Home again! Back from our cruise.

Well I’m back on land again and thankfully it’s not moving!
I was so worried about experiencing the after effects of cruising, like last time, but I’m happy to report that due to extremely calm seas I am NOT walking like a drunken sailor this time.

We had a wonderfully relaxing time and to my surprise it seems hubby is hooked!
He did complain a bit though.
“We need to find a less tiring form of holiday” he said numerous times….that was, after sitting outside on the back deck in the Serenity lounge area, where he spent hours reading in one of these comfy “pods”.

Exhausting hey.

Ok so the weather wasn’t great. The water around the islands wasn’t that brilliant sparkling turquoise I was hoping for but we made the most of it anyway and despite the overcast days and sometimes even rain we still got out and about and did some exploring of the islands.
The worst part was the wind. Oh it howled and whistled….some nights it sounded positively eerie whistling through the ropes and whatever else was way up there on the top deck.
I was a bit nervous up there, worried I might just blow away. Like this!

Actually, I was just dancing around trying to get IN the shot because every time I give the camera to my dear other half he either chops off my feet, or my head or completely chops me out of the picture and damn it, I’m always the one TAKING the pictures….for once I wanted to be IN it to prove that I was actually there, even if I do look like some kind of blurred flying fish.

Here’s my much more nicely composed much more FOCUSED pic of the dear other half….and don’t be alarmed, it’s not the grim reaper standing there, thats actually my husbands “I’m feeling really happy on the inside” pose.
He’s having so much fun up there in the wind and it translates so well into this happy snap.

The ship was very ornate. A bit garish really (compared to P&O) but hey, people want to feel like they’re doing something fancy and going on a real glamourous vacation.
I spotted a woman standing at the bottom of these stairs, which I couldn’t see as I was to the side of them and she was acting really strange.
She’d put one foot on the bottom step, shake her head, look distressed, try again, no…something was obviously tormenting her and I thought “Poor woman…maybe she’s having a panic attack…Maybe she’s a little bit “challenged” or something.” Her husband looked on patiently and I felt sorry for him too having to care for this woman who obviously had issues.
That was until *I* had to walk up these same stairs and realised that some four or maybe even five floors above the ground I was looking down through GLASS STAIRS…..in a SKIRT!
And then I looked every bit as distressed and “challenged” as the other woman!

We came back later to take a pic and this time I put jeans on!

Imagine all the “up skirts” that would be snapped on THAT with a decent zoom.
Hmm. Here’s a tip….always wear underwear on a cruise ship.

We wondered where all the people were on this cruise.
At times it felt like more of a ghost ship than a cruise ship. Maybe they were all wusses, not brave enough to face the wind.
Maybe they were all bonking in their cabins?
I don’t know where they all were so we just did our own thing.

She needed a kiss.

He needed a tickle.

I know, we are such children….and just a wee bit intoxicated.

Honestly though, everywhere you went in the ship there were nipples or tickly bits.
They should have called it the love boat.

See, now he has a smile on his face. A nipple tickle does that. Isn’t that the name of a drink?

We went to Amedee island. Ahh, paradise.
I went for a paddle and when I looked down blood was pouring from my foot.
I must have stepped on coral (didn’t even feel it) and sliced three of my toes.

Speaking of toes…One night we were sitting in bed talking about toes.
Well, don’t you discuss toes in bed?
I was teasing my husband about his deformed toes. ( They ARE I tell you.)
They curl over. Most distressing to look at. They are truly ugly and he really should wear closed in shoes but he doesn’t. Just displays them for all the world to be horrified by.
He always says it was from his younger years when he did diving…..His toes curl like that from standing on the diving board.
Phhhttthhhtt!! (that’s a raspberry)
Liar. He just has unfortunate toes.

I was telling him that that very day on the boat out to the island there was this really attractive young mother sitting opposite us.
“Did you see her toes!” I asked my husband.
Of course he hadn’t, but *I* noticed them because she was such a pretty woman, with a nice looking husband and two gorgeous kids…
Every time I saw her on the ship she was so perfectly groomed, you know just one of those women that always look so “well put together” in a casual way. Unlike me, who always looks a mess.
Anyway, so I happened to notice her toes because she was wearing thongs (ok, flip flops!) and to my surprise she has my HUSBANDS toes.
Ugly curled over toes…..so curled over that you can barely SEE the toenails because they are so bent that they are nearly touching the ground.
But what puzzled me was the fact that she had painted them….How? I thought to myself. And WHY?
You would have to turn your foot upside down – sole facing upward, to paint those toe nails.
Poor woman.

Which led my husband to look at my toes after I gloated…”I have lovely toes….see?” to which he then asked…
“Why are two of your toes purple?”
“What do you mean? They’re not purple….which toes?”
So we’re both peering at my toes in bed….. and then my hubby points at two of my toes wrapped in bandaids…and I realise…My God, he really IS blind, and maybe even colour blind as well because they were skin coloured band aids.
Anyway, where was I?
Oh yes…the island.
Amedee Island lighthouse.
We climbed this.

Look at the pic I took looking up the spiral stair case. It was a looooooong way up!

There was a net to stop people from falling down, and well placed too because on the tour they feed you this HUGE lunch and plow you full of FREE rum punch and when I say punch I mean PUNCH.
My God, I don’t know what was in that stuff but I’m so glad we climbed to the top of the lighthouse BEFORE we were punched.

Here’s me being blown away at the top and the view looking out.

Gorgeous hey! Would have been SO much prettier were the sun out but oh well….Sometimes gloomy is good too.
I snapped this shot which I liked because of the gloomy feel…

We went exploring and came across snakes. We’d been warned…Yes they are poisonous but apparently their fangs are at the back of their throats so it’s hard for them to bite humans and they are pretty laid back ‘just chillin’ island snakes. Yeah mun!
I wasn’t worried, but I didn’t put any bags on the ground, just in case.  Wouldn’t want to come home with a stowaway.

Then we went on glass bottom boat ride. See the small boat at the end of the jetty?

We went on it twice actually because we liked it so much and saw huge turtles, and loads of pretty fish, huge brain corals and we picked up some hitch hikers along the way.

What a great day! Good food, marvelous punch and lovely views.

Ha…here’s another good view.

Being called for lunch I mean.   🙂

I’ll be back later to post some more about our cruising/island adventures.