Here is a picture of MA, Jennie, nd Nick aboard one of the ferry boats that connect the two sides of Brisbane.

BRISBANE

Well here we are, rolling along in an 8 ft sea that Tom swears must be wrong - but then again we are on the 8th deck and the lower down you go, the bigger the waves get. It is now the 26th of Feb and time does fly. Today was our second day at sea so I tried the aerobic/stretching class and Tom competed with the circle walkers -- 7 laps makes a mile. I get dizzy. After coming on board Wednesday we were pleasantly surprised to find Jim Nantz, the voice of CBS sports, sailing with us. His time on board is limited as he has to return to the USA for NCAA basketball in a few weeks. The second day out we enjoyed a formal dinner, followed the next day by a delightful visit with Jennie and Nick. Without a doubt we saw as much of Brisbane as anyone who went on an excursion. Much of down town is on the river banks with connecting points via a water taxi. Sure beats sitting in highway traffic! Chef Nick then treated us to a superb lunch at their beautiful seaside home. Tom and I are ready to move in with them as they have a perfect suite downstairs for guests. We noted with amazement that the ravages from the flood throughout Brisbane were not that evident, although Nick and Jennie pointed out the complete destruction (and consequent removal) of a new award winning restaurant that had just opened in 2010. The river was dark brown in color and Jennie said in all probability it was polluted with sewage. Several ferry terminals were destroyed in addition to many sidewalks along the river and the University track and field complex. The latter had already been replaced!

Tomorrow we head for Townsville and I will continue to struggle with posting photos. The satellite system keeps blocking anything I try to upload.

HUNTER VALLEY

An all day trip to the Hunter Valley took us north of Sydney to visit 4 wineries out of the more than 150 located in the area.  We learned a great deal, particularly about the Shiraz and Semillon grape for which Australia is noted.. A lovely day that left us weary and, of course. the owner of 2 bottles of wine, an extravagance considering Regent provides us with all our wine during the cruise.  Today, Wednesday, we board the ship, sailing up the coast to Brisbane where we will meet up with Jennie and Nick.

SANTA MONICA AND SYDNEY

We took Shelley's suggestion; headed out to Santa Monica via bus on a cold and rainy day.  Lunch at Shutters on the Beach all but made up for the poor weather.  We returned to our "day room" at the Hilton in time to pack up again and head for the airport.  After spending the day in LA we were excited about finally taking the last leg of our long trip.  It was not to be; we did not take off until midnight---  landed in Sydney about 10  am with all bags intact and checked in to our beautiful hotel situated  on the harbour between the ferry terminal and the opera house.  We spent most of the morning on an opera house tour--what a fanatastic complex, actually two separate buildings, one for operas and one for concerts.  Then we took a sightseeing bus tour of the city, getting off at the Sydney Fish Market where we ate a fish lunch with a few dozen Japanese tourists who were all using chop sticks. This morning we watched the Queen Elizabeth--dock just across from oour hotel.  We are now waiting for the van to arrive to transport us to our all day excursion to the Hunter Valley with emphasis on wine tasting..

HYATT HOTEL ORLANDO AIRPORT

We're here at the Orlando airport watching the planes coming in as we sip our scotch and martini from our room balcony.  About to go below and talk to Delta as to why they are charging us for 3 bags  --  seems they think our 12-hour lay over in LA does not qualify us for free baggage.  We leave tomorrow at 7:30  in the morning and then leave for Sydney at 10:45 at night.  Any suggestions for day time entertainment???  We do have an airport "day room."

The itinerary . . .

Here's the itinerary for the great Odyssey.  Hope it's legible. . .but am afraid it isn't.

We're afraid you'll need a magnifying glass to read it.  If we can figure out how to magnify it--maybe Grace can tell us--we'll re-send it.

Contact information

If it should become necessary to contact us through other than e-mail--and we will have our laptop with us so we should stay in e-mail contact--here is a phone number to the ship:  1-800-886-5374.  Our cabin number is 827.  Things are moving along.  We'll drive to Orlando Thursday afternoon, overnight at the hotel at the airport, and catch the early flight to LA Friday morning. 

Appreciation goes to Grace Brindle for creating our Odyssey "logo".  We welcome and encourage all such contributions.

We're getting started

In about ten days we'll be starting on our 45 day odyssey to the Far East, starting in Sydney, Australia, and ending in Bangkok, Thailand.  First we fly out of Orlando, go to L.A., and fly from there to Sydney where we catch the ship, the Seven Seas Voyager, operated by Regent Cruise Lines.  We don't board the ship until Feb. 23 which means we'll have a couple days to "explore" Sydney and some of the surrounding countryside.  We're new at this blogging business, but we hope we'll get the hang of it so we can keep friends and family abreast of how the trip is going..