We are in Australia, the land down under. And now we are in Melbourne, the very south point of Australia. So, we are, down under in the down under.
We arrived in Melbourne at noon, it’s kind of like Portland in that we took on a pilot at 8 this morning and wondered through the bay in a narrow channel until we finally arrived in Melbourne.
A bit over an hour later we boarded buses for our second GALA event. Exclusive to World Cruises. As you recall, our first GALA was in Los Angeles and was the most amazing time.
The buses took us to a beautiful valley of grape vines as far as you could see. We stopped at an amazing vineyard and were treated to three sparkling wines that were better than any sparkling wine that we have ever tasted. We were “treated “to an opera performance.
Well, I’ll tell you right now that I do not like the soprano voice of any opera.
As the first song was introduced, there was a loud clap of thunder and lightning. Then it started raining on us. I was laughing and thinking I’m not the only one that hates this. The performance lasted about 45 minutes and as soon as she said this is our last song, the rain stopped and I saw blue sky. I don’t want to tell you what to think about that, develop your own conclusion.
On top of the fantastic sparkling wines, they served amazing tapas. Scallops, shrimp, and wagyu beef to mention a few.
Too soon, they loaded us onto the buses for a five-minute drive to another vineyard. Again, it was spectacular. We were treated to a four-course dinner with paired wine with each course. Seabourn flew their President in to address us. They think of everything.
We are here at the optimum harvest time and one of our courses included grapes from the harvest. I noticed that we all had different grapes, so we started trading around. These grapes were absolutely amazing. The taste, the sugars, the future wines were all there for us. I especially enjoyed them because of my brewing background. I could appreciate how the sugars would become amazing wines.
It was an incredible experience. We got back to the ship about 10. Kinda late for us old people.
We were in Melbourne over night, so when we woke up, we moved out to our veranda, we heard a very unique bird song. Trying to identify where it came from, it was clearly coming from the ship. It was getting louder so we really wanted to find the source. Then it appeared right in front of us, from above, not a bird at all, but the gondola they use to wash the windows. Fooled again.
We had a lazy day Saturday in Melbourne, Kim took a walk on the beach. There were lots of activities on the beach, sports, sailing, and an unusual relay race type of tic tack toe.
And lots of shells.
In just one week, Melbourne will host the formula one race and it will be anything but a lazy day. I know my brother and nephew would love to be here.
NFL will be here too. The Rams and the 49ers will play in the iconic Melbourne Cricket Grounds.
The other night when I went to dinner and Kim had room service, I had to go to two restaurants to get what I wanted. At the first place I got a lobster tail.
When I got back to the room, I called room service for my desert.
Our room now has a Australian Indigenous Flag on the wall. At the sail away party there were both the Austrailian Flag and this one. Kim said she loved this flag and wanted one. So, I talked to my favorite bartender and all of the sudden it magically showed up in our room. It’s Seaboourn, just ask.
As I told you before, there are a lot of visitors that come on board at our stops. This is a first for us, we’ve not seen this before. While in Melbourne, this passenger couple brought on eight guests. They had a free lunch and then gathered on my new deck 9 for drinks. They had three rounds of drinks before saying their goodbyes. After they were gone, I asked Savas, the bartender, do they at least tip you for your service? His answer was never in my career has a visitor given me a tip. That is so wrong, if I had visitors come aboard, I would explain ahead of time that food and drink are free but bring tip money for the servers. Is that not reasonable?
I’ve already introduced you to my friend Engin, the bartender. I try to stay away from him because he is more a drink pusher than a drink server. He constantly brings me drinks that I did not order. I was surprised to see him yesterday morning on deck 9, but he asked me what I wanted to drink and I said iced tea in a short glass with easy ice. When it came, it was in the right glass, it had six ice cubes and looked exactly like it should. Then, I took a gulp and immediately spit it back into the glass. It was a full glass of bourbon! It’s barely 11 o’clock in the morning. When Savas showed up a few minutes later and asked how I was doing, I told him to smell my iced tea. He did and made a face, that;s not iced teas. I told him that Engin was trying to kill me. He laughed and took it away. Soon, all was well and I was drinking Iced tea for real.
I also told you about Samuel, the voice of room service. He didn’t join us in Melbourne as expected. We found out he was still in the hospital in Sydney. We couldn’t get any more information about him.
We were scheduled to leave Sydney harbor at 4, but there was a medical emergency involving a crew member and we didn’t leave until a little after 5. We later found out that it was Samuel. Samuel is the wonderful voice you hear when you order room service. We also found out that he is okay and will rejoin us tomorrow in Melbourne.
