The video shows two swans with wings spread and uses 4 bath towels. You can also make the swans without their wings spread, which takes 2 bath towels and 2 hand towels. If you don’t have enough bath towels, but still want wings you can use hand towels and just make smaller wings. Click the link above for more detailed instructions on making individual swans with or without wings.
roll as tightly as you can
To make the main body for each swan fold a bath towel in half across the short side. Tuck the center point under your chin, hang it on a hook, or have someone hold it as in the video. Roll both sides to the center as tightly as you can. Notice in the video how the steward runs his hands down the length of the towel as he rolls it to make the rolls tight.
set the two swans chest to chest, at a point where their beaks reach the same height
Pose each swan chest to chest with their beaks at even height. Bend their necks back and place their heads with the beaks touching to form the heart shape. Finish off the bodies by tucking in the tail ends to a point and adding the wings or for swans without wings spread tuck a hand towel around the body as shown here. To make the wings fold a towel accordion style, set it over the swan and arrange the wings as desired.
these swans have googly eyes, but felt or paper works too
Finish off the swan heart by adding eyes to each swan. Use googly eyes or make your own eyes from felt or paper, using double stick tape to hold them in place. (Felt or paper eyes will somewhat stay on their own without the tape.)
the wings on these swans are made with hand towels
For instructions on how to fold other towel animals see My Cruise Stories towel animal page.
Katoomba is a major touristy area for Australia’s Blue Mountains. The train stops in town and from there you can catch either a city bus or hop on hop off bus out to Echo Point and Scenic World. Both places have trails for hiking to different viewpoints. Some hikes are long and steep. From Echo Point you get a close-up view of the area’s most famous rock formation, called the three sisters. You can also see them from Scenic World.
3 sisters rock formation from Scenic World
Australia’s Blue Mountains were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2000. The region is called Australia’s most accessible wilderness. The area covers over 400,000 acres with over 100 species of eucalyptus trees and ancient Wollemi Pines.
fern trees at Scenic World
Some areas, including Leura Cascades and Scenic World have prehistoric-looking fern trees. Terrain is steep and rugged with sandstone cliffs, waterfalls, caves, and canyons.
world’s steepest railway at Scenic World
Scenic World is a privately owned tourist attraction in a former coal mine. Scenic world has three rides including the world’s steepest railway. You can buy a one way ticket to any of the rides or an all day pass to ride all of them as many times as you would like. The railway goes to one end of a scenic walkway through a valley past the old coal mine, and the cableway (which used to be called the sceniscender) at the other.
The cableway is the largest and steepest aerial cable car in the Southern Hemisphere. You can take either the train or cablecar down and the other up, ride the same one down and up, or take the trail stairs instead and ride neither. The boardwalk between them has signs giving information about nearby plants or former mining activity. In some spots you can see into an old mine shaft or pose for photos with statues of the mining era. You can take the short route from one ride to the other or opt for the long way which has a mining village.
Scenic World Skyway near the station
The skyway runs over a gorge. The raised center part of the floor turns from opaque to clear during the crossing. It’s a great spot for people who want the view, not so much for those who are afraid of heights. One person who should have gone to the other part of the car got dizzy and fell during one of our crossings, but recovered enough to leave the car shortly after it reached the other end. The far side of the gorge has trails. One goes to a waterfall. Others connect into the trail system that leads to Echo Point or around the canyon where people can walk back to Scenic World.
inside the skyway
You can ride the skyway over from Scenic World and and either get in the queue to ride it right back, hike to the waterfall before going back, hike back, or hike on. Or just wander around looking at the views for a bit before going back.
cableway at Scenic World
There’s enough to see at Scenic World to spend a whole day there hiking around and riding the different rides. It also has a giftshop and café.
On the way from Seattle to Sydney, Royal Caribbean Explorer of the Seas stopped in Hawaii at Lahaina on Maui. Prior to the cruise we set up an excursion on our own with Trilogy, a popular catamaran day trip company there. Trilogy did offer a couple of 2-hour excursions through the ship, but we took an all-day trip from their website, sailtrilogy.com. They have a variety of sailing or sail and snorkel excursions to choose from, departing from three different harbors.
