'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.

Crazy Weather...

Thursday, February 19. Clear sky. Choppy sea. Nauseating. 24 C.

It seems strange to be in beautiful weather but unable to stand or even walk properly because of the crazy motion of the ship today. As a result, we did absolutely nothing today. Before breakfast things were fine, we watched the sun come up on a calm sea, had a lovely breakfast and drank too much coffee. During breakfast there was an announcement about some elevators not working so we walked up too many flights of stairs to our cabin. Fellette went on the couch and I on the bed and that was we did basically all day! For the first time we have been disabled because of the tossing and turning of the ship and it has taken our appetite away. It is a good thing that it is a lovely day otherwise it would be depressing.

I am a bit woozy so I am going to call it quits now. Two days in port tomorrow in Fremantle, for Perth.

A Funny Sort of Day!

The day started out fine, as you can see early this morning, no Whitecaps or swells, that came later.

Killer Heat...

Wednesday, February 18. Clear. 30 C.

We are anchored about a kilometer from shore off a tiny town called Exmouth on the extreme west of Australia. This place is known for its snorkeling. I guess it would be nice to be in and under the water, but on the ship on deck and on dry land it is like a Dry Kiln. Actually unpleasant.

While the ship was anchoring I was getting these old toe nails of mine trimmed so I don't shred my socks when putting them on. I also paid a little more and had my legs defoliated. I thought that she was going to scrub the meat off my bones but did it feel good!!! I sat there for near an hour with my feet in a warm tub of water, it felt so decadent but so good.

As you can tell, we did not go ashore again today. Firstly because Fellette did not want to go and secondly, I did not want to go! I guess you folks must wonder what we came on this trip for. We came on this cruise to do exactly what we are doing, Relaxing! Plus, to see my good friend Keith, a friend of 66 years when we were zipping  around Europe on Motor Scooters, before either of us had met our future brides and a whole lifetime was ahead of us. Wow, those were the days! 

It seems odd to me that today, we are exactly 50% of the way through this cruise, as far of number of days is concerned and that when we pulled up anchor and headed toward, Fremantle/Perth, we started to head South by East for the first time on this trip. Interesting I thought.

I have learned a bit more about my wife of 63 1/2 years on this trip. Fellette was an only child as her mother died when Fellette was three years old. So Fellette has been able to entertain herself, all her life. Unlike me and many/most families whose kids have siblings and they of course play together. It was interesting that Fellette had to tell me that herself yesterday, while I was having difficulty fussing and was trying to find something to do. It is also amazing that I am still learning some basic information because of this enforced time spent together in the last 47 days of closeness.

A Good Day. 

Coffee on the deck at 5:30 this morning.

My feet in the foot bath at 8:00 am.

There sits the town of Exmouth, a 20 minute tender ride away. There was a heat haze above the town all day. Imagine spending your whole life there. It really looks like it requires a tough set of people to live there. I suppose we have isolated towns in Canada as well, but not with weather like this.

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

Last of Four Sea Days...

Friday, February 13. Nice enough. 27 C. 

Land Ho tomorrow, can't come soon enough for me. Four sea days is enough for me right now. We were up at our usual 5:30 am but it  was pitch black outside, and that is no fun. Eventually it got light outside without a real Sunrise. 

We did a couple of good laps around the walking deck and then had a light breakfast in the Neptune Lounge, we then caught some fresh air on our deck while I had an after breakfast catch-up napette to help compensate for the two hours sleep I miss by getting up at Fellette's 5:00 am wake up time.

The length of time that it takes the ship to go from Cairns to Darwin is beginning to sink into my head. This is a long trip we are on to Circumnavigate Australia. Sure I/we knew that, but for four days to see nothing but some rocks and distant islands, it sinks in.

We went to a Valentine's Day luncheon in the Main Dining Room put on by our Travel Agent today. We had a nice table and good conversations on many matters. It was lovely, very polite and rather old fashioned style in a humongous two storied high elegante surroundings with hordes of male waiters who are very good at making us feel like we are all worthy of such elegant treatment.

