My transit to Sydney was draining. I had a 9 hour layover in Japan and then a four hour layover in the Gold Coast airport. I finally made it to my hostel and quickly befriended my bunk mate. Amber recently graduated from university in the States and is now in the middle of her working holiday visa in Australia. She had just quit her waitressing job in Melbourne and wanted to experience working life in Sydney. We went to dinner with two British guys she had met while traveling and walked around the city. It was nice to share a meal with others and to catch the evening firework show over the harbor. The next day I walked to the Opera House, watched birds steal my overpriced mushroom vegan burger, chatted with a lovely retiree while gazing at the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and strolled through the botanical gardens on my way back to the hostel. My time was very brief in Sydney, but I could tell it was a city worth revisiting.
The sole reason I flew to Sydney was to begin a completely different chapter of my travel. At 8:00 am something big pulled into Sydney harbor and it was going to become my new home- The Radiance of the Seas. While traveling alone in Turkey in 2012, I met a fellow American named Courtney. We hit it off immediately, so much so that the hostel owner joked that we must be sisters without knowing it. We rerouted our travel plans so that we could continue together. Ironically, that was the same day I met Jane (my Taiwanese friend) another important person in my life. Courtney is an Environmental Captain of a Royal Caribbean ship. She is responsible for making sure that the ship always follows local and international environmental laws, manages waste dumping, etc. As a high ranking officer she not only has her own cabin, but is able to invite guests for a meager 10 dollars a day. Over the years we stayed in touch and she offered several times for me to come join her on the ship. Well in 2014, over a Skype update it was decided that it was time to make our discourse a reality. So the Radiance was to become my home for 5 weeks as it crossed the Pacific Ocean.
The instructions I was given were to tell the security team I am Courtney’s friend and that they would call her. Conveniently all the security guards on the peer worked for the harbor and not the ship, ergo none of them knew this Courtney nor did they care. In order to get to the ship’s security team I needed to have a ticket. Well I didn’t have a ticket and try explaining that to these guys. So after a good 30 minutes of pleading, one guard went to the ship to inquire. I was guided to the ships’ security team and they all knew of me and said that Courtney had been talking about my arrival nonstop for months. It was a very nice welcome. Courtney made sure her workload was light for the day and we had lunch together. It was so great to see my friend after so many years. It is funny updating someone you haven’t seen in so long. It really makes you realize how fast and drastically life changes. Just as the sun set, I fought the strong winds on the top deck to watch the Opera House and the bridge fade in the distance. What a perfect beginning to my life at sea.
The next two days were a bit rough due to a large storm hitting the region. We had actually been lucky that we left when we did. Several cruise ships that left a few hours after us were hit hard by the storm and forced back to Sydney. Between the extra-large waves and being new to living at sea, my body shut down and I slept 13 hours each day. Courtney told me that is normal and to just take the sleep since I had nothing better to do. If you have never done a long cruise, you may be thinking, “Oh man sea days sound so relaxing.” No, you are wrong. They are boring. I had a whopping 19 sea days. I am not complaining, I am informing.
One overcast and grey morning a large green landmass appeared, we had arrived to the stunning southern island of New Zealand. It actually felt like we were pulling into the fjords in Norway (warrant I haven’t been there). We snaked through a waterway which was tightly hugged by wooded green hills on either side. A light fog hung over the land and it began to drizzle. The first port we came to was the sleepy town of Picton. We disembarked into a large lumber yard with no buildings in sight. We had to be bused into the town, which had one main street. The highlight for most guests was the library which offered free Wi-Fi. There were two special things about that day. 1. My friend Miriam was coming to meet me for the day. 2. It was my birthday.
You may recall that I met Miriam in the back of a truck heading to a kayaking trip in Laos. The day we met I asked her to share a kayak with me to her chagrin. She had hoped to partner up with one of the guys of the group haha. Nope, she was stuck with me and good thing too because we are now close friends. She is from Germany and like myself, got burned out working for a large company. She decided to hit the road for a one year round the world trip. After meeting in Laos, she changed her plans to spend ten days with me in Cambodia. When we said goodbye, I thought it was going to be for a year or two. She was heading to New Zealand to obtain a working holiday visa. I don’t know if you have heard of these or not. I hadn’t, until I started traveling. It is very popular for Europeans, Americans, Asians and some South Americans to go to Australia or New Zealand for a one year working visa. Since both countries have small populations they have a high demand for labor. To assist with their deficient the governments set up a very simple visa program to encourage back-packers and other young people to come and work. You can not be over the age of 30 at the time you apply. In some cases, it is possible to get a second year visa. For example, the British can get one if during their first year of work they worked in agriculture for at least three months. This opportunity for some reason does not extend to Americans. Point being, she was there Woofing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). What I didn’t know at the time was that Miriam was supposed to have moved on to the north island already, but had waited 5 days in the small town of Picton for my arrival. That is a true act of friendship because Picton doesn’t have much to offer. The reason to make a trip there is for trekking, dolphin/whale watching, and boat tours of the surrounding Marlborough Sounds. All of which would be amazing if the weather was nice.
