After Greece, meaning Katakolon and Corfu, the next port was Kotor, a very beautiful long sail towards Kotor. The Bay of Kotor is long, curls around a corner ( almost like a Fjord) till you get there.
Kotor belongs to Montenegro( means Black Mountain) a relatively new country from the old Yugoslavia.
Very Medieval city, with walls going steeply up the mountain and coming down and has a moot around the city too.
After Kotor was Croatia, Split where we saw the famous Krka National park with its waterfalls.
After that was Venice, but we stayed onboard, for the new 4 days cruise, designed for Europeans short holiday. This was the ship going to Zadar, in Croatia. I stayed onboard because I had a very sore foot.
The next day the ship went back to Kotor, so we saw more of Kotor, had better weather and enjoyed it. Went to the day trip to the island that was manmade. You can see it when you get in the long sail .
The next port of call was Ravenna and a day trip to the tiny country of " San Marino". Click the link below to see our collection of best photos of the whole cruise.
best photos of Cruise trip
Back to Venice after that and we stayed 2 nights in Venice , checking the city out on foot and then flew home with Emirates.
This is the end of the cruise. 2019 .
2020 will see new trips: March South island with the Motorhome, seeing the Catlins, Dunedin and July Melbourne to meet our new grandson,( from Jos and Rachel) and in September 14th onwards we visit Aaron and Alice and the 2 granddaughters, and on our way back to Israel for 3 weeks, then fly home from there via Seoul to NZ. These are our plans but the Lord is in control of our future.
Monday, December 16, 2019
Tuesday, October 22, 2019
Greece
After Cyprus we sailed towards Greece. The original plan was to go to Athens,. but there was a storm and we were diverted to go towards Katakolon, a town further west. There the weather was fine and we had an other excursion.
We took a drive in the country to visit Olympia, where the first Olympic games were held. We had Ipads with us, so at each old site, we could look at our Ipad and see what it looked like back in the day.
After the Olympic games we went to " Magna Cretia" a family owned vineyard and olive grove. We tasted many different olive oils and then had a fabulous ( and unexpected) BBQ lunch. I don't think it was in the plan but very welcome.
We also were given a tour of their orchard and after lunch there was Greek dancing , done by the staff, and later brought us into it as well.
It was very emotional, as the last time I was in Greece was 40 years ago.
Here are the photos of this days trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EEoP68A3p991SRDN7
After this day we sailed on to Corfu, and had a great day on a day tour .
Photos of Corfu are here on the link below:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6P7npMWEJFN8WUL39
After this trip, we sailed on to Montenegro.
We took a drive in the country to visit Olympia, where the first Olympic games were held. We had Ipads with us, so at each old site, we could look at our Ipad and see what it looked like back in the day.
After the Olympic games we went to " Magna Cretia" a family owned vineyard and olive grove. We tasted many different olive oils and then had a fabulous ( and unexpected) BBQ lunch. I don't think it was in the plan but very welcome.
We also were given a tour of their orchard and after lunch there was Greek dancing , done by the staff, and later brought us into it as well.
It was very emotional, as the last time I was in Greece was 40 years ago.
Here are the photos of this days trip.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/EEoP68A3p991SRDN7
After this day we sailed on to Corfu, and had a great day on a day tour .
Photos of Corfu are here on the link below:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/6P7npMWEJFN8WUL39
After this trip, we sailed on to Montenegro.
