A Nice Little Town Called Albany...

Monday, February 23. Perfect weather. Full sun. 22 C. 

We had a rough night but it ended up like a Mill Pond. It looks like a nice sized settlement, I use that term because there is serious business going on in the area but not to the point of ruining the place with messiness. Maybe that is the Australian way though. I would say that the Aussies are a bit better at keeping things neat and tidy, even in a messy business, it is just their way it seems to me.

We walked off the ship around 9:00 and took the shuttle to town, a seven minute ride. In a nutshell folks, we walked our buts off, again!

This is turning to be a bit of an embarrassment to me. Fellette says she is 95% better. I am now the one that has to 'recover'. Recover from what though? My hernia wait of six months set me back, then the recovery from that, a bit. But, in the last few weeks on board I have discovered that my body is beginning to feel like it is 90! That is disappointing. I don't over drink, or over eat, we eat simple and as much home-grown and healthy foods as we can. The food on the ship can be over salty and oversweet, but I/we have found ways to minimize that. Nope, I am fearful that at this point it is going to be a struggle to keep Father Time at bay. I know that I will have a better chance at home though.

We enjoyed the walk up and through this neat place called Albany. It turned into a grind for me though but that is why my body needs to get back in shape. I noticed that Fellette snuck in an afternoon nap today, something that she does not normally do, so I thinks she was feeling the workout a bit as well.

I for one am quite enjoying  Australia and talking to its people, they seem to be just a very pleasant bunch of people. Sure there are some rough ones, like anywhere. By the way, Captain George Vancouver came by Albany, notably, in 1791.

We have two days at sea before we hit Adelaide which is a very nice and civilized place to visit, at which point we will be 60% of the way through the cruise, or 40% of the way to go. Going by the weather at home, we are liable to be in a drought situation by the time we get home!

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Announcement: Tonight we move our clocks FORWARD one hour. We have another 1 1/2 hours to go in advancing our clocks before we hit Adelaide. Glad to see us sailing fully Eastward to the Pacific Ocean, and home!

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A Very Good Day.

5:30 am start!

Sailing in a bit later.

After lunch.

From the ship.

In town, another neat and tidy place.

Just feels good here.

Yup.

Rocking and Rolling...

 

Internet at sea! I published the Blog last night, but it did not go and did not  advise me till this morning!

Sunday, February 22. Sunny. Rough Sea. 17 C.

Things are interesting to say the least. The ocean is presenting a few issues as we rounded the SE coast of Australia the last several hours. This is caused by a combination of winds and currents presenting the captain with a few problems to prevent his ship load of elderly and fragile passengers from all ending up in the ship's hospital with an overwhelming mix of injuries.

We have popped outside a couple of times. The top deck by the pool is amazingly quite pleasant, the roof is closed so the temperature has risen to a comfortable enough situation that Sun Worshipers can get their dose of the sun. It is very, very awkward to walk around the ship, and also dangerous.

I am making some progress on solving my boredom problem. I have found a way to work on The Picture Book that I make of any significant trips that we go on, [starting in about 2004], prior to that they were albums with attached photos of the trips, that Fellette made. Those albums are in the basement at home. I have thought about having those albums digitized and made into a more easily readable form. I think that that could be a project that I should consider doing!

This afternoon we had a 'Root Beer Float' put on by our travel agent that allowed us to mix and mingle whilst sitting down during the bumpy ride we are having. It was a very enjoyable break for a Rough Sea day.

A Very Easy But Bumpy Day.

A small bit of crockery lost in the Neptune Lounge while I was there today.

Root Beer Floats, wow, how many decades since we have had one of these?

This is a 'Coral Spawn', it stretched for a huge distance across the ocean. I suppose that is a healthy sign!

'Walked Out' in Fremantle...

Saturday, February 21. Clear. Windy. 25 C. Perfect.

