Calling all Pollywogs!

Thurs, May 30

Pollywogs we are not, as we have crossed the Equator before; however we did go to the Crossing of the Equator ceremony to see King Neptune passing sentence on the ‘’accused”. They were then suitably covered in flour and pasta by the staff and one unlucky passenger was ‘’operated’’ on behind towels to remove his ‘’funny bone’’.

Lots of fun and received yet another personalised Crossing of the Equator certificate as proof that King Neptune has sanctioned our safe passage and we are allowed to continue our journey.

Goodbye Australia – Hello World!

Boarded the lovely “Sea Princess” in Sydney (after driving down from Brisbane) on Monday 20 May. We are on Deck 11 forward on the starboard side. Very comfortable and plenty of space to settle in for our 104 night adventure.
Sailed back into Brisbane last Wednesday and it was cold and raining when we left.
There is no shortage of things to do on board and I have been getting plenty of exercise with Zumba, line dancing and the gym. Lots of craft activities and Alex was pleased to find sketching and photography classes. Yesterday he won a bottle of champagne in the trivia challenge which was a laugh, considering the questions were on “How Australian are You” and he is from the UK!
Today is Tuesday 28th May and we can feel the weather getting warmer and more humid. The sea is unbelievably calm as you can see from the photo. There is hardly a ripple and the ship is just gliding through the waters of the Java Sea.

Photos show leaving Sydney, our stateroom and steward and Thursday Island.
We arrive in Singapore on Friday, so will post more later.

Cats on Vacation

The only downside of going on holidays is saying goodbye to the cats. Fortunately, no cattery for them as they stay with my daughter who has two cats of her own, Arielle and Malai.

In fact, Malai is Samurai’s brother but you could not find two more different looking cats. Samurai looks just like his mother, with his thick, short grey fur in contrast to Malai’s dark long haired coat. Could there be more than one father, I wonder?

Brother Malai

Cousin Arielle

Fortunately, all the cats get on well together. Malai in particular is very social and likes to play with Samurai and Mischa.

So I have packed the car and hope I have remembered everything; lets see … some food, biscuits, treats, beds, rugs, favourite toys, kitty litter and brush. That sounds about right and now to get them in their cat cages for the one hour car trip.

Samurai quite likes to get into his cage but Mischa needs a gentle push!

Not happy!

Me either!

Neither of them likes travelling in the car very much and we soon hear a few protesting miaows which I am sure translate into “Are we there yet?”

Lemme out of here!

By the time we left the cats were settled in with only a little bit of hissing happening, mainly by the two girls. I know they will be very well looked after and spoilt while we are away, so now we go home to an empty house to pack. I miss them already.