Guitar 123 Singapore Food and Travel Blog! : September 2013

Voyager of the Seas New Zealand Milford Sound Part 2

Voyager of the Seas NZ Sound Part 2. This was the highlight of our 14 N Australia and NZ cruise out of Sydney.

Here is a link to a video taken from the gorgeous balcony - http://youtu.be/hfnzUcMudfg

A hearty breakfast - eggs benedict, my favorite! We went to MDR for breakfast after the ship exited Milford Sound.

Here is a map.

On the sun deck.

People were up and about by now. Notice the clothing. It was not warm.

Sailing beside mountains. We were hugging the coastline, as the Voyager headed for the next Sound.

Family lazing in our gorgeous aft balcony.

All of us. Wait, who is behind the camera?

Gorgeous views from a very large balcony.

Plenty to look at.

Wonder who owns that island.

Can I build a holiday home there?

You mean we came from there?

Great views.

The ship was sailing quite fast.

Sailing.

Sailing..

Sailing... (don't you love digital cameras? Just keep taking photos)

Sailing some more....

Making good progress.

Austrian Arrow Flight OS 348 Helsinki to Vienna 2010

Updated (6 Oct 2013)-
This is a 13 minute video, showing taxi-ing, take-off and landing. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_hxQwmTTec

This was a flight in early 2010, winter time in the Northern Hemisphere. Now, I come from Singapore - a small, sunny, tropical island, one degree north of the Equator. We can wear T-shirts and Bermudas all year round. This was quite an experience!

The flight was on Austrian Arrow, from Helsinki (Finland) to Vienna (Austria). It was a cold, cold morning. Very exotic experience.

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Here is the boarding pass.

A good number of flights out of Helsinki that morning, to the various European cities.

It snowed overnight. We naively thought that we had an arrow bridge.

No bridge. We were bussed to the plane, and had to board the plane in the snow!

It was a Fokker 70 Aircraft.

Managed to grab a few shots as it snowed.

Nice angle. Those jets look small. But the plane wasn't too big.

In the plane, a window seat, looking out.

It sure looked very cold. Actually, it was freezing.

Glad I'm onboard.

Austrian Arrows Fokker 70 Aircraft. Neither Boeing nor Airbus.

Still very cold. Were we ever going to depart?

Hold on, what's that?

Oh, they had to de-ice the wing! Green fluid being sprayed, lots of.

Alright, finally we are taxi-ing.

You can just make out the words 'Helsinki Vantaa'.

Breakfast on board. Not bad, for such a short flight. The bread was served warm. Very nice.

I ate it all!

Pilot reported that it snowed overnight in Vienna too. Look at that view!

Eerie, yet so beautiful. Something we never get to see, coming from sunny and tropical Singapore.

We had landed, and this was the bus we had to take to the terminal. Again, no bridge.

But that gave us good opportunity to take a few photos!

Wonderful photos for keeps.

Don't worry, the bus didn't leave without me.

It was a most interesting experience! (Though I didn't miss the cold)

More reviews:
1) Check out the Big Yella Fella at FlyScoot (Sydney to Singapore)

2) DragonAir (Shanghai to Hong Kong) may interest you more?

3) Evergreen Shanghai to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific.

4) Awesome Air Asia (Singapore to Bangkok).

5) Swiss Flight Links

a) Singapore to Rome (via Zurich) Economy Class, Nov 2013

b) Rome to Singapore (via Zurich) Economy Class, Dec 2013

6) Singapore Airlines SQ 322 Singapore to London (Business Class).

7) Celebrity Silhouette Mediterranean & Adriatic Seas Cruise in Nov 2013

Thanks for reading!

Voyager of the Seas - New Zealand Sounds Part 1 (海洋航行者号, 新西兰,米尔福德声音)

We sailed on the Voyager of the Seas out of Sydney in Dec 2012.

海洋航行者号

It was our first ever 14N cruise. Before the Sounds, we visited Hobart, Tasmania.

One of the highlights of this cruise was the day of sailing through the various Sounds.

The first Sound was Milford Sound. Early morning, as the ship approached the entrance to Milford Sound. A surreal experience.

Mountains and the sea.

Loved the cloud formation.

People were up early. This was about 6am. The night before, the Captain announced that we will be at the entrance at about 6:30am.

Now, that looked like a little boat coming out to meet us.

Turns out that it was the pilot craft. Hello!!!

Hey, where are you going? Come back!

Turns out that the pilot craft made one round behind the aft, and pulled up portside.

Coming close.

Welcome aboard, pilot!

More people had gathered now. Everybody was excited, very.

Approaching Milford Sound.

Approaching....

Hmmmm... where is the entrance?

Errrm, Captain, this ship is huge. Are you sure you want to go so close to shore?

Errrm, Captain, isn't it time to stop this ship and let us off on tenders?

Ooooh.. look at the low lying cloud.

All of us waiting to see if and when the ship will run aground.

Captain, are you sure you want to go in there?

Captain, can the Voyager go on reverse thrusters?

Oh yeah, you told us about the Azipods. We can go backwards and sideways.

Where are we going?

Hey, you sure we aren't too close?

Nice cloud though.

Hmmmmm.......

Ooooooh.

Nice. More water!

Oh wow. Hidden!

Looks like a big lake in there... and we are going in!

Sailing right past this mountain.

We look awfully close.

Going deeper into the Sound.

Yes, didn't I tell you that we were flying? It is all part of Royal Caribbean's 'WOW' Down-Under campaign.

Fly me to the moon...

How about getting us over that mountain?

Now, this is the gorgeous view from our AFT balcony.

Awesome stuff right?

Phew, close shave.

You could almost touch the cloud.

Don't jump over!

Beautiful view!!

Back on top. That's the end of the Sound. The ship can't get too close.

What were they looking at?

Oh, a ferry! Where did you come from?

Hey, where are you bringing my friends?

Good bye.

Farewell.

I hope to see you again, soon.

You sure you guys want to leave us?

Surely the Voyager is a lot more comfortable than that ferry?

That looks like a waterfall!

It is a waterfall.

And we are heading out, after dropping those passengers. Later, I found out that they were going on an overnight land tour and they would rejoin the ship at Dunedin.