Thursday, August 22, 2019
Petra, the Rose Coloured city in Jordan
Petra (Arabic: ٱلْبَتْرَاء, romanized: Al-Batrāʾ; Ancient Greek: Πέτρα, "Stone"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu, is a historical and archaeological city in southern Jordan. Petra lies on the slope of Jabal Al-Madbah in a basin among the mountains which form the eastern flank of the Arabah valley that runs from the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Aqaba.[3] Petra is believed to have been settled as early as 9,000 BC, and it was possibly established in the 4th century BC as the capital city of the Nabataean Kingdom. The Nabataeans were nomadic Arabs who invested in Petra's proximity to the trade routes by establishing it as a major regional trading hub.[4]
The trading business gained the Nabataeans considerable revenue and Petra became the focus of their wealth. The earliest historical reference to Petra was an unsuccessful attackon the city ordered by Antigonus I in 312 BC and recorded by various Greek historians. The Nabataeans were, unlike their enemies, accustomed to living in the barren deserts, and were able to repel attacks by taking advantage of the area's mountainous terrain. They were particularly skillful in harvesting rainwater, agriculture and stone carving. Petra flourished in the 1st century AD, when its famous Khazneh structure – believed to be the mausoleum of Nabataean king Aretas IV – was constructed, and its population peaked at an estimated 20,000 inhabitants.[5]
Although the Nabataean kingdom became a client state of the Roman Empire in the first century BC, it was only in 106 AD that it lost its independence. Petra fell to the Romans, who annexed Nabataea and renamed it as Arabia Petraea. Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after an earthquake in 363 destroyed many structures. In the Byzantine era several Christian churches were built, but the city continued to decline, and by the early Islamic era it was abandoned except for a handful of nomads. It remained unknown to the world until it was rediscovered in 1812 by Johann Ludwig Burckhardt.[6]
The city is accessed through a 1.2-kilometre-long (0.75 mi) gorge called the Siq, which leads directly to the Khazneh. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit system, Petra is also called the Rose City due to the color of the stone out of which it is carved.[7] It has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985. UNESCO has described it as "one of the most precious cultural properties of man's cultural heritage".[8] In 2007, Al-Khazneh was voted as one of the New7Wonders of the World. Petra is a symbol of Jordan, as well as Jordan's most-visited tourist attraction. Tourist numbers peaked at 1 million in 2010; but there followed a slump due to the political instability generated by the Arab Spring affecting countries surrounding Jordan.[9] However, tourist numbers increased subsequently. About 800,000 tourists visited the site in 2018.
That's taken from Wikipedia. So you have some background information.
Brian visited Petra in 2016 while we did a tour through Israel with " Shalom Israel Tours". I decided to stay on the beach in Eilat and snorkel the coast. It is very famous for fantastic snorkelling and it's true, amazing live coral and big parrot fish I saw. But Brian did a very long day trip to Petra that time. Now this time, I had an other chance to see Petra, on this cruise. While we were in the Port of Aqaba, Jordan, we did a day trip to Jordan. The bus took about 2 hours, maybe a bit more, to get to Petra. Luckily it stopped on time for a toilet stop, and visit a souvenir shop on the way. It had a beautiful view of the valley where we were heading.
Once we arrived, we drove through a bustling town( Petra) and were heading for the entry of the old Petra.
Well, hard to bring to words when you enter Petra on horseback,( yes I rode an Arab horse till the bottom of the hill) ( for a fee) and then we walked through the narrow gorge till the opening where you see the " Treasury" type temple looking facade.
Just emotional when you see it appear and then the rest of the whole place. To know my mother rode here in 1963 on a horse with a guide way back with the view of the amphi theatre.
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| Me and Brian at the same spot my mother was 56 yers ago |
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| My mother in 1963 in Petra |
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| view of the valley |
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| The modern city of Petra |
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| entrance to the ancient city of Petra |
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| on horseback entering Petra. |
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| the Treasury becomes visible. |
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| Me in front of the " Treasury" in 2019 |
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| Fred, Christine, Brian and me reading the KK advertiser. |
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| Brian riding a horse too |
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| My mother in front of the " Treasury" in 1963 |
Cyprus and Israel
The rest of the cruise was visiting the following countries:
Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy( Venice) and then we did 4 days extra and visited Zadar in Croatia and Kotor again in Montenegro) and Ravenna in Italy to do a bus trip to tiny country of San Marino.
Once we came out of the Suez Canal, a cold wind hit us . We stood at the front of the ship, and all this time while we had sailed through the Suez canal it had been hot, 30 C. Suddenly the cold wind from Europe hit us. It was quite a shock.
We arrived in Cyprus. It was cold and rainy. We had to have our raincoats on. The bus took us to a couple of villages. The first village was high in the mountains, showed us people's embroidery work, lace table cloth etc.
Second village was the village where the church of Lazaret is. They believe Lazaret came to Cyprus after he had been raised from the dead by Jesus.
Interesting church. The weather improved somewhat.
Back at the ship a lot of people started coughing. I think some people caught a cold after that cold wind had hit us all.
We caught a cold/cough as well. When we watched some evening shows, you could hear half the people coughing. One way to spread the disease.
After Cyprus, the weather turned to a storm, so the visit to Athens had to change to take a different route to Katakolon, and avoid that section where the storm was .Up to 4 metres high waves. I took sea sickness tablets. It worked.
In Katakolon, we went by bus to the original Olympic games venue. After that we went to a family owned vineyard and olive press. We tasted all the different olive oils and then . had a fantastic lunch and Greek music and dances provided by the family. It was quite emotional as it was a surprise and secondly it was 40 yers exactly since I was last in Greece.