We walked around a bit and decided due to the weather the best thing we could do would be to go back to the ship for a free lunch. Courtney had already submitted a request for Miriam to have a day pass for the ship. We reached the lumber yard and the port security had Miriam’s name and passport number written down as being approved for a day pass. When we got to the ship’s security guard, he said there was no paperwork approving Miriam to board. I asked him to call Courtney and he said no. We waited about 45 minutes until I decided to take things into my own hands. I knew that the port authorities had paperwork approving her, so I went up to one of the officers explained the situation and requested a copy of the paper. He was a lovely man with large Scottish like ears (I am of Scottish heritage so I can relate). He jovially shoved a miscellaneous pile of stuff off his passenger seat and told me to jump in his truck. He whisked me to the gate and in a matter of five minutes I had the necessary papers in hand. Let’s just say the whole thing ended up being way more public than I intended and the security guard we had dealt with was in a bit of hot water. He had looked at Miriam and me as being young nobodies and didn’t feel the need to assist us.
On board Miriam was impressed by the excessive amounts of food options and rejoiced over the discovery of black olives (apparently they are really expensive in New Zealand). We had a nice meal and then it was time for her to head back to Picton. The next day she caught an early morning ferry to cross to the north island where she met me in Wellington! I don’t have much to share about Wellington other than it is the capital of New Zealand and the second most populated city in the country. It was very clean and in many ways reminded me of Portland. We soaked up the sun at the peer while eating fish and chips and discussed life. It had been so nice spending two days with Miriam that I didn’t want to say goodbye again and this time for sure for a couple of years. We parted and I went back to watch one of the crew’s performances.
I will definitely be going back to New Zealand to explore Hobbiton, trek through the mountains, and float through the Waitomo glow worm caves. New Zealand was followed by 5 sea days which were greatly improved by a boisterous and passionate group of Argentinians. More on them next post. Next stop French Polynesia!!!
The sole reason I flew to Sydney was to begin a completely different chapter of my travel. At 8:00 am something big pulled into Sydney harbor and it was going to become my new home- The Radiance of the Seas. While traveling alone in Turkey in 2012, I met a fellow American named Courtney. We hit it off immediately, so much so that the hostel owner joked that we must be sisters without knowing it. We rerouted our travel plans so that we could continue together. Ironically, that was the same day I met Jane (my Taiwanese friend) another important person in my life. Courtney is an Environmental Captain of a Royal Caribbean ship. She is responsible for making sure that the ship always follows local and international environmental laws, manages waste dumping, etc. As a high ranking officer she not only has her own cabin, but is able to invite guests for a meager 10 dollars a day. Over the years we stayed in touch and she offered several times for me to come join her on the ship. Well in 2014, over a Skype update it was decided that it was time to make our discourse a reality. So the Radiance was to become my home for 5 weeks as it crossed the Pacific Ocean.
The instructions I was given were to tell the security team I am Courtney’s friend and that they would call her. Conveniently all the security guards on the peer worked for the harbor and not the ship, ergo none of them knew this Courtney nor did they care. In order to get to the ship’s security team I needed to have a ticket. Well I didn’t have a ticket and try explaining that to these guys. So after a good 30 minutes of pleading, one guard went to the ship to inquire. I was guided to the ships’ security team and they all knew of me and said that Courtney had been talking about my arrival nonstop for months. It was a very nice welcome. Courtney made sure her workload was light for the day and we had lunch together. It was so great to see my friend after so many years. It is funny updating someone you haven’t seen in so long. It really makes you realize how fast and drastically life changes. Just as the sun set, I fought the strong winds on the top deck to watch the Opera House and the bridge fade in the distance. What a perfect beginning to my life at sea.
