4 nights in Sydney

Sydney: May 16th - 20th, 2012

We arrived in Sydney in the last afternoon.  We took a taxi to The Travelodge Sydney. It was a great location – walking distance to Hyde Park, the Sydney Tower and right on the free tourist bus line. We unpacked, did some laundry and headed right across the street to the Schwartz Brewery Hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the decent beer and well-priced dinner deals. We decided to make it an early night since we had to meet out tour at 6:45 am the next morning.

Day 2 Sydney

We booked the Hunter Valley Wine Tour. We boarded our travel van with seven others and set out on the hour and half drive to the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley was beautiful – rolling hills of pasture and small vineyards. Due to the nature of the soil, the grape growers find the best patches of land and plant vines. Instead of acres and acres of vines, we saw clusters of vines dot the landscape.  

Our first vineyard was McGuigan Wines. This is one of the larger wineries in the area. They even have limited distribution in the United States.

The wine that impressed us the most there was the 2010 Late Picked Traminer. It’s their take on an ice wine. Since it doesn’t get cold enough for the grapes to freeze, they freeze the grape juice.  The water freezes before the alcohol so you end up with a very sweet, high alcohol wine. We were really impressed with the flavors. We also liked their 2008 Personal Reserve Botrytis Semillon. Semillon is the premier grape of the Hunter Valley. It created a white wine that falls into a similar category with a Sauvignon Blanc. Botrytis is a mold that grows on the grapes. This mold sucks all the moisture out of the grape so you are left with only the sugars.  These moldy grapes are then used to make a very sweet dessert wine with a creamy texture and honey notes.  Another interesting wine was the 2011 Cellar Select Noon Harvest Merlot. The Australian Merlot is much closer to a Pinot Noir – smoother, subtler flavors than the big, fruity Merlots we see in Argentina. The 2011 Cellar Select Noon Harvest was very fruity. When chilled, it tasted like sangria.  Next stop was First Creek:

First Creek is the private label for a wine maker that produces wine for over thirty labels. The grape growers bring them the grapes and the specifications for the type of wine they want. Then, the wine makers at First Creek make and bottle the wine under their label. We like three of the wines there. 2011 Verdelho – We described it as a Sauvignon Blanc Lite. It was very drinkable with light citrus notes. We also like the 2008 Shiraz Viognier. Shiraz is another very popular grape in the Hunter Valley. This Shiraz had a good balance of spice and berry flavors with a dry finish. The award for most “fun” wine of the day went to their 2011 Raspberry wine. It tasted like candy and would be great in a champagne cocktail.  The third stop was Tempus Two:

This was a beautiful location. The tasting room was gorgeous and the location had two restaurants with outdoor seating. Tempus Two has two lines: Copper and Pewter. The Copper series is wines influenced by European styles. The Pewter line is the single vineyard, premium series of wines. The favorite wine there was the Tempus Two Copper 2011 Gewurztraminer. It had the classic sweet notes of a Gewurztraminer with a slight spice note at the finish.

We had lunch at the Blue Tongue Brewery. We tried the beers there, but none of them were really to our liking. The cider was the best. Next to the Brewery was a little wine shop that offered free tastings. We enjoyed the well balanced, very drinkable Pukka Sparkling Wine. Our favorite Shiraz of the day was the Polin and Polin 2009 Convicts and Catholics Shiraz.

It was well-balanced with nice fruit notes.  Another good Shiraz was the 2010 Kiss Shiraz from Thomas. 

Our last winery stop was a Boutique winery in the Lovedale sub region of the Hunter Valley. The winery produced under the Tin Solider and Warraroong Estate. The best wine we tasted was the 2009 Warraroong Estate Long Lunch White – a wine especially produced for an annual event called the Long Lunch. It was a fantastic, drinkable wine that would satisfy almost everyone’s palate. The 2009 Long Lunch Red was a great table wine. We really enjoyed the Tin Solider 2010 Rose. It was one of our favorites because it was refreshing with great flavors without being too sweet.  We had the tasting at an outdoor table overlooking some vines. It was a gorgeous way to end the day.

The last stop was a chocolate and cheese shop. We stocked up on some snacks for the road. Overall, it was a great tour. Our tour guide Robert was knowledgeable about the area and very open to taking us where we wanted to go.  Back at the hotel, we decided dinner of cheese and crackers would be a perfect way to the end the day.

Day 3 Sydney

We really wanted to get out on the water and explore the Harbor. We boarded the ferry to Manly Beach ($14 round trip).  It was a great ride that offered fantastic views of the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.  

Manly Beach was gorgeous. It had a pedestrian mall similar to Lincoln Road in Miami with shops and restaurants.

