Indian Sea Day Number 2

The Indian Ocean and Tropical Cyclone Marcus certainly took their toll on us and the trusty Golden Princess ! We hugged the shore until the worst of it had past over the outer areas of the coast ie more than 12 miles off shore so the captain told us, but then there was no alternative but to turn sharp right and head out to the Indonesian Islands, Sumatra and Java. We rode on the rough swell of the tail of the cyclone which was bumpy and rocky throughout the long night ! Actually the reason I didn’t sleep a huge amount was due to the banging and clattering of things raging around on decks above, even though it seemed as though everything that was able to be tied down, most definitely was, and in cabins and corridors. I got up a couple of times to move or rearrange coat hangers, water bottles, balcony chairs and other bits and pieces which were positively doing the sea tango !

This morning was a lot less rough and with another 600 nautical miles to go to Benoa in Bali I suspect most folk are very thankful ! It has been a truly unusual cruise for me, for a start it feels as if we are cruising ‘upwards’ - I can’t explain why, but when I cruise in the Northern Hemisphere it feels much more flat, almost as if we are moving ‘sideways’ in different directions, but this has a definite feel of something else and is more alien ( and I don’t mean Star Treck !)........it is 83 degrees outside and that is with the sizeable breeze blowing in through the balcony doors. So pretty darned hot with 90% humidity !

The now calm sea and the sunset last night

Walk out the balcony door, immediately dripping - nice.

There is a nightclub at the very top of the ship on Deck 17 called Skywalkers, but during the day when the rock fans I assume are asleep, it becomes a haven of cool and quiet, filled with soft sofas and armchairs and large picture windows from which one can stare at the (now!) gentle blue sea all day ! I have finished two books so far, one of which was a very long one just incase that doesn’t seem impressive !

I am off for my coffee now, so down to deck 5 the Piazza for a well made and strong Cappucino. I may then take it all the way up to Deck 17 and enjoy it in the cool.

Cappuccino and Cool 

This morning I watched a movie on my cabin TV, this was a cool luxury as I have a dinky little fan I brought with me which keeps the temperature just cool enough for comfort, and that is on top of the air conditioning being on full blast. I sat with my breakfast and watched Goodbye Christopher Robin, the story of A.A. Milne and his son. It is very moving and a wonderful period piece, such attention to detail. I had previously no idea how both Milne and Shepard, the artist who did all the illustrations, suffered so much from shell shock from their experiences in WW1. In a strange kind of way this horror in his life and thus a move from London to the Sussex countryside were the reason for birth of Winnie the Pooh and all the poems. Out of all that horror came something good, but at a terrible cost to the whole family and especially the child. Very well worth watching !

We were just told by the Captain that the port at Benoa, Bali is very shallow so there will be a long 30 minute tender to reach land ! I am going on my elephant safari trip tomorrow which is incredibly exciting, even though I must be up and waiting in the casino at 7.45am for said tender boat. We will be back onboard by 1pm as we leave at 3.30pm for Kuala Lumpur, and also it is much cooler in the morning - so my lovely Balinese steward tells me. She has permission to go ashore for the whole day so she can meet up with her family and ‘have a wonderful day’ quote ! Here’s hoping it is a tad cooler in the mornings. The sun block is essential, the hat is essential and some true grit from me I imagine ! 

Update tomorrow 🐘🐘🐘😂

Fremantle - Last Australia Day

I did not go into Fremantle in the evening as there were no shuttles running and I wasn’t sure, in the dark,  where to go. I was up and on the shuttle bus bright and early the following morning - around 9am infact, which may have been a little silly since the centre of the old town did not burst into life until around 10am !

I loved the place, the architecture and the ambience. It was a cluster of ornate stone buildings, old and new and a simple stone built church in the centre of the bustle. More beautiful even than the buildings were the enormous and convoluted tropical trees complete in their own well kept circle of earth which were almost more in number than buildings ! I can only assume they were centuries old as the girth of each base trunk was the size of a church tower ! 

I could not fit the whole tree in !

Perhaps this explains the preponderance of white parrots and rainbow laurekeets ( no idea about spelling.....). If one was a bit early morning dozy, the awakening was sudden and rather rude ! The screeching is beyond belief, the support and breath these tiny bodies must have in their vocal armoury is top notch ! The clear need to scrap all the time with other birds must also add to the decibels !

Note the white parrots ! Mercifully quiet for a few peaceful minutes !

