JUST KEEP CRUISING

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS, YOU MAKE APPLETINIS

Recently, my hubby and I completed our first round of IVF. We’ve been trying to create a little life now for three years, one month and three days (but really, who’s counting?).

Ahead of starting the regime of needles, tablets and scans in October last year, a friend gave us some great advice — to book a holiday.

The idea behind this holiday, was to have something to look forward to together, regardless of whether you receive a positive or negative result.

Unfortunately, our result was negative this time, but the idea of a relaxing, love–filled couple’s holiday retreat — just the two of us — sounded beyond therapeutic.

And, honestly, no one needed to tell us twice, so we booked a cruise to tropical North Queensland.

If you know either of us, you’ll know that was a bold move.

Six years ago, we went on the same cruise for our honeymoon — which was seven nights from hell — and we vowed never to cruise again.

First, was three days of food poisoning (not from the food onboard, but from a service station sandwich on the way down).

Then, there was the accidental ingestion of shellfish (and the horrendous allergic reaction that followed), capped off by the loss of a treasured gold wedding band whilst snorkelling the Great Barrier Reef.

So, safe to say, booking this recent cruise was a leap of faith.

Luckily, we’ve evolved as a couple in the past six years and (so it seems) learnt from all our past mistakes.

We had seven incredible nights aboard the Pacific Aria, travelling to Airlie Beach and Cairns, and cruising around Willis Island, before getting back to Brisbane and the reality of normal life.

We ate too much, drank too much, and had so much fun on our shore excursions to the beautiful Kuranda Village and scenic railway ride back to luscious green Cairns.

We had a wet and wild ride on the Aqua Duck at Airlie Beach, which sounds corny, but was all kinds of fun!

Our cruise can only be described as heavenly and has given us the much–needed strength to take one day at a time and just keep swimming on our journey together.

We will definitely be booking another cruise, ASAP!