Our year in review: 2016

Hi

Greetings all!!

Here is our Christmas greeting our year in review.

Well, if last year was a bit of an anti-climax for us, 2016 certainly has made up for it!!

Our Big Trip

This year we ventured forth and did another “big trip”.

Our plan was to sail via “Sea Princess” to New York, spend two weeks in NYC, Amtrak to Washington, DC, a week there, then fly to San Francisco, a week there, and fly home.  But it didn’t quite work out that way, as you’ll see.

We departed on the 15^th of May from White Bay, right across from Mark Bagshaw’s home. We waved but he wasn’t home.

The ship headed south to Melbourne, where we spent the day exploring Federation Square and the Lanes.

John and Margaret with the Corcoran family

Next stop Adelaide, where we explored Port Adelaide before catching up with John’s mate Maurice Corcoran and his wife, Sheila.

A huge storm that hit the west coast forced the ship to seek shelter in Esperance Bay which caused us to lose a day and arrive in Fremantle a day late.

The day lost meant the ship’s captain decided to by-pass Sri Lanka, which disappointed us as we were looking forward to a day in Colombo.

Our next stop was Dubai with two days to take in the sights.

On the way, we had to have “pirate practice”. Truly. Pirates are a genuine threat in that part of the world.

Our private tour took us to the Dubai Mall and to the viewing deck of the Burj Khalifa on the 125^th floor. It’s the world’s tallest building with 163 floors.

The fountain show in a lake next to the Mall was worth watching and we got the unplanned chance to see it again at night – also worth seeing, as was the laser show on the Burj Khalifa.

At the Museum in Dubai

We visited a museum (interesting) and several very rich estates. These women had false moustaches – no idea why.

That night we were supposed to have a dinner cruise but the boat was not accessible (there was a ramp but at 1:3 it was a tad steep), hence the trip to see the fountain at night and the laser show.

The less said about the social structure in UAE the better. Not where we would want to live.

Next stop was Muscat, Oman where John couldn’t get off the ship as there was no accessible vehicle to get him off the working dock.

Then to Aqaba, Jordon, where again John couldn’t get off. It was also really disappointing for John as Aqaba is where one gets access to Petra, the ancient city carved into a rock mountain. We could find no way for John to get there.

The journey through the Suez Canal was interesting, if a little unnerving due to the armed guards all the way along.

We had two stops in Italy: Salerno, from where we visited Naples and Pompeii, and Civitavecchia, our gateway to Rome.

How Pompeiians died.

Both days were fabulous – particularly Pompeii (see photo above of casts of bodies) – even a large house has been made wheelchair accessible!

A Royal coach in Lisbon

Next was Lisbon, Portugal – the surprise of the trip! We had arranged a private tour and we were taken first to a museum the like of which we’ve never seen. Dozens of historic carriages – most of them ornately decorated with sculptures, often gold plated.

Sintra - a magic place

Then to Jerónimos Monastery (with a look at Vasco de Gama’s tomb), an historic fort, Belem Tower, then the city centre, and finally an hour or so drive to the coastal village of Sintra (below), a truly stunning location with Moorish castles and all.

Belgium was next on our itinerary, with a stop at Zeebrugge, from where we caught the train to Bruges.

Bruges is a beautiful little town with stunning architecture and lots of squares and canals. We thoroughly enjoyed our day, until!!!

Until we boarded the train to take us back to the port, that is.

We had carefully planned to not test our luck and catch the last possible train to be back in time to board before departure, but the one before last (it was an hourly service).   So there we were, about six or seven wheelchair users and our partners in the wheelchair carriage, when!!

Well, when, the driver decided to strike!!

And he’d locked the doors. And the station staff explained how they didn’t have a key to let us out.

Eventually, they forced the doors and let us off, and told us a different train could take us to a different station near the port.

So, down in the lift, along to the lift to the platform for the other train, and the lift was not working!!!

Twenty minutes later, the lift was fixed and we all got on the train.

Getting off was fun – the ramp was at an angle of about 45 degrees. Some wheelies were lifted out of their chairs and carried down, but John tilted his chair right back and just managed it.

And, of course, no buses to take us back to the ship, with about 70 people waiting.

Eventually, we made it to the ship with minus 5 minutes to not spare. LOL

But, of course, more drama was before us.