After that great afternoon we went back to the ship by bus and embarked the ship. Every time we went back tot he ship, it felt like we were coming " home" and our cabin became our home and safe place. I highly recommend a cruise. It's so good to wake up each morning a see a different country. It is always so exciting to see the new scenery where you've arrived.
I remember, ( I must have skipped this bit) arriving in Eilat, Israel, and seeing the port where we were berthed, in the distance I could see the hotel where Brian and I stayed in 2016. The weather was horrible this year. The worse rains and flash flooding of the road, so we could not go to Masada, only tot he Dead Sea. And that was freezing. Very unfortunate for Fred and Christine as they had not seen Masada before.
Cyprus, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Italy( Venice) and then we did 4 days extra and visited Zadar in Croatia and Kotor again in Montenegro) and Ravenna in Italy to do a bus trip to tiny country of San Marino.
Once we came out of the Suez Canal, a cold wind hit us . We stood at the front of the ship, and all this time while we had sailed through the Suez canal it had been hot, 30 C. Suddenly the cold wind from Europe hit us. It was quite a shock.
We arrived in Cyprus. It was cold and rainy. We had to have our raincoats on. The bus took us to a couple of villages. The first village was high in the mountains, showed us people's embroidery work, lace table cloth etc.
Second village was the village where the church of Lazaret is. They believe Lazaret came to Cyprus after he had been raised from the dead by Jesus.
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| Limasol |
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| Cyprus country |
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| The church where Lazaret was buried |
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| Inside the church altar |
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| Cyprus country side. |
Interesting church. The weather improved somewhat.
Back at the ship a lot of people started coughing. I think some people caught a cold after that cold wind had hit us all.
We caught a cold/cough as well. When we watched some evening shows, you could hear half the people coughing. One way to spread the disease.
After Cyprus, the weather turned to a storm, so the visit to Athens had to change to take a different route to Katakolon, and avoid that section where the storm was .Up to 4 metres high waves. I took sea sickness tablets. It worked.
In Katakolon, we went by bus to the original Olympic games venue. After that we went to a family owned vineyard and olive press. We tasted all the different olive oils and then . had a fantastic lunch and Greek music and dances provided by the family. It was quite emotional as it was a surprise and secondly it was 40 yers exactly since I was last in Greece.
I remember, ( I must have skipped this bit) arriving in Eilat, Israel, and seeing the port where we were berthed, in the distance I could see the hotel where Brian and I stayed in 2016. The weather was horrible this year. The worse rains and flash flooding of the road, so we could not go to Masada, only tot he Dead Sea. And that was freezing. Very unfortunate for Fred and Christine as they had not seen Masada before.
But anyway, I did a little bit of shopping in the little shopping centre that was there after the swim in the Dead Sea . Bought some nice leggings and a great Israel T-Shirt. And some dead sea minerals lotion.
Friday, June 7, 2019
Going through the Suez Canal into the Med
So we were now at sea for 5 days.
Going through the Straits of Hormuz and into the gulf of Adan and then into the Red Sea towards the gulf of Aqaba.
Going through the Suez canal takes a long time.
There are 2 parts of the Suez canal. The first part was when we were still asleep. Those that got up early saw the end of the first part. Then we got into the " bitter lakes" or the wide part . Later on that narrowed down again and into the second part of the longer Suez Canal.
Here a bit from Wikipedia"
Going through the Straits of Hormuz and into the gulf of Adan and then into the Red Sea towards the gulf of Aqaba.
Going through the Suez canal takes a long time.
There are 2 parts of the Suez canal. The first part was when we were still asleep. Those that got up early saw the end of the first part. Then we got into the " bitter lakes" or the wide part . Later on that narrowed down again and into the second part of the longer Suez Canal.
