Mauritius

photos

We had a pretty calm finish to our long sail across the Indian Ocean. We arrived right on time. Mauritius looks beautiful on approach. It is green and full of interesting craggy volcanic peaks. It rained hard as we entered port and there was a big double rainbow framing Port Louis as we neared our dock. This is my 88th country visited.

There was some shipwide stress about the mandatory shipwide face to face immigration clearance, but it was a non-event. We were called in group 2 about the time our tour tickets had us leaving. We walked straight through Palm Court past the officials' table where we were rushed past without eye contact or pausing. We turned our passports and forms into ship's personnel as we exited the lounge. We went straight to Stardust where we were immediately called to depart. Pasted below is the tour description. We paid $139 each for it.

CRYSTAL IN-TRANSIT ADVENTURES: SOUTH ISLAND SIGHTS

Chamarel Falls and the Seven Colored Earths, Rum Distillery, Grand Bassin lake, Black River Gorges.

DURATION

APPROXIMATELY 6 HOURS

This outing features the sights and scenery of the southern part of the island, which boasts dramatic landscapes and stunning views.

Proceed to the town of Chamarel, home to two natural wonders: magnificent Chamarel Falls and the Seven Colored Earths. Created by volcanic rocks that cooled at different temperatures, the exposed hillsides of the Seven Colored Earths feature striking patterns of color. The waterfalls, meanwhile, plummet hundreds of feet from the cliffs’ edge

Visit the Rum distillery, followed by a refreshment at the Restaurant L’Alchimiste, within the distillery.

Enjoy a stop at Black River Gorges, which inspires more picture taking with magnificent views over the island’s forests.

Another scenic spot is Grand Bassin, a sacred lake where Hindus come to pray and worship, while others simply come to appreciate the beauty of this peaceful place.

All too soon, it will be time to return to the pier.

It is recommended that guests wear insect repellent, a hat, sunscreen and flat, comfortable shoes. The order of sights visited may vary.

We had received a memo from Destination Services days ago that Historic Marine Museum had been substituted with Voiliers de L'Ocean. Of course, there is no museum listed on our tour. I looked up the substitute and it was a shop/factory with model wooden ships. This didn't sound right so I went to the desk to see if it was a mistake. I was informed that tours change all the time and to roll with it. Well, no shit. I give you my money and I get whatever you deliver as it comes. No argument here, I know that's how it works. But, try to act like it matters. So today we drove over an hour to get to the town of Curepipe where we found dozens of boat model factories. We were shepherded through a huge souvenir shop and up a ramp to a room with maybe a dozen workers working on small boat model parts. It was a waste of time other than providing one of 3 toilet stops. Next stop was in heavy foot traffic to a tall statue of Shiva. It was bad timing as it was a big festival and meant we couldn't make our next stop of Grand Bassin Lake, or as our guide said, Ganga Talao or Sacred Lake. The road was closed to all but the Hindu pilgrims as it should have been and probably is annually. So you have to wonder why they didn't know in advance and substitute something for that. We made the photo stop at Black River Gorges where the highlight was our guide feeding the monkeys. We drove by the Rum Distillery at Chamarel but didn't stop. No one ever explained the elimination of the distillery from the tour. Our guide did not entertain questions. His answer to every question was to promise to tell us everything we needed to know about Mauritius on the long drive back to the pier. He slept on the way back. In Chamarel, we had a nice buffet lunch in a beautiful outdoor setting with a view of the ocean. The restaurant was named Chamarel. After lunch we stopped for 20 minutes at Chamarel Falls. In the same geopark we had a final stop at the volcanic remains of 7 colored earth for another 20 minutes because it was our last toilet op before the hour ride back to port. Traffic is horrific around Port Louis. We were back around 4pm.

We are due to sail at 9pm. We should arrive in Reunion Island tomorrow at 8am. We can pick up our passports after 7am to carry all day due to random immigration checks in the terminal building ashore. Our tour departs tomorrow at 8:15am. A busy couple of days. Preparation for South Africa!

photos

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 7

Sea day photos.

The seas seem a bit calmer. The roughness caused by a swell direction change predicted by the captain yesterday did not happen. Good news. What seems weird is the lack of rainbows. We keep sailing through sun, clouds, rain, sun, rain, clouds, sun etc but we have never seen a rainbow in the Indian Ocean yet. The captain informs us the forecast for tomorrow in Mauritius is more of the same mixed bag with heat and humidity. Destination services has warned us to expect bad roads and open air vehicles with guides we won't be able to understand who are untrained. Expectations are low. Still it is a new country for us and land after a solid week of sailing.

We went to the Waffles on the Bridge. True to their word they were serving messy waffles! We'd already had breakfast when our time slot of 9:30 to 10:30 am came around. The bridge was divided in half. The port side was a buffet and photo op crowded with passengers and the starboard side was the working bridge. It was interesting.

We both disliked tonight's Waterside menu but we were able to get a reservation to Silk tonight so problem solved.

We move the clocks back another hour tonight. I don't expect anything of note to occur the rest of the day, so I'll post this now.

Updating because there was a Mexican buffet at Marketplace today. It was the 3rd themed buffet like that. As far as we can recollect, there was no notice in Reflections to let people know. Also while this is the 3rd segment, we don't believe there was 1 themed lunch buffet per segment. Other than the Austrian coinciding with the Grand Viennese Buffet in Crystal Plaza, the Asian and today's Mexican were complete surprises. We overate tacos, tamales, empanadas, burritos and churros.

We'll probably to the Hollywood Theater movie, "Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again" this afternoon. Clay say 4 birds today!

Sea day photos

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 6

We met a number of new people at the Cruise Critic meet last night, including some full World Cruisers. Half way through and meeting people we'd never seen before for the first time. I was having a hard time with the rocking from swells by that time but Clay wanted to order a Toohey's before they're all gone. So, I applied Motion Eaze and off we went. We stayed seated the entire time and people rotated by us.

We received an invitation to Waffles on the Bridge at 9:30 to 10:30 am tomorrow. We don't remember seeing Serenity's bridge on NWP16, so we'll go. Probably won't eat any waffles there which sounds messy.

We did not go to stargazing last night so don't know how that went. It looked iffy with cloud cover before we went to bed but the skies had had every weather during the day so it may have been crystal clear. We were sound asleep then.

The captain said this morning that we are in 6 to 8 foot swells (and I observe some choppy whitecaps on top) and due to the direction we can keep water in the pool. He expected the direction of the swells to change later today and to expect the pool to be drained due to splashing from the ship's motion. Hopefully that will be much later or not as bad as he's predicting.

We had to pick up our passports and the landing/disembarkation cards we filled out in the 1st segment today. Mauritius will require us to present them for a in person immigration clearance process to get ashore on the 28th. The ship will collect them back again sometime after we leave Mauritius. The Mauritius disembarkation form has an etching of a dodo on it!

Tonight is formal wear. It is the Crystal Society Party. We'll try to attend as we've missed the previous 2. We have dinner reservations at Umi Uma. We turn the clocks back an hour tonight.

Otherwise another lazy sea day.

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 5

The captain announced at his cocktail party that we had reached the midpoint of our Indian Ocean crossing at precisely noon. He had a big smile so I suspect he was exaggerating. In any event, this morning we are more than half way. As we slowly creep further north towards the Equator, it gets hotter everyday. Last night we encountered some big swells as I was awakened by my bed side drawer opening and slamming shut a few random times. This morning we can see yesterday's chop is gone. There seem to be infrequent swells. The captain says they are variable between 6 and 10 feet. They are causing enough ship movement that they had to drain the swimming pool again. The pool deck gets a surprising amount of use so I am sure the empty pool, especially as it gets hotter, must be causing some consternation.

This morning the Oscars are airing live onboard which seems to be having a negative impact on Internet bandwidth. It also caused a shortage of Marketplace waiters. Service was fine, they just seemed more harried. I found tiny snackpack sized New Zealand skim milk, fruit flavored yogurt this morning. A new waiter commented that I was having a very light breakfast. I went back and tried one of the small bowls of muesli that I had first noticed yesterday. It was okay but too nutty for my tastes every day. Clay had announced yesterday that he was having cereal for breakfast. He came back to the table yesterday with a hot plate of eggs and meat. When I asked he said he forgot. I reminded him and today he had Cheerios with his daily banana. He usually goes back for a muffin that he usually carries to Palm Court to eat there. Today he went back and returned with a minute steak, a jar of mustard and a hard roll! He skipped the muffin.

Clay plans to go to the Hollywood Theater movie at 2:30pm. It is Bruce Willis' "Death Wish". We've seen it so I don't plan to go. We have approved Waterside's dinner menu. It is casual night. There is a Cruise Critic meet & mingle tonight at 5:15 pm. I expect we'll attend. Reflections states they'll turn off the deck lights tonight from 10:30 pm to 12:30 am for unhosted southern hemisphere skygazing, weather permitting. Clay says he'll set an alarm to get up. Ha! Of course, since he's gone to bed for the night by 8:30 pm, he's not exaggerating. I don't know if we'll go or not. We'd be more likely to if it was hosted, but I guess they couldn't find any one to do that.

We are enjoying this long stretch of sea days. There will be some stress ahead as the "hardship" ports are ahead without much respite. Something for everyone.

We are 3 or 4 days into seeing no sign of life other than a few flying fish. I seriously have not even seen a jet contrail in the sky for at least 3 days. We are traversing a great blue uninhabited void.

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 4

We have almost sailed to the midway point between Fremantle and Mauritius. We left behind the big swells of yesterday and are back in chop. The captain says seas between 4 to 6 feet. We are able to keep water in the swimming pool for the first time this segment. I've decided I'll do my own yoga in the room in that event and skip Palm Court's chair yoga class.  We had bed mail this morning. One letter warning about the not up to standards tourist or otherwise infrastructure in the coming ports with unpaved roads, no A/C and non-licensed guides with poor English skills. It really seems warnings of that type should have been delivered in that boldface type before accepting a booking for this cruise! If it comes as a surprise to you now well you can't change your mind!

