DUNEDIN

Dunedin was such a special little town. We got off the ship and went to the 'iSite' to figure out what to do. We signed up for a tour, and it turned out perfectly as we were the only people signed up for that time (me, mom and TK). The pictures explain many of the things we saw, but I will tell you a little about Dunedin. It is actually a little college town- and any of you who are thankful for healthy teeth can thank this little place since it's the birthplace of modern dentistry education. I think that is one neat piece of trivia! Enjoy the photos and explanations...

This is the steepest street in the world. Look it up. It's true. It's called Baldwin Street and here are some fun facts:
Since 2002, a further charity event has been held annually in July, which involves the rolling of over 30,000 Jaffas (spherical candy-coated chocolate sweets). Each jaffa is sponsored by one person, with prizes to the winner and funds raised going to charity. ( I didn't buy a jaffa, but wanted to).
They also have a footrace to to top and back down again, every summer, called the 'Gutbuster'!
A cottage built in the 1800's by a stone mason with 'scrap' stones he saved over many years of working in the quarries. He put odd stones aside to one day build his retirement cottage. If you look closely you can see the aren't uniform in size.
One of the many cool buildings in the 'Octagon', which is basically the town square.
The lighthouse as we head out of the harbor. Albatross were flying everywhere and I was SOOOOO cold out on the deck!
Cruising out of the harbor. It was actually pretty long and narrow, with the town situated at the end.
The new rugby stadium being built. I saw the other stadium that they are playing in, very cool but no chance to get a photo. As you know, rugby is the national sport of NZ. They are know as the 'All Blacks'. In contrast, the soccer league is known as the 'All Whites'.
Up on that hill again, looking out towards the hills. It's too bad you can't see the sheep that were scattered here and there.
This monument was at the top of that same hill. It was the only actual stop we made on the bus tour we took.

I know it says I'm in Dunedin, New Zealand, but I really and truly think I have been transported to SCOTLAND!

TINY KONA'S TRUISM of the Day...If it's not Scottish, it's CRAP!

New Zealand

Also known as 'KIWI land', I have a whole week of posts I need to get organized - serious stuff, my friends! I am doing my best (and just look at what I am working with-namely my whacky self) and will hopefully spit one or two posts out each day.
Anyway, here is a point of trivia about New Zealand, that may give you a chuckle...
There are about 4 million people living in these islands... and about 400 million sheep!
Here's my tribute to the sheep... Awww, so soft and cuddly and cute..

Makes ya just wanna put that nice wool sweater on...

TINY KONA'S TRUSIM of the Day...400 M sheep? That's a lotta lambchops...

That's entertainment/ Part IV (i think)

More entertainers have been filling our evenings with music, laughter and enjoyment. Here are of few of my favorites... Radim Zenkyl.

Mandolin virtuoso in addition to playing a myriad of flutes. I'm sure you have never heard of most of them since they are from eastern European mountain ranges or remote island jungles. That's what makes it so cool, since Radim has a passion for learning all types of flutage (is that EVEN a word?!) This guy is musically gifted, of course, but also has an interesting life story - escaping from Czechoslavakia as a young adult, winning the U.S mandolin 'champion' award a few years later, speaking 5 languages and even having a talent in trick roping! A sweet guy that was a joy to listen to (and watch) and I hope to see him when he performs in Hawaii. A funny sidenote - he knew where mom lived, her little town in northern California is a place he has played at a couple of times! Small world...

This is 'Black Tie'.(L to R: Susie, Yuri, Valerie and Constatine)

Hard to describe this quartet of talent. Constatine is married to Susie. She plays cello and he sings opera. Yuri is 'Con's' brother - he's also a singer and the comic relief. He is married to Valerie, a most awesome pianist. They are a conglomerate of Greek/Russian/Aussie and Sri Lankan goodness! ( I won't get into their genealogy here, but with such varied cultures coming together, it was a blend of happy musical delight. What a fun and entertaining, not to mention extremely talented, bunch. And Yuri was SO FUNNY as 'Patsy', I am still laughing at the mere thought of it! (think Monty Python). I hope to see them again one day, in the capacity of their musical performance, for sure, but just as much as the nice people they truly are.

I can't remember these guys' names. Was it the 'Uncommon Boys'? Maybe the 'Unstoppable Boys', or the 'Unremarkable Boys' - no, that wasn't it! It was 'Un (something) Boys' and they were AWESOME! Very entertaining and their voices harmonized incredibly! They did one show that was a take-off of 'Jersey Boys' (that's the Broadway musical about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons). It was the BEST! The second show they did a Les Mis song that brought me to tears because of their incredible voices.

Then there's Willie Tyler and Lester.

The photo I took didn't turn out (dead batteries didn't help), but there's a story I will tell you about this entertainer. The name may actually ring a bell with you, as they have performed for years on TV, etc. Willie is a ventriloquist and Lester is his 'pal'. The show was entertaining, then, of course, there needs to be some audience participation. I get chosen to come up on stage and put my forearms through holes at the back shoulder seams of a jacket - becoming Lester's arms (yes, that would be the dummy). I had to do the usual crazy arm motions that would accompany this kind of schtick. It was pretty fun actually, and after the show people came up to me, asking if I was a 'plant'. I guess I'm just THAT talented, BWAHAHAHA! I'm sure you can look them up on-line to see if there is any familiarity, or to see how normal my hands would look at the end of Lester's sleeves! I think Tiny Kona would have done an excellent job had she been available. Oh, and just for your amusement, the photo I TRIED to take was Willie holding Lester and Lester holding TK, like she was HIS dummy. Too bad the picture didn't turn out because the premise was funny...

