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Published: February 1st 2013
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Peter enjoying a glass of red
This is from our balcony as we sailed through Doutful Sound Hi everyone
We have settled into the cruising life and now we are hooked. Cheryl and Paul told us it wouldn’t take long and you were spot on guys. The first day I was a little dubious but after I got used to the boat movement I’ve been fine. I am now sitting on our balcony with my feet up writing this blog. It’s a bit cold so I am wearing the fluffy bathrobe from the cabin. The balcony looks a bit like a Chinese laundry with wet clothes hanging everywhere. I’m too scungy to pay for the clothes to be laundered so I have rediscovered the joys of hand washing.
The sea is a bit choppy (3 metre swells) but not enough to be problematic. It’s really nice hearing the waves crashing against the side of the ship. It’s a tough life out here in Bass Strait J
We were fascinated to watch the little orange pilot boat escort us out of Port Phillip Bay. Part of the process was to transfer the pilot from our ship to the comparatively tiny pilot boat. When the two vessels got close enough together, the pilot jumped off our
Top Deck
You can see Doubtful Sound on the left of the picture of our humungous ocean liner into the tiny pilot boat. The fact that neither vessel stopped made the feat very spectacular. I’d be in the drink for sure.
Peter is running around madly doing everything he can find. No surprises there. Already today he has walked several miles on the track on the top deck, played trivia and had a flutter on the pokies. Between all of his activities we had a lovely breakfast at one of the restaurants. While Peter was doing his walk, he could see land on both sides as we went past Tasmania and one of the Bass Strait islands. It was very impressive.
What a difference a day made in terms of the food quality. I don’t know what happened but there was a big change for the better on the 2
nd night. The staff have been marvellous about my dietary issues and have been checking things I order in case they have gluten in them. So now I order the night before and they make sure I get meals that are safe. Last night I had the most beautiful meal of trevally and risotto. The coffee is dreadful but they’re working on
fixing it apparently. I suggested they go to Aldi and buy coffee machines J.
We have had a bit of trouble figuring how out how the prepaid wine package worked. You can only get wine during the restaurant service which is a bit tricky if you want to have an afternoon drink on the balcony. With a bit of help from the staff, we ordered 3 bottles of wine for dinner last night and brought the bottles back to our cabin. Problem solved.
Yesterday we spent a very pleasant day in Melbourne. Of course it was freezing and blowing a gale when we disembarked! Peter had always wanted to do a tour around the MCG so we hiked to the sport precinct and off we went. I had resigned myself to being bored. I was pleasantly surprised how interesting the tour was. We got to put our feet on the MCG grass!!
The second half involved going to the Museum of Sport and I KNEW this was going to be boring. Wrong again. I went down and had a look at the Fashions in the Field. It was really interesting to see the progression from the 1960’s
through to 2010. The 80’s and early 90’s outfits were particularly hideous. Whatever were we thinking wearing those shoulder pads!!
I then snuck off the interactive exhibit area and played soccer. Yes me….and not only that I played cricket, kicked goals in an Aussie rules match and handballed a footy around. I got a few pointers on kicking goals from a little girl who seemed to be very proficient. Basically you had to kick or throw balls at a screen that registered if you got a goal or wicket. It was so much fun because no one could see me being a complete dork missing the balls etc. My feet and ankles are a bit stiff today but it was worth it.
……
Today (Friday) is our third day of cruising (no land stops) and life is pretty good. We’ve played trivia and got an abysmal score, and then Peter went off to learn Italian. My brain is in hibernate mode this trip and only comes out to read books. We have had a wonderful experience today sailing through the Sounds: Milford, Thompson and Doubtful. We ordered room service and had breakfast on the balcony while
sailing through Milford Sound. None of the Sounds have had a lot of ice or snow on them but they are still very spectacular.
We have been to two more shows and last night it was a magician. It’s lovely to be able to stroll away from the dining room with a glass of wine and then sit down and be entertained. I could really get used to this.
xx pj and sandy
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fiona van dort
non-member comment
how spectacular
Loved the photos of the Sounds ... Must be an incredible sight... Peter needs to do some twitching, tell us what seabirds he's seeing, when he can get away from his activities! Glad cruise seems to have escaped the storm, we have big wind and rain back in sydney again :( Luv and hugs, fi