There was a parcel waiting at the front door when we got home last night. They always just leave parcels at the front door and we've never had one stolen. Apparently the only thing that people around here steal is cars!! (yes, almost three months later and I'm still angry about the Lancer being stolen).
Anyway, the parcel was all of our tickets and stuff for the tour - I wasn't expecting it until next week. Apart from the fact that it's all in a very nice folder there's nothing much exciting in there, but it really feels now like the holiday is getting close.
If only I didn't have to get about three month's worth of work done in the next four weeks :-(
Saturday 26 June 2010
Sunday 13 June 2010
45 days until we leave Canberra
45 days to go, still working on the little things.
Picked up our $US cash from Travelex yesterday. I know we'll have to use ATMs with the usual horrendous fees once this lot runs out, but we wanted to start with some cash on hand. And in any case, we're going to need some small notes for tips within minutes of getting there. I don't know how anyone actually plans anything money-wise in the US - nothing actually costs what it says it will once you add on taxes, tips etc. Never mind, we'll survive.
As I said earlier, I'm checking out the blogs of people already on the cruise - it makes it feel closer and it's good (in a sad sort of a way) to hear about all the stuff we're missing. Amazing to see the different views people get of the same places though - they've just left India and some people seem to have been far more affected by the poverty and overcrowding than others.
Also on the blogs, someone posted in the last couple of days that she heard an American lady loudly complaining about the disgracefully casual dress standards of the Australians on board. Now, I've seen photos on a number of these blogs, and they're showing me what I think of as typical cruise dressing - fancy dresses and suits for formal nights but otherwise mostly casual shirts and shorts/capris etc. For heaven's sake, they're in the tropics, in summertime. If that lady is still on board when we leave Los Angeles, I'm afraid there'll just be two more disgracefully dressed Australians for her to look at :-) Specially if, as I suspect, by the time we get on board the first thing I'm going to have to do is find the laundry and do a load of washing!
To change the subject back to the coach tour in the US - I've found out that my cousin has already done a Cosmos tour in the US, similar but not the same as ours. I'm going to interrogate her at length about a couple of things I haven't been able to find out - the practical stuff like how hard was it to find laundries (yes, I know, every hotel we stay at will have a laundry service but you can double the cost of your holiday if you have to completely rely on the hotel laundry.)
Picked up our $US cash from Travelex yesterday. I know we'll have to use ATMs with the usual horrendous fees once this lot runs out, but we wanted to start with some cash on hand. And in any case, we're going to need some small notes for tips within minutes of getting there. I don't know how anyone actually plans anything money-wise in the US - nothing actually costs what it says it will once you add on taxes, tips etc. Never mind, we'll survive.
As I said earlier, I'm checking out the blogs of people already on the cruise - it makes it feel closer and it's good (in a sad sort of a way) to hear about all the stuff we're missing. Amazing to see the different views people get of the same places though - they've just left India and some people seem to have been far more affected by the poverty and overcrowding than others.
Also on the blogs, someone posted in the last couple of days that she heard an American lady loudly complaining about the disgracefully casual dress standards of the Australians on board. Now, I've seen photos on a number of these blogs, and they're showing me what I think of as typical cruise dressing - fancy dresses and suits for formal nights but otherwise mostly casual shirts and shorts/capris etc. For heaven's sake, they're in the tropics, in summertime. If that lady is still on board when we leave Los Angeles, I'm afraid there'll just be two more disgracefully dressed Australians for her to look at :-) Specially if, as I suspect, by the time we get on board the first thing I'm going to have to do is find the laundry and do a load of washing!
To change the subject back to the coach tour in the US - I've found out that my cousin has already done a Cosmos tour in the US, similar but not the same as ours. I'm going to interrogate her at length about a couple of things I haven't been able to find out - the practical stuff like how hard was it to find laundries (yes, I know, every hotel we stay at will have a laundry service but you can double the cost of your holiday if you have to completely rely on the hotel laundry.)
Sunday 6 June 2010
It's getting closer!
My Facebook "Countdowns" tell me it's 53 days until we leave Australia, and 68 days until the cruise starts. It still seems a really long way off, until I remember how quickly the year has gone so far - it's June already for heaven's sake (and work-wise, I've got about 5 months worth of work to do in that 53 days!).
Apart from packing, my to-do list is getting down to the 'little' things - organising money (it's amazing how much it costs to spend your own money overseas!), gathering up the last few little bits and pieces we're taking.
Oh, and of course I still need to sort out the minor issue of how we're going to get to Sydney from Canberra before the trip. I want to get a bus or train rather than having to go through the hassle of dropping off a rented car in Sydney, but that just creates another hassle of how to get to the bus or train at the Canberra end - Adam doesn't drive; everyone else we know who does drive also works and therefore would need to take time off to get us there; taxis are notoriously unreliable at peak hour here. I'm currently contemplating booking a limousine! Pity we can't take one all the way to Sydney - I checked; the budget isn't up to it :-(
We are going to do a trial "pack the suitcases" attempt in the next week or so. I normally wouldn't bother with such a thing - both Paul and I can pack for a three week trip in Oz in an hour the night before we leave! - but this one is much longer and also has the added issues of needing converters etc for being in the USA. Sometimes electronic stuff takes up more space in my suitcase than clothes, and I find myself thinking things like "I'd better chuck in another t-shirt so I can wrap it around that converter / power cord / etc". And, we both had to buy marginally *smaller* suitcases for this trip because of restrictions on the Cosmos part of the tour. Usually on a cruise your luggage limits are set by what the airline will carry, but Qantas limits are higher than the Cosmos ones, both weight and size ....
Today the Dawn Princess is heading towards India - I've been having fun reading the blogs of people who are already on board. Sounds like Paul and I will be at the younger end of the age range again - at least compared to the people who are doing the whole cruise; there are lots of people doing only part of the cruise because of time and/or money constraints (like us!!)
Apart from packing, my to-do list is getting down to the 'little' things - organising money (it's amazing how much it costs to spend your own money overseas!), gathering up the last few little bits and pieces we're taking.
Oh, and of course I still need to sort out the minor issue of how we're going to get to Sydney from Canberra before the trip. I want to get a bus or train rather than having to go through the hassle of dropping off a rented car in Sydney, but that just creates another hassle of how to get to the bus or train at the Canberra end - Adam doesn't drive; everyone else we know who does drive also works and therefore would need to take time off to get us there; taxis are notoriously unreliable at peak hour here. I'm currently contemplating booking a limousine! Pity we can't take one all the way to Sydney - I checked; the budget isn't up to it :-(
We are going to do a trial "pack the suitcases" attempt in the next week or so. I normally wouldn't bother with such a thing - both Paul and I can pack for a three week trip in Oz in an hour the night before we leave! - but this one is much longer and also has the added issues of needing converters etc for being in the USA. Sometimes electronic stuff takes up more space in my suitcase than clothes, and I find myself thinking things like "I'd better chuck in another t-shirt so I can wrap it around that converter / power cord / etc". And, we both had to buy marginally *smaller* suitcases for this trip because of restrictions on the Cosmos part of the tour. Usually on a cruise your luggage limits are set by what the airline will carry, but Qantas limits are higher than the Cosmos ones, both weight and size ....
Today the Dawn Princess is heading towards India - I've been having fun reading the blogs of people who are already on board. Sounds like Paul and I will be at the younger end of the age range again - at least compared to the people who are doing the whole cruise; there are lots of people doing only part of the cruise because of time and/or money constraints (like us!!)
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