I had, by now almost run out of bars and snacks which I could eat without lots of rising numbers so I first went to the tourist information building to try my luck at asking for the location of a health food type shop. As with everyone I have met in this part of the world, the lady could not have been more helpful if she were being appraised ! She googled, she telephoned and she read in order to find me somewhere to shop. In the end the local Chemist Warehouse ( which tells you everything!) was the low carb place to be, and I stood amazed at the plethora of bars, packs, and drinks which I could eat !! The prices for all these foods were a good deal cheaper than in the U.K. which is always a pleasant surprise, and even better, many of the confections were sweetened with stevia or xylitol and not the dreaded aspartame ! I love Australia!

After shopping I wandered around the lovely centre of the town admiring the way that buildings had been conserved, and how well the new ones fitted into the picture. There were many new builds but they had a look of the old frontier ones, so no visual shocks. 

The church in the centre of town

A lovely old hotel

It was a warm day, around 73 degrees so instead of my usual coffee I had my first Aussie iced coffee with whipped cream ( not out of a can - I watched....) which was a welcome cooler and quite delicious. So there is a first ! This was before I ventured on the CAT Red Bus which did the ‘round the city loop’. These are such brilliant facilities, and free 😆😆, which means that one can, in the comfort of air conditioning see the centre of the city. It passed right by the ship, that is how closely we were docked to the town, and many tourists got off at the ship stop and went onboard. I went back to the centre as I wanted another look at this almost ‘Cathedral city’. After Fremantle we are leaving Australia so it was my final goodbye to the country and in a strange kind of way, Emily, Steven and Tom. Whilst I was on the Australian continent I felt as if I could still have got back to Melbourne - albeit a very long way - so this was a proper goodbye !

WORLD OF COFFEE 11

Iced Coffee in Colleys Tea Rooms with rapidly melting cream !

The ship shuttle bus was doing round trips every 10 minutes, so I sat and watched the world go by for awhile. Then up cycled four policewomen ! Clearly the equivalent of the London mounted horse police, but on swish racing cycles. They stopped and chatted with lots of folk sitting on the benches around the church and clearly were very approachable and friendly ! I have no idea whether or not we have policemen and women on cycles in the U.K. and undoubtedly someone will put me right in this, but I haven’t seen any ! Very eco and very efficient I thought.

Mounted Policewomen

I eventually caught the bus back to the ship and returned to my cabin with lots of wonderful memories of this amazing country. It is just a pity it is so far from home.........

Onwards by sea to Indonesia and a whole new ( and probably unbearably hot) world.

Extra and unexpected Sea Day !

It’s been another day at sea. Due to the rough weather ( sea the photo of the Captain’s letter to each passenger) we were obliged to sail quite slowly. The swell was big, around 15-18 feet so even with the stabilisers fully engaged the pitch and roll was considerable. This meant that sadly we had to miss Busselton and Margaret River. We were, by last night six hours behind schedule so the decision was made that we sail on to Fremantle arriving there this evening instead of tomorrow morning. I must say I was very happy that my comfort and safety was the Captain’s first consideration - so no moans from me. It does however, always surprise me that some folk become degree level moaners.......do they not get it I wonder ? 

El Capitano’s Letter

We will be allowed to go into Fremantle this evening if we wish, so that is an extra bonus, and I suppose if I wanted to go to Perth I could, but I think I will just have a little peep at what Fremantle has to offer, regain my land legs and then have a proper trip out tomorrow!

It seems, from the letter that Tropical Cyclone Marcus is about to hit this top part of the Indian Ocean, so I am mighty glad we are leaving tomorrow ahead of that little monster wheeling in along the coast !

The weather is warming up with every hour, so now I am sitting in the shade on my balcony as the temperature has just tipped over into what a northern hemisphere woman finds a tad too much, however these balconies, unlike the ones further down the decks have a shaded roof, so unless  the sun is deliberately out to get me, and pointing at my sunbed, I can find some shade and of course, some sea breeze. It is when we dock that sitting outside, even in the shade is like slow roasting in a pizza oven !

An update for my lovely little friend Tom, back in Melbourne - to get to the launderette from my cabin, and it is on the same floor, I have to walk a half km there and a half km back, so to put in washing, leave it, come back and put in the dryer, then come back to collect I walk 3km ! It is 12.44 here and since I got up I have walked approx 4 and a half km ! Step count is about 12,000 per day !!! So you see, cruising is good for you ! 