Sydney harbor is a beautiful place to sail in and out of. I was perched in my favorite chair on deck 9 and the sail away party on the pool deck was in full swing. It’s a great life for sure.
Kim enjoyed her evening at the opera, and I enjoyed a rather quiet evening on the veranda.
Quiet until the fireworks show started, that is.
When we arrived in Sydney, the immigration department required an off the ship face to face meeting, so, I went out at the last minute knowing that we would not be allowed to board until the entire ship was empty. I went for a stroll over to the railway station and did some people watching. I know some of you are betting on how many times I go off the ship. Make another check mark. When I got back to the ship, no one was allowed on board yet. Apparently, the ship” lost “ a passenger and she had to be found before the immigration officers would allow us back on the ship. A few minutes later it was resolved and we were allowed back on board.
223 passengers left us on the first day in Sydney. Most of our newfound friends left. 232 new passengers embarked in Sydney. The next leg ends in Perth in 16 days.
We have one sea day then we will be in Melbourne for two days.
Birds in Sydney.
Even the homeless camps are upscale in Sydney.
There is actually a tour you can take to climb to the top of this bridge.
It was a good day for:
Pool Chrinicles, you just can’t make this shit up.
Just try that!
When I got on the elevator to go to dinner on deck 8, Kim choose to dine in suite. Another couple joined me in the elevator. I asked them “what floor”? They said 8. Okay me too. Then as we started up from the sixth floor, he said this was wrong, we wanted to go to 6. I said that’s where we got in. No, it’s not. We need to go to the restaurant on 6. Well, Kim is eating in that same restaurant tonight, I thought. It’s called “room service”.
We’re all familiar with the term you can’t fix stupid, now I will add you can’t argue with stupid either.
There were several visitors on board including the couple sitting with their friends at the table next to me. He was a real know it all. He was also very wealthy (according to him).
He emphasized repeatedly how much he paid for stuff and how valuable things were. He explained that as one increases their status in the Seabourn Club, they are given a pin, like this one, (pointing to a lapel pin he was wearing). Being “Diamond Elite”, they had them all. “These pins are more valuable than all my wife’s jewelry combined”. Well, we have a bunch of them too, I don’t see that they have any value at all. I guess I’ll have to check Ebay. Then came the one that almost made me laugh out loud. “If you find a cruise line that you like, stick with them. The more you cruise with them, the more perks you get. Like as Diamond Elite, we get 25% off of excursions and other stuff like wines. I can buy a $1,000 bottle of wine for only $750”. I’m sorry, but if you can’t find any free wine you like on this ship, you just don’t like wine.
What a difference a day makes. No, an hour makes. Yesterday was so rough that I actually got a headache and queasy stomach. Then at about 4 pm the seas calmed, just like that. When we got up this morning, it was already 68 degrees. This is wonderful.
Well, lightning struck a second time. Remember my first story about the couple that were sitting in our seats on the plane from Portland and how they ended up being fellow World Cruise passengers?
Well, there is a group of us that meets every day on deck 9 about 4 o’clock. We have become quite good friends. Part of that group is a couple from Tucson. one thing we usually talk about at some time is where everyone is going for dinner. We were headed for sushi, that night. The couple fron Tuscon said that they were too. When we got to the club on deck 5, we took our usual seats at the bar and ordered our sushi. A few minutes later they came in and grabbed a table. I asked Kim if I should see if they wanted company. They did, so we joined them at their table.
When we meet someone special like these guys, it’s normal to exchange cards that have our contact information on them. We gave them one, they gave us theirs. They looked at it and for the first time, they knew our last name.
We were having the normal get to know you chat when something came up about siblings, and I said I had an older brother. Later in the conversation, I made a remark that my brother tells me what to do instead of asking. They looked questionably and Kim said he’s an admiral. Well, they said wait, what’s his name? Mike Sharp, and with a look that could have been horror said and he’s married to Kathy DiMaggio? Yes, how do you know that? She’s my cousin, he replied. We just sat there looking at each other, words were never going to express our thoughts at that moment. So, we spent the rest of the evening comparing stories. They have sailed on my brothers’ boat, just like us. They knew all the grandchildren and children. This was too weird to be true. So, just like the couple on the plane, the odds of this happening are less than those of being struck by lightning, twice.
This got uis thinking about the people that were in our seats on the plane and found them, we invited them to dinner on March 2nd. Hang in there for the rest of that story.
As I said, we feel like social butterflies in that we have met so many other cruises. This is absolutely not our norm. We usually stay pretty much to ourselves on cruises. Not this time, however.
