On our way - Weathering the storms!

Saturday 11th January - At sea 6 days on our first leg trip to Auckland on board the Aurora.

What an amazing six days - I mentioned in my first blog "trepidation or adventure" I can say I have already had both emotions in the first week.

(PIC) -The Aurora leaving Southampton..

Setting sail with the P&O Aurora from Southampton on the 4th January was exiting enough, especially as this was my first ever cruise. Jacky had been to Australia by ship in the 1970's so had a reasonable understanding of what was ahead but I did not have a clue other than reading other blogs and travel reviews.

Our cabin is not too bad at all, Think of a good quality travel lodge, add a balcony in our case and there you have it. I would be picky indeed to find a fault - a bath, a shower that does more than trickle, good cupboard space, a fridge, a safe, tea maker etc. Add a personal cabin Steward (Sachin) and there you go  - a holiday starts.

We decided to have a cabin at the bow end (forward) on the tenth floor (B102), Cruisers say find a cabin mid ships and lower down if you want a stable minimum rocking trip. However there are positives in being just that bit further away from noisy areas and passengers not passing your cabin to get to the Costa outlet, library or the theatres, main restaurant etc. I have to say this was a good decision as now we have sea legs the peace and quiet is lovely.

Now with 1800 passengers you could be right in thinking that this is a large floating hotel or even holiday camp. I cannot dispute that you get the feel of that as you walk around to find your bearings. However P&O are a clever lot - they want you to feel you are on a holiday even although this is a large accommodation block much much longer than a football pitch and some 32 feet wide (beam). They have theatres, many different eating places and lounges and thoughtfully add a whole lot of activities you can get involved in from tennis to chess, to bridge, learn to dance, sing, etc etc.

Where then was my trepidation - Leaving home for 130 days was one but sailing was the big fear. A ferry almost 30 years ago was my one and only sea journey of length and I vowed never to travel by sea again.

(PIC) - After the storm - a fresh beginning

Boy was I inducted in style to life on the ocean waves. Storm conditions of up to force 12, swells of over 14m high, rocking and rolling around like a cork on top of a fountain. I wore these two wrist bands (Sea -bands) designed to deter sea sickness and I took a tablet (Stugeron) and can honestly say it worked. I was not sick but did find difficulty in getting a balance which is understandable, especially with a replacement hip joint.

The Aurora I am told has fantastic stabilisers but I could not tell if they were working or not having no experience on other cruise liners. The storm in the Bay of Biscay was so ferocious that the journey towards the Azores was cancelled and we headed for Northern Spain (A Coruna) for a respite and repairs to the ship that was well battered in the storm. On leaving A Coruna we still had some technical problems and ended up going round in circles for around 4 hours to sort it all out.

Many seasoned cruise-goers tell me that this was the worst storm they had seen in many years of travelling so I was very pleased I got through it. Now we are nearly in Antigua and 3000 miles south the world is a different place - the temperature is rising - I am in shorts and the UK seems a life time ago. I have my sea legs and sleeping a whole lot better - in fact I can say I am beginning to enjoy myself!

The food is fantastic - the entertainment is West End standard and the people we have shared some time with have been most pleasant indeed. All types of people, in ages, sizes, health conditions - There are zimmer frames, walking sticks, serious fitness bods, children (not too many on a world trip).

I often wonder where all these people come from, how they came to be on this trip and how their lives have got them to this point. I have now time to find out from at least a few of them. One couple Sarah and Mark brought with them three children Verity (10 yrs.), Cordelia (5yrs) and Henrietta (3yrs). They are from Yorkshire where Sarah is a locum vet, Mark is a retired Policemen and they also have a Tea Room in a village outside Halifax. The eldest children have had permission to take time out from school - in fact the Head Teacher says that it would be a better all round short term education for them to be on a trip like this than stuck in a class room. How very modern that thought is - well done the school.

I have also met a Harbour Pilot from Brisbane, a hotelier from Plymouth and his wife who appear to enjoy the casino more than anything else - good luck to them! Jacky has met many more people as she is involved in the Christian fellowship, tap dancing classes, the choir and many other activities.

I quite like these different dress up or dress down evenings - a great British tradition is dressing for dinner, long may it last. I have tried hard not to eat or drink too much as discipline of intake is a definite must if I am not going home a very plum lad indeed.

Jacky brought with her a video on her Ipad of her local Zumba Teacher Ali Biller and has been bouncing up and down to what I can only describe as music you hear from many cars at Traffic Lights who have their audio up way too loud. She is loving it and says its a first class way of keeping fit. I am tired out just watching snippets of the programme. I recommend if you want to try something different try Zumba.

(PIC) - The Beautiful Cathedral at Santiago

Antigua here we come and I will up load some photos when I get to a free Wifi outlet. The ship's wifi is none too cheap but worth having a few minutes booked for Skype calls to the Grand Kids.
We had one excursion on shore in Spain. We visited the Cathedral at Santiago de Compostella which is a famous terminus for pilgrims and some 40 miles from A Coruna. This was one of the ship's excursions and jolly good it was too. Due to the diversion we now have had seven days at sea to the next stop. It is passing quickly and all is well.

(PIC) - Our first Cruise sunset approaching Antigua

The sun is really out now and we are only 800 miles out of Antigua. We will be there early Monday morning - we are now 3 hours behind GMT and another hour will be added after Antigua. Aruba and snorkelling on Wednesday, then the Panama Canal is next Friday 19th January and a blog on its own. We then have Nicaragua, on our way to San Francisco.

You can track the Aurora on www.pocruises.com/cruise-ships/aurora/webcam/

Regards and be in touch again soon...

DKT