Our first Cruise

So I'll start off by saying as I always do- that's it's been FAR too long before posting on this blog.

We've had such a great past 6 months with Justin and Amanda coming over from San Diego and Cara coming over from Seattle. So we've been busy spending time with friends and not having the time for the blog- which I guess is an ok thing!

One thing we did make time for was going on our first cruise....

Dan and I have talked about going on a cruise for a while now and finally took the plunge and went the first week in July during Dan's school holidays.

It was a 7 night cruise from Brisbane to the pacific islands.

The ship left Saturday at 2pm and then arrived at our first stop Monday afternoon in Noumea.

Noumea was nice to stop in and get off the ship, but we didn't have too much time to explore before the sunset. We did a little island driving tour to see the major spots and then roamed a little beach area called the Bay of Lemons.

The city side of Noumea was a bit hectic and pretty dirty, not to mention expensive and they all only speak French. However it looks like the islands that are just off of Noumea look amazing, so might be worth going back and checking out one day.

 

Coming into Noumea

 Our tug boat coming to get us

 A view from a hill in the city

 Sunset in the Bay of Lemons

We got back on the ship around 7pm and then by the time we woke up the next morning we were in our next stop, Lifou

Lifou is just a little island that’s pretty underdeveloped in comparison. They don’t have a port so the cruise ship anchors in the middle of the bay and then you take one of the little rescue ships to shore. The rescue ship was pretty rocky and it took a while for it to be your turn on shore- but once you got there it was so worth it.

Crystal clear water, amazing people that live there who set up little markets for you to roam.

We spend the day snorkeling this really beautiful coral reef area that’s restricted to 100 people a day to help preserve the coral. You could get so close to it that you get almost too close.

I’ve never even snorkeled before let alone snorkeling with a view like that! We had a really amazing time and after snorkeling just spent the rest of the time on the beach before catching the little boat back to the ship. This is definitely a place we’d go back to for a relaxing week away. 

 Under that hut was the markets the locals put on

 This is the bay we snorkeled. Jinek Bay.

 A view of our ship anchored in the bay

 This shows the rough size of the side of the island we were on. To the left is Jinek bay where we snorkled.

 The water was so clear!

The next day was our final shore stop in Port Vila in Vanuatu. We had heard of some really great snorkeling there as well as some really cheap duty free shopping which someone I know loves a really good deal on Scotch..

We hired a driver with a South African family from the boat and got a really cool look at Vila. Our driver took us to a place where we could catch a little boat to a place called Hideaway Island. We had the opportunity to snorkel there and hang out for the first part of the day. It was a really cute island with great coral reefs and really nice little beach shacks if you were to stay there for the week or more.

After Hideaway Island we then went into the city to do some shopping. The duty free didn’t disappoint and dear ol Dan was in heaven!

After our duty free shopping we roamed the local markets and then got back on the ship. 

 

Entrance to Hideaway Island

 Looking like a drowned rat post a great snorkel sesh

 All of Hideaway Island

We had two full days of cruising to get back to Brisbane and we used those to just relax before getting back to the grind.

Overall, we loved the stops we made but jury is still out on cruise life. Those professional ‘cruisers’ are pretty intense with their bingo and themed parties and overall cruise-ness to them. Not sure it’s our cup of tea, but it was a good experience.

One other draw back was the fact that I’m the worlds pickiest eater and they didn’t quite cater for my needs. There were a few panic moments that I’m stuck in the middle of the ocean and never going to eat again… but we made it through :)

 Our Ship pre departure

Our towel Elephant we kept for the whole trip. Our Jackson away from Jackson!

Overall a great trip, good experience, and we saw some amazing places.

I’ll try and keep the updates more frequent in the future.

Until next time…

Holiday Travel Recap: Part 2 // NYE in Paris and kicking off 2014 in European style

So I'm going to make this brief, considering it has now taken me over 4 months to post this..

After visiting friends and family in San Diego, Phoenix and New York- Dan and I took the long way home and stopped by Europe for a quick 10 day trip passed some of our favorite places and the chance to check out a few new ones.

