Palm Cove

14th October 2014. We had a sleep in till 7.30 then went to breaky on the balcony. We caught a local bus to Palm Cove. It was a 40 min trip and passed through Clifton Beach. Clifton is a nice spot but Palm Cove is a stunning place. Palms lining the beach and huge Melaluca trees lining the road. I think it  would make a nice honeymoon spot. Reminded me of Hamilton Island  but I think there would be more to do here. We were dropped in front of "cockys" a coffee shop dad went to with Lyndie and Darren. So for old time sake we had our coffee there.   We walked a short way along the esplanade and bought some papers for mum and dad. I then walked the rest of the esplanade and  bought fish and chips for lunch .  We ate it at a picnic table by the beach. Then did some more sitting,  me on the sand and mum and dad at the table. We all didn't want to catch the bus back just yet. Eventually we went back to Cairns and went to the esplanade.  I went bin the pool for a swim. We had tea at Hides cafe and a lady took our photo.

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Moore Reef, Cairns

13th October 2014. The alarm was set again for 6am to get to breakfast at 6.30am do we could slowly walk to the jetty by 8am. We too the reef magic boat out to a pontoon on Moore Reef .There were numerous activites included which were glass bottom boat tour,  semi submersible boa tour, an underwater observatory and snorkeling . A guy did a fish feeding show and the friendly mauri rass came in close. Lunch morning and afternoon tea also included which made for a very enjoyable day . I went snorkeling and saw more live coral and many more varieties of fish than other times I gave snorkeled. We got back to the room and dad crashed in bed while mum and I watched bear grylls and played cards.

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Kuranda

12th Oct. We set the alarm at 6am and went down for  continental breakfast at Hides Hotel. We walked to the train station and caught the scenic rail up to Kuranda. It made a stop at Barron falls but not much water was coming over the falls. Up at Kuranda we walked to the town and had a coffee. Then dad bought a paper and we settled him in a chair while we went to the markets. We were tempted by a crocodile belt until we heard the price of 170 dollars. We had a lovely lunch at a cafe near a lady playing a harp. Then we caught  the skyrail down the mountain. This trip was absolutely awesome. Suspended high above the rainforest it was scary but beautiful and as we descended the mountain we afforded expansive views of the ocean and cairns. A bus took us back to our hotel but mum and I got off early and walked up the esplanade and the back to Hides stopping for ice cream and wifi at maccas. We bought tea from Woolies and ate it on the balcony.

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Spirit of Queensland

October 10th, 11th . Lyndie dropped mum, dad and I at Caboolture train station for a 4.40pm departure. We were travelling in the new rail beds and had 3 seats next to each other. We were served dinner which was a bit like airline food but nicer. Mum watched princess grace of monaco while dad watched the muppet movie . Then mum and I watched a movie called 'All is lost' about a guy who had a yachting accident and how things keep going wrong for him. A story of survival (or not)starring  a very old Robert Redford. They converted our seats into beds and we hit the sack. The night rattled and wobbled on as Dad roused and crossed off each town we passed.
They woke us at 6am to convert the beds back. I pretended to still be asleep ,so they did me last.  Breaky served at 7am. Then Mum and I watched The Magic of Belle Isle with Morgan Freeman which was a nice movie. We stopped at Tully and had an hour break since we were ahead of schedule. We got out and found an orange tree in fruit in a a park so we picked a few. We arrived in Cairns late afternoon and made our way to Hides Hotel. We bought subway for tea and ate it on the balcony at Hides.

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Rome again 27th Sept

We had to pack up this morning but there was time for a quick skype to Jim. We were able to leave our luggage at the guesthouse so we checked out and headed to Eataly as it had been recommended. It was ok, just a big supermarket really ,with some interesting food. Then we headed back to some shops we had seen yesterday to buy some presents. We then walked to the Jewish quarter for a great 'departing'  lunch. We had fried artichoke, pasta carbonara and caprese salad. Saw a great recycling shop and tempted to buy a bag made from wetsuits and bike tube. The boys may have liked it but a bit expensive. We did however find a great dress shop and had a final splurge. We headed back to Trastevere for a last wander and found a church with a wedding going on and tourist groups still wandering in. We had a gander too . Then back to our guest house to pick up luggage and high tail it to the airport., via extremely crowded tram and train. Said Goodbye to Italy. Home James , don't spare the horses.

