On our Way Home

Over the last three days we visited Lisbon in Portugal and yesterday we were in Vigo in Spain. Arcadia departed last night at 18:00hrs for Southampton. The swell across the Bay of Biscay was up to its usual standards and the boat rolled all night. On waking this morning it was surprise surprise, bright sunshine and calm seas, a rare occasion in these waters. At 12:30 we are approaching the English Chanel so our Grand Voyage is coming to an end. It was a fantastic trip and one to remember for a very long time. Tomorrow we leave the comfort of our ship, for the last two months and back to reality of day to day living.

Trevi Fountain, Rome

Italy, Rome

Arcadia left Egypt and for the last 36 hours have made our way across the Mediterranean Sea at a speed of 23 knots. Today is Thursday the 9th of April and at 08:15. the outside temp was 14 degrees, which is 20 degrees less than we are used to over the last two months. We are currently approaching the toe of Italy on route for Civitavecchia. This port will be our base for trips to Rome. We have always thought that this part of the journey was the one not to look forward to, both of us understood that the weather would be much colder in Europe. However, the real benefit of sailing back to the UK is no jet lag so we have to put up with the weather and the slow boat return. Luckily for us life on board is not dull, today some of the activities consist of a talk by the famous England footballer Jack Charlton and if you want you can go to dancing classes, bridge classes, computing courses, jewellery classes. In addition to this we have the cinema and deck games to keep us amused, tonight like every other evening we go to the theatre to watch the show which is always fantastic. Tonight we have an invitation to the Pursers cocktail party at 8pm and then dinner at 08:30. Dispite all this time on our hands we ended up running late for the party. Both of us were reading books and when we looked at our watch we had 20 minutes to get ready, where did the time go today? Friday, 10th April we arrived in Italy around 07:00 and boarded our coaches at 8am for a day in Rome. Right now I am writing this blog sitting in a traffic jam heading back to the ship after a fantastic day. When we arrived in Italy we had expected rain but hey ho it was sunshine all the way, even ended up in T-shirts again. This was our first visit to Rome and we were dropped off at a central location called the “Piazza Del Popolo” which means Peoples Square. We now had 6 hours to explore on our own so Carol and I walked to see the Trevi Fountain and then onto the Spanish Steps and Coliseum and tomb of the unknown soldier, or “wedding cake” as it is known. We were told that this is where Mussolini was hanged during the war , at least he had a a beautiful location for hanging around. The Architecture and atmosphere was unbelievable. We had a leisurely lunch washed down by a nice bottle of wine in the Piazza Novona, glad we have a driver to get us back to the ship. Unfortunately, Carol picked up a cold and our first place to visit on arrival this morning was a pharmacy. Now she cannot wait to lie down, tonight she has decided to skip dinner so hopefully she will be better for our return to Scotland in 5 days time. Tonight we sail for Lisbon .

Town on the Suez

Suez Canal

7th April 2009 Arcadia started her transit of the Suez Canal at 06:30. We awoke around 08:00 hrs and looked outside our stateroom window to see nothing but desert gently gliding bye. This is a truly an amazing sight, from our balcony we sat for 1 hour and watched the world go by as we sipped a cup of tea. For a short period after 10 we had a few spots of rain and then the sun came out, big time. The bridge was giving a commentary as we proceeded through the remaining 89 kilometers at a speed of just over 8 knots. The cost for this 1 way passage is £150,000, so it is not cheap. The benefit to P&O is that the passage should take 11 hours instead of two weeks sailing until we arrive at the Mediterranean port of Said where we pick up the passengers who left this morning to visit the pyramids. If we had tried the same journey by sea it would have taken over two weeks. As the ship burns 20,000 galls per hour this short cut is beneficial all round. The journey has been better than we thought, very peaceful, and the countryside very varied. On the Port side (Egypt) it was very green and built up in places, but on the opposite side Egypt/Israel border quite barren. Finally we arrived at Port Said around 18:00 hrs departed at 20:30 hrs and left the Middle East before heading out into the Mediterranean for our destination on Good Friday 10th April Civitavecchia, Italy

