Cairns & Port Douglas

The Sea Temple Resort in Port Douglas.

We bought King Prawns right off the fresh off the boat in the marina while we waited for the Rhapsody to arrive. They were huge and tasted FABULOUS!

Shauna and I in front of the apartment~.

The gang chowin' down on those Prawns! YUMMY! 6 kilos - think that's enough??

John pointing out the view from our apt. I couldn't believe how gorgeous this place was!

This was actually on the way up to Port Douglas from Cairns. We stayed in Cairns the first night then took a coastal drive about 1/2 an hour to the next port.

Where we had dinner the first night.

This was the pool at The Sebel Reef House at night. The lights made it look unbelievably blue.

From the top of one of the balconies at the Reef House.

The view from our room at the Reef House. Another beautiful resort!!!

This was the view from our dinner table before dark.

Just wanted to share a glimpse of our weekend trip to catch up with the Rhapsody in Cairns & Port Douglas. We had a great time visitng friends, and I looooved being able to surprise John by being on the dock as he got of the ship in there! He had NO idea and it was wonderful!

Now we're back in Sydney and we spent the day visiting the Blue Mountains which are about an hour from here. They were AMAZING!!! I've never seen anything like it in my life!! Mountains and valleys - sand rock, old coal mines, "the 3 Sisters" that we're said to have been turned to stone, and the world's steepest railway and cable car rides! Awesome! haha :) I haven't downloaded the pictures yet, but I promise to get some up ASAP.

I'm also really excited about going to church tomorrow night. Dad emailed and reminded me that Hillsong Church is in Sydney!! I didn't even THINK about that. SO, even though I won't be here for the Sunday service, they have a Wed. night college worship service that I'm going to tomorrow. I'm SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've always been in awe of their praise and worship and now I'm gonna get to see it first hand! Bring it on Jesus b/c I'm ready to be blessed!!!!! WOOO HOOO!!!!

What else...not much. Hopefully the Sydney Opera House will be open for a visit tomorrow morning...back to Bondi Beach on Thurs. and then maybe a little shopping that evening...and the zoo on Friday so I can see a Tazmanian Devil! Then Saturday we pick John up from the Rhapsody and he and I head over to Perth, WA and I meet the family!!! dum dum dum..... (that's the danger tones if you can't tell...haha)

Say a prayer for safe travel! I can't wait to see everyone again. Another month - it'll fly by just like these last few have. :)

More to come! Blessings~*

Guess who's not home yet!?!?!

Trevor with a Joey at the Koala Park Sanctuary.

Yay I got to pet a kangaroo!!!!

The koalas were even cuter!!!

Precious!!!

Villa, Vanuatu - Bein' crazy at the resort we found!

Our last night of Ballroom Fever!

Bondi Beach in Sydney.

Well, if you haven't talked to my parents yet, then I guess you've noticed that I'm not home and it's after Nov. 11 (my sign off date). I am still in AUSTRALIA~! It was a somewhat last minute decision because I didn't think it would be possible for me to afford it, but honestly everything just kind of fell into place. I had been talking to a few people in other depts. on the ship that were trying to get their tickets changed so that they could extend their stay and enjoy more of Australia. I was told that there was no way to do it, but after a few phone calls and emails to the company and airlines I found a way to change and simply pay the change fee and not buy a whole new ticket!! Honestly, I probably got a dummy that wasn't supposed to do it and just didn't know any better, but either way I'm thrilled and so far things are going wonderfully here!

Right now I'm staying with my friend and colleague Trevor and his family. He is the F&B Manager on the ship and signed off the same day I did. I couldn't have a better tour guide for the area!. I've been shopping, seen all the most beautiful beaches, cuddled with kangaroos and koalas, and had some of the most delicious food I've ever put in my mouth! All I can say is WOW! On top of that, he surprised me with a trip up to Cains and Port Douglas which just happens to be where the ship was going this cruise. So, I was able to surprise John and some of our friends by showing up at the docks as they got off the ship! We are staying in these UNBELIEVABLE resorts! I mean, so nice that I could never afford to come back here in a million years! I promise to upload pictures as soon as we get back to Sydney so that everyone can see them because you will be SO jealous! hahahaha :) We're only going to be here until tomorrow though and then it's back to Sydney for more fun!