We have both rejected everything on Waterside's evening menu. The bad news is we also cannot get a reservation at Silk at 6pm. We have the Captain's Quarters cocktails at 7 to 7:30 pm so we have to eat early because after 7:30 pm is too late for us. Clay proposes Bistro for afternoon snacks that are removed from the buffet at 7 pm. Cocktails. Back to Bistro for the desserts buffet they put out after 7:30 pm. I guess we should count ourselves lucky to have the option.

We plan to go to The Rider in Hollywood Theater at 2:30 pm. Otherwise another lazy sea day.

Slight change of plan. Clay decided we should eat at Trident Grill before they close at 6 pm followed by ice cream at Scoops. Then since our cabin gets serviced between 6 and 7 pm, we stay out and not return until after the cocktail party ends at 7:30. That's it.

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 3

Last night returning from dinner, either Clay's 6th sense of washer availability, or his new bossiness, kicked in and he decided we should do laundry now. Only 1 set of machines was in use when I got the hamper down there so it worked out well. The seas changed again over night. Instead of yesterday's chop, today we have big rolling 12 foot swells. The captain says they are predicted to decrease by half to maybe 6 feet. He says they still can't keep the water in the swimming pool.

A happy development. Our cabin stewardess quietly placed some odd turquoise-colored cans in our fridge. They are Coca-Cola No Sugar. They don't have the word Zero anywhere on them. In their continuing vein of changing formulas and obfuscating the fact, the ingredients listed are the same but the words of the ingredients have been replaced with numbers. I'll take one to Marketplace to have for lunch and we'll see if it seems the same to me. The yogurt situation remains abysmal and unchanged. So one step forward...

There is a new class at 10 am today, chair yoga. I am planning to attend. We are planning to go to the popcorn movie, Pork Pie, this afternoon. Tonight is casual again and we've already approved the Waterside menu. We turn the clocks back another hour tonight so it promises to be an extra long, lazy day.

I tried the new Coke No Sugar at lunch and I thought it tasted exactly like Coke Zero. So good for me. Day 3 and iceberg lettuce returned to the salad bar. Just in time for me as there was nothing else on the buffet that I wanted to eat. Good lunch. Poor dessert selection and we went to Scoops for ice cream. Clay says he'd picked ice cream for dessert tonight as that selection looks weak and now that means we have to go to Bistro after 7:30pm when they put out their dinner buffet with dessert of among other things a molten chocolate fountain. We have lots of time to think about eating!

We both spent a bit of time out on the balcony today. The only sea life either of us saw was flying fish. Clay really wants to see a whale. Me too, another.

We had a bunch of mail on the bed this evening. We had a letter saying they had changed the date of the WC event Mardi Gras Jazz to actual Mardi Gras isnstead of the previously announced Ash Wednesday. They will have Waffles on the Bridge on Wednesday morning 2/27. We'll get a timed invitation. They are showing the Academy Awards live on our TVs and in Stardust at 7am on 2/25. We can expect a mandatory face to face onboard immigration inspection when we reach Mauritius. And we'll be arriving later than scheduled in Richards Bay. None of this should really cause us any issues.

We had 2 invitations. For cocktails in the captain's quarters tomorrow at 7pm. Cruise Critic meet & mingle on 2/25 at 5:15. No RSVP required, we'll probably attend. We recently missed our Signature TA's hosted cocktail party for this segment. They are hosting a lunch at Mt. Nelson Hotel in Cape Town on transition day that we have RSVPed to attend. It will take from 11 am to 3pm according to the bus schedule so that is a full day. If we hadn't already been to Cape Town and not visited the hotel, we probably would not blow a day having lunch.

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 2

It was very calm and smooth sailing yesterday afternoon. Overnight it got rougher. It woke me and I had to put on Seabands and sleep in them. It is still rougher this morning. Just enough to cause balance problems and give a headache. The captain says it is variable swell from 4 to 12 feet today. He says the pitching is still keeping the water out of the swimming pool. It is also keeping me from doing my yoga. If it calms in the afternoon again, I'll plan to do it then. Since Clay got skunked on marine mammal spotting yesterday he is committed to watching today even though the chop will make it harder to spot anything. Also for some reason we have sunshine on our balcony, so I'm staying inside for now. We are heading slightly north of west so I'm not sure I understand the sunshine.

Clay plays to attend a cooking demo this morning. We have Magic Castle at Sea tickets for 3 pm. We really plan to attend this time. Another casual night and we've approved the Waterside menu and will go tonight.

Last night I received the 2nd sterling silver charm to go on the stainless steel bangle bracelet. We can't figure out how the additional charms should be attached (not that I ever think I'd wear it, but...) so I guess when I have all 3 extra I'll take the thing as a project to Facets to see how it is meant to be done. The one charm that came attached, the WC 2019 logo, is in a separated section. It is not clear if all 4 go there or are allowed to drift around the rest of the circle. We'll see. Oh, charm 2 is a kangaroo with no writing on it. The letter from the WC hostess has some dates on it to reserve. The captain's reception was last night. We saw him arrive at Umi Uma to host a table for that formal night. We never attend these. The 26th is the Crystal Society Party. We usually try to attend these, but have missed the last 2. We think it is because this gift letter is the only notice of the Society Party that we've gotten and we just forget. That doesn't seem right to either of us though as it seems there should be an actual invitation the day before or something. The White Party (people wear white and dance in the atrium) is the 28th and we avoid it. The Special World Cruise Event is a Mardi Gras Jazz Spectacular on March 6 at 7:45 pm and 9:30 pm in Galaxy Lounge. I'm pretty sure we'll give that a pass as it sounds like a nightly entertainment program and not WC caliber special. Though after sitting through the kickoff gala and hearing about the Auckland Military History Salute our expectations are pretty low right now. Finally this segment's Grand Gala Buffett is 3/9, to be avoided.

Still no nonfat Greek yogurt (other than lemon) for breakfast. I broke routine and had 2 raspberry pancakes with bacon on this Friday. I don't know what I'll be doing daily longterm on the entire 2nd half of this cruise if they don't get good yogurt restocked.

Clay didn't think much of the cooking demo and left early to catch the delivery of Portuguese tarts at Bistro around 10:30 am. For a signature item, Crystal serves a very limited daily quantity and if you don't see them come out, you're probably not getting one.

We also made it to the Magic Castle at Sea show at 3pm. This time it was Joe Turner and it was a much better show than the 1st segments. We enjoyed it.

Seas have remained choppy all day. Either there were too many whitecaps for us to see any animals or we otherwise missed them. We didn't even really see any birds today. Yesterday we saw flying fish and usually rougher water means more flying fish but we didn't see any of those either.

I'll assume nothing else newsworthy and post this now. Oh, Clay tells me we have just passed the mid-point of this cruise.

Cruising the Indian Ocean, Day 1

The ship is rocking, or is it rolling, more this morning. Still fingers crossed that it doesn't get any rougher. We saw an 8-foot tall breaker splash out of the swimming pool as they quickly drained it this morning. We usually walk straight across deck 12 from Marketplace to Palm Court after breakfast. That means we have to cross the open pool deck area in the center. The captain said in his 9 am announcement that we are in 10 foot swells that are predicted to reduce to 6 feet later today. I hope.

It is day 1 of a 7 day stretch of sea days. I got this segment's needlepoint kit this morning. I saw a huge bunch of leaping dolphins speeding along the port side before we passed them. It was a joy. Clay was sitting on our starboard balcony all that time and saw nothing. Our cabin stewardess stopped me on my back into our cabin to inform me that the Coke Zero Sugar Zero Caffeine I had rejected with a request for additional Coke Zero Sugar only was all that only the Zero Caffeine was being stocked aboard now. She asked if I had some other request, I replied no I would wait for Coke Zero Sugar only to be replenished and she could let me know when it was back. We'll hope my request goes up the chain of command and is honored before we disembark. I have small hope with 7 sea days followed by 2 weeks + in Africa. This on top of no fruit Greek yogurt for the past week. Not likely it will be back aboard before we depart. At WC per diems, I expected a better effort from Crystal. I know from past F&B managers that I am easy to profit from as a passenger but this is ridiculous. My demands are not expensive or obscure.

Today is a formal night. I believe there are 4 this segment. We have a dinner reservation at Umi Uma at 6 pm. It is our favorite specialty restaurant. Ironic given it is the Japanese sushi specialty! Tonight we move the clocks back 1 hour. I have looked to see how many hours we'll gain back over this next week. I'll be surprised. I am sure there must be at least 2 or 3 more though. The captain said this morning that we are running 3 of 6 generators and will have to average about 19 knots to make our 2 to 3 thousand mile distance to Port Louis, Mauritius. I don't remember the exact distance but we both looked at each other in shock as this stretch of Indian Ocean sea days exceeds the entire distance of the previous segment.

We've discussed that this is probably our last big trip. That in the face of the aggressive onboard booking sales literature. They are actively promoting their 2021 Northeast Passage cruise which is not yet available on their website but I guess they are selling it onboard at a discount. If we aren't buying, I can't imagine that this is their market demographic onboard, but what do I know. Anyway, it is breaking my heart. What a fantastic voyage!

