It's a Party in the USA

I am back in the United States of America! It is weird to be back in a place where everyone speaks English and I understand the currency.  It is also wicked cold!  I haven’t had to wear more than one layer of clothing since I left Maine back in February 2012.  But I am so thankful to be able to see my family and friends during this holiday season.

I am a Time Traveler.  I woke up Sunday, December 9^th at 5am to watch the ship sail into Sydney Harbor.  Thankfully I was able to see the Sydney Opera House right out of the port hole!  The morning was full of returning linens to the laundry room, getting my final pay check and medical back, saying tearful goodbyes and riding a bus to the Sydney Airport.  My flight wasn’t until 4pm, so I got free internet and wandered around the airport.  On the plane I was lucky enough to have an aisle seat, which made the 13 hour flight bearable.  I watched 3 movies, drank a lot of Cran-Apple juice, ate dinner and tried to sleep.  When I woke up I felt like Bill Murray in Ground Hog’s Day.  There I was living Sunday all over again, except this time I was not able to see Maarten, landing in San Francisco at 11am and seeing my parents at 11:30pm.  When I finally made it home, I was exhausted after 35+ hours of traveling.  It was such a wonderful feeling seeing my parents there to greet me.  My dad had a sign saying “Around the World in 280 days!”  

Sydney Opera House out of the port hole

Promotional Pictures of the Solstice docking in Sydney Harbor

Jessica arriving in Boston

 

"Around the World in 280 Days"

 

I have had terrible jet lag, not falling asleep until 3am and suddenly waking up with the sun at 7:30am.  But last night I finally slept for 10 hours.  I miss Maarten every day.  I miss traveling the world, my cast mates, the ease and luxury of life on the Solstice, but I am so excited for the holidays and to begin my life on land.  Thank you so much for following my blog for the past 10 months.  I hope you were entertained and maybe even learned something.  Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to everyone!  Jessica Ernest, oouut.

My journey on the Celebrity Solstice (March 11 - December 9, 2012)

G'Day Mate

Well, the Celebrity Solstice has finally completed its repositioning…we have made it to Australia!  Up first was Darwin.  After being in Egypt, Singapore and Bali I really feel like I have made it back to Western society.  In Australia, I knew that I had to see crocodiles, koalas, kangaroos and hopefully a kookaburra.  And I succeeded!  When we got to Darwin, I went to Crocosaurus Cove where we watched croc feeding shows, saw turtles, reptiles and crocodiles of all sizes.  I even got to hold a 17 month old crocodile named Fluffy. I channeled Steve Irwin.  I was a little scared, but it was much easier than the snake in Bali! When we got to Brisbane, Maarten and I went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the largest in the world.  There we were able to feed kangaroos, see traditional Australian animals (Platypus, Tasmanian Devil, Dingoes, kookaburra etc.) and hold a koala named Tinkerbell.  We even saw a baby joey pump into his mom’s pouch! It has been amazing to see animals you only ever see pictures of.  Now we are off to Sydney and my plane home.  I will have one final blog post about my travels when I reach Maine and maybe before the jet-lag hits me.  But I guess now I should probably get back to packing.  Thank you all for checking in with me for the past 9 months.  I hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did writing it.

Jessica and Louise in a canoe at Crocosarus Cove

Jessica and Fluffy

Croc Feeding Time

HUGE Crocodile

Kangaroos at the Koala Sanctuary

Jessica, Tinkerbell and Maarten…our Christmas card! Haha

“Kukabarrow sits in the old gum tree-ee, merry merry king of the Bush is he-ee”

Disappearing joey

 

Bali Hai will call you, any night, any day!

Here we are, my last cruise.  Bali, Indonesia was the first port of my last cruise and I LOVED it!  Maarten and I went around together.  We got a tour that took us on our own private glass bottom boat snorkeling and then to Turtle Island.  We held turtles, snakes and had deliciously spicy fish for lunch.  It was a beautiful day!  I definitely want to come back to Bali at some point.  There was so much that I didn’t get to see; the green rice fields, the ancient temples and the super tourist-y beach areas.  Everything was so cheap, the food was delicious and the weather was perfect (if not almost too hot).  It was a great way to start my last cruise.

Jessica on Sanur Beach, Bali

 

Indonesian monuments
 

Jessica and Maarten post-snorkeling in the Glass Bottom Boat

 

Jessica and Maarten on Turtle Island

 

Spicy Indonesian Seafood

 

I’m almost like Britney Spears in the “Slave 4 U” video!!
 

Jessica and Maarten back in Benoa Harbor

And now we are off to the Land Down Under…the Land of OZ…Australia!