The next two days were a bit rough due to a large storm hitting the region. We had actually been lucky that we left when we did. Several cruise ships that left a few hours after us were hit hard by the storm and forced back to Sydney. Between the extra-large waves and being new to living at sea, my body shut down and I slept 13 hours each day. Courtney told me that is normal and to just take the sleep since I had nothing better to do. If you have never done a long cruise, you may be thinking, “Oh man sea days sound so relaxing.” No, you are wrong. They are boring. I had a whopping 19 sea days. I am not complaining, I am informing.
One overcast and grey morning a large green landmass appeared, we had arrived to the stunning southern island of New Zealand. It actually felt like we were pulling into the fjords in Norway (warrant I haven’t been there). We snaked through a waterway which was tightly hugged by wooded green hills on either side. A light fog hung over the land and it began to drizzle. The first port we came to was the sleepy town of Picton. We disembarked into a large lumber yard with no buildings in sight. We had to be bused into the town, which had one main street. The highlight for most guests was the library which offered free Wi-Fi. There were two special things about that day. 1. My friend Miriam was coming to meet me for the day. 2. It was my birthday.
You may recall that I met Miriam in the back of a truck heading to a kayaking trip in Laos. The day we met I asked her to share a kayak with me to her chagrin. She had hoped to partner up with one of the guys of the group haha. Nope, she was stuck with me and good thing too because we are now close friends. She is from Germany and like myself, got burned out working for a large company. She decided to hit the road for a one year round the world trip. After meeting in Laos, she changed her plans to spend ten days with me in Cambodia. When we said goodbye, I thought it was going to be for a year or two. She was heading to New Zealand to obtain a working holiday visa. I don’t know if you have heard of these or not. I hadn’t, until I started traveling. It is very popular for Europeans, Americans, Asians and some South Americans to go to Australia or New Zealand for a one year working visa. Since both countries have small populations they have a high demand for labor. To assist with their deficient the governments set up a very simple visa program to encourage back-packers and other young people to come and work. You can not be over the age of 30 at the time you apply. In some cases, it is possible to get a second year visa. For example, the British can get one if during their first year of work they worked in agriculture for at least three months. This opportunity for some reason does not extend to Americans. Point being, she was there Woofing (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms). What I didn’t know at the time was that Miriam was supposed to have moved on to the north island already, but had waited 5 days in the small town of Picton for my arrival. That is a true act of friendship because Picton doesn’t have much to offer. The reason to make a trip there is for trekking, dolphin/whale watching, and boat tours of the surrounding Marlborough Sounds. All of which would be amazing if the weather was nice.
We walked around a bit and decided due to the weather the best thing we could do would be to go back to the ship for a free lunch. Courtney had already submitted a request for Miriam to have a day pass for the ship. We reached the lumber yard and the port security had Miriam’s name and passport number written down as being approved for a day pass. When we got to the ship’s security guard, he said there was no paperwork approving Miriam to board. I asked him to call Courtney and he said no. We waited about 45 minutes until I decided to take things into my own hands. I knew that the port authorities had paperwork approving her, so I went up to one of the officers explained the situation and requested a copy of the paper. He was a lovely man with large Scottish like ears (I am of Scottish heritage so I can relate). He jovially shoved a miscellaneous pile of stuff off his passenger seat and told me to jump in his truck. He whisked me to the gate and in a matter of five minutes I had the necessary papers in hand. Let’s just say the whole thing ended up being way more public than I intended and the security guard we had dealt with was in a bit of hot water. He had looked at Miriam and me as being young nobodies and didn’t feel the need to assist us.
On board Miriam was impressed by the excessive amounts of food options and rejoiced over the discovery of black olives (apparently they are really expensive in New Zealand). We had a nice meal and then it was time for her to head back to Picton. The next day she caught an early morning ferry to cross to the north island where she met me in Wellington! I don’t have much to share about Wellington other than it is the capital of New Zealand and the second most populated city in the country. It was very clean and in many ways reminded me of Portland. We soaked up the sun at the peer while eating fish and chips and discussed life. It had been so nice spending two days with Miriam that I didn’t want to say goodbye again and this time for sure for a couple of years. We parted and I went back to watch one of the crew’s performances.
I will definitely be going back to New Zealand to explore Hobbiton, trek through the mountains, and float through the Waitomo glow worm caves. New Zealand was followed by 5 sea days which were greatly improved by a boisterous and passionate group of Argentinians. More on them next post. Next stop French Polynesia!!!