This afternoon while Clay went to the popcorn movie, I sat out on the balcony and did needlepoint. After an hour or more with only seeing 2 birds, I noticed a disturbance on the water. Something black, solid, not birds. It turned out to be a pair of blue whales! How do I know this? Well earlier in the cruise we had a marine biologist aboard who gave a lecture about how to identify whales spotted by their blows and back fins. He said blue whales blow forward and their little back fin is about two-thirds of the way down their back vs. humpbacks that blow up and the fin is about 1/3 back. Plus it was enormous, the largest creature I've ever seen. It was easily twice the size of any humpback I've ever seen. It was very exciting. Later I saw another small group of very distant dolphins.

Fremantle and Rottnest Island

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The seas have so far stayed fairly calm. I believe the last the captain said was 2-4 feet. It is pretty calm. So far, so good.

We were both up around 3-4 am and went out on the balcony as the skies have been so cloudless lately. We finally saw the Southern Cross. We woke to the sun already up as we sailed past Rottnest Island with a huge full moon over it. We arrived on time in Fremantle as we were having breakfast. Today was a turnover day, the end of the 2nd WC segment and beginning of the 3rd. That means a lot of people were leaving and new ones arriving. The cruise director changed today. Gary Hunter left and Rick Spath (from the NWP16 cruise) arrived. We were in either Marketplace, walking across the pool deck or waiting for our cabin to be serviced while sitting in Palm Court this morning without hearing any public announcements about the ship clearing. We only heard the bio-security warning about food while we ate breakfast and before we docked. We watched from Palm Court as people left. I guess they just found the gangway and waited. Crystal gave us little yellow cards that had In-Transit Guest printed on it and we had to show them to leave and reboard Serenity today. The laundry rooms were all closed for 24 hours today for routine maintenance.

We were docked at least 2 blocks further up river than we were in 2017 on Oceania. It was a slight inconvenience as it made for longer walks to and from the ferry dock at Shed B. The port had a brass band playing at the end of the gangway to greet us ashore. I don't remember that before.

We went to Rottnest Island on our own today. This was our 3rd visit to Fremantle but the 1st time to Rottnest Island. A local we met on our last visit highly recommended a day trip by return ferry. The ferry ride is the reason we hadn't done it in the past. The ferry ride was pretty bad and it lasts close to 30 minutes. There are 2 ferries. For some reason we picked Rottnest Express though Captain Cook Cruises/SeaLink seemed to be running at about the same time and frequency and size of vessel. Clay says we paid $92.50 USD for roundtrip ferry tickets. We bought them online and had to print and present them to board. I don't know what the other ferry charged, but I assume about the same. Based on our docked time we booked to go over at 9:30 am and return at 3:30pm. That worked out great.

Beyond the recommendation to visit Rottnest, we had another motivator. We met our 1st quokka at Adelaide Zoo's petting area last visit in 2017 and learned that they live on Rottnest. It went on the to do list. We had found online a couple of free daily volunteer guided quokka walks and planned to do that. The 1st walk was at 10 am called "meet the quokka". Our ferry was delayed departing and we were at the meeting point at 10:07 am. It didn't matter as this wasn't really a walk. A couple of quokkas were right there and they live there full time. It was a mother with a 5-month old child. They were active all day as far as we could see in their very busy little tree-shaded corner. So that worked out. We thought it would take more time. We thought we'd wander shops and have a good lunch before the 2:30 pm quokka walk. It turned out there were only 2 shops, loads more active quokkas in the mall area and we had a pizza for lunch. That left a big bunch of free time. So we bought Island Explorer HOHO bus tickets and rode a full circuit in an hour. We were charged the concessionaires price of $15 AUD each. If we'd known about the fur seals and dolphins you could view from the west end, we'd have allowed more time for it and probably skipped the 2:30pm walk.

We were on the 3:30 pm ferry back to Fremantle. It was a different and smaller boat than the morning. We had to sit outside under cover and face backwards. Both rides were unpleasant, this one was worse. We were back onboard before 4:30pm and all aboard was 5pm. Clay raced around and got this segment's reservations and our Magic Castle tickets. We had dinner reservations at Prego at 6pm. Serenity held a muster drill for new embarkees at 5:15pm. We did not hear any sailing announcement from the captain around 6pm. Prego is our next to least favorite specialty restaurant. Churrascaria is worst. I refuse to go back. Prego got rid of one of Clay's favorite dishes, fritto misto. They also got rid of Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio for a PG from NSW Australia that was not good.

I apologize for the delay in posting, we lost Internet for a period yesterday and I lost a few paragraphs of text. We are off to a fairly good smooth sailing start to our seven day sail across the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa.

Photos

Busselton, Western Australia

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We had a rough start last night. I went to bed wearing Seabands. Sometime in the night we reached the end of Australia and turned right. I believe that took us out of the Bight and into the Indian Ocean. Whatever happened the seas calmed as we headed north. We had the sunrise over Australia out our window early this morning.

I was up before 6am. I don't know why. We weren't cleared off the coast of Busselton until almost 9am. They have a mile long wooden jetty here and we are at least that far away again. The tender takes 20 to 30 minutes. The water must be very shallow in this bay because for the first time we can look down from the ship and see bottom!

We meet for our excursion at 10am today. Pasted below is the description. We paid $259 each.

EXCURSION
WESTERN AUSTRALIA FOR FOODIES
Enjoy an insider’s look (and taste!) of Western Australia with an excursion full of tempting treats. Meet the vineyard owner and taste fine wines at Cape Naturaliste Vineyard; sample chocolates at Gabriel Chocolate Factory; and duck behind the scenes at Cowaramup Brewery for a brewer-guided tour, followed by lunch and beer tastings. 

DURATION
5½
New for 2019 - Pre-reservation of this Crystal Adventures excursion is recommended.

Depart the pier aboard your motor coach and travel to Cape Naturaliste Vineyard. Arriving after a journey of about 40 minutes, meet the vineyard owner for a behind-the-vineyards tour, a chance to discover what goes into crafting award-winning wines. Of course, you will sample various varieties.

Next, head to Gabriel Chocolate in Yallingup to meet the chocolatier and learn about all things chocolate. Gain insights into the chocolate-making process with a stroll through the factory, where some of the world’s finest raw cacao beans are used to make award-winning chocolate.

Sample some decadent confections before transferring to your final gourmand destination, Cowaramup Brewery. Join the head brewer for a talk and tour of this family owned, boutique brewery. Afterward, enjoy a late lunch, paired with a variety of beers.

Your appetite for an informative and tasty excursion satisfied, return to the pier with a journey of approximately 40 minutes.

Guests must be a minimum of 18 years of age in order to participate in the wine and beer tasting. As this excursion involves walking over uneven surfaces, it is not recommended for guests with walking difficulties. It is recommended that guests dress in casual clothing and wear flat, comfortable shoes. This excursion will operate in all weather conditions. The order of sights visited may vary.

The high here today is predicted to be 90 F. So I was glad to see no hat and sunscreen recommended today as hopefully that means we'll be in AC all day! What a difference a view hundred miles and a different ocean make to a climate.

We had a good tour today with the exception that Gabriel, the chocolatier, was a no show and so we wasted some time getting there and finding out that we'd get no tour. A disappointment as we'd really enjoyed our Honolulu bean to bar experience. The rest of the tour was good with only 10 in the small bus.

If we'd known about Busselton before arriving we probably wouldn't have booked a tour here at all. You tender in to the world's 2nd longest wooden jetty at about a mile. You can pay to ride a little train to the end and back or walk. At the end is an underwater observatory you can pay to enter. They even have helmut diving out there. The point is you could have easily filled a day and never even left the waterfront. Live and learn.

We sailed right at 6pm. The captain said we would easily make our appointment in the morning in Fremantle. He expects 2-4 foot seas so that sounds good. It will be hot again tomorrow. We have ferry tickets that we booked online to visit Rottnest Island. We have visited Fremantle twice before but never made it to Rottnest before so this will be new.

The Reflections on the bed tonight is about the 2nd segment ending tomorrow in Fremantle and the 3rd segment beginning. I am sure segment 2 was the shortest in time and distance of the 4 WC segments. It says we sailed 4443 nautical miles or 5109.45 land miles. On the 1st segment which was a week longer we traveled 6841 nm or 7867 land miles.

We have 7 days cruising the Indian Ocean when we leave Fremantle!

Photos

Albany, Western Australia

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We woke to the calm seas of the fantastic harbors of Albany. There was light seeping around the curtains. Soon from the balcony window we could see the closeness of the heads of land at the Ataturk Entrance to Princess Royal Harbor. It is cool here. February is the warmest month and the average temperature then is in the 60s F. I think the high today may have been about 72F. It was sunny with a light breeze so we couldn't have asked for a prettier day.

This was our 2nd visit to Albany. Our first was in 2006 and there has been a lot of growth since then. They have an ANZAC Centre here that wasn't here before as well as a waterfront entertainment complex and a pedestrian bridge. What I most remember from our first visit was a museum on the waterfront (still there) that contained a 1-room school. On the wall was a world map with Australia not in the bottom right corner as we're used to seeing it, but Australia in the center of the map. I had a conversation with the museum woman there about it when she asked us if we'd visited before and she knew what I was talking about and replied that yes it was still there when I asked. But it was not in the schoolroom. A very similar map was part of a traveling exhibit upstairs about immigration to Australia. It was part of a televised display. Same idea. Australia, center of the world.

We took a complimentary shuttle into town shortly after 9 am. We went looking for Dog Rock a local landmark that we'd never heard of before. I don't know why we never heard of it before. It was cool. It was about a 15 minute walk uphill from where the shuttle bus dropped us in front of visitor info center.  We walked back downhill via York Street sighting on the masts of the replica Brig Amity to revisit the local museum then to the back of the IGA at the base of York to catch a shuttle back. We had a quick early lunch at Trident Grill as we had a tour booked that met to leave at 12:45 pm.

