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Australian trip - part 3 with more food
July 15 - Sea Day
I went to breakfast by myself and had James Beard's French toast. I think he breads in in corn flakes or something. My granddaughter was bummed that she didn't get to have this.
We went to lunch together and she got a bagel and lox, not realizing that lox was fish.
So they gave her a bacon cheeseburger too. I got the Asparagi ala Milanese which was a couple sprigs of asparagus with some fried eggs.
Then I had red cranberry ice cream which was very tart.
It was formal night.
My granddaughter liked dressing up for formal night. None of the clothes were hers. She borrowed them (and the accessories) from her mom's friends.
For dinner I had the mixed seafood cocktail, which had mussels and calamari in it,
and then I had the steak that is available all the time.
My granddaughter had the fettucine and the black forest cake for dessert.
July 16 - Broome
We have a tour today so we went to early breakfast. My granddaughter had blueberry pancakes.
I asked for a cheese omelet, hash browns and bacon. I got a shrimp omelet with hash browns and bacon.
I was trying to figure out what the little pink things in the omelet were when the waiter said he made a mistake and took away my omelet and gave me a cheese omelet with sausage. I hadn't gotten to eat my hash browns and I like bacon better than sausage. _________________________
I went to breakfast by myself and had James Beard's French toast. I think he breads in in corn flakes or something. My granddaughter was bummed that she didn't get to have this.
We went to lunch together and she got a bagel and lox, not realizing that lox was fish.
So they gave her a bacon cheeseburger too. I got the Asparagi ala Milanese which was a couple sprigs of asparagus with some fried eggs.
Then I had red cranberry ice cream which was very tart.
It was formal night.
My granddaughter liked dressing up for formal night. None of the clothes were hers. She borrowed them (and the accessories) from her mom's friends.
For dinner I had the mixed seafood cocktail, which had mussels and calamari in it,
and then I had the steak that is available all the time.
My granddaughter had the fettucine and the black forest cake for dessert.
July 16 - Broome
We have a tour today so we went to early breakfast. My granddaughter had blueberry pancakes.
I asked for a cheese omelet, hash browns and bacon. I got a shrimp omelet with hash browns and bacon.
I was trying to figure out what the little pink things in the omelet were when the waiter said he made a mistake and took away my omelet and gave me a cheese omelet with sausage. I hadn't gotten to eat my hash browns and I like bacon better than sausage. _________________________
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I decided that I would take my scooter on the tour since it was a port where we docked. So we went up to get our stickers and were waiting in the wheelhouse lounge - for about an hour while they tried to get the ramp placed. Eventually they got it done, but it had lots of square wooden strips across the ramp. So they made me walk down the ramp and they carried the scooter down. The driver put it in the luggage compartment of the bus.
This particular port, you have to either be on an excursion or take a shuttle to town because you are not allowed to walk off the pier. That's because it is a fairly long narrow dock with just enough room for two vehicles.
Picture from the front of the bus going over the causeway.
Since we were late starting, we went by the Japanese Cemetery (which were those killed in diving accidents or by hurricanes) and didn't get out.
I did manage to enter this on Find A Grave although the google map calls it the Chinese Cemetery.
Transplanted native tree that stores water in the trunk
We saw some of these in Perth too.
We went to the Pearl Lugger's Museum (a lugger is a type of boat).
Originally the aboriginal men used the big oyster shells (decorated with the details of their life)
to cover their private parts.
Aboriginals were forced to do the diving for the oysters. When plastic buttons became common it spelled the end of the mother of pearl industry. Then they started in on real pearls using diving suits.
and weighted boots
After the museum we went to the Wildlife Park.
We entered through the crocodile's mouth
There were bird flying over the pond the crocs were in and I saw a crocodile jump out of the pond and try to catch one (he missed)
Here most of the paths were sand, and my scooter didn't scoot. So after they passed around a baby croc (with the mouth taped shut) for everyone to hold,
they took a tour of the park and I just stayed at the main building and took photos of some of the pythons
My granddaughter saw bats,
and they fed the crocodiles by dangling food so they jumped up out of the water about five feet, (this is a crocodile toy)
kangaroos, wallabies
and dingoes.
She wants a dingo. She thinks they are cute.
Then we drove by Cable Beach
and went to Gantheaume Point
where there was a lighthouse.
My granddaughter walked down to the lighthouse and saw the casts of the dinosaur tracks (the real tracks are under water except at low tide).
Then we returned to the ship.
My granddaughter's lunch
Scooter in the Lido
They told us they were not having set dining times because the ship wasn't leaving until 9 pm We went down to dinner at the usual time and ate at our usual table but it was just us and Jean and Sarah. I had the escargots
and we both had the pear and blue cheese with candied pecans.
Then she had the lobster fettucine and I had duck l'orange.
For dessert, she had buttermilk crepes with chocolate cream cheese filling, and I had Sacher Torte.
July 17 is a sea day. We were supposed to set our clocks ahead half an hour, and I set mine back instead so I was a hour off. I thought I woke up in time to get to breakfast in the dining room, but I didn't so I had breakfast in the Lido and brought my granddaughter back some rolls and a croissant.
