FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 12th Port – Thursday Island, Australia – Day 29
February 27, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 12th Port – Thursday Island, Australia – Day 29
Tuesday, February 23rd
- If it’s Tuesday…how could we be at Thursday Island?
- We couldn’t! Way too rough and choppy seas rendered the tenders unboardable. So after an hour of attempting they gave up and the days excursions were cancelled. (Rumor had it there wasn’t much to see anyway)
Disclaimer: This is Not Thursday Island. But Hey They All Look Alike!
- Oh well, Champagne for lunch it is!
FUN-cocktail – Hemingway Daiquiri – Havana Club Especial Rum, Maraschino Liqueur, fresh ruby red grapefruit, hand-extracted lime juice, & simple syrup.
- OMG! After four weeks on board we have been clearly over-served and over-fed!
- Tonight we were told to set our clocks back 30 minutes. Like what’s the point?
FUN-fact – Thursday Island is part of a chain of more than 100 islands stretching like stepping stones to Papua New Guinea.
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 11th Port – Hamilton Island, Australia – Day 27
February 26, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 11th Port – Hamilton Island, Australia – Day 27
Sunday, February 21st
- Since La Cimbali “the God of the perfect cup” doesn’t get woken up until 9 am, we sleep in every morning until 8:40. Today was the first day we’ve had to wake up. 7:00 am. Yikes! Felt like the middle of the night! Turns out room service Americano coffee is actually not bad.
- The main sail was raised by hand even though the mast on our 66’ catamaran was 100 feet high. Not a problem when you have a staff of strappy young sailors!
My fantasy realized…I finally got to be “rail candy”
…OK in mi sueños…maybe in another life!
- What I love most about sailing is the quiet. As you gently glide through the water the only sound you hear is the wind rustling through the sails. And with more wind the more it snaps as the sail slackens and fills again.
- The major mode of transportation at this sweet little vacation village is by golf cart.
- While we were technically in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, if you wanted to actually see and snorkel the GB Reef you had to leave at 5:45 am! That clearly wasn’t going to happen! We did that ten years ago so we opted for Sailing the Whitsunday Passage.
FUN-fact – There are 74 islands in the Whitsunday’s chain and is part of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
Word Of the Week #603: Perspective
February 25, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on Word Of the Week #603: Perspective
Perspective – your mental view or outlook.
Are events that happen ever skewed due to your perception? How often are you aware of your breathing? How good are you at asking for help?
This is the last part from “How Successful People Stay Calm,” written by Travis Bradberry. He writes, “The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and we’ve found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control.
- They Reframe Their Perspective
Stress and worry are fueled by our own skewed perception of events. It’s easy to think that unrealistic deadlines, unforgiving bosses, and out-of-control traffic are the reasons we’re so stressed all the time. You can’t control your circumstances, but you can control how you respond to them. So before you spend too much time dwelling on something, take a minute to put the situation in perspective. If you aren’t sure when you need to do this, try looking for clues that your anxiety may not be proportional to the stressor. If you’re thinking in broad, sweeping statements such as “Everything is going wrong” or “Nothing will work out,” then you need to reframe the situation. A great way to correct this unproductive thought pattern is to list the specific things that actually are going wrong or not working out. Most likely you will come up with just some things—not everything—and the scope of these stressors will look much more limited than it initially appeared.
- They Breathe
The easiest way to make stress intermittent lies in something that you have to do everyday anyway: breathing. The practice of being in the moment with your breathing will begin to train your brain to focus solely on the task at hand and get the stress monkey off your back. When you’re feeling stressed, take a couple of minutes to focus on your breathing. Close the door, put away all other distractions, and just sit in a chair and breathe. The goal is to spend the entire time focused only on your breathing, which will prevent your mind from wandering. Think about how it feels to breathe in and out. This sounds simple, but it’s hard to do for more than a minute or two. It’s all right if you get sidetracked by another thought; this is sure to happen at the beginning, and you just need to bring your focus back to your breathing. If staying focused on your breathing proves to be a real struggle, try counting each breath in and out until you get to 20, and then start again from 1. Don’t worry if you lose count; you can always just start over.