Later the weather socked in and a thick pea soup fog descended upon us complete with the ships horn being sounded every few minutes. This added to feeling of an imminent collision, not with an iceberg but an errant ship lost in the fog. That soon disappeared and we were soon out in bright sunshine.

This season up here is known as 'The Wet'. We were up here quite some time ago on a Bus Tour over the top of Australia, and we got some very thorough information about life up here. Australians are a hardy lot; big country, small population, life can be tough, the land can be and is harsh in many ways. They have more prickly bushes, bugs, snakes, spiders crocodiles and things that can hurt you, eat you and frighten you to death than anywhere else in the world. So I suppose people that live up and along the top of Australia must be the hardiest of tough nation of people. I can only imagine that Darwin will be changed since we were last here. We will find out tomorrow.  Oh yes, sometime this afternoon we had torrents of rain. The upside is the temperature is down a few degrees, although still humid.

A first for me today, I went for a second walk this afternoon, alone. Just to keep myself and my joints working and probably as a guilt thing for having an over the top lunch!

A Good Day.

That was what we were looking at most of the day, when it wasn't foggy or raining. If you could see far enough, in the distance is Australia

Still Plugging Along...

Thursday, February 12. Clear. Hot 31 C.

Nothing but water, no matter where you look. These four days at sea are the longest stretch of sea days until after we are making the run for home after French Polynesia and have six days at sea heading for San Diego. Actually I like sea days but also a good mix of both. 

There is not much I can say about today, it is just another sunny day in Paradise. We were invited to a Cocktail Reception before dinner tonight. There the Captain and his wife were there and we chit chat with fellow passengers in the suites. We are known as 'The Suite People'. A bit of a Snobbish thing for sure, but we are here and we are going with the flow!

Regarding Snobbishness. I have not see that attitude in any of our fellow passengers, all we have met are down to earth ordinary people. And I like to include us into that mix.

Another good day, Fellette is becoming more herself every day. A good place to be I would say.

Happy to be here!

Coffee on the deck, watching the sunrise with the first coffee of the day. You can't beat it!

Taking a break from an early morning walk around the deck. Most people are not early risers so it is quite nice having the ship almost to ourselves.

 

Starting The Trip Around Australia...

Wednesday, February 11. Smooth sea. 30 C.

There was something special, for me at least, this morning. We left Cairns and headed north two days ago and late this morning we turned left, West, and started the voyage through the Torres Straits, with Australia on the port side and the Island of Papua New Guinea on the starboard side. Both were visible for a short time until eventually New Guinea faded from sight. Soon we passed a point when we were no longer sailing in the Pacific Ocean but had transitioned to the Indian Ocean. To me that was an important place to be on this Cruise. We are not yet 50% of the way through this trip, but the halfway point is rapidly approaching; five days. It seems unreal that we are that far along because a good portion of the trip has been taken up with dealing with Fellette's injury.

The ship goes to great lengths to ensure there is never a dull moment for those so inclined to participate in activities. We enjoy life in a more conservative way but are still glad to see it happen. 

I have not commented on our fellow passengers too much as I was still absorbing information. There is a mixed bag all in all. However, many on the younger side are staff or crew. They mix and mingle and become part of the overall population. There are also entertainers on board and their youth, vigor and beauty, sprinkled throughout  the ship add to the appearance of it being a Fun or Party Ship. Yes, there are a lot of Old Party People aboard but they are more than balanced with older people who just want to relax and witness the fun, not be participants in it.

What we have noticed is the high percentage of passengers with walking disabilities! I would say that 35 to 40% of the actual passengers have some serious leg issues, hence walk in a different way. Then we have the overweight issues that abound. We also have a few that are Morbidly Obese. Those are sad to see and this is certainly not the right place for them to be, in my opinion.

A Good Day at Sea.