Virtually all the passengers that are not on the World Cruise are leaving us in Sydney. Over 300 passengers are leaving. So, I will have a whole new batch of victims for my pool chronicles. Yea.
Last night, Kim said she has always wanted to go to a show at the Sydney Opera House. I told her to get a ticket and go. She said it was all sold out. So, I set out to find her a ticket on the secondary market. I ended up on the Opera House website, and I found that there were a limited number of seats available on the 24th and the 27th every other night was in fact sold out. Well, we are overnighting in Sydney on the 24th! So, I looked at the seating chart and told Kim to come look at the chart. We picked a seat in the front row of the balcony, and she is going to the opera. The ship will be docked right next to the Opera House, so getting there couldn’t be easier. She is happy going alone. Win win for both of us.
This sign is on deck 9, where we spend our afternoons. A lady walking the track asked if anyone knew how many laps equaled a mile. I pointed at this sign, and she said she had never noticed it. The next lap by she asked how many laps cancel out a margarita? I could make this sign have lots of information. Bloody Mary = 27 laps, pain killer = 34 laps, beer = 18 laps, soda = 12 laps, you get the idea. They’re missing an opportunity.
Sea birds are attracted to the ship at night because of the lights. Sea birds cannot take off from dry land, so the environmental officer has to pick them up and give them a send off back to their regular flight life. There were 42 Petrels that he had to save yesterday.
We found these “free range” chips in New Zealand.
One of many beautiful chapels on the island.
Yep, they really live here.
This is day 3 of our 4 day crossing from New Zealand to Australia.
As we travel through the South Island of New Zealand, it just keeps getting colder and wetter. A few years ago, I said that New Zealand is very much like the Northwest. Well, it really is. Rainy and cold. It’s also Latitude 46 degrees South, at home, we are 46 degrees North. But this is their summer and it’s still cold. Don’t get me wrong, we are still having a great time.
First stop Wellington. Cold and rainy, but Kim got her hair cut and walked around town.
Barbers on Manners
Old bank building
Clock opens and tells the building’s history on the hour
In Nelson, Kim took an Electric Bike Tour.
I guess we could have saved a lot of money if we sat in the rain in a row boat at Port of Longview. Same view.
At dinner that night, all the l;adies got a red rose. Be my valentine.
Yet another reason to start the entertainment before 9:15. As I sit here tonight in the grand saloon listening to a very famous pianist playing Chopin, I reflect on the weather over the last 3 days. It was very special. Not in a good way. I tried to keep my routine and was mostly successful, but sometimes it was painful.
Today, the weather in Dunedin finally beat down Kim. She got ready to go ashore and it was raining sideways, litterally. She gave up and took off her rain clothes, jumped back into bed and had a very well-earned day of relaxation. Another guest told me she weathered up and got 20 feet past the gang way before she also gave up and returned to the ship. It was brutal.
I continued my normal routine and went to the pool deck at 11 each day. There was nobody out there except me and the crew that had to be there.
It was palatable for a while, but even I called uncle and retreated inside after a couple of hours. One of our friends saw me out there and said if he can do it then so can I. She went back to her cabin and got her umbrella and came to sit with me. She lasted about 2 minutes before she too gave up.
Another passenger came by and said “Oh I can’t believe you are out here all alone”. I said I had a friend, I think his name was Jonathan.
It’s been so rough that yesterday, when I was leaving the pool deck and heading to my room, I was waiting for the elevator and a huge wave hit. I was looking into the restaurant just in time to watch all of the wine glasses fall to the floor with a huge crash.
I had to teach the crew how to keep this sign from blowing away. As I have told you, it has been rough.
As we were leaving Stewart Island, Seabourn invited the World Cruisers to an exclusive dinner. The menu was designed by Chef Karl, the head chef of the ship. The theme was South Pacific Food. As you can probably guess, Lobster, Tuna and an amazing fresh white fish that was caught that day were on our plates. Yum. This was the view from our table.
Well, you can’t stop some things, even with bad weather.
Pool Chronicles, you just can’t make this shit up.
At one of the Islands, I over heard a guest that was returning from an excursion explain to another guest that the guide said that the only way to get on and off the Island was by boat or plane. You can guess the response….”Oh,is there an airport on the island”? I can think of a couple of ways you could get onto the island from an airplane, but can’t think of a way to get back off without an airport.