Safaga

Woke this morning to find us in the port of Safaga, located at the bottom of the Red Sea and entrance to the Suez Canal. Weather is very sunny and air temp around 25 degrees, very pleasant. The tours left very early this morning around 4am to visit the Pyramids and other attractions. This trip will take over 13 uncomfortable hours sitting on a coach and spending little time at the wonders of the world. We decided it was not worth the hassle and stayed on board. The country here is absolutely barren with no vegetation and looks very dirty and uninspiring. We spent the day lazing around until it was our time to visit the gym, yes it is the only way to keep the weight down and ensure our clothes still fit after 2 months at sea. To allow the coaches time to return we depart the port around 23:00 hrs destination Port Said.

Pirate Alley

Today the 09:00hrs 1^st of April the temp is now 75 degrees and we are now 1 day into our 5 day passage from Dubai to Safaga. Last night the Commodore announced of the slight possibility of an attack during this part of the voyage and warned that in the event of gun fire, no passengers were to go near their balconies or indeed anywhere on the promenade deck. The danger time is from 10pm this evening and will last for a period of 24 hours whilst we transit the Gulf of Aden. This is the area that most of the attacks of ships have occurred with slower vessels or indeed with an easier free board than Arcadia. The pirates come out from Somalia and have been known to venture some 300+ miles out to sea where ships think they are safe. The danger increases as the straits narrow and then enter the safety of the Red Sea. The Commodore has relayed the ships position to a tracking centre and warships from many nations patrolling will know our position at any one time, therefore we are not worried at all. Last night at a Reception held on deck for all of the passengers the commodore joked that pistol practice will commence on the Promenade at 11am on Wednesday, you can bet your life people turned up.

Destination Dubai

Arcadia let go her lines at 17:30 hrs and headed out into the Arabian Sea from our port in Muscat, next destination is Dubai. Bad weather is expected over the next few days and therefore the temperature had dropped to 28 with overcast sky. To be honest the lower temperature was welcome. The port was surrounded by mountain ranges right out of the water and if the skies had been clear i am pretty sure we would have cooked with the reflective heat. We arrived in Dubai around 08:30 hrs on Monday, this was the port that we were waiting so forward to seeing. When we arrived the weather was dry but very hazy, lots of sand in the air making visibility difficult. At 09:30 the bridge announced that passengers were cleared for going ashore weather conditions could be mixed with thunder storms likely mid afternoon. Temperatures were expected to reach 30 and humidity would be high. Arcadia was berthed behind the QE2 which is tied up at the dockside until she is transfered to her final resting place it was sad to see her sitting there all alone, no lights or passengers to give her life. On the quayside, all of the Malls had laid on courtesy buses to take passengers to and from the city centre. We only had time to visit one Mall located in the old part of Dubai near the creek and also a couple of Souks, There was no time to visit the Palm or indeed the World man made islands located offshore complete with expensive hotels and properties. To say we were disappointed with our first impression of Dubai was an understatement. I am sure if the weather had been better our thoughts would now be different, however to give it any justice, we need a return visit and both agree that a solution would be to visit when we are back in Cyprus, flying time is only around 3.5 hours compared to 6 from Scotland. At 16:30 the heavens opened and thunder and lighting was splitting the skies, luckily we made it back on board and spent a few hours watching soaked passengers run from the safety of a covered walkway and make the 200 meter dash to the gangway. Fortunately Muscat gave us lovely memories of the UAE and these will have to do until the next time. Arcadia threw her lines at 18:00 hrs and is now heading back out to sea for 5 days before reaching Safaga in Luxor. After this port we enter Suez, our last port of call in the Middle East before we transit the Canal and enter the Mediterranean, heading in the direction of Italy for our visit to Rome on Easter Friday.

