Wednesday, March 27, 2019
Day at Sea
Thursday, 14
Mar 2019 – We
barely made it to breakfast before the 10:00 AM closing time. Because it was raining outside after lunch,
we missed swimming for the day. However,
we did manage to dance for 30 minutes after dinner, and set our clocks back one
hour before bedtime.
Darwin, Australia
Wednesday, 13 Mar 2019 – At 8:00 AM, the ship was
docked at Darwin, Australia, where we were booked on an excursion, “Darwin
Harbor Cruise,” scheduled to depart at 10:00 AM. First, we enjoyed breakfast with Phil and
Flora. It was 91 degrees and the heat
was intense as we walked off the ship.
However, we only had to walk a short distance to board the tri-level “Charles
Darwin” Catamaran for our 2-hour ride around the harbor. We had the option of sitting in the air-conditioned
area or on the top deck for better views and photos. Of course, we chose the air-conditioned
option!
Darwin is the capital of the
Northern Territory and is Australia’s only tropical city, which makes them feel
somewhat removed from the rest of the country.
When we visited Darwin previously in 2014, we took a “Jumping Crocodile”
excursion. With a population of about
146,000, Darwin is the smallest and most northerly of the Australian capital
cities. Darwin has been almost entirely
rebuilt four times, following devastation caused by the 1897 cyclone, the 1937
cyclone, the Japanese air raids during World War II, and Cyclone Tracy
in 1974.
After re-boarding the ship, we went
swimming and then hurried to lunch. Since
the Terrace Café was crowded, we joined Richard and Madeline at their
table. They live in St. Louis, but
winter in Florida. They told us about a
problem that Madeline had with sciatica about three years ago while cruising
the South Pacific, which included a hospital visit, a wheelchair, and very
difficult flights returning home after the ship’s doctor told them that they
had to leave the ship. Even after
suffering through that horrible ordeal, they are still cruising!
 |
| Cruising the Darwin Harbor |
Most of the time, we sat and talked with Ann, except for about an hour
when she was on the top deck. Coffee,
tea, and water refreshments were available, as well as fruit, cookies and cake
for snacks. A guide talked into a
microphone for 30 minutes or more about the harbor and history, but Sally found
him difficult to understand and as usual, Jesse wasn’t listening.
 |
| Charles Darwin Catamaran |
After returning to our cabin, Sally
napped for a little while, and then worked on her genealogy book. Since Sally felt like she was getting Jesse’s
cold, we skipped dancing and Sally took a dose of Nyquil before bed.
3 Days At Sea
Sunday, 10 Mar 2019 – We were scheduled to
anchor at Cooktown, Australia at 7:00 AM; however, due to high waves, the
Captain decided to bypass the port and proceed directly to Darwin, which gave
us another relaxing day at sea. Ironically,
we had tried to book an excursion there, a “Historic Cruise Down the Endeavour
River,” which was about all we could handle after our 4-day trip to Uluru, but
it was already booked to capacity.
Monday,
11 Mar 2019 – Sally was awake by 6:15 AM, but Jesse had stayed up and
watched a movie last night and slept until 9:00. We ate breakfast late and went for a swim
before lunch. Sally napped for a couple
of hours after lunch, and then we wrote out postcards so they could be mailed
in Darwin. Tonight was Australian Food
Night in the Terrace Café, so we both tried kangaroo and crocodile skewers for
the first time. We liked the kangaroo,
which tasted a little like beef, but neither of us cared for the crocodile,
which we thought tough and tasteless.
After dinner, we danced for a half hour before retiring for the night.
Sally had a good night’s sleep, so
she felt rested. We went to breakfast at
about 8:30 AM. In addition to our usual
vitamins and prescriptions, Jesse took some cold medication which made him feel
much better. Later, we went for a swim
and then lunch. We had accumulated quite
a few dirty clothes during our overland excursion, so Jesse went to the laundry
room and did a couple of loads while Sally napped. For some reason, the ship has stopped
charging for use of their self-service laundry.