Then, John will sign off the ship on Nov. 22 and we are both flying to Perth (which is on the other side of the country!) to see his home and meet the family! I'm really excited about the opportunity to see both sides of the country because a lot of people have said that Perth is the most beautiful part of AUS and no one ever goes there since it's soooo far away.

Our last weeks on the ship were great! We had lots of down time to enjoy the ports and the shows continued to go well. We had a lot of families on board including Mom and Paul and then Simon, Teegan, and Meda's (all dancers) parents. It was really nice to have someone to perform for b/c a lot of the Australian guests love the shows, but aren't much for cheering us on.

It was really hard to say goodbye to the cast. Some of them have truly become very close friends of mine and I can't wait to take trips to visit them and/or see them again in rehearsals. I've spoken to most of them via email and everyone made it home safely with all their luggage in hand after 20 to 27 hours of traveling!

Other than that I'm just enjoying Trevor's generosity here in Australia. I miss everyone terribly!

I see or hear things all the time and think - Gee I wish so & so was here to see that! I hope things are still going well and home. Fill me in on things where you guys are!

Blessings~*

Kristian

1 more day and I'll be in AUSTRALIA!!!

A picture of the huts in Bora Bora. I just love how blue the water is too!!

Just a little proof that the Crimson Tide represents all over the world!!! This was in Tahiti!!!
A picture of Heather and I on the beach in Bora Bora - Just look at how clear that water is! You could literally see your feet even when the water was up to your shoulders!
A taste of my first coconut~ This is the real deal straight from the tree to my tummy!
This was part of the "Welcome Ceremony" at Moe's house. After his family invited us into their home they shared a special blend of herbs with us which was very kind...even though it tasted a bit like dirt and water. :)

This was a waterfall that we visited in Hilo, Hawaii - Behind this were tons of smaller swimming "pools" and waterfalls that we swam in!
While in Honolulu we spent most of the day exploring Pearl Harbor.
This was from Shauna's (right) Jungle Safari Birthday party last week! I was a panther and she was an elephant!!

Well, here I am at sea again...it's been a crazy couple of weeks that's for sure! I've seen some of the most beautiful places in the world and it has been WONDERFUL!

We were in Fiji 2 days ago where a man named Moe invited several of the crew members to come to his home and enjoy a traditional Fijian meal as well as a welcome ceremony. It was so nice to just hang out in someone's back yard again...we spent little to no money and had a great time just being together and visiting with his family and friends.

We also crossed the international date line, so we gained an entire day! I believe with all the gains and losses in time we are now around 17 hours ahead of Alabama?...I think that's right anyway...

More than anything I just wanted to get online and add some more pictures for everyone to see.

The link below is a public album I put up of our Crew Show. We did Pure Country and closed the theatre so that only crew were allowed to watch and it was a blast! They were definitely the best crowd we've had all season!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2040294&l=dbdde&id=156800509

I feel really out of the loop now since my phone doesn't work any more, so keep me posted on things back home! I hope this message finds everyone well!!!

3 1/2 more weeks!! :)

I'm in HAWAII- WOO HOO!!!!!

This was from our last week in Alaska~. Just the four singers hangin' out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ScpJI3gvGU

This youtube link will take you to the performance that we did of America the Beautiful during the farewell show on September 11th. I love that you can hear the audience singing along with us. It was very moving at the time. This was the performance where that guy made the comment that I was painful to hear! I guess I can let you guys be the judge! hahaha :)
(But if you agree you're not allowed to comment!!!! hahaha)

When John and I were in Astoria, OR we saw TONS of sea lions just hangin' out on the docks~.
This was the last night that John had any type of facial hair! He shaved it like this for 70's night!
Now we are officially in Hawaii and loving every second of it!!!

All I can say is: beautiful places, too much to do and not enough time, and I don't ever wanna leave! FINALLY - sunshine, beaches, lush vegetation - it's amazing!! SERIOUSLY! That black stuff is LAVA! ( I mean, it's dried up and rocky now, but still...)

The singers decided to go snorkeling at turtle beach! We saw turtles and a million gorgeous fish!!
Then we rode scooters and saw scenery like this!!!