An issue arose yesterday at lunch in Marketplace and it continued today. Based on the waiter's feedback today it will be ongoing. I asked for Coke Zero before we left LA over a month ago. No problem, I've had them in the cabin fridge and in every restaurant where I asked. Yesterday the cans started being in French from Belgium and in addition to Zero Sugar they are Zero Caffeine. The reason I drink them is for the caffeine. The coffee/cappuccino I drink in the morning just doesn't meet my daily dose of caffeine requirement. I had 4 cans of caffeinated Coke Zero in my fridge this morning, now I have 3. Time will tell if they are really no longer stocked onboard. If so, it's going to be a long 2 remaining months onboard!


Pasted below is a description of our tour. We paid $69 each.

 EXCURSION
TORNDIRRUP NATIONAL PARK & ALBANY WIND FARM
Combining a look at the rugged granite formations of Torndirrup National Park and the strikingly located turbines of the Albany Wind Farm, this excursion highlights the eco-wonders of Western Australia, in every sense of the term.

DURATION
APPROXIMATELY 3½ HOURS
Aboard your motor coach, venture along Albany’s main street and past Dog Rock, a large granite formation shaped like a dog’s head that dominates Albany’s central business district

Soon you will reach Mt. Clarence Lookout for a stop to appreciate panoramas of Princess Royal Harbor, King George Sound and the Albany Wind Farm.

Continue to Torndirrup National Park, where you will have the chance to walk to a lookout for views of the dramatic land formations called The Gap and Natural Bridge. The Gap drops 78 feet to the raging sea below, while the Natural Bridge resembles a huge suspension bridge spanning the torrent. As you take in the vistas from this thrilling vantage point, be sure to remain on the marked paths for your safety.

Next, travel to the Albany Wind Farm. Situated on the edge of a cliff overlooking the coast, this spectacular farm consists of twelve 1,800-kilowatt wind turbines, each 213 feet tall and having enormous, 115-foot-long blades. The wind turbines are some of the largest in the world and the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, supplying as much as 80 percent of Albany’s energy.

Take the pathway along the cliff that leads to an outlook for a chance to marvel at breathtaking vistas of the turbines and coastline. Then it will be time to rejoin your motor coach and make the return transfer to the pier.

Important Notes:                                                                 

It is recommended that guests dress in casual clothing and wear a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and flat, comfortable shoes. This excursion will operate in all weather conditions. The order of sights visited may vary.

We came back aboard at all aboard of 4:30 pm. By the time we got to our cabin the captain was making his usual departure update announcement. You have to either be in a quiet public space or else have the cabin TV on a particular cabin to hear these. So, we didn't catch it all. In fact what we heard, we heard differently. I heard him say when we got back out to sea hold on and be careful because he expected 6 meter seas. This was memorable to me because he has always given metric followed by standard, celsius and fahrenheit, this time I heard him only say 6 meters and I had to think about multiplying by 3. When he finished Clay said he heard him say 2.5 meters or 6 feet. Don't ask me to explain. It is back to rolling right now as we head to dinner at Waterside. We only sail overnight and should be anchored at Busselton at 9am tomorrow. That will be a new port for us.

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Cruising the Great Australian Bight, Day 2

The seas have gotten rougher riding as we near the far coast and our next port of Albany. The captain says they are still 6 to 10 foot swells from the southwest. I think the interval between has shortened to cause the pitching we're enduring now. It is still the calmest Bight crossing we've had so I'll take it.

Today is Sunday and a sea day so Crystal put on their Viennese Sunday Brunch Buffet extravaganza in the Crystal Plaza today. We were down at Destinations to follow up on a missing excursion next segment and saw them setting up. That was as close as we got. Clay had read the menu online and was a little sad to miss some of the Austrian specialties as Reflections stated that Marketplace would serve Asian Specialties. Clearly they meant to say Austrian specialties same as downstairs! Crystal Serenity seriously needs to find a proofreader aboard. It would be comical if it were so worrisome.

We have had a 2nd lazy sea day. We move the clocks back another hour tonight. Nothing like a couple of lazy 25-hour sea days!

Cruising the Great Australian Bight

The sun is shining and there are hardly any clouds in the sky. The sea is not rough, nor is it calm. It has great big wide ranging swells far enough apart to just keep us rocking but not pitching. It is not great but knowing that it could be so much worse I'm trying to look on the sunny side. The captain says we're heading in a straight line due west for 2 days and nights to reach our next port of Albany. We only have to run half our generators to average about 16.5 knots. He says swells are out of the south-southwest and are running 6 to 10 feet high. They are widely spaced so it is not a jolting motion but more a rocking. Not smooth, not rough. Captain says it should be like this all the way.

I've titled this post from the date's itinerary label. The captain announced we're sailing in the Southern Ocean. We are definitely in the Bight which is a big bay that is part of depending on whose definition you follow, the Southern Ocean or the Indian Ocean. I'll let you Google it and decide.

It is Saturday so I treated myself with fried eggs, hash browns, bacon and an English Muffin this morning. Bonus was a bunch of giant grapes that I had to cut in half and core like tiny apples!

Before lunch we crossed paths in the distance with another cruise ship headed east. It was white with a dark blue funnel with something yellow on it. It was too distant to read it even with binoculars.

Tonight is formal night. We have a reservation at Umi Uma. We move the clocks back an hour tonight. Tonight is also Supper Club according to waiters and fellow passengers. This is new onboard Serenity since her fall rehab. Crystal has a lot of advertising and hype about it online and in the press, but not one official word about it onboard. We did not see anything online in our PCPC for booking our reservations before boarding. We've been on over a month before we heard anyone talking about it. We just assumed it wasn't up and running yet, but it seems too be running instead like a code-worded speakeasy. If you don't know someone or the right someone, it is a secret and you're not invited. That works for us as I have a firm policy against combining dining with entertainment and we wouldn't go anyway. It is just odd to me that Crystal would advertise it so heavily and then say not word one about booking it as available onboard or after you've booked and paid for your cruise. Anyway.

We went to the Hollywood Theater at 2:30 pm to watch the movie "Alpha". We enjoyed it even though it was subtitled, and the popcorn. The rocking calmed while we were in there. When we got back to the cabin we were out on the balcony in amazement. The clouds had filled the sky and the sea had darkened as well. Everything was in motion like rippling mercury! This is the smoothest, calmest Bight crossing we've ever had. Fingers crossed that it lasts.

Adelaide, South Australia

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We had smooth sailing from Kangaroo Island! We arrived in Adelaide on time. We are docked on the port side at the Outer Harbor. We had a musical welcome from the terminal building for those on the port side. We had to smile when we heard/saw it as we exited Serenity as we remembered it from 2006.

Crystal ran a complimentary shuttle to Rundle Mall at King William St., a convenient location. It ran from 9 am to 5:30 pm at the top and bottom of the hour. The ride took from 45 to 55 minutes. Traffic is heavy. There is a train station right across from the cruise terminal building and as we were near the train station in town we planned to pay to ride it back. When we got there though we only had 1 minute for departure and the next shuttle would leave before the next train. We walked on to arrive at the shuttle queue a couple of minutes before the next shuttle back at 3:30 pm.

We had only one thing planned to do here today. Ride Segways. We had spent time in Adelaide before on 2 previous trips and wanted to do something different. We booked a 1 pm Adelaide Riverbank Segway Tour with Segway Sensation online months ago. It was $201.76 AUD for the 2 of us for a 1 hour tour. We can highly recommend them. They had a well planned and executed tour that was safe and enjoyable. It was the first time we'd spent any real time along the River Torrens and it is a delightful and beautiful area of Adelaide. There is a lot of construction going on along there that was new since 2017. The very expensive and overdue Royal Adelaide Hospital had completed construction and opened since our 2017 visit.

We were on the 2nd shuttle in to town at 9:30 am. We wandered the Rundle Mall for a few blocks and shopped some in Woolworth's before heading toward the riverfront. We arrived at Regattas for a pizza right at 11:30 am as they opened. It was $21 AUD for a NY Pepperoni pizza that was the perfect size to share. We walked next door to Sage Deli (same website and ownership as Regattas) for some dessert. We found what looked like a scoop counter filled with small jars of Gelista gelato. We each had one and they were good.

After the Segway tour, we just walked back and returned on the shuttle to the ship. We were gone from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm. We read the Waterside menu when we got back and quickly made a reservation for Silk tonight.

We move the clocks back another 1/2 hour tonight. The next 2 days we cruise across the Great Australian Bight. Fingers crossed for calm seas. If we get them, it'll be a first for us. We've crossed twice before, once in each direction and it was bad each time. We'll see tomorrow. We are supposed to sail at 9 pm tonight and I expect we'll be asleep by the time we reach open water.


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Kangaroo Island, South Australia

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So we arrived off Kangaroo Island at our anchorage about an hour early closer to 6 am than the 7 am scheduled and certainly earlier than the 8am that the Destinations update had advised. That was good news I suppose as it meant the seas had calmed. Oddly we could see the coast of Australia out the balcony all afternoon yesterday. I guess it wasn't until we reached the lee of Kangaroo Island that things calmed down.

Anyway, we had a beautiful day today. We left Serenity about 10 am. The ship was cleared and tenders started running while we were at Marketplace for breakfast around 8 am. It reached a high of about 75 F today and was sunny all day. The tender ride was only about 10 minutes and pretty smooth. We were off Penneshaw and tendered in by the ferry terminal. There is a nice crescent shaped beach right there. The fairy penguins have apparently returned since our 2017 visit. They say they have about 15 nesting pairs now, but in February they are at sea all day. So you still can't see them on a cruise stop. The locals set up a craft/souvenir market again on the Oval. We saw Frenchman's Rock from the ship. We had read online that the actual rock is now housed in the Visitors Center so we went there instead of the spot under the dome at the far end of the beach. We did find the actual rock. It was the furthest that we walked a few blocks out of the center of Penneshaw. We had a light lunch at the Fat Beagle, other than the food truck at the Oval and a hotel that was the only place we found open and serving lunch. Clay had a hot dog and I had a toasted bagel with cream cheese. We each had a soda. For dessert, we walked over to the IGA where I had a Malteaser Easter Bunny and Clay had an ice cream bar. We sat and watched in fascination as the ferry unloaded and loaded while we waited for our 1:45 pm tour to load the buses at 2pm. We got back at close to 6:15 pm so we didn't lose much. Pasted below is our tour description. We paid $149 each for it.