We danced again in the Insignia Lounge after dinner, where we met a
couple from Peoria. They told us that
they often rent cars for one way to Chicago to cheaper, direct airline
flights. For some reason, we had never
considered this, but will definitely do so in the future. We also met a couple of new dancers, Jane and
John, from Florida. They boarded the
ship in Sydney and will be cruising to Tokyo.
We were glad that they had complained to Leslie, the Cruise Director,
about the dance music because, after that, the music had become a whole lot
better! We also decided to stay for the
show afterwards, which was a performance by the Australian comedian, Scott
Williams. Jesse had met him in the
restaurant and had promised to stay for one of his shows. Scott’s act was quite funny, and he also
performed a magic trick. We were in bed
by 10:45 PM.
 |
| Our Cabin Stewards, Ancizar & Sabio |
Tuesday,
12 Mar 2019 – Today was a relaxing day.
By 7:30 AM, we were both awake. Since
Sally felt a little drowsy, she went back to bed after breakfast. Then we went for a swim and hurried to lunch. However, the desserts were unusually
scrumptious, causing us both to overeat.
Because no pre-show dancing was on the schedule, we danced in the
Horizons for 45 minutes before dinner.
We were in bed by 11:00 PM.
Thursday, March 21, 2019
4-Days Brisbane, Uluru (Ayers Rock), and Cairns
 |
| Map of Australia |
Although
there were only 15 passengers in the group, plus Anja, we boarded a full-sized
bus, so we had a choice of seats. First,
we embarked on a short city tour to see Brisbane’s highlights enroute to Lone
Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Brisbane is the capital
city of the Australian state of Queensland and is the country's third largest
city. The original settlement began as a
penal colony, and during World War II, served as the South West Pacific
Headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. It was only after the war that it gained
prominence as an important urban center.
As we traveled alongside the curving banks of the Brisbane River, Anja
pointed out sights such as the Parliament House, the Treasury Building, City
Hall, and the Old Customs House. We
rode past the South Bank Parklands and Cultural Centre. This is adjacent to the location where the
1988 World Expo was held. Today, the
center houses the State's Art Gallery, Performing Arts Complex, and a museum
and library, bearing witness to Brisbane's vibrant cultural community. As we rode through Queenlands Botanic Gardens,
Anja pointed out the many unique plants and trees that are indigenous to the
area. We made a brief stop at Mount
Coot-tha Summit Lookout, where we had excellent views of Brisbane’s skyline
below.
The highlight of our
Brisbane tour was our visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the world's
largest koala sanctuary, where one has the opportunity to get close to over 130
free roaming koalas. The sanctuary is
also home to kangaroos, wallabies, sheep dogs and other animals such as the
emu, Tasmanian devil, wombat, dingo and kookaburra.
 |
| Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary |
After leaving the
sanctuary, we continued our city tour until we reached the W Hotel
Brisbane. Although there were three
separate registration counters in the lobby, where we stood in line, the process
was not fast! After that, we took the
elevator to our room on the 12th floor.
When we opened the door at 3:45 PM, the curtains opened automatically to
reveal a breathtaking view of the skyscrapers, river, and bridge below. The room was luxurious. As Sally immediately lay down for a nap, Jesse
played with the TV remote control. A few
minutes later, our luggage was delivered to our room.
We had prearranged for
our good friends, Gail and Jim, to meet us at the hotel at 5:00 PM. We first met them in San Francisco in 2012, a
couple of days prior to our 27-day cruise from San Francisco to Sydney. Although we did not share their dinner table
on the ship (in those days we were still doing assigned seating), we met most
afternoons for tea. Later, during our
28-day cruise around Australia in 2014, we spent an afternoon with them after
they picked us up from the Brisbane cruise port. Then in 2015, we cruised with them again from
London to New York. Of course, between
times, we have kept in touch by e-mail.