Trilogy at the dock in Lahaina Harbor
The Trilogy departed from the other side of the same dock in Lahaina where the ship’s tenders came to shore, making it quite convenient for arriving by ship. When excursion time approached they put up a sign for Trilogy near the dock, which is where everyone checked in. They did not have a booth offering last-minute tours among the many lining the harbor near the dock. Upon boarding they offer a variety of things to drink. I was happy to see a jug of reef-safe sunscreen sitting on a counter available for anyone who needs it. It’s nice to see that people care about saving the reefs.
putting up the sails on the Trilogy catamaran
While cruise ship sail and snorkel catamaran excursions often “sail” with the engine running due to time constraints, the Trilogy catamaran actually sailed a good portion of the way from Maui to Lanai, which the locals spell Lana’i. Of course they also spell Hawaii as Hawai’i.
fresh hot cinnamon rolls
You won’t go hungry on this excursion. Not long after leaving port they served cinnamon rolls hot and fresh from the oven. We weren’t underway too long before they came back around with fresh fruit. Before arriving at the island we were served wraps in a variety of flavors as well.
if you sit on the net you get wet
There’s lots of options for places to sit on the catamaran. It has some inside seating as well as seating outside across the back. It also has seating around the edges of the front with tables containing cupholders, handy for the drinks they provide. The boat is also equipped with a couple heads, shipspeak for bathrooms. There are nets across a couple sections of the bow, which are also seating (or lying down) options for those who don’t mind getting a bit – or a lot – wet along the way. The other bow seats get splashed sometimes as well, but we sat there anyway.
flowers by the beach on Lana’i
We came on a windy day when the waves were fairly high so people got a bit wetter than they would on a calm flat day. Of course the wind is a great help for the sails. Along the way they offered a snuba add-on to the excursion for an extra charge. Snuba instruction was provided along the way for interested parties. It’s a way for beginners to have a chance at diving. They also had a photographer for anyone interested in purchasing a photo package if they liked their photos. The photographer asked in advance who thought they might want photos so they could concentrate on taking pictures of just those people, who had no obligation to buy them.
beach on Lana’i
Arrival at the island came with the option of a quick van ride or short walk to the beach. Everyone was given a shell necklace, which marked us as having permission to be on that private beach. At the beach they provided snorkel gear as well as instructions. The snorkel instructions included some great hints like put the mask onto your face first, make sure it gets a good seal, and then pull the strap over the back of your head because if you put the strap on first and then pull the mask down it brings your hair with it which breaks the seal. Also it should be snug, but not too tight because if it is too tight the mask may become distorted and break the seal, which of course makes it leak. When you can pull it an inch or so away from your face it is just right.
our Trilogy group had an area at the beach with a tree and picnic tables
They also suggested anyone who had not put sunscreen on prior to that point not put it under where the mask goes and anyone who had wipe it off that area because sunscreen can come off under the mask and get into your eyes leaving them with a painful burning feeling. Of course after getting out of the water that area would need sunscreen and it’s always recommended to re-apply for the rest of your body after swimming anyway. They brought the jar of reef-safe sunscreen ashore for people to use there.
wild turkeys on the roadside
Options for the island included spending the whole time at the beach, taking an island tour in the vans, or a short hike. We opted for the island tour. There wasn’t anything spectacular to see, but the tour guide/driver provided an interesting history of the island.
pine trees along the roadside next to now-empty fields that once held pineapple plantations
The current vegetation is non-native, the original having been eaten by cattle and goats that once roamed the island. Cattle ranches were replaced by pineapple plantations, which are all open land now. Current residents mainly make their living from tourism. Besides day trippers the island has several hotels. Other than people’s private homes the majority of the island is owned by Larry Ellison, billionaire founder of Oracle Corp.
one of the many fish we saw snorkeling on Lanai
Long ago the cowboys planted pine trees which attract water out of the atmosphere and drip it onto the ground where it soaks in to fill the aquifer. They are up on the ridges of hills as well as lining the roads and in a park in Lana’i City, the island’s only town.
it was easy to find fish and coral when snorkeling off the beach in Lanai
Our driver said Trilogy is a great company to work for. Besides the catamarans and the building at the harbor where they serve lunch, Trilogy owns a store and gas station. Every year Trilogy provides free turkeys to all of the island’s residents at Thanksgiving. The island has wild turkeys roaming about and some little deer called axis deer that keep the white spots usually just found on fawns for their entire life. These deer are not native to the island, but are descendants of those brought there as gifts to King Kamehameha in the 1860’s.