After lunch we started cruising along the Kimberly Coast and there was a narrator just like we had in Alaska at Tracy Arm and going thru the Panama Canal. My granddaughter tried going to the Movie under the stars but she thought it was too hot in the sun. I took some photos from our cabin. They were painting the area outside our cabin window.
I was thinking I would go swimming, but I was busy editing photos until I felt it was too late and I wouldn't be back by the time we were going to anchor for the sunset. So I just took a shower and dressed for dinner.
We were going to cruise past the Bonaparte Archipelago and into York Sound where we were going to stop for the sunset two miles west of Naturalist Island, We couldn't go any farther forward into the sound because it got shallow, and in fact after we stopped the stern thrusters stirred up a good bit of sand. I went out on the Promenade Deck with my telephoto lens on my camera and took some photos of the sun reflecting in the red cliffs.
I sent the 100 photos that I took of the Kimberly Coast in an album to my husband and his comment was "Thanks for all the pictures of ROCKS. I think that you must be trying to compete with your father's water over Niagara falls pictures."
This is a family joke. My dad was using up some outdated film and he stood beside the falls and just took a whole roll of pictures. My mother asked him why he took so many photos of the same thing, and he answered "It's different water."
So with that in mind
I went around to the sunny side of the ship, but that wasn't as pretty.
The promenade deck goes all around the ship except that it doesn't go up to the bow, and in the stern there are four ramps (which the scooter can do) two up and two down. So I went around to the shady side again and sat and watched and took some photos. People had gone inside but a little farther along I found Michelle
and Peter
and Heather and Bryan
and Charlotte and Bill. The men left to get dressed and left the girls there and then the girls went to get dressed.
As the sun went down, the cliffs changed from bright red to a more muted color.
My granddaughter came and found us and she took some photos with my camera too.
Then we went in to dinner. Charlotte and Bob didn't come to dinner, She apparently slipped and fell getting on a tender and was badly hurt.
I couldn't take photos of the dinner with the long lens, but it was supposed to be a country dinner by which I suppose they meant the USA. They had Maryland Crabcakes with
Remoulad Sauce (!!) which is NOT a Maryland thing and Cowboy Steak which had broccoli and carrots and a slice of potato with cheese on it.
This was what we had for lunch though
green pasta noodles
bbq chicken
My granddaughter went to see the Movie under the Stars at night which was "This Means War" She also did the movie trivia and got 12 of them right out of 20.
July 18 - another sea day. we woke late and didn't go to breakfast at all. I tried the stuffed egg for lunch and just didn't eat the sardines that came with it. Then we both had mac and cheese for lunch (they called it Maccheroni e Formaggio. And then I had yellow peach pie for dessert.
stuffed eggs for lunch
and yellow peach pie
Note - neither my granddaughter nor I gained weight on the cruise. She was a bridesmaid this past weekend and she ordered her bridesmaid dress a little large, just in case. But it had to be taken in for her.
and the cucumber soup
and Tandori chicken.
Then I had the Princess Love Boat Dream (chocolate mousse on a brownie in the shape of a heart) and apple cider sorbet - the latter was a little more tart than I expected.
I went to talk to the port lecturer and found out that the over 70 prohibition was for scuba and not snorkeling. So I went on and signed up for that excursion and also turned in the one I had for Darwin which would have taken up the whole morning that we had there.
July 19 - We overslept a little so it was 8:15 when I woke up. So we skipped breakfast and just went out to shop. I was able to scooter down the ramp and get a round trip shuttle bus ticket for $14 (My granddaughter being a child was free). They put my scooter in the back of the bus.
Some people walked
Entrance to the mall
We saw a snake man in the mall
One thing we wanted to do was to cash her traveler's checks - the Princess information on Darwin was that the banks opened at 8:30, so we found one and went up the ramp to the door only to find that the bank didn't open until 9:30 and it was only 9:15. I had to back all the way down the ramp. We did some shopping and then came back to the bank and changed some money. They charged us $8.00 for each transaction so a figured I might as well do it on the ship next time.
My granddaughter had quite a list of people that she was buying things for so we did some intensive shopping at the mall before we got back on the bus to the ship. There were stores on the dock too
and some of them had better prices even, so we bought some more things. She still has to buy something for her brother and something else for her dad.
We came back to the ship and they told me that I should go over to the lady and ask for a pat-down. The lady took my fanny pack and the shopping bag but she said she didn't need the camera - she said she could see what that was.
They had put the ramp with the little pieces of wood across it back and the alternate was steps so the scooter had to be carried on board. This shows them taking it down.
We got on board and went to lunch at noon and for the first time I didn't get someone to help me with the food. My granddaughter experienced eclairs for the first time - she liked them.
I was able to see the lighthouse at the end of the point.
When we were getting underway they announced that some passengers had the flu. I don't know if they really have the flu or norovirus. But my cough has come back. This was the beginning of the end as I was sick for most of the rest of the trip.