Gail and Jim arrived at
the hotel at 5:00 PM and were ushered to our room. They were really impressed with the hotel –
and with the view from our room.
Apparently, the hotel is quite new, because neither of them had ever
heard of it. We had decided it would be easiest to have
dinner at the hotel restaurant together.
The two of us were scheduled for a tour-inclusive dinner at the
restaurant at 6:30 PM, and had already discussed the possibility of Gail and
Jim joining us with Anja and the hotel staff.
Until about 6:15, we four sat in our hotel room, enjoying talking, and
then took the elevator to the restaurant on the 3rd floor.
 |
| Dinner with Gail & Jim |
Thursday, 7 Mar 2019 – We awoke to our alarm at 3:00 AM and made it to the
lobby for our 4:15 AM meeting time.
Then we checked out of the hotel; picked up our breakfast boxes; and
boarded our bus for the Brisbane airport.
Our flights were with Virgin Australian Airlines. Anja checked us all in at the airport; then
we stood in line to check our luggage.
After going through security, we sat and waited for our 6:00 AM, 1-hour-and-10-minute
flight back to Sydney. It was only then
that we realized that we were not seated together. Sally was not very happy. However, our tour group was seated in the
same section of the plane; Jesse was
assigned to a window seat, and Sally was assigned to an aisle seat two rows behind
him. Once we boarded, Jesse noticed that
Bryan, who was traveling alone, was sitting in the middle seat next to
him. Bryan graciously agreed to exchange
seats with Sally, which made Sally very happy!
Upon arrival at Sydney,
we set our watches back one hour. While
waiting for our 4-hour flight to Ayers Rock, Sally noticed a JB Hi Fi camera
store located near the women’s restroom.
Thus, Jesse was able to purchase a new camera charger cable for $19.95
AUD, or about $15.00 USD. Again, we were
not seated together. This time, Anja
took care of rearranging our seats - which, again, made Sally happy.
Our 9:55 AM flight
departed about 10 or 15 minutes late; however, this time, we were served orange
juice and blueberry muffins. During the
flight, Sally tried napping (unsuccessfully), while Jesse tried reading some of
the “Game of Thrones” book that he brought along. When the plane landed, we had to descend
stairs from the plane to the tarmac, and were immediately attacked by
flies. As we rushed into the terminal, we
fanned the swarming flies from our faces.
One of our suitcases was the last one to be loaded on the conveyor belt,
so after attaching the hotel room tags that had been given to us, we were the
last passengers to load the tour bus (with a 16-person capacity). The only seats left were in the front next to
the driver, which turned out to be the most preferred seats. A couple of the other passengers assured us
that we would be rotating the front seats from then on!
The drive to “Longitude 131°”
(the resort where we would be staying) was about a half-hour drive. Although the driver narrated the drive, the
microphone was not working; therefore, we were the only passengers able to hear
him. Upon arrival, we were led to the
Dune House, where we were served champagne, given a brief overview of the
facilities and the schedule, and completed our registration. The Dune House included a well-stocked
self-service open bar for the guests, although the Australian Ginger Beer that
Jesse liked was not available. Then we
were individually escorted to our luxury tents.
The accommodations met all the requirements of a luxury hotel room;
however, the roof was made of canvas, which apparently classified the sleeping
place as a “tent.” The controls to
remotely open and close the window shades were easily accessed from the bed, as
well as the light controls. A large
balcony or patio could be accessed through sliding doors. From our window, we could view Ayers
Rock. The tent was stocked with
complementary snacks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages, as well complementary
head nets. The only thing missing was a
TV! (Poor Jesse!) Our luggage had already been delivered to our
tent.