Here a bit from Wikipedia"
The Suez Canal (Arabic: قناة السويس qanāt as-suwēs) is a sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez. Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it was officially opened on 17 November 1869. The canal offers watercraft a more direct route between the North Atlantic and northern Indian oceans via the Mediterranean and Red seas, thus avoiding the South Atlantic and southern Indian oceans and thereby reducing the journey distance from the Arabian Sea to, for example, London by approximately 8,900 kilometres (5,500 mi).[1] It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez. Its length is 193.30 km (120.11 mi), including its northern and southern access channels. In 2012, 17,225 vessels traversed the canal (an average of 47 per day).[2]
The original canal was a single-lane waterway with passing locations in the Ballah Bypass and the Great Bitter Lake.[3] It contains no locks system, with seawater flowing freely through it. In general, the canal north of the Bitter Lakes flows north in winter and south in summer. South of the lakes, the current changes with the tide at Suez.[4]
The Canal was owned by the United Kingdom and France until 1956 when Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized it, an event which led to the Suez Crisis.[5] The canal is owned and maintained by the Suez Canal Authority[6] (SCA) of Egypt. Under the Convention of Constantinople, it may be used "in time of war as in time of peace, by every vessel of commerce or of war, without distinction of flag".[7]
In August 2014, construction was launched to expand and widen the Ballah Bypass for 35 km (22 mi) to speed the canal's transit time. The expansion was planned to double the capacity of the Suez Canal from 49 to 97 ships a day.[8] At a cost of $8.4 billion, this project was funded with interest-bearing investment certificates issued exclusively to Egyptian entities and individuals. The "New Suez Canal", as the expansion was dubbed, was opened with great fanfare in a ceremony on 6 August 2015.[9]
On 24 February 2016, the Suez Canal Authority officially opened the new side channel. This side channel, located at the northern side of the east extension of the Suez Canal, serves the East Terminal for berthing and unberthing vessels from the terminal. As the East Container Terminal is located on the Canal itself, before the construction of the new side channel it was not possible to berth or unberth vessels at the terminal while the convoy was running.[10]"
We sailed underneath the Mubarak Peace Bridge.
"The Mubarak Peace Bridge, also known as the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, Al Salam Bridge, or Al Salam Peace Bridge, is a road bridge crossing the Suez Canal at El-Qantara, whose name means "the bridge" in Arabic. The bridge links the continents of Africa and Asia."
It now doesn't allow " normal" traffic, only government or army are allowed over it, because of the risks of people like Isis who are located on the Sinai peninsula.
It certainly was an amazing experience to see everything from the ship on both sides.
Here are the photos on the link below:
Once we came through, with hot weather most of the transit time, we were suddenly greeted with cold wind from the Med and different weather. Whilst we were going through the Canal, the weather had been very hot.
During this time of 5 days at Sea, there were pool games and Neptune game and every night we had a show onboard in the theatre.
Our next stop was going to be : Cyprus.
Monday, May 13, 2019
The incredible journey: A cruise voyage from Dubai to Venice. 3 1/2 weeks on the MSC Lirica
A Cruise voyage from Dubai to Venice on the ship MSC Lirica.
It was a super special cheap deal which we couldn't resist.
We asked our friends from Katikati, Fred and Christine Jordan to come along, and they accepted. So we booked and it was with them we had this adventure which was much better than just the 2 of us.
We had a 17 1/2 hour non stop flight to Dubai. Both of us managed to sleep 7 hours on the way. I had booked Royal Ascot Hotel, a moderate flash 1950's hotel, posh back in the day. It's still nice and a little bit flash. I booked the room for the night before so we could enter it straight away as we arrived at 5.30 am. I had 2 hours sleep in the morning. Later I had a swim on the rooftop pool. We walked around nearby and found an Italian pasta place and had a nice spagetti carbonara with chicken for lunch. At 3. pm we got picked up for our Arabian desert adventure.
In a 4x4 jeep we went up and down at full speed red sand dunes. I got car sick from the up and down on those sand dunes. It was about 60 km out of the city towards Oman in Fujira .. And very far and wide was dessert. It was a huge dessert. Later we went to a Bedouin camp with a show. They also had belly dancers, fire dancers and singers . We both rode a camel and after the dancers had a buffet dinner there. We met a nice German girl who had just come from NZ and was on her way back home.
We had a good sleep at the hotel.
Here is the link to my Dubai photos:
Dubai photos
The next day went to the Burj Kahlifa with the taxi. Up 124 stories. You don't feel the lift move but it goes fast. Amazing views from the top. Also wandered around the Dubai Mall, largest shopping mall apparently. Tonight, the 15th of March, we walked up the gangway of the MSC Lirica after nearly a year of anticipation. Earlier that day, we had heard from our taxi driver the terrible news about the attacks at the Christchurch mosque where 50 people died. Shocking is an understatement. We could hardly believe it.
Got a taxi to the port and customs and waited for Christine and Fred to arrive. Then after they arrived, we took a selfie and embarked on to the ship. YAY. FINALLY WE BOARDED THE SHIP.
