Jesse makes three...

Hello everyone,

I hinted in our last blog that we had some big news coming and now we get to let you in on our secret...

It all started years ago, I met a young man named Chris.  Chris loves dogs and cats but I had always vowed never to have one in the house.  Fast forward to two year ago when the Adopt a Greyhound pamphlet appeared on the fridge.  Every time I opened the door I got to look into those beautiful eyes.  I decreased my frequency of fridge opening (good for the health) but the pamphlet stayed.  Hints were dropped.  Our rental did not allow pets of any kind, that was a relief.  But then Chris started looking for a new place and one of his not so subtle criteria was that pets were allowed.

Fast forward again and we approach someone's 30th birthday (that person will remain anonymous but our loyal followers - our family - will know who it is).  Now I didn't know how to honour such an epic birthday but I thought about it.  I decided that if I was ever willing to waiver my strict no pet stance that this may be a good time.

My first instinct was to look into breeds we both liked (i.e. Vizsla, Rhodesian Ridgeback, etc.) but I quickly discovered that we neither have the massive backyard required for those breeds but we also don't have the lifestyle.  We needed a dog breed that was more suited to two adults with no active children tiring them out.  This brought me back to that ever present pamphlet on the fridge.  It made some compelling arguments towards Greyhounds.

Around this time Chris started showing me pictures and profiles of Greyhounds on TradeMe (NZ version of Ebay and Kijiji combined).  We noticed that Greyhounds as Pets adopted Greyhounds out directly from three kennels around NZ.  There was however another location and they were different.  They wrote and excellent blurb on each dog they had posted and they seemed to really get to know each and every Greyhound that passed through their doors.  This was Nightrave Greyhounds (http://www.nightrave.co.nz/) and we quickly realised that if I ever caved that we would want to adopt through them.

I spent the next few months learning everything I could about Greyhounds.  I researched everything, from recall training, to homemade pet food to how to transport a Greyhound from NZ to Canada.  I made a wonderful binder documenting all this.  I knew that I couldn't give Chris permission to get a dog for his birthday unless I knew I was willing to follow through with this.  I let the cat out of the bag...Chris is turning 30!

I went back and forth multiple times from yes I wanted one to wondering if I was losing my mind.  But eventually I decided that Chris and I were ready for a Greyt addition to the family.  I told Chris that for his birthday I was giving him permission to get a Greyhound.  It was over, I had said that magic words.  I knew my life was changed forever.

At this point we had started stalking Nightrave's Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NightraveGreyhounds/?fref=ts) and started to get to know them and their wonderful dogs.  I would check daily to see what pictures they had posted and which new dogs had come into their homes (sorry Fatima and Rachel, I never told you that).  We say beautiful Emma and handsome Harry.

We even went to the Auckland races to see the dogs in their 'natural habitat.' Those were some dogs that were happy to run I tell you.

We still had one last hurdle, we needed permission from our landlords to bring a dog into their home.  But after presenting some information on the breed they were willing and we were good to go.  At this point we started searching online for sales and what we could buy on TradeMe.  I quickly learned that getting a dog was expensive so having the luxury of time to help find deals was fantastic.  I think Chris waited all of ten minutes after receiving permission to email Nightrave and start the process in earnest.

We 'met' Fatima over the phone and described to her what we were like and what we would be looking for in a dog.  We would like a dog that we could go hiking with on weekends, take to a cafe or a farmers market, go on walks.  Basically we wanted the best dog in the world.  Fatima was fantastic and told us that she would mull things over and let us know when might work out for us to come down.  They are located in Fielding (6.5 hours drive from Auckland) which slightly complicated matters.  But we chose them because they foster all their dogs in their home as part of their family.  They also take the time to get to know each dog and ensure that they are matching their dogs to a good home that suits them(After meeting them in person, we know this to be 100% true because with approximately 15 dogs in the house, they named every one of them and told us their quirks).  And, as if those two reasons weren't worth a drive from Auckland, they are also dog trainers.  We were confident that any dog that they would foster would be amazing for us.