Back at the beach we went in for some snorkeling. There was a pretty good surf that day, but once through the surf the water beyond it was fine for snorkeling. At first it was just sand, but once you get out a bit there are reefs and lots of fish. The beach is in a park with restricted access and was not very crowded on the day we were there. The Trilogy people are on shore where everyone leaves their things when they go into the water and nobody has ever had anything stolen there.
lots of different kinds of fish
Drinks and potato chips sat on a picnic table, available for anyone on the tour who wanted them. When asked about their no-rinse snorkel mask defogger they said it was Dawn dish soap mixed with lots of water. It worked better than the commercial de-fogging products you spray in and rinse out. They said Johnson’s baby shampoo with a lot of water also works well.
lunchtime
When our beach time was up we went back to the boat dock area to their building full of tables and a barbecue area. They made a great meal which they called lunch even though it was served around 3pm. It included salad and rolls, chicken, corn on the cob, and yakisoba noodles with veggies.
barbequed chicken is served
There is a ferry from Maui to Lanai which lands at the same docks as the Trilogy catamarans at both ends. Due to the fact that last tender to our ship was just 15 minutes after the Trilogy’s scheduled return time we took the ferry back for an earlier arrival on the advice of the people at Trilogy who said though they would return on time they could not guarantee getting to the dock before the last tender if the harbor master held them back due to other boat traffic given priority to enter first – like the ship’s tenders for instance.
ferry runs from Maui to Lanai
Though Trilogy’s departure was planned for 4pm and the ferry for 4:30, the ferry crosses in just 45 minutes while Trilogy sails around for a couple hours (with an open bar) as they work their way back. Due to the rough seas both left about 15 minutes late. The ferry got there late and it took awhile to unload because after all the people left they were still removing a bunch of trees and other landscape plants, presumably for someone on the island. The ferry arrived back in Maui about half an hour late while Trilogy arrived on time so we only got there 15 minutes earlier by taking the ferry.
Trilogy leaving Lanai
As it turned out we made the second to last tender from the ferry, and would have made the last tender from Trilogy, but when your next port is 7 days and an ocean away you don’t take chances on missing the ship. For ships with an earlier departure there is also a 2:00 ferry. To insure a place on the ferry you can either buy the tickets in advance on the Maui side, or just put your name on the list for that sailing at the booth in Lahaina and buy the ticket in Lanai. The Lanai booth was only manned shortly before the ferry’s arrival.
Trilogy returning to Maui at sunset
The Trilogy tour is a fun adventure for anyone visiting Maui, whether vacationing there or visiting by cruise ship. Besides the trip to Lanai they also offer several other sail and snorkel tours, sunset sailing or sunset sailing with dinner, and when in season whale watching tours.
Carnival Magic backed slowly into the dock at Amber Cove near Puerta Plata in the Dominican Republic under sunny skies, which were quite welcome on a day where the weather forecast included thundershowers. Although it rained some overnight, no thunder or showers made an appearance during our stay.
display at Amber Cove cruise port
Amber Cove is a fairly new purpose-built cruise ship port. Which means everything there was built specifically for the port. It’s not in a previously existing town. The port area has shops (of course) as well as a pool, waterslide, zip line, and a variety of displays. Each display has different information, some about flora and fauna of the local area. Others are about the amber that gives Amber Cove its name and larimar, the blue Caribbean stone found only in one mine in the world – in the Dominican Republic. While amber is normally the orangish amber color associated with the name, other colors are found in the Dominican Republic including rare and valuable blue amber found only there.
Amber Cove cruise ship port
Anyone who hasn’t booked an excursion through the ship can find things to do on their own whether they just want to hang around the port or venture off to see more. Excursion booths offer last minute tours and people can also opt for a taxi to the beach or a taxi tour. For a cheaper ride dodgy-looking unlicensed taxis sit out beyond the boundary of the port’s gates.
shops at Amber Cove
Not having been to the Dominican Republic before, we booked an excursion through the ship because the grandkids wanted to see dolphins and we were unsure of the price, availability, or reliability of local transportation. Unfortunately when booking Ocean World through the ship if you want to go on the same bus everyone has to do the same excursion. If you got there on your own and some wanted to do the dolphin encounter, some the dolphin swim, and some just wanted park admission you could do so.
stingray at Ocean World
Admission through the park’s website cost the same as through the ship, but included lunch instead of transportation. The brochure made it sound like once you paid for a dolphin swim or encounter the admission included everything else in the park. Once we got there we found out waterslides cost and additional $10, which was a disappointment to the oldest grandson because there were not enough slides nor did we have enough time to justify the extra cost for everyone, where we would have used them briefly if you could just go slide down.
platforms for the dolphin encounter – we got the roofed one and appreciated the shade
The minimum age for the dolphin swim is 6 so we did the encounter instead since the youngest grandson was just 5. The price is also less for the encounter. Before going to the dolphin platform people have to remove things like jewelry and hair clips because anything a person loses may be eaten by a dolphin. There’s a roofed area with wooden railings near the platforms where people can put their things. Nothing goes in the pen with the people, not even cameras. They do have professional photographers and of course would like to sell people the photos and video they take.
