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For the last four days we have not left the ship. The two scheduled stops at Exmouth and Kuri Bay were inaccessible to us. The first, Exmouth, was unable to be visited because the seas were too rough and the wind, too high for the tenders to be launched and then at Kuri Bay, the only people allowed on shore were those who had purchased shore excursions from the ship which were very expensive and we did not like the fact we were virtually held to ransom to buy one. So how have we been spending our time?T
Quizzes!!
Each day there are about 4 different trivia quizzes. On the first morning Fletcher and I won the first one with the grand prize of a water bottle and a bottle opener. At the second quiz, Janine and Chris Reed came over and asked if they could join us. We were glad to have their company. They have been on many cruises and have lots of useful knowledge so since then we have won most of the ones we have participated in. The best prize is the 2pm quiz for which the prize is free coffee and cake for four
people. We have won that one four days in a row. We fully expect to be banned soon!!
Food!!
There are several restaurants on board. Four are complimentary and the others are pay as you eat. The first two nights we dined at Angelo's which is Italian. We enjoyed the food here and especially as we shared a table with a nice couple. The first two days we went up to the Pantry for breakfast which is a large buffet space. However, the last two days we have gone to the Waterfront restaurant on Level 5 which is a proper restaurant with table service and pleasant decor. We have also had lunch and dinner there. The menu does not change, however, so it becomes a little repetitive.
We did go the whole hog, however and booked for the degustation by Luke Mangan, a Taste of Salt. There were ten of us at the dinner and we had 6 courses. matched with wines. We enjoyed most of the food but were disappointed with the two meat dishes, a lamb chop and some beef. Both were very chewy and could have been cooked a little more. The liquorice dessert
though was suprisingly scrumptious. We had some excellent wines although the dessert wine was a Brown Bros Moscato which was far too sweet. The company was excellent and the conversation flowed throughout the night. Not sure it was worth $220 a head though.
Today we went to a wine tasting, held in Angelo's. There were six wines for tasting, a sparkling from Tyrell's, a chardonnay from Cape Mentelle, a sauv blanc from Tumbarumba, a rose from Zonte's Footstep, a pinot noir from Cloudy Bay and again the Moscato. The two we liked best were the chardonnay and the rose. The rest were so-so and I couldn't drink 'the Moscato. The presenters tried their best but were a little out of their comfort zone.
Yesterday we went out onto the deck to watch the tenders coming back on board. Spotted a lemon shark in the water below which was quite large. We have had one game of shuffleboard but decks were closed for two days due to high winds. Tonight we are going to the Asian restaurant, Dragon Lady so are anticipating a good meal then.
So we have been keeping fairly busy but are really looking forward
to getting off the ship in Darwin tomorrow.
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