At this point, Chris became oddly silent around the house.  He was way calmer than me.  I think he was thinking that it was too good to be true.  That I would freak out and change my mind.  I will admit I had my moments.  Chris would find me lying on the carpet because I felt it was the last time I would ever have a clean one.  I know, I went off the deep end.  But I knew that once the dog and I had both settled in that I would love him/her forever.  I let myself get excited, why not? It was happening anyway.  I started looking up Greyhound fashion (tons on that subject, what a docile willing dog breed!) and ways to make the dog fit into our home in a way that I wouldn't mind.  This meant getting things ready REALLY early and then waiting for word from Fatima.  Chris kept telling to to slow down but once my heart was in it there was no going back for me.  I would be ready.

Chris decided with Fatima that November 19th would be a good day to head down.  We left on Friday after work and after taking one wrong turn (thank you Chris for thinking a GPS replaces a navigator, it does not) and ending up in Wanganui we arrived in Feilding.  I didn't sleep much that night because I knew that in the morning we would be meeting our newest family member.  I had prepared myself by watching video blogs on how other people had adopted Greyhounds.  That didn't help.  There is such a thing as being too prepared.  It means that you spend a lot of time looking things up and it doesn't help a bit.  Sometimes it hinders but in this case it just didn't add value.

On Saturday morning we met Fatima and Rachel (and Harry, Martin, Bert, Emma and Jesse).  Wow, I knew this was going to be difficult.  We met the dogs, took four of them for a walk.  Rachel and Fatima were fabulous and spent so much time with us telling us about each dog and about training and the breed in general.  We narrowed it down to Emma or Jesse (but for the next 3 hours all I could think about was Bert and if we had eliminated him unfairly, after all I have always loved black dogs most).  We went to the pub to mull things over.  I made it 1/4 way through my cider, spilled it all over myself, it was embarrassing.

Fatima and Rachel brought Emma and Jesse to meet us in town for another walk.  We walked the dogs around while trying to finalise our decision.  Other than moving to NZ I can not think of a harder one.  When you have a kid you get the one you get and don't have to decide.  This is not the case when adopting an adult Greyhound.  They come with wonderful personalities and quirks.

Chris with Jesse and myself with Emma, aren't they both stunning

We decided to bring Jesse home.  Although we loved both we felt that he would be an easier first dog for me as he was not so much of a diva :)

And then...Jesse made three!!!!

The next morning we said good bye for now to Fatima and Rachel and started our drive back to Auckland with Jesse in the back.  Poor fella, this has all been so much for him that his stomach was quite unsettled.  This lead to the first 3-4 hours with the windows down and my head hanging out.  That boy has bad smelling farts! He stayed awake most of the way which we knew would be tiring him out as Greyhounds sleep 20-22 hours a day.  We made it back to Auckland around 4pm and introduced Jesse to our neighbour and showed him around.

Look how happy Chris is to have his dog

Within minutes Jesse had discovered the cats outside and since then watching them has become his new favourite pass time.  If he is really keen he stands, if slightly too lazy he squats. and it that is too much it is a side flop with head still pointed towards them.  At one point he even tried to climb through the blinds to get to them.  He was firmly told no! and he hasn't done that again.

CATS!!!

It took him some time to settle in that night and Chris made lots of trips outside with him to prevent any accidents in the house.  Bless him.  We also took him for the 20min walk around the block to help orient him.  We would be doing the same walk twice a day from now on for the next two weeks.

Lesson learned from day 1:

1) Chris drops food when eating standing up at a gas station.  Jesse is lightening fast at retrieving it.  Bad Chris.

Jesse had showed no interest in our couch that night (read happy Chelsea) and even though he had only laid in his bed once we went to bed.  The next morning we found Jesse on the floor again.  but evidence revealed he had slept the night on Chris's side of the couch.  He had left it uncovered.  Lesson learned. (Fatima told us to place our dining chairs on the couch at night, it has worked since.) Monday morning he tried twice to get on the couch.  Stern words kept him off and he hasn't tried while we have been home since.