dolphin encounter at Ocean World with all the grandkids and my daughter and sister
The park has birds, stingrays, sharks, and other fish as well as the dolphins. Shows include bird, sea lion, shark, and dolphin. Local time there was an hour later than ship’s time. Carnival cruises that start and end at the same port stay on ship’s time which is the same time as the port of origination. With all the shows and exhibits there was more at Ocean World than we could see or do during the amount of time we had to spend at the park before we had to catch the return bus to the ship. Though we were on a ship’s excursion, once the dolphin encounter finished we were free to explore the rest of the park on our own and responsible for getting ourselves to the meeting point for the bus on time.
Daniel gets a kiss
The kids loved the dolphin encounter. They divided the participants into 3 groups, 2 of which sat on the sides while the third went into the somewhat cold water of a small square area with a floating cement walkway surrounding it. Dolphins could freely swim under the walkway into that area or back out. Two came in when we first arrived. One stayed and the other was sent out to another group on a different platform. Our platform had a cover and some shady areas, but the other one was open to the elements.
Hannah just gave the dolphin a fish
There was an underwater platform along the edge of the floating one for the people in the water to stand on. The dolphin swam up and down the line of people, doing different things. The trainer told everyone in advance what parts of the dolphin were OK to touch and what was not. He let people pet him, hug him, and then kissed everyone. I’d have preferred to leave that part out in case any of the other people had germs he could spread, but none of us got sick from the dolphin’s kiss. At the end everyone fed him a small fish and he waved his fin goodbye. The dolphin could have swam under the platform and left at any time if he wanted to, but he preferred to stay and eat the fish he got for participating.
sea lion show
We also went to the sea lion show and the aviary. The kids enjoyed the walk-through building where love birds flock to anyone with a bit of the bird seed handed out there. The birds also loved sitting on top of heads or hats.
snorkel tank at Ocean World
One area had a large fish tank where people could snorkel. Anyone who was too young or who didn’t want to get wet could watch the fish or snorkelers through glass panels on some portions of each side of the tank. The snorkeling had a specific entrance and exit so everyone in the tank swims in the same direction.
Hannah with love birds in the aviary
The dolphins and other large sea mammals there all seemed happy. We even saw some dolphins playing with balls just for fun without any trainers around. Their habitat was pretty spacious and they got lots of fish to eat. Dolphins and sea lions are very smart. The US navy uses both. Some of the ones the navy trains live in the wild and come to work voluntarily – paid in fish. One of their jobs for the navy is to locate and recover old mines, which they can do safely because living mammals don’t set the mine off like a metal ship or submarine would.
Juneau has two zip line options, Alaska Zipline Adventures and Alaska Canopy Adventures. If you come by cruise ship the ship’s excursions may include an option to book through them. You can also book on your own online in advance of your cruise. The Holland America Oosterdam offered an excursion called Alaska’s Ultimate Canopy & Zipline Expedition. This tour went to the Treadmill Mine site, which is out on Douglas Island. Transportation includes a speedboat ride to the island and a drive up a mountain in a 4×4 all terrain vehicle. 10 dual ziplines add up to nearly a mile of cable over the ruins of the old Treadmill gold mine with views of Juneau from the treetops. This course has 2 suspension bridges and rappelling down at the end. Participants wear the sturdy gloves provided and hand brake themselves at the end of each zip.
everyone is clipped to a tree on the platforms between ziplines
Our ship just offered the one zipline course through Alaska Canopy Adventures. We booked the other one at Alaska Zipline Adventures online prior to the cruise because one of our traveling companions on that cruise does not like small boats. At the time we went the one we chose cost $20 less than the other place – which cost the same whether booking through the ship or not.
The first guide leaving the first platform. Each platform had a tree sign with a different name.
Alaska Zipline Adventures picks up booked tour participants in town near the Mount Roberts tram at a pre-arranged time so transportation out to the site was not a problem even though this was not a ship’s tour. After a scenic van ride to the Eaglecrest Ski Area we all got out of the van and went into the ski lodge. Our driver, Julia, was also one of our zipline guides. We picked up our other guide, Adam, at the lodge where we stopped prior to the tour. They had bins there for any belongings people couldn’t or didn’t want to take along with them through the zipline course. Some items are not allowed and others just get in the way.
before each zip the guide clips the person to the line
Raincoats were provided to anyone who wanted them. Although we lucked out with sunny weather, they suggested wearing the raincoats anyway to prevent getting any tree sap on our own clothes. Everyone did so, which makes people easy to spot for photos as that bright orange coat flies through the green trees. Anyone not hugging a tree probably wouldn’t have gotten sap on their clothes, but better safe than sorry and a lot of other colors blend into the scenery so the raincoats made better pictures.