TINY KONA'S TRUISM of the DAY... They were called the 'UNEXPECTED BOYS' (you twit)

Towel Animals

I'm thinking this is a rabbit...

A hanging monkey

Aw, Dumbo...

A stingray!

Our cabin stewards are so good at making animals out of towels. I think they are pretty talented, as you can see from these examples.

TINY KONA'S TRUISM of the Day...It's fun to have someone to talk to-on my level.

Marty and Bobbi Mohan-Culp

On the Amsterdam, they are called 'The Peacefulls'. They are so far from being peaceful I am mostly suicidal when I hear them. It's SO ironic that these two wannabes are on this ship, that is just dripping with talented musicians. That's all I'm gonna say about that.

Even more pix/kind of random

This is one reason this place is called 'The Rocks'. This is a stairway between buildings, cut right through the rock with roots from a tree growing right in it.

Looking up the stairway/walkway

What a cool bridge. I learned a lot about it, but won't bore you with too many deatails...

A tunnel carved right through the the 'Rocks'.

More photos of the area we visited - the Blue Mountains. This was the steep railway that goes down to the old mines and a rainforest. It was very very steep, even before it starts.

This sign says it all. Don't worry TK, I won't let you lose any limbs!

Looks like a roller coaster from this angle!

Here's the proof. It's one steep railway!

This is one of the old wooden cars they saved when it was renovated in the 1970's.

I say BONDI beach is pretty nice, what do YOU think?

Not too warm out there today...

My bruddah*licious friend, Jonny.

It's a JELLY! No worries, the stingers were out of commission.

Cheerleaders practicing their lifts on the nice sand. I was hoping they wouldn't drop each other.

This is the view from our cabin window. Priceless, I would say! A view of the Opera House

Just as we were getting ready to sail from our berth in Sydney Harbor, the sun was starting to set, making the tiles on the Opera House seem to glow!

Another angle. I walked around the whole (amazing) structure as well as running up and down all those steps! ( I had the theme from Rocky playing over and over in my head!)

I found a little nook I could reach. This is what the roof is made up of. The whole thing is over a million tiles. Pretty amazing. Oh, and some trivia - if all the pieces of the roof were put together, it would form a perfect circle. Another thing is that it weighs more than the bridge, by about 2 1/2 times!

The bridge climb gang, right before our group hug. Some were excited, others aprehensive and even others were wondering what was up with this American chick and her doll...

Craig, our Bridge climb guru extrodanaire. He was a lot of fun, knew his work and had that Aussie accent that Tiny Kona would have enjoyed listening to, if she hadn't been banished to the locker while I did all the work climbing that giant man-made apparatus!

Ticket, TK and the clock showing our 'time' for the climb.

Craig decided to be on here twice. Seriously, sometimes this blog puts the pictures on here twice and darned if I know how to delete the repeats! Well, Craig deserves to photos, he was awesome!

The German fellows, lockers are on the left. Nice jumpsuits, guys.

Window on side of cottage. Tiny Kona reading the plaque about 'Cadman's cottage'.

Cadman's cottage, built in 1816. When we walked out of the cruise ship terminal, this was right across the street. This area is know as 'The Rocks', as mentioned before. There is a lot of history about this little place. It's one old building for Australia.

Tour bus driver and guide on our BLUE MOUNTAIN excursion. They were great! Notice the bridge in the background.

This is the little artsy town we had lunch in, called Leura, near the Blue Mountains.

Hobart, Tasmania

Orphan baby Joey eyeing Tiny Kona's long flowing hair...

Such a quaint little place. It reminded me of places I went in England.

This guy sells yummy chocolates and we also got some meat pies for lunch. And don't forget the

Timtams. (look it up)

could these flowers be any prettier?

(Out of order, as per usual...) The view as we floated away from Hobart.

Namesake of Battery Point. A story of sailors and protecting the land, blah, blah, blah...
A cool sailboat in the harbor. I wish I could have booked a weekend tour on this ship- how fun would that be?!

Loving the old buildings and their detail.

Looking up one of the streets in Battery Point

Lots of English looking gardens with old buildings restored and made into bed and breakfasts.





What do YOU think when someone mentions Tasmania? Maybe a remote island off the coast of Australia? How about a desolate place where a few rough people and a lot of tasmanian devils live. Maybe you even thought it was kind of deserty or lacked our modern conveniences.

Well kids, let me tell you about Hobart, Tasmania. This port was such a pleasant surprise, I serioulsy can't even phathom my previous notion of this Island state of Australia. First of all, the Aussies call it 'Tassie' (pronounced tazzy-and they call Brisbane, Brissy (brizzy), Christmas is called 'Chrissy' - these guys like their nicknames). Anyway, I digress...

So we dock in the harbor and head out to explore the city. We take a shuttle from the ship, basically just around the corner, to the 'iSite', where there are people selling tours and giving tourist and general information.There was a gal there holding a four month old orphaned joey, in a pouch on her chest. He was so cute!

We signed up for a double-decker bus tour, which took us around to sights throughout the city. I took a picture, but not sure what happened to it. It was fun sitting on the top, however, picture taking wasn't that easy...

We hopped off at an area called 'Battery Point'. It was SO quaint and charming and BRITISH! The British influence is very strong here. I enjoyed the shops, buildings, parks, houses and gardens. Hopefully the photos give you a feel of this charming city - not what I expected at all!

TINY KONA'S TRUISM of the Day... Tasmanian Devils have given the island of Tasmania a bad rap