I stayed home on Monday and Chris stayed home on Tuesday.  It is hard to follow our welcoming training regime because it feels bad for us but we know we are doing our best to settle Jesse in in a language that he understands (dog).  He was such a good boy.  He walks the best out of any dog I have ever met.  He walks with a loose lead and is happy to plod along beside you, until he sees a cat and then he is one focused dog.  But even then he doesn't really pull he just looks and looks and looks.

Wednesday was his first day home alone and I think he handled it well.  When I got home he was almost beside himself with joy.  That night this is how he slept:

You will notice his Queen duvet.  Chris thought he looked cold and now his bed is fancier than ours

I think he is settling in well.  He dreams in his sleep and it is so adorable.  He starts breathing really heavily, then his legs start shaking like he is running in his dreams, racing.

Fancy gold collar, he is so fashionable

We also exchanged a few emails with Jesse's trainer Sarah.  She is a lovely lady, my age. She kept Jesse in her home with her partner for one year after his last race ended in a crash and a broken bone.  She made sure he was well and fell in love with him before Nightrave found a new home for him, ours. It was a pleasure to learn about Jesse from her.

Lessons from Thursday:

Jesse barks!!!! I knew he had a whine on him that was so loud but when the Shih tzu  next door came running up the fence barking Jesse got excited, ducked his head down as though to play and barked twice.  That other dog went quiet and ran back to the house so fast.  I pretended I saw nothing to not encourage barking.  I could hardly believe it though.  Sarah said he was noisey but the context made us think she meant nosey.  Now I just don't know...but I love him!

Also, Jesse has met a new friend! Silva (it could be Silver as Kiwi's have funny accents and it has messed us up before) is a 12 year old silver brindle female to lives just up the road while her house is being renovated.  So far we have seen her on two of our walks and today he was wagging his tail when he saw her (he didn't the first time).

So there you have our little red faun secret, someone's 30th birthday present.

Jesse is a 4 year old red faun male.  His racing weight is 33kg of handsome!!!! His running name is He's a Jessie, named after his mum. If you want to see him racing you can follow this link:

https://www.thedogs.co.nz/catch-the-action/11814/97596/result-detail.aspx

He is dog #2 in race 6.  You can search his pedigree on the following link:

http://greyhound-data.com/d?i=2061499

You don't need to register I discovered you just need to search his name.  His dad was quite famous and out of his 6 siblings, five were black, one was brindle and he was red faun.  There are pictures of his parents there.  They were blue brindle and white!

It takes Greyhounds a week or so to settle in to their new homes.  Until then they will have stomach issues and will be nervous.  I hope Jesse settles in soon and his personality might come through.  We still haven't told anyone at work that we have brought Jesse home.  I know they will want to meet him but I don't want to inflict guests on him until he is fully settled in and happy with us and our home. Until we have posted it on Facebook you are all sworn to secrecy!!!!!!!

I know I am forgetting something but that is okay, I can post it later :) As for how we are doing.  Good.  Not really training this November as we have been busy.  Triathlon training start 4x a week in December.  I have a week left to relax.

Modelling his new coat! Doubt he will wear it for a while though, summer is here!!!

Love you all, and don't worry, I WILL be the dog mum who posts too much about him!

Chelsea
xoxoxoxo

WAY overdue post!!!!!

Hello everyone,

I am SO SORRY it has been so long since we posted something.  I have made myself a promise that I will get better at it again.  I do have a confession though.  This blog was always meant to be a travel blog and not to be an update on our lives.  After our Christmas holiday last year we spent the rest of teh year saving up for our trip back to Canada.  So we really didn't do much travelling to report on.  But, I will now post about our FABULOUS trip home!!!! (and then some).

So here it goes...