Apropos of nothing I photographed the restful act of sitting, feet up in the killer sunshine, and writing on the balcony ! Nothing else of interest as yet !

What ho for tomorrow !

Update.....

Just docked in Fremantle and I am so close to the town I could catch the train from my balcony I reckon. How the captain manages to turn such an enormous vessel in such a small space is quite beyond me ! 

The view from here, car park, train and some older buildings - well if you look closely, remember I only have an iPhone camera ! 

 

Two days at Sea

We have two sea days before we reach Busselton and Margaret River, and we have already travelled 1000 km since we left Melbourne! The weather rather turned against us last night and a lengthy message from the Italian captain came over the tannoy around 6pm. This was quite unusual as the maritime tradition if that the captain always gives his daily report at midday exactly. This extra announcement was clearly needed ! He told us that when we left the shelter of the bay at Port Lincoln we would be going into the Great Australian Bight which, as far as can ascertain, is very similar to the Bay of Biscay or rounding Cape Horn ! 

As the evening approached and we sailed out of the harbour it became obvious that the captain’s tip of ‘ now is the moment for taking your seasick pills’ (in an Italian accent !) which I obediently did, was the correct advice ! The seas were officially ‘ very rough’ with waves of 16-18 feet with a large swell ! The ship moved up and down like a funfair ride and trying to walk became comically impossible ! I felt no queasiness at all due to taking my ubiquitously names ‘ Joyrides’ - I think some advertising guru was having a laugh.

Cabin service was ceased, due I imagine, to not wanting passengers bedecked with chicken curry and strawberry cheesecake and cream all over their clothes and cabin ! The shows were cancelled and the pools drained. No risks were being taken, so basically if you had some disaster it was probably due to one’s own lunacy ! It was also very hot and sitting on the balcony it looked as if the horizon had had a dram too many and was unsure of its home ! I did enjoy the enforced sitting - actually I do quite a bit of sitting, enforced and voluntarily, and watching the large swell from deck 12 was fun - I imagine watching the swell, burst and crash of waves on the ship body if you were in a balcony on deck 7 would have been like having an extra salty shower every 3 minutes ! My $4 / £2.50 sunhat proved its worth on the balcony in the sun. I am generally not a hat woman, but it was a strawy blessing in disguise for the white skin of the Pom !

The hat ! Saving me from the sun !

I didn’t sleep a great deal through the night but on awakening it seemed to have settled a little. Still some swell but not as dramatic as it had been. 

It is that ‘next day’ now, and the sea has roughened up as the day has progressed so now we are back in the ‘ very rough’ of the Bight. The captain did say that this part of the Southern Ocean was renowned for bad sea conditions and weather, and he did alter course slightly to make it a little more comfortable for the punters. This means we could only sail at 15 knots and not the 19 needed to get us to Busselton by tomorrow morning, thus we will be delayed in docking. I am eternally grateful that Captain Lavadera opted for less swell, safer seas and a few hours less in Busselton !

I went to watch the Art Auction today, something I had not been to in a number of years. I had forgotten how much dreadful art is out there, especially for multiple thousands of dollars ! Some folk must have more cash than discernment. Things get very excited and the punters practise holding up auction cards and shouting ‘me! me !’........I did not bother with the all important green card I need to tell you, so thankfully, was not in the running for golden faces with shining hair combined with magical running horses and unicorns, or thatched cottages with smoking chimneys and improbably flowery gardens, or perhaps one of the ‘specials’ that is ‘a one off limited edition but with real hand embellishments, wow the real thing ! I reckon that today alone, at least $20,000 changed hands 😲! That was in one hour.

The art auction in the explorers bar, what strange fun !

 Also found the Ice Cream bar today, and they have sugar free ice cream.......my life is complete !

Ah.......strawberries and cream ice cream and not a sin in sight !

Port Lincoln Day !

I woke up this morning to sun gleaming through the balcony windows, so bright it made me want to keep my eyes closed  ! The attentive stewards always close all the sets of curtains on the long door windows and I promptly open them as soon as they leave. I love the views, the fact that the only folk who can see in are the dolphins, whales and the seagull called Sheila,  make it so much more exciting when passing islands, or coastlines which I don’t want to miss. I also love to see the sunset and sunrise, if I am up early enough ! 

