Friday 13th August
My MIL arrived. The kids were so excited to see her. It had been a while since we last seen her and Craig and i had been telling them how much fun it would be when Grandma stayed for a week while we went away.
Because she would be doing the kindy runs while we were gone, i had to take her to FDC and then to ABC and show her how to sign all the kids in and out.
We also had to do a grocery shop, so they wouldn’t starve!!
Around 1pm i knew the kids had to go to bed and it would be my final good bye for over a week. I held Chelsea close and told her to behave, help Grandma and look after Jas and Zach. I also said i loved her and id miss her lots. What broke my heart was when she looked me in the eyes and said ‘Ill miss you too Mummy’…and i cracked. The tears were flowing.
I kissed all the kids goodbye and tucked them into bed. At 130, friends arrived to take us to the airport to catch our flight to Sydney.
Once all checked in we headed to the Virgin Blue lounge to wait for our flight.
We arrived in Sydney a little past 6pm and headed straight for a taxi. Id forgotten how bad the city was, add a crazy taxi driver and hold on for your life! We finally arrived at Crowne Plaza where we were staying over night before our cruise in the morning.
We then went for dinner in the hotel restaurant. The meals were SO TINY we walked out hungry (and $100 poorer). Got back to the room and ordered room serviceĀ 
I attached all the bag tags to our suitcases….made it feel all real then!
By around 11 we went to bed
Saturday 14th August
Rise and shine..its Cruisin’ Day and Sydney sure put on the lovely weather, gorgeous blue skies and 18 degrees!
We headed down for breaky in the buffet…was very delish and then checked out. Another taxi ride to the wharf, thankfully not as crazy as the night before.
OMFG…..the ship was huuuuuge. I was so excited (at last, some will remember i wasn’t excited what so ever up until this point). We dropped off our bags and entered the terminal building. Before checking in we had to do a health survey. Basically asking if we had, had gastro or the flu at that time or in the past 48-72 hours. All was good our way. So we lined up and checked in. We were given a boarding group and our cruise cards (these were used to get on board when going off shore, and to pay for everything on board as it was ‘cashless cruising’).
We sat around for a little bit and around 12 we boarded the ship!
That’s when the nerves and sick feeling started. I felt so out of place. My excitement had jumped overboard and taken offĀ 
We decided to take a walk around the ship and suss it all out. Took heaps of pictures and found out where everything was located.
Around 330 we were all required to attended an Emergency Drill. NOT FUN! First of all, we were on Deck 5 (Main deck) and our muster station was Deck 10…sounds ok…EXCEPT in an emergency you cant use lifts…put two and two together and you get a stuffed Kim after having to climb all the bloody stairs to the top. Then i couldn’t make the damn life jacket work….bad luck if it was real…id have drowned by the time i got the damn thing onĀ 
4pm (or a tad after) we set sail…the drinkies began flowing and the party started!! Going out of Sydney was rough and sooooo cold and windy. We took some lovely pics of the sunset.
The pics below are our first drinkies and the sunset pic is taken from the Oasis area
Most of the night was spent drinking, eating or getting a feel of the ship.
Sunday 15th August
After a good nights sleep we woke to a very rocky ship and 3-4 metre waves. Stabilisers had to be used it was so bad.
Most of the day we went to entertainment shows or drinking some more. By around 3pm i was starting to feel quite sick and i decided to take a sea sickness tablet. The warning said ‘May cause drowsiness and blurry vision’….well they weren’t wrong. I felt very drunk and drugged and could hardly walk. Was an early bed cos i couldn’t keep awake
Monday 16th August
Ahhhh much better…calm seas and a not sick KimĀ 
Much like the day before, we just relaxed and went with the flow
Tuesday 17th August
Today we had our first port of call, Devine Island (also known as Poum or Emerald Bay). Now, the Pacific Sun is to big to go to close to the shore and also cos there’s no wharf, so we anchored in the middle of no where and we used tenders (aka life boats) to get ashore. These can be seen in the below picture.
The island was beautiful. We decided to go up to the viewing point. Now, Craig never told me it was a LONG walk and UP HILL…so walking along puffing and panting i thought we were never going to get there. Alas, we did get there in the end and it was so worth it. The view was devine (LOL maybe thats why its called Devine Island?). Was very humid however and i had sweat beading off my head and i never sweat like that. Took a few pictures and then walked back down. Below is a pic from the view point.
By then i was so hot i wanted a swim. So in we went and to my surprise the water was FREEZINGĀ 
So i never went any further then my hips, but Craig went right out into the distance. I stood there frozen and just admired all the gorgeous coral and fish swimming around me.
We then got out and had lunch. P&O brought all the BBQ equipment and food ashore and we had yummy hamburgers. I also had a run punch, whoa is was strong, but so so yummy. After lunch we headed back on the tendor and had a nap. We left the island around 4pm bound for Isle of Pines
Wednesday 18th August
Today, like yesterday had to anchor in the middle of nowhere and get tenders ashore at Isle of Pines.
OMG, this place is stunning. Sooooooo postcard perfect. The sand is white and the water just amazing. Its to beautiful for words and only photos can tell the story.
Craig went swimming and i sat on the beach soaking up the sun and the gorgeous views around me.
Ill let photos (a few ive attached, but the rest on FB for you to all see) explain this port!
We set sail around 5pm bound for Noumea
Thursday 19th August
Our 3 third port of call, but the 1st port where we actually docked at a wharf….Noumea!
While in Noumea we went on a tour. Visited the city, countryside and also the aquarium (which was shit and not very exciting).
On the tour we seen many of their beaches, which are all topless beaches, im sure Craigs eyes popped out his head a few times!
After the tour we got back on the ship and had lunch (our choice, you could eat where ever you wanted to). The we got off again and wandered around the city by our self. The people were so arrogant and forget speaking English..it was French or nothing. So we got back on board around 3pm.
Set sail a tad after 6pm….bound for SYDNEY!!!!
Friday 20th and Saturday 21st August
We were at sea so not much to report on.
However on the Friday, the waves got rough and the weather wasn’t so nice. I started getting sick again, but didn’t take a tablet til i was heading to bed!
Water was rocky….check out the pic below. THe water in the pool was being thrown out!
Gorgeous sunsets however
Sunday 22nd August
What a wake up call. 630am the alarm is beeping. I turn on the tv to cruise cam and see we have arrived home and docked at Sydney wharf. Our trip was over and the excitement that i would be seeing my babies that afternoon set inĀ 
At 830am we disembarked and said good bye to the Pacific Sun and headed to the airport.
I was pretty sick by now and couldn’t stop coughing. Fell asleep at the airport waiting for our flight numerous times.
Finally landing back in Melbourne after our flight had been delayed we arrived home. Peeking into our house i seen my babies all playing. As soon as i tapped on the window Chelsea’s eyes lit up and i could hear her squealing and yelling out Mummy and Daddy are home. Was beautiful to see her.
I couldnt stop hugging Chelsea and Jasmine. My girls seemed to have grown up and changed so much in a week. It truely was a very sad moment, a happy one however. How i missed them!!
Sadly Zachery was very sick and only wanted daddy (wasn’t until Monday he came to me and became Mummies little man again).
Chelsea had made a W chain and it was up on the wall and the girls had also wrote ‘Welcome home Mummy and Daddy’ messages with chalk outside.
Due to me being sick i had to head to the doctors. I have a chest infection and now on antibioticsĀ 
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So, that’s my holiday, a very brief summary cos there’s just sooooo much to tell and id be here for hours. I have all the photos up on FB now, there’s 4 albums as i had to split them all up, so please take a look if you wish!