For lunch, we returned to
the Dune House, where we sat with Ted & JoAnne from California. They are both widowed and met online 2.5
years ago; they are not married. After
lunch we returned to our tent and Sally, who was feeling sleep-deprived,
immediately lay down for a 1-hour nap, while Jesse placed the camera on charge
and did a little reading.
 |
| Uluru (Ayers Rock) |
 |
| Uluru Climbing Area |
The
original sediments that formed Uluru and its sister, Kata Tjuta, were horizontal layers of sand and gravel,
known as the “bedding planes,” which were welded together as rock over millions
of years. The rock is incredibly hard. Later, a mountain-building event, known as
Alice Springs Orogeny, created great folds in the earth that pushed down and folded
the rocks that became today’s Uluru and Kat Tjuta. The deformation flipped the sediments on
their side so the originally horizontal layers of sand and gravel, known as the
'bedding planes', are now vertical. It’s
interesting that one side of Uluru is about 50 million years older than the
other. (The Mala people have their own
beliefs about the creation of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and consider our geological
explanation just a “story.”)
 |
| Uluru at Twilight |
Afterwards,
we took a short walk back to our tour bus, which lucky for us, one of the tour
staff had moved closer to our current location.
On the trip back to Longitude 131°, Mark and Odene (from Los Angeles)
took their turn in the front seats, as Michael continued his talk. It was about 7:00 PM when we got back. Some of the passengers stayed in the Dune
House for dinner, but we went back to our tent to clean up a little first.
At
dinner, we sat with Raul and Marilyn.
They are originally from the Philippines, but live in the Washington,
DC, area. They both spoke very softly,
especially Marilyn, so it was very difficult (sometimes impossible) for Sally
to hear them. From them, we learned that
passengers can invite family and friends to visit them on board while the ship
is in port. Marilyn’s sister had come
aboard in Miami. (They started this
cruise before we did.) Of course, this
must all be arranged in advance, with applicable paperwork. They had also taken a Crystal Cruise above
northern Canada, which we had seen advertised.
They have been married for 48 years.
We got back to our tent at 9:30 PM and were in bed by 10:30 PM.
Friday, 8 Mar 2019 – At 5:30 AM we received a wakeup call. At breakfast in the Dune House, we sat with
Russ and Denise from California. They
met at Virginia Tech and have been married for 28 years. They both retired from the computer field and
were obviously the youngest members of our tour group.
 |
| Kata Tjuta |
Next, we climbed out of
our bus and began a walk through rock-walled Walpa Gorge, while Caroline shared
expert commentary detailing the region’s natural history. She told us that we would be returning on the
same route, so if anyone was unable to complete the walk, they could stop at
any time. The walk started out on a level,
sandy path, which soon became a slope on a rocky surface, with stones, large
and small, making each step potentially dangerous. We stepped carefully, watching our feet to
avoid falling or twisting an ankle. Although
we made it much of the way up that first slope, probably about halfway through
the entire walk, Jesse suggested that we stop at that point and return to the
base of the hill. There, we stopped on a
large wooden bench to rest. Mark soon
joined us; he was having trouble with an ankle.
Mark and his wife, Odene, live in Los Angeles, although Mark was born in
Montreal. After his father suffered a
bad fall in the snow, the first thing he told his wife after waking up from a
coma was “We’re moving to California.” And
they moved! Mark is a retired health
care lawyer. He and Odene have been
married for 25 years. After a few minutes,
we made our way back to level ground, while Mark waited for Odene to
return. We sat under a “roofed” area and
waited for the rest of the group. Bryan
was the first one back. Bryan is from
Ft. Meyers, Florida, and likes to hike.
After everyone had made it back, we re-boarded
the tour bus and rode to the Cultural Centre where we spent 45 minutes browsing
the informative, interactive displays that provide insight into the spiritual
and cultural meanings of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We watched most of a short film. Although we had expected it to be about the
culture of the native people, it was specifically about meetings set up to
return control of Uluru to the natives – and not very interesting. However,
two or three souvenir shops and restaurants were found at the center. We made some small purchases. No photos were allowed of either the interior
or the exterior of the center. We then re-boarded the
bus for our 30-minute drive back to Longitude 131°, arriving at 11:30 AM. As we were leaving the bus, Jesse led the
group in another chorus of “Sweet Caroline.”