some of the zipline platforms had great views
A short ride in a different van brought us to a trail leading to their suit-up stop where everyone was provided with all the necessary gear. The pulley cable bits that hook onto the ziplines each had an animal name. Mine was Bear which sounds quite sturdy and strong, unlike some of the others like Beaver. They offered a bunny slope zip for anyone who hadn’t tried ziplining before and wanted to try a small one first, but had no takers from our group for that so we all went on to the main course. The guides clipped everyone’s harness to a cable on the tree with instructions never to touch that clip. Before any guests could go the first guide left for the next landing platform where he would catch the incoming zipliners. At each stop the guide who catches people at the far end always went first while the other stayed to clip everyone onto the line at their turn.
the guide on the landing platform waits to catch the incoming person
Some ziplines we have done had the harness clipped to a continuous line that you follow around the tree and the order people go never changes. This one clipped in fixed places on the tree and the order in which people went changed on each platform, other than the guides who always went first and last.
once all the people had gone the second guide zipped to the next platform
One by one each participant zipped over, followed by the other guide. They had a braking system on the line so no protective gloves or hand braking was required. They send a little bobber thing out a little ways down the cable on a rope so when the person comes in it slows them down to a near stop making it easier for the guide waiting on the platform to catch them.
the braking system near the landing platform slows down the incoming zipliner so there’s no need to brake yourself with a hand on the line
On each zip participants have the option to hold the handlebars on their harness or go hands free. We could take off forward or backward from the platforms and could take photos or video on the way across. They preferred heads to stay above feet, but when people opted to lean back or turn upside down they just had to make sure and be upright with their knees up by the time they got to the platform.
hands free ziplining allows for creative positions
Some of the platforms towered over a scenic creek. Each one had a name. Trees in the area are either spruce or hemlock and one platform on a 500+ year old hemlock was called Grandpa Hemlock. The guide said a nearby tree was named Grandma Hemlock. The course included one suspension bridge and a stairway down at the end. At one platform cups of blueberry tea awaited each person as they came in for a landing.
suspension bridge in the zipline course
The last zip ends on a low platform with a short stairway to the ground. After the last zipline the guides announced our next activity was axe throwing – at orange and white targets. They wore blue helmets and no raincoats while the rest of us stood there in orange raincoats and white helmets. But they had actual orange and white targets, not the people. In pairs of two each person got 3 chances to sink an axe into the target. Some people did quite well, others (like me) not so much. You didn’t have to be any good at it to have fun though.
guides demonstrating the axe throwing
The guides (Julia and Adam) took photos throughout the course and at the axe throwing. Back at the lodge they offered granola bars as a snack while playing a slideshow of all the photos they had taken. Of course they offered them for sale as well, along with merchandise in the gift shop there. Even a zip line ends at the gift ship, reminiscent of all the rides at theme parks.
video of zipline and axe throwing
Our parting gift was a green water bottle with their logo on it. Back on the ship we had dinner with a couple who had taken the ship’s zip line excursion to the other place. They had a great time too, and showed us the medal they got as their parting gift.
ziplining in Juneau
Whichever course you choose, ziplining in Juneau is a great way to have a good time whether visiting Juneau for the day as a cruise ship passenger or spending a longer time there on a land vacation.
Ever since Carnival launched their new American Table menus people have complained about everything from the food to the lack of table cloths. A lot of those complaints come from people who have never actually given it a try. We had the opportunity to compare the old and new menus once when sailing back to back on one ship with the old menu and one with American Table. Click here to see how they compare.
The American Table includes side dish options like the veggies with this ham dinner which originally came with Brussel sprouts. You can order them in addition to the meal, instead of a component of a meal, or just make up your own meal from side dish selections.
The biggest change with American Table isn’t the menu itself, but the removal of tablecloths from the dining room except on formal nights. Cruisers are accustomed to dining on white table cloths regardless of the ship and complain constantly about this, but from an environmental standpoint it saves a whole lot of loads of laundry that would have otherwise needed washing daily. The naked tables look something like an upscale bistro. The only real problem with the lack of tablecloths is condensation under the glasses, a problem which could easily be solved by the addition of coasters, though as of my last time on Carnival that had not been done. Not having tablecloths on casual nights makes elegant nights stand out as something special with different table décor as well as the tablecloths.
fish dinner on Carnival’s American Table menu
We had the opportunity on the Vista to meet with Carnival’s Brand Ambassador and spokesperson John Heald and get his thoughts about American Table.
