Africa 2

Next morning it is freezing cold, misty but there ahead of us were 3 giraffem and then another, more elephants with their very cute babies and youngsters, evidently elephant young stick with the mother for many years. Then ome real excitement we were voyeurs at a leopard mating. ind you it was so quick you didn't think anything was achieved, but, according to George our guide they mate every 10 minutes or so for about 4 days, gettng longer as the tim goes along. I can't repeat here what Geoe told us about the mechanics, it could be read by underagers! But we were in fits of laughter.We followed them through the bush, to watch about 4 matings. it is the season as there were also waterbuck trying it on, too. The male leopard had beautiful markings on him. We moved on to a waterhole where a herd of Cape Buffalo came through wallowing and drinking they are very heavy animals and their horns are so huge they seemed weighed down by them they don't often lift their heads high. About a 100 or so animals, big bulls, females and lots of calves and a it older youngsters. They pass by really close within 6 feet of the vehicle sometimes. Saw somw more giraffe and then over the two way comes a sighting of male lions, so off we went "bush bashing' through the scrub to find four male lions. they also had recently killed, 3 were around in front of us but the other was out of sight, then as we were manouevering to let another jeep in to get close, we almost ran into one down in the grass!! The grass is really long at the moment so their camouflage is very good we rmained parked about the length of the ln away.Thank heavens they had full stomachs! Then disaster!! My amer

Africa

Hi, we had a good three days in Capetown, we took the hopon hopoff bus, two day ticket, and went up Table mountan, with beautiful weather, clear skies, not much wind, in other words perfect conditions for the Gondola. We queued for ages, along with half the QM 2 crowd! Who we kept seeing all over the place. not surprising as about 1500 aussies got of in Cape Town! It was very convenient our accommodation as we were walking distance to the Va wateront. i was determined to find a clothing shop that I spent up in 3 years ago, and after much diligence i found it, VA has grown since I was there so I felt quite pleased with myself. Unfortunately they didn't really have anything very different om what I already had so I left it. but it was a good shop as all the clothes are made in south Africa. Then it was an early mornung pick up to get to the air port for the next adventure. A quick flight to Nelspruit, and the kruger Airport, and a pick up by a chatty driver, an ex Kruger park gui, now freelancing. It was good having him cause he told us lots of little details about what to expect and why things were done just so. So we arrived abiut 3pm , were shown to our chalet/ room. Thatched, big beds, mossie nets, huge bathroom, and large (uncomfortable) chairs. A quick freshen up, even quicker unpack and then afternoon tea and off n the jeeps for our first game drive! WOW!!! 3 lionesses and 7 cubs with a Kudu (antelope) killed very recently hours earlier! We parked about 10 feet away!!! OMG!!! They were tearing into it and totally oblivious to us, all frantically taking photos as fast as we could. Evebtually we dragged ourselves away and went searching out more game. Elephant 1, lots of Impala these are the carnivores food! Wildebeast, Kudu, this time alive. Our driver heard about a leopard but we couldn't find it. That was the end of Day 1. Day 2 began with a wakeup call on our door at 5 am, brekky by 5.30 and of in the jeep by 6 ish. Ve chilly and of course open vehicles, so the wind whistled through you as we drove.First up we found the leopardes up a tree with her cb strolling around on the ground with her kill, an Impala, just near by. We parkd almost nder h! It was gobsmackingly amazing, words can't describe it. We all took a million photos, there were 6 of us in the jeep at this drive, could seat 9/10. Next a herd of zebra, very close, elephants (plural) with babies, they were so cute, Hippos in the water, rocodile. e drove quite a long way, and passed by Richard Branson's place, which is nex door to Inyati, where we were. i think at this stage I have died and gone to heaven! Just fabulous, our driver and tracker were very good, once you start with a driver you stay with him for the length of your stay. Ours had been together for about 15 years and could almost ad each others minds. They discussed sightings etc in their native (?) Language, but we always found something. People left and more arrived, so your companions on the drives were frequently changing, evidently the average say is 3 days but we were there 4 and I would have enjoyed longer by at least another day. 4 West australians arrived and joined "our " jeep. One was an ex MP for applecross and lived a coupe of blocks om Rob and Carol, they were a group of two friends and a couple. Afternoon drive we saw more Elephants, up ally close with babies, very protective, One gave a mock charge, and then baby did the same it was so funny, A it nerve wracking when you are the one sitting on the outsi edge and are about 6 feet away. Thoe tusks look mighty big! Next off to a sandy river bed and there were our lionesses with their cubs all sprawled out in the hade with the cubs having a great time. Next 3 white rhinos, in a group near an airstrip, as we photographed them we heard a plane engine, and over he rise came a cessna, taxiing, needless to say, it turned and began its takeoff a goodway down the strip, luckily it was a down hill take off! A herd of Cape Buffalo, was the finale of another perfect day. We had very strict instructions re the vehicle, we couldn't stand up or hang out the sides, we were costantly dodging thorny bushes as we drove, mobile phones coujld be used for photography, but had to be turned off for calls/texts etc. The animals a now used to the presence of the jeeps, have learnt that they are no thrat to them and know their "profile" this is why we coldn't stand up as it could alert the animal that it was somethhing different. Evintly when a new park is commenced it takes quite a long time for the animals to get used to the jeeps and of course they run away, but after a bit, they become used to the presence. Still it is pretty dangerous and you sign your life away with waivers etc!