July 19 - we didn't go to breakfast but at lunch I sat next to an Australian man who went to college in Michigan. He was about the only Australian I talked to who knew the when we in the US say 'go to college' that is basically the same as when they say 'go to university'. I showed my granddaughter what
cottage pie/shepard's pie was.
Formal night is tonight
I was really coughing a lot and did not feel well, but went to formal night anyway. But I forgot to take a photo of my granddaughter in her dress although I did get a photo of Brian and Heather
and Michelle and Peter
Shrimp from the anytime menu with some kind of mayo type sauce - the shrimp were good at least.
Traditional won ton soup which was good.
I had a salad instead of an entree. This was Rocky Road ice cream. It isn't like what I remembered.
Sugar free chocolate swirl cheesecake
July 20 - I decided I was really sick - coughing, sore throat, runny nose and running a fever, so I got up and went to sick call where there were a lot of other sick people. They took my BP (141-71) but they had to do it 3 times because they didn't have a big cuff. They implied that Australians didn't need the big cuff because they didn't have fat arms. Temperature about 100 deg F, pulse 80 and O2 96%. They took a nose swab and said I had the flu and said I should stay in the cabin until further notice and just get room service. But room service costs $6.00 each tme plus the tip. I've rarely paid for room service before and don't want to this time either.
I mentioned that my granddaughter had a headache, and so they gave us both tamiflu. I also got an antibiotic, and tylenol and throat lozenges.
My granddaughter brought me back food from the buffet for lunch, and I had enough for dinner too.
They have special room cleaners to come in and disinfect the rooms of sick people - they said they had 16 rooms to do.
July 22 - they gave me leave to go on the excursion to the Great Barrier Reef today, but although I feel much better (and my granddaughter says I look better), I don't really feel up to snorkeling. My muscles are sore from coughing, and I still have a runny nose. So I sent Montana off with Sarah and Jean from our table - they are on the same excursion.
She came back from the GBR really late with over 200 photos. The ones with mgl on them are hers
They had these lines and buoys to keep you from being swept away by the current
and divers in case you didn't catch the line.
My granddaughter found her friend from the excursion in Indonesia
Since I was no longer confined to my room, I ate in the buffet.
They had this lovely dessert - very light. I think called cloud pudding.
I went out on deck and took some photos - ship lifeboat-tender on the left took three times as long as the regular tender on the right. You can see how gloomy a day it was.
We were a bit late to dinner and Jean and Sarah were just a little bit after us. Heather and Bryan were not at dinner as Heather is sick. Michelle said Heather has been coughing from the start. Charlotte and Bob were not there either - I saw Charlotte at the infirmary when I was there so apparently she is still not recovered from her fall.
Spring roll and pot sticker
Singapore rice noodles
vegetable tempora
white chocolate mocha pie
July 23 - the seas were a little rough last night and the captain announced that we were going to be late getting to Airlie Beach. I went to breakfast and brought back two chocolate chip muffins for my granddaughter.
We were an hour later than our already late arrival. We had lunch and then went to get tender tickets. But we were already too late. We got #35 and had to wait in the atrium as the dining room was full.
Atrium ceiling
We finally got on the tender about 3:30.
Then we got to shore and got on the shuttle bus. But it was really late by this time. There was a big souvenir shop on the main road, but we didn't get that far.
My granddaughter bought herself a big flag - it was bigger than she though it was when she got it back to the ship. And also she got a big stick of licorice. The sun set and it was getting cold. My granddaughter had a jacket but was wearing shorts.
We were on the next to the last shuttle back to the port, and the next to the last tender back to the ship - did not get back until 1900 - too late for dinner at 1745.
It was too late for us to see this
So we finally ate at the pizza place. We both had pizza
and my granddaughter had mac and cheese
and I had a spinach pasta dish. Then we shared a fruit tart which my granddaughter didn't think she would like until she tasted it. I didn't get a photo until we'd eaten most of it.
She was annoyed because she missed Italian night in the dining room after all those Pacific and Indonesian nights of food. Sarah and Jean just went to the dining room anyway and they found a place for them.
After dinner I started uploading her photos from the previous day. But I stopped because there were problems. And she found Mah Jong on my computer and played some of that.
July 24 - sea day and formal night
I wonder why your cruise did not do a complete circle around Australia. I guess time and cost? Victoria is beautiful especially the Great Ocean Road.
For your cruise, did you eat the same meal more than once? Or did they do a good job having different foods for every meal?
They do it at other times of the year.
As for food -
In the dining room they had the same meal at breakfast every day. Sometimes there was also a special.
For lunch the meals were different each day both in the dining room and the buffet. In the dining room (which wasn't open for lunch on port days) there was also an "Anytime" menu which you could have every day if you wanted in addition to the specials of the day.
It was the same at dinner - Each night there was a 'theme' for the dishes and then there was an "Anytime" menu which included Caesar Salad, shrimp cocktail, Fettuccine Alfredo, salmon, chicken breast, beef fillet mignons, and for dessert a Pavlova, Princess Love Boat Dream, a sundae, a fruit plate, or cheese and fig and walnut bread.