The Great Barrier Reef

I can not even begin to explain the fun I had in the two hours we spent out on the Great Barrier Reef.
It was seriously cool. 

And I managed not to get sunburned.

So let me set this up.  The catamaran picked us up from our anchorage off Hamilton Island.  109 of us.  (It was a big catamaran)  It took over 90 minutes to cross the shipping channel and make it to Heart Pontoon (which is a good bigger than the pontoon boat that Ed and Edwin built several decades ago...but I digress)

It even has its own helipad....which doubles as a bird roost.

Some of the girls just opted to take in the scenery...which was just fine.

If you didn't want to snorkel, you could take the semisubmarine....

And still see plenty of the reef...

Aussie humour...

You can see the Heart Pontoon is quite a large facility....moored permanently on the reef.

I don't (yet- yes, Vikki, I will be coming to see you...) have a diving certification, but here is the diving prep area... totally jealous.

With the miniscule jellyfish that abound in the reef, we were advised to don stingersuits...

***PSA***PSA***PSA***
BEACHED BABY WHALE ALERT!  ADVERT EYES IF EASILY OFFENDED.

***PSA***PSA***PSA***

Ok, I'm just gonna let the pics speak for themselves.  Believe it or not all (except the ones taken  by the  underwater photographer) were taken by my GoPro Hero5  (thank you Laird for the birthday present!!!)

ENJOY a tiny tour of a very tiny portion of the Great Barrier Reef!

Three snorkels, two tea breaks (with bikkies--biscuits aka cookies), and two hours later, we headed back, past a gloriously unspoiled white sand beach.

(I wonder if this is what Destin looked like before Big Kahunas???)

And then a bit of a walkabout Hamilton Island before heading back in for a nap!!

Of course there were signs saying "Do Not Feed the Wildlife" but if someone is feeding fries  chips to the birds, who am I not to photograph them....

Just another day in Paradise!!!!!!!!

Sister Ship Sailaway

***PSA***

If you aren't a ship geek or fan of Crystal Cruises--you can skip ahead to the next blog post.  You probably won't understand....

*****

Still here?  Ok...

This blog post is dedicated to my Best-Friend-I've-Never-Met™ Captain Jan-Olav Storli.  He was Chief Officer on Crystal Symphony (long ago in a galaxy far far away), and we have always referred to Symphony as "his" ship, and Serenity as "my" ship....

But I digress.

In this modern age of mega companies owning multiples of even more mega ships, Crystal Cruises sails just two "ships" (yes, the Crystal Esprit, but that's a yacht, and Crystals  Mozart, Ravel, Bach, Debussy and Mahler are river boats...).  So when Crystal Symphony (built in 1998) and Crystal Serenity (built in 2003) cross paths, it is an occurrence to be celebrated.

And when "the girls" sail OUT of Sydney Harbor TOGETHER-- well, it's pretty special.

Enjoy Jan-Olav!

First of all- a little quiz.. spot the differences...NAME THAT SHIP!

Easiest thing- Symphony's lifeboats are exposed; Serenity's are tucked in.  Symphony is slightly smaller and could fit under Sydney Harbor Bridge (Serenity misses by about 3 meters)...so she was anchored in Darling Harbour.  She sailed under the bridge and, as older sister, led her younger sister to sea.

Fair winds, Crystal Symphony!

Crystal Cruises 2018 World Cruise Gala Celebration

Well, I'm just gonna say up front that there is not much that would get me into a white dress.
With my sunburn-and-peel skintone, and my beached baby whale  less than model-like figure,  it would take a lot.

But the World Cruise Gala (nicknamed the White Gala) did.

It's a rare port that BOTH of Crystal Cruises ocean-going vessels, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity call at the same time.  I've only been aboard once, in Barcelona, in 2010.  Sydney was the linchpin  in Crystals 2018 "2 Ships- 4 World Cruise Options" scheme....and so decided to have a grand party for both ships' world cruisers whilst in port.

