Travelog for: Sheldon

Hi! My name is Sheldon and I'm a smart little chick that was left behind with my three brothers at the store after Easter. So my birthday (along with my brothers) is Easter... I'm the smartest of the bunch and sometimes I know it... but I would always like to know more. So where ever I visit I would really like if you could tell me something interesting about that area, or your country. I would like to learn as much as possible throughout my travels... then I'd like to come home and tell all my brothers about my travels.


So here are some photos of me, I'm pretty small and light weight and I don't each much. So would you like to host me? Let my mom know! :-) Also if you are hosting me if you could put in the longitude and latitudes of my journeys that'd be great... you can find that information here or as my mom and I'm sure she'll be happy to help! I hope to visit you soon! :-)

Dear Mum

You sent me to the right place because the people I'm living with now are crazy about cruising!  Do you think that perhaps they're crazy enough to go on more than one cruise?

In a couple of days I'm going on a flight to Auckland New Zealand.  And then I'll be hopping on a huge ship which will bring us back home, hopefully without me getting wet.

Here's a picture of me checking out my travel documents.  I know I look calm, but inside I'm wondering what I've got myself in to!

Being a voyager can be scarey at times!

I'll be taking a lot of pictures of my voyage, but my host-dad, Neil, says that it's hard to do stuff on the internet while we're at sea, so you might not see my pictures till we get back.  I did hear him mutter that he might be able to upload one or two photos per day to his blog while we're sailing, so I might try and sneak into those photos.

Wish me luck (and good weather! Please.... let there be good weather!)

Fluffy hugs

Sheldon

Dear Mum

As soon as we got into Auckland, my new friends took me to the local Museum.  And guess what I found????  A funny looking bird that can't fly!

Imagine that?

And look at the length of his beak!  If I had a beak like that I think I could catch ANY worm.

Imagine my surprise when Lilly told me this was a Kiwi!  My first life mission accomplished!



But oh dear! Harrison wasn't interested in Kiwi's. I was worried he was actually going to put me INSIDE this canon at the Auckland museum!

Neil tells me Harrison is a gentle boy, but I must say I squeaked a few times when I saw this big gun!


So like I said, travel is fun, but it's still a bit scarey for a little chick like me.

There are lots of wonderful things to see in this new city.

I promise I'll send more photos soon.

Fluffy hugs

Sheldon

Dear Mum

We went down to the Harbour this afternoon, and look what we saw!

Have you ever seen a ship as big as this?

Harrison tells me we're going on a ship like this tomorrow.

I told him that before we do this, I'd really like to have a closer look.



So we got a hotel room right next to the ship!

And since I wanted to have a closer look I went out onto our balcony to look at the ship.

It's enormous!  When Lilly and I stuck our heads out to look at the ship, it stretched off into the distance further than we could see - in either direction.

What a strange world you've sent me out into, Mum!


So tomorrow I'm going to hop on one of these big things and go out on the sea.

I must have rocks in my head!

Your fearful travelling chick

Sheldon

Dear Mum

Well I took a deep breath and got on the ship.

Her name is "Oriana". 

And guess what?  There are kids!  Lilly introduced me to some kids who are sailing not just to Australia, but right around the world!

They started in England and will end up back in England, and it will take them 3 months.

So it puts my fears into perspective.  I'm only on here for 5 days.

So I've decided to learn something new from my friends, and am going to enjoy my trip.

Everyone here seems really happy.

I think I'm going to have a party for a few days.

Your feathered travelling chick

Sheldon

Up and down and up and down and up and down.

I feel sick!!!!!!

Help me mum!  There's nowhere to escape!

And the waves are huge.

Birds aren't supposed to do this are they!

Dear Mum

We made it across that huge stormy ocean and now we're in Sydney!

I got over my seasickness, so Harrison and I decided to "chill out" in some deck chairs.  Everytime we sit down, some nice waiter comes up and asks us if we'd like some cocktails.  Thankfully Harrison had enough common sense to say "no".



But look at the view!  When I looked out of my cabin window, this is what I saw!

What an amazing big world to have such things in it.

It looks (in my birdly opinion) like a big egg that's hatched and a giant chick popped out.  Harrison reckons that's not right, that it's a place where people dress up in funny clothes and sing songs.

But I'm sure it's a birds egg.

What do you think, Mum?


Mum, I've seen some beautiful sights.  I think I should tick off my second Life Mission.  Is that ok with you?