We checked in and found our cabin 8165 on the 8th deck. Ours is inside and theirs is with a window view. We then explored with the map with 13th being the top deck above the pool.
Click link below to life onboard the ship:
onboard the ship
Cabins are nice and spacious with lots of cupboards to put away clothes and suitcase fits neatly under the bed. Shower is tight but plenty of hot water and good pressure.
Nice 3 course dinner first night at the 6th deck. Our waiters were from Honduras ( Christian) and Alex from Kiev.
The next day we had an excursion booked by MSC about Dubai so off we went first thing in the morning. " Dubai, old and new". Very informative.Went to a Marina and the Atlantis hotel at Palmira. Then an other hour spent at the Dubai Mall to see the aquarium.
Back to the ship by bus. Then the ship left at 6 pm. Such a surreal moment. Hard to put into words.We saw some dolphins jump out of the water the next day. Didn't see any other ones at all during the rest of the trip.
I can't write day to day activities, just the general trip. From my memory and not relying on Brian's diary.( I will if I have to) But the ship has shows every night. We went to most of them. The next day we were meant to visit Sir Bani Yas island, but the waves were too hight, and after they did a trial test of the little boats( for the tenders) the captain decided it was too dangerous. We had quite some waves, about 4 metre swell, so I had to take my sea sickness tablet. It worked. The next day we went through the " Straight of Hermuz", that narrow passage between Iran and UAE and Oman. We saw some of the scenery from that but Iran was still too far away to see. We got to Oman the next day. I had a different day trip than Brian. Brian had a full day and I had half a day. I enjoyed mine a lot. I went to the grand mosque and also the souk and it was near the sea. Very rocky. In fact the first thing that I noticed arriving in Oman was that is is very rocky high mountains. It looks a very dry place.
Below a link to my Oman photos:
Oman photos
Next we were going to be 5 days at Sea sailing around the Arabian peninsula through the Gulf of Aden, then through an other narrow passage into the Red Sea, passing Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt. We we all given an official letter with a warning of the possible but unlikely event of Piracy. We needed to know the different Codes for alerts. Red Alert, Orange alert and Blue Alert .
We knew the ship had military and security personnel onboard and also had military trained ships nearby.
Later, after the cruise was finished, we learned from one of the special trained security staff , after I asked him if a threat was real, he said "yes, there was a real threat". On one night sailing past Somalia, we were approached in the night by 3 small boats to the side of the ship. The security knew and the bridge crew shone strong lasers at them, warning them to back off. He told us they backed off. Then he told us about an other time when he was working on a cargo ship, they also approached the ship and this little boat was warned by laser but it didn't back off, so the security sent a laser propelled missile at them and pulverised the boat with its crew. I told him that I had seen a periscope pop up, and I described it, that I saw it with my binoculars. I thought it was a seagull at first but when I saw it through the binoculars, I saw a white curved tube with a round ring at the top. After looking at it for awhile I wanted to get Brian and show him but then it was gone. The security guy said that it was very possible I saw that as there are many submarines in that area, Russian ones and American ones.
So that was just as well we found out at the end of our cruise, not during or at the beginning.
Next stop was Israel, Eilat. Story to be continued. But I will publish this now. Carry on later.
 |
| Me in front of the MSC Lirica |
It was a super special cheap deal which we couldn't resist.
We asked our friends from Katikati, Fred and Christine Jordan to come along, and they accepted. So we booked and it was with them we had this adventure which was much better than just the 2 of us.
We had a 17 1/2 hour non stop flight to Dubai. Both of us managed to sleep 7 hours on the way. I had booked Royal Ascot Hotel, a moderate flash 1950's hotel, posh back in the day. It's still nice and a little bit flash. I booked the room for the night before so we could enter it straight away as we arrived at 5.30 am. I had 2 hours sleep in the morning. Later I had a swim on the rooftop pool. We walked around nearby and found an Italian pasta place and had a nice spagetti carbonara with chicken for lunch. At 3. pm we got picked up for our Arabian desert adventure.
In a 4x4 jeep we went up and down at full speed red sand dunes. I got car sick from the up and down on those sand dunes. It was about 60 km out of the city towards Oman in Fujira .. And very far and wide was dessert. It was a huge dessert. Later we went to a Bedouin camp with a show. They also had belly dancers, fire dancers and singers . We both rode a camel and after the dancers had a buffet dinner there. We met a nice German girl who had just come from NZ and was on her way back home.
We had a good sleep at the hotel.
