At Sea and Albany

At Sea

On Monday, 24 November, Jesse awoke at 6:00 AM again to download our e-mail.  This time, however, he got back in bed and slept until 9:00 AM; then we went to breakfast at 9:30 AM (later than usual) and swam at 10:30 AM.  Because the large pool was sloshing dangerously back and forth again, we swam in the small pool at the back of the ship.  Although the water was slightly heated, the outside air was quite cool.  Sally had worn the Princess robe that the ship provided.  Since Jesse didn’t think it did anything for his figure, he decided to endure the cold air.  (It wasn’t very becoming on Sally either, but she said she didn’t care; she wanted to be warm!)  In the hot tub afterwards, we shared travel experiences with a man from Auckland, New Zealand and a woman, Sharon, from Yorkshire, England.

At 1:30 PM, we went to lunch and, a little later, to an afternoon Tea Dance from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, where the Princess Orchestra played ballroom music.   Since their music is much better for ballroom dancing than either the New Deal or the Soul Wave, we enjoy them whenever we can.  Although we had intended to have only tea, we couldn’t resist the delicious pastries and ended up with several on our plates!  There, we saw a waiter, James, who had served us on our 2011 transatlantic cruise from Venice to Santiago.  James stands out because he is very nice looking and a body builder.  He said he remembered us also.  (We seem to be a memorable couple, too!)  After the tea dance, Patrick and Maureen formally introduced themselves to us.  (We have seen them often on the dance floor.)

At 5:00 we answered a knock at our cabin door to find a delivery of small pastries.  This is another benefit of elite status: on the day before that of a formal night, an order can be placed on the cabin door before 10:00 PM.  The first time, we didn’t see the notice in time; this time, we ordered, and then forgot all about it until it arrived.  Anyway, we received 3 caviar pastries and 3 chocolate covered strawberries – they were very tasty but added more calories to our day of overeating!
 

Savoy Dining Room

Since this was a formal dinner night, we dressed accordingly for dinner.  There, we shared a table with Paul, Carmel, and Daphanie, all from near Sydney in New South Wales.  Carmel and Daphanie, both widows, have taken a few cruises together.  Carmel retired four years ago as an office worker in the sheet rock industry.  Daphanie, always a housewife, likes to garden, but has had problems with someone stealing her expensive plants.  She says if she ever catches them in the act, she’s going to chase them down, even if she’s still wearing her nightie!  Paul spent 12 years in the military, with two years in Vietnam, and retired from the Australian Postal Service.  He thinks the days of postal service are numbered, and soon we will all use electronic mail.

As our ship circles Australia, we have been learning the names and locations of the Australian states.  There are a lot fewer states here than in the USA:  Sydney is in New South Wales; Hobart, in Tasmania; Melbourne, in Victoria; Adelaide, in South Australia; Albany, Margaret River and Perth, in Western Australia; Darwin, in Northern Territory (not truly a state); and Port Douglas, Airlie Beach, and Brisbane in Queensland.  Their last “state” is the Australian Capital Territory where their national capital, Canberra, is located.  That’s a total of only 8 states and territories.  A couple of Aussies have remarked to us that they are amazed that the USA has 50 states!  Of course, we have a much larger population also.

Although dinner was a little slow tonight, dancing wasn’t scheduled to start until 9:00 PM, anyway.  At the Wheelhouse Bar, we sat with Paul and Mary.  We danced with them for a few dances, but Mary has been having foot problems, so she sat and talked with Jesse while Paul danced more with Sally.  Since Paul takes dance lessons five days a week and is a perfectionist (according to Mary), of course he’s a very good dancer.  We danced until the Soul Wave went on break, then talked together for a little while before returning to or cabin at 10:15.  Paul was born in what was Burma, where his father was managing a rubber plantation.  When the Japanese invaded (World War II), he, with his family, escaped to Australia.  Mary was born in Wales.  When she was 8, her family moved to England.  There, her teacher encouraged the other children to laugh at her poor English (because her family spoke Welsh); therefore, she felt bullied and suppressed all memory of her early years of school.

Sally noted that we’ve been gradually staying up later and sleeping later in the morning.  However, we set our clocks back one hour before retiring for the night at midnight.

2nd Day At Sea

On Tuesday, 25 November, Jesse awoke at 6:00 AM again to download the e-mail.  Since service was a little slow, he suspected that not everyone had set their clocks back.  Sally awoke at 8:00 AM and was surprised that Jesse had not been back to bed.  After breakfast, we went for a swim. 

The “indoor” pool had been completely drained and workmen were inside cleaning and painting the liner; however, judging from the amount of sloshing that we saw in the other large “outdoor” pool, it would have been much too dangerous to swim in the “indoor” pool anyway.  We also investigated the pool and fitness center in the Lotus Health and Fitness Center.  To be honest, that was the first time that we have visited the onboard fitness center on any cruise, although we had previously looked in through the outside window.  The pool there was also drained and covered with a net.  Therefore, we went again to the small pool at the back of the ship for our swim.  In the hot tub, we conversed with an Aussie man who lives in New South Wales, about 360 miles north of Sydney.  He has never visited the USA, but has been on several cruises.

For lunch, we had intended to try the British-Style Pub Lunch in the Savoy Dining Room, but when we arrived, the waiter pointed to the clock and announced that they had closed at 2:00 PM.   According to our watches and those of another couple that arrived at the same time, it was only 1:50 PM.  Anyway, we settled for our usual “healthy” lunch in the Horizon Court.  We have been trying to eat healthy on this cruise, Sally more than Jesse.  We usually eat oatmeal and fruit for breakfast, and we split a ham, spinach, mushroom and cheddar cheese omelet.   Sally tops her breakfast off with yogurt, while Jesse tops his off with an “unhealthy” waffle.  For lunch, we try to limit ourselves to soup and salad, but Jesse always end up adding sushi, the dessert of the day, and an ice cream cone.  The food on the buffet always looks so tasty that it’s hard to resist.