Cruise lines across the board have to do what they can to keep their costs down or raise fares. Complaining about the food seems to be standard now on all lines. Even when sailing with any line for the first time we hear repeat cruisers there say the food isn’t what it used to be. We have noticed that the food will vary considerably from ship to ship even within the same line, or at a later sailing on the same ship. Not just the dining room either, even the premium places that you pay extra for can have a dish that is far better on one cruise than another. I’ve had excellent and not so good food on different ships of the same line on more than one line. Quality of the food must reflect the chef and galley staff since even the exact same dish can be excellent or less than memorable from one cruise to another.
penne pasta
Overall we find some days with menus where lots of things sound good and some days where nothing really does on every line. The vegetable lasagna is a stand-out dish from Carnival’s American Table that is consistently good every time we’ve had it. Actually most of the pastas are usually pretty good.
seafood dishes are popular with cruise ship passengers
Some cruises start in Sydney, some end there, and some are round trips out of Sydney. When cruising to or from Sydney it’s nice to spend a bit of extra time there to see the area. Sydney has great public transportation. From ships that dock at the Overseas Cruise Terminal in Circular Quay it’s about a 200 yard walk to the train station. From there you can take a train to Central Station, from which you can find trains going all over. One of the options is to take a train up to the Blue Mountains. Central Station also has a line going to the airport. If your ship docks in at the White Bay Cruise Terminal neither tourist attractions nor public transportation are as convenient, but there are taxis and ferries.
Prehistoric looking fern tree
If Sydney is just a port stop there might still be time for a trip up to the Blue Mountains, especially if the ship overnights there or offers day trips as an excursion. To get there by train take the Blue Mountain Line from Central Station. Leura or Katoomba are popular towns to visit. The view of the Three Sisters rock formation from Echo Point and the walking trails there are a major tourist attraction, as is Jenolan Caves, which takes longer to get to since it is on the far side of the Blue Mountains. The train stations aren’t always near the attractions, but the towns have busses.
picnic shelter at Leura Cascades
Leura has shops, restaurants, galleries, gardens, and even a Toy and Railway museum. Katoomba’s major attraction is Scenic World featuring Blue Mountain views and several different rides up or down a mountain or across a canyon.
Leura toy & railroad museum
Jenolan Caves is farther west on the far side of the Blue Mountains from Sydney. It has tours through 10 of the stalactite and stalagmite filled scenic caves there. They also have some options for adventure caving through undeveloped caves.
Jenolan Caves
Other lesser-known attractions in the Blue Mountains may require a car to get there. Euroka Clearing is home to wild grey kangaroos, which are smaller than the big reds of the outback, but bigger than wallabies. Colorful birds like rainbow lorakeets and cockatoos also call the park home. There’s a campground there.
Red Hands Cave
Red Hands Cave is a small cave alongside a trail in Blue Mountains National Park that can be accessed from Euroka Campground or Glenbrook. These small indentations in the rock have ancient aboriginal handprints, which are fenced off for their protection, but visitors can look in and see the red handprints that give these small caves their name.
skink on the trail to Red Hands Cave
The Blue Mountains have lots of little off the beaten track places and bushwalking trails that locals or any visitors lucky enough to stumble across them or who have a local guide might find. Bushwalking is what Aussies call hiking through the forest.
big bristlecone on a tree
A lot of the forests of the Blue Mountains are made up of Eucalyptus, also called gum trees by the locals. This favorite food of the koalas is not the only tree around though. Luera and Katoomba have pockets of prehistoric looking fern trees, and near the Three Sisters lookout we saw some strange looking bristlecone trees as well. Some with huge cones and others with small ones.
wild emu
Although some of Australia’s wildlife is deadly, we have never seen any of their many species of poisonous snakes in the wild. We have had spider encounters within civilization, but whether any we saw out in the bush were of the poison sort I can’t say since they did not bite anyone. My daughter once had one of Australia’s deadly Sydney Funnel Web spiders living just outside her front door, but that one didn’t bother anyone. A poisonous whitetail spider bit me in her house once though. They like to hide in bedding and I woke up with the bite on one elbow just before we left for home. The bite grew and ulcerated until I read somewhere online to treat it with ice because nothing else would work and then it finally got better.
birds invited themselves to the leftovers at this outdoor cafe in the middle of nowhere
We went out into the bush a couple times with her shirtail relatives Phil and Marlene. They’re great tour guides who know the area well having lived there for many years. They knew where to find wild emus, great scenery, and all sorts of little places only locals know about.