Dear Mum

Sorry that I didn't write for so long, but I was exhausted after that last cruise.

And Neil had thousands of emails.

And, we're going on ANOTHER cruise!!!

We leave on Monday, and I promise I'll send more pictures.

But for now I have to pack my bags.

As before, Neil finds it hard to update my TV profile while he's away from home so I'll try to sneak into some pictures that pop up on his blog in the meantime.

One thing though.  There's no kids travelling with us this time.  Neil's travelling with a grown up friend.  And I think he feels a bit silly about being photographed with me when there's no kids around.

But if a little bird like me can overcome fears of big ships and mountainous seas, I'm sure Neil can overcome a bit of embarrasment!

More soon

Sheldon.

Dear Mum

Today I hopped on a plane and flew to Sydney.  We're hopping on another big ship called Aurora, and will be sailing to New Zealand.

I'm not as scared of ships any more, because I had so much fun last time.

I promise I'll send you lots of photos!

Fuzzy hugs

Sheldon.

Hi Mum!

I thought I'd sing you a song....
I am sailing!
I am sailing!
Home again
Cross the sea!
I am sailing, stormy waters,
To be near you, to be free!

I'm back at sea again!  And I love it.  This is a lovely ship - even bigger than the one we were on before.

BUT!!! Something dramatic has happened already.  One of the propellors has broken, and the ship can only go at half speed.  That means the captain has had to change course for Auckland instead of Wellington.

So just to be on the safe side, I checked out one of the life rings, but I think it's a bit big for me.  What do you think?

But, to be honest with you, Mum, I don't mind if we go slow.  It's so nice out here they could take a year to get to Auckland and I'd be happy

I'll write more tomorrow.

Your intrepid sailor

Sheldon

You should see all the lovely sculptures and paintings on this ship!  Being an inquisitive chick, I thought rather than look at them, I'd hop on them and get a closer look.

At the entrance to one of the nightclubs, there's this beautiful statue of a dancing couple. I hopped on the lady's knee, but she didn't seem to mind.  They look like they're moving, even though they're standing still.

And by one of the swimming pools (an INDOOR swimming pool on a ship!  Goodness me!) there's a brass statue of a diver.  So I jumped on one of his hands and had a dive with him.  But I didn't get wet.  Neither did he!

And then right up the top at the front, there's a very comfortable bar called "The Crows Nest" where you can watch the sea.  (There's lots of sea here).  And I found an amazing globe of the world.  It's given me lots of ideas, Mum.  There's loads of places in this world I want to see now!

And guess what?  The sea is still calm.  It's like a pond.

I think I'm definately cut out for sailing.

More tomorrow.

Sheldon.

I went to the kids club today, Mum, but the kids had gone!

There are hardly any kids on this cruise - and the few of them that are here were at the movies when I visited kids club.  So although I saw lots of fun games, an amusement arcade, lots of toys, I didn't see any kids. 

So I went to where the big people play - the Casino!!!  Neil put me on the Roulette Table.  I got a bit scared.  I thought he was going to gamble me away!!! But luckily I escaped.

Finally, like we've been doing every day so far, we watched the sun go down over the back of the ship, with a glass of wine.

This ship sure is going slow.  But with sunsets like this, I don't mind at all!

We're getting close to NZ now, so I might see if I can get some pictures of the coastline tomorrow.

By for now.

Sheldon.

Land Ho!!!!

I can see New Zealand!

We've been sailing past the Bay of Islands all day today, and will arrive in Auckland tomorrow.

Incidentally, if you look above me, you can see the windows of the Bridge, where the Captain drives the ship.

And below me is ... a long way down.... so I'm hoping Neil doesn't drop me!

I'm looking forward to seeing Auckland again, but I'm sad, because it means we'll leave our ship behind.

More photos tomorrow.

Sheldon.

Well here we are in Auckland again!

As soon as I saw the huge sky needle thingy towering over the city, it brought back all the memories of the fun I've had here recently.

I'm looking forward to seeing more of New Zealand this time!

Wow, this place has lots of boiling mud and steamy pools!

We drove to a place called Waiotapu, south of Rotorua.  Neil reckons it's better than Rotorua because you don't have to pay to see boiling mud.

And the smell!!!  It smells like cooking cabbage.

But it looks spectacular!

I just had to make very sure I didn't fall in the mud.

Bye for now

Sheldon.