Today I will tell you a little about Port Vila, which is the trading centre and capital of Vanuatu, all of us went ashore when there and what we saw didn’t impress us much but then we didn’t really see much of the area maybe if we had gone into town it would have been different but we didn’t so it is what it is.

Anyway from what I have learnt Port Vila has seen more history and change than many towns much bigger, when it comes to culture, tradition and history, how I don’t know I just read that on the info sheet the ship gives you. I can also tell you that you can find a mix of cultures in Port Vila such as Melanesian, French, English and Chinese to name a few.

It is a pretty large place with a population around 45,000, they speak English, French and Bislama and the government is a republic. The currency is Vatu but we found that all the stalls at the port took Australian dollars and the same at the shop we went to when we took a taxi ride into the nearest town which turned out not to be the nearest town at all if we wanted to walk a bit we would have seen more but neither my parents can walk a great distance.

Now some of you may have heard about Port Vila in the news when there was an accident over there involving passengers off one of P & O’s ships, I can tell you we saw no buses when we were there at the port there were many small taxi vans which are old Targo type vans and when I say old I mean old and as far as seat belt we rode in two different ones, one of them had a couple of seat belts but not enough for all in the van and the other had none that we could see.

Ok our second port of call was Dravuni Island, this is a very small island at the northern end of the Kadavu Group, that means nothing to me, just saying.

Anyway the island has less then 200 local people living there, they speak Fijian and English, it is virtually surrounded by the Great Astrolabe Reef and is suppose to be a diver’s paradise. The reef was named after French explorer Dumont d’Urville’s ship “Astrolabe”, which struck the reef in the 1820’s.

Tim went over to the island which you reach via tender but there is nothing really on the island, no cars or vehicles of any type, no large stores only a few market stalls set up by the locals for the tourist dollar. In fact Tim said there was nothing to indicate that one was living in the 21^st century.

I guess some would say it is one of the Pacific’s most unspoilt destinations, the government is a republic and they use Fijian dollars.

Hi all welcome to a Monday update also known as what has been happening in Jo-Anne’s little world since Thursday when she last posted. Well Friday saw Blain have the day off school as he was sick on Thursday with a gastro that has been going around and had to be without any symptoms for 24 hours before returning to school. It was only the previous Monday that the school made the news when 120 students were off sick with the gastro.

Friday was also the last day of the school term the boys are off for two weeks now and Jessica has taken Leo away to around the Casino area to visit a friend they left yesterday afternoon and will be home some time on Wednesday and when they are gone I have to bunny sit for her.

Back to Friday I had to get Leo from school but after doing the shopping I didn’t feel like going out and getting him so Kathy went and got him out an hour early before she went home. I appreciated that so much. Anyway Friday night Leo was sick with the same bug Blain had but was sicker then Blain who only had a bit of diarrhoea, Leo had diarrhoea and vomiting and felt pretty sick all night but was much better on Saturday.

However, at 2am on Saturday morning I woke up feeling like shit and ended up spending the whole day pretty much in bed sleeping except when I dragged myself out of bed to walk down to vote. Now I must have looked terrible and my balance was awful and both Blain and Leo were fighting I asked if Leo would like to walk down with me and he looked at me and said yes nanna you look like you will need help. He was worried I would fall over or throw up or something, thankfully we hadn’t gone far when his mum pulled up and drove me down to the school to vote, I said I would go in but Leo said no I am coming too I want to make sure you are ok and don’t fall over. Then when I was waiting in line to get my named marked off I was finding it difficult to stand still and not fall over so Leo was holding my hand and staying close to me.

When I got home from voting I went back to bed, yesterday Sunday was pretty much the same, I felt better but not 100% and still spent most of the day in bed. Last night at 9pm it hit Tim he was up vomiting and with diarrhoea for a bit and has called in sick to work this morning as he still doesn’t feel great but he is now where near as sick as I was.

Natasha was also sick last night vomiting and with diarrhoea but is feeling better today not great but well enough to be outside washing her car there was no way I would have been up do doing that over the weekend.

In other news yesterday morning at around 9am I get a phone call from my mum to inform me that my Uncle Ronnie had passed away, Uncle Ronnie is/was mums younger brother he was 74 two years younger then mum. Now when my Aunt Eileen rang mum’s Dawson answered the phone and didn’t know who it was and all she said was for him to tell nan that Ronnie died, which he did but this naturally shocked mum when he said that some aunt rang to say that Uncle Ronnie died mum said “what Ronnie died” he could tell mum was upset and asked who Uncle Ronnie was and mum said he is my brother. Dawson said if he realised it was her brother he would had gone in and woke her up, I fell Eileen should had told Dawson to go and get his nan so she could speak to her and not relay the news via mum’s 17 year old grandson but that is just me.

Now I know many of you are wondering what he died off well we don’t really know mum rang Eileen and spoke to her and she thinks his heart just gave out on him he has had a bad heart for many years and has had a couple of heart attacks and has had bypass surgery many years ago and may have had cancer of some kind. This is the second death in the extended family this year, some may say two down one to go and yeah often these things do seem to come in threes.