Since we had about a half
hour before lunch was to be served, the two of us decided to try out the
swimming pool. Beside the pool, towels
were provided, as well as a refrigerator with water, soft drinks, and alcoholic
beverages. Although the water was unheated
and felt very cold at first (because the outside temperature falls at night), once
we got in, it was fine. Since the pool
was kidney-shaped, swimming laps was difficult, let alone the back stroke. We both kept running into the sides! We swam for about 30 minutes, and then went
to lunch, where we sat with Anja, Ted, and Donna. Although the table was set for four, the
waiter added another chair and place setting to seat the five of us. After lunch, we returned to our tent. There, Jesse sat an alarm to make sure that
we wouldn’t be late for our evening excursion; then Sally napped for two hours,
and Jesse for one.
 |
| Anja's Uluru Tour Group |
 |
| Field of Light |
Our
bus then returned us to Longitude 131° for a starlight dinner at Table 131° among
the dunes. While listening to the
mesmerizing night sounds of the desert, we feasted on four delicious courses
matched with the finest Australian wines. (However, Sally remarked that it was too dark
to see our food!) We sat at a table with
Jennie from Albuquerque, Russ & Denise, Mark & Odene, and Linda from
Seattle. During dinner, we shared some
interesting stories and jokes. After
dinner, Longitude’s resident astronomer treated us to tales of the southerly
constellations. He used a laser to point
out the various constellations. After
the presentation, we were escorted on the short walk back to our tents. A few of the guests joined Donna with her
walker on a multi-passenger golf cart that took her back to her tent. Sally complained to Jesse that more of us should
have been driven back; it was almost 10:30 PM as we walked through the darkness
beside Anja, who used the flashlight from her cell phone to light the way. Since Anja, had never seen the inside of one
of the tents, we invited her in to see ours.
She was very impressed! Anja was
staying at an alternate location, not quite as nice.
For
this last night, we had been encouraged to sleep outside under the stars. The lounge on our balcony had been made up
with a sleeping bag. There was a gas
fire going and a tray with two carafes of wine, one carafe of Bailey’s Irish Cream,
and a small container of popcorn. However,
we were too exhausted for any of that nonsense; therefore, we put out the fire,
closed the blinds, took showers, drank the Bailey’s, and went to sleep in our
comfortable, indoor, king-sized bed!
Saturday, 9 Mar 2019 – As far as we know,
Jeannie was the only one who slept outside.
Although we were sure that Bryan would since he is such an outdoorsman, he
told us he hadn’t slept outside since he stopped drinking! We had scheduled a 5:30 AM wakeup call and
made it to breakfast at 6:00 AM. We sat
at a table with Jennie and Bryan, although Bryan was soon finished and left the
table. We had the buffet breakfast again
rather than waiting for an order.
Afterwards, we went back to our tent and finished getting ready. After we had our luggage ready for pickup by
the 7:15 AM deadline, we returned to the Dune House to check out.
At 7:45 AM we left
Longitude 131° for the 10-minute drive to the airport. Anja checked us all in at the airport; then
we stood in line to check our luggage. Although
we were seated separately again, Anja had our seats changed. This time we were on Qantas Airlines. After going through security, we sat and
waited for our 9:45 AM flight to Alice Springs.
Anja had arranged transportation (disability) carts for us, Donna, and
Ann. So we were first to board the
plane. [After seeing how Sally was
dragging herself (being exhausted) back to our tent at 10:30 PM the previous
evening, Anja apparently had decided that she might need some extra help. Donna was using a walker; she definitely needed
the cart, but Sally probably not yet!]
