Knowing we would need a renewal after a total of 17 days, so far, on a cruise ship and seven days in the bustling town of Sydney, we booked a five night stay in the Blue Mountains.

Our first stop was a brief visit to Bygone Beautys Treasured Teapot Museum. 

It is home to the world’s largest private collection of teawares, including more than 5,500 teapots from all over the world and spanning five centuries, most of which were collected within Australia.

Coffee, with a friend, followed along with a stroll through its historic streets.

Dinner was to be found in the neighboring town of Katoomba.

In the 1930s, this town was known as the Honeymoon Capital. First, however, it was called The Crushers after a local stone quarry. It was renamed Katoomba, from an Aboriginal word for waterfalls, because of the nearby 800-foot- high falls we will be ogling. The town was formerly a coal-mining center, but mining gave way to tourist development based on the picturesque mountain locale. The nearby Scenic Railway, once used to carry coal miners down the cliff face, now carries tourists into the Jamison valley. The locality yields apples and timber; clothing, leather goods, and furniture are manufactured in the town. It will be a place we visit often but today's visit consisted mainly of exploring The Carrington Inn, Australia’s oldest remaining resort-style hotel (built in 1883).

Its opulence has not faded after 142 years. Wow.

Dinner was next door at The Old City Bank. In 1912, Sir James Joynton Smith, then owner of The Carrington, decided a bank was required on premises. Construction commenced and in June of the same year, a branch of the City Bank of Sydney opened. The upper story provided residential quarters for the inaugural bank manager. Operating as bank until the 1930s, it was converted to use as saloon and now this delightful pub.

Today was one of mainly getting our bearings, learning to drive on the opposite side of the road, gathering knowledge of what-not-to-miss, and doing laundry. Tomorrow, we venture forth. The anticipation is almost too much!

Since we were on a second cruise on Ovation of the Seas, we were happy to discover not all of the activities were going to be the same.

Sunrises and sunsets varied in beauty and dramatics.

I learned, barely, how to belly dance while the cinephile in me was delighted with the opportunity to see Wicked and Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

We were supposed to visit four ports of call but a huge storm arose and our final port, Picton, New Zealand got canceled so that we could go way north to avoid the 30 foot swells. What a ride! This was the wildest seas we have been in yet. With 24 foot swells, walking at times was interesting.

It was disappointing to miss another new place to discover but safety was a priority. Conveniently, the downtime coincided with Steve and I coming down with a cold and we welcomed the opportunity to just take it slow for a couple of days.

Shows entertained. Les Femmes was an incredibly talented girl trio whose performance showcased classic male artists. We were dancing in our seats

We were wowed by "Rockstar Violinist" Yoomia with her unique blend of classical elegance and rock energy. From tango to cinematic favorites to Led Zeppelin and Queen... Everyone found something to love.

An afternoon with the officers is always informative.

I will definitely miss our trivia sessions with the incredibly special Fernanda!

We interacted numerous times a day with our cabin steward, Mel. What an awesome guy.

Since Mel always left us with a towel animal, I thought he'd appreciate my 'owl'.

What lovely dining companions: Kim and Jo, Laurie and Mark, Jill, and our dining gods, Mark and Gerardo. What a treat.

Tonight's finale was one for the books. The Headliner Showtime, Rat Pack Reloaded, was one that was highly anticipated. These crooners really put on a great cruise finale and would have made Dean, Frank, and Sammy proud. Their finale of Elvis' Viva Las Vegas had the entire Royal Theatre dancing. Wow.