Ordered Ashore From Golden Princess

[VK3DQ]

Hot in your part of the woods. Only got to 34 here but no change expected till Sunday. We have the advantage of cooler nights. I remember the heat from when we lived in Melb 30+yrs ago.

The sounds are fabulous to sail through. We did them on Solstice a few years back. Sailed into Milford just on sunrise - spectacular.

Waiting for the fireworks here as we have a view across to where they will be.

 

Yes we did the trip on the Solstice for the last two cruises through the sounds , she is a nice ship too.. I think the food perhaps was a little better on the Solstice but the Golden Princess I thought was a very comfortable ship

 

A slight change of the menu .. we just had the Lobsters with whole mushrooms and grapes in a sauce of extra virgin olive oil Garlic butter , cream Sav Blanc --reduced and then finished with Salt freshly ground Pepper and then just a small measure of Johnny Walker in the sauce

 

 

The Babysitter scoffed the lot in about 30 seconds

 

Hmmm yummy ....I think he took a photo of the pan before I served it.

 

Regards

John

 

Ice cream for afters ...

[jannandjohn]

had the Lobsters in a sauce of extra virgin olive oil Garlic butter , cream Sav Blanc --then just a small measure of Johnny Walker in the sauce

scoffed the lot in about 30 seconds

Ice cream for afters ...

 

Hmmm......its all starting to fall into place why you ended up in hospital... .:rolleyes::D

[VK3DQ]

Hi Tara Jane

 

I just wanted to know if my menu was better than a TV dinner? Huge Grin :D

 

Regards

John

[VK3DQ]

Hmmm......its all starting to fall into place why you ended up in hospital... .:rolleyes::D

 

Thats a bit harsh ......

 

it was only a very modest sized portion

 

:p

 

regards

John

 

But I do like to cook , I do most of the cooking in our household and the VIP and Elsie are fighting fit

 

Drat

 

:cool:

[VK3DQ]

Marine Traffic tracker has Golden Princess at 2 Knots I hope thats and error

 

 

http://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home/shipid:370984/zoom:10

 

Regards

John

 

Oh thats better 19.8Knots now

Edited December 31, 2015 by VK3DQ

[VK3DQ]

Happy New Year .. New Zealand

 

Happy New Year Golden Princess

 

 

Regards

John:D

[Beanb41]

Happy New Year .. New Zealand

 

Happy New Year Golden Princess

 

 

Regards

John:D

 

Happy New Year back at ya John. Fireworks have been going off all around the country. Hope 2016 brings at better start for you than 2015 ended.

 

Regards

Mike

[Tara Jane]

VK3DQ

 

To answer your question, I think I would actually prefer a TV dinner.

You see I don't like lobster or mushroom nor do I drink alcohol.

But ice - cream now you are talking!!!!!

 

Glad you are able to have a laugh at your situation, always someone worse off!!!!

[VK3DQ]

VK3DQ

 

To answer your question, I think I would actually prefer a TV dinner.

You see I don't like lobster or mushroom nor do I drink alcohol.

But ice - cream now you are talking!!!!!

 

Glad you are able to have a laugh at your situation, always someone worse off!!!!

 

Oh dear ,,, what can I cook for you Tara Jane ??? ice cream would be hard because you would have to fight the babysitter for your fair share :D

 

I wonder if we can tempt you with a coffee flavored creme breulee (spell)

 

hmmm or a Ginger Sorbet ???

 

 

Or even the new English national dish .. Chicken Tikka Masala :eek:

 

 

You see I am willing to try hard to fnd a way to atone for my sins :p

 

 

Happy New year

 

John

[Tara Jane]

yes the coffee flavoured creme bruelee sounds just perfect for me.

I'll be there about 9.30 am that ok????;)

you are only 15 mins max from where I live so a trip to Scoresby would be just fine.

Put the kettle on!!!!! oooops i mean the aldi coffee maker no 6 valetta is my favourite ;)

Edited December 31, 2015 by Tara Jane

[VK3DQ]

yes the coffee flavoured creme bruelee sounds just perfect for me.

I'll be there about 9.30 am that ok????;)

you are only 15 mins max from where I live so a trip to Scoresby would be just fine.

Put the kettle on!!!!! oooops i mean the aldi coffee maker no 6 valetta is my favourite ;)

 

yes!! We have the number 6 in Stock.......

 

 

The custards might have to wait a little longer , but the is always coffee on the go here...