Anyway, the flight this
time was only 30 minutes. Even at that,
the flight attendants did serve us bottled water. We were told to wait until last to leave the
plane; however, after descending the stairs from the plane, this cart had room
for only three passengers; therefore, Jesse walked to the terminal, which
turned out to be quite a long walk. Inside,
we sat near a TV and waited for about an hour for our next flight. Again, at 10:55 AM, we were the first to
board the plane. This time, the cart was
larger, so that all four of us rode to the plane, which again was quite a
distance. We sat on the very last row of
the plane with no window and next to the restroom, which was fine with us. A young woman then boarded, sitting in the
window seat. However, before we took
off, she was offered a better seat, which turned out to be in the business
class! We were supposed to be served a
meal on this flight, but the flight attendants were 20 meals short, so those in
the back of the plane got snacks and beverages.
Jesse drank a beer with his snack.
 |
| Meeting Our Ship in Cairns |
At dinner on the ship
again, we sat with Henry and Pamela. We
had thought they were from California, near Marie and Ken, but it turns out
that they are from Vancouver. Remarkably,
they had also just returned from Ayers Rock; they had taken a private tour,
leaving the ship in Sydney and returning like we did in Cairns, although they had
spent the night in Cairns. We compared
cost, and theirs was a little less, but not by much. They had to purchase all of their own meals,
which turned out to be quite expensive. Being
too tired for dancing, we retired for the night at 10:35 PM.
Thursday, March 14, 2019
Day at Sea
Tuesday, 5
Mar 2019 –
We went to breakfast early, a little after 8 AM. After breakfast, we went for a swim. The water was very rough. We had lunch as usual, and then started our
packing for tomorrow’s overland excursion.
Jesse had his haircut in the ship’s Canyon Ranch Spa at 3:15 PM. The hairdresser, Mario, had obviously not cut
a lot of “African” hair, but he did okay.
(Jesse isn’t very particular.) At
dinner, we sat at a table next to Rich and Donna from Denver, CO. They boarded the ship in Sydney and will be
cruising to Tokyo. By midnight, we had finished
most of our packing and retired for the night.
Overnight in Sydney, Australia
Sunday, 3 Mar
2019 – Today
was scheduled to be an at-sea day; however, due to a medical emergency with one
of the passengers, our arrival in Sydney was moved up by one day; so we would
be enjoying an overnight stay in Sydney. Since Sally had not slept well, we skipped
swimming and Sally napped instead. At
about 3:30 PM we arrived in Sydney.
Since we arrived on Sunday, Jesse decided that we should try to attend
Mass. We spent a few days in Sydney
previously, and thought we knew the area, especially near the port, quite
well. In 2014, we had attended St.
Patrick’s Church, which was only a short walk from the cruise terminal.
Monday, 4
Mar 2019 – We
awoke to our alarm at 6:15 AM. During
breakfast, we said goodbye to several of our friends who would be disembarking
in Sydney, including Dean & Darlene, Camillia & Mike, Charlotte & Joan,
and Margaret & Carl. We did not see
our dancing friends, Mike & Nancy. At
8:30 AM, our bus departed for our 8.5-hour “Blue Mountain” excursion. Our tour guide was Anja (pronounced Anya) and
our driver was Mick. Anja narrated the
scenery during the 2-hour drive to our destination. As we traveled through the city on our way to
the Blue Mountains, we rode past the 2000 Olympic site. Following the trail of Australia's early
explorers, our coach climbed high into the Blue Mountains. Our mountain sightseeing included numerous
small towns along the way that provide a weekend escape for many of the city's
residents.
Upon arriving at the Blue Mountains Scenic World
visitor’s center, Anja obtained railway and cable car passes for the tour
group. She then led us to the area
where we boarded the world's steepest perpendicular railway, which plunges 700
feet into the valley at a 52 degree incline. The seats on the train were reclined into a
V-shape, so that the backs of the seats were at 45 degree angles. Once the train started down the mountain, the
seats were upright. During our descent, we
enjoyed spectacular views of the Grand Canyon of giant rock formations,
geological history, and cascading waterfalls. After disembarking at the bottom, we followed
Anja along a path past the Katoomba Coal Mine, which operated during the late
1800s and early 1900s. Entrances to the
mine were marked, and several displays and lifelike sculptures depicted the
mining operations. After a few minutes
of walking, we arrived at the entrance to the unique Scenicscender cable car
which returned us to the top of the mountain.