Welcome to Muscat in Oman

This morning we sailed in from the Arabian Sea and arrived in Muscat, Oman. This is a small country slightly larger than Italy but with a poppulation of only 3 million. First impressions was that it was very clean and a fantastic place to visit. Being a Muslim country we had some strict rules to follow. Men had to wear long trousers and long sleeve shirts. Ladies had to be very modest indeed consisting of long trousers to the ankle or long skirts, blouses had to have long sleeves and head scarves if visiting any Mosques. In our information pack we were also made aware that if we were eating ashore we were informed not to use our left hand! This is the unclean hand if you catch the drift. Unfortunately Carol is left handed so we thought we better not eat out. Great Suqs/markets where the quality of the silk and garments is unbelievable, Carol was wishing she kept her shopping for here as you could go mad with colours and choices, needless to say she did buy something and so did i, but all will be revealed later!

Muscat guide with Scots Accent

Waterfront in Muscat

Welcome to India

The advert on TV says incredible India, they are not kidding. We arrived at 10:30am in the port of Cochin and have to say that harbor entrance was fantastic. The site of this huge ship towering 12 floors above sea level must have been spectacular from the shore. From the vantage point of our breakfast table, It allowed us to look into houses and wave at locals as the ship entered through a very narrow channel. We decided not to participate with any of the ships organised tours, instead, a friend had organised a driver to meet Carol and I outside the main dock entrance. We were advised that they will have a placard bearing our name and an air conditioned car for sight seeing. We were ready for the street hawkers, what we did not expect was the sheer scale of people offering us everything from sight seeing on a motorised Tuc Tuc to wooden elephants and anything else we wanted. It was impossible to move two feet without 20 people trying to sell their services. The only way to describe the mass outside the gates, was that it looked as if a football game had just finished and they were all waiting on us. I have to say that Indians taxi drivers were always polite and never intimidating in any way, however, saying no thanks we have a taxi about 60 times a minute was very hard work. Eventually we were identified and told to get in a nice car, as it was not the registration number we expected and told the driver we are looking for someone else. This very pleasant chap told us that his friend could not make it and we were to go with him as he would be our guide. Thankfully we jumped in the back seat out of the crowds and asked the driver to get us out of the melee. We had only driven a few 100 meters when i realized that we were duped, this enterprising Indian had heard us tell hordes of others that we were waiting on a particular driver and registration number, he picked his time and came up to us saying Anthony sent him, as soon as we heard the name we thought great lets go, of course we did not have the right driver. As we could not be bothered with any further hassle, we agreed a deal and off we went. It was very tiring indeed, temperature 34 degrees and every where stopped were mobbed, after a few hours we decided enough was enough and retired to the secured compound of a luxury hotel owned by the TATA group (owners of Jaguar and Range Rover to name a few business) The place was surrounded by security guards with big sticks and airport scanners and mirrors to check cars and people entering the grounds. After the obligatory elephant photo stop, it was time for a beautiful Indian lunch sitting in the shade beside the river. Both of us agreed that the marketing slogan “Incredible India” is correct, the gulf between the rich and poor is just staggering.

Brave Carol

Lanwkai, Malaysia

We arrived in this morning around 06:30 taking some 36 hours from our previous port Singapore. Once again we never heard the ship arrive in her berth and awoke to the announcement that the tour buses were now leaving for their daily tours, and passengers had to make their way ashore to board the transportation. I guess we slept in! We decided days ago to do our own thing, this meant that we were able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast, meet friends and decide where to go on this beautifully tropical island. On leaving ship around 11am we hired a car and driver to show us some of the local sights. First port of call was to a duty free shopping centre, where we quickly told him to keep driving. Carol has already purchased an additional suitcase so no more shopping. After sightseeing at some beeches, we agreed to take a cable car to a vantage point some 2300 ft above sea level. Due to the number of coaches from our ship we had to wait in line for about 1 hour before boarding the cable car. If only we did not have to put up with these dammed tourists! The views from the peak were quite stunning and the pictures are not too bad either. With the humidity and temperature very high, we decided enough was enough and returned to the ship for some snacks and a rest before getting ready for their sail away party. On the stroke off 17:30 Arcadia sets sail for Cochin in India, We were informed by the Captain that this two day crossing will be a fast run through the Sea of Bengal. As i write this we have only been sailing for around 30 minutes and already we are touching 22 knots with an outside temperature of 32C. So once again it is goodbye Langkawi and hello Cochin.