It was really nice to come home for a visit.  I must have been the most annoying colleague because I only talked about home for the month leading up to it.  Our flights started well with an all you can eat and drink buffet in the Koru lounge.  That was delicious.  Our flight was delayed out of Auckland, but thankfully so was the Vancouver one so we made it in time with only a small sprint through the airport.  I would like to take a minute to thank the Vancouver security guards for the VERY thorough search of our duty free. It almost made us miss our flight, last two to board!!!! Talk about giving us evils, those other passengers were not impressed.  It didn't help that we stunk pretty bad at that point.  Oh well, we made it home safely!Chris's family picked us up from Toronto with lovely flowers for me! We stopped at Tim Hortons on the way home.  First Honey Crueller of the trip!!! Way sweeter than either of us remembered, but soooooooo yummy.

It was really nice to spend some time and catch up with family and friends.  We tried to see as many people as we could as often as we could.  I am sorry if we never got to spend as much time with you as we would have liked.  Three weeks really isn't enough time but it was all we could manage.  If only money grew on trees.

We had a large Johnson/Buchholz family reunion Mum hosted at Wildwood.  It turned out fabulously with so many blueberry pies (my favourite).  The Fischers got the chance to meet my entire family, and I mean the entire family but they fit in so well! You would never have known we weren't all blood relatives.  Also the Parks Blueberry pie was voted the best! With the others coming very close.  Writing this now I just wish I could be eating blueberry pie.  I thought I had enough for a lifetime but I must have been wrong.

Well we had smoked pork chops, went sailing, kayaking, and talking.  It was a lively evening, I wish it could have lasted longer and I could have spent more time talking with everyone who was able to attend.  I have missed you all so much you wouldn't believe it, but I really missed all of you.  Being so far from family is hard and having everyone in one spot.  I was in heaven.

Some of the family, Buchholz side (Aunt Andrea took the picture)

Special thank you to Omi for lending me her shoes.  I was so efficient in packing that I forgot sandals.  I know, stupid, but Omi's red ones were so awesome!!

Aunt Andrea and myself, thanks for lending me your shoes Omi!

I got to hang out with Rachel (the best new doctor EVER) for an afternoon.  She was so sweet, she drove me up to Lake Huron to check another must go place off my list.  We had a blast.  I forgot how wonderful fresh water is to swim in.  Salt water is nice but you can get out of fresh water and not feel salty! I think we sent over an hour in the water talking, it was just so wonderful and warm.

Awesome summer afternoon, wish we had more of them!

Also, shout out to Rachel and Tyler for being such wonderful cooks, I really enjoyed our dinners together and finally getting to meet Marvin.  It was so cruel how you brought him home a week after I moved to NZ.  He was such a sweetie, he almost convinced me that maybe I could waver my strict no dog stance.

Got to protect yourself from those sun rays

One of the trip highlights was when Beeks took Chris flying (and I weaseled my way into the back seat...not so sneaky).  I love flying with Dad, I always feel safe and secure when he is in control.

Getting ready to fly!

 Beeks tooks us on his Waterfalls and Whale Watching tour.  Seeing the falls from the air is truly something amazing.  You get to see the awe inspiring beauty of them without the tacky tourist nature of the town.  We circles a few times and got plenty of pictures.  It was a trip I will never forgot.  Thank you Dad, it was very kind of you to take us up.  Such a lively flight!

Cruising with Beeks

 Wow, just wow.  Wish I could go back again.

Not another place like it on Earth

Chris and I headed up to the Bruce Peninsula for a family get away with our two families (sorry Wes, it would have been nice it you could have joined us).  We were on the west side at a gorgeous circular cottage!! Dad and I went swimming the first day just off the dock.  There really is nothing nicer than the water up there.

The Fischers treated us to dinner the first night and wow they put on a feast! I have been waiting 2.5 years for Dianne's cannelloni and it was as wonderful as I remember.  Now if only I could convince Chris to make it...

We spent the next day hiking in Bruce Peninsula National Park.  This is my absolute favourite place in Canada besides home.  We introduced the Fischers to the Grotto, and the overhang rock.  It was a lot of hiking and there were lots of rocks but it was worth it for the visit and the views.

