Back to Good Weather Again...

Tuesday, February 17. Blue sky. Calm sea. 28 C.

Well, we are back to sunny days again. We are now just about the furthest West that we will be on the entire trip. That fact plus the fact that we will soon be having clock changes that take away an hour's sleep means that this lazical journey is beginning to wind down and a real world awaits us out there. I think you all know my feeling about being ready to come home before the trip is over. 

Today I finally got rid of this annoying feature on my phone and Laptop that happened some time ago when there was an update and 'They' slipped some AI, [artificial intelligence] into the operating system that purports to know what you are going to type and fills in that, instead of what you want to type. I have not described that very well but it is such a relief to know that I am not the only one who has been driven crazy by that feature. No doubt there are millions of people who that works for them very nicely. Not this dude!

Fellette went for a longish swim after breakfast this morning and I went for a long walk, alone, something I have not done before, as usual, I overdid it, as well I climbed too many stairs and paid for that  by being confined to a very relaxing pre lunch nap, without guilt.

The captain, on his noon report, warned us of the heat tomorrow when we are anchored off of the tiny town of Exmouth. Tomorrow morning as we are anchoring I intend to be in a chair in the Spa getting a Pedicure! That is my Toe Nails trimmed. Over these 90 years I have lost a few toenails for various reasons and they are difficult to trim. I usually have them trimmed every couple of months and it is now time! It does not sound very Manly I confess!

We hope to get ashore tomorrow, we will see how things go. We are two days in Fremantle, or Perth in two days, and there we will have more than ample time to get a haircut and sight see. The heat is something that Fellette and I are not lovers of, my skin is a mess at the best of times and I go to great lengths NOT to get it 'Tanned' as we used say. We still see people laying in the hot sun on deck. I just don't understand some people. We see the evidence on board here of people who were Sun Lovers in their youth. Some rough looking skin on board I will tell you.

Good Day.

Just to have a photo here today and in case you forgot what our Great Grandson looks like, here is Miles!

Broome Got Cancelled...

Monday, February 16. Rain, wind. 27 C.

We awoke to a nasty wind and rain combination and that continued all the time until we were finally docked and tied up. However the gangways were never laid out.

Eventually, the captain announced that he was cancelling the day in port and getting out to sea where it was safer. He was concerned that the conditions were too hard on the mooring lines and if one snapped we would be in trouble, so, that was our day.

We intended to go ashore and get some needed supplies and I was going to grab a haircut. So non of that happened. We now have two sea days and that puts us in Exmouth, a smaller still town. I think that most people will be pleased with that as the rain in Darwin and now Broome are making people a little tired of disappointing weather and there is some expectation of once we get out of the Top End of Oz things will improve, or should improve.

After we pulled out of Broome we had some excitement as a Rescue Helicopter was soon hovering almost outside our cabin. The very noisy machine looked like it was getting to lower a line and hoist a Passenger/Patient up. A visit to the Neptune Lounge explained that it was a Coast Guard training exercise, using our ship as a training prop. Kind of fun for a few minutes.

We went to dinner in The Canaletto, a high end Italian Restaurant with a Canadian Couple that we met. Oddly, they both worked for GM where in Oshawa, they make the Chevrolet Silverado that we will be getting when we get home, Lord Willing.

An OK Day...

A first for us, seeing a Tug Boat actually pushing us to turn around in a strong wind as we were attempting to dock. Another tug was pulling the front end end, it looked rather difficult and dangerous.

This guy sure earned his money today

This thing added to our early morning excitement!

Restful Day at Sea...

Sunday, February 15. Cloudy, some rain. 28 C.

Where did all the clear blue skies go?  We are no longer in the middle of a very large Ocean, we are now always within a few hundred miles of a continent, and that seems to make a big difference.

Interestingly, we should not have a Time Change for about 10 days, at which time we will start Losing Sleep on a regular basis as we start the journey to the east. Then one day we will cross the dateline and lose that  whole day we gained some time ago. The dateline causes more issues than the difference in hours, I find.

We had breakfast in the dining room this morning, a first for us. We were with a Canadian Couple who we met up with on a Shore Excursion and sort of hit it off. We just happened to bump into him on our way to breakfast so we went together. Gad, I did not know that you could spend that much time at breakfast. But it was very nice to have a meaningful conversation for a change. We are having dinner together tomorrow in a private specialty Italian restaurant. Looking forward to it.

Today I did something that I should have done 44 days ago, and that is get my photos in an orderly fashion so when I go to make a book of this trip, it will be much, much, much simpler than it otherwise would be. I needed Fellette's assistance and that saved me a couple of hours work. I think I can now get it into a workable way after another few hours work. So, I am happy, I now have a project to help while away the hours/days as we trundle along our way. This is how I relax, by doing something!

Tomorrow we are in Broome, and we are going to take the provided shuttle into the town. Hopefully it is still as nice a place as it was when we ended our coach tour there some many years ago. With a population of around 18,000, that sounds like a place we can feel comfortable in. Darwin, has a population of 150,000, that is why it was a bit of a disappointment  yesterday, too big for us Country Folk!

Unfortunately this is the 'Wet' season and the captain was not too optimistic on the prospects of a good day tomorrow. So be it.

A Relaxing Day!

This is how our bed was when we got back from dinner last night. The room stewards are like ghosts. They are in and out of our room twice a day. After breakfast and during dinner. This is why gentlemen, a Cruise is a real holiday for a woman!

Fellette, this afternoon, the only work she did today is give all the Valentine's Day flowers an Aspirin to extend their life!

Chasing Memories...

Saturday, February 14. Valentines Day and our Granddaughter's Birthday!  Rain, muggy. 28 C.

We were on a four hour Shore Excursion this morning. 'The Defense of Darwin' was the name of it. The Darwin of today is not the Darwin of 22 years ago when we were here last. Today's Darwin is a sleek city with modern buildings, looking like any modern city. The weather has not  changed; hot, humid, rain and then dry. Any evidence of WW ll has long gone, of course. It was a well done tour, the problem was my expectation level, as is often the case with me.

Like many things in life, there are some things that you just cannot revisit and expect to get the same sense of excitement as you did the first time you experienced that feeling. And, there are some that you can do over and over and that feeling is still there; like a good roast beef and Yorkshire Pudding dinner. Well, today I was expecting to see Darwin in the same way as when we saw Darwin 22 years ago.  And, that was not to be the case! My bad.

Our clocks go back 1 1/2  hours tonight. I think the Captain could have done this a bit better, he moved us back 1/2 hour since we left Cairns, I think he could have done it in two one hour segments!

A Good Day, Nice to be Here.

Those Pilot Boats are a pleasant start to the day, the world over.

What happened to Quaintsy Darwin?

This tunnel was built by the Australians to house defence supplies as the Japanese bombed Darwin for over a year and the tunnels were bomb proof. They were built into the side of cliffs.

This is about the halfway point in the tunnel that was maybe 200 yards deep, very humid.

Tunnel Poster.

                                 

Just stuff.

The Terminal