Langkawi Beach style housing

Arrived in Langkawi Malaysia

Goodbye Singapore

Today is Sunday and currently sailing through the Straits of Malacca heading for Langkawi, Malaysia. At midnight on Saturday Arcadia slipped her lines in Singapore and headed out at a speed of 14 knots, by midday we had covered a distance of 140 nautical miles. Shipping traffic is unbelievable out here, on both sides of the ship, container traffic is passing us as far as the eye can see. We were told by the bridge that over 50,000 ships pass through this Strait every year. I have never seen so many super tankers pass each other so close all going to various destinations across the world. We are having a great time visiting old and new ports, Cambodia was a real eye opener and readers of our blog were aware from our comments, that this was a port that we were not looking forward to, however, our visit turned out quite spectacular as the country is still in its infancy for tourism, but we guess not for long.

China Town Market Singapore

Welcome to Cambodia

Arrived this morning in the Indochina port of Cambodia, Carol was not looking forward to seeing the children begging in the street. Most of the older people were killed in their millions during the Pol Pot regime in 1975. Only 4% of the population are over 65 and 50% are under 21. We hired a Tuk Tuk bike and driver to take us round, every time we stopped kids as young as 4 would stick their hand out and ask us to buy bracelets or cards, very sad. A Tuk Tuk is a motorised rickshaw with 4 covered seats and a driver. On a more positive note, new hotels and resorts are being built and their beaches are stunning. The people are always smiling and make you welcome everywhere you go. Despite all the poverty, this is a very beautiful country and we are sure it will be a great place to visit in a couple of years. This is the first time P&O have visited this country and are sure they will return with other cruises. We are glad we got off the boat as we would have missed some fantastic scenery. Our next port is Singapore, in a few days time.

Temple in Cambodia

A Day in Saigon

This morning we woke in the port of Saigon, with the weather baking hot and the temperature at 06:30 already 26C,when we left Saigon at 19:30, the temp was still 30C. It took 3 hours to drive from the ship in to Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City to use its official name. The locals tell us they still call it Saigon and only refer to its official name on Government papers. We visited the various points of interest including the former US embassy where the yanks departed in 1968 rather hastily by helicopter from the roof when the city was over run by the Viet Cong troops during the war. It was absolute chaos driving into the city, we were told that the population consists of 75 million with 45 million owning scooters/motorbikes. At each corner or junction, thousands maneuvered for position, we guessed all of them had turned out to see our cavalcade of buses. Even more interesting was entering roundabouts with no give way, it was hilarious to watch, thank God we were not driving. Every where we went vendors on scooters tried to sell us everything but the kitchen sink for 1 USD, even when you got back to the safety of the bus they would bang the window trying to sell us the same thinks we said NO to this earlier. Later on we recognised some of the faces from earlier stops, the hawkers were following the buses for over 8 hours, difficult to tell the difference, they all look the same.

My New Bird

Three Little Maids

A bin to Saigon

Next Port Saigon

Arcadia shortly sails for Saigon and after a 36 hour sea passage we will arrive at 08:00 hrs.