The beach was filled with surfers, paddle boarders and sunbathers.  Along the water was a line of restaurants with outdoor seating. After a great breakfast, we decided to check out the Manly Scenic Walkway – a 9.1km walkway along the harbor.  First, we had to power up with a beer tasting at 4 Pines Brewery.

We were impressed with their beers. They had a good mix of styles. My favorites were the Hefeweizen and the Stout. We enjoyed the long walk along the Harbor.  

We didn’t go the whole way. Next time, I would consider taking the bus to Split Bridge, walking to Manley and then taking the bus back. After the walk, we decided to check out Ben Bry Burgers. It was recommended by Time Out as one of the Cheap Eats on Manley.  The burgers were very good, but too much bun.  We took the ferry back and hopped onto the Hop On/Hop Off Double Decker Sightseeing Bus Tour. 

 We bought a 24 hour pass. Our master plan was to board the last tour of the day, ride the whole 90 minute route, and then use the hop on/hop off option the next day.  It was a great overview of the city. It was especially fun to see all the city lights at night. After the tour, we walked along the pier looking for a dinner option. We settled on Wildfire and sweet talked our way into a table with a great view of the Opera House. Wildfire had a Churrasco option – a tapas plate of appetizers with a never ending parade of grilled meats. It was a great way to sample a lot of the menu. We also had their signature Pinot Noir. We were surprised that it was fantastic. It was a great meal. We decided to take the 20 minute back to the hotel.

Day 4

Today we headed to the coast again. We boarded the Hop On/Hop Off Double Decker Bus tour to Bondi Beach. It was gorgeous!

We walked around the beach and then hopped back on to head back to Darling Harbor.

We explored the area, walked across the bridge and then headed back to the hotel. We had dinner reservations at Quarter 21, but I wasn’t feeling well.  Glenn headed out to pick up dinner and we spent the last night watching AFL football and cricket.

Overall, we liked Sydney. However, we really struggled to find things to do besides walk around during the day.  It may because it was the last stop and we were a little tired of museums.  We loved the Manley Beach area. If we would go back to Sydney, we would stay there and then ferry into the city if there are particular things we want to do.

4 nights in Cairns, Australia

May 12th - 16th 2012 in Cairns, Australia

We arrived in Cairns around 1 pm. Security at the Melbourne airport was different than the US. We did not need a boarding pass to get thru security. We did not have to take off our shoes unless they set off the metal detector and we did not have to use 3 oz containers. It was great. Our Virgin Australia flight went well. Landing in Cairns was beautiful. The hills of rain forest meet right with the ocean. It is a gorgeous tropical place. The warm, humid air hit us as we exited the plane. A nice contract to the 40F degree weather we left behind in Melbourne.

We took a taxi to the hotel though there is a shuttle service from the airport. Our hotel was the Mantra Esplanade and it is fantastic.

We have an ocean view room with a king size bed with an ocean view. Awesome! After checking out the hotel, we meandered down the esplanade, had lunch at one of the pizza shops, and then walked around the lagoon. We also stopped at the grocery store to pick up some snacks and wine. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the balcony enjoying the sounds of Blues Fest in the park down below. We had a 6:30 pm "booking" at Ochre. Ochre is the fine dining restaurant in Cairns and it lived up to the hype. We got the tasting menu with wines. The wines were interesting because they were boutique wines from across Australia. The food was very good. The first two courses had some missteps but then the meal hit its stride. We tried the Taste of Australia platter with emu, kangaroo and crocodile. The flavors were pretty good. The kangaroo has a gamely flavor. The crocodile is a tougher, stringier chicken. The emu was served raw so it had a subtle game flavor and a nice texture. Our favorite dish was a quail presented in a fried chicken wing preparation with a soy, jalapeno sauce plus pickled watermelon and a native Australian leaf. When you ate it all together - it just worked.

We may be eating our Asian chicken wings with pickles from now on! It was an awesome, decadent dining experience. All we go do was head back to the hotel and go to sleep.

Day 2- The Great Barrier Reef aka I found Nemo

Today, we went on a Quick Silver Cruises snorkeling tour of the Great Barrier Reef. We rode about an hour through the mountains to Port Douglas on narrow windy roads that made us glad we didn't drive. We boarded a large, modern, catamaran yacht.

The crew and boat were fantastic. The passengers were mostly divers. Only six of us were snorkeling. The crew was very professional and safety-oriented. The water was a bit choppy so they offered us ginger or anti-sea sickness pills before we left. We both took them. It was a bumpy ride and a couple people were looking a little green. We battled the wind up on deck which helped a lot. We rode about 90 minutes out to the outermost reefs. We could see the waves breaking on the shelf which is a sheer drop off at the edge of the reef.  The crew said this was the best spot to dive and snorkel because the deep water comes in over the edge of the reef with all these nutrients to help feed the coral.

