AUSTRALIA ~ Adelaide

The port is a 30 minute train ride from Adelaide, there is a convenient train, one purchases a day pass for only $10 Australian.

We  walked along the main street enjoying the architecture.

Keith helping Mom with her IPad.

We visited the free art gallery.

A small representation of Aboriginal art.

We took a detour through the University campus to get down to the river.

What a beautiful stroll and so few people about.

Adelaide proper is a small area surrounded by green space, most of that green space is the river.

However the suburbs go on and on and on, all very similar, one level detached homes all along the train tracks.   

A couple of black swans begging at a cafe. 

It was cold in Adelaide with a brisk breeze. Again we did not bring warm enough clothing.

Again, too soon, back to the ship.

The train employee putting away the ramp used for Keith to get disembark the train. 

from the ship~ Norfolk Pines are very common in Southern Australia.

Two more days at sea...

Leisure time reading on the cabin balcony.

Another dessert to enjoy.

Our table was beside the Chef's Table. Passengers book months ahead for this special meal prepared specially for them by the head chef. They pay $150 a plate. The pretty beaded curtains close around them for privacy from the ordinary folks (like us).

Many sea days we met with Aussies Moyna and Garth to play cards, they introduced us to a game called Bush Rummy. The first time Mom played she skunked us all!

Mom also cleaned up at cribbage. We always take along the cribbage board that Dad made when he was 14 years of age. Our games are full of the expressions that Dad and Grampa used to say as they played so long ago. Once in a while I do a Howard Poke to try and summon his help.

Keith and I play cribbage, Hand and Foot and Spite and Malice ~ all for money. The loser pays into a pot that, once it gets large enough, is used to take us out for dinner. 

The last few nights we were serenaded into the dining room by these talented staff. I could hear their beautiful music as I descended the stairs. Lovely! By this time we had been told that the cruise was going to end at Perth on February 22nd instead of Singapore on March 2nd. This was of course due to fears of Corona Virus which had gotten aboard the Diamond Princess in Asia. Passengers and staff on the Diamond were quarantined, hundreds became ill and at least 5 have died. 

We were granted free access to satellite phones to help us make other arrangements. I was unable to reach Air Canada (of course!) so I contacted our insurance agent (I do not usually purchase travel insurance!) to help us out. They did so but I spent 5 days between Melbourne and Perth calling every morning for updates as they could not call me. It was extremely stressful and put a negative twist on the cruise. However, Princess was very good, offering us a 50% credit (which we have already received) and for those willing to travel within the next year, another 50% credit towards another cruise. No thanks for me. I am now working towards a good carbon footprint so no more cruises nor flights for me. 

Keith in his happy place!

Lobster AND Beef Wellington!

AUSTRALIA ~ Melbourne

February 16 waking up early to sunrise over Melbourne from our cabin balcony.

We woke up to an email from Juhree who along with her husband Robert are looking after Chip for the first week of our vacation. They also have a very adorable schnauzer puppy named Nike. Poor Chip ended up hiding in a closet to escape from the never ending puppy love. Juhree and Robert felt badly, they are such dog lovers and felt for Chip. They ended up having to occasionally put Nike in a fenced off area to give Chip a break. After 1 week Chip went to stay with our neighbours Paul and Anna, I think he was thankful for the peace and quiet at their home.

We had arranged to meet my friend Patrick, his wife Ebony and their son, my BFF Rosalie's grandson, Arlen. They picked up Keith and me, travel scooter and all and took us to the Botanical Gardens. 

I always admire the foresight of early town planners that put aside huge portions of land for parks in the middle of what is to become a huge city. Stanley Park, Beacon Hill Park, Central Park, Hyde Park (both in London and Sydney) ... thank you!

What a joy to see young Arlen running on the grass, though my heart ached for Rosalie who is so darn far away from her delightful grandson.

A Coot perhaps?

Such a gorgeous setting! Note the high-rises in the background.

After a wonderful morning we had Ebony and Patrick drop us off at the beach so we could walk back to the ship and enjoy the warm sunshine. 

There are kilometers of volleyball nets along the beach. No wonder the Aussies dominate this sport at the Olympics.

Unfortunately we did not get to the city or to see the river... but on a cruise ship one has limited time and can only experience a very small portion of each port.

This appears to be the same wee bird species that we photographed at Bondi Beach.

Majestic Princess

Back on board we found Mom and caught up with each other's day. Mom had taken transit into town and befriended a local that took her out for coffee.

2 days at Sea and a Formal Night 

Handsome Keith with our fabulous server Jesse from the Phillipines.

Me with my Mom, I consider myself so very fortunate to still have my Mom around! So many of my friends no longer do, so I cherish every moment I am with her. She is amazing, always pushing herself to walk just 1 more kilometer. I can see how difficult it is to reconcile the travel bug with an aging body. It is not at all easy! But Mom always puts on a cheerful face and is game for most things.

Again ~ Happy Hubby ~ We all 3 enjoyed the dining room fare and the friendly and kind staff! 

  

Another delicious dessert. I really did enjoy the main courses as well, just did not take photos of them.

All gussied up ... that seldom happens. 

At sea for 1 day before Adelaide.

From our cabin balcony.

I joined the 9am stitch group which meets on sea days. I took a small project and was able to finish the handwork while on the cruise. One of the fellow stitchers loves to play cards so we started meeting her and her partner at 11am on sea days. 

AUSTRALIA ~ Hobart

Hobart from our cabin balcony.

There was an excellent market, offering many quality handmade items, as we exited the ship.

We were happy to disembark at this tidy working port. The weather was cool, this is a very good thing, we had been worried about high summer temperatures in Australia. It was much cooler than expected, and cooler than usual, our only issue was that we did not bring enough warm clothes. 

There are very few tacky t shirt stores in Australia (at least the few places we got to visit), unlike in Victoria! We did manage to find one, Keith needed to purchase a couple of items for co-workers.

We browsed through lovely Salamanca Square ..

...where Mom and I found a secondhand bookstore.

At a 2nd secondhand bookstore I discovered a book written by Deborah Swift. I just had to buy it and have just finished reading it, 1 week post cruise. 

Mom is all stocked up for cruise reading.

loving the local art

and gardens 

We found that Australians love their roses!

We all climbed an extremely steep hill to reach Battery Point, a large green space with some nice views.

Very happy to find a bench at the top! 

Back to town where we finally found a nice place to people watch and sit down for coffee and a skookum muffin. 

I loved this wee trailer kitted out as a flower stall, made me think of Nathanda and Myki as they would love this.

Too soon back to the harbour and Majestic Princess.

Majestic Princess in the background.

Commemoration to the 13,000 women and their 2000 children that were transported her to Van Diemen's Land between 1803 and 1853. I imagine that many of Tasmania's long time residents are descended from these unfortunate women. 

Australian Pied Cormorant

and my attempt to recreate it with watercolour pencil.

Mom's room was next door to ours. The steward opened the partition between our balconies giving us 1 long balcony. It was also a handy way for us to pop back and forth between rooms.

That evening we elected to watch Downton Abbey which was being shown as "Movie Under The Stars". In spite of wearing our warmest clothes and being covered by blankets, we all froze! The wind was very brisk and cold. W

However we did stay until the end of the movie, guess we were enjoying it. Little did I know that the next day that same movie was offered on our room television sets.... a much warmer venue!