PENNINGTON BAY & SEAL BAY CONSERVATION PARK

Surf’s up for both people and animals as you watch surfers hang ten at Pennington Bay and observe seals frolic in the water, perhaps catching a wave themselves at Seal Bay Conservation Park, home to a colony of endangered Australian sea lions.

DURATION

4½ HOURS

From the pier, travel to Pennington Bay, a favorite surfer’s beach, for a chance to soak up the scenery and watch the locals in action.

Then continue to Seal Bay Conservation Park, a protected sanctuary for a colony of endangered Australian sea lions. An expert naturalist will guide you along a 2,624-foot boardwalk that cuts through the limestone cliffs and sand dunes to reach viewing platforms offering close-up looks at these incredible marine mammals. Keep an eye out for giant bull seals sunning themselves on the beach or adorable pups barking while at play. You may even see these agile animals surfing the waves for a little free-spirited fun. Surrounding the beach is some of Kangaroo Island’s most majestic scenery, a stunning landscape of seaside cliffs, rolling surf and jagged rock formations.

Feeling a lift in your spirit after watching these fascinating creatures in their natural habitat, return to your Crystal ship.

Guests must be a minimum of 9 years of age in order to participate. As this excursion involves walking along a 2,624-foot boardwalk and over unpaved surfaces, it is not recommended for guests with walking difficulties. It is recommended that guests dress in casual clothing and wear a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, and flat, comfortable shoes. Guests should also bring along a light jacket or sweater. This excursion will operate in all weather conditions. Guests are advised not to get too close to the seals. Wildlife sightings are not guaranteed. Some crowding may be expected at the park’s Visitor Center. The order and duration of sights may vary. Pre-reservation of this Crystal Adventures excursion is recommended.

It was at least an hour drive to Seal Bay to see the sea lions. We were glad we went as last visit here we stayed on the Dudley Peninsula and this covered a different direction. Plus it was cool to watch the sea lions. We didn't see more than 1 distant live kangaroo this visit but must have seen over a dozen roadkill kangaroos. We had an hour at Seal Bay and on the way back to Penneshaw we had a 20 minute photo stop at Pennington where there were no surfers or any locals. It was a dramatic locale though and a big difference from the beach where we tendered.

It was a good day and a relief to be on solid land after the rolling and pitching of the previous 24 hours. The captain announced about 6:30pm that we'd sail about 7pm and the weather forecast was very much improved for sailing. He promised less than 6 foot seas overnight and an ontime arrival at Adelaide's Outer Harbor of 9am tomorrow.

Happy Valentines! Dinner was good tonight in Waterside. Dessert was a big disappointment given it is Valentines. They gave every woman a long stemmed red rose. Since we walked out without having dessert after a single main course they just about missed me and caught me crossing the threshold on my way out. We went up to the Bistro for some chocolate for me and some cheese for Clay.

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Cruising the Bass Strait

Today has been a bad day. It started about 11:55 pm when we left the leeward side of Tasmania and turned west into the Bass Strait. Presumably we missed much worse conditions when we rerouted and backtracked. I'd really have hated worse conditions! The captain and BOM Australia say we've been in 12 to 18 foot seas so I guess it hasn't been as bad as we were warned. The captain has never said that we can maintain our arrival schedule at Kangaroo Island. That is fine with us as we've been there in 2017 but I believe he'll make it there whether as early as 8am or not I don't know. We are on a ship's tour that starts at 12:45 pm so again we're not too worried. I am worried about tendering to Kangaroo Island unless the port at Penneshaw is more protected than I recall. We'll see.

Clay was up first and walked on the treadmill. The Promenade deck has been closed. It has been cold, windy and everything wet with sea spray. I made it to breakfast at Marketplace and waited in Palm Court til after 9am before returning to the cabin and giving up the struggle to maintain footing. Clay went to Trident Grill to bring me a toasted cheese sandwich with chips. Earlier at Bistro he snagged me a Portuguese tart. To keep it a bad day, I chipped a corner off a lower front tooth eating one of the Giant Freckles candies we bought in Richmond the other day. It doesn't hurt it just really bothers me. Clay says he has done this to more than 1 of his lower teeth and our dentist has quickly and easily repaired them so we'll hope I have the same luck when we get home.

We watched a movie on TV, we used computers, read and I did needlepoint. The ship had another galley tour at 4:30 pm that we skipped repeating. We have reservations at Umi Uma tonight. I have already had 4 meclizine and they are 1 a day pills! We'll hope I make it as it is one of my favorite meals onboard and we get a limited number of visits and I'd hate to waste one.

We made it to dinner but it is really rough and by now we both have headaches. We got a written and phone message from Destinations Services that our 12:45 pm tour is now scheduled for 1:45 pm due to our expected 1 hour delayed arrival. Our tour was supposed to be 4.5 hours and this tour also goes out in the morning. So, presumably our departure is pushed back to finish the morning tour. There was no word if Serenity will depart an hour late to give the afternoon tours their full time.

In good news, tonight we got gifts! First was a sweethearts valentine from our Signature Network hosts. That was a sweet gesture. After dinner we found a eucalyptus & lavender stuffed koala bear. Cute and not too smelly!

More tomorrow.

Hobart, Day 2

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We slept well at dock last night. Today is a completely different day in Hobart! The rain and wind swept in over Mt. Wellington between 8 and 9 am. The temperature is dropping  by about 10 degrees from sunrise to noon. We made a decision to not venture ashore again in the blowing rain. We spent the morning on the starboard side of the ship watching the last of the wooden ships trickle out of port for home. We watched as they dismantled the extra docks and floated them away. I know they were happy today's weather held off for their regatta yesterday. We are hopeful that the weather doesn't have a negative impact on us sailing towards Kangaroo Island at 1pm. The rain is predicted to stop in Hobart by 2pm. So, fingers crossed.

I believe when we sail away, we'll head west around the windward side of Tasmania. That is the direction that would be shortest to our next port, Kangaroo Island. Tomorrow's schedule is labeled Cruising the Bass Strait. We'd have no need to be in the strait, but as going south to get here, sailing north we'd have to cross the mouth and current of the strait. That being the case, I used the morning in a still ship to do my yoga routine. I don't remember if I said before but years ago, I bought some yoga DVDS. My favorite turned out to be Suzanne Deason's Yoga Conditioning for Weight Loss. I can't use a DVD on most trips, but Clay gifted me audio recording my workout onto a tiny MP3 player. With a 4-four square of open floor I can workout almost anywhere.

We have no restaurant reservations today. Plans are for lunch at Marketplace and dinner at Waterside. We plan to attend tonight's Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle at 5:15pm tonight. Hopefully the seas will be calm enough that I'll feel comfortable doing that. They must have had a small guest list as it is being held in Pulse Nightclub. I am sure I haven't been in every public space onboard, but that is where they hold Magic Castle at Sea with a maximum crowd of less than 20 people in there. We'll see.

I will post this now in the hopes of a quiet day and evening.

I'm back. The captain gave an update as we prepare to cast off. He warned us that he was rerouting and instead of traveling north up Tasmania's east coast (the most direct route) that to avoid 20 - 30 foot swells the entire sail to Kangaroo Island that he would backtrack our route along the leeward or west coast of Tasmania. He advised we'd be in 4 to 18 foot swells until we reached the shelter of the island. He said when we got back to the Bass Strait about noon tomorrow that we'd be in for probably 30 foot swell all the way to Kangaroo. He thought for some reason we'd feel it less because he thought they'd be hitting from the side. He said he'd update us again tomorrow morning and to be careful this afternoon and early evening as moving about the ship. Stay tuned...

While we were out at lunch, someone came in our cabin and removed our balcony chairs' cushions and stacked them inside the balcony door. They never did that before! Now I'm really worried. It promises to be a long sail to Kangaroo Island.

At almost 5pm, the seas are not that bad and we are in open ocean, so fingers crossed. It is time to change clothes and go to Pulse for the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle and then dinner. Tonight we move the clocks back a half hour! This is our 3rd time crossing the south coast of Australia and neither of us had any recollection of fractional hour time zones but there you are.


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Hobart, Tasmania

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The seas did finally calm down, but it was well after 6pm last night hbefore it happened. It may have been after dark!

I was up first this morning at 6:11am. I could see light around the curtains. We didn't have to be up early but I got up anyway. I caught an amazing sunrise for my trouble. We were facing west and the sunset last night. This morning we are facing east! We were already heading up the Derwent River to Hobart. There was another cruise ship sailing in front of us. It was the Azamara Quest, one of the old R ships.

It turned out that we arrived for the final day of the Royal Hobart Regatta. That made today a public holiday. Our guide this morning also pointed out that there was a wooden boats show/festival on the waterfront surrounding our dock that ended at 3pm today. At 4pm, she advised they would have a sailout parade that would come right past our starboard side as we're docked port side. (We spun around a bit in Sydney Harbor, but only the bridge and port side ever got a view of the bridge and Opera House. On the starboard side, we had the rest of the bay and mostly Taronga Zoo.) So, we had a plan for the afternoon. Lucky timing and good information.

We booked a 9:15 am half day tour today. We had explored Hobart proper last time we were here and wanted to get out of town. Our tour description is pasted below. We paid $99 each for it.