Horsing around

Can't take her anywhere

We saw 3 Garter Snakes and ONE RATTLE SNAKE!!!!! This was my 7th visit to the park and I FINALLY got to see one!!!!!!! Unfortunately we only saw it because we didn't have a camera on us.  We had gone back to Indian Cove after lunch for a swim and we saw it walking back.  The signs say to stay back and give the snake their space.  Not my family, we all inched closer trying to hear the rattle (it really had one that rattled).  So COOL!!!!!!
 

Garter SNAKE!!!

Swimming up there is really amazing.  I have't been at that time of year in ages and I couldn't believe how (relatively) warm the water was.  Mum and I were able to swim all the way out to the Grotto without getting hypothermia! (win!)

What a nice picture of the family!

I like natural holes in rocks...and birds.

That was such a lovely little get away (complete with butter tarts!).  It was nice to get away and spend time with both families together.  Next time, we will have to bring the bean bag game again!!

What happens when you leave your camera with your sister

I got to spend a bit of time with Wes while he was finishing his thesis. I tried to be as helpful as I could, I even helped write the first part of his introduction.  I was to proud to see Wes doing so well and almost done two years of such hard work.  Toronto was a fun place to visit but visiting Wesley was better.

Wes giving me a tour of his lab, such a proud sister!!!

 His apartment had the BEST view from the roof.  Such a beautiful city.

The view from Wesley's roof!

 There is no place like home! Hayley and Mum painted the red accents on the house, I think it just looks darling!

There is no place like home

No trip to London would be complete without a trip to Port Stanley with Omi.  We stopped my Mackies (turns out I am the only person in my family who LOVES the fry sauce, aren't they weirdos?) for some french fries and orangeade.  We even found lucky stones on the beach!

No trip to Port Stanley would be the same without Mackies

Our trip ended way too soon.  We both agreed that the first two weeks felt like we were visiting but the last one just felt like we had moved back home again.  It was so nice to see everyone again.  We have really missed you all.  Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedules to visit with us!

Thank you Mum, Dad and Schwester for making this trip home so special.  I am so lucky to have you guys making all the food I could have asked for (and making the house so wonderful).  Best hosts ever!!!!

When we got back to Auckland we focused on spending some time together. We had hardly seen each other the entire trip.  But we had other goals as well...our races.

Chris rode the K2 a few weeks ago.  This was 192km of mountains around the Coromandel Peninsula.  I was so proud to support him although all we saw was the start and the end.  Chris was a champ and finished in 8:25.  Who does that?

Before the race looking eager

The boys at the start line

The cool sign (with Chris in the background)

Chris psyched himself out a the start line and nearly fell as he crossed the official start.  But he made it through and this is him crossing the finish:

Here he comes!!!!

The next weekend was my turn.  I had my first Sprint Triathlon. It was a beautiful day and I am glad I did it.  I have been training hard. It started with a swim with everyone looking the same.

Looking eager, and nervous

I wasn't expecting Chris to find me after the swim but he did! Good official photographer.

Trying to look pro and take off my wet suit while running

Starting running, looking pro

 And then I was faster than expected so Chris lost me.  At least he caught me finishing!

Isn't that the look of a champion?

 It is over! 1:28:54 speedy Gonzalez 500m Swim, 20km ride, 5km run.

Taking November easy then getting back into it in December.  March here I come!!!!! Full Triathlon next time!!!!

Love you all, we are heading out this weekend. I will make sure to take pictures!

Love,
Chelsea
xoxoxo

Christmas Cruise 2015 and New Years Celebration

Hello Everyone,

It has been a while since I posted anything but I wanted to tell everyone about our amazing Christmas vacation. We left on the 20th of December and headed to Brisbane, Australia, a 3 hour flight from Auckland. It is pretty crazy to think that a 3 hour flight gets us to Australia and it now takes us about 20 hours of flight time to get back to London.

When we arrived in Brisbane, we had to wait at the airport for a couple hours before we could go to the port as it was quite early. This consisted of us eating Nachos at 9 in the morning while I took in the Australian accent trying to work out how it differs from its Kiwi counterpart. The Kiwis are correct in saying it is a similar accent but a bit more whiny. Immediately leaving the terminal you can feel that Australia has a much hotter climate, but we were so excited to get to the ship we didn't notice too much difference.

