At Sea

No Opera House this morning – just water all around us with no land in sight.

With 1000 new passengers the ship has a totally different feel. Was I that bewildered when I first came on board QV in 2008? I think not – maybe it was because I had done my homework before boarding and had studied the deck plan very carefully. These people are wandering around the ship hopelessly lost. “Is this the Golden Lion?” they ask a waiter in the Commodore Club, “how much does lunch in the Lido cost?” they ask a waiter in the Chart Room, “we are on a world cruise, yes I know we just got on yesterday, so why can’t we use this lounge?” they ask a passenger in the World Cruise section of the Chart Room. Luckily they have not discovered the joy of the Commodore Club yet, and I was able to sit in my favourite window seat today even though we got there quite late. Alas, I think things will change once they have discovered the joy of sitting there looking out for whales, dolphins (we saw quite a few today), and watching the world go by.

We cruised by Wilson’s Promontory late this afternoon. This is the southernmost tip of the Australian mainland. It was foggy and hazy, so we really didn’t see that much, but the lighthouse at the tip was just visible. This area is a wild life refuge, and according to the Daily Programme we could see an abundance of wild life including southern right whales, killer whales, and penguins. We were out of luck, all we saw were some seagulls.

At dinner we found out that one of our tablemates, Rita, who is in her 80s, had a fancy manicure and got her ears pierced while in Auckland – good for her! It turns out that 2 of our other tablemates, Rod and Martin, are brothers and often travel together. I though that Martin may be a forensic scientist as he asks, in the nicest way, for all of the details of the food he is ordering. It turns out that he is the retired headmaster of a Catholic girls high school. I would never have guessed.

After dinner Deborah, Rod and Martin headed off for the quiz. It was Abba night again, this time in Hemispheres, so Brian and I decided to forgo the show and dance the night away. Well, it was most disappointing. There were very few people there, and most of the time only Brian and I were dancing. However, I had a good time, and I think Brian did too. It is so strange – some nights you can’t even get a seat on Abba night and the dance floor is packed, and on others there is hardly any one there. Maybe everyone was at the show or the Black and White Ball instead. Or maybe they are just not Abba fans. Could happen.