EXCURSION

TASMANIA’S HERITAGE & WILDLIFE

On this excursion, discover unique Australian wildlife and Richmond, a town virtually unchanged since its founding approximately 120 years ago. 

DURATION

APPROXIMATELY 4 HOURS

Departing the pier in your motor coach, head to BonorongWildlife Park, where you can get close to adorable koalas and herbivorous wombats, and view a ferocious Tasmanian devil. A knowledgeable park ranger will provide information about the many unique animals you will see.

Back aboard your motor coach, cross over Bowen Bridge and journey through Risdon Cove, the site of Tasmania’s first settlement in 1803. Continuing on, traverse Australia’s oldest bridge, built in 1825, as you enter the historic village of Richmond. Here, many of the landmark buildings were constructed by convict labor under appallingly harsh conditions.

Time has been allotted for you to explore historic Richmond on your own. Enjoy strolling along its promenade of charming stores, quaint tea houses and unique craft shops. At an added expense, you will have the option of visiting the nearby Convict Gaol, a prison complex built in 1825 to house local Aborigines and road gangs. Pass by St. John’s, a 19th-century Roman Catholic church that represents the devout beliefs of early settlers.

Conclude this excursion with a scenic drive to Hobart en route to your Crystal ship.

Important Notes

As this excursion involves extensive walking, it is not recommended for guests with walking difficulties. It is recommended that guests dress in casual clothing, hat, sunglasses and sunscreen, as well as wear flat, comfortable shoes. The order of sights visited may vary. Admission to the Convict Gaol is not included. The order of sights visited may vary. This excursion will operate in all weather conditions.

We enjoyed the tour and it met our needs. As Clay said, fortunately we'd already seen all those Australian animals. We did get to see quolls which I can't ever remember seeing before contrary to Clay's thought. The sanctuary had a hospital and our first look at a quoll was a young one being sedated with a gas mask before being hand carried through the necropsy room into x-ray. Interesting. Also not for the first time, we got to see a Tasmanian Devil being fed. For the first time, it was a devil eating a toad or frog. Once he got it, he chomped it and it squirted! Memorable. Clay had walked away right before it happened to take photos and missed it all, he'd have had a perfect vantage if he'd stayed put. Not something we needed photos of anyway.

We got back to Hobart around 1:30 pm. Clay had a place on the waterfront picked out for having Hobart oysters. They are supposed to be famous for farming oysters in the Derwent River estuary system. His place was Murres something but when we got there they didn't have the pizza on the menu that they'd had online. It turned out they had an oyster bar, Pearl + Co. that had pulled pork sliders for me. Plus they were in a quiet corner with table service which Clay's pick didn't have. I think it was so crazy in there because of the boat festival. It was good and we filled up even if Clay spent more than he'd planned.

After lunch we wasted a 2nd 45 minutes walking around the harbor to shop for yarn at Salamanca Place. I tried this the last time we were here and I guess I forgot that it was just a fruitless waste of time and energy. I'm not likely to return to Hobart but here's hoping if I do that I'll remember not to go to Salamanca Place again.

We got back to Serenity to set up on the balcony to view the wooden boats sailout parade. We had the best seats in Hobart. It lasted about an hour. It finally rained after flirting with clouds over Mt. Wellington all day. We got a spectacular rainbow as the last of the big masted ships was coming back into dock.

We still have no plans for tomorrow. We had thought to do laundry, but as Waterside was nearly empty tonight Clay suggested we do it tonight. We checked and 3 of the 5 washers on deck 9 were empty. So laundry is done. I should say that Crystal has excellent laundry facility and they're complimentary including detergent and dryer sheets. I should also say that we each packed enough to go 3 weeks between doing wash, but we don't have space to set up a laundry hamper that holds more than about 7 days. Also the machines are little and that laundry hamper filled really stuffs 2 machines.

We'll see. All aboard is 12:30pm tomorrow. I don't know why we have an overnight here in Hobart but it is nice to be docked.

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Cruising and Crossing the Bass Strait

It is a rough riding Sunday morning! Clay pointed out that this is the first Sunday since we started the trip that we have not been ashore. It got very rough late last night and we were happy to be in bed when things started falling and slamming. We were still in sight of the coast of Australia off our starboard side until after breakfast. Around 9am, as the captain made his announcements, we could see the coast fade to cut west as we continued south. We could also see the big white tops of waves on the horizon as we started across the current of the Bass Strait losing the protection we'd had from the continent. It is much colder today at 59 F this morning. We've been surrounded by rainbows though! The captain says we are in hurricane force winds with the speed of the ship combined with the headwinds. He continues to maintain the waves are topping out at about 10 feet but they look taller to us than what we've observed when he said 10 feet before. He forecasts that about 6pm when we reach the lee of Tasmania that it should be much calmer. He says the forecast high for Hobart tomorrow is close to 70 F but the website Clay checked was close to 80 F. In any event, it won't be the near 90 F of Sydney.

This is supposed to be a live view from Serenity's onboard cams.  Scroll down & click live view! It isn't moving video like we see onboard but I guess that doesn't mean it isn't a current still view.

We got an invitation to the Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle for the evening of the 12th. We didn't get one last segment even though I was registered. I know I was registered because I got an email from Cruise Critic about it before we boarded and after they thought we were home. I don't know where that went wrong. They got it right this time. It is for 5:15pm on the day we depart Hobart at 1pm. That next day is described as Cruising the Bass Strait. Looking at a map cruising the Bass Strait is not the shortest distance to get from Hobart to Kangaroo Island. I guess sea conditions will determine our attendance.

Clay says I have to report that the first waiter onboard who I had a conversation with was working in the Marketplace section we usually sit in today. He greeted us and as he pulled a chair out for me complimented my nice new haircut. I had to laugh. I pointed at Clay and told him, Clay'd cut it for me and I'd cut his. He very politely told us he'd noticed the haircuts and wouldn't have known we had given us other haircuts unless I'd said so.

Today the shops announced they'd have Australian souvenirs on sale at 10am. We went down about 10:45 am and were sorely disappointed. Also unadvertised, about half the products were from New Zealand. We went by Destinations hoping for the latest Hobart port handout but the rack was empty. Not out yet or all gone?  We staggered back to the cabin where Clay opened his NZ box of Manuka Honey Creme chocolates. Quite good! After my mid-morning shops foray, I was not feeling up to braving deck 12 for lunch and didn't need the wait-staffed deck 5 Waterside ordeal. I asked Clay if he'd minded bringing me a grilled cheese sandwich & chips from Trident Grill. He left immediately as they are open at 11:30 am. I thought he'd eat there and bring my sandwich down after, but he brought a plate with mine plus a burger for him. Our cabin fridge is stocked with water, Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke and Heineken, so drinks were covered. It was a perfect lunch.

The movie "Lady Bird" is in Hollywood Theater at 2:30pm if we can stand the seas. Oops. We'd already seen it, so nix that. We didn't care for Waterside's menu and made reservations for Silk tonight.

I expect no other news today, so I'll post this now.

Sydney

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Today was hotter and sunnier than yesterday. I had no energy for it. I don't know if I'm just too old or if it is part of PD's loss of body temperature regulation but I can't cope in the heat these days. So, also we both had a lack of enthusiasm as we've done everything in and around Sydney that we ever thought to do. There were a lot of signs out during our walk yesterday regarding Chinese New Year or as they were calling it Lunar New Year. This would be a good place to comment on the societal sea change that has taken place in both New Zealand and Australia since our time here in 2017. Then there we heard a lot of angry and fearful rants about an invasion of Asians and their wealth and the detriment on the locals. This time around they are embracing the Asian influx and the change in direction it is exerting from a British colonial heritage to stepping into their places in the Asian Pacific Rim. It has been rather an astounding change. Anyway, we thought we'd focus today on the Rocks since we hadn't spent anytime there since our 2006 visit. There was a Lunar Market scheduled all day after 10am today. Clay wanted to go early and leave early. I had promised him I'd do haircuts on the balcony this afternoon while we sat still in Sydney Harbor. We didn't leave as early as he'd wanted. Since today is Saturday, he wanted to eat breakfast ashore very early at Pancakes on the Rocks. I balked at that. First the last time we were in Adelaide, Australia we went to an ice cream on chocolate pancakes place for breakfast and it ruined me for the day. Also, his stated desire for the Lunar Street Markets was the dumpling tents. I thought overdoing breakfast would ruin the 10am or so start of Asian street food. We had a normal breakfast in Marketplace onboard.

We arrived right after the tents and stalls opened and walked for blocks. It was good. We shared some dumplings but didn't quite make a meal of it. On the walk back to the tender we stopped at Pancakes on the Rocks to finish any idea of lunch onboard. Clay had Thai Chicken Crepes that were very spicy. I had The Ultimate Crepes and Clay helped me finish them as his dessert. They were a perfect balance of flavors and Clay only wished for a 2nd scoop of ice cream, 1 scoop per crepe. I concurred.

We gave each other $90K haircuts in Sydney Harbor! Perhaps history's most scenic haircuts with clippers by amateurs. We got that operation in off the balcony shortly before the first of the afternoon rain storms arrived.

We set sail this evening at 6pm for a night and another day and night sail to reach Hobart. We will be there for a day and a half with an overnight docked there. That should be good. We only have a short excursion booked in Hobart. We would probably benefit from some extra research and planning for the use of our time there. We stayed in town and used public transportation last visit. We'll see. We have agreed to take a pass on MONA. We'll see if we can hold out against all the hype. If we wanted to go we should have gone last visit in 2017 when it was still free. Anyway. We may designate some of that time as laundry in case we run into rough sailing crossing the Bight later.