Hassans Walls Reserve
They took us to a great viewpoint at Hassans Walls Reserve and a bush cafe in the middle of nowhere somewhere near Lithgow.
The towel snowman is easy in that you don’t have to make any precise folds or tight rolls. The challenging part is getting the “snowballs” to stack – and stay put. It’s OK if the snowballs aren’t perfectly round. In fact if the top and bottom are a bit flat it will help with stacking.
Supplies Needed for Making a Towel Snowman
2-3 Bath Towels
1-2 Hand Towels
Decorative Christmas Snow (sheet of cotton)
Decorations
Directions for Making a Towel Snowman
roll a towel into a ball
To make the bottom snowball start by rolling one hand or bath towel into a ball. There’s no right or wrong way to do that. For me it worked out best to start with one corner and scrunch, roll, and ball the towel up from there. After the first towel is in a ball, wrap a bath towel around it, again scrunching, rolling, and folding the towel as needed to make it somewhat round. The inner towel can be any color, but it helps if the outer one is white. The snowman pictured started with a hand towel, which did not really make the bottom ball any bigger than the middle one made from just one towel so I’d recommend using 2 bath towels for the base.
wrap fake cotton Christmas snow around the towel
After you finish rolling your snowball wrap a piece of the decorative cotton used as fake snow at Christmastime around it and cut to size.
finished towel snowball
For the middle snowball use just one bath towel, again scrunching and rolling it into a ball, then covering it with fake cotton snow.
Roll one hand towel into a ball and cover with fake cotton snow for the head.
use some of the fake cotton snow for the snowman to stand on
Stack the “snowballs” just like stacking real ones – except these don’t squish into each other or stay on as easily as actual snow. Do whatever works to get them to stay stacked, whether that means careful placement or patting the top and/or bottom of some of the snowballs into a flatter shape. If desired spread out a piece of the fake cotton snow to put the snowman on so it looks like he’s out in the snow.
snowballs stacked and ready to decorate
Once the snowballs are stacked in place you can decorate as desired. My snowman’s eyes are googly eyes, which are taped onto black felt so they stand out more against the white of the snowman. Eyes could also be made from things like felt, paper, or pop-poms. For the nose I rolled a triangle of orange felt to resemble a carrot. Double stick tape holds the eyes and nose onto the snowman. His mouth is tiny red pom-poms, which stick to the cotton on their own without tape. The buttons are larger blue pom-poms.
towel snowman
This snowman’s hat is re-purposed from a hat bought at the dollar store for a towel leprechaun, decorated with red trim previously used for making a towel reindeer.
towel snowman
Sometimes people use sticks to make arms for real snowman. Pipe cleaners (aka fuzzy sticks or chenille stems) can be made into stick shapes and tucked into the sides of the middle snowball for the towel snowman’s arms.
Royal Caribbean has all the regular room types you find on most large cruise ships – suites, balconies, ocean view, and inside. They also have some unique features on ships like Explorer of the Seas, which has inside cabins with virtual balconies and inside cabins with views of the Royal Promenade – an area inside the ship that resembles a city street. Besides the standard lower deck ocean view cabins there are also some upper deck cabins with panoramic ocean views with nearly the entire outer wall a window. Lower deck ocean view cabins have round windows. These may look like portholes, but actual portholes are smaller and have covers that can close them up during stormy weather. This ship has no true porthole cabins for passengers.
owner’s suite room 1320
Suite categories vary from junior suites to grand suites, owner’s suites to two bedroom, two bathroom royal family suites to the biggest royal suite of all, which at 1188 square feet is bigger than my house. Suites vary in shape and size and while many are grouped together on deck 10, others can be found about the ship in other locations.
bathroom in the owner’s suite
Cabin numbering is a bit different on this ship than on ships we’ve sailed on previously. It has even numbers for outside cabins and odd numbers for inside cabins rather than even for port and odd for starboard. Decks 9 and below have the cabin number starting with the deck number, as is usual on most ships, but the cabin numbers on decks 10 and above give no indication of the deck where that cabin resides without looking at deck plans that say which numbers are located where.
interior cabin 1279 with decorations
Sometimes cruise ship passengers have a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary while onboard. They can arrange in advance to have the room decorated before they board, which is usually done as a surprise for someone in the room.
accessible interior cabin 1637 with virtual balcony
bathroom in accessible cabin has roll-in shower with fold-down bench
Accessible rooms are available in interior, oceanview, balcony, and junior suites. Besides having accessible features, these cabins tend to be larger than others in the same category.
Royal Family Suite room 9694
Royal suites have over a thousand square feet with a separate bedroom and a balcony as big as the average stateroom. They sleep up to 4 people.