This task may seem too easy or even a little silly, but you’ll be surprised by how calm you feel afterward and how much easier it is to let go of distracting thoughts that otherwise seem to have lodged permanently inside your brain.
- They Use Their Support System
It’s tempting, yet entirely ineffective, to attempt tackling everything by yourself. To be calm and productive, you need to recognize your weaknesses and ask for help when you need it. This means tapping into your support system when a situation is challenging enough for you to feel overwhelmed. Everyone has someone at work and/or outside work who is on their team, rooting for them, and ready to help them get the best from a difficult situation. Identify these individuals in your life and make an effort to seek their insight and assistance when you need it. Something as simple as talking about your worries will provide an outlet for your anxiety and stress and supply you with a new perspective on the situation. Most of the time, other people can see a solution that you can’t because they are not as emotionally invested in the situation. Asking for help will mitigate your stress and strengthen your relationships with those you rely upon.
This week’s focus is perspective. How effective are you at responding instead of reacting to circumstances not in your control? Have you ever just sat and focused on your breathing to calm down? How many people can you count on in your support system?
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FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 10th Port – Brisbane, Australia – Day 25
February 23, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 10th Port – Brisbane, Australia – Day 25
Friday, February 19th
(Sung to The Sound of Music)
- “The trees are alive…with the sound of
…squeaky squawky lorikeets”
…and they were flitting from tree to tree in the Botanical Gardens!
- One of many lovely parks in the city, and the largest, is filled with a plethora of lush tropical plants and trees many with an abundance of blooms in lavender, rose, fuchsia, and blood red.
- Coming in as the third largest city, Brisbane has the same cosmopolitan feel of Sydney, just on a smaller scale. Instead of a waterfront it has a riverfront that boasts Australia’s only inner city beach. And adjacent to it is The Queensland Cultural Center, a huge performing arts complex that includes the Art Gallery, Concert Hall, Lyric Theatre, and Queensland Museum. And like Sydney, the pedestrian only Queens Street Mall in the city center, encompassed several blocks and was electric at lunch time with all the hustle and bustle.
Wait a minute…
Where am I?…
What day is this?….
- Imagine Marvin’s horror after being found on a downtown bench after a hard night of binge drinking in Brisbane!
FUN-cocktail – Naked Lemon – Malibu rum, Bacardi rum and Lemoncello with a splash of OJ.
Not so FUN-fact – Cyclone Winston turned into a Category 5 storm and hit Fiji today. But good for us since we were there two weeks ago.
Brisasia Festival
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 9th Port – Sydney, Australia – Day 23
February 22, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 9th Port – Sydney, Australia – Day 23
Wednesday, February 17th
- What Bond, James Bond is to England…
…Bondi, Bondi Beach is to Australia.
- This legendary beach (one of the most visited tourist’s sites in Australia) and the surrounding neighborhood are just a mere four miles to the east of
downtown. Its crescent moon shaped bay and expansive white sand beach attracts surfers and sunbathers alike. What struck me was how the vivid deep emerald green ocean faded to a sea foam green as the waves broke on shore.
And what bathing suits are to beaches…
…Speedos are to Sydney…as they were born in Bondi in 1928. Who knew?
- Strolling along the waterfront and through the Rock’s district, boarding the Sydney Explorer double-decker bus, seeing new parts of the city and reminiscing our last visit, with hops off at Rose Bay and Double Bay rounded out our day.
- No question about it, Sydney is a world-class city with great energy. And reminds me of San Diego… only on steroids…. with its bunches of bays!
- Ahh…Sydney…pretty much like how we feel about San Diego…picture perfect weather in the low 70’s, with some light cloud cover, made for an ideal day…and one you don’t want to end!
FUN-fact – The Rocks, named for its rocky shoreline, is the site of the oldest settlement in Australia; a rough-and-tumble place, as it was home to the first convict tent camps in 1788.
More FF – We have sailed a total of 7092 nautical miles or 8156 land miles since we left San Francisco.
The Rock’s