4 April 2022
Arrived in Bermuda but I will not get off the ship as I need some recovery time next to the pool. Yay!! Sun bathing weather!! I will take it easy as we have an overnight stay here. We are the first cruise ship to arrive here since the pandemic. The locals are very happy for the return of tourists. There are pretty beaches and lots of fancy golf clubs which I went to last time here in 2018. The jacuzzi is calling.
I boarded the Epic around 1130am on 2 April. Bliss!!! It has been 2 years and 5 months since my last cruise which was on the Norwegian Jewel Transpacific from Honolulu to Sydney from 2 November to 3 December 2019.
Due to Covid and as this trip is what is known as a relocation cruise, it normally has fewer passengers. This cruise has
1300 passengers 1400 crew. So a luxury of 1 crew per passenger. Normally this ship takes 4000 passengers and 2700 crew.
This sailaway party is the first time I have danced with people since November 2021. Really danced. As we sailed out of New York said goodbye to the grand lady Statue of Liberty.
On to warmer weather please. I would like to enjoy my balcony
Yesterday I was a bit ambitious thinking I would go to London today. It is only my 3rd day and jet lag is still slowing me down. I will need a lot more energy to explore London. Perhaps tomorrow.
Today I walked to the closest pub to where I am staying. A typical English drizzly cold 20 minute walk taking in the various styles of homes in Watford.
Google maps took me on a back muddy path at times I thought I was in the Hansel and Gretel woods.
And then I was at my first UK pub. The Royal Oak Watford Heath. It was perfect. Warm welcome by the locals. No open fire but lovely and warm.
I enjoyed a delicious bowl of potato and leek soup. Exactly what I needed to warm up.
Just down the road I popped into my second pub, Load of Hay.
Previously named Katherine Gorge, Nitmiluk is 30km from the township of Katherine. It is a 292000 hectares national park owned by the Jawoyn Aboriginal people. You can do various cruises through the Gorge. I did a 2 hour cruise which included walks between gorges.
The sandstone cliffs and waterways are spectacular
Some of the rock art dates back 10,000 years
One thing I did not like about Nitmiluk is the 200,000 bats who arrive every few years. They were here this visit and the stench is unbearable. It wasn’t until I filled my car with petrol and had a good sniff that I got the disgusting smell out of my nostrils. Not even my perfume or sniffing eucalyptus worked.
21 April 2019
The day commenced with a visit to quirky Aladdin’s Cave Bottlehouse. What a magical fairyland Jan and Brian Gilmore have produced in a very dry part of Australia.
The bottles have fascinating messages and treasures as well as their children’s time capsules.
The cost to enter this fairyland is $6 for adults $3 for children under 16. Put this on your list for Dubbo.
Over 50 Aussie female solo traveller USA road trip and beyond 