I have been travelling again. :-) - Rhapsody of the Seas

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Thanks for all the lovely visits and comments over the last couple of weeks.  So glad to see my scheduled posts worked.  Yes, my husband and I have been travelling.  This time a very flash way to celebrate my birthday back on the 21st (Thanks to my hubby for organising this :-).  We cruised (Rhapsody of the Seas) from Sydney to Lifou - Loyalty Island, Luganville - Vanuatu, Vila - Vanuatu and Champagne Bay - Vanuatu.  The photo above is the view of the harbour bridge as we departed Sydney.  The weather was awesome.

The Opera House and one of the the many ferries busily taking people back and forwards across the harbour.

Every couple of nights we had a wonderful towel animal to greet us in our room as we returned from tea.  We were lucky enough to have a terrific man Putu looking after us and kept our room so neat and always had a wonderful smile and hello when we saw him.  I have since learnt that Putu is actually a Balinese name given to the first born of a family.  So my husband and I would also be Putu.  This what else I discovered through Wikipedia -  The Balinese name is a naming system used by the Balinese people of Bali, Indonesia and the western parts of neighboring island of Lombok, Indonesia. They only use 4 names. Since most Balinese are Hindus, most names areSanskrit, while others still use native Balinese one. Regardless of being male or female, each person receives one of four names based on birth order.The firstborn is "Wayan" or "Gede" or "Putu", second is "Made" or "Kadek", third is "Nyoman" or "Komang" (Man or Mang for short), and fourth is "Ketut" (often elided to Tut). 

So the Putu we met does go by another name - Indra and it was a pleasure to meet him.

This photo was taken at the end of day at Champagne day when the tenders were doing their final run back to the ship.  Our last shore day also.  This place is so beautiful and wonderful snorkelling.

The towel monkey that greeted us one night.

This was a cake decorating competition held in the Centrum area of the ship.  The three competitors were from the the top….the Captain of the ship, the head chef and the head person to order all the food on board.  A theme was drawn out of a bucket by a guest…..which was Airplane.  The chef in the middle clearly understood the theme.  The guy to the right apparently created the 'Vulcan' and the ships captain appears to have only one thing on his mind….. he created a ship. :-)  It was a lot of fun to watch.  

This is the view at 5.30am as we returned into Sydney Harbour.

If you squint and turn your head sideways this is the Sydney Opera House around 6am on our return.  All of the above photos were taken on my phone and no I didn't take a lot as…...

I felt my husband had that under control. :-)  A digital camera in one hand and a go pro in the other. Yes, he has some wonderful photos that I will share with you over the up and coming weeks.  When we are all sorted.  We had a wonderful time and met so many terrific people and would highly recommend this cruise to anyone. (all age groups).

Off to catch up.  :-)