Tell us about your Holiday plans

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Daffy »

Just back from the first holiday in (cough) I can't remember how long... So here's a picture for Stan, my fellow tea drinker...
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Somewhat unconventional holiday snapshot Jane, but I hope you had a lovely time.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Grobi »

Booked my first cruise ever for Easter next year (does that mean I'm getting old? :lol: ). It's a cruise operated by windstar cruises, they use rather small ships. We are on the "Star Legend":
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For those interested, some technical data:

length: 134m (440ft)
draft: 5m (16.5ft)
beam: 19m (63ft)
cruising speed: 15knots
guests: 212
crew: 145

The itinerary is as follows:

Apr 9 Sat Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain
Apr 10 San Sebastian de la Gomera, Spain
Apr 11 Las Palmas, Spain
Apr 12 Lanzarote, Spain
Apr 13 Agadir, Morocco
Apr 14 At Sea
Apr 15 Casablanca, Morocco
Apr 16 At Sea
Apr 17 Lisbon, Portugal
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Really looking forward to this one (I only hope I won't get sea sick on this small ship :shock: )
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Sounds and looks great Peter. I hope you have a wonderful time.

Those of you who have seen me in action at a barbecue will know why I will never go on a cruise. Set me loose on a buffet for a week or more and you would need a crane to unload me from the ship! :lol:
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by webberg »

Looks very nice.

I'm coming under pressure from Mrs webberg to go on a whale watching or Northern lights cruise. Would like to go but don't have time just at the moment.

I'd be with Paul I think, unlimited food, limited space to move around = 10 kgs minimum
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by plummy »

There's nothing wrong with going on a cruise Mr Weiss!! I can assure you that youngsters like me do it regularly :D

That said I'm not sure that little tug boat counts as a cruise ship :wink:

I've also just booked a cruise for next year visiting the Norwegian Fjords (Flam, Bergen Stavanger and somewhere else I can't pronounce) on this (which IS a cruise ship) :wink: :wink:
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Peter_S »

Peter, do not listen to David. He likes megaships, and does not understand small yachts.

We sailed on the Legend with Seabourn last December; see post at the top of page 11.

You will have a great time! The more personal service on a smaller ship cannot be believed until experienced.

We will be on a slightly larger Seabourn ship later this week.
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Grobi »

Paul, Graham, I'm concerned about the weight issue too, especially as I read that their food is excellent. They seem to have a small gym though, so hopefully that will save me.

Dave your cruise sounds interesting too. Do they give you a little sat nav device on these giant ships so you won't get lost? :lol:

Peter and Ann, have a great trip! Can't wait to read your report! :fswink:
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by plummy »

Grobi wrote: Dave your cruise sounds interesting too. Do they give you a little sat nav device on these giant ships so you won't get lost? :lol:
No need these days. Most large cruise ships are laid in a similar manner. Within 1~2 days you know where everything is (unless you are Mrs P who will be comically heading in completely the wrong direction up until the moment she disembarks :lol: ). That said, she never has any difficulty in finding the on-board shops...hmmm
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Jennifer and I will be going to visit our daughter Elaine in New Zealand in January.

We are leaving Dublin on Wednesday, January 20th and will be spending two nights in Singapore before heading on to Auckland, where we will arrive on Sunday, January 24th. After two days in Auckland, we will be flying to the South Island, then travelling up the coast and flying back from Nelson to Auckland on Wednesday, February 10th. We'll be spending a few days in Ohakune with Elaine and her partner and then will have a week or so to ourselves before flying to Sydney where we will spending three days with one of my oldest friends. Then home to Dublin.

If anyone has any suggestions for things to do, places to see, please post them here. I'm hoping to have the occasional encounter with an erg along the way, but I expect I will have a lot of catching up to do after I get back. You can also expect to see a lot less of me on the forum for the 5 weeks or so that I will be away. :roll:

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Recess »

Has anyone got any recommendations for somewhere in Tenerife? Looking for an October break, and we've been looking at the Holiday Village or the Clubhotel riu buena vista. The former looks nice - even though there were loads of reports of food poisoning last summer(!!) but the Clubhotel says it has rowing machines!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Paul Victory wrote:Jennifer and I will be going to visit our daughter Elaine in New Zealand in January.

We are leaving Dublin on Wednesday, January 20th and will be spending two nights in Singapore before heading on to Auckland, where we will arrive on Sunday, January 24th. After two days in Auckland, we will be flying to the South Island, then travelling up the coast and flying back from Nelson to Auckland on Wednesday, February 10th. We'll be spending a few days in Ohakune with Elaine and her partner and then will have a week or so to ourselves before flying to Sydney where we will spending three days with one of my oldest friends. Then home to Dublin.