We overnighted in Laheina (Maui) and decided to do a bike tour that started at 3 am. So, we had to be on the dock at 2:30 which meant we just didn't go to sleep that night. We went 10,000 ft. up this mountain where it was around 30 degrees (compared to the 90 degree whether we'd been experiencing at sea level) outside. Our group stayed up there just long enough to see the sun rise (GORGEOUS - of course) and then we rode bikes back to town - which was around 25 miles down hill. :) IT WAS AWESOME!!!!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uk-pEL2DRzM

The video link above is of an active volcano that we passed at midnight tonight! It was unreal to watch it smoking and sparking like crazy! (If you can't just click on the link, then copy it and paste it into your browser and then go from there. )

Well, I just wanted to try to update you guys with a few pictures and things! Hopefully more to come!!

BLESSINGS~*

Well, I guess I've been feeling like not much has changed, so I didn't have much to write about...BUT I've got a few things to share now!

It is Monday around lunch time and we are officially away from the cold and rainy Alaskan waters and headed towards warm sunny Hawaiian water!!! WOO HOO!

We docked in Vancouver, CA on Friday and had until 10 o'clock that evening to enjoy it. It was definitely a fun city with lots of shopping and plenty of things to see. Then we made our way through Victoria and on to Astoria, OR as of yesterday. Victoria was beautiful as well! The only good thing I can say about Astoria though is that it's the home of the Goonies movie!!!! ( Please tell me you've seen The Goonies?!!?!?!) The 80's movie about the kids who find a treasure map and go hunting for it while being chased by some creepy looking bank robbers, one of which had what I can only describe as a cyclopse eye....C'mon it's a classic! :) haha Anyway, yesterday I walked about 6 miles total to go and see this Goonies house and then when we got there we couldn't even figure out which one it was for sure because it was just a regular house that someone still lived in...Oh well, I took pictures of the 3 choices so one of them HAS to be the Goonies house and therefore I can say that I went there once! hahaha

Now we will be at sea for 4 days and should arrive in Laheina, Hawaii around lunch time Friday!! We actually get an overnight there so we will be in port until 7 pm the next night. It's going to be amazing! I'm going to have my first surfing lesson with Johnboy. Hopefully I'll get to see my first luau on Friday. I'm finally gonna see a BEACH!!! And I may go horseback riding the following day to get a tour of the area! We'll be in Hawaii for approximately 6 days and then we go through Fiji and Bora Bora. After that we will head to AUSTRALIA!

Let's see...in other news... If you haven't talked to either set of parents then you may not know this: I decided to verbally accept the offer to take the Legend contract in March. I won't get a written copy of my contract until this contract is finished, so there is still time for me to change my mind, but as of right now I'll be in Europe and Asia this time next year!!

Other than that I guess not much else has changed. The shows are still going really well! We've finally got them in our bodies so much that we don't really have to think about them any more...they just happen. We have a new cruise director now and he seems really pleased with this cast, so that's always good!

OH and we're NUMBER 1 IN THE FLEET this week!!!! WOO HOO!!!! We got the highest rating the Rhapsody has ever had in entertainment on the last cruise!!!!

You wanna know what's funny about that?? 2 cruises ago we had some really rude guests. A lot of people got complaints and bad comment cards. WELL - I got 2 bad comments about my performances!! I was actually devastated! hahaha No one ever wants to hear that they didn't do a good job. In my defense though - I was sick for most of that week so I probably wasn't at my best! Anyway, this is what one guy wrote:

" The 2 lead female singers are not good enough to be so loud in the shows. Especially the blonde lead - her rendition of America the Beautiful was actually painful!"

OUCH!!! PAINFUL???? REALLY??? Even on my worst day singing I've never been told that I was PAINFUL! GEEEEZZZ!!!! Yea, so that has been the going joke for the last week or so...everytime I try to be funny and joke with anyone in the cast they always come back with, "well, at least I'm not painful to listen to! ahhahaha". And then what do ya know - we end up first in the fleet...again! I guess the last cruise didn't find me as horrible to listen to after all! haha

Ok, I think that's all I know for now. OH, only 3 more weeks 'till my mama comes to visit me! YAY! FAMILY!!! :) Can't wait for that!

Hope all is well back home. I miss everyone, so please keep me updated on things!


Patiently counting down the hours until constant sunshine,
Kristian ;)