 

Mrs VK3VIP and the Babsitter Steve VK3VM and Mrs Babysitter Donna VK3FRET and myself are all Radio amateur operators and my house is known as the Duck Pond , people just seem to flock here for coffee

 

 

Best Regards

 

John

 

PS Mrs VIP will be home on Sunday we have been married for 48 years , this is the longest time I have been away from her in all those years,,,, I do miss her ,,,,,Dont tell her I said that :o

[Hawka]

Happy new year

[VK3DQ]

Happy new year

 

And thanks for the pleasure of your company here over the last few days... here we are wide awake .. managed 3 hours sleep.....

 

 

Oh well ........ :D:eek:

 

Regards

John

 

Golden Princess is heading home at about 20Knots and doing well in calm seas weather wise its been a great trip for her

Edited December 31, 2015 by VK3DQ

[Tara Jane]

What a lovely thing to say about your wife. Is your name related to the amateur radio hobbie?

I do hope one day I get to cruise with you and Mrs VIP the baby sitter and his VIP You sound like fun people.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the princess and insurance saga.

Happy New Year, i am off to bed, celebrating all done and dusted. ie the celebrating was me watching the tv and hubby snoring on the seat beside me.

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Happy New Year to you John and your lovely wife Mrs VIP. She will be very proud of you.:)

 

We will be in Melbourne next week to board the Golden. Can you please keep the temperature down a bit, as last time we were there it was 42 in the shade.

Edited December 31, 2015 by KiwiFunCruiser
spelling

[VK3DQ]

What a lovely thing to say about your wife. Is your name related to the amateur radio hobbie?

I do hope one day I get to cruise with you and Mrs VIP the baby sitter and his VIP You sound like fun people.

Thanks for keeping us up to date on the princess and insurance saga.

Happy New Year, i am off to bed, celebrating all done and dusted. ie the celebrating was me watching the tv and hubby snoring on the seat beside me.

 

Hi Tara Jane

 

 

Yes our screen names are our amateur radio callsigns .. we all have to have licenses and take exams to qualify to hold them

 

 

VK = Australia

3 = Victoria

DQ= Me

 

For My Wife Jean

 

VK= Australia

3 =Victoria

VIP = Jean

 

Hence VK3VIP but known as Mrs VIP :p

 

The Babsitter Steve is VK3VM

 

His Wife Donna Mrs Babysitter holds what we call a foundation license , there are three grades of amateur license in Australia

 

Foundation

Standard

Advanced

 

As you lean more and pass the required exams your grade of license progresses

 

 

The Babsitter and I hold Advanced Licences

My Wife holds a Standard License and is the Former past president of the Australian Ladies Amateur Association ALARA

 

See http://www.alara.org.au

 

Mrs Babysitter Donna Holds the entry level Foundation license

 

You can find out more about amateur radio in Australia at http://www.wia.org.au

I'm also a licensed examiner IE I conduct exams on behalf of the ACMA (Government) to allow people to become licensed (I dont get paid for that!)

 

Regards

John

[VK3DQ]

Happy New Year to you John and your lovely wife Mrs VIP. She will be very proud of you.:)

 

We will be in Melbourne next week to board the Golden. Can you please keep the temperature down a bit, as last time we were there it was 42 in the shade.

 

Hi,

\

Well I will try its no fun at 40oc for anyone , and you will like Golden Princess .. She is a nice comfortable ship.

 

There are some very nice features in her design that in some ways made me prefer her over the Solstice, my brief impressions were that the food was perhaps not quite as good as that on Celebrity and a few things were not quite as well thought out .. but this is not a "Bad" ship and the staff on board were mainly very nice.

 

And when I am well enough we may give her another try , but until I am well it would be foolish to go again on any cruise

 

Regards

John

Edited December 31, 2015 by VK3DQ

[VK3DQ]

Hi Folks

 

As you may recall I had just slunk onto the bus and was trying to hide whilst licking my wounds and feeling very sorry for myself

 

 

So more and more people get on board this is a large capacity bus I think well over 70 persons

 

With much instruction from the driver his assistant Joe stows away all the luggage you cannot take ANY bags on board there is no storage inside the bus for even a quite small carry on bag

 

The driver followed by Joe climb on board from the front passenger side door and the engine is started , now we seem to have a problem as the rear door is still open ... "Joe The Door" is the cry so Joe clambers down and attempts to close the rear door ... not a chance so the driver climbs down and both he and Joe give the door a shove , not a chance that thing is not going to close :p

 

so whilst the driver pushes various button on the door control panel Joe proceeds to wrestle with the door . he is loosing the fight when a loud blast of compressed air is heard and the door closes like a well oiled machine

 

This process has taken about 15 mins so we are about 90 mins behind scheduled departure time

 

So The Driver and Joe climb on board the front door is shut , Joe puts on his Ipod and Headphones and The Driver explains that we will be two hours late arriving in Auckland....