We went to three sites and had at least an hour at each site. The reef is amazing. Most sites were about 20 - 30 meters deep with coral coming up to with a meter of the surface in some places. The colors of the coral are just incredible. The fish were great and I even saw a sea Turtle and Nemo.

The boat had morning and afternoon snacks and a very nice buffet lunch. We left the hotel at 645 am and returned at 6pm. This tour is definitely for people who are serious about snorkeling. The seas were a big rough so it was hard to snorkel the full time in each of the spots. One of the couples on the trip skipped the third stop entirely because they were tired. Some other trips in the area offer a boat ride out to a platform where you can sunbathe, snorkel or eat at your leisure. That would be a good option for people who just want a taste of snorkeling the reef. We relaxed with some snacks and wine on the Balcony. Then we headed out the back door of the hotel to The Courthouse for some dinner. The food wasn’t memorable but the $4 Coronas hit the spot. We were surprised how popular Coronas were!

Day 3 Cairns
Today Glenn made a list of fun places to check out around town. We started at Coffee Works, a gourmet coffee shop. The beans are grown about an hour from here. The coffee was really really good.

Next up was Meldrum's Pies in Paradise. These pies are like chicken pot pies, but they fill them with all combinations of meat, cheese and sauces. They are incredible popular in Australia. I had the steak, bacon, and cheese. Glenn had the steak and kidney. So good.

We headed over to the Cairns central shopping district - basically a mall. We were surprised it had a Target, several "chemists" (pharmacies), two grocery stores right next to each other, and about 8 coffee places. Otherwise the clothing and electronics stores looked very familiar. Across the street from the stores is the Grand Hotel which boasts a bar carved from a single log into the shape of a crocodile. Of course, we had to get a drink there.

We then tried to find the Blue Sky Brewery. The brewery is advertised all over town. We found the address, but the place was deserted. It was so weird. There no indication of what happened or that is was even closed. We solved the mystery a couple days later when we found out there was an issue with the sewage pie that runs under the building. It would have been nice if they at least had a sign. We headed to the Reef Casino. It was small. It had high table minimums even though it was empty. We found a couple penny slots and had fun. They were definitely older games than what we have in the US. We walked out to the Pier and had a fantastic lunch at Salthouse.

We ordered a dozen Tasmanian oysters. They came with bloody Mary caviar and an awesome lime ginger granita. I had dill risotto with smoked rainbow trout and fennel. Glenn had a lamb chorizo burger with fries. It was one of the best meals we had in Australia. After a mandatory rest period, we headed out to a trio of the popular backpacker bars. Cairns is a backpackers’ playground. Everywhere you look there are young people from all over the world. They get a one year work/holiday visa and then go from town to town until the money runs out and they have to get a job. The most common jobs are farm hands – picking apples, grapes, etc. The good thing about the backpacker bars is that the prices for food and beer are slightly less expensive. We tried some more Aussie beers, had a $12 dinner, and watched a AFL game. Overall, a fun day.

Day 4 Cairns

We booked a tour with Wilderness Eco Safari. We headed out on a 4 wheel drive Eco tour of the rain forest. It was us, another American couple, and our guide. We picked this one because it was small and that allowed us to get into harder to access areas. We were not disappointed.

We drove over two different mountains. We got to see lots of amazing plants and tree. One type of tree grows around a host tree and chokes out the sunlight so the host tree dies. Then huge roots shoot down form the top of the tree. This leaves a void in the middle.

The guide set out lunch in the middle of the rain forest. It was a terrific experience.

We also swam in a rain forest stream.

We stopped at a local fruit stand to try the custard apple - very soft and sweet.

We covered a lot of ground and got to see a lot of the rain forest. By the end of the day, we were both itching to get out of the car. I would highly recommend the tour. After the tour, we went to a nearby Italian restaurant for a very good dinner and said goodbye to Cairns.

Overall - Cairns is a worthwhile stop. The downtown area has a backpacker vibe with some very nice accommodations and great restaurants. The day trips options are terrific. Downtown Cairns does not have a beach - they have a lagoon right along the water. A number of resorts dot the landscape between Cairns and Port Douglas if you are more interested in a resort experience. I don't think we will be back. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, but we have checked off rain forest tour and snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef off our bucket list.

