General Chat

:-D :-D :-D :-D

but is it ;-)

Sorry Allan but I'm with Pat on this one.....you need to up your game somewhat. We're used to more, we need a pirate and/or shipwreck or two I think....... :-D

Did you go and lose your internet privileges again Allan or still rolling up your trouser legs ?? :-D :-D

.............. maybe he can't find his way home after his Masonic duties?

My internet service was slashed this morning....it's taken me a good 30 minutes to get a connection :-|

No Pirates, that was my last Rail and sail adventure

https://www.genesreunited.com.au/boards/board/general_chat/thread/1293229

This tale is factual.

The rest of the voyage passed in relative peace until it was nearly time to leave the ship in Sydney. :-0

All the information given about this procedure related to filling out the appropriate Incoming Passenger Card and handing this in to Customs together with your passport.

Not for us, so we thought, as we were domestic passengers :-D

Off to Guest Services to enquire what the procedure was passengers such as ourselves (at least 500 embarked at Fremantle with only a few of those going beyond Sydney to New Zealand)

No different procedure we were informed; we had to fill out our card and present our passport. This would be extremely difficult as we boarded using our driving licences as ID.

The poor chap we dealt with couldn't grasp that we hadn't boarded the ship in Singapore and that the Incoming Passenger Card (IPC) had only three main questions 1) Are you migrating to Australia 2) are you visiting Australia for a holiday 3) Are you returning to Australia.

None of these applied so we didn't bother filling it in, but I did envisage all sorts of problems with our disembarkation, including a stint in the Villawood Detention Centre where all deportees are incarcerated just prior to being hurled from Australia's shores :-0

As it turned out we simply walked of the ship, approached the customs officer who was collecting the IPC's, and explained that we joined the ship in Fremantle. His only reaction was to ask to see our Set Sail Pass issued when we embarked. Seconds later he waved us through.

It was only later that I realised, something that the Guest Services staff didn't, that those who joined the cruise overseas had a slightly different Pass to those who joined in Australia. :-D

Now during the cruise, as I've already stated the weather was too cold to use our balcony.

That all changed when we arrived in Sydney where the temperature had soared to 38C :-(

I think that I'm going to have to write my saga in Word and then copy to here. :-|

I've just spent a good deal of time explaining what happened in Sydney and next thing it had disappeared (my narrative, not Sydney) :-S

Oh dear Allan sounds cursed.....

Caroline, as you and Pat did such a good job of the initial start to my fable (no sarcasm intended) which took me back to the good old days on here when people would start a story then others added to it as you and Pat did, I have decided to just give the bare bones of the rest of the journey. :-)

Having left the ship we spent five nights in Sydney where we discovered that Bondi and Manly beaches are overhyped, overcrowded and not as good as many of the beaches here in WA. The same goes for the Opera House :-|

We did do a harbour cruise, which included a buffet lunch, of the Sydney Harbour. OH must have eaten the only dodgy oyster in the bunch as five hours later it was back to the toilet for the usual double performance! :-0

Wednesday OH was much better, full of beans but empty of bowel and stomach, which was just as well as we were being transferred from the hotel to the station where we boarded the Indian Pacific for the three night journey back to Perth.

Wednesday evening the food poisoning returned and OH spent a very uncomfortable night on the train.

In fact she was so bad that I suggested the we leave the train in Adelaide , which we were due in to in the late afternoon, and catch a plane back to Perth. In the end when OH woke up on Thursday morning all traces of stomach upsets, to put it mildly, had passed.

Fortunately, I had already agreed to sleep in the top bunk on the train so OH had unfettered access to the toilet.

We duly arrived in Perth on Saturday afternoon about half an hour late and once we had collected our large luggage we paused only long enough to transfer the contents of our small luggage, which contained our four days' worth of clothes, into the large cases so that we each only had one case to wheel about.

We made it to Mandurah without any further hassles where we were met by our daughter for the drive home.

We will NOT be visiting Sydney again; an overrated city by any standards :-|

Just as a postscript, the Mortimer curse struck again yesterday when our Guinea Pig finally passed away behind a Rosemary bush. The GP had been a bit lethargic early in the morning but nevertheless still left her hutch for her usual walk around the garden.

The reference to Rosemary is particularly appropriate as not only is it said to enhance the memory, but in Australia sprigs of Rosemary are used on ANZAC day as emblems of remembrance, Rosemary being found on the Gallipoli Peninsular, much in the same way that Poppies have come to symbolise Remembrance Day.

We buried her near to the bush.

She had a good life and was seven or eight years old. :-)

Now OH is taking bets on whether it will be me or our old moggie who carks it next :-D

.....so a pretty explosive holiday for OH then :-S......

One that won't be forgotten in a hurry......

:-D :-D :-D

That's one way of describing it ;-)

It's put us off cruising, rail travel (although we have said that we may try the Ghan from Adelaide to Darwin) and Sydney

We would still like to do a river cruise, though :-S

At least with a river cruise, you're nearer to land!!! :-D :-D

OH would argue that the proximity land, sea, river or track is immaterial, it is the closeness to toilets that is the guiding factor :-D :-D

:-S :-S
I send her my sympathy! <3

Sorry, Allan didn't mean to attempt to outdo your tales of daring dos.

All in all your OH had a rather unfortunate time didn't she, I too send my sympathy to her and to both of you over your loss.

On a brighter note maybe she could write a review on all the bathroom she visited :-)

Caroline, I'm sure that If OH had paper with her whilst visiting the bathrooms, it would not be used for writing reviews ;-) :-D :-D

:-D :-D

:-D :-)

Hi Allan, what have been up to since you came back, anything interesting ? :-D

Hi Kathryn, just trying to adjust back into civilisation and the realisation that my bucket list has now got a hole in it ;-)

I'm also trying to adjust to very rapid changes to time zones both forwards and backwards.

WA does not do time changes any more, but most of the other States do :-0

You could have a meal at 1200 noon one day and the following day the same meal would be at 1400 and the day after that at 1500 :-S

My stomach could not keep up with the changes whilst OH's stomach couldn't keep anything down :-0 :-D :-D :-D

Still trying to get your land legs back hey Allan? :-)