The Joys of Retirement Production Company

We have boarded our Viking ship,  Venus and have settled into our stateroom.   Our wonderful TA, Caroline Swift,  has again ordered chocolate covered strawberries to get us in our room!  Thank you,  Caroline!

our stateroom and view

Around the ship

The good news… after a month in Hawaii,  and weighing in fully dressed And after lunch, We both weigh within 3 lbs of our weight before traveling!   We have done quite well staying on our pre-trip diet! 

We sail away at 11 PM, so the view under the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and by the Opera House is breathtaking

Darling Harbor is a great venue for more celebration!  Various dance groups from Chinese and Vietnamese groups danced one of their national dances.

the Lion Dancers were great too!

Lunar new year that is!  We are lucky to be staying very near Sydney’s Chinatown area,  Haymarket.   We have walked there a couple times and decided to go for a Chinese dinner tonight!  We approached just as there was a Chinese dances and drummers presenting a celebration! 

This is serendipity! 

We have a free day to wander so we decided to visit the Museum,  The Hyde Park Barracks,  where the prisoners exiled from England in the early 1800s were housed.   They were work crews,  building the early buildings in Sydney, including the barracks themselves.   It was well done and very in interesting!

We had purchased a couple great Australian pies for lunch and enjoyed a mini gelato and some aboriginal diggerydoo entertainment

We decided to take a quick ferry trip to Manly!  A lovely way to spend an afternoon on Sydney harbor!

Manly is a cute beach town,  on the bay and the ocean.

We wanted to explore a bit farther into the great China town area is Sydney.   We are hoping to get to see some odd the Lunar new years events this Saturday.  

Darling Harbor

We walked on to the Bangaroo metro station, Past an interesting sights, A field full of beds where you can watch a movie…. Mov’n Bed.  only in Australia.  Kind of a walk in version of a drive in!  Hummm… wonder what movie is showing tonight?

Metro station

A bit more walking thru Hyde Park,  Past these memorials, The Anzac memorial

Our first full day in Sydney, we walked to a nearby Cafe for Avocado toast, chicken salad lunch at a new deli,  and later down thru Hyde Park to the Circular Quay.

Hyde Park and Botanical garden

and Circular Quay, The Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge.  it was delightful, sunny and a nice breeze,  until a rain cell passed thru,  but luckily we had stopped for a drink and a snack

We took a bus almost home,  but had to walk a couple blocks in a bit of rain,  not too bad!  After a rest,  we walked over to the World square for some dinner.   All in all a good day,  12,000+ steps!

our plan was a flight from Honolulu at 10:40…. which ended up leaving at about 3:40!  The plane had a mechanical issue!

We enjoyed the benefits of business class,  the lounge on Hawaii,  and the stretch out room on the plane,  but it was an long day,  arriving on Sydney at 11 PM Tuesday! 

Our epic adventure has begun!

We just missed the great volcanic eruption.   We visited Friday but the eruption was Sunday!  We did get to visit our friend Henry in the hospital and we glad to hear that he was released to recuperate at home Tuesday!

Our friends Jen and Steve McClosky visited for sunset and brought us a great dinner

Aloha and A Hui Hou, Kona!

We started our day to the Volcanoes National Park with a stop at the Pu’unalulu  Black Sand Beach to visit the turtles. 

There was a local net fisherman patiently watching for the fish….. I wasn’t patient enough to wait for him to cast that net,  however!

Our ultimate goal,  the National Park

The most recent explosive episode of volcano has rained down tephra, a mixture of lava and gasses that was blown into the air.  it covered the ground like feather-weight gravel and chuncks.

We visited the Thurston Lava Tube along the String of Craters Road

The lava and vegetation were very interesting!

We went all the way to the cliffs of the ocean edge of Kilauea to see the Holei sea arch

A great day but a long drive!  Fun to share with Mark and Bodhi

The weather is spectacular!  so we swam a bit, walked on the lava rocks to see a treasure,  one is the 15 monk seals around the big island,  and then did a great whale watch

our whale watch was a great success!  we saw many blows, a mother and calf,  and a splendid breach.  Nice gentleman caught the photo of the day and shared with us!  Thank you. Dale

A dead Sperm whale beached just north of Kona.   There are many sharks feeding off it as well as fisherman catching the scavengers