Queen Mary

Hi to you all,
I have realized another tick off my "bucket list". I have long wanted to travel on the Queens with Cunard, and have achieved that now. I had high expectations as Cunard was supposedly up there with the best in my expectations, unfortunately it didn't quite make it. Don,t get me wrong it was a marvellous experience, but I thought it would be better. I had looked forward to the "gentlemen hosts - dancers" however they left a lot to be desired as they seemed to dance only with the same 15 or so women . I attended bsp;the ballroom dance classes, hoping that that would bring one to their attention, however although they danced with one during the classes, come the real thing and tada, only the same women got asked. Eventually when I was about to explo, I got invited up on the floor a couple of times. Otherwise dancing was a complete washout. I must be getting too old. One of the highlights was afternoon tea in the Queens Ballroom, complete with white gloved waiters, silver service sandwiches, cucumber salmon etc. And the most beautiful little cakes and gorgeous scones and strawberry jam and clotted cream,,,!!! VERY DECADENT. We only had 4 fromal nights in the 15 night cruise. Poor Rob hated getting trussed up in his suit and bow tie, of course Carol and I loved the dress up. In some respects there was not as serious formal wear as on Aurora, but I might be prejuidiced. On board it was hard to find places to sit and read (or sew) as in my case, most of the public rooms were bars, rather than lounges, and it was hard to get a seat. I only got to Trivia once and that used to be my love, but you couldn't get a seat. i joined the choir again, and we did a great performance in the main theatre, very nice too!, I also found a lovely bunch of ladies who met for "unhosted" craft gettogether, mainly knitters and crocheters, but I got 10 blocks of my "farmers wife" quilt done out of the 15 I took with me. 3 blocks I was missing bits from or cut out the pieces back to front! I indulged my self a little in the shops as usual, got a nice watch, and a new ring. (I had to buy it, it fitted me!) The layout of the ship was quite confusing, there were several half decks that meant you were going up a deck and walking along a bit and then going down in the next lift some parts I never got to find properly. One of the best bits was, I won the easter egg raffle! The casino sold tickets and I bought 3, as you do, and one time I was in the lift with a couple who were carrying this monster egg, and they said they had won, I said thats nice, and they said there were 3 prizes, and so off I went. the next night at 10 pm, the phone rings in the cabin, I am in bed in the top bunk, and Rob answers and they ask for Mees veeki, any way long story short. i won the main egg. It was huge about 2 kgs of gorgeous dark chocolate, beautifully decorated. And they delivered it that night. I don't have any face on, in my nightie and they want photos!!! I took it to dinner the next night for our table companions to help us eat it, we were on a table for 10 (actually the captains table, but he used it at late dinner and we were early!) I also gave a big chunk of it to our table stewards and the cabin girl, but still we are eating it here in Capetown,,,. So it was a great experience, but I probably won't be busting myself to sail with her again, I prefer P and O or other lines. A lot of emphasis is put on the "upper echelon" people, it might be a classless ship, but if you pay so much for your cabin you are entitled to different restaurants, and lounges, and if you are a "round the worlder" well!!! One of the comediens, a guy called Mike Doyle just was fantastic, he took the mickey out of the ship through his whole show. The upper echelons are called the Princess Grill or Queens Grill passengers, those are the restaurants they use, and he was calling them the mixed grills" I will never be able to see a mixed grill in the same light again. Any way all good things come to an end, and we disembarked at Capetown, South Africa on Wednesday, and we are in a most luxurious apartment with 2 bedrooms and bathrooms etc, very posh, right near the VA waterfront. So I will leave with something to tell you in a weks time as we go safariing during the next week. god bless all those who need it Love to you all Vicki