Cute Baby

4000 Islands

Great Name for Boat

Arcadia at Anchor

Halong Bay Vietnam

At 08:30 this morning we joined a group of passengers aboard a Vietnamese Junk sailing through Halon Bay in Vietnam. It is amazing how quickly you become blase about these trips, therefore, we were not expecting anything special. Just how wrong we were. Hopefully the following pictures will convey the beauty of the islands. All were covered in vegetation and made up of limestone. Our guide told us that they have over 4000 islands throughout the area which is now a world heritage site since 1994. Halong Bay is located within the Gulf of Tonkin and only 3 hours from Hanoi. On returning to the ship just after 1pm, we immediately caught the Tender to take us ashore as Arcadia was on anchor. I forgot it was Sunday and all the Banks would be closed, which meant I only had a small amount of US dollars to tide us by. “Not good enough” says Carol “I have gifts to buy and require currency”, so we went to a new Novatel for lunch which allowed us to cash Hong Kong dollars into a local currency. This was a very unique experience as £100 equals two million seven hundred thousand local currency. This made shopping a maths lesson as well as honing your negotiation skills with the local trader. The rule of thumb was take a 100% of the first price and work until you reach a compromise. Carol was rubbish at this, all they needed to do was bring out a baby holding the goods and she would melt, telling me to just give them the money. Fear not I have not lost my marbles yet so both sides were satisfied. Both of us agree that today was one of the highlights so far, a great experience from extremely friendly people.

Welcome to Hong Kong

We arrived on Thursday at 14:00 hrs in our favourite city Hong Kong, Carol and i have been here many times so feel at home moving around the back streets soaking up the atmosphere. I am sure the following pictures will bring back fond memories to Craig & Jenna who came with us in 2007. We took over the role as tour guides for Brian & Margaret (Cyprus neighbours) This is the first time RSM Brian, has returned in over 30 years. We took them to Stanley market, which can be a hair raising ride on a double decker bus along very narrow roads. Once you leave the city, you are in the country, passing through beach areas such as Repulse Bay before reaching Stanley Market. Unfortunately, this is where my credit card took a hammering, as Carol says “it was smoking” buying presents for those back home. We returned to the ship, knackered and poorer than when we left. The ship is berthed along side Harbour City which is a huge 4 story shopping mall which stretches about a half a mile in each direction. You can buy everything if you have the money. To give you an idea of how expensive we noticed a tiny shop selling designer phones with a security guard on the door, the price for the cheapest was 59,000 HKD (£5,900.00). Later that night after a nice Thai meal ashore, we had drinks on the 28^th floor of the Peninsular Hotel, one of Hong Kong finest hotels, airport transportation is either Helicopter or Rolls Royce! Needless to say 4 drinks cost an arm and a leg but the experience was worthwhile. Tonight we sail for Halong bay in Vietnam so sadle it is goodbye Hong Kong.

Scarey Bus Ride

Arcadia in Hong Kong

Stanley Market

Hong Kong by Night

Shanghai

Welcome to Shanghai, it took one and a quarter hours to reach the City from Arcadia due to distance and heavy traffic. Once again we traveled on fantastic motorways and marveled at the new houses, landscapes and new office/factories for some of the worlds leading industries. VW and GM manufacture their cars and ship them overseas from China and the port was like one gigantic parking lot. As soon as we opened our eyes, we knew we were in a city, the smell due to smog just hung in the air until this cleared to beautiful sunshine, unfortunately the smell never left. On our return Carol changed into something more comfortable and commented that she could still smell the city from her blouse. Despite all of this, the buzz and noise was very hard to describe, the huge volume of people in the bazaar area we visited was unbelievable. The scene was set prior to us leaving the coach when our guide gave us a note to hand to a taxi driver, telling them where to return us to the ship if we lose her in the crush. She was not joking! It was just madness but glad we experienced it. At one point we came into a square where thousands of Chinese were eating and the noise was like trillions of starlings, we were all overawed by the sight. Carol's brother lived here for two years, now we understand how it took him hours to get to and from work. We can see why his wife, Renata, loved the city and its diverse culture, I am sure we will visit again in years to come.