We needed to make our way to Hamilton Wharf, about a 15 min shuttle ride from the airport. As we approached the shuttle, Chelsea immediately noticed the scale of the ship next to the surrounding buildings.....huge. Our ship for the next 10 nights, The Royal Caribbean "Legend of the Seas" at just under 70 000 gross tonnage and 265 m long and 50 m high. While it is a big ship and we spent lots of time exploring, it was explained to us that it is a just over a quarter of the size of the largest ship in the fleet. Departing Brisbane, you quickly understand that a ship any bigger would not make it under the motorway bridge that we went under.

The first thing we did on the ship was eat in the Windjammer Café, where at least 8 buffet stations with a variety of bread, salad, meat, fish, pasta and dessert were there to fill us. When Chelsea quickly found out that there is at least one place to get food on the ship open all day, she mentioned that we would be getting fat. After eating, we checked out our room which was on the 2nd floor at the very front of the ship (rm 2000). It was a nice little cabin with a window for some natural light unlike the interior cabins.

After our muster station drill, it was time to depart and we went up to one of the top decks to watch the boat navigate along the river to the ocean (in a forward orientation...unlike some people would tell you). The best part was going under the bridge (shown in the picture below).

That evening we met our servers at the main dining room that would be with us for the cruise, Zandriks and Filipe. They were very funny, full of energy and would recommend dishes they thought were the best each night.

Two Days at Sea
We had two days at sea until we reached our first port, Mare, New Caledonia. Some highlights/notable mentions of the two days were:

• A lot of unhealthy delicious meals that we ate continuously. One of which was Chelsea's favourite of the trip, a horseradish crusted salmon dish.
• A helicopter evacuation of someone who had a heart attack. This involved all the top decks being cleared by the staff and having the ship steer into the wind at 15 knots. It was explained that a constant speed offers much more predictability/stability of the ship rather than staying stationary for the helicopter pilot. Four people (two rescue divers and two medical people then repelled onto the ship, secured the patient and left with the patient). This of course caused quite a bit of rumors on board some of which were hilarious to listen to.
• Lots of swimming in the solarium pool which was the best pool on the ship as it was covered and was for adults only.
• Watching the shows at night in the "That's entertainment" theatre. This included a funny Australian comedian.
• One great Martini clinic which taught us how to make: a French martini, a white blossom, a razzle dazzle and make friends with Jose, the mixologist at the Centrum bar.
• Getting rid of one rude Canadian family at our dinner table and replacing them with a table of funny retirement home seniors that were a great bunch to sit with for the rest of the cruise. They bickered amongst each other, shared a lot of funny stories and were the life of the party as they even elected to have the late seating. Thank you Claire, Ion, Yvonne, Collin, Rhonda and Ken. 

Mare, New Caledonia
The best snorkelling I have ever done. The water was like glass with at least 15 meters of visibility. The beach and coral reef had hardly been touched and there was a lot of reef to explore. As you entered the water there were numerous paths you could take though the reef, like a corn maze. Rather than explain to you how good it was, I will show you with pictures.

Lifou, New Caledonia (Christmas Eve)
After quite the significant sunburn in Mare (Thank you Nivea SPF 50 spray lotion which I believe amplifies the suns rays rather than reflecting them), I decided that it was not in my best interest to have much sun time. Instead we did a little Island tour which took us to a local Church, A local village where they showed us their traditional huts, and to a little area by the water with a nice view of the ship. The tour was easy going and at the end, a nice local cold beer awaited me.

As we returned to the ship, this was Christmas eve and the ship staff did a really good job of making everyone feel like they were one big family. They had a massive two story tree in the Centrum and the staff (entertainment staff, kitchen staff, room staff) sang Christmas carols. They also passed out free champagne and something we haven't had in a long time (as it is not in NZ)...egg nog.