The new hotel director joined the ship a couple of days ago. I have history with this man and it’s not real plesant. Kim cautioned me to just be cordial to him and it will be okay. Well, the first time we ran into him was at the World Cruisers dinner. He was making the rounds from table to table. He greeted us then asked if we were on all the way to Vancouver. I started to open my mouth and remembered what Kim told me, so I just said yes we are. If you are paying attention, even you know who is in the dining room. Either you are in uniform like he was or you were sitting at a talbe eating. Define exclusively for World Cruisers…..
Kim was telling our friends that we get together with every afternoon about 3 of the people that were on her hike. When they got to the trail head and the lunches were passed out, these 3 women announced they were vegitarian/vegan. So, everyone had to wait 30 minutes while the tour coordinator called for 3 special meals to be delivered. They shouold have taken care of this when they signed up, but that would take some independant thinking. One of our friends said they knew exactly who the 3 women were and they had experienced simular events when they were with them on a tour. He went on to say that one of them had a cause to fight for the preservation of farm animals. To which I replied “I need to meet her because not only do I preserve farm animals but wild ones too. I have 3 freezers full of them”.
While in the Milford Sound I heard a lady ask if that white stuff up on the mountain was snow. My thoughts, either it was snow or a cocane farm, or a video of a waterfall on pause. Where do people think up these questions.
Another guest was over heard saying “I can’t believe how many passengers are wearing hearing aids on this ship”. Well, I have already told you that we are among the youngest passengers on board.
Australia 13 23 Austria 2 0 Belgium 8 5 Bulgaria 3 3 Canada 34 34 Denmark 3 3 France 2 0 Germany 12 16 Ireland 5 5 Netherlands 6 7 New Zeland 4 10 Norway 2 2 Sweden 2 2 Switzerland 6 6 United Kingdom 36 43 USA 237 248
Total 375 407
We offloaded 104 guests in Auckland and added 78 new ones. For some reason, it feels more crowded now than before. We finally have some Asian guests though. We also have a team of Japanese inspectors that represent the company that is buying this ship after we disembark in Vancouver BC. They are inspecting everything.
There seems to be a lot of Aussies on board now, probably just doing the two-week Auckland to Sidney segment. They are loud, our peace and quiet has gone away for now.
On the first day in Auckland, Kim took a ferry to Rangitoto Island and climbed a mountain.
View from the top ofthe mountain.
Kim also remembered that the Sky Tower, the building with the needle like point on top just to the right of center in the picture below, had a Chineese New Year display 2 years ago. So, she went there again and they had a new display.
Here’s an interesting fact about Auckland New Zealand. When New Zealand won the their first Americas Cup Race in 1995, it qualified the city to host the 2000 Americas Cup Race. In 1995, the city had no waterfront worthy of hosting an event this big. They set out to build a beautiful waterfront with hotels and restaurants that would be able to host this event. So, the skyline you see here is very new. And whoever said that sports don’t rule the world, didn’t see this fact.
Last night we received a letter from the captain letting us know that there is severe weather ahead and we are changing course and ports of call to minimize the impact on cruisers. Of course, I get excited when I hear stuff like that. The captain usually makes his rounds daily and I can’t wait to get the down low.
As of the end of the Tahiti to Auckland segment, we have graduated from platinum to diamond status. It really doesn’t matter to us, but we qualify for more free stuff and further reduced prices on excursions. They had a reception to honor the Diamond (passengers with 200 or more days sailing) and Diamond elite (passengers with 500 or more days sailing) the other night. There are 103 Diamond members and 47 Diamond elite passengers on board. The couple traveling with us today with the most days onboard Seabourn have 1492 days, that’s over 4 years onboard.
Pool Chronicles:
Yep, sure enough I got some today. You just can’t make this shit up.
There is a very sweet little British (Grandma type) lady we met 2 years ago. She always makes sure to stop by my table at the pool and say hi, daily. Today, she walked up to me and said “ I just walked around town for 4 hours. I need a fookin Gin and tonic”! I wasn’t expecting to hear that word from her mouth LOL.
And then a guy said this; We went shopping with the chef today. He bought a lot of fruit and vegetables. And some bread. It was crazy the amounts of each thing he ordered. I have no idea what he thinks he will do with so much stuff. The person he was talking to asked where they went. Well, it was an outdoor market, It was like a Saturday market. We are lucky that we came to this place on a Saturday. They only have the Saturday market once a week, on Saturday. It isn’t open any other day. Clearly, he didn’t understand the whole “Saturday Market” thing and that the chef is feeding over 400 passenfers and 300 crew. It takes a lot of Cherries to satisy that number of people.
Just when I was ready to ban bikinis for life on Seabourn, this happened.
Sorry for the long wait for this post, more soon, I hope……..