Derby Day at Sea today, that means fancy hats and a competition for that. Many women eagerly dressed up in some very elaborate hats. It was too difficult for me to get a decent shot without having an alcoholic stimulant. Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the Mid-Day sun!

Many quiet spectators, watching the participants, we just popped up to reinforce our convictions on learning how to relax.

You get the idea I think.

On a cabin door. How true!

Where we are: Top of Australia. 18 is Darwin, we are at where Fellette is pointing. Two more Sea Days at 11 Knots per hour before Darwin.

Apparently for navigation purposes, that rock, marked with a signal light is where the Pacific Ocean stops on the left and the Indian Ocean starts. 140 degrees West Longitude. So we are in the Indian Ocean for at least 15 days, around Adelaide. The captain gave a long blast on the ship's horn as we sailed by.

Up And Over...

Tuesday, February 10. Smooth sailing. 31 C.

Best to be inside or on the shade on deck today. We are not used to this heat under any circumstances. Fortunately the glitch we encountered yesterday has been overcome and I can now do my little blog thing without too much of an issue.

I think it is going to be rather boring for the next four days folks. We ourselves are settling in and catching our breath after a couple of exhausting days ashore. The ship is amazingly quiet today and people are unashamedly admitting they need a break. 

This is what went wrong yesterday. This is where I sat for over an hour yesterday, waiting for the train to take us on a trip down through some beautiful but rugged mountains. The engines were modern diesel but the carriages, 12 of them, were restored carriages from about 1901. Very comfortable and super clean and well maintained. Surprisingly we got a refund from Holland America this morning. The delay at the very beginning meant the rest of the day was very hurried and took the joy out of the rest of the day. [We did sleep very well though!] Many people were envious but stated that they could not get up after sitting down like that.

All that we have seen today is the occasional island or Light Stands on croppy bits of rock. Today at noon we only had 45 feet of water under the keel. That is nothing at all. We are working our way up and through the Great Barrier Reef that is off the upper East Coast of Australia. It is massif, roughly the size of Italy. Yup, really big.

Captain Cook made his way through it which was an outstanding piece of navigation. That was in 1770, the ship did run aground and they spent weeks repairing the ship but continued on their voyage. Cook was quite the man.

[The ship's clocks go back 30 minutes tonight. That make us 6 1/2 hours behind West Coast time, but still a day ahead.]

A Good Relaxing Day.

This will be the bulk of our view from the deck for another three days until we hit Darwin. Too hot to sit out there except at 5:45 in the morning. It is then quite exhilarating!

The Longest Day...

Monday, February 9. Touch of a sprinkle. 30 C.

 

Out and at'em at 8:15. Back at 3:15. Too long for this dude I will tell you. At the end of the day we found out why. There is a big ship in port today that has some ugly several thousand passengers on it and beyond the Cairns Tourism Capabilities who were taxed beyond their capacity. Buses, Tourist Trains and Cable Cars. We were on all three. 

We started late, had another one hour wait while the Tourist Train was bunged up, and a couple of hundred of us Zandamians cooled our heels at a train station without seating at 30 C .

We had some very interesting conversations with new people that made it easier to take.  Today, that seemed to turn into the mission, not sightseeing. The surroundings were neat, clean and tidy and all of the fellow passengers are very well travelled and experienced people. We really enjoyed the whole of the day and the scenery was spectacular. I find the Aussies so easy going that it was almost a pleasure to be with them in what we may consider stressful circumstances but it wasn't, because they made it seem fun! 

Too many  Pictures today and then I encountered a technical glitch in getting them from my iPhone to my Computer when doing my blog unfortunately, that sort of annoyed me at the end of what would have otherwise been a beautiful day in paradise.

 

Nice to be on a tour and full of optimism early this morning.

This what we picked to do, in October. We had done it before but wanted to re-experience it.

Just to take a photo...

Her come da train...finally.

Onward and upward!

Are we happy, yes!

New friends from Canada.

Tropical Vegetation!

You can't help the Aussie efficiency and zest for life.