At Sea and Hobart, Tasmania

At Sea

            On Monday, 17 November, we were both awake by about 7:00 PM.  An hour later, we went to breakfast, unusually early for us.  There, we shared a table with a couple from Sydney, Tony and Joan, although they were originally from London, England.  They gave us a lot of recommendations on sights we should visit in London the next time we’re there.

We ate lunch with a couple, Annette and Graham from between Sydney and Melbourne, and another couple from Melbourne.  (We didn’t get their names.)   This was Annette and Graham’s third cruise, all taken this year; they enjoyed their first cruise so much that they just kept on cruising.

After lunch, we went for a swim in the “indoor” swimming pool.  That area has a retracting roof, and when the roof is closed, the air and water are warmer than the other “outdoor” pools.  However, we didn’t stay in the pool very long; the water sloshed hard from one end to the other, so that it was a little too dangerous.  (We were crossing the strait between Tazmania and mainland Australia, plus there was a very strong wind.  Air temp was 60.8 F, and seas were “rough,” with waves of 7.5 to 12 ft.)  One of the onlookers told us she was afraid that we were going to drown in the pool.  When we walked by a little later, we noticed that the staff had closed the pool.

Since this was a formal night, we dressed in our formal attire before going to the Savoy Dining Room for dinner.  We sat with two couples – Kurt and Karen, and David and Joyce.  Both couples live in a retirement community near Brisbane, and have been married for over 60 years.  The couples were not traveling together, but just happened to be on the same cruise.   Kurt and Karen are both originally from Germany, but met each other in Australia.  David and Joyce are both originally from London.  When we told David that we planned to visit London next August, he recommended a few sights.

After dinner, we danced to the New Deal in the Explorer’s Lounge, and then to the Soul Wave in the Wheelhouse Bar, before retiring for the night.

Also this evening, Jesse had an interesting conversation with a man with a heavy Australian accent.  So far, Jesse is the only person of (obvious) African descent that we’ve seen on this cruise.  The man asked Jesse if he was from Fiji because he thought Jesse looked Fijian, who are apparently large, with curly hair like Jesse’s.  When Jesse said he was American, the man seemed convinced that Jesse must be a musician and wanted to know what instrument he played.  Then he asked if Jesse was a passenger or a crew member.  Afterwards the man said, “You came all the way here just to cruise around Australia?  Good man!”

 Hobart, Tasmania

On Tuesday, 18 November, we woke up to our alarm at 6:30 AM and went to the Horizon Court for a quick breakfast, where we shared a table with Garry and Nola.  This was Nola’s first cruise, but Garry has traveled extensively.  Soon we proceeded to our tour meet-up point in the Wheelhouse Bar at 8:30 AM, where we sat and waited for our motor coach until 9:15 AM.  While waiting, we enjoyed interesting conversations with our neighbors.



Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary

Feeding Lazy Kangaroo

           By the way, Tasmania is one of Australia’s states with a population of 500,000, though it is actually an island located south of mainland Australia.  Diane, our tour guide, described the sights as we drove though Hobart (a city of about 200,000) and the countryside en route to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.  Among other wildlife, we saw koalas, Tasmanian devils, and wombats, besides kangaroos and wallabies.  Kangaroos were hopping around in the open, and kangaroo food (it looks like dry dog food) was provided for visitors to feed them.  Sally loved having them eat from her hand.  We also saw a variety of birds, including a cockatoo that was supposedly over 100 years old.

After the sanctuary, we visited historic Richmond.  This beautifully preserved Georgian village is home to Australia’s oldest jail, bridge, and Roman Catholic Church, all built in the early 1800s.  We were given free time to explore on our own.  Sights included the historic jail and many well-preserved buildings that have been converted into shops, galleries, tearooms, and bed-and-breakfast lodgings.  On our return trip to the pier, we made a photo stop at Rosny Point Lookout for panoramic views of Hobart and Mt. Wellington.  Sally was glad she dressed warmly for the Hobart outing.  Although Jesse thought she was overdoing it because the predicted temp was 61 F, there was a very cold wind; the tour guide remarked that this wind was coming from Antarctica.  (However, it’s not quite like Iowa there; we saw a few palm trees in Hobart!)

Mount Wellington Lookout

When we returned to the ship, we were both tired and, after a quick lunch, we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in our cabin.  It was 7:00 PM when we finally made it to the Vivaldi Dining Room for dinner.  This time we sat alone, were served much more quickly than previously, and were finished with dinner by 8:00 PM – just in time to dance to the New Deal in Club Fusion and the Soul Wave in the Wheelhouse Bar for an hour or more.

On Wednesday we made it to breakfast about 8:00 AM.  Although Hobart was a 2-day experience and we were in port overnight, we felt that we had seen enough here; therefore, after breakfast we went for a long swim.  While relaxing in the hot tub, we met another couple from America, Richard and Barbara.  They wondered why we chuckled, until we told them those were the names of our previous spouses.  They are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary on this cruise.  Although they lived in the St. Louis area for 30 years, they now live in Florida.  It turns out that Barbara is very much into science fiction, and actually wears a ring on a chain around her neck that is a replica of the one from the “Lord of the Rings” movie.  (One of our grandsons, Jakk, used to have one, but he probably doesn’t still wear it.)  We talked with them so long that it was 11:00 AM when we returned to our cabin.

We watched the 12:30 PM sail away from our balcony; about 1:30 PM we ate lunch at the Horizon Court; and then Sally rested while Jesse watched action movies on TV.  Since the last time we cruised on the Diamond Princess, the TV has been upgraded from a 20-inch to a 42-inch screen; however, the options no longer include closed captions, which did not make us very happy.  (Channel selection is also very complicated!)

Dinner tonight for us was in the Pacific Moon Dining Room.   Since we found out that there are actually four “anytime dining” restaurants, we’re trying them all and, when we decide on the one we like best, we’ll stick with that one for the remainder of the cruise.  This dining room was very stark, with a lot of echoing, which makes Sally’s hearing even worse than normal; therefore, we probably won’t eat there again.  We shared a table with Dave and Lynn from Melbourne and Phil and John from Sydney.  At first, they talked a lot about Australian politics; then, they talked about the sights in Australia.  Phil said we had already seen the “best” of Australia when we visited Sydney, and Dave said the “best” was yet to come when we visit Melbourne!  At first, they all seemed to say how “safe” we were in Australia.  Then, when Sally started repeating some facts she had read in the travelogue about Australia, In a Sunburned Country, they all started sharing horror stories about their encounters with poisonous snakes, spiders, crocodiles, etc., exactly as described in the book In a Sunburned Country!  Also, Dave had served in Vietnam from Australia (how many Americans know that any did?), and so he and Jesse discussed their experiences.

After dinner, we danced to the New Deal in the Explorer’s Lounge and the Soul Wave in the Wheelhouse Bar for longer than usual (to Jesse’s delight) before retiring to our cabin for the night.