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Published: February 3rd 2009
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So where did we get to? Ah yes, Hobart, Tasmania. Well, I've been to more exciting places, but we had a relaxing day strolling around there. Really we could have done with hiring a car and visiting places like Port Arthur, where the old penal colony was, but we didn't fancy the mad rush and the 5 hour round trip.
So we stayed in Hobart for the day and sought out the interesting bits. For example, Battery Point is an olde world sort of place with colonial-style houses in between the coffee shops, where we kept bumping into odd people we knew from the ship (and there were plenty of odd people on the ship!). There were some pleasant Botanical Gardens there also; a bit of a hike to get there, but worth the effort. We did turn into some posh-looking gates on the way there, thinking we had reached the Botanical Gardens, but some angry Aussie voice from the rhododendrons said "You're on private property mate!" Not very welcoming at all. Turned out we had entered Government House by mistake. Didn't know rhododendrons could talk.
So, on a hot afternoon, we returned to our ship and awaited its departure
by hitting the hot tubs, scene of many conversations over the week, usually about the US economy. Don't those guys talk about anything else? I did find a couple of Australians to talk Rugby League with one of the days, which made a nice change. They had to be very nice to us Pommies, especially as they had failed to win the World Cup at the end of last year!
The following day was a day at sea. It was also Australia Day, which miffed us a little because we thought it would be better to be in Australia on Australia Day, to help in the celebrations. But we soon got over our our disappointment as the day dawned bright and sunny and we found a nice couple of sunbeds near the back of the ship (or should that be 'aft'). Following a couple of lazy hours after breakfast, I went for a stroll around the ship and as I reached the middle of the ship ('amidships' is the technical term, see - I'm learning), came across a huge celebration barbie taking place. Aussies, Aussie flags, food everywhere, a pie eating contest, ice sculptures. Of course, we joined in
the feast and had a great afternoon. We ate so much that we had to change our plans and abandon the evening meal. Another great day.
Early the next day we arrived in Melbourne, which was our first stop on mainland Australia. Another scorching hot day, the city was packed, which a couple of thousand people emerging from the ship did nothing to help. So we went for a walk down the River Yarra, just to get out of the city for a breath of fresh air. As we walked, there seemed to be a lot of people all going in the same direction, which seemed odd until we realised that we were heading straight for the Rod Laver Tennis Centre, where the Australian Open Tennis Tournament was taking place. (For non-tennis fans, this is a "grand-slam" event, one of the top four tournaments in the world, on a par with Wimbledon)
So we joined them and reached the stadium, still thinking that we would stand little chance of getting a ticket. We posed for a few photos, then decided to chance our arm and ask at the ticket office if there was any room. To our surprise,
we could have had centre court tickets for the whole day, at $A100. Sadly, we would have to leave at about 2.30 to get back to the ship before it sailed, and wouldn't really have got our moneysworth, so we settled for ground tickets at $A19, which got us into any court except the Centre Court. We had a ball! (Or was it a racket?) Sorry to bore the non-tennis fans, but we got to see players such as Pat Cash, Mansour Bahrahmi, Guy Forget, Liesel Huber, Sugiyama and the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, all of whom were playing on the outside courts. With temperatures around the 40 mark, I was glad we were watching and not playing. It was bad enough buying just one small bottle of water at $4 a time!
In the evening, it was party time, to celebrate the end of the voyage. It wasn't the last night, as there was still another day at sea to come, but it was thought that everyone would be packing their cases the next night, so they had it a night early. The maitre d' and his staff built a champagne fountain in the ship's Atrium, I think there were 750 glasses stacked up in all. He then invited people to empty bottles of champagne over the top and have their photos taken doing so. It probably sounds a bit naff in the cold light of day, but with the music playing and everyone shouting and bawling and drinking champagne, it created a convivial atmosphere to mark the end of what had been an exciting voyage. We never managed to meet anyone else the whole time we were on the ship who hadn't been on a cruise before, so for us "cruise virgins" it had indeed been an eye-opening experience, one which I'm sure we'll repeat sometime, though perhaps not so far from home.
Tomorrow.... It's Thursday, what's that funny-shaped building, it must be Sydney!
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