If anyone has any suggestions for things to do, places to see, please post them here. I'm hoping to have the occasional encounter with an erg along the way, but I expect I will have a lot of catching up to do after I get back. You can also expect to see a lot less of me on the forum for the 5 weeks or so that I will be away. :roll:

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Out taxi is arriving at 12:30 tomorrow, so this may be my last post on the forum for a while. I'm just over 10k short of 3 million meters for the season, which is a bit annoying, but other priorities are taking precedence for the next few weeks. Our schedule for New Zealand is pretty much finalised at this stage, but I'm still open to suggestions on anything unmissable.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Recess »

Sound amazing. Enjoy! (And find an erg somewhere...)
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Peter_S »

Have a great trip, Paul!

We loved New Zealand. Just enjoy.

Peter & Ann :fsbgrin:
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Thanks folks. Currently in Dublin Airport having a burger prior to the first leg of our flight. :mrgreen:
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by CamiCrew »

That came up fast, Paul -- meant to wish you a GREAT trip earlier and let you know you'll be missed here.

Have a wonderful time!
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Thanks folks. Currently in Changi Airport in Singapore waiting for our flight to Sydney with a connecting flight to Auckland three hours later.

Singapore is an amazing city, but very expensive (except for taxis, which are very reasonably priced). Cheapest bottle of wine in a restaurant is around €60 (S$95) and lunch for two today was around €95, without drinks. A glass of wine starts at around €13 and two Singapore Slings in Raffles Hotel cost around €50 (but well worth it for the experience!). Glad we were only here for two days or we'd have no money left for New Zealand. But Singapore is definitely worth a visit if you win the lottery (or have plenty of money to spare).

No erging since Tuesday and unlikely I'll get much done before month end, but I will try to do the IRL 1 minute challenge if I can find a gym somewhere and can do a session without messing up everyone else's plans.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Made it back in one piece (more or less).

Great experience and probably something we'll never get the chance to repeat (not to the same extent at any rate), but we should definitely be going back to NZ at least once as our daughter Elaine got engaged while we are over there and she wants to get married in New Zealand.

Managed to do a bit of the activity that we're not allowed to mention in this forum during the middle part of the holiday, but I then managed to injure my knee doing the Tongariro Alpine Crossing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tongariro_Alpine_Crossing last Friday week and it's still quite sore, so I have lots of catching up to do when I get the problem sorted. :roll: :evil: #-o

I've been travelling for the last 32 hours or so and only managed to doze off for about an hour or two, so any element of this post that sounds coherent is pure chance. I'm going to try to stay up for another 10 hours or so in order to get back onto GMT.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Draggon »

Paul Victory wrote:Made it back in one piece (more or less)....
I've been travelling for the last 32 hours or so and only managed to doze off for about an hour or two, so any element of this post that sounds coherent is pure chance.
:lol: :lol:

Welcome back, Paul - it sounds like a fantastic trip all in all. My wife and I would really like to visit NZ someday. I want to see the elves... ;)
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Wolfmiester »

Mrs Wolfie has convinced me that some winter/spring sunshine is a good idea.
So off to Abu Dhabi for 6 days tomorrow.
The golf clubs are packed in case I get bored ;-)
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by commodoreann »

Peter and I went to Iceland in February. It was a 6 day trip with day one in the air. We booked it with an agency we had used to go to the Canadian Rockies this past June. Our hotel was in the city center and all I can say is Iceland is a place one must visit. We went to the Blue Lagoon, took the Golden Circle tour where we were between the tectonic plates of North America and Eurasia and saw geysers and waterfalls and also saw a dress rehearsal of the Iceland Symphony in Harper, their beautiful music hall. We managed to see some Northern Lights and we ate the best fish I ever had. The rugged lava landscape is striking, and the wind blowing the snow is quite strong. The sun was not up for many hours but the city of Reykjavik is bustling and lively at anytime.
Future plans for us include California, Scotland on Scottish Rail and Cal-Mac ferries to taste as many distilleries as we can manage and Lisbon to Ft.Lauderdale on a transatlantic cruise.