4 Days in Melbourne Australia

On our way to Melbourne, we decided to have a long layover in Los Angeles to check out Disneyland. We arrived in Los Angeles, picked up a rental car, and drove to Disneyland. The weather was fantastic: sunny and 75 degrees. Disneyland's entrance is less magical than Disney World. We visited both Disneyland and California Adventure Park. I loved the feel of both. The crowds seemed more local. The Parks are very intimate. Lines pour out not the streets. The lagoon held long canoes filled with tourist paddlers, a huge Clipper ship, a ferry boat, and rafts transporting guests to the pirate adventure island. We had lunch at Blue Bayou.

This Cajun restaurant recreates the look of New Orleans at night as guests on the Pirates of the Caribbean ride float by. I had the jambalaya and Glenn had the Monte Crisco. The jambalaya was very good - the right mix of tomato, spice and seafood. The Monte Crisco was unique - it was a combination beignet and sandwich with sweet fried batter surrounding the sandwich. After lunch, we hit the rides: Winnie the Pooh - a crazy psychedelic scene of a honey addicted bear; storybook boats- a float through the miniatures of old fairy tales; and we walked through Sleeping Beaty's castle. Glenn tried the darker version of Splash Mountain and the Indiana Jones ride. He thought the Indiana Jones ride was very well done. We crossed the plaza to Disney California Adventure. I was impressed with how much the Park looked like California. Glenn rode the Screamin' Eagle and deemed it fantastic.

  

We walked through the rest of the Park and then headed back to the airport. We arrived at the airport about 4 and a half hours before our flight. We were able to check at Virgin Australia and we just camped out at the gate.

The Virgin Australia flight was great. We each had our own row. They served dinner right when we got on and then we stretched out, watched some movies and slept. We arrived early -around 8 am -in Melbourne. We grab a taxi to the hotel (about $60 AUD) – the Hotel Ibis Melbourne.

We were so lucky that the hotel had a slightly better room available immediately. We showered and headed out to nearby Queen Victoria market for lunch. The market is fantastic -row after row of amazing food. They have a little food court so we ordered a lamb grill, falafel, and Greek salad. It was very good. We walked around the neighborhood which had at least three $10 haircut places per block. Our tour picked us up at 12:15 pm at the hotel. We were transported to Federation Square. We had a 20 minute break before the tour left so we headed to the tourist information center. It is fantastic. We learned about 2 separate trolleys that do a daily tourist route for free. Then it was tour time. Our bus was packed. We took an hour drive outside the city to Walook Cattle Farm. We fed kangaroos and a wombat and had a lovely tea service.

Next stop was the koala conservation center. This was quite impressive. Elevated boardwalks wind through the forest of high trees. You can spot the koalas high up in the trees by looking for a birds' nest.

We saw about eight. The ranger is there to answer any questions. It was one of the best wildlife experiences I have had since they were in their natural habitat. Then it was penguin time.

Phillip Island is home to a colony of little penguins. At sunset each night, you can watch them parade back up to the beach to their burrows in the sand dunes. We upgraded to the private penguin experience and it was so worth it. A ranger greeted our group of eight. We got a chair to sit on the beach, binoculars, and a headset to listen to him. He led us through the center explaining the history of the center and the penguins. The penguin colony was threatened by a group of imported foxes and a housing development. The government began an aggressive program to buy back the houses and the rangers continue to work to remove foxes from the island. We walked along the boardwalk and looked at the burrows. Then we headed down for our front row seats on the beach. It was amazing watching the penguins group up, debate whether to risk the run up the beach, run back into the water and the try again, and then do it. They have navy blue feathers to protect them from birds of prey on the top of the water. After they run up the beach, they head to their burrow. We saw male penguins fighting. We saw a male try to mate with a female, then another male intervened and a fight broke out. We saw two penguins jump off a curb and headed off down an alley. We saw two partners preening each other. It was the amazing. We’d like to share it with you, but photographs are not allowed because some idiots refused to turn off their flashes. The other amazing thing was the night sky. The stars and "spilled milk" from the milky way were breath taking. It was an amazing experience. The bus ride home took about 2 and 1/2 hours. What an incredible first day.

Day Two Melbourne

Immigration Museum, SkyDeck, Queen Victoria Market Cooking School

We started today on the free tourist shuttle. It does a 90 minute loop of the main areas of the city. We have been so impressed with how visitor friendly Melbourne is. We took the shuttle to the Immigration museum.

The museum tells the history of immigration in Australia - the sponsored trips from England for both convicts and settlers, the anti-Chinese policies, the internment of Germans during World War II, the dictation tests to work around laws preventing discrimination based on nationality, the refusal to grant asylum to a tanker of refugees, and the very limited allotments left today. The museum had a special exhibit on identity that did a terrific job addressing stereotypes and how people are more than what they look like. They had an interactive public art exhibit where people could make small model airplanes out of scraps to show how we all come from somewhere.