We have 6 pm reservations for Umi Uma tonight. That may be my favorite restaurant onboard. We sail at 6pm so I guess we won't expect much of a sailaway view or experience. Sailing into Sydney Harbor is world class though as you sail straight at what looks like solid sheer rock cliffs. Then through a gap and a sharp left turn and there you are. I guess not so dramatic leaving anyway.

Fingers crossed for smooth seas!

The captain came over the loudspeakers as we prepare to sail from Sydney to announce that when we re-enter the Tasman Sea heading south for Hobart, Tasmania that we'll encounter 10 foot swells and over 30 knot head winds. Combined with the fact that we need to average about 20 knots to arrive on schedule, we'll have some rough riding ahead. He advised everyone to hold on to something as we move about the ship. It at least stayed smooth until dinner was over. We had another excellent meal in Umi Uma tonight.

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A Night at the Sydney Opera House

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Check! We've probably spent at least a week of our lives in Sydney but had not experienced a performance at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House. Now we have. It was well worth the wait. I'm very happy it worked out this time. If we ever come back, SOH has a new free short outdoor show called Badu Gili. I'd like to see that but it didn't work out this time and it wasn't offered on our previous visits.

We left Serenity on the 2nd tender. Tenders were chartered Captain Cook Ferry HOHO ferries. They ran once every 20 minutes except between 2 and 6 am. They were fast and convenient. Carnival Spirit which had been docked by us day 1 in Auckland was dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal. Clearly that is the optimal visit location but the tender pier at Ives Steps on Dawes Point only added about 15 minutes walk maximum for us. So it wasn't terrible. A Ponant ship was at anchorage beyond our Athol Buoy location and they were tendering in their own lifeboats even further. Our actual tender ride only lasted about 7 minutes. We were very lucky in our timing as there were terrible thunderstorms last night that we managed to completely avoid! We arrived at the SOH about 5 to 5:30pm. There were a lot of tour groups still there and all the no-reservations places were crowded, noisy and hot. Clay came unhinged and just wanted to go back out in the blazing sun, heat, humidity and crowds and eat offsite. We walked back outside since he wouldn't hear otherwise but I convinced him to return and the clouds menaced the storm to come. The day crowds had already started to thin. Instead of the Lounge we had picked from online menus (since they didn't put a menu out until sometime well after their 5pm opening time) we went inside Bennelong Restaurant and Bar. I explained that we did not have a reservation but wondered if they could seat us. They first said in the bar and I said OK, then offered a restaurant table but it looked like more food and money that we wanted to spend so we took seats in the bar. There we overpaid and under-ate but enjoyed spectacular views. I suggested we share a $28 AUD slice of chocolate cake to keep our nice, cool and somewhat quiet stools in the bar, but Clay once again insisted on going back outside. This time due to the hour, we wound up exiting venue security. This time on a quest for a $15 AUD chocolate pudding. We found it at Opera Kitchen with a line at the counter to order, ear shattering noise both piped in and from the crowds and outdoor only seating that minutes later would be drenched in the storm. I balked and we went back upstairs and inside by the Lounge and shared a box of Malteasers and a bottle of water. Eventually I realized all the people going past us were going further that we'd been able to go when we first arrived. We got our tickets scanned and headed for our entry door 7. We arrived shortly after a pre-show talk explaining the program tonight had begun. It helped us put the performance in context. Our seats were great. The performance was amazing and the pieces performed were diverse. Below is pasted a description.
Sydney Symphony 2019 Season Opening Gala
Diana Doherty plays Westlake
Humanity’s place in nature is the transcendent theme of Richard Strauss's overpowering Thus Spake Zarathustra. A blazing sunrise begins a hero’s odyssey for ‘joy deeper than a heart’s pain’ in an opulent symphonic poem that takes inspiration from the philosopher Nietzsche and grapples with nothing less than the meaning of life and the nature of the universe.

The amazing Diana Doherty reprises her breathtaking performance of Nigel Westlake’s oboe concerto inspired by the Tasmanian wilderness. An evocative tour de force, Spirit of the Wild was composed especially for the ‘dynamic virtuosity’ of our Principal Oboe.

Percy Grainger’s warriors storm the hall with unstoppable energy, as bold men and women gather to dance and celebrate. Calling for an immense orchestra, The Warriors is a fierce and exultant Australian classic, brimming with life and colour.

PROGRAM 
R Strauss Thus Spake Zarathustra
Westlake Spirit of the Wild – Oboe Concerto
Grainger The Warriors


ARTIST INFORMATION
David Robertson Conductor
Diana Doherty Oboe

Presented by Sydney Symphony Orchestra

By the time we left, it had stopped raining though there were still puddles. We arrived to witness a tender departing which meant we had a maximum wait. It was fine. We were dry and it had cooled off some after 10pm. A fairly large group arrived shortly after us that had all been to La Boheme at SOH. Evidently they enjoyed their performance as well.

It was after 11pm before we got back aboard Serenity and to bed. Amazingly we saw a bunch of restaurant waitstaff leave the tender ashore as we waited. They had a really late night and an early start this morning.

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Cruising the Tasman Sea, Day Three

Sometime yesterday afternoon, sea and winds changed. We are being rattled side to side! Where we couldn't see swells from our balcony the first day and a half, this morning we can see them rolling in and hitting on the starboard side. The good news is that we are expected to enter Sydney's protected harbor around 1 to 1:15 pm so the end is in sight. The bad news according to the captain is the leased ferry/tender operation they are required to use from our Athol Buoy anchorage will not run if wind speed exceeds 15 knots. The wind out here is definitely higher than that. I've checked a couple of sailing conditions websites and it looks like we should be OK today but tomorrow afternoon is looking iffy. I don't know what Crystal does if passengers are stuck ashore due to wind at sailaway time!

We missed the rest of the captain's announcement today as we were at the destinations desk and it wasn't audible there. This morning we had mail at our door, it was a 2nd announcement about our pre-booked Kangaroo Island full day Tastes of Kangaroo Islands. Earlier we'd been informed about tour stops substitutions and wine tasting cancellation. Today's announcement was that lunch was moved to a Mercure hotel and we needed to order lunch from the attached menu by the 10th. The 3 choices on the entree menu were roast lamb, confit of pork belly in XO sauce or fish. That was the final straw for me on a $299 pp tour. We canceled. We tried to substitute the half day Tastes tour without lunch for $159 pp but it was waitlisted. We booked the Pennington Bay & Seal Colony tour in the afternoon at $149 pp instead.

So tonight we have special plans and hope the winds are in our favor. On New Year's Day while in Florida, we booked Sydney Opera House Symphony Orchestra tickets. It is the gala season opening night. We hope they don't dress too formally for that because we have a long trek to get there and won't be dressed up. We paid $138.50 AUD for the 2 of us. When they emailed us our tickets today we also got notification to leave bags at home for security purposes. That was unexpected. We were easily able to print the emailed tickets in the CU@Seas onboard on deck 7. Pasted below is tonight's performance description.

Sydney Symphony 2019 Season Opening Gala
Diana Doherty plays Westlake
Make a stellar start to 2019 with the Sydney Symphony. This performance features Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra - an unforgettable musical odyssey used for the theme in 2001: A Space Odyssey; Diana Doherty then shines in Westlake’s oboe concerto Spirit of the Wild.
In the Concert Hall, our largest venue.

We are going to be anchored at Athol Buoy near Taronga Zoo. We will be tendered/ferried across the bay and past the Opera House to dock at St. Ives Steps at Dawes Point which is on the far side of the Sydney Harbor bridge. Google Maps says it is about a 5 minute walk to the Park Hyatt Sydney near the Rocks which is the only place they are offering a disabled only complimentary shuttle. I have to assume that is because of an available taxi rank. It would take as long or longer to drive or take public transit to the Opera House as to walk because you can walk more directly I think. So, fingers crossed we'll make it. We plan to leave Serenity ASAP and walk and have a light dinner at one of the no reservations required venues at the Opera House before getting in the 7:30pm security line for the 8pm show.

Since it will be quite late when we get back tonight, I'll post this now. If I have anything to report after this afternoon, I'll type it up and post it tomorrow.

Cruising the Tasman Sea, Day Two

Clay was up very early again today for his deck walk. He woke me just before 7am. Seas are a bit rougher today at 6 to 8 feet. There was a new style all oat granola at Marketplace after 8am along with the 2 with dried fruits. I like all oats and I hope we keep it.

This morning 10:30am to 11 am needlepoint kits were handed out to those who lined up. I was early by at least 15 minutes and was about 30th in line. I left with my half-specs kit before 10:30 am and there were fewer than a dozen people in line. I guess they still had to stay there until 11 am. It wasn't the line up of the last cruise though.

We had Magic Castle at Sea tickets for this afternoon's first show. For reasons that remain unknown, Clay took the tickets off the wall and put them in his pocket after lunch. I asked him to confirm the time on them several times. For whatever reason, we both thought it was 3:30 pm. Clay never took the tickets out of his pocket when I asked him the time. We got to Pulse at 3:15 pm and no one was there because the show started at 3pm. We missed it and the 2:30 pm movie I had wanted to see.

We must have adjusted course slightly to the south because our balcony is getting too much sun to spend a lot of time out there for me anyway. Clay has tanned or is as he's already burned & peeled. He's out there a lot today anyway.

It is casual tonight. We'll be going to Waterside for dinner even though neither of us see anything on the menu that sounds good. The last thing on our agenda today if we can manage to remember it this time, is a cocktail party hosted by Signatures. Our booking TA is a member of Signature network. This WC is a Signature hosted cruise. We missed the first cocktail party they invited us to. So we'll see this time.

We move the clocks back another hour tonight to get to Sydney time. Sydney sail in should start tomorrow at 2pm or so for anchorage at 3 pm. We have Sydney Opera house symphony tickets for 8pm.