Antarctica part 4

We all thought it was going to be a "Yarn" as he was very entertaining and humourous. But no, it was a real story, He was captured by pirates off somalia,in this yacht, Le Ponant, in April 2008, with a crew of 30 luckily no passengers as they were repositioning the boat,  held for about 4/5 days while negotiations went on between his company and the pirates with him in the middle, they were armed to the teeeth, fired shots into the ship several times, lots of photos, he was stalling to give the navy time to get close, very dramatic, Long story short, he got all his crcew off safely including himself, in exchange for 2 million us dollars, and they got the yacht back and the french captured 6 of them but only got back a tenth of the money. When he got back to France President Sarkovy awarded him the Legion d'Honouer. So not only was he handsome and soooo sexy voiced, but brave as well!  Well we are back in Buenos aires now, and only got 2 more days left, This has truly been the best experience of my life as far as travel goes , so far! I will post the photos soon, but I didn't bring my cable and I have taken so many I need to prune them, but I promise I will post some and the rest you will have to wait until we meet and you can see them on my  computer or the tv. Au revoir, and Bonjour.
 vicki

Antarctica part 3

Carying on, THe penguins were very cute, we were advised to put aside the cameras and just watch, and carry the memories in your head. sound advice, as you can spend too long looking thru, the camera lens. The Captain had an open bridge policy, so we coild go up there at any time, and watch from there when there were icebergs, whales, penguins, seals, birds, more icebergs. really fabulous. I don't have the superlatives to describe all the experience, except to say it was the most wonderful trip. We land on mainland Antarctica, my 7 th continent, as well as various islands in the peninsula. We even found a shop! At Port Locroy, there is a british base mand during the summer, and they have some tourist stuff, postcards, maps, teatowels, etc, and a great museum of the early days. We all posted postcards, so some of you can expect them in a bout 3 months time! Some people had the chance to do a 3hour hike, across a peninsula, 27 elected to do it, there was no turning back as the ship moved on! some went for a polar plunge!! It was in an area where the sea was minutely warmed by volcanic heat, as a matter of fact, the pudles on shore were quite hot, but the sea quickly cooled it down, still some folk braved it while we all cheered!! I was sorry i didn't try it, but realistically the thought of stripping down in front of everyone was more than I could stomach!
So then suddenly it was almost over, we had a final gala dinner with the captain, oh how sexy was his voice, in his fractured english, when he gave us the Weather reports! all us old girls were swooning over him. Then he gave us a talk about piracy and Le Ponant, which is one of the ships from the line. It is one of those 4 masted sailing ships. We all thought it was going to be a "arn"

Antarctica part 2

So where was I , yes 4 straight sunny days, as the Captain said we paid our dues to Antarctica in the Drakes Crossing, I will jump around as I will do this from my head rather than referring to my notes, We went out every day, twice, landing evry day and often twice, but sometimes a zodiac cruise, for example there is an area called Iceberg Alley, hundreds of icebergs, aground, huge,  very spectacular, all that beautiful blue ice, arches, caves, flat ones low ones, high, one, and then I saw the first whale on our zodiac... talk about a thrill, we saw 12/13 Minke whales... Our zodiac driver, who was actually the expedition leader, Juan, id he had never seen more than 3/4 together at any one time. Special. we spent about 90 minutes out , which is plenty in those temperatures, I ran my battery flat in  the camers, and we stopped in a seclu spot, turned off the motor and just listened to the sea and the ice it was awesome. Then we had champagne. They really knew how to celebrate the experience. Another time we stopped beside a huge ice floe and we were able to land on it and had photos takenetc. The expedition crew went out before us and marked out routes that werre safe for us to walk on, on the glaciers, and along the beaches so we didn't upset the penguins and seals. the penguins were in a moult stage, a lot of them, so they stay pretty quiet, so as not to use a lot of energy, as they can't go into the sea when they are in moult.The chicks were almost big enough to go i to the water,q and were just a little fluffy. Penguins are so funny to just watch for minutes at a time

