I'll huff and I'll puff...

My trip to Ruapehu, September 1995:Kinda put me off skiing for life.

And cruising past Krakatoa, December 2007:I have to say I was a little unsettled after my previous experience with close proximity to volcanoes. A bit concerned I might have started a tradition: Me + volcano= big explosion. Which would not have been a good way to end my holiday.
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I appeased my sense of unease by deciding that dying while on a cruise ship in a massive volcanic explosion was a pretty good way to go. And besides, since we weren't allowed to get closer than this we were probably pretty safe.

Still don't understand why everyone was so excited by it though. It was a volcano. Puffing a bit of smoke. So?

Maybe it's because I'm a Kiwi and therefore volcanoes are pretty ho hum...

More photos

I finally got my Singapore pictures up onto Flickr.

That leaves only Cairns (and Krakato if I can be bothered with a picture of an exploding volcano. I lost interest in them in 1995 when I took a picture of Mt Ruapehu exploding. Which was front cover of the first edition of the Evening Post the following day. After that any picture I take of an exploding volcano has to be a let down, right?)

Photos

I've just loaded my Lombok and Bali photos up to Flickr.

Australia and Singapore photos to follow but not til next week. I've just discovered my work Christmas party has moved from Friday night to tomorrow night so I have to leave for Sydney a day earlier than planned...

Shattered

One souvenir that didn't make it home:Unfortunately one that did was a stinking head cold that pretty much everyone on the ship was given as part of their holiday package. Lovely. Mine was the deluxe edition with added nosebleeds.

I'm also at that "back from holidays" stage where I wake up and have no idea where I am until it slowly dawns that perhaps I'm not at some weird hotel which supplies room service cats but rather at home and that the fluffy creature snuggled up beside me is my own.

Gotta love it.

Outta here

Oh - and if you want to watch me sail tomorrow night there's a webcam here that you can control. The Overseas Passenger Terminal is opposite the Opera House (but should be easy to spot because there'll be a hulking great ship there tomorrow!). There's only one little itty bitty problem which is we're not sure exactly when we're leaving...

Sydney Port Authority say we're off at 8pm, RCCL think we leave at 10pm. So maybe see if there's movement at around 8:05pm and come back in a couple of hours if there's not.

Toodles!

(World time converter here. Chose Australia/Sydney)

This time in exactly a week

my plane to Sydney will be taking off. (Actually I think I can hear this week's version as I type!)

I feel like I could happily recycle this post to mark the occassion (maybe with the addition of this photo from May 2006) as I'm busy at the moment doing 5 weeks worth of accounts at once and paying massive amounts of rent and stuff to tide me over til I get back. Scary stuff...

ARGH!

Look what finishes the day before I arrive in Singapore!

Sulking now.

1 month to go (and a little advertorial)

1. Rhapsody of the Seas, 2. Promenade Deck, 3. Morning Activities, 4. Rhapsody of the Seas, 5. The Ship, 6. Stainless And Crystal IV, 7. chocolatetrio, 8. puffs2, 9. medals, 10. Margaritaville, 11. The Rhapsody's Theater/Stage, 12. solarium, 13. Windjammer Cafe, 14. Untitled, 15. Hall, 16. Ice Sculpture, 17. Monkey, 18. Untitled, 19. Hi from the wall!, 20. Untitled, 21. The Rhapsody around Sunset, 22. Cruise to the Caribbean, 23. Morning, 24. Sail Away, 25. Rhapsody of the Seas

Today is Singapore's National Day...

...and also the day my final payment was due for my November cruise to Singapore. Sort of fitting, I thought.

I'm a sad woman though - I was toying with the idea of buying a portable sewing machine to take with me to set up in my cabin. The thought of 18 days with no sewing was just too scary. Luckily I saw sense and talked myself out of such a mad cap scheme...

(Image courtesy of the Singapore Tourism Board)