Australian Bight and Albany

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Since we left Adelaide, we have been crossing the Australian Bight which is sort of a huge bay along southwest Australia. It is notorious for being rough. And it has been. Yesterday afternoon the swells starting getting bigger and they were 18 - 20 feet all night long. The creaking and banging in the ship were horrible. Our dresser drawers kept opening and closing. Even the door to the balcony opened a few times on its own until I figured out how to secure it. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep!

Finally, we arrived in Albany about 7:30 and it was still. Albany was the first port in Western Australia and was very busy until the port in Freemantle (near Perth) was blasted out about a hundred years ago. Now Albany has about 30,000 residents and is a lovely town. There are 3 (apparently) thriving bookstores on its main street alone! I had a great time wandering from shop to shop, each one seemed to be privately owned like Nisswa. The folks I've run across in Australia all have been so friendly. This town had a group of volunteers driving shuttle buses and helping answer questions all around town...just for us. The temp was only about 56 degrees. I had to put a sweater on! (I know...you really feel sorry for me...)

This was just a short stop, and by 12:30 we were back at sea. And back in the thick of it again. This time the swells are only 12 - 14 feet, but that still makes it difficult to accomplish much besides reading. I finished the second of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, "The Girl Who Played With Fire." It is just as good as the first (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and I can't wait for the third one. It is so interesting to visit foreign bookstores because they will have many of the same titles, but all have competely different covers. Their bestsellers are pretty much the same as ours.

By the way, the Australian money is really neat. Their currency is actually made of plastic but feels like paper. Each has a clear window in one corner that shows the Southern Cross constellation. The smallest bill (literally) is $5 and they get progressively bigger as they are worth more. They are different colors, too. The coins are quite confusing because the $2 one is smaller than the $1 and the 20 cent and 50 cent are even bigger still. At least each is clearly marked with its value, unlike American coinage. I still find myself standing there with a handful of change, letting the clerk take what they want! Oh, their dollar is worth about 66 American cents.

All for now. Tomorrow is Freemantle (where we dock) and Perth (the nearest big city.

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