Antarctica

Hi All,
I will write until the tablet gets tired and then start again!
WEll, I don't have the words to adequately describe this trip. It has been amazingî f rom start to finish. Of course the flight from Adelaide to Sydney was nothing, apart that it was a very hot day, and with parking up the motor hpme and getting to the airport, it was pretty uncomfortable. We spent the night at the Stamford Airport hotel, with a 4am call for the airport. No problems there we board a Lan Airways flight to Aukland, Santiago, and then Buenos Aires. The only food they fed us was bread and ham and cheese! We did get a very small (even by airline standards} meal of veal, but otherwise it was bread and cheese and ham, and bread and ham and cheese, all very stale. and not to my taste as bread stucks in my craw these days, oh well it saved me eating too much. They also weren't too keen to give us drinks either. Lan has gone to the bottom of my airline list.. We had a nice couple of days in Buenos Aires, a really good guide , who was easy to understand, took us on a city tour, including seing Evita's tomb, then we walked to a market and had a delicious and tasty and tender Argentine steak, melted in your mouth, good beef too.  So after a walk around  La Boca, an area known for where the Tango started, it is very colourful, with a lot of uildings made out of corrugated iron, but painted in all the colours of the rainbow. We were given lots of warnings of thieving and pick pockets etc, and not to wear gold jewellry on the streets, but nothing happened to us, at least. Then another early morning call 3.30am, and we were off to the airport for our flight to Ushuaia. VEry cold when we got there and rainy, they piled us into buses for a tour around the peninsula, including a great bbq lunch, lamb, and salads and wines etc. very tatsy, they bbq the whole side of lamb propped up around a huge fire, 6/8 sides at once, and they serve all the animal, not the heads, but you get the picture, some bits were more boney than others but really tasty . We finally got delivered to the ship about 5  pm.
Our cabin was a bit squeezy, with 3of us in it, but we quickly sorted ourselves out, unpacked and got organised. This is a very luxurious 5 star ship, but an Expedition ship, not a cruise, as they frequently told us. aSo lots of lectures etc, and no bingo! First evening the captain, Le Commandant, warned us of bad weather across Drake Pasage, so we were laying sailing until midnight in hopes of missing the worst!!! Ha! We all went to bed with great trepidation, but morning came and we could see, huge seas, and howling winds, oh mi god!! but, I was happy to be ok. sat and sewed my patchwork blocks, went to lunch, thought iI'll just take a Kwells to be on the safe si, and was very happy all crosing. Most I would say were not so lucky. Carol and I fared very well, but not so Poor Rob, He took to his bed and that was that. Apparently we had seas of 13 metre s, 160km hr winds, the wavees were washing the bridge 5 cks up!! #,and it was a force 9/10 gale. The worst the captain had had, all season! And on the third day it cleard and the sun shone, and we saw icebergs, and icebergs and we were nearly there. THE GREAT WHITE SOUTH LAND. Wow. Out came our Red Parkas, our zodiac lifevests, our rubber boots and every piece of clothing we had, we were going ashore!! Truly amazing, the expedition crew helped us in and out of the zodiacs, sometimes we had a dry landing and sometimes a wet one, always a bit nerve racking in case the water was deeper than my boots! but all the clothes worked, I was always dry and warm enough, except for the fingers during photography. The big warm ski gloves are a bit clumsy when trying to adjust cameras etc. So we saw penguins, in english and pinguines , in ench, and still more penguins. three types, Chinstraps, they were easy to tell as they had a little black chinstrap unr their chins, Adelies and Gentoos, which I still am not sure which are which, one has an orange beak, and the other is the tuxedo penguin. We saw hundreds and smelt lots of penghuin poo. every landing and return to the ship, you had to wash your boots in sea water first, then once on the ship, they had these big scrubbing buckets, for you to put your feet into and scrub offf the penguin poo, and your hiking sticks, then it was walk to a bath of very strong disinfectant, to walk through and put your sticks in, then walk up a deck to the boot puller offs. great things a "v" of wood you put your heel into and just as easy as that pulled your foot out of the boot and walked back to your cabin in your socks, carrying your boots. Outside each cabin was a mat where your boots lived until the next call to go out.
So we were incredibly lucky apparently, as we had 4straight brilliantly sunny days