They also had a program at the end where you could add your handprint and a quote about diversity. It is a very impressive exhibit. We then headed down the South Promenade along the Yarra River and found a great place for lunch. We sat outside and enjoyed a fantastic appetizer platter and a ribeye with 3 sides. Post lunch, we headed up 88 floors to the Eureka Sky Deck. The views were amazing.

It is such a great perspective to get up so high and see the city. We hopped back on the bus and made our way around to Federation Square. We went to the William Kentridge exhibit at the ACMI. Kentridge is a South African artist that works in a number of mediums. I have seen two other of his exhibits - but this was by far the largest. It spanned the 5 main time periods of his work and was so impressive. We checked in at the greatest tourist center in the world to work out our plan to go to St. kilda tomorrow then we hopped back on the free shuttle to enjoy the rest of the route. After a mandatory rest period, we joined 11 other people at the Queen Victoria Market Cooking School with Chef Matthew Lambkin.

He is currently at Coda, but will be taking over at Hotel Windsor in June 2012. He made osso bucco with risotto, lamb shanks with pea purée and whole fish with sautéed mushrooms and book choi. Everything was so delicious. He offered great tips and made cooking very approachable. Everyone else in the class was very friendly. We finished up the class and headed to a Golden Monkey for night cap cocktails - The Green Ninja and port wine. A great end to a great day, mate!!

Day Three Melbourne

St Kilda, Brunswick

Today we ventured out on the tram system down to St Kilda beach on Port Phillip Bay. We walked out to the pier, along the boardwalk and beach, and then through down Achland Road - the main strip with cute stores and cafes. The big highlight of the trip was lawn bowling. We went to the St Kilda Bowling Club, rented equipment and a lane for $10 per person per hour. Luckily, it wasn't busy so got to bowl for 2 and 1/2 hours for our $20. Lawn bowling is like bocce except the bowls are weighted on one side so it curves as it slows down.

It was a gorgeous day. All the locals kept commenting they could not believe how great the weather has been. After bowling, we headed back to the beach for a pre-fix meal ($25) at Beachcomber.

 We finally tasted some Tasmania oysters and they were fantastic. I also had chili mussels and kingfish. Glenn tried the fish and chips. We tried Coopers' pale ale - a nice light drinkable beer. Carlton Draught - a yeasty lager. Fat yak pale ale - a very good ale with subtle hops. We hopped the tram back to the city and headed to the Fitzroy district and Brunswick street. Brunswick street had been recommended by some of the people in our cooking class. It was an eccentric area with cool boutiques and lots of cafes and bars. Our first stop was Little Creatures Dining Hall. In this fantastic space, we tried several Australian beers. Beers come in more sizes here. You can order a pony (8 oz), a pot (12oz) or a pint (18 oz). We order ponys for our tasting.

From Little Creatures we tried:

• Bright Ale - a great well balanced pale ale. The New Zealand hops added a great brightness. Very good.
• Pale Ale - a light refreshing beer with mild hops. It is bottled with live yeast for added freshness though that didn't make a huge difference
• Rogers lager - an okay amber. Only 3.8% and very subtle flavors
• Quiet American - a 7.2% Belgian ale hybrid with American pale ale. This is a lovely well balanced beer. We are really appreciating the subtle use of hops.

From White Rabbit we tried:

• White ale - a belgium wheat. An okay beer. Would have been better with a smidge more body
• Dark Ale - nothing to write home about.

We headed down the street to Naked for Satan. I think this may be my favorite bar in all the world.

It has pinxtos - basically snacks on a piece of French bread - meats, seafood spread, mussels, rice balls, even a cannoli. You help yourself. They are $2 each and then you present your toothpicks at the end to pay. Their other specialty is infused vodka. I tried the lemongrass and ginger and it was quite good. Glenn tried the Naked for Satan Ale - a tasty wheat beer with a nice malt flavor. The next bar Provence was boring by comparison. We tried the well advertised Boag's Draught - a forgettable lager and the James Squire Chancer Golden Ale wasn't much better. We headed to the beautiful St Jude restaurant for dinner.

 The menu was filled with interesting combinations and local ingredients. We tried the warm Rainbow trout salad with caperberries. It was delicious. We also had an okay charcuterie tray. After dinner we called it a night and caught the tram back to downtown. I did some laundry. This carry on/wash clothes system is working very very well.