John and mural of Van Gogh, Amsterdam

In Amsterdam we visited and loved the Van Gogh museum.

However, on our way back from there to our bus, John was crossing the road which was covered in cobble stones and also had tram lines, and his foot jumped off the footplates, got caught on the cobble stones while the chair sailed merrily on, twisting John’s leg and, as we found out a couple of days later, broke it in three places – officially a double compound fracture.

The ship’s doctor was great – x-ray, moon boot, antibiotics to stave off osteomyelitis, and a referral to a specialist in Helsinki, Finland.

And he let us stay on board and complete the cruise. He said John was the first person with a double compound fracture that he’d ever allowed to remain on board.

In the meantime we had visited Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden. Both were ship arranged tours – not as good as our private ones, but still enjoyable.

In Helsinki, Finland, the whole day was taken up with a visit to the orthopaedic specialist who prescribed different antibiotics but also confirmed that we could continue with the cruise.

In St Petersburg, we had booked a two-day private tour (recommended by Julie Haraksin and Ian Irwin) and it was just fabulous.

My goodness, the luxury of those at the top!

The downside was our leaving Margaret’s wallet in the accessible loo at the Hermitage. We eventually got the wallet back complete with all cards, but minus the $US800 which was for our tour.

But saw wonderful artworks, magnificent gardens with unbelievable fountains and luxurious rooms.

John at Peterhof

On the way out of St Petersburg we passed Kotlin Island on which the city of Kronstadt  sits. This is where Margaret’s 2 x great grandfather, Andrew Carrick, lived from 1828 until his death in the 1860s.

Margaret with Krondstadt in background

He was a Scottish born timber merchant.

We spent a day each in Tallin, Estonia and Riga, Latvia. Both interesting, without being “must come back” type places. Although if we knew more about them we’re sure there would be lots to see, do and learn.

We were scheduled to call at Warnemunde, northern Germany, but bad weather closed the port to all shipping, and we sailed straight to Dover, England, where we stayed two days instead of one.

Margaret's English cousins, Linda (nee Tucker) and Ange & Paul

In Dover we caught up with Margaret’s cousins, Linda and her husband, Peter, and Ange and her husband, Paul.

A truly lovely couple of days with cousins who have become very special friends.

Cobb in Ireland is the port from which Irish convicts departed for Australia, and is also the last port visited by the Titanic before its unfortunate encounter with that iceberg.

Cobb has an “Australia Day” every time a ship with lots of Aussies on it docks. Shops compete for the prize of best “Australian” decorations – so lots of roos, koalas, wombats, boomerangs, etc. All good fun.

We took the Titanic Walking Tour and enjoyed it immensely.

Across the Atlantic to Sydney, Nova Scotia (Canada) where we were in for a treat.

This “other” Sydney is a smallish town but full of history and interesting things to see.

It’s named after the same Lord Sydney as our Sydney, and there is even a memorial to James Cook who charted the waters of this part of the world.

The “other” Sydney is known for its :fiddle music” and this monument is on the wharf.

Our penultimate cruise stop was Boston where we spent the day wandering and buying Margaret a new iPad.

Rather unwisely, John decided to wheel back to the ship (a few kilometres), while Margaret caught a cab, but John got caught in a thunderstorm and was drenched.

It was also in Boston that Margaret had to get more medication made up as the ship’s doctor had increased her medication for anxiety/depression (all because of John’s broken leg and the extra work and stress that created). Tablets that cost about $25 for 100 in Australia, cost us $690 for 50 in Boston.

There’s a warning there.

Final cruise stop was New York City.

Unfortunately, without the emotional support of other passengers on the ship, Margaret found it way too difficult to provide John with the assistance he needed and so, after just 3 days, we decided to cut the trip short and fly home.

It was still a great trip and we did get to visit Central Park and take a pic of Trump Tower.

Back home in late July, we lodged a claim on our insurance and after some time got most of our costs back – not the lost money nor the cost of the tablets, but all John’s medical bills and most of the cancelled bookings.

We’d recommend FastCover Insurance.

2018 cruise

Yes, we’ve booked a cruise for 2018. This missive has gone on long enough, so we’ll tell you about it next year, or maybe wait til it’s over and tell you then.