Mystery Island, New Caledonia (Christmas Day)
Mystery island (officially named Inyeug Island) reminded me of Gilligan's island as it was about three times the size of the ship. It is the southern most point of Venuatu collection of islands and is uninhabited when there are no tourists as the locals say that only spirits live on it. It is called mystery island as the name stuck when tourists first started visiting the island and it was a mystery as to whether or not their tender boats would cut through the surf.  It didn't have much on it however you could snorkel and walk around it.

There were little lizards that would speed past you and crabs that decided the foot path was for them too. We walked the island and then settled on a nicely shaded part of the beach. Still having the sun burn, I decided to not chance snorkelling as I wanted to be in good condition for tomorrow's port. Chelsea did a little snorkelling but told me that Mare was much better in both reef quality, water clarity and wildlife. The water was warmer in this location though as we had travelled more North (towards the equator). It was another beach Christmas day, our second since moving to the southern hemisphere I still do not think we are used to them yet.

Mystery island...about two times bigger than our ship

Big screen was always filled with Christmas clips

Christmas Tree all set up for the night's carolling

Christmas on the ship was not like being with the family, but much better than last year where we were on our own camping. There was a lot of Christmas spirit on the ship.

Port Villa, Venuatu

This was the port we had been waiting for as it was finally time to test our dive skills. I had pre-booked a dive at the Konanda reef/wreck and we were anxious all week to do this. The morning started out early as we waited to board from the Wharf to the Padi dive center. This was the only Port that was large enough to have a wharf as up to this point, most of the islands we had visited didn't receive many cruise ship visits which was great as they remain fairly untouched. After leaving the ship and a 10 min ride, we were at the shop and getting fitted with gear. One thing we noticed immediately was that no one was getting us wet suits. It already was getting off to a great start as we were told the water temp was 27 and one of the dive shop employees (from NZ and recognized my dive card as it had the Whitianga dive center logo on it) said that coming from NZ, no wet suits were needed. This was different as in NZ we were wearing 7mm wet suits and hoods for our certification dives.  We loaded all of our gear into the boat and made our way to the Konanda wreck. There were 6 of us plus the dive instructor and one crew member for the dive. We had brought along our mask and snorkel (which we had purchased as a celebratory completing our certification gift back in Whitianga, NZ) and the dive instructors were jealous of our gear.

Konanda Wreck (these photos were not taken by us but give you an idea of what we saw)

Konanda Wreck (these photos were not taken by us but give you an idea of what we saw)

Filipe and Zandriks decided to make these for us. They were waiting in our spot this night

As we arrived, the instructor told us that he could see some divers already there as he spotted bubbles making it to the surface (we never saw anyone else when diving which was awesome). The wreck was situated in 25-30 meters of water and we dove to about 26m, our deepest dive yet. The visibility was 12 meters and as mentioned earlier it was warm water. The wreck was spectacular.

The dive started by descending to the wreck and circling its perimeter. There were plenty of corals and fish intertwined throughout the hull. Then we went up to the main deck center of the boat and lowered into the wreck. It was really spectacular lowering into the boat and swimming through it. We then ascended just above the main deck and over to the wheel house and went into the wheel house room. If you turned upside down in the wheel house you could see the trapped air pocket in the room from all the diving exhales and this was like a mirror as you looked up at it. It was a tonne of fun and probably my favourite part of the trip.

This was one of the best boxing day's ever, we avoided the mall chaos by submerging into the depths of the sea.

Champagne Bay, Venuatu

Tendering over to the Island was a slow process as the tide was pushing the ship so only one side could be utilized for the departure. We woke up early as it was our last day to snorkel and we wanted to be one of the first's to make it to a good beach spot and get in the water. The tender ride was about 10 minutes and as we departed the tender and walked along the pier to the beach, we saw some of the locals unloading a lobster trap.

Lobster's in the trap

We made our way to a shaded spot and began snorkelling for the day. The water seemed to be quite warm as we walked in but there were pockets and layers of very cold water. This meant that for snorkelling, the visibility was similar to looking at the heat haze off of an asphalt road in the summer. As we swam to deeper water, we solved this problem by diving below the layers where the visibility was crystal clear. The snorkelling in Champagne was really good too however much more of a workout as we had to keep diving below the pockets of hot and cold water.

