Quotes of the Week

No matter how bleak the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations.
--Dieter F. Uchtdorf

The Lord knows how hard you are trying. You are making progress. Keep going. He sees all your hidden sacrifices and counts them to your good and the good of those you love... You are not alone. His very name, Emmanuel, means "God with us." He is surely with you.
--Sharon Eubank

Ponder the magnificence of what you see when you look in the mirror. Ignore the freckles, the unruly hair, or the blemishes, and look beyond to see the real you--a child of God, created by Him in His image.
--Russell M. Nelson

Two Sea Days; Back in Sydney; Made it Home Safely!

We had two days left of our cruise. There were some highlights and there were definitely some lowlights.

Day 11 was the first of two days at sea before we got back to Sydney. Of course Patricia was dreading the sea days as her seasickness patch was probably completely used up and she refused to put on another patch so she wouldn't be overly medicated for the next week or two. She was determined to just endure the seasickness.

I woke up with my tummy bothering me. I was making several runs to the rest room throughout the morning.

We all got together for the morning trivia game. Shockingly, our team tied for first place!!!! It was frustrating that one of the answers I had given was scratched off and we went with another answer. My answer had been correct! If we had gone with it--our team would have been the sole winners of the game.

But, oh well! Both teams were given the coveted first-place prizes that they always hand out--Royal Caribbean highlighters. They threw in a make-your-own necklace to the prize package making Patricia very happy.

We ate lunch and the sandwich wrap I chose tasted horrible to me. I also ate a little bit of fruit. The pineapple tasted horrible to me as it was too hard and too green. What a big disappointment all around for me that meal. The pound cake that I usually ate every day didn't even look appealing.

The three of them went off to iFLY skydiving simulator. Glen was turned away as he has had shoulder problems and surgery in the past and it was suggested people like that not participate, so he joined me in the cabin. 

I was hoping that resting all afternoon would help me feel better. Glen was ecstatically looking forward to watching BYU vs. St. Mary's basketball. He had gotten ship internet so he could watch it. 

He had told me the day before that he didn't want to participate in formal night in the dining room that evening. The basketball game was much more important.

I was not happy hearing that, but turns out he got his wish come true. 

He was in his usual heaven whenever we were in our cabin as he listened to all the election or coronavirus news. When it was game time, he got all tuned in and completely tuned me out.

There I was getting sicker than a dog as time ticked on. My tummy troubles got worse and soon I was throwing up. I felt so rotten. I had Glen google seasickness (since he now had internet service--let's put it to good use!!) (during a lull in his game, of course!!) to see if diarrhea was one of the symptoms. Answer--no.

I thought so and just as I was about to tell Glen he better call our friends and tell them I was feeling too sick to go out that evening, Steven called. He reported Patricia was throwing up and was too sick to go out as well. 

The guys made plans to hook up to go to the Windjammer Buffet for dinner after the game was over. Turns out the game ended in time for us to have been able to participate in the formal evening in the dining room. UGH!! Oh well, that's the way the ball bounces (to coin an idiom sports fanatics can relate to!).

Note the low number of steps that day (a good portion of them spent running to the rest room). Proof that I was not at my peak performance.

Day 12 Thankfully, the next morning when I woke up, I felt just fine--except for the little bit of seasickness in my tummy that some food throughout the day helped ease. 

Patricia was struggling a lot with seasickness, but she powered through and participated with us in the onboard activities. She kept some food always with her and nibbled throughout the day. 

We were in luck! The evening show from the previous evening was doing another performance during the day. I had been sad to miss it and was happy we got a second chance to see it.

We watched the Guest Talent Showcase. Our hearts warmed a bit when the guest choir appeared on stage. Glen once participated in the choir on one of our Princess cruises.

We went to the Farewell Show. At one point they brought out representatives of the cabin stewards, the dining staff, the chefs, the crew, the entertainers and everyone else who helped make the cruise special for each of the passengers.

We made our last after-dinner visit to the Windjammer Buffet. Glen chose ice cream with chocolate syrup and a hot dog to dunk in mustard. Oh well, whatever floats his boat!

It was nice to be feeling so much better as my step count reflected a surge in energy for me. Looked like I was going to be well getting off the ship the next day.

I was a bit anxious wondering if we would be detained getting off the ship. With two other cruise ships in quarantine, it was a big concern. But, no worries! We walked off the ship with no delay.

