At Sea and Airlie Beach

At Sea

On Tuesday, 9 December, we went to breakfast at about 10:00, for a swim at 12:00, and for lunch at 3:00 PM.   The Internet access appears to be a lot faster now, perhaps because many of the Platinum and Elite passengers have exhausted their “free” Internet minutes; at any rate, the Internet is faster.

Since tonight was a formal night, we dressed in our formal attire and went to dinner at 6:45 PM.  Although the Captain’s Farewell Cocktail Party was scheduled for 7:00, we decided to forego the “free” drinks and go directly to the Savoy Dining Room for dinner, where we joined Norman and Pearl at a table for four.  They live a few miles north of Sydney in Newcastle, New South Wales, but were originally from South Africa, where Pearl worked for the British Embassy.  Norman retired from the newspaper business.  He talked a lot about his interviews for newspaper articles.  If he found out that interviewees were lying to him, he would refuse to interview them again; those that he reported on trusted that he would write truthful articles and always granted him future interviews.  He also talked about all of the parties to which he accompanied people whom he interviewed, especially embassy officials – lots of free drinks.  Norman believes the days of newspapers are numbered, due to competition from the Internet.

After dinner, we danced to the Soul Wave in the Wheelhouse Bar, where we also talked a little with Paul and Mary.   Mary looked and felt better than she did the previous night, though she still has painful swelling.

Airlie Beach

            On Wednesday, 10 December we went to breakfast at 10:00 AM after downloading our e-mail.   Although we had considered going for a swim, neither of us felt up to it.  We went for a quick lunch at 11:30.

Since Airlie Beach is an “anchorage” port, we left the cabin to board one of the ship’s tenders at 12:45 PM for our scheduled 1:15 excursion meet-up time.  On our way there, we realized that we had forgotten our cash and credit cards, and also that Jesse had made a miscalculation.  Although we always aim to arrive at the excursion meet-up point 30 minutes early, this time he forgot to include 30 minutes for the tender ride to the pier – we should have left our cabin no later than 12:15!   Luckily, when we arrived at the pier at 1:27 PM, the bus had waited for us.  (Although the scheduled departure time was not until 1:45 PM, drivers always leave as soon as all passengers have arrived.)  We were the last to board and chose, from the three sets of empty seats, the one closest to the front.

The tender had dropped us off at Whitsunday’s Abel Point Marina.  Although Whitsunday is not a word that Americans use, it is another name for Pentecost Sunday, the seventh Sunday after Easter.  In 1770, Captain Cook discovered the island on Whitsunday, thus its name.
 

Whitsunday Coffee Plantation

 Scratching Boss - 35-Yr-Old Cockatoo

Our tour guide, Nola, doubled as the bus driver.  Our first stop was the Whitsunday Coffee Plantation.  The coffee industry flourished around the late 1880's but took a blow when tea drinking became more popular with the Australian masses.  However, these days coffee is back at number one and the Whitsunday Gold Coffee Plantation now farms 35 hectares of premium Arabica coffee.  One of the owners boarded the bus and acted as our tour guide to tell us about traditional and modern coffee production.  We first stopped next to one of the fields, where she described the plants, growing season, harvesting, etc.  Then we stopped at the coffee mill and store, where she described the shelling and roasting process.  There, we were also served cake and our choice of complimentary black coffee, cappuccino, iced coffee, or hot chocolate.  (Sally chose cappuccino; Jesse chose iced coffee.)  If we had not forgotten our credit cards, we might have purchased some of the coffee beans.  However, the coffee is available online, and if shipping costs aren’t excessive, we might order some.

Next, we traveled through the town of Cannonvale to the large sugar cane fields surrounding Proserpine.  Although we have always pictured sugar cane as growing very high, this cane was not more than about two feet high.  Our guide told us it was probably only about 3 or 4 months old.  The cane is later cut, but then grows back; new is planted only after a few years. 

Proserpine Historical Museum

In Proserpine, we toured the small Proserpine Historical Museum, which chronicles the history of the Whitsunday Island's sugar and cattle industries.  Touring the museum we viewed many antiques including a steam locomotive called "Digger" that served in Europe during World War I, before ending its career in the sugar cane fields in the 1920s.   Near the museum entrance, a TV was showing a cricket game in process.  Since neither of us knows much about cricket, two Aussie passengers attempted to describe the rules of the game to us, without much success.

On our return trip to the pier, we rode past Cannonvale beach, where the bus paused so we could take a few pictures, and past the Airlie Beach boutiques and cafes.  After the bus dropped us off at the pier, we boarded one of the ship tenders and started our return trip to the ship.  The trip took a little extra time, since there was some sort of sail boat race in process, and we had to go out our way to avoid interfering with the race.  It seemed a long trip, in the very hot interior of the tender, but Sally didn’t want to sit in the sun on top.

We shared dinner with Max and Gail from Brisbane, and Margaret and Elizabeth from Northern New South Wales.  Although Max and Gail have been cruising only since they retired in 2008, they have already racked up 50 or so cruises; however, this is only their third Princess Cruise.  They have also visited 48 US states – all except Kansas and Kentucky.  Although they paid for a round trip cruise from Sydney, they will be getting off in Brisbane.  Max, who provided interesting conversation, sat next to Sally; therefore, she was able to hear and enjoyed dinner conversation much more than usual.  Margaret has been on three cruises and Elizabeth has been on seven – all on Princess.  After dinner, we met Paul and Mary in the Wheelhouse Bar and danced until 10:00 PM before retiring for the night.