As the day progressed, a storm closed in but we were lucky and it avoided us. The cloud coverage gave us some shade which was nice as it was a very hot day.

Storm approaches but brushes by us

Two Days at Sea

We decided to spend a lot of time over the last two days exploring and spending time at places around the ship we had only brushed by before. This included having both breakfast and lunch in the main dining room where we found out the salad bar here, was the best on the ship. We also decided to have a couple drinks at the top deck lounge and took advantage of the Café on the 6th floor of the centrum which was stocked with Ben and Jerry's ice cream. Then we went to the pool and did some reading.

The last day was our only rough weather of the cruise and it was quite choppy. In the evening, the weather got bad enough that for every 1 step forward, you would take 2-5 steps back. The pools were closed and most of the outside areas closed off. We spent a good portion  of the last evening in the air as the ship was bouncing up and down and rolling back and forth.

One funny thing that happened almost every night during cruise was some mix up of Colins order at the main dining room dinner seating. There was definitely some misunderstanding which would happen between Colins aussie accent and Filipe's Filipino translations. This usually followed by Yvonne taking almost any order of food that came and then when asked if she ordered what she was eating, she would say no which followed by Claire looking puzzled and Yvonne's husband (Collin) shaking his head and making some funny comment.

Cruise Ship Pictures.

We took a lot of the cruise ship pictures on the last day as we remembered that we had forgotten to do so up to this point. Here they are:

Main Pool. The second level was the track around the ship which lead around a rock climbing wall, mini golf course and lots of sun lounging seats

Our course plotted

The centrum (7 floor of open area which stretched up to the pool deck (deck 10) and track deck (deck 11))

Solarium. This was our favourite hangout area for swimming, reading and grabbing a snack)

Animals that waited for us in our cabin (Victor's pets)

Last Morning

We spent the last morning walking the ship for one last time and waiting to depart to Brisbane. It was a great cruise and we enjoyed our time aboard the Legend of the Seas. We would have until New Years day in Brisbane which gave us the rest of the current day, the 31st and just over half of a day on the 1st until our flight departed.

Brisbane

The day we left the cruise ship we spent touring Brisbane making use of their fantastic water taxi system. We then made our way to China town intending to have some Chinese food but I happened to make the greatest food discovery of the trip. While I loved all the fancy food we were having on the cruise ship, I found a German bratwurst place called Brat Haus in Brisbane which was equally as delicious and quite cheap. I convinced (made) Chelsea go here 3 times during our stay in Brisbane and I don't think she minded. We walked around the rest of the evening and it was a nice change from the cruise ship.

The next day we had decided to visit the Australia Zoo (The home of the crocodile hunter Steve Irwin). To get there we made use of Brisbane's great subway system which took us to Beerwah, about an hour outside of the city and the location of the zoo. Entering the zoo, we were given a map which showed that there were

 Here are some of the pics from the day:

These lizards were everywhere

looks dangerous

These alligators were happy to see us

Just leaving the alligators...so many things to see

Tasmanian Devils!

Someone is excited for the crocs

First, the bird show

Australian Eagle

Andian Condor

Check out that wingspan!!

It's Charlie time

Charlie didn't really care about the food at first

What happens when Wombats get tired?

He is scoping me out to see if he trusts me

It's like feeding a puppy only he is more gentle

Dingos

The Sumatran Tiger Charlie

Southern White Rhinos

Giraffe

The lazy Koala

Likes to be pet

The zoo was amazing with this just being a small portion of the animals we saw and took pictures of during the full day. We then made our way to the subway/train and back to Brisbane for New Year's Eve celebrations.

That evening we went back to the Brat Haus for another delicious Bratwurst and then to a craft brew pub. At about 11 we made our way to the Brisbane river for the fireworks show at 12. The fire works show was really good with around 15 minutes worth of non-stop fire work action.

A great way to conclude our vacation.

BACK TO AUCKLAND!