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Rome 26th Sept

 Today we went to the food market in campo fiona, then on the pantheon which I think is awesome. We went to have coffee at the best coffee in Rome (according  to the lady at our b and b) . It was so busy we shared a table with an Irish couple and had an enjoyable long chat.  He was very funny.Then to the  Spanish steps and onto piazza popolo .  We walked through sone of the villa borgese garden down the Spanish steps and sat on them for a rest. Then on our way to the  collessuem we found a lovely pastry shop....Lunch sorted!.It was now quite hot and we walked via circus maximus back home. It was about 5pm so we rested and got ready for tea at a nearby restaurant that was part of our food tour last night.

Cruise ends, Rome begins 25th Sept

We packed our bags last night , had bfst in the dining room and we're off the ship at 9am. The shuttle took us into Civitavecchia where we noticed a bus transfer for 17 euros . This was much more appealing to us than the 25 min walk to the train station, trying to buy tickets and waiting for a train and then negotiating our luggage on a crowded train. Needless to say we jumped at this option. It meant we were dropped off in Rome at a different place but it was still only a 20 min walk to our accomodation and through Piazza Novena  and campo for a as a bonus.. We arrived at about midday and settled into our room and had WIFI at last do spent the next hour catching up on emails, facebook and I skyped Jim.. In the afternoon we wandered around Trastevere and then got ready for our Rome Food Tour which began on Tibor island. We went to a restaurant for fried artichoke abd Prosecco, then a very old wine cellar for anti pasta and wine, then a biscuit maker and bread maker, then we sat down for 3 pasta dishes and finally gelati . This was a great thing to do in Trastevere.

Cinque Terre 24th Sept

We had arrived in La Spezia before bfst in the windjammer. A shuttle bus took us to the edge of town and we walked to the train station to catch a train to Montross a. At Monterossa we walked along the beachfront and nearly decided to catch the next ferry but we would gave missed it ,so we wandered further into the back streets and discovered a whole new part of Monterossa I had not seen before and it was lovely. So glad we missed that ferry.We could gave stayed longer but wanted to see other places, so we caught the train to Corniglia after congratulating ourselves on figuring out how to buy a ticket at the machine. It was quite difficult even though in English. I'm  not sure how any one could do it in Italian. After climbing the 300 odd steps from train station to Corniglia we bought a Basil gelati, their specialty and liked it. After only a short visit we caught the next train to Vernazza deciding that we wouldn't walk between the villages, as walking up those steps was enough walking for today. In Vernazza we went to a pizza place by the Harbour for lunch. The Onion pizza there had been recommended so we had it with salad. From Vernazza we decided to ferry back to La Spezia stopping off at Portavenere, since Wanita has not been there. Walking back to the ship we saw snow on distant mountains. Back on the boat we went to the hot tub and watched us departing again, and just missed the pilot boat man jumping ship. We had a lovely dinner at the dining room and then went to watch the 70's party in the promenade and got in amongst it for a bit of a dance.
Bed at midnight.

Nice, Eze, Villefranche Sur Mer 23rd Sept

The ship was anchored at Villefranche sur mer this morning as the sun rose at breakfast time 7am . We were on the first tendered boat to shore as we wanted to make the most of the day. We got a day pass and caught a bus to Nice and got off at the Harbour and walked around the waterfront to the promenade . We climbed the steps of the cliff for a view over the promenade . We walked then to the flower/food market and into the old town for a good wander. Awesome . We then caught the tram up the main street but not quite as far as Lyndies wedding dress shop and walked back stopping at the church and at a few shops .We looked at the fountains at place Massena and used the toilets at macca before walking up the promenade to where Lyndie and I lived for 2 weeks at #77 We caught the bus back and another bus to the hilltop village of Eze . Here we walked the beautiful cobblestone alleys and had a drink at a cute cafe which gave us some complimentary olives and m and Ms . Highlight of the day . We walked the Neitze path down to Eze station 45 min on very rough path with some great views . Once down we waited for a bus to take us back to Villefranche . After 45 min wait be were started to worry but the bus did come .It was jammed full and we had to sqeeze on but we were not going to be left behind for fear of missing our boat back to the ship. We got back to Villefranche with an hour to look around before our boat was due to depart. It was a bit of a rushed look but we saw the obscure street , church and walked along the waterfront. Back on the ship we headed for the hot tub up on the pool deck with a great view as we departed and followed the coast down past Monaco. We then did trivia and went to dinner where we met 3 Nord women friends celebrating their 40th birthdays. A great Day!

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