Here is the link to my Dubai photos:
Dubai photos
The next day went to the Burj Kahlifa with the taxi. Up 124 stories. You don't feel the lift move but it goes fast. Amazing views from the top. Also wandered around the Dubai Mall, largest shopping mall apparently. Tonight, the 15th of March, we walked up the gangway of the MSC Lirica after nearly a year of anticipation. Earlier that day, we had heard from our taxi driver the terrible news about the attacks at the Christchurch mosque where 50 people died. Shocking is an understatement. We could hardly believe it.
Got a taxi to the port and customs and waited for Christine and Fred to arrive. Then after they arrived, we took a selfie and embarked on to the ship. YAY. FINALLY WE BOARDED THE SHIP.
We checked in and found our cabin 8165 on the 8th deck. Ours is inside and theirs is with a window view. We then explored with the map with 13th being the top deck above the pool.
Click link below to life onboard the ship:
onboard the ship
Cabins are nice and spacious with lots of cupboards to put away clothes and suitcase fits neatly under the bed. Shower is tight but plenty of hot water and good pressure.
Nice 3 course dinner first night at the 6th deck. Our waiters were from Honduras ( Christian) and Alex from Kiev.
The next day we had an excursion booked by MSC about Dubai so off we went first thing in the morning. " Dubai, old and new". Very informative.Went to a Marina and the Atlantis hotel at Palmira. Then an other hour spent at the Dubai Mall to see the aquarium.
Back to the ship by bus. Then the ship left at 6 pm. Such a surreal moment. Hard to put into words.We saw some dolphins jump out of the water the next day. Didn't see any other ones at all during the rest of the trip.
I can't write day to day activities, just the general trip. From my memory and not relying on Brian's diary.( I will if I have to) But the ship has shows every night. We went to most of them. The next day we were meant to visit Sir Bani Yas island, but the waves were too hight, and after they did a trial test of the little boats( for the tenders) the captain decided it was too dangerous. We had quite some waves, about 4 metre swell, so I had to take my sea sickness tablet. It worked. The next day we went through the " Straight of Hermuz", that narrow passage between Iran and UAE and Oman. We saw some of the scenery from that but Iran was still too far away to see. We got to Oman the next day. I had a different day trip than Brian. Brian had a full day and I had half a day. I enjoyed mine a lot. I went to the grand mosque and also the souk and it was near the sea. Very rocky. In fact the first thing that I noticed arriving in Oman was that is is very rocky high mountains. It looks a very dry place.
Below a link to my Oman photos:
Oman photos
Next we were going to be 5 days at Sea sailing around the Arabian peninsula through the Gulf of Aden, then through an other narrow passage into the Red Sea, passing Somalia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Sudan and Egypt. We we all given an official letter with a warning of the possible but unlikely event of Piracy. We needed to know the different Codes for alerts. Red Alert, Orange alert and Blue Alert .
We knew the ship had military and security personnel onboard and also had military trained ships nearby.
Later, after the cruise was finished, we learned from one of the special trained security staff , after I asked him if a threat was real, he said "yes, there was a real threat". On one night sailing past Somalia, we were approached in the night by 3 small boats to the side of the ship. The security knew and the bridge crew shone strong lasers at them, warning them to back off. He told us they backed off. Then he told us about an other time when he was working on a cargo ship, they also approached the ship and this little boat was warned by laser but it didn't back off, so the security sent a laser propelled missile at them and pulverised the boat with its crew. I told him that I had seen a periscope pop up, and I described it, that I saw it with my binoculars. I thought it was a seagull at first but when I saw it through the binoculars, I saw a white curved tube with a round ring at the top. After looking at it for awhile I wanted to get Brian and show him but then it was gone. The security guy said that it was very possible I saw that as there are many submarines in that area, Russian ones and American ones.
So that was just as well we found out at the end of our cruise, not during or at the beginning.
Next stop was Israel, Eilat. Story to be continued. But I will publish this now. Carry on later.
Friday, March 1, 2019
few days in Taupo catching up with Debbie Lecky
Debbie Lecky was my bridesmaid in 1981 for our wedding. That was 37 years ago.
Time to catch up again after a long gap.
( not 37 years though, lol)
I drove in my Campervan to Taupo and decided to stay at " All Season's kiwi holiday park". It was just 2 streets away from where Debbie lives.
I also brought my E-Bike. That was great cause Debbie had to work on Thursday and Friday. I arrived on Thursday. So I did some biking already after I arrived.