Steven got busy trying to locate our driver.

We loaded our luggage into the trailer behind the van and off we went to the airport.

Right as we saw the Sydney Airport sign, I spotted this woman wearing a mask. There had been some mask-wearers on the ship and there were some at the airport.

This scene seemed appropriate after we had heard so much about the coronavirus and how borders of countries were being closed, people were being quarantined and told to socially isolate. COVID-19 was in China, Europe and Italy and it was quickly traveling to other countries.

I had not been looking forward to being in the Los Angeles Airport with so many people during this time of uncertainty wondering who might be the one to make me sick. I also wasn't looking forward to being crammed on an airplane with a whole lot of people wondering who might be the one to make me sick.

We were told the plane from Sydney to Los Angeles was full, but after all the passengers were on, I noticed there were quite a few middle seats not occupied. I kept my fingers crossed that the seat next to me would stay empty--and it did!!!!

Our seats had been upgraded once again to Comfort Class, so that meant a little extra leg room. We were sitting in the three seats in the middle section of the plane. The door closed and the chair remained empty. HURRAH!!

The plane rose and we were in the air. So happy! When the cabin lights were dim and I was deep into watching one of many, many, many movies I saw while we flew over the ocean, a male flight attendant startled me when I saw him looming over me. Why had he singled me out?!?!??

He explained there was a very disgruntled passenger up front who did not like the person he was seated by and wondered if he could be moved to the empty seat next to me. I wanted to yell NO!!!!!! but I had not purchased that seat and so what could I do.

There went my freedom!! I was going to be trapped between two men once again for the duration of that long flight. UGH!!!!

The man coming toward us was wearing a face mask and was not happy at all. It took him a few minutes to get himself comfortable in his chair. The flight attendant kept coming to check on him.

Someone else came to talk to him and he lowered his face mask to irately tell about the passenger sitting next to him who was definitely sick. He reported the man did not cover his face when he coughed and he was frothing at the mouth.

WHAT?!?! Frothing???? What kind of illness does that connote?!?!? That's all it took for me to think about how the man sitting next to me had apparently had spit and germs spewed upon him and he had brought all those germs to me. ICK!!!!

Thankfully, we had the tailwind to our advantage and our flight home was only 13 hours long.

Unfortunately, we landed at the airport 40 minutes before the customs officials started working, so we HAD TO SIT ON THE PARKED PLANE WHICH WAS AT THE GATE TO THE AIRPORT for that extra time!!!! That was a cruel joke after such a long flight.

I do have to say I breathed another big sigh of relief to know we were on American soil once again.

We got through customs just fine and went with the Morgans to wait with them at their gate. Their plane to Albuquerque was leaving before our plane to Salt Lake City. It's always sad to tell them good-bye after being together for so long and having such a great time together.

It looked like all was well for us as we boarded our plane and all the people were loaded on. As is Glen's habit, he immediately fell asleep. And then we sat and sat and sat. For an hour or more we sat there waiting for a mechanic to come and check something on the plane that wasn't working.

Glen kept right on sleeping through take-off and who knows how many hours in the sky. How does he do it??!!?? I was lucky to get a few short dozes in on both flights.

I wanted to shout for joy when we got off the plane in Salt Lake City. Then I wanted to shout for joy again when we pulled into our driveway. We were home! We were safe!

Sarah had warned us, "The world as we know it had totally changed." We would soon find out what that meant.

Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Day 10 We had another day on land--this time Bay of Islands.

The ship was anchored way out away from the dock, so we had to get on the tender boats to get to land.

Once again Steven had lined up a private tour for us rather than arranging a tour through the cruise ship. We got in the van with a small group of people and off we went to see the sights.

First stop--Kawiti Glow Worm Caves.

A Maori family owns the caves which have been passed down through generations. They are the tour guides.

Once inside the cave, no photos allowed. We walked deep into the cave and then the lights were turned off and we saw the worms glowing on the ceiling of the cave.

Just showing a little fear like I do every time I am about ready to go into a cave.

On our drives, we learned that the hay bales that are seen in many fields are wrapped in different colors. The bales are usually wrapped in a minty green color, but other colors have been popping up around the country.

The different colors represent an awareness campaign for various causes. Pink is for breast cancer, blue is for prostate cancer and purple is for pediatric healthcare service.