Day Four Melbourne

Melbourne Gaol, Parliament, Fitzroy Gardens, AFL at Melbourne Cricket Ground

This morning we set out to explore more of downtown. We started the day at a local chain: Pie Face.
They have great coffee and little pies - like a chicken pot pie in lots of flavor combinations. We had egg, cheese, and bacon. So good. We went to the Old Melbourne Gaol.

It is a fantastic museum. They have an experience where they lead you through what it would have been like to be arrested. Very well done. After that, we headed to the Parliament of the state of Victoria. When Parliament is not in session, staff members provide a tour every hour on the half hour. It was a 45 minute tour of the main assembly room, the lower horse and the upper room.

It was a great primer on English government and the history of the building. Post tour we headed to 59 Bourke st and took the lift to the 3rd floor for Madame Brussels - a saucy garden themed bar. It has a terrace, a great cocktail menu, and some good snacks. I loved that in Australia they serve pitchers of cocktails and call them “jugs”. We enjoyed the sunshine as long as we could. Once the clouds moved in, we walked over to Fitzroy Gardens and Cook's Cottage. The gardens are beautiful and worth a stroll. Cook's cottage is a 1700s cottage with a kitchen and main bedroom.

The back vegetable garden is impressive, but otherwise I'd pass. The real value is in the exterior which you can see without paying admission. After the gardens, we wandered around downtown. Glenn had read about a bar made out of a shipping container. We found it - Section 8. The seating is wooden pallets and the tables are steel drums. The clientele was backpacker hip. We started walking back toward the hotel. We got close and I looked up and saw what looked like an interesting restaurant. Glenn's key powers of directions found the door and we headed up the graffiti stairs to Workshop - a very cool bar with a good affordable lunch menu. One side was a green house with some missing panes so it was more like a rooftop bar. We took a brief rest at the hotel and then headed out on the tram to Melbourne Cricket Ground for the Australian Football game - Melbourne versus Tasmania. It was a blast. Australian football is a very similar to soccer with some underhand passes, running and tackling mixed in.

The big surprise was that both teams fight songs were set to American folk songs: Yankee Doodle Dandy and Grand Old Flag. The fans had scarves and jerseys. It was pretty cold (in the 40s) so I bought a hat to keep warm. We left at the end of the 3rd quarter because it was just embarrassing how badly Melbourne was playing plus we had a plane to catch in the morning.

Overall - We loved this city. Everyone is friendly and low key. The tourist infrastructure is fantastic. One thing we didn't take advantage of was all the free apps - museums had free listening tours if you downloaded the app, etc. Things we'll have to do next time: Great Ocean Road, the Aboriginal Cultural Center, the Aquarium and the public art tour.

March 2012: Glenn's review of our 2 night cruise on Norwegian Star

My wife and I got home about an hour ago. Had a great time on the Star. First time on NCL for me. She had cruised NCL once before.

Very impressed with the ship overall. Loved the embarkation process. They have the boarding kiosks ondeck and had multiple entries onto the ship so there were no long lines. They did similar process for debarkation. We just walked right off!! So easy.

We had Balcony cabin 9720. Had everything you needed. Comfortable bed, nice pillows a duvet. I think the closet and drawer space would be a little tight for a 7-night cruise - especially if you were bringing any formal wear. The bathroom setup was the best I had seen on a cruise. The toilet and shower were on opposite sides of the bathroom so if needed, two people could be in there at once. The toilet also has a sliding privacy door. Similar door on the shower which had ample space (I am 6' 4"). I didn't miss the curtain that most other cruise ship showes have. The ones that tend to stick to you like a burrito shell.

Wasn't sure about the "freestyle cruising" approach initially, but I liked it. Would like to take a longer cruise to try more restaurants. We went to Cagney's (had made rerservations online pre-cruise) and it was a great meal. Terrific smoked salmon appetizer and the oysters rockefeller were very good. And the ribeye very delicious. The onboard reservation process looks easy. They had TV screens scattered about the decks so you could see what restaurants were filling up. They also has same info on the TV in your cabin. Went to Versailles for first day lunch and had a great meal. Pasta Bolognese amd Philly Chese Steak. It was nice to have a dining room open on embarkation. That has not been the case on Carnival. Also ate in Versailles for the second night's dinner and had a good meal. Ceasar salad was very nice and crispy - but missing anchovies. Could have asked for them I guess, but since I also had to ask for fresh ground pepper (and that took about 5 minutes), I decided to go without. Had a decent "latin" style sirloin steak. Pretty good seasoning - sort of like a pesto rub. Surprisingly, the worst part of each meal was the potato dishes. French fries at lunch weren't crisp or hot. Potato Gratin at Cagney's were mushy and flavorless. Wedges at Versailles dinner were dry with no seasoning.