I found a good bakery nearby and explored the downtown area. Had a look around the waterfront and shops.
The next day I biked to " Rainbow reserve" where the hot water comes into the lake so the water is nice and lukewarm. Great swim I had there. I biked all the way to 5 mile Bay and that was fun, it was all along the waterfront.
At night I cooked in the Campervan.
Time to catch up again after a long gap.
( not 37 years though, lol)
I drove in my Campervan to Taupo and decided to stay at " All Season's kiwi holiday park". It was just 2 streets away from where Debbie lives.
I also brought my E-Bike. That was great cause Debbie had to work on Thursday and Friday. I arrived on Thursday. So I did some biking already after I arrived.
The next day I biked to " Rainbow reserve" where the hot water comes into the lake so the water is nice and lukewarm. Great swim I had there. I biked all the way to 5 mile Bay and that was fun, it was all along the waterfront.
At night I cooked in the Campervan.
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| inside my campervan |
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| our little bach |
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| My hiko e-bike |
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| Rainbow reserve |
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| Debbie and I at the market Taupo |
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| dinner at Debbie's place |
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| Thermal Spa reserve |
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| Here I am going in. |
Saturday, February 2, 2019
The grandkids are here!
Well, that's great news. They are here! Big trip from Holland to NZ.
Aaron and Alice are staying here in our cottage, making this their base while they are also travelling around seeing their other relatives. ( Hamilton and Taranaki)
We did a few nice things while here.
Violet learning some basic riding with Dad on it as well on our very quiet horse Freedom.
They had lots of pool time here and also beach time.
Also a walk to our river was a highlight.
Again, family dynamics came into it again after a dispute about a pool picture of which a plastic ring tube and 2 floaties were only visible . I understand if you don't want to show a girl in togs on Facebook, but on this particular picture, hardly togs was recognisably. And certainly no togs were visible. So when I asked that that rule made no sense she became furious. " Because that's our rule, she shouted". Oh well, be like that then, I thought. No discretion
or exemption made, no grace allowed. No questions allowed.
And what's with the blue water of the pool? Why only pool pictures not being allowed?( this is if on Facebook) Well, here are the photos in question: All I see is a happy family having fun in our family pool.
I mean, surely, for this particular photo you could have made an exemption. For example:
" yes this photo is alright, we hardly see anyone in it except for a blue ring and 2 floaties and a face".
But no, no questions were allowed to be asked, no exceptions, as" we've had this conversation before" nonsense.
Really? Where is the respect of mothers and fathers of our age? Where is the rights of asking questions? It ended up with an argument in which they( specially Aaron) made me feel like 1 inch tall. He shouted that I was mean. ( asking questions? Mean? Hmmm.)
Of course, I had to say sorry in the end, and leave it at that. And I was sorry for ever having asked the reasons behind this.
But after that I started feeling quite down/depressed thinking I was a good for nothing mother-in-law.( or the evil mother-in-law)
The only way I started feeling better about myself is listening to that song: "You raise me up"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DorNUsi5LE
And so a few days of feeling like a good for nothing mother and mother-in-law began.
It took a while to feel better again. And now I've come down with a cold and a very sore throat. It's those negative feelings that brought this on. Quite sure of that.
I'm not a happy camper right now. And I am also quite sure I'm not going to travel back to Holland in a hurry unless I can plan it in such a way that I only stay one week in Eindhoven( in the Queen hotel), the rest of the time, travel around visiting various friends and family, and then a few more days in Eindhoven( Queen hotel) , then go to Israel again on my way back, possibly do workaway there for a week. Hire a car from TelAviv, then go to Haifa ( visit Yael and Allain)and then to Kyriyat Tivon, then to Tiberias staying in Kibbutz in Ginosar, and then Kibbutz Ein Harod.) ( maybe also to Jen of Galilee) and then Jerusalem, to do some volunteer work.( for one week), it should come to about 3 weeks again.
Anyway, these are just thoughts, not actual plans. I'm not in a hurry to go back to NL, maybe will be 2021. Brian said he wants to do more Campervan trips in NZ this year and 2020.
