and Red Footed Boobies that flew around the ship! They actually had blue bills. Unusual birds!
We enjoyed another sea day before stopping in the Port of Brisbane to explore the River City, Brisbane.
We took a 30 minute bus into the city to Anzac Square. From there we walked into Queens Plaza, a mall of high end shops.





We walked across this bridge to the South Bank area, a scenic river walk passing by a lagoon, rainforest, and lots of pubs and restaurants. 
Brisbane built the South Bank  park during the 2000 Olympics and the  sandy lagoon  is still being used today. 



                                                                        This area was delightful!
We met our Tasmanian, friends, Max and Liz, for a great lunch at the Plough’s Inn.  Max and Liz  visited us in Florida during May last year, so we had a great time catching up.

After lunch we took the Hop on Water taxi riding up the river to our drop off point for the Anzac Square.

The evening ended with the best Motown Show staring the Oz Boyz from Australia. What a great day! We had a final day at sea before returning to Sydney. 
                         We had a wonderful time on the Solstice exploring North Eastern Australia


Larry and I spent Wednesday and Thursday touring Sydney.

The first day we met a guide at Hyde Park  to take a 3 and half hour walking tour of the city . We saw so many sights.
                                                                       Modern fountains
                                              as well as old fountains....Archibald Fountain

St Mary's Cathedral
Lots of statues....This one of Queen Victoria
A colorful rainbow lorikeet

                                                                The Palace Garden
                                                                       My Leo the Lion 
                                                                  The Sydney Customs House
                                                 An Aboriginal  Didjeridu, musical  instrument
                                                  Some cool streets in the Rocks area

          

                                                                  The Clock Tower...with two times
                                            The Sydney Icon.....The Opera  House

The second day we took a bus tour of the area.
                                                     Leaving Archibald Fountain we viewed  
                                                               Fort Denison in Sydney Harbor
We stopped off at Don Ritchie Grove. This area had high cliffs that lead to the Pacific Ocean.
                                                             Sydney's first Light House

It was a great day for the beach....91 degrees.

Bondi Beach
                                                                              Kings Cross Fountain
                            
                             During the evening we walked to Darlington Harbor for dinner.

We feasted on crocodile and sword fish while taking in all the boats, ferries, and water taxis coming and going. What a fantastic way to spend our last night in this wonderful country. 

So what is next? Tomorrow we board the Holland America Noordam and start heading north...a new adventure begins  at sea in the morning and we can hardly wait.

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