Cusick Blogged on the wall

Carol flanked by the great and good of Arcadia Crew, Comrade Cusick is the one on the right, normally wears a nice set of whites with plenty of gold braid, James is the Executive Purser from Northern Ireland, with a wicked sense of humour, he said all that was missing on the wall was a good band. He threw a party a few nights ago, what a bash but of course, what do you expect from the Irish especially with a free bar. It was James Cusick Blog that encouraged me to write one of our trip, so thanks James and keep up the good work. Ours will never be as good, however, he has a multitude of staff helping tp put his together, and here's me thinking he did this all on his own. check his blog on www.jamescusick.co.uk

Comrade Cusick on the Wall

Great Day at the Great Wall

McGills Buses in China

5999 miles left to walk

The Great Wall of China

Awoke in the port of Xingang this morning after Arcadia overnight passage, never even heard her dock. We arranged a wake up call for 07:00 hours to catch our 3 hour coach trip to the Great wall of China, This wonder of the world covers 6000 miles in length and is visible from outer space. Beijing is three hours away, however, this will have to wait for another time. We were all advised that it will be very cold and everyone was prepared with triple layers of clothes. To be honest it was not to bad, a bit like a cold day in Scotland. We were told that over 1600 passengers had booked trips today and left in doubt when we tried to get off the ship in the morning. Once we were through immigration we walked out to see one of the largest collection of new luxury coaches i have seen in a long time, very impressive. On leaving the city, we joined the toll motorways which were stunning 4 lane motorways with new trees being planted in their millions. More importantly, we could not find litter anywhere. The coaches pulled into a beautiful motorway service station for a comfort break. As normal the men walked in and out of their toilets, however the ladies formed an orderly Que as only the Brits do, the picture of ladies standing in line rolling up the trouser legs was hilarious. Word had filtered out that this modern building had no sit down toilets but a hole in the tiled floor, i guess ladies are not as good as men at aiming!. On arrival at the great wall the scenery in the mountain area was breathtaking and the scale of the small section we saw is hard to describe, hopefully some of our pictures will help. The weather was fantastic as everyone had to remove the layers of clothes and walk about in tee shirts soaking up the sun and admiring the scenery. We arrived back on the ship at 19:30 absolutely done in, desperate for a cup of tea and a sandwich. Thankfully commonsense prevailed sandwiches were ordered and two gin and tonics were the order of the day.

Goodbye Japan

We have just left Nagasaki, and what a send off we were given by the people of this city.

From the moment we arrived at 07:00hrs this morning, we received such a warm welcome from the actors in period costume on the quay side, to the delightful school brass band playing Auld Lang Syne on our departure. Our day began with a organised tour round the city and then onto ground zero where the Atom Bomb exploded 500 ft above ground. We were both shocked by the sheer mass destruction of a city, no words can described the horror of such an event. Everyone is aware how cruel the Japanese were during World War 2, and no doubt, that this single act saved millions from the same fate. The parks and gardens were full of schoolchildren, clearly the Japanese make sure that their future generations are totally committed to preventing such horrors ever again. Everywhere we went, children wanted to talk to us in excellent English with happy smiling faces it is these friendly faces that will live in our memories for a long time. We were invited for a Japanese lunch at a local hotel and both of us sat down to about 10 local dishes ranging from soup to sushi, swallowed down by green tea. When we arrived back, the first thing Carol and i had was a cup of Lipton tea and a croissant left over from breakfast. Before departure, most passengers attended a presentation ceremony in the Palladium for the ships commodore and Nagasaki officials, after which, we were all entertained by a magnificent Taiko Drum group.

Sianara Japan

Peace Girls

Beach on Guam

Large Shark

How about this for a set of Teeth, Carol was pretty envious how big this shark could open its mouth! Both glad it was dead and not something we met in the turquoise water of Guam.
1700 elderly to mature passengers including both of us, descended on this lovely island which must have taken the young Japaese and Korean honeymooners by surprise. Everyone looked under 25 and we guess Guam must be their island of choice for hen and stag holidays.

