Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji

 On October 31st, 2026, Ron and I will travel with our friends Lisa and Chris, from Mississauga, to these three countries, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. We will be away until December 11th, so 41 days in total. We have been planning since January of this year meeting on zoom chats for many Sunday evenings, planning every detail: where to stay, how many days, what to visit, etc. 

October 31st. Happy Halloween! All packed and ready to hit the road, the airport. Our flight leaves at 1:15 with Porter airlines to Vancouver, then an overnight flight to Nadi, Fiji, and finally arriving in Sydney around noon hour on November 2nd. I understand that we will be tired with the long flights and the time change but hoping to sleep on the plane, at least for a few hours. Here we go. Uber coming in 15 minutes. 

November 2nd. Well, we lost November 1st. We had a 7 hour layover in Vancouver and 3.5 hours in Fiji. We landed in Sydney before 1 pm. We picked up our car rental and headed towards our airbnb stopping to buy groceries and alcohol. 

Tuesday, November 3rd. We had a full day in Sydney. We decided to take the train instead of driving as it was much easier. Train ride was just over 1 hour. Payment is so easy. You just tap and go. 

We decided to go directly to Bondi beach first. So after getting off the train in Bondi Junction we walked 20 minutes to our destination. 

Lots of people walking, running, sun bathing, and surfing.  We decided to walk the coastal route for a few kms. They had an art exhibition along the rocks. It was cool.

After our walk, we decided to go put our toes in the water. Ron and I were posing for Chris to take the picture just as a rogue wave caught us off guard. It was a good laugh. We then walked the beach from end to end. It's really not that long.  People were swimming in what we considered quite cool water. 

We continued our walk along the beach and decided to get a cold drink. You definitely pay for the view here $16 a beer. Ouch!

We then hopped on the 333 bus to downtown where we got off at Hyde Park. At one end sits the St Mary's Cathedral. A massive, beautiful. Church. Free entrance as well. 

We continue on to The Botanical Gardens. Wow! The trees are incredible. There are different kinds of Palm trees, Banyan trees, some Pines, etc. 

At the end of the Gardens, you arrive at the Opera House. We walked up the steps to get a closer look but we didn't have a booked tour to go inside. Took pictures of the Harbour Bridge which is right by the Opera House. 

We walked in the Rocks section of downtown. This is the old Sydney. There were people all dressed up and partying everywhere. Women wore hats and dresses, men wore suits. We found out that this happens every Tuesday for the Melbourne Cup, a horse race. 

We had supper at a Thai place. It had good reviews but we thought that it was just ok. 

We then decided to head back as the time change was catching up to us. It was a little shorter return. We were all in bed between 9:15-10:00.

Wednesday, November 4. We are heading to downtown Sydney on the 8:00 train as we have a morning walking tour for 2.5 hours. 

Our guide, Lily, met us in Hyde park at the Archibald fountain. We had booked the "Sydney historical walking tour including the Rocks". Lily was very knowledgeable and fun. We walked to many historical sites and monuments and she would describe everything. We were encouraged to ask as many questions as we wanted. She explained that most of the museum, art galleries, etc are free and she told us which ones we should not miss. 

After the tour we sat by the water and at our home made sandwiches. Chris wasn't feeling well so he headed back to the train station to go home and the e of us headed to the bridge to walk across. We did not walk up the bridge as it did appeal to us in two ways, the fear of heights and the cost, $300+.

Sunday, May 19- Copenhagen

We have breakfast at 8 and the servers are rushing us as they want everyone out by 8:30. The cruise is over but not our stay. We spend the day in Copenhagen. We grab a taxi once out on the dock. It takes us directly to our hotel, the Absalon or Annex. I'd contacted the hotel earlier to confirm that we could drop off our luggage. We are sent to a luggage room and then we sit in the lobby for a bit to catch up on emails and messages. Afterwards, we are walking again to visit the Rosenborg Palace. It is still as it was in the 1600's. We figure that we should see at least one of the three palaces in town. It's a beautiful sunny, warm day. The taxi driver tells us that there is a marathon in town. Thank goodness we are early as roads are starting to get closed off. By the time we arrive at the Rosenborg Palace it is 11:15. We go to buy tickets and we are told that we will need to place our bags (purses and backpacks) in lockers. Also, our entry time is 12:00. We therefore have 45 minutes to walk around the gardens.

Arriving at the Palace

The moat around the Palace

Guards

Hans Christian Andersen

Other view of the Palace

The gardens

The visit is in two sections. We visit the rooms which are on two storeys, then we walk outside to go down to the basement to see the Crown Jewels.

Beautiful clock

Toilet

All rooms in the first and second floors

Stairs to the basement

The crowns..

Don't imagine that the wine in those bottles would be good to drink. A little too vintage..

Amazing jewels and accessories

We continue walking and the marathon is going on just behind the palace. 

Our walk takes us to Stroget St where it's pedestrians only and shopping.