Cruising the Tasman Sea, Day One

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We had a beautiful sailaway last night sitting by the window on deck 12 at Silk. Silk had a new menu last night! The specialty restaurants have fixed menus so that was a surprise. We both ordered new dishes. My black pepper beef dish had been replaced by an XO sauce beef dish. It was good. BUT. When I asked the waiter what XO sauce is made from, he said condensed beef stock. I asked, No seafood then or fish? NO. When I Googled it later, I could not find a single recipe with dried shrimp and scallops! I guess it is good I don't have a shellfish allergy. Clay ordered a duck breast dish that replaced I don't know what. He said it was very good and quite spicy. Spicy has been hard to come by at Silk so he was pleasantly surprised.

Clay was up early and deck walking before sunrise. We hadn't cleared the coast of New Zealand when we finished breakfast. It was calm sailing all night until we turned west to go between the North Island and the Three Kings. Breakfast started in Marketplace at 7:30 am and we didn't arrive until at least 8, so I was dismayed to find a blank spot where the granola should have been. I wound up with a spoonful for yogurt but not until closer to 8:30 am after I'd eaten a giant warm flaky chocolate croissant as consolation. I hope the granola situation is sorted out by tomorrow and I really hope we don't run out again!

Once we passed through that strait at the tip of New Zealand things smoothed out again. The captain said at 9am that the seas should remain at about 4-6 feet swells. That would be great since the Tasman Sea is famous for being rough. I think in the past we've mostly been lucky but have had some rough times too. Fingers crossed that it all goes like today. The captain said we are doing about 20 knots running 4 of 6 generators and need to maintain at least 19 to get to Sydney on schedule. He anticipates arriving by 3pm instead of 5pm on Friday. That would be good as we have Sydney Symphony Orchestra tickets for 8pm. We heard the captain's announcement in Palm Court today as most days. The new yoga teacher is onboard and teaching a wildly more aggressive yoga than the Kitas. She also did not enforce quiet during the captain's announcement as the Kitas have in the past. He was barely audible over the yoga students conversing over him. This seems to happen more often than not in all public spaces onboard. It is especially concerning as Crystal has a no announcements policy meaning they only do make announcements to convey crucial information.

Today everyone on board Serenity had to clear Australian Border Force inspection personally. They started calling us by assigned groups at 9am. We were in group 10 and did not get called until after 10:30am. The last group I heard called at noon was 15. I don't know if that was the end or they Border agents broke for lunch. (It must have been the end as I never heard anymore announced.) We got to hold our passports as we passed through Galaxy Lounge and through the face to face inspection. Not a single stamp! Kudos on a job well done to Crystal for the day last segment when they had us each go through landing cards for the entire voyage. Our completed and signed Australian landing cards were handed to us with our passports as we entered the port side of the theater and we turned them back in as we exited to starboard side. Australian Border Force only scanned our passports, presumably to verify our ETA, and compared our photos to our faces. Easy.

Tonight is formal night. We have a reservation at Prego which has also had some menu changes. I think less change than at Silk and I don't think the changes will effect us.

We spent the day mostly in the cabin, online, reading or doing needlepoint. It has been chilly today so Clay hasn't spent much time on the balcony. Correction: we spent a good portion of the afternoon out on our starboard facing balcony. It was a beautiful blue world out.  We are headed about due west so the sun is not shining on us! We spotted leaping dolphins in the distance traveling away from us. We saw some kind of big albatross flying toward us. I am not good enough at identifying birds but I Googled and any one of several species of albatross that inhabit the Tasman Sea could have been it.

We got back from dinner to find Bob on the bed. Mind you Bob has been relocating about the cabin every morning and evening while we're out so that wasn't too surprising. But tonight Bob was on the bed and Bob isn't really allowed on the bed. We gave Bob a pass because he was guarding gifts. Crystal gave us WC 2019 logoed gifts of a golden lapel pin for Clay and a thin silver bangle bracelet with a charm and a promise of 3 more charms for each segment for me. We still think it is funny that our cabin stewardess figured out where Bob sleeps and that he likes to look out the balcony when the curtains are open and that she took it upon herself to help Bob out.

We moved the clocks back an hour tonight so we get extra sleep before arriving in Sydney in 2 days!

An excellent sea day.

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Auckland, Day 2

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Today starts segment 2 of Crystal Serenity's 2019 World Cruise. Since February 13, Serenity has sailed 6841 nautical miles equal to 7867 land miles. The 2nd segment is shorter and only lasts 15 days, about a week less than segment 1. It only has 6 sea days! Also only 2 formal nights. New passengers come on today. Serenity will hold a muster drill for them before 6pm sailing. According to Reflections In-transit guests are welcome to attend but it is not mandatory. I expect we'll skip it then and see what happens this time!

We plan to spend only about a half day out in Auckland today. We plan to walk down the waterfront to the Maritime Museum in time for their 10:30 am guided tour. After that we only plan to walk back a block or 2 past the ship to visit another fabric store. Lunch is TBD. We have reservations to book in the afternoon. We learned at the library yesterday morning from a new librarian that we can keep books checked out over transition days and only have to check in as needed or 24 hours before the end of our cruise and not each cruise segment as I was told when I checked out my first book. Good news.

So we left around 9:45am and got back a little after 1pm. We went to the NZ Maritime Museum first and joined the 10:30am guided tour. We were charged the Senior fare of $17 NZD each. We spent just over an hour there. Leaving we were in agreement that after one or two maritime museums it is all the same. So this was probably one too many for us. We had another Hokey Pokey ice cream cone each after the museum as we walked to New Zealand Fabrics & Yarn.  Packed in a smaller space than yesterday's shop, the selection may have been greater but the prices were about double! That was a wasted walk! Back onboard, we ate at Trident Grill as it was late and I had seen a food kiosk selling toasties so I wanted a grilled cheese. After lunch, we went to Prego to make specialty restaurant reservations. We didn't get what we wanted but there was a restless and unruly bunch waiting behind us so we'll just have to try to make adjustments later. 

We walked out this morning behind the Magic Castle magician we'd see shortly after departing LA. Today Reflections says we can book Magic Castle for this segment after 3pm so there must be a new magician coming onboard.

We sail at 6 pm and we have Silk reservations at 6 pm too.

I'll go ahead and post this now.

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Auckland, Day 1

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We had some rather rough sailing overnight, but the good news is we didn't have far to travel. We were in Auckland Harbor before we walk up and had to walk around. Clay was up first and was on his deck walk when the Auckland skyline came into view. We were docking at Queens Wharf by the time I got dressed and to breakfast. It was brilliant blue skies and sunshine here today. The high was supposed to be around 76F but it felt hotter in the sun and cooler in the shade with the constant breeze around the water. Carnival Spirit was already docked near by when we arrived. It left about 6pm.

We had breakfast at Marketplace and an early lunch at Trident Grill. We walked about 6 minutes to the Downtown Ferry Terminal right next door. We paid cash of $14 per person for a round-trip ticket. You had to keep up with your ticket because they scanned them at the Downtown Terminal on departure and return. The ferry between Auckland and Devonport takes about 12 minutes and runs on the top and bottom of the hour. We went over to Devonport on the 12:30pm ferry and came back to Auckland on the 5pm ferry. We were going to Devonport because we had booked a Segway tour. Clay also had eaten the last of his Hawaiian chocolates and had number 1 on his to do list a visit to Devonport Chocolates. I wanted to visit a fabric store we'd found on a map online while searching for a place to eat. We never did come up with a place to eat in Devonport that we could agree on but found the chocolates and sewing store. We wound up headed to the fabric shop first. We had a lot of time before our 3:30 pm tour so we popped in a lot of other shops. We had Tip Top Hokey Pokey ice cream cones as our first purchase. Second purchase was another, different kiwi cross stitch bookmark for Mom to stitch. Our last shop was the chocolates to avoid meltage.

The Segway tour was good. Our guide James was described as a new hire but he did a good job. He'd lived in Devonport most if not all his life so he knew his way around. It also turned out that it was only Clay and I on the tour so it was a private, guided Segway tour. James took photos of us both, me alone and Clay alone. We had signed a photo release when we signed our liability waivers. We broke our No Photos policy! We had a good tour and saw some spectacular views as well as some beautiful historic homes. Highly recommend.

We went to the Albert Street Asian Food Alley for dinner.  It reminds us of Singapore's Hawker centres. We ate several good and affordable meals here in 2017 when we stayed across the street at Stamford Plaza Hotel. The street is still a major construction zone! Tonight we had Indian because our favorite bao bun stall was gone! We were doubly disappointed because Serenity's Silk has the worst bao buns ever! We paid $16 NZD for dinner by sharing an order of butter chicken (which was strangely sweet) with steamed rice and an enormous naan. We paid another $2 NZD to share a Coke Zero. It was all good and just the right amount of food. We stopped at a gelato place and had 2 cones of honeycomb for $13 NZD. It was our most expensive ice cream and we won't be back. I don't know the name but it was right by the ferry terminal on the water. Location, location.

We came back to Queens Wharf as the buses were loading for what they screeners called dinner at the Auckland Military Museum. As the buses were leaving is the first time we had seen or heard where they were busing WCers for the 1st shore side special event. First we heard about food other than canapes with cocktails. The last written notice we got onboard advised participants to get something to eat before boarding the buses and that a late buffet would be available in Marketplace upon return to Serenity.

We had to use our keycards and drivers licenses to get back aboard. This is because Serenity still has our passports, number 1. Also, new for us this year is the extra security leaving a cruise terminal to get on a ship, port authorities matching your face, photo ID and keycard ID. They have warned us it would happen at every port, but it has happened about half the time. That wasn't happening ashore last time we cruised.

More in Auckland tomorrow. My right foot was feeling better today until I blistered the side of my big right toe!

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