Anyway, enough ramblings, here are some more pictures of their stay here. Not all was bad and it went ok again after this. I just know now to back off and bite my tongue, question nothing and just enjoy the good things. Some people are just super sensitive. Pictures below are from the train trip we did on an old diesel train from Waikino to Waihi and back. PS Later I caught Aaron posting a picture of our pool,( a panorama one) with Violet even naked in it. When I called it snap he was angry that I thought he did it deliberately. No I didn't think that but don't you check your photos first before posting it? I always do. I check colour and horizon balance and so on. He deleted the photo in question but hey it's normal that I became sarcastic. I ended up with a severe chest-infection whist in Taupo, it came from that massive negative event. Fuck that! I ended up on anti-biotic's which I luckily had with me already. PS now it's August and I have seen photos on Facebook of their holiday in Ibiza with pictures of Violet in her togs and Daisy in her nappies on the beach . But hey, that's their choice and their kids. I didn't say anything about it this time.
Aaron and Alice are staying here in our cottage, making this their base while they are also travelling around seeing their other relatives. ( Hamilton and Taranaki)
We did a few nice things while here.
Violet learning some basic riding with Dad on it as well on our very quiet horse Freedom.
They had lots of pool time here and also beach time.
Also a walk to our river was a highlight.
Again, family dynamics came into it again after a dispute about a pool picture of which a plastic ring tube and 2 floaties were only visible . I understand if you don't want to show a girl in togs on Facebook, but on this particular picture, hardly togs was recognisably. And certainly no togs were visible. So when I asked that that rule made no sense she became furious. " Because that's our rule, she shouted". Oh well, be like that then, I thought. No discretion
And what's with the blue water of the pool? Why only pool pictures not being allowed?( this is if on Facebook) Well, here are the photos in question: All I see is a happy family having fun in our family pool.
" yes this photo is alright, we hardly see anyone in it except for a blue ring and 2 floaties and a face".
But no, no questions were allowed to be asked, no exceptions, as" we've had this conversation before" nonsense.
Really? Where is the respect of mothers and fathers of our age? Where is the rights of asking questions? It ended up with an argument in which they( specially Aaron) made me feel like 1 inch tall. He shouted that I was mean. ( asking questions? Mean? Hmmm.)
Of course, I had to say sorry in the end, and leave it at that. And I was sorry for ever having asked the reasons behind this.
But after that I started feeling quite down/depressed thinking I was a good for nothing mother-in-law.( or the evil mother-in-law)
The only way I started feeling better about myself is listening to that song: "You raise me up"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DorNUsi5LE
And so a few days of feeling like a good for nothing mother and mother-in-law began.
It took a while to feel better again. And now I've come down with a cold and a very sore throat. It's those negative feelings that brought this on. Quite sure of that.
I'm not a happy camper right now. And I am also quite sure I'm not going to travel back to Holland in a hurry unless I can plan it in such a way that I only stay one week in Eindhoven( in the Queen hotel), the rest of the time, travel around visiting various friends and family, and then a few more days in Eindhoven( Queen hotel) , then go to Israel again on my way back, possibly do workaway there for a week. Hire a car from TelAviv, then go to Haifa ( visit Yael and Allain)and then to Kyriyat Tivon, then to Tiberias staying in Kibbutz in Ginosar, and then Kibbutz Ein Harod.) ( maybe also to Jen of Galilee) and then Jerusalem, to do some volunteer work.( for one week), it should come to about 3 weeks again.
Anyway, these are just thoughts, not actual plans. I'm not in a hurry to go back to NL, maybe will be 2021. Brian said he wants to do more Campervan trips in NZ this year and 2020.
Anyway, enough ramblings, here are some more pictures of their stay here. Not all was bad and it went ok again after this. I just know now to back off and bite my tongue, question nothing and just enjoy the good things. Some people are just super sensitive. Pictures below are from the train trip we did on an old diesel train from Waikino to Waihi and back. PS Later I caught Aaron posting a picture of our pool,( a panorama one) with Violet even naked in it. When I called it snap he was angry that I thought he did it deliberately. No I didn't think that but don't you check your photos first before posting it? I always do. I check colour and horizon balance and so on. He deleted the photo in question but hey it's normal that I became sarcastic. I ended up with a severe chest-infection whist in Taupo, it came from that massive negative event. Fuck that! I ended up on anti-biotic's which I luckily had with me already. PS now it's August and I have seen photos on Facebook of their holiday in Ibiza with pictures of Violet in her togs and Daisy in her nappies on the beach . But hey, that's their choice and their kids. I didn't say anything about it this time.
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| David, right on train |
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| Alice and Violet |
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| Aaron with Daisy |
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| the train inside |
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| me and the boys on the platform |
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| Mike on train. |
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| the 3 brothers admiring Daisy |
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| David enjoying holding Daisy |
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