Eating a gelato

We return to our hotel around 2:30 or so. We can now check in, so we do that. We find out that we have shared bathroom and shower. Not the greatest set up. I missed that when I booked. We are on the 2nd floor and there are elevators. Our room has 4 single beds. If there is any snoring, we will all be hearing it tonight. Ha. There are 3-4 bathrooms and 3-4 separate showers, so it should be fine. 

Shirley and I want to walk another 30 minutes or so to see Christianhavn. It is a part of Copenhagen where the supposed "Hippies" live. They sell and smoke marijuana openly even though it is illegal in this country. The people there want to live as in a commune under their own rules. We heard that they do get raided by the police once in a while.  

On our walk we see young boys jumping in the water. It is warm but I can't believe that the water would be very warm.

Lots of cyclists

As we approach Christianhavn we see a lot of grafitti

Nice painted building on our way in.

Vendors selling tie dye clothing, jewelry, pot, and other paraphernalia. This was the last picture that I took as I was told that taking photos was prohibited. We walk through and stay for 15 minutes or so. Off now to discover more. 

Tour boat

Nice garden area near a library

Library

Cow outside our hotel

After we return we decide to have a beer in the lobby. There is a bar there. Shirley, Barb, and I enjoy a refreshing draught. We ask the bartender if he can suggest a good Thai restaurant. He confirms that the one near the hotel has a good reputation. We walk two minutes to find the eatery.

Rice and Spring roll

Very colourful and yummy dishes

More yumminess

The restaurants really hit the tourists hard. We had tap water but were charged $3 each for our glasses. Also, they add a 25% tax. The waiter said that it was VAT and that we could get refunded at the airport. You need a lot of receipts to make VAT worthwhile. Back in our rooms at 8:15. Internet access is only working in the lobby so I go down to contact Ron. The others take showers and start getting ready for bed. I take my shower on my return and lights are out around 9:30. 

Our night was a bit noisy to begin with as we had to keep the windows open because of the heat. At that time of night there are people walking around. Also, at least one person in the room snores while sleeping, so without earplugs, sleeping comes and goes. We are awake around 6:30 and downstairs an hour later. We use the Internet and get a cab at 8:30. It takes about 25 minutes or so to arrive at the airport. We check in using the machine and are able to send our bags. Now to find a little breakfast and find a comfortable place to sit. 

Saturday, May 18- At Sea

We are sailing back to Copenhagen. We have had great weather all week. Today it is very foggy, but it doesn't matter.. We can stay in all day as there are a lot of activities going on.
I get up at 6:30 and go for my last workout. The fog is thickening as time goes by. When I finish an hour later you can barely see the water outside. This is a drag as Shirley and I had thought of going to play pickleball today. It is played outdoors and it is the only day that we have seen it as an activity.
After showering we start to pack a bit. Barb, Nancy, and I go for breakfast. Shirley still feels full after last night's dinner. I'm also not ravenous so I have fruits mixed with cottage cheese and walnuts. Barb and Nancy have French toasts. We return to our rooms around 9am. We pack a bit more then go to morning trivia at 10:00. We score 12/20, not close at all to winning.. There's not too much to do this morning with Pickleball being cancelled so we all go to an art session at 11. They are serving Mimosas, but we pass. Shirley and I leave early to go grab a bite in the buffet. At noon we return to the art auction. There are pieces by Peter Max valued at over $23,000. No one is bitting at those paintings, but they are buying lots of others.

Getting ready for trivia

Two Peter Max little doggies

I leave the art show to see the jive dancing lessons. It's a small dancing area and I don't have a partner so I watch. I return to hear who won the contest on guessing the weight of the cat. One person had an amazingly close guess. We return to listen to some raggae at the Centrum but it's too slow to dance to. Shirley and I decide to go see a movie but the cinema is full so off to the Tropical Theather to watch the Love and Mariage game. We find it quite lame, so we leave. 

Barb brought a bottle of wine on board so being the last night, we have to drink it. We each have a glass in our rooms and relax for a few hours. Our reservations are at six once again tonight. We see that all of the tables are full tonight so Ian and Reggie are busier than usual. 

Yummy salad

Coconut shrimp

Lamb

Indian meal

Turkey dinner

Lamb, again

Shirley's dessert

Pavlova, Barb's dessert

The dinner gang

Entertainment in the Tropical Theater. Two people using their hands and a few props depending on the person or animal

Jerry Lee Lewis

Louis Armstrong

There were so many of these. It was so impressive.

After this show we make our way to the Safari Club to play a visual movie game. They place a picture of an actor/actress and we need to name the person and the film. It's hard. We get 26/40 pts. And for the last time, we go to the Centrum to listen to the cruise orchestra as they are playing some Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Glen Miller tunes. We are back in our rooms at 10:15. Sunset is at 10:20 tonight. Still quite light outside. There's still lingering fog so the sunset is not as clear as it has been. Clocks go back tonight, so gaining some sleep time. Shirley and I watch a movie for about 30-40 minutes. We are packed and ready to leave after breakfast in the morning.

Last sunsets with lingering fog.