Second city comedy shows were very funny. Didn't get to see the other regular shows but people were raving about Elements.

Pool area has some great seating areas. There is also a quiet area (much like Carnival's Serenity) where they have deck chairs and adults-only hot tub.

We did an onboard Pub Crawl event that was alot of fun. We went to 5 bars, had a different drink at each and played some games. The final stop was by the pool deck where they had everyone play a twist on "Simon Says". Last man standing got something - maybe a t-shirt. I wasn't the last person standing.

The ship has alot of music venues. There are two piano players, a guitairist and four other live bands that play at various times and bars. There was a trio in the Atrium that were very good. And the live band they had on the final night for the 70's disco theme was amazing. They were playing earlier in the same lounge with only us and about 5 other people - and played some incredible rock and rolll. The lead guitarist was amazing, able to coax alot of feedback from his Fender Stratocaster. Really talented.

Some negatives:

The main pool area is ill-conceived. The two slides take up alot of deck space and the pool is very small. The slides also aren't meant for adult use. Every adult we saw try to use them couldn't make it all the way down without "scooting". Gave us a few laughs. But for something that takes up that much space, it didn't seem to have enough "fun value".

This cruise ship also had a much larger focus on alcohol consumption than any other I have been on. The cruise director said during his talks, "Drink Heavily". Now I realize that the cruise ships make a lot of revenue from the drinks and it is what keeps cruising inexpensive. But with past and recent concerns about passenger safety, it is irresponsible for a ship's officer to be making a statement like that. At the same time in your cabin, they have a video telling you not to sit on a balcony handrail because you might fall off. Also, the cruise director staff member Bloody Mary (yes - that is what her nametage said) who lead the Pub Crawl, was visibly drunk before it even started. She was having a hard time keeping track of where we had to go next.

Will I go on another NCL cruise? Yes. Definitely. I had a great time and look forward to trying a long cruise on a different ship. The Star is leaving Tampa in a few weeks, and I think the Dawn is replacing her. So maybe I will look to see what deals come through next year.

March 2012: RCL Monarch of the Seas

First, I read some of the online reviews and I was a little worried about this ship. It was all for nothing. My great friend M and I had a fantastic time on this short weekend cruise.

Friday afternoon we arrived at Port Canaveral around 130 and quickly boarded the ship. The process was so easy. We stopped by our cabin: 4511. The bed was set up as a king so we called housekeeping. They assured us it would be separated by 3 pm. The first thing we noted was the lack of storage. A small closet and four small drawers were adequate for our 3 night cruise, but not for much longer.

We headed up to the Lido deck for lunch. Food was hot. The hot dog and hamburger buns were hard, but otherwise everything else was pretty good. When we entered out cabin to change, we noticed a note explaining the maitre'd had changed our time for dinner. Oh heck no! We marched up to the dining room trying to find out what the deal was. He acknowledged the mistake and placed us at a larger table. His grace and humor made the experience quite funny.

Then it was pool time. We found two chairs on the second deck, but we were attacked by bugs originating either from the towel or the nearby trash. We quickly got up just in time to go for the muster drill. The crew moved everyone toward the back of the ship even though our muster station was at the front of the ship. It was slightly annoying to have to walk all the way to the back, wait in the traffic jam that created and then walk back to the front of the ship when we got on Deck 7. The muster drill went quickly. I was surprised my fellow passengers were not taking it more seriously given the recent news, but it was clear many of them were well on their way to their first vacation hangover. After the muster drill, we hustled back up to the pool to score two poolside seats.

The cruise staff did a great job creating a party atmosphere with the DJ for the Sail Away Party. My favorite part was they faked a flash mob with dancers coming together on the floor in their regular clothes and no name tags. It was so fun. We listened to the music and when it started to get dark we headed down to get ready.  For dinner, we were at a table for eight, but only two other people showed up for dinner. They were a delightful man and woman in their eighties. We had fun with them. We were impressed with both the food and service at dinner. Post dinner we headed to the Bolero lounge for the piano player. We had the best time singing along with Patrice. He was one of the best sing along piano players I have ever heard. It was fantastic!! A great end to day one.
Day two
We spent the morning at the pool listening to the great band. We headed down to the Dining room for lunch. Again, the food was good. They have a great salad bar where you pick the ingredients and they make you a chopped salad. After lunch, we headed into Nassau. We had a great time walking around and shopping. It was a beautiful sunny day. I really liked we had a long time in port ( 1230 pm - 1130 pm) so we didn't feel rushed. Back on the boat, we spent the afternoon at the pool and then it was off to dinner and the piano bar once again. After closing down the piano bar, we headed up to the deck party. The DJ had it rocking! There was some dancing and some pizza eating. We arrived at the cabin to find a hanging monkey!