 

Off we go in a blast of diesel , its now getting to be a nice day , the sun is up and getting warm inside the bus.

Glory be !! The driver turns on the aircon and it works all be it with a nice sent of diesel wafted through the cabin.

 

So off we go around the town first picking up more passengers as we go.

 

 

The Driver is a very large man , the drivers seat in the bus is quite small he is at least 3 times as wide as the seat .. he is very polite , I have noticed how nicely he spoke.

 

 

So here we trundle up hill and down dale through some delightful country ...

 

Me I curl up and try not to think of anything ...my stomach churns my back and side hurt and every little bump is hell .....:eek:

 

 

To be continued .. to come a desperate dash for ......

 

 

Regards

 

John

[jannandjohn]

Hi Folks

 

The driver followed by Joe climb on board from the front passenger side door and the engine is started ,

 

now we seem to have a problem as the rear door is still open ...

 

To be continued .. to come a desperate dash for ......

Regards

John

 

 

FINISH THE BLOODY STORY.....THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME:p

 

 

 

..

Edited December 31, 2015 by jannandjohn

[VK3DQ]

 

FINISH THE BLOODY STORY.....THE SUSPENSE IS KILLING ME:p

 

 

 

..

 

You know what that would and saved a great deal of heartache in my case .. but you will have to wait a little longer, whats going on upstairs , I'm sitting at the rear of the downstairs , hoping to hell that no one will sit next to me

 

But the the driver turns on a studies intently a video screen displaying the top deck ....

 

 

regards

 

John

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Just checked the bridge cam and it looks like the Tasman is being kind to them.....smooth seas...:):)

 

 

[VK3DQ]

Hi

 

Ok ..lets see

 

The driver pulls over and stops the bus .. we are in the middle of nowhere , he studies the screen displaying the upper deck , which is populated mainly with young backpackers .. well the all look young to me , mind you even policemen look young to me these days.

 

There is a muttered conversation between the driver and Joe and they some rapid fire announcement over the PA system, which i interpreted to mean "The Bus is not moving until you put your clothes back on"

 

A lot of scraping sound from the upper deck and finally we are on the way again but the display of the upper deck remains on

 

 

Ok now I have been on the bus for a couple of hours and have been up and about for about four hours , nature is beginning to protest , a pit stop is needed.

 

most of the stops along the way have been very brief but to my profound Joy we pull into a large parking area right next to a set of public toilets, dashing off the bus and requesting a surprised Joe for a couple of minutes indulgence I broke my speed record and went through that door like a bolt of lightning ... BOTH STALLS are BLOODYWELL ENGAGED!!!!!

 

:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

 

I wrestled with the idea of breaking the door down but just in time a gent emerged and I was in there like a rabbit down a hole..

 

 

Emerging about 5 mins later (somethings you cannot hurry) I was greeted by a smiling Joe .. who was having a great day :D

 

 

So back on board for another 20 mins when we stop for a 20 min Toilet break in the pretty little town of Thames

 

I did not care to get off the bus .. much to Joes amusement

 

To Come .. we depart for Auckland just 140Km to go.....

 

 

regards

 

John

[VK3DQ]

Just checked the bridge cam and it looks like the Tasman is being kind to them.....smooth seas...:):)

 

 

 

Yes I've been watching and Marine Tracker has them moving along at around 20 Knots well out into the Tasman sea or is it the Northern Part of the Southern Ocean

 

Regards

John

[KiwiFunCruiser]

Hi,

\

Well I will try its no fun at 40oc for anyone , and you will like Golden Princess .. She is a nice comfortable ship.

 

There are some very nice features in her design that in some ways made me prefer her over the Solstice, my brief impressions were that the food was perhaps not quite as good as that on Celebrity and a few things were not quite as well thought out .. but this is not a "Bad" ship and the staff on board were mainly very nice.

 

And when I am well enough we may give her another try , but until I am well it would be foolish to go again on any cruise

 

Regards

John

 

Thank's John, I hope you do get well soon and have another cruise.:)

[NSWP]

Hmmm......its all starting to fall into place why you ended up in hospital... .:rolleyes::D

Indeed, John was Horizontal in the Horizon Court, devouring at high speed.

 

And what no WC on the bus? Ye Gods and you should have been upstairs for the backpacker floor show.

 

Now to the serious business..I nominate John and his story for the PURLITZER PRIZE !!

 

What an epic story.

Edited January 1, 2016 by NSWP