Monday, February 24^th, 2020

Darwin Day 1

It was really hot and humid when we headed ashore in Darwin. It was a very short walk to the air-conditioned cruise terminal. There was no ATM or wifi, but there were several souvenir shops selling jewelry, crocodile leather, and local Aboriginal crafts.

We caught the shuttle bus to the central business district which only took a few minutes. It is about a 20-minute walk, and there is a lift and sky bridge to help get you there.

I had wanted to do the jumping crocodiles tour, but my suggestion didn’t go down well, so I abandoned it.

We spent the morning walking around the CBD, and shopping. There are several souvenir stores, as well as nail and hair salons for those wishing to avoid the onboard spa prices. There is also free wifi – all very civilized.

Brian was looking for a new belt, and he found one at a great store called Cotton On. He also bought some sandals and sunglasses – not good quality but serviceable. And then I bought 2 sundresses, perfect for the pool,

I saw a lovely little handbag in one of the shops, but on closer inspection it cost $1,800. Even for Australian dollars that was very steep. When we walked past the shop later, it had gone. So had the larger one for $3,000 that also caught my eye.

Feeling happy with all of our purchases we sat down in the shade of a banyan tree to have a soft drink. It was really, really hot.

After a vain attempt at rehydration, we found a great Coles supermarket where we were able to stock up on supplies for the cabin and our soiree, and then we decided to escape the heat and head back to the ship for lunch.

After lunch we organized the cabin, and then went ashore again to explore the nearby waterfront area. There are several bars and restaurants, an ATM, as well as the inevitable souvenir shops.

There was a great little beach and swimming area, and we noticed that quite a few passengers from the ship had descended on the beach. It was a sea of brown Cunard swimming towels.

We stopped by one of the waterfront bars. When we were in Perth, Brian’s cousin had recommended that I try an Aperol Spritz, and this seemed like the right opportunity to do so,

It was very refreshing, but quite bitter in a Schweppes bitter lemon way. Anyway, it was cold and wet and went down very quickly. By the time I got back on the ship I was in desperate need for a nap. I was wishing that we weren’t expecting 12 unsuspecting friends to descend on our cabin in a few hours.

Luckily I awoke in time to help Brian out with the preparations. We had asked Michael, our steward, to get wine glasses for us, and to fill our ice buckets. Then we obtained cheese, crackers, olives, dried apricots, grapes, and nuts from the Kings Court, and we were good to go.

In Malta you can buy a really delicious snack called Twistees, and in Coles I had seen a snack called Twisties, so hoping they were similar I had purchased a bag to share with our guests. As it turned out, although not as good as the Maltese ones, they were quite acceptable.

We had thought that the best way to fit 14 people in to the cabin would be to utilize the balcony, so we moved the desk chair out there and put a cushion on the little table, so now we could accommodate at least 4 people in the fresh air. More could also be there, admiring the beautiful sunset and the lights of Darwin.

Well it was not to be. It was way too hot and humid to be outside, so there was no choice, 14 of us would be in the cabin.

It actually worked out quite well, and I think a good time was had by all. I do love having stateroom soirees – I mean it’s not quite the same as having a butler help you out with one in a Queens Grill suite, but it certainly is cozy.

After all of the guests left, and we had tidied up the cabin, we decided to head up to the Kings Court for dinner, having missed dinner in the dining room.

On returning to our cabin there was an invitation awaiting us. Could it be? Is it possible? Hope springs eternal………………No it wasn’t an invitation from Captain Hashmi, requesting that we accompany him for dinner, but it was an invitation from Girlie Muega, the Hotel Operations Manager, inviting us to join her for dinner on Thursday, February 27^th. Not exactly what I had dreamed of, but I’ll take it!