At last the long awaited day has arrived. Check the time on my phone… it’s 5.30am. I don’t need to be awake for another 20 minutes or so but in view of the fact that my sister, who only finished a late shift at around 11pm last night is in the room next door, I switch off the alarm so that it doesn’t wake her at 5.50am. Of course, this means that I now cant doze in case I go back to sleep!

After what seems like an eternity my clock creeps to 5.45. Okay, lets do this. Up, dressed and organised… what to do now while I wait for the rest of the household? Recheck that I have my passport… not that it would make much difference as if I don’t it is still 3.5 hours away at Port Augusta.

Eventually we are off to the airport. Put suitcase on the scale and of course it heavy, extract the laptop, which is an absolute essential of any trip I do. Fortunately Sam, my daughter and traveling companion has an almost empty backpack so it fits in there no problems. It is easy to see that Sam has experienced 5 months of backpacking through South and Central America. Just a glance at the difference in our luggage makes that very obvious. Her essentials are far more realistic than mine… they really are the essentials not the ‘oh I might need that…’ kind of essential.

The flight from Adelaide to Sydney was helped along by a very healthy tailwind, assisting us to arrive in Sydney 15 minutes before our expected arrival time. At least the sun is shining here even though it is still relatively cool. Upon arrival at the terminal it became apparent the vast number of people who would be sharing our cruise with us. People milling around everywhere. P&O representative handing out health questionnaires and customs declarations to be completed. Not one person mentioned what was actually required of us from that point. Eventually the crowd thinned enough for us to work out that we needed to line up for check in. I moved through the line quite quickly until I came to a lovely lady who informed me that I had been given the incorrect health questionnaire form and I would need to complete a new one prior to moving through the check in line. Back out to the milling crowd and complete the form ensure that Sam acquired the correct one and then back in the line again. Eventually we were through the check in process and then through customs. “Are you carrying in excess of $10,000 cash today, madam?” I wish!

At last we are on the ship. With great anticipation we wander through the corridors looking for our allotted accommodation. Of course, we are at the far end of the ship but then that is not a bad thing because it will be one way of ensuring daily exercise. We open the door and step inside a tiny cabin. Sam looks at me dismayed. “This is it, Mum. This is home for the next 10 days, it is going to drive us crazy.” It has everything it needs, 2 singles a comfy sitting chair, a desk and chair, a little table, a tv, a bedside cupboard with a lamp which is attached to the centre of the cupboard (we decided that it was a man who attached it as it is dead centre in the middle reducing the usable space to almost nothing). There is a bathroom with hand basin, shower and toilet and a closet and chest of drawers and a safe. Even a little fridge. Everything we could need!

We decided then that it was time to go and sample the all you can eat area… hmmm unanimous decision, we’ll not be spending a lot of time in our tiny cabin. The choice of foods is quite extensive and delicious. After making the required booking at the Salt Grill restaurant we settle in for what I am sure will be the first of many cocktails. Time to settle in to one of my favourite past times… people watching. There are folks in all shapes and sizes, races and creeds, all ages… folks dressed up to the nines and others already in kick back holiday mode. It is getting cooler as the afternoon progresses. Once the compulsory safety briefing/induction is completed we settle back in for another cocktail and the ‘Sail Away’ party. Sailing out of Sydney Harbour under the Harbour Bridge was lovely.

We decided once we were under way that we would explore a little and find out where things were situated. To one who has never cruised before walking around a ship in motion is rather like being drunk without the dizzying effects of alcohol. Maybe I won’t need to drink much at all this holiday, maybe all I’ll need to do is go for a walk occasionally!

After exploring for a while and locating most things that we wanted to know about and some that we didn’t we decided it was dinner time… back to the Pantry… all you can eat. Oh, this could be dangerous! A delicious dinner was quickly followed by returning to our cabin to settle in to bed for night. It was much too windy and cold up on the deck to stay out and both of us are rather weary.

A rather interesting night it is as the ship rolls with the ocean. I seem to spend a lot of time thinking how great it is that I am not feeling sea sick… maybe I should just go to sleep. Sam seems to have managed that quite well since putting her earplugs in after complaining that my tapping away at my keyboard is disturbing her.

Day 1 done and dusted…