Our first stop was in Paris. We stayed in an amazing apartment that we rented of Air bnb. It belonged to a girl around our age and she has the best little flat with a view of the Eiffel Tour outside her window. It was in a traditional Paris building and the lift only held one of us and maybe a backpack, so bringing our luggage up the 6 flights of winding stairs was a bit of a mission.

 The view walking to our apartment after we got off the metro

 One of the million photos I took of the tour sparkling

 The little street we lived on

 Local Market on Rue Cler

Mulled wine (and one of the MILLION photos Dan and I took of ourselves... the negative in traveling with only the two of us :) )

 Our tiny Paris apartment

We spent the days in Paris catching up on sleep, roaming around the architecture and just pretending like we were Parisians.

Best part of being in Paris? Meeting up with Kelly, Mauricio, Rick and Paula for NYE at the tour! it was so great to see some of our closest friends on the other side of the world to ring in 2014 right!

 NYE

 O'Brien/Estrada Parisian NYE

 O'Brien/Estrada/Rogers Parisian NYE!

 This one is a funny story..

 Leave it to Dan to take us to the only Irish pub in Paris.. #ginger

After we were done posing as Parisians, we took a little road trip down the to Chateau that Dan used to live at when working for Contiki. We were lucky enough to get let in since Dan's VIP and I got the private tour of the estate. It was an amazing house in an amazing France countryside equipped with old people, vineyards, rolling hills, and sleepy houses. Definitely worth the stop.

 The Chateau

 Selfie #6,452

 winery across the street from the Chateau

After visiting the Chateau we spent the night in Chambery, France to then catch a train to Milan the next morning.

 Chambery

Milan was super cold and super rainy, but Dan had never been there so it was nice for him to see.

 Dan's first Italian coffee of the trip (1 of many and the main reason we went to Italy i think..)

 PASTA!

 Beautiful Milano

After Milan we took a train to Florence to get out of the rain and for me to get a chance to see Florence the way Dan sees it.

We rented an apartment in Florence that was in the best location and had an amazing rooftop balcony. Next time we want to go back in the summer and invite all of our friends.

Seeing Florence the way Dan sees it and experiencing all he had when he lived there was really great. I personally fell in love with Florence this trip, and can't wait to go back and spend more time there.

 the view from our rooftop deck

 our amazing apartment

 selfie strikes again

 We got ripped off.. this gelato cost us like $20 USD.. so it gets a photo so we feel we're still getting our money's worth... it was good.. but SO expensive.. don't worry, we later found cheaper options

 Rooftop sunset

 One of the most special moments of the trip was meeting Franco, a dear friend of Dan's that lives in Florence. Franco runs a bar where the Contiki groups go and so Dan worked closely with Franco when he lived in Florence. He was a beautiful man and I feel really lucky to have met him.

 Dan forced me to go past where the Jersey Shore crew lived when they were in Florence.. oh Dan, you're reality TV obsession is really something to worry about... (Disclaimer- not all of this caption is true)

After a few days in Florence we took a drive to the hills of Tuscany to spend check out the vinyards and the hills of Tuscany that both Dan and I have dreamed about. We had a great night in the country and then took off to Venice the next day.

 Dan has often spoken about this place in the Chianti region where you get a wine credit card and can go sample wines... i thought he was making it up from some obscure dream.. i was wrong, this was it. Logan and Daniel- if you read this... you would LOVE this place.. would love to go back with you guys.

 Greve, in Chianti

 Tuscany hills

 we got a Fiat as a rental.. so fitting (well 'fitting' might be the wrong term)..

Venice is special to Dan and I since we first sort of decided we kinda sorta liked each other last time we were in Venice :)

 we splurged for our final night in Europe and this was our Venice hotel

 

 View from our window

 View of the bridge of sighs from our window

 I was 'that American' that ordered the American pizza with french fries on it.. it was gross.

 Dan in his old stomping grounds

 We have close to this exact same photo from almost 5 years ago..

It was great to go back and just roam around all the spots we first roamed as a happy soon to be couple.

Overall we had an amazing trip in Europe and are already planning our next trip back... well maybe dreaming is a better word than planning.

Until Next Time...