Two more days at sea as we end the first 'leg' of this cruise. We will be 33% of the way through this 113 day journey when we hit Australia. Sydney will be a two day stay as we disembark a reasonably large number of people getting off there and pick up a load of passengers getting on there.
I imagine it will be mainly Aussies getting on and off but there are some non-Aussies who chose to get to Australia by ship. Quite a nice way to get around air travel I would say. A large number of Australians are 'known as a 'Mob', with apologies to friends Keith and Rod. [And wives.]
There are several people that we have met who are doing exactly that, getting to Australia by ship. There is one lady with three young kids who has been on since Fort Lauderdale getting off in Sydney. She is about 35-40 [?] the kids are 5, 7, and 10. The oldest a boy. It is quite a handful for the mom but she is a very capable young woman. She must weigh all of 105#. She home schools the kids and we often see them hard at work doing their books on deck. We have also seen her in ports with the kids in tow, the youngest in a stroller and the other two close at hand. I believe they are a reasonably well off family and the children are very well disciplined, maybe too much so for my way of thinking as they are very quiet and I do not see them smile too much but I am sure they are happy enough.
There is another person getting off in Sydney that everyone will be glad to see go! He is a 'Russian Priest', complete with Rasputin-like beard and black flowing robe. He is rude, crude and socially bereft of decency and good manners. That is a personal observation. The betting is that he is a phoney, possibly some charlatan that took on the persona of a Russian Priest for the trip to Australia. He is seen throughout the ship and ports getting his photo taken in various situations with an assortment of head dresses, hats, necklaces and other touristy junk.If he is indeed a Russian Priest, I pity the congregation and no wonder they have so many atheists.
Apparently his room smells, and the Captain ordered that the stewards be allowed in to sanitize the room. He has also been barred from the jewellery shop on board because he 'stuffed the ballot box' for the first two jewellery draws. He is basically the talk of the ship. We saw him on shore yesterday, first in a swim suit on the beach and then having his way with the hawkers on the beach selling palm leaf woven hats etc. I have been unable to get a decent photo of him to date.
Of course none of the foregoing is proven, [except his manners], it is merely scuttlebutt, or rumours as I have picked it up.
I have stopped going to Tai Chi because I no longer enjoyed it. There are a variety of contributing reasons: it was getting too crowded there as we moved into the walking stages of the thing; the instructor does not get us to fully master the steps before we move onto the next step; it put too much of a rush on us in the morning taking away the relaxation aspect of the cruise. Instead of Tai Chi I have implemented an exercise regime on our deck before morning tea. It is amazing how that early morning commitment was putting a damper on the whole cruise experience.
We are now south of the Tropic of Capricorn for the first time this trip. The tropic of Cancer in the north and the tropic of Capricorn in the south, define 'The Tropics'. It is amazing how well they define the hot area North and South of the equator, today the weather was noticeably cooler when I stepped outside first thing in the morning and this afternoon it cooled off more as we are sailing in a south westerly direction. The humidity has also diminished considerably.
Pics: A very poor picture of the gentleman in question.
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