We were tendered and bussed to historic Sydney Town Hall.  As magnificent a party venue as you could ever wish for.

Once inside, we were greeted by our sister ship's Master and crew (heck, we get to see Captain Vorland and company daily), and handed champagne.  Then it was to be greeted by Crystal Cruises' new president, Tom Wolber and his wife.  Tommy and Heather looked smashing...

and Tommy was mugging as usual for the camera-this time with Barbara.

The curtain was raised, and the gala began in earnest.

And HOW we were entertained.  After a special Indigenous peoples welcome...

Our beloved Hector Olivera impressed us, as always, on the organ....only this time, it was the massive beast of 8800 pipes that occupies one full end of the Sydney Town Hall.

Trust me, you haven't lived until you hear Hector play Handel's Hallelujah Chorus on an 8800-pipe organ.

In and amongst courses, we enjoyed a performance by the Sydney Youth Orchestra...

The big screens only served to highlight how YOUNG these brilliant musicians are.  Then it was onto the Australian Girls' Choir.

Voices of angels, I tell you. They sang-among other songs-  "I Am Australian" to wild applause.  And then...

Australia's own Philip Quast.  He took us on a musical journey through his career, from Australian children's songs, through Rogers and Hammerstein to Sondheim. 

And to finish off the evening, the Girls' Choir gave us an encore of Peter Allen's moving  "I Still Call Australia Home".

My dear friends, Ada and Elisabeth...

Jonathan had fun with his table of girls....

Back at the ship, the party continued....with dancing in the Crystal Cove...

And even a white Cosmopolitan....(I think it had St. Germain instead of cranberry.....not sure, but it was tasty....)

And I gotta tell you...this group of folks (I think there are a total of 300 World Cruisers on both ships) can party long and hard.  I think I am the youngest world cruiser- if not, pretty darn close- and I have a hard time keeping up with these party animals.  It was a glorious night for us World Cruisers.... a party we will never forget!

Around Sydney

We arrived in Sydney a full 8  hours ahead of schedule thanks to some inclement weather.

(That would be massive Cyclone Gita that tore up Tonga.  Swells from the storm prevented us from visiting Norfolk Island, so we made a direct course for Sydney).

The fact that Carnival owns the dock in Sydney and so those big ships get first preference  Docking logisitics prevented us from docking more than one day in Sydney, so for days two and three, we would be tendering in.  But whilst alongside the quay, it was just fine, thankyouverymuch.

Friend Ada and I had planned to try the hop-on-hop-off bus for 2 days, exploring the harbor and environs....but we ended up with a little retail therapy and a boat ride to Manly Beach for lunch.
It was Chinese New Year and the harbor was tarted up appropriately.

Baby New Year on the Chinese Dragon's flames...

Lounging Tiger, Hidden Ferries...

I FINALLY broke down and spent the bucks for a Helen Kaminski hat...something I've always wanted.
(It's rollable, it's packable, it's handmade of raffia, it's darn cute to boot- and DAMMIT, it's MY money and I WANTED it--but it's still a HELLUVA lotta money for a hat)

Ada and Elisabeth-with-an-S (to distinguish her from moi- who is referred to as Elizabeth-with-a-Zed because I'm hanging with Canadians and Danes) also purchased hats, so I must get a pic of all of us avec chapeaux soon.

I also conned  talked into  helped Elisabeth purchase an Apple Watch.

Ada is waiting to buy one in Toronto because she wants the cellular capabilities....Maybe we should just plan on buying everything in threes- might get a discount.  These two are MIGHTY shoppers- I am almost dreading the peer pressure of shopping in Hong Kong.......

( I know Anna-Grace and Alix are asking "Shopping??? Who is writing this  and what have you done with my mom/mother-in-law?")

Small regattas in the decidedly breezy afternoon.

Evidently, Sydney Harbor is THE place for Asians to have their wedding photos made.

I just pinch myself because I am here!!

Up next--the big Crystal White Gala and a very special sailaway!