At dinner, we conversed with a widow from New South Wales at the table for two next to ours.  She grew up in England, but her father was military, so she lived in several places during her childhood.  She will be visiting grandchildren and great-grandchildren in almost every port during the cruise. 

A little later at dinner, we were joined by another couple, Bob and Linda from Auckland, New Zealand.  Bob’s family has lived in New Zealand for the past five generations, but Linda grew up in England.  Recently retired, this is their second cruise; their first was around New Zealand.  They asked if we had seen the news from Ferguson, Missouri, and then commented that America is not the only place with problems.  Their son who lives in Glasgow, Scotland told them that a nearby town has very high unemployment, and many people there are almost destitute.  When firefighters in that town arrive to fight a fire, they are unable to exit their trucks until policemen arrive; otherwise, they are pelted with rocks by the locals.

Bob and Linda mentioned that, on their last trip to England, they opted to spend the night in Singapore en route.  In Singapore, inexpensive lodging is available in the airport for the night.  Although there are no windows, the door shuts out all of the noise; they were able to get a good night’s sleep before flying on to England.  We spent several hours one night in the Singapore airport last year but were not aware of the possibility to sleep there.

After dinner, we danced for a little while to the New Deal in the Explorer’s Lounge until they went on break.  Most of the other dancers remained in the Explorer’s Lounge for a line dance class, but we opted to dance to the Diamond Princess Orchestra in Club Fusion.  Before retiring, we set our clocks back by another hour.

Albany

On Wednesday, 26 November, Jesse awoke at 5:00 AM to download e-mail; then he tried unsuccessfully to resume sleep.  At breakfast at 9:00 AM, we shared a table with Paul and Mary.

We went ashore about 10:50 AM for our excursion, and boarded our bus about 11:30.   Our tour started with a drive along Stirling Terrace, passing a number of Albany's Victorian buildings, including the Courthouse, Rotunda and Old Post Office. We passed Dog Rock, a large granite formation shaped like a dog's head that dominates Albany's central business district.  Albany has a population of 35,000 with absolutely no traffic lights – just round-abouts!

Mt Clarence Lookout

Sally Rock Climbing

Our first stop was Torndirrup National Park where we visited Stony Hill, the highest point in the national park.  The Stony Hill Heritage Trail is a 500-meter walk which provides a scenic circuit with 360 degree views of the park and the Albany area.  We then ascended Mt. Clarence to the Lookout where we could see Albany, King George Sound, and the Albany Wind Farm.  Renewable energy provided by the wind farm in conjunction with solar panels, provides 95 to 100 percent of Albany’s electrical needs.

Our next stop was the National ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) Center and Princess Royal Fortress.  In 1791, Captain George Vancouver claimed the southern part of Western Australia for the British Crown.  He named the natural harbor the Princess Royal Harbour and King George Sound.  During the 19th century, Albany's port was considered a strategic harbor and a threat to the security of Australia, and so Australia's first federal fortress was commissioned. It opened in 1893 as the first federal defense of Australia and remained operational for 63 years.  During this time, the fort served as a deterrent, yet never fired its guns in defense. The advent of the missile era ruled the fort obsolete in 1956.  These historic gun emplacements, the old granite military rooms, and the weatherboard barracks are available for viewing; however, our tour didn’t have sufficient time for this.  The fortress is also home to the Southeast Asia Memorial, U.S. Submariners Memorial and Merchant Navy Memorial.

The National ANZAC Centre is a newly built, multimillion dollar museum.  In 1914, over 40,000 Australian and New Zealand soldiers left Albany, bound for the Great War.  The Center offers visitors a personal connection with the ANZAC tradition revealed through interactive, multimedia displays, unique artifacts, rare images and film, and audio commentary.  Visitors experience the Great War through the personal accounts of 30 ANZAC soldiers and two of their foes across the renowned battlefields of Gallipoli, Palestine, Sinai, and the Western Front.  The staff provided electronic listening devices to us to facilitate the self-guided tour.
 

Desert Mounted Corp Memorial

Our final stop was the Desert Mounted Corps Memorial which commemorates the World War I Mounted Corps' distinguished service with Viscount Allenby in the Middle East.  This statue of two mounted soldiers, one an Australian and the other a New Zealander, was originally located on the banks of Port Said in Egypt; however, it was toppled in 1956 during the Suez Crisis.  After much lobbying, its remnants were returned to Australia.  The new memorial was unveiled in 1965 and now stands on the summit of Mount Clarence, a memorial to servicemen and women from all theaters of war.

Our return route took us around Princess Royal Harbor, passing the historic brig "Amity" en route to the pier and the cruise ship.

When we returned to the ship at about 3:20 PM, we went immediately to the Horizon Court for a light lunch.  There we ran into John and Phillip, where we discussed our cruise experiences.

Dinner was at a table for two in the Savoy Dining Room, but we conversed with Linda and Gary at the next table.  From Brisbane, this is only their third cruise; however, they have traveled a lot in the USA and Canada.  We mostly discussed travel in general.

After dinner, we danced to the New Deal in Club Fusion.  We formally met another dance couple:  Dick and Peggy from Sydney.  This is their 7th cruise.   Peggy appears to be much younger than the rest of us and has boundless energy on the dance floor.  The New Deal went on break at 9:00 PM, so we moved to the Wheelhouse Bar where we danced to the Soul Wave.  We discussed dancing and politics with Paul and Mary before retiring to our cabin for the night.