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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Wolfmiester »

That sounds fantastic Anne (and Peter), thanks for the recommendation.
You were very brave to go in February!
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Wolfmiester »

Just got back from a two week trip to Borneo, Malaysia.
A fabulous country as it turns out.
Main reason was to see the Orang Utans (achieved). But also added to our schedule, by the travel agent, was a 2 day trip up and down Mt. Kinabalu, the spiritual center of Sabah (Malaysian state). At 4095m I should know its bloody high from my skiing experience, but oh dear I had no idea how much harder to breath and make small steps it would be! I recommend it, but not for the feint of heart!
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Paul Victory »

Sounds like a great trip Steve. Not sure I'd fancy that climb though!
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Re: Tell us about your Holiday plans

Post by Jill »

Not long back from a three week holiday in North America and Canada.

To begin with, spent 2 full days in Seattle - Barbara had recommended the Space Needle and the Glass Museum - the latter, housing the Dale Chihuly collection of glass sculptures. How to describe the fantastical shapes and exquisite colours … Wondrous. If anyone decides to do a Google search, my favourites were the boats.

Full day trip out to the Rainier Mountain - apparently, still an active volcano but not whilst we were there thank goodness. Loved the different forest walks.

Next stop, two days in Juneau, Alaska, where we took a cable car to the top of Mount Roberts and had a trip out to see the Mendenhall Glacier - first time for me seeing a glacier in the ‘ ice ‘ - in a weird sort of way it looked like polystyrene.

We then boarded a cruise ship, the Safari Endeavour ( 40 berth ) and spent the following seven days travelling from Juneau to Glacier Bay and back again.

It was such an enjoyable week - as the Endeavour was a smaller vessel, it was able to explore places that were inaccessible to its big sisters, the larger cruise ships.

There was a variety of activities to choose from: trips out in a zodiac/skiff, kayaking, paddle boarding, and shore and forest walks - in the evening, interesting and informative talks and slide shows.

Plenty of wildlife spotting of course: humpback whales, sea lions, sea otters, brown and black bears, mountain goats, baldheaded eagles and a variety of other birds.

And some more glaciers - the Margerie and the Grand Pacific.

The sea otters were very engaging animals - only ever seen them on wildlife programmes before - they mate for life and during the breeding season, when things are hotting up a bit, the male grabs his ladylove by the nose. :shock: Hmmm … Far more endearing, is their habit, when they are floating on their backs and asleep, of holding paws, so that they don’t float away from each other.

After having to contend with plenty of my ‘ you must be joking looks ‘, Richard persuaded me to try kayaking, although watching other passengers in their brightly coloured kayaks being launched out onto water that was as flat and calm as a mill pond was probably the clincher. It looked so tempting and I was tempted.

The instructor suggested that Richard would have more leg room if he sat in the front, which meant that Mrs Pugwash was left in charge of the steering at the back … not ideal, as it’s a sad fact that I don’t always know my left from my right …

“ Jill, turn right. “
“ Okay. “
“ Jill, are you sure that you’re turning right? “
“ Yes. “ :^o :lol:

We had a few similar conversations before I started to anticipate the direction we needed to be going in, which then gave me enough time to work out which pedal to use.

One short, sharp lesson when I lost concentration, ( too busy looking out for sea otters and jellyfish ) and let my left hand move too far along the paddle. Result. A sleeve full of water. :shock: Didn’t make that mistake again.

We probably spent about two hours on the water, following the instructor around some small islands and then back to the ship. Would be happy to do it again.

One afternoon, the ship stopped close to a large outcrop which was home to a colony of extremely vocal, male sea lions.

Apart from ourselves, all the other passengers were American and one man said to his wife, “ Listen to them all belching and bellowing. “

She replied, “ Yes, just like a frat house on a Saturday night! “ This caused a great deal of laughter. I think we understood what they meant. I think.

Travelling back to Juneau, we passed a much larger cruise liner going in the other direction. As she glided serenely by, there was much waving of passengers between the two ships. Big sister. Little sister. We watched her slowly ( strict speed limits because of the whales ) disappearing over the horizon, and then she was gone.

Once back in Juneau, we flew to Vancouver via Seattle where we spent a couple of days ( were there in 2013 ) before hiring a car and taking the ferry to Vancouver Island.

Two days exploring Victoria before moving onto Ucluelet with its black rocks and beautiful coastal walks - one afternoon spent at Tofino which was also on the coast and then finally two days at Parksville with its sandy and expansive beaches, before starting our journey back home.

Canada is vast and wonderful. The British Isles has its fair share of spectacular and diverse scenery. It’s just condensed into a much smaller space.

Happy holidays, ( either already taken or still to be taken ) everyone. :)
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