Now today I am 95% better still have a bit to go before I am fully recovered, I wonder why it has taken me longer to get over the damn gastro bug then the rest of the family.

Ok I am going to talk a bit more about our cruise, kinda, I am going over the next few days tell you a bit about each of our port of calls starting with the Isle of Pines as that was our first port of call.

The Isle of Pines was discovered by Captain James Cook in 1774 on his second voyage to New Zealand. He gave the island its name after seeing the tall native pines which the island is famous for, however, he never set foot on the island but noted that it was inhabited because he saw smoke.

In the 1840’s the island saw the arrival of missionaries first Protestant then Catholic along with traders looking for the precious sandalwood.

In 1872 the island became a penal colony for 3,000 French convicts, today the population is around 2,000 and its inhabitants remain extremely protected by the tribal system of old.

The language is French and Kanak dialects but many who deal with tourists also speak English, the local government is over seen by the French. The currency is the French Pacific Franc and many places also accept Australian money.

Also ancient burial sites and small archaeological relics dating back over 7,000 years can be found on the island.

The climate is usually warm and dry most of the year with afternoon trade winds helping to keep the humidity low.

This was written on Friday the 10^th June as we are pulling into Sydney harbour and I was up and dressed at 6.30am and ready to leave the ship but our time to leave the ship isn’t till 8.10 am what the hell. Tim has been up most the night as he was unable to sleep and mum said she has been awake since 5am so we are all up dressed and ready to leave the ships. Both Tim and mum have been down and collected their duty free grog.

Speaking of duty free grog when Tim and I were at Port Denarau we noticed that they had for sale the same bottles of grog mum bought for Dave and Sandy but the price was a $100 more per bottle ok the Jimmy was about a $120 more but you get the idea.

My parents bought me a lovely red purse that I really do like, they said they bought it for me to say thank you for all I did for them but I don’t think I did that much. Yes I shared cocktails with mum and showed them around the ship and all but really not that much.

The trip home from Sydney to Newcastle went smoothly more or less, we did seem to drive around Sydney a lot before we found ourselves headed home, we stopped for food an hour or so after leaving the ship.

I bought Leigh a sarong she has the figure for a sarong unlike me it wouldn’t go around my body but that is ok this who I am at this stage of my life. Mum also bought a sarong for Leigh.

Tim was pleased I didn’t spend a lot of money on gifts for people although he did seem to complain about what I did buy I told him that nothing I do seems to be enough for him. This is the last post about what we did on our holiday.

Thursday 9^th June 2016

Well the last day of our cruise has arrived and I woke up with a headache and feeling somewhat tired, I hope the day improves for me, this is also the anniversary of the day Tim and I met 33 years ago, Tim never forgets this anniversary nor our wedding anniversary which in fact makes me happy.

I had to ring reception this morning as Tim and I couldn’t agree what the time was he said the clocks went back an hour last night I said no so I rang reception and asked them and as it turned out I was right.

While at breakfast one of the staff noticed my mini lipsticks and was fascinated by them and how small they are, I take a few different shades of the Avon sample lipsticks with me when I go on holiday as once I left a favourite lipstick in New Zealand thankfully it was well worn down and not a new one since then I prefer to take the mini ones so if I lose one it is not a big deal also I can take a few different shades.

After breakfast we all went to a culinary demonstration followed by a tour of the galley then mum and dad wanted to return to their cabin to start packing and I decided to do the same leaving out only what I need for tonight and tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow we will have to be up bloody early tomorrow morning as we meet in the Marquee at 8.10am and have to be out of the cabin by 8am so we will be up early to have breakfast and be able to comeback to the cabin and pick up stuff before heading to the Marquee ready to leave the ship.

All in all this has been a good cruise, I have enjoyed myself and yes I would take another cruise in the future but not for a few years I think well at least 2 years down the track and I would love it if mum and dad could come with us again but I will worry about that sometime in the next 18-24 months.

I am really not feeling the best today my balance feels worse then it looks if that makes any sense if not well what I mean is that I keep feeling like I am going to stumble of fall over but if I walk slow which I have done I am ok and it doesn’t look like I am having a problem with my balance and my arm is also feeling very stiff today the worse it has felt in a while well the last couple of weeks but it is cooler today so maybe that has something to do with it I don’t know.

Let’s take a break from cruise posts and talk about nothing much…………..

Ok just got home from picking up Leo and Natasha is going ape shit in the kitchen because its such a mess (not) and she can’t cook without cleaning it (she can if she wants to). I don’t need to hear it over and over again. I know my kitchen isn’t as clean as she would like, hell my house isn’t as clean as she would like but it isn’t that bad either if you ask me. I told her that I feel nothing I do is good enough and she just went on about if I cleaned it like she asked she wouldn’t be going off at me.

Kathy has just been on the phone complaining that Sydney didn’t want to go straight home from school to play UNO with her mum instead she wanted to play with her friends at the park. Then when they got home she wanted to lay UNO but by that time they only had time to play one game before she had to stop and tend to Summer. So she got upset and snapped at Sydney and of course she felt bad because she loves her girls so much and like any good mother she gets upset when she loses it with her girls.