Royal Family Suite balcony
Royal family suites have less interior space, but even larger balconies. These suites sleep up to 8 people with 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 drop down bunks, and a sofa bed for 2.
Grand Suite room 1578
Grand suites sleep up to 4 people with separate bedroom and living room areas. Both the room and the balcony are about double the size found in standard balcony staterooms.
rear-facing junior suite room 1694
Junior suites sleep up to 4 people and are about as big as a stateroom and a half.
superior balcony corner cabin 1688
Balcony staterooms come in superior and deluxe with superior having a slightly larger room and deluxe a slightly larger balcony. Some superior balcony cabins sleep up to four people while deluxe cabins sleep a max of three.
ocean view cabin 2564 sleeps 4 with drop-down bunks
Oceanview cabins come with either a panoramic view with the entire exterior wall as window on deck 12 or with a standard round window, which is larger in deck 3 rooms than on deck 2. Ocean view rooms with round windows are also available at the front of the ship on a variety of decks. Family ocean view rooms are larger than the rest and sleep a maximum of 6 people while the maximum in other ocean view cabins is 4. Some of the family ocean view cabins have bunk rooms. Large ocean view cabins are bigger than standard cabins, but smaller than the family ones. These are found mainly at the bow.
view from interior promenade view cabin 6611
In addition to standard inside cabins, Explorer has some interior cabins with virtual balconies. It also has some with real windows and a view of the city-like promenade. The max guests for interior rooms is 4. Virtual balconies are a false window with a real-time video view.
inside cabin 6611 with promenade view
Our cabin had lots of storage space, which is typical of all the staterooms on this ship. The closet had pull-down extra racks and space for life jackets to sit on top of the closet so they weren’t taking up room inside. It had 2 sets of drawers and 2 side mirrors with shelves behind them at the desk area and 2 small cupboards above the TV. Each nightstand had a shelf and a drawer and there was a 3-shelf storage cabinet behind a side mirror in the bathroom. The refrigerator came empty so people could put what they wanted to in it. It did have an option to purchase mini-bar items, none alcoholic.
family ocean view cabin 6500 has a bunk room
The room had two outlets in the desk area, which is one more than you find on some ships, but not enough for most people so it’s always a good idea to bring your own power strip. Walls are magnetic which is helpful for keeping paperwork organized if you bring magnets. The cabin doors are magnetic too which comes in useful for people who like to decorate them.
interior cabin 1275 with virtual balcony
The bathroom had the smallest clothesline we’ve ever seen on a cruise ship in its little round shower. Bringing some sort of clothesline of your own comes in useful, especially since this ship has no guest laundries. Bathroom supplies provided included a dispenser in the shower with 2 in one shampoo/conditioner and tubes of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, and hand lotion. They also provided bars of soap. We enjoyed our time on Explorer of the Seas and would be happy to sail with Royal Caribbean again.
This is a super simple recipe. It just makes a few because if you microwave chocolate chips too long the chocolate seizes up so you don’t want to make too much at a time. Plus they all have to get rolled before the chocolate hardens. The recipe is easily altered so when more are wanted you can have all sorts of different flavors by using different types of chocolate chips and flavorings for each batch. It’s so quick and easy it’s a great recipe for those times when you were supposed to bring treats somewhere, but forgot to make any. Or if you just want something tasty, but fast and easy to make.
easy chocolate truffles
Easy Chocolate Truffles
Ingredients
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
1 teaspoon butter
1/2 – 1 teaspoon Baileys Irish Cream
Directions
Put chocolate chips and butter in microwave safe bowl. Microwave until butter melts and chips are soft enough to blend. The chips hold their shape until you stir them so don’t wait for a pool of melted chocolate that’s never coming. Stir at 20 second intervals. Do not overcook. Stir butter and chips, add Irish Cream and stir until fully blended. Use less liquor for a subtle flavor, more if you want it stronger. Form into balls and roll in sprinkles. Let cool and eat. You can speed up the cooling time by putting them in the refrigerator, but don’t leave them in too long or they get too hard. Makes 4-6 truffles depending on the size.
For more variations and different flavors use milk chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips, different types of liquor (Amaretto works well with chocolate), or things like orange juice, lime juice, or juice strained from fresh raspberries. With fruit juice you may want to double the amount because the flavor is not as strong as alcohol. Or add some zest for more flavor if using fresh squeezed orange or lime juice. Another option is to skip the liquid or use cream, and stir in some coconut or nuts and roll them in coconut or finely chopped nuts instead of sprinkles.
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