As the cable car ascended, we enjoyed more views of Grand Canyon. Then we boarded a “lateral” cable car that
took us to an additional lookout point. If
time had permitted, from there, we could have walked 1.4 kilometers to the
famous rock formation, the Three Sisters.
After re-boarding our bus, our next stop was the Echo
Point Plaza, where we had a better view of the Three Sisters and awesome
panoramic views of the Jamieson Valley, Mount Solitary, the Ruined Castle,
Katoomba Falls, and the Burraborang Valley.
We spent about 30 minutes there before continuing on to the charming
little village of Leura, where we were given free time to enjoy lunch on our
own, and to explore some of the charming local crafts and antique shops. A few of us followed Anja to her favorite
restaurant, Bakehouse Leura, where we enjoyed meat pies and blueberry
muffin. Afterwards, we browsed through a
few shops before re-joining our bus.
By 4:45 PM we were back at the ship, where we had
another safety drill at 5:15 PM. At
dinner, we sat at a table near Maurice and Liz.
Dick and Arlene, whom we had met on last year’s cruise, also stopped to
chat. They boarded the ship in Sydney
and will be cruising back to Miami.
After dinner, we finished watching the third “Lord of the Rings”
movie. Then we turned our clocks back by
one hour before retiring for the night.
We left the ship at about 5:00 PM and started
walking. However, at 6:00 PM, we finally
reached the end of the pier, and St. Patrick’s was nowhere in sight; then we
headed back to the ship. We later found
out that the ship was docked at an entirely different location than our ship in
2014! (The scenery did look different to
us, but we thought it might look familiar if we could walk far enough.) Other friends, Richard and Kathleen, had made
it to the 6:00 PM Mass by taking a shuttle and were sorry that they had not
discussed the subject with us. Oh well,
we had a nice long (hot) walk anyway!
After our long walk earlier, we were too tired
for dancing; therefore, we watched the third “Lord of the Rings” movie on
TV. (The second “Lord of the Rings”
movie was not available on the ship’s TV, which didn’t make a lot of sense.)
 |
| Perpendicular Railway |
 |
| Blue Mountains Lookout Point |
 |
| Blue Mountains Visitor Center with Anja |
 |
| Olympic Park |
Since we were well ahead of schedule, the tour
group voted to make an unscheduled photo and restroom stop at the site of the
2000 Olympics. Our final stop was at the
Harbor Bridge, where we had excellent views of Sydney’s Opera House and
skyline.
 |
| Harbor Bridge |
2 Days at Sea
Friday, 1 Mar
2019 – We
didn’t do very much today. We were both awake
by 6:30 AM and went to breakfast early.
It had rained during the night and the pool waves were too rough for
swimming. Sally worked on her genealogy
book most of the day. She also didn’t
feel up to dancing after dinner; however, Jesse attended the Passenger and Crew
talent show at 9:30 PM. The show was
excellent. One of our friends, Henry,
performed a magic show. It turns out
that he is a little more than an amateur and has performed in Las Vegas and
other locations around the country.
Other friends, Paul and Nancy, the other couple that usually dances with
us performed a dancing routine, and Margaret was part of a group performing a
Zorba the Greek dance. Later, several
passengers asked why we had not performed in the talent show (dancing). Jesse told them that Sally is much too shy
for that!
 |
Terrace Café with Dean & Darlene
|
Saturday, 2
Mar 2019 – We
went to breakfast at 9:30 AM, along with several other late-sleeping passengers,
and sat with Dean and Darlene. Since
they would be disembarking in Sydney, we traded e-mail addresses and got photos
with them. Even though the water was
very rough, we swam after lunch. We
skipped dancing again and instead, watched the first “Lord of the Rings” movie
on TV. We set our clock back by one hour
before retiring.
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