Big Mouth

Late Nights On Deck

Life At Sea

Hi from Arcadia at Sea,

Yesterday was very hot and sticky, that hot you could not even walk on the wooden deck to the pool without shoes. It was impossible to sit in the sun, yet we had people who did. they look like a mouse on a stick, dark brown and wrinkled. I guess they do not think about skin cancer, however at there age they probably do not care.

Both of us are attending the gym as we are putting on weight, I started the day we came on board with Carol walking 6 laps of the boat which is equal to 2 miles. Yesterday we both went to the Gym as i convinced Carol to use the tread mill for walking, at least she was in the shade and air conditioned. She enjoyed it so has decided to go back, desperate to fit her dresses again.

Last night was another black tie night and after this we went to an excellent show. This morning we woke up and what a change, fog, with a temperatures drop. now the fog has cleared and we are looking at dark clouds but the sea is very calm. our location is somewhere near the Solomon islands, 2 days out from Guam. We saw on the news that there was a cold front running down the entire length of Japan heading towards China on Friday, maybe by the time we reach Guam and Japan it will have passed through.

Today we received all the information about clearing US immigration in Guam and Japan, we thought the US was nuts but the Japs want to Finger Print and take retinal prints of our eyes, in addition to this they want check our body temperature, I said to Carol that we should keep a stool sample just in case they have missed anything!

Captains Gala Dinner

Goodbye OZ

Today our last port of call in Australia was Yorkies Knob, it has no port facilities so Arcadia lay at anchor a couple of miles off shore. Passengers were transported to shore by large catamarans or Arcadia lifeboats. Cairns the capital city is only 20 minutes away and as Carol and i had visited before did not go on any organised tours, instead we went shopping, how surprising. This area is very tropical and although the sun was not shining the humidity must have been 90% with the temperature in the mid 30s. Tonight at 17:30 we head for the island of Guam, this will take 4 days due to the distance, which i believe is around 2500 nautical miles

Leaving Yorkies

Arrived in Brisbane

Today we arrived in Brisbane and arranged to go on a trip 1 hour and 30 mins away to Surfers Paradise, this was one of the areas Carol and i visited in 2007 when we drove and flew about OZ. This is a great part of the country, sub tropical and would be the place for us to stay if we left the UK for good. The only bad point is that it is so far from the UK, unlike going to our house in Cyprus our 5 hour flight would equate to 23 hours of Non stop travel.

This area is where they film I am a celebrity get me out of here, and today we passed the hotel where they all stayed.

Tonight we set sail for Yorkeys Knob, near the Whitsunday Islands, this will take 3 days to get there, after this it is 7 days at sea before we reach the island of Guam and then Japan.

Surfers Paradise

Margaret & Carol Sydney

Leaving Sydney

Joining Arcadia

At 11:30 this morning Carol and i left the Shangri-La hotel to join P&O Arcadia. The weather this morning was overcast which was a pity for new people arriving directly off a flight from the UK.

We had never been on Arcadia before, so we were looking forward to comparing her to Oriana whom we sailed in 2006. Once we unpacked, we had a chance to look round the ship and were very impressed with the facilities. Gary Rhodes is on board and is signing books within his signature restaurant Arcadian Rhodes, we look forward to sampling his food.

We are really impressed with the spa & leisure facilities, especially at the aft end where there is a lovely sun deck and pool area. We have never seen an area on a ship set up like a street cafe before complete with wicker basket chairs and settees.

Both of us are very happy with the choice of ship, hopefully we will be saying this 2 months from now.

Fed wattered and ready for bed

Meet the neighbours

Arcadia on its Way

Just received a telephone call from our Cyprus neighbour, Brian Friedman, who tells me that Arcadia is circling outside the heads, waiting on Victoria coming out of the channel. Once this happens the pilot will bring Arcadia in to dock. We have arranged dinner at Darling harbour for 8pm so hopefully we have no timing problems.