Sunrise

We docked at Port Lincoln at 8am and the view seemed promising. I had my usual order for a balcony breakfast brought at around 10am and had a leisurely chomp with lots of tea. The Princess preferred teabag is Lipton’s, but clearly the American version as it is about as strong as a convalescent dormouse. I sneakily bought some proper teabags in Melbourne before I left and have been substituting them for the barely alive Lipton’s version. I will bring them back with me, as there are folk I know who like Weeeeeaaak tea ?

I then decided to have a wander into Port Lincoln, about which I knew nothing ! I went to my safe to remove passport and cash and was promptly locked out of the said metal box.......I am sure I put in the right number combo but who knows.......anyway a lovely housekeeping supervisor who was Chinese and about 3ft 7inches tall came and rescued me with a complicated code of numbers and letters which allowed the lock to click open and my valuables to escape. She chatted the whole time and was clearly almost submerged ( and given her height that wasn’t tricky) by all the housekeeping issues on a ship as large as the Golden ! The broken door lock on deck 7, the run down battery on another type of safe on deck 5 and the man on deck 10 who had had a small tipple and locked himself on the balcony.....one hopes he was not in a state of undress, although I bet she has seen it all many times. She smiled and waved and moved cheerily on to problem number 63 and it was as yet, only 10.45 am. Maybe 63 is an exaggeration, but she was up to her eyes in problems ! 

I was by then ready to disembark and see the sights. The town had kindly provided busses to take us to Main Street on the harbour front so things were looking up ! Like sheep we boarded and drove a km or so around the grain port - nothing......no WiFi. No souvenirs. No coffee. Nothing.

We got to Main Street and we cheered up a little. The town had provided volunteers sporting hats and t shirts saying ‘Explore Port Lincoln !’. I alighted from the bus and looked around eagerly hoping for something to look at. The sun was shining and it was a pleasant 70 degrees, the harbour was pretty and there was a great view of the ship, and the folk were chatty and welcoming. That was about it. 

The only bit of history left !

Matthew Flinders and compass.

On crossing the road I heard singing, live singing of the ‘You clearly loved that song’ type ! ( Anyone who knows me as an adjudicator is aware that when I can’t find a positive with the singing to begin my adjudication I always use that sentence, and say it with Shakespearean emotion). It was a small group of enthusiastic ladies in green ‘Sing Australia ‘ shirts entertaining the tourists. They were very sweet and were clearly loving singing, but the rendition of The Skye Boat Song left a bit to be desired !!!  This is completely unfair of me, given my job, and they were much enjoyed by the populous at large. 

I looked for a coffee shop and saw the Paragon Cafe ! I ordered my flat white and proceeded to try for the usual free WiFi - nothing.  The biggest nothing however was the fact that my flat white never arrived !! After sitting at a table for about 25minutes I went in and asked where it was, to be told it was ‘nearly ready’ - in fairness they looked so overwhelmed by customers I fear they were going to still be making slow flat whites at midnight, so I said I had to leave and they cheerfully gave me a refund ! 

I wandered a bit further, rather giving up on anything which needed any preparation, and eventually found the Matthew Flinders statue. He who mapped the whole of South Australia. I was advised that there was something of a competition for which town was going to be the capital of South Australia between Adelaide and Port Lincoln..........it seemed pretty clear which one had lost ! 

Lovely people.......

The Golden Princess

I forgot to put this up !

Everywhere signs said,

WELCOME TO SOUTH AUSTRALIA !

Updated Adelaide Day !

I left Gloria Jean’s and had a wander in the centre of Adelaide retail therapy unit ! It is a lovely city, smallish and pretty. There is a lot of graffiti on buildings, which surprised me a bit, but otherwise there is a great mix of old and new. I am now sitting in the Mayfair Hotel having a cup of afternoon tea in the peace and quiet of a rather swish hotel. The building wall has Colonial Mutual Building emblazoned on the stucco so clearly it was office buildings in days gone by !

Beehive Corner !

Mayfair Hotel tearoom and tea !

Some great bronzes in the King William St shopping precinct!

I managed to find a lovely necklace with a small opal set in silver for Cecilia’s birthday, and I am pretty certain the secret is safe as I am sure she doesn’t even know I have a blog, never mind read it ! I am so pleased as I was at a bit of a loss what to get, but this is partially an Australian gift as well as a birthday gift so that is even better ! The shops here are so Low Carb aware, it is a real boost, and I can almost always find something to eat which is suitable for a diabetic - a total, and brilliant surprise !