In New Zealand what we call rest rooms or bathrooms they call toilets. There are 13 unusual toilets in the North Island. We visited only the one in Kawakawa.

The public toilets are marked very well--on street signs,

Our tour guide told us all about these public toilets designed by Austrian artist Hundertwasser.

The toilets are built around a living tree and have a roof top garden reflecting Hundertwasser's environmentally considerate approach to architecture.

Built mostly with recycled materials, the toilets incorporate bricks, bottles, tiles and colorful pottery.

Hundertwasser didn't like straight lines or flat floors. I can sure attest to that. It was quite an adventure walking on the uneven floor.

Well, that was a unique, unforgettable rest stop!

We saw lots and lots of cut trees and logs. Forestry is a significant industry in New Zealand. Forestry products are the country's third largest export behind dairy and meat.

In Kerikeri, we made a stop at Makana Confections Boutique Chocolate Factory. We could see into the factory area where they were making and packaging the "hand-made chocolates and other natural temptations."

Makana website boasts: "Our hand-made chocolates and other natural temptations are perfect for special occasions, or a wonderfully special self-indulgent treat."

Glen self-indulged! He liked the sample of macadamia butter toffee crunch that was offered to every visitor and bought himself a whole box of it.

We also walked through the little wood shop next to the chocolate shop, but refrained from buying anything there.

Off we drove to our next destination--lunch.

We lined up to place our orders, walking past all the bakery goods before ordering.

The men ordered Hangi pies for the third day in a row. I couldn't stand the thought of taking my chances on another bad-tasting lunch, so I ended up ordering a wrap, same as what Patricia ordered.

I also splurged and got carrot cake as well--to make up for the disgusting lunch I had eaten the day before!!

Patricia had Steven order two to-go desserts for her. We were all loaded in the bus when Patricia looked in her bag and shrieked, "STOP!! I got the wrong dessert!!"

One of the desserts should have been ginger cake rather than a hard ginger cookie. She was not happy about that at all!! She jumped off the bus and went back to right that terrible wrong.

Nobody messes with Patricia and her desserts!!!!

We stopped to take the short Kauri Walk through beautiful forest land.

Glen is trying to pose like a Maori. (?!?)

Now Glen's trying to be Tarzan hanging from a vine.

We took a little hike to see the Haruru Falls.

The driver stopped by a golf course where we could get a photo of our ship anchored out in the water.

While we were there, we saw a long procession of vehicles with people hooting and hollering out their windows. Motorcycles were making a lot of noise. A group of people were sitting in the back of a pick-up truck holding photos of a young man and shouting things as they passed by.

The whole procession congregated on that overlook where we were and as people were getting out of their vehicles, we could see they were all dressed in black.

Our tour guide took a few minutes to talk to us in the van and explained a young man had died and his family and friends were taking him on one last ride to see all his favorite places. We had seen the casket in one of the family vehicles.

The guide went on to explain the Maori's belief of creation and life after death.

Our tour for the day had ended. We drove back to the water.

We chose to get dropped off in Paihia so we could walk around there for a while and then get a free shuttle over the bridge back to Waitangi Pier.

We spotted the Waka Festival and went over to check it out.

I was tempted to buy some Maori cream from the booth that advertised it helps with skin problems. Glen had gotten the traveler's rash as well and so both our legs looked horrible.

Enjoyed looking at some Maori artwork.

We were deciding if we wanted to wait in line for the shuttle bus or make the 25-minute walk to the pier.

We decided to walk and then it started raining. The wind was also blowing hard. I used my jacket to hold up high in front of me as a protection from the wind. Doing that offered a little protection from the rain, but not much.

It was a relief to finally be on the bridge overlooking the pier where we would get on the yellow tender boats, but we still had a ways to go.

Steven and Patricia wanted to walk around the pier and so they stayed behind. I was anxious to get back to the ship, have a shower and get cleaned up before dinner. I felt like a drowned rat.

The entertainment that evening was Jonathan Clark. He was a very good singer and impressionist and had us laughing a lot at the people he was imitating.

We walked to the other end of the ship and enjoyed watching two of the ship's performers singing a few songs before the next show began.

Yes, this was our cruise director--Joff--who loves to wear a different wacky color socks and shoelaces every single night.

That evening we saw our last towel animal sitting on our bed.

Another entertaining, informative day on land had come to an end. Girding up for two sea days...