Day 3
This was a day of rest. We were not able to dock at CoCo Cay so it became a sea day. We spent the day around the pool and watching movies in the room when the weather turned. We were planning to head back to the piano bar but the ship's rocking sent me to bed early. 

Day 4
Debarkation was easy and quick. We slept in and left our cabin about 915 am to do self assist off the ship.

Overall - I paid $250 per person for the cruise. It was an incredible value and a ton of fun. I would go again in a second. It is the perfect weekend away.

Feb. 2012 Hoop Dee Do Review and The Tangled 5K at Disney World

Last fall, under the spell of hopefulness, my husband and I signed up for the Tangled 5k as part of Disney Princess Half Marathon weekend. Time passed way too quickly and Friday February 24th we found ourselves in the car on the way to Disney. First stop was the Expo to pick up our bibs and t-shirts at the ESPN World of Sports. I was very impressed how smoothly it went. The expo has a nice flow to keep lines moving and we quickly picked up our packet and t-shirt. After the Expo we headed to the Fort Wilderness Campgrounds for the Hoop Dee Doo review - a dinner show.

 I was surprised by the campgrounds. I really felt like I was in a totally different place. The area is heavily wooded. Cabins, RV sites and tent sites make up the lodging. A stable adds to the wilderness feeling.

We took the bus back to Pioneer Hall - home of the show, wagon rides, a restaurant, a bar, a general store and the boat dock. Ferries to the Magic Kingdom leave from here about every half an hour. We got out table assignment and headed over to the bar. After spending the weekend at the River Ranch, we could not stop making comparisons. Wood paneling: check. Stuffed bar in the corner: check. Hay ride: check. Then it was time for the show.

We were led to our table - front row and center. We could touch the stage. Sitting down, a pail of salad and a loaf of cornbread were on the table. I loved the plates and silverware.

 The salad reminded me of Olive Garden. Drinks were included so I tried the sangria and Glenn had a beer. Sangria was very good. The stage coach performers arrived and sang and danced a few very lively, very fun numbers.

 They also went out into the crowd so everyone could share our great view.

 They took a break while the main course was delivered: fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, corn, and baked beans. The fried chicken, ribs and baked beans were good. The mashed potatoes were bland and the corn was normal canned corn. It was all you can eat. The service was quick and plentiful. Our waitress was great. After the main course, there was more singing and dancing. Dessert was strawberry shortcake. It was okay. Best part was at the very end, they handed out washboards and we got to play along.

 Very fun! After the show, we headed to All Star Movies to check in. Saturday we got up at 5 am to get ready. We took the 5:3.0 am bus to the starting line. A DJ was playing to get the crowd warmed up.  A lot of people were in costume. We were pretty excited. 

The sun finally started rising as we lined up in the corrals. It was a little chaotic because the volunteers weren't really directing people to move all the way to the left. Then the race started.

It was a great route. About a mile and a quarter around the parking lot through a side entrance and then into the world showcase. Every quarter mile princesses were ready for a photo op. Jasmine, Belle, Mulan - the gang was all there including Mickey and Donald. We ran under the ball and back out into the parking lot. The race finish was great. They had a good system for medal and gluten free snack box distribution. The one issue was the combination of runners and walkers. It was frustrating to weave through the walkers. Maybe next year they will announce a walk right/run left system. Overall, we had a fantastic time and will definitely do it next year.

After the race, we took the bus back to the All Star and took a nap. Refreshed it was time to head back to Epcot. We hit up Mexico for our favorite Avocado margaritas. We listened to the cover band in England.



Dinner was the Coral Reef restaurant. Overall the food was good and I loved the aquarium. We really liked how the seating was tiered so everyone could get a view.  Here's the play by play of the meal:

Mussels in tomato broth. The broth was slightly underseasoned, but we liked that is played up the sweet flavor profile of the tomato.

Fish Tostadas - These were the best bite of the evening. Great acidity and full of flavor.

Fish of the Day - A White Fish similar to sea bass, but sustainable. It was good, but underseasoned.

Pan Fried Trout - Just missed the mark on seasonsing and the beans. The beans overwhelmed the delicate trout in both texture and volume. Too many beans! Without the beans, the dish worked well with the wilted arugula, bacon and pearl onions.

Overall, we had a very nice dinner. We liked how the seating was tiered so that everyone could have a view of the aquarium. It was fun to see the divers swim by and the shark head our way every few minutes.