Looking out from our deck, on the hills above Fremantle is an interesting Monument that was calling for a visit from us. This morning we set out on a hike to take a look at this interesting looking  structure and get some exercise as well. Well, it was almost 'A Bridge Too Far. But we did it, but it almost killed me! [I exaggerate of course.]

Some background for you. As you can tell we both have been rather inactive on the ship, for 50 days. Our auto incident and Fellette's chest injury was/is the cause. She is of course well into being fully recovered from that. Me, not so much. For the first half of 2025 I was hindered by a bad hernia, waiting in line for a repair. During that time I was up and around but relatively inactive. Then, after that got fixed I was again inactive while that thing got back to normal. Next thing we know we are getting ready for the cruise then we got hit by that idiot fleet-footed driver. And here we are, today thinking everything was in order and these two people could get out and go for a long brisk walk in Fremantle.

I knew early on in the walk that this was going to be a challenge for me, but we pushed on. My determination overtook my common sense and we made it to our goal, It is Known as Monument Hill, and I am sure that younger fit people would run up in Jig Time. Well, we are no longer youngish and I am in terrible shape!

We lingered up at the site for as long as we could, but I wanted to get down and back on the ship and collapse. This we did, much easier going down than up. We had a late light lunch, Fellette went to a Movie. I slept and my body sort of recovered, I made a cup of tea and watched the ship pull out of Fremantle and continue the journey, South and then East and Homeward Bound.

As we sailed out today, the captain said that "For any of you who like bad weather, tonight you are going to get your wish, for those of you who don't, sorry. No high heels tonight, safety first!"

A Grueling But Great Day. 

I love the Australian architecture. I think that they have a way of making a new building look old as well. It works for me.

I just  love this one.

This is a shot from our destination, in the distance is our ship!

This at sailaway time, showing our destination today, where the sky meets the earth, that sand coloured tower above her finger, and to the left, it the yellow Monument to residents of Fremantle who lost their lives in the various wars that mankind seems to have. To this day.

Tidy Little Fremantle Town...

Friday, February 20. Clear and sunny. 26 C. Perfect.

We had a bumpy ride all night up until pulling into this neat and tidy city. The Terminal is also super neat and tidy. We lingered for a while and around 9:30 walked off and into a free shuttle bus that dropped us off after five minute drive to the  Central Business District area. I love the older look and feel of Australian Towns. They remind me of what Vancouver looked like and felt like in the 1940's. It felt good and comfortable.

However, I also recall and noticed the presence of what I forgot about in Australia from several trips throughout many years. That is The Role That Aboriginals play in the Australian Society. The history of the Aboriginals is not a pretty one. They were treated very, very poorly by the Early White Settlers. Let's leave it at that. Modern Australia has gone through their own form of Reconciliation with the Aboriginals and many are integrated into this modern society.

However, even in our short time today, I noticed the presence of small groups of aboriginals on the  edges of parks etc, behaving in their own special way, being quietly ignored by the rest of society. There also seems to be some whites that look like they are Living Rough. The Aussies have the same issues with Society that we do in Canada, and the USA.

Fellette and I had all of the things on our shopping list done and in the bag in short order. We then walked to a Good Old Fashioned Barber Shop and I got a very good cut with intelligent conversation by a woman from Italy.

Fellette and I had no need to linger in this quaint and peaceful place so we went back to the ship. We had a hamburger on deck for lunch, Fellette took in a Movie and that was our lovely day in Fremantle.

We have been here several times, the latest three years ago with Jim and Gail. Zillions of years ago we made a Land trip to Australia and spent a few days in Perth, some 11 miles away, in the Wild Flower Season, so we do not have the urge to rush out into busses and boats in the sun. There is something special about having this big giant yacht to ourselves, as many hundreds of other folks seem to enjoy as well. 

A Great Day. 

A very neat and well maintained entry to the harbour.

Closer.

Fellette watching the goings on. A small brass Jazz Band to meet us, always nice to have.

A smartly dressed gangway as well.

Fellette is at the far end of a smaller gangway.