Mum was telling me that when her and dad went to the doctors dad was asked if he is having and problems with his memory and he started to say no and mum shook her head yes so dad was given the test to see how is memory was and shock horrors he passed with flying colours. He also admitted that he often doesn’t remember things mum tells him because he doesn’t listen he tunes out as he isn’t that interested.

Our last port of call was Noumea and we all went ashore and did some more shopping bought something for Jessica my special girl for her birthday she turned 27 while we were away.

I have to say that I really like the bag Tim bought me at Port Villa it holds a lot of stuff I will be taking it with me on every holiday we take from now on as it is just awesome.

We took a hop on hop off bus around Noumea which was $20 but let us to see some of the city without having to do a lot of walking as neither me or mum are up to doing a lot of walking, that said I did do a bit of walking as Tim and I got off and walked over to a park to take some photos while mum and dad stayed on the bus ok they didn’t stay on the bus we all had gotten off the bus to go to the museum but the museum was closed so mum and dad jumped back on the bus and came back to the ship whereas Tim and I walked around a bit.

That day after lunch I went to the cabin to drop things off and get the laptop and while I was walking to meet mum a man passed me and said you always look nice, I thought have you been talking to my mother, but it was nice to hear it from a stranger.

Hello all well here today going to tell you a little about my shore tour to Mystery Island and Tim, Tim & I went over to Mystery Island for a shore tour this one was the glass bottom boat tour and it was bloody awesome I really enjoyed it and I am so glad we went. Although it was bloody difficult getting in and out of the boat, so it is good that mum and dad didn’t come as I think mum would have had a lot more trouble trying to get in and out of the boat.

The night before when we went to dinner Tim had on a sleeveless shirt and was told he had to go and change it or put a jacket on as he wasn’t allowed in without sleeves. Well of course this rightly pissed him off as he gets a bee in his bonnet about why women can attend with shoestrings tops or even sleeveless tops and dresses and feels it is a double standard and maybe it is but it is the policy it isn’t the fault of the waiter it is just the way it is so didn’t have a go at the waiter as it isn’t his fault. So he got the shits and went up to eat on deck 12 at the pantry as he didn’t want to go and change his shirt although when I saw him later he had changed his shirt. Now Tim isn’t that keen on eating in the restaurant he prefers the pantry where you walk around and get what you want, I prefer to be waited on a bit and not have to go around to find my food as by the end of the day I am exhausted.

While over on Mystery Island I bought a pair on long pants and Tim says they are not going to fit you, I said if they don’t I will give them to my special girl as they would fit her. They didn’t fit.

Dad wasn’t great for a few days he didn’t sound that great to me and he was so glad he brought the oxygen with him as he has needed it many times on the cruise.

It was bloody hot over on the island and outside in general but quiet cool even cold inside on the ship. The first thing I did when I returned to the ship was go and take my joggers off and change into my sandals but I didn’t need to change my jeans as it is much cooler on board.

Hello everyone a break in the cruise posts for me to tell everyone that I have been sick as since Thursday, didn’t stop me from doing my shopping on Friday as per usual. Although have to say I wasn’t the best my balance wasn’t good my hand seemed to be shaking a bloody lot and on more then one occasion I felt like I was going to fall over and had to stop till I felt more steady.

Yesterday (Saturday) saw me sleeping most of the day thankfully didn’t have either Leo or Blain here, I told Leo he couldn’t sleep Friday night as he slept over on Wednesday night and can only sleep over one night a week.

Kathy-Lee came over to do Natasha’s hair yesterday morning and she had Summer with her but all Summer wanted to do was watch telly which annoyed her mother but I don’t see a problem with it when she is at home she likes to play with her toys and such but here she likes to watch telly, this may be because I don’t have a heap of toys for her to play with.

Kathy-Lee asked me what I would do when she would get really angry for no reason as a child, I told her I left her alone till she had calmed down, I didn’t try and talk to her or reason with her while she was angry. She said when she is like that at home Michael would tell her to go and have a nap and usually after a nap she is in a better mood.

I know my family are worried about me, mostly my parents and sister Sandra, this is the reason I hid the tremor for as long as I did. I don’t like to be the cause of worry for my family, with the exception of the last few days I generally feel well in myself the shaking of my hand doesn’t make me feel unwell. Yes the balance problems are getting worse I know it but usually only when I am tired or as I discovered on Friday when I am feeling unwell.

Sandra wants me to consider weight loss surgery but it isn’t something I want, and yeah I have thought about it at times but I just don’t want it this is something my mum understands but most people don’t.

It is another cold and wet day here, the type of day that makes one want to stay home and not go out just chill in front of the telly or go to bed, ok the going to bed is mostly because I am still feeling pretty sick. Although Tim wants us to go to Coles to get a few things soonish which of course I will do then I will be home to do nothing much at all again.

Oh I forgot to say how I am sick, I have a stuffed up head and I am very tired and have an headache so nothing serious just a general cold.