The press and TV are waiting for her arrival as this is the first visit of the new Arcadia. The reason for all the excitement is that the old Arcadia transported all the £10.00 pommies to start a new life down under. so i guess this trip is a bit nostalgic.

Queen Victoria Departing Sydney

Circular Quay

Queen Victoria in Sydney

Arrived in Sydney

We arrived in Sydney this morning at 07:00hrs, very tired as we had to wait until 12:00hrs to get into our room. Outside our window is Queen Victoria who docked this morning. She leaves tomorrow and our ship Arcadia takes her place for a few days. Will blog some more when we find our feet.

Sydney here we come

Today we depart for OZ, this morning we got up to a very nice day. After breakfast we concluded some last minute shopping and then headed back to the pool to top up the tan. After lunch around the pool, yes i know life is a bitch for the weary traveller. We organised a car for late afternoon the time is 17:55, arrived at Changi airport in Singapore for our flight to Sydney. Currently the temp is 32 and very humid. Our car arrived to pick us up in time at the hotel and within 20 min we were at the airport. We collected our cases and proceeded to the check in desk. Carol nearly had a fit when she saw the queue, luckily for us we were escorted to a VIP check in and we were through in no time. Now sitting in BA/Quantis lounge and using their free WiFi connection to send this Blog.

Due to arrive in Sydney on Thursday at 06:45 all being well!

Clarke Quay at Night

Singapore

Our flight left London on time, we were traveling with BA on their 747-400 series Jumbo, which was very comfortable. This has been the first time we have traveled on the new seating configuration. This provides fold down beds and private dining booths, very intimate. We sat back to watch different movies, followed by dinner and a few glasses of wine. After that, it was off to sleep. As i write the captain has announced 1 hour and 15 minutes to go from our 13.5 hour flight. Not long after this we touched down in Singapore it was 34 degrees and 18:15pm. Now booked into our hotel and getting ready to go out for dinner. We will post some pictures of Singapore over the next few days.

We will stay here for another few days before catching our flight to Sydney, already missing the family very much.

Bon Voyage UK

Left Glasgow today 14^th February with a heavy heart, due to amount of luggage we required two cars to take us to the airport . Craig and Jenna drove us with Carol traveling with Craig and i with Jenna. I was told to go and enjoy the trip and not to worry about them. Jenna took us by surprise and the departure was quite tearful. Carol and i are feeling a bit guilty however that stopped with the first complimentary champagne.

Once we arrived at London Heathrow, it was as if everyone had left town, very spooky walking through terminal 5 and then 4 with nobody around. We had 6 hours to kill. When we asked BA staff why it was so quiet, they said it would get busier later on as no other airline uses this terminal, traffic does not start to appear until 19:00hrs.

So far the flight is on time, due to depart for Singapore at 21:15 arriving in Singapore at 18:15 on the 15^th February, Bon Voyage.

Arcadia Ports of Call

• 21st February Sydney, Australia
• 23rd February Brisbane
• 26th February Cairns
• 3rd March Guam
• 6th March Nagasaki, Japan
• 8th March Beijing
• 10th March Shanghai
• 12 March Hong Kong
• 15th March Halong Bay,Vietnam
• 17th March Ho Chi Minh City
• 19th March Sihanoukville, Cambodia
• 21s March Singapore
• 23rd March Langkawi, Malaysia
• 26th March Cochin, India
• 29th March Muscat
• 30th March Dubai, United Arab Emirates
• 5th April Luxor, Egypt
• 7th April Suez, Egypt
• 8-9th April Transit Suez Canel
• 10th April Rome
• 13th April Lisbon, Portugal
• 14th April Vigo, Spain
• 16th April Southampton

Well, time has nearly come and Carol and i are pretty excited about joining P&O Arcadia in Australia. On Saturday we depart London for Singapore, staying for few days before we board the night flight to Sydney.

Looking forward to returning to OZ, what a great country. We have a few days to get over the jet lag before we join the ship and meet some friends who boarded in Singapore.