The Back Story

Thanks to all that have written me regarding my ailing knees. I want to set the record straight and give you the back story so you will not think I am just a whiner. I wrote the following paragraphs at the beginning of the cruise, but never published it. I didn't think I would have the problems I am having today. I just want you to know the circumstances. 

"The journey begins after a busy December full of company and lots of surprises. We decided to rent our desert condo out for the four months we are on the ship. That meant removing all of our personal stuff from the condo. After 11 years, I can tell you that we have accumulated A LOT OF STUFF!  We rented a storage unit and made many trips with a small car full of stuff.  Thankfully, we had our girls to help moving the stuff because I was incapacitated. 

Incapacitated, you ask.  During the first day of the Palm Springs bridge regional [December 9]....The first session was a good day for me and my partner. We won our section, scored points and felt like we were going to have a great tournament.  During the dinner break, we were going to dinner with a friend providing the taxi service. I was getting into the back seat behind the driver. I had my right foot in the car; the rest of me was standing outside the car waiting to get in. The driver thought I was in the car, and took off. With much yelling and screaming, I fell into a heap on the ground. My right leg was still in the car, while the left leg was pointed in a direction it it had never seen.  The paramedics were called in, against my protests, and I was transported to the ER where X-rays revealed massive swelling in the knee but no broken bones.  I managed to get an appointment with the ortho doc, who ordered an MRI. He called me with the results and said, "I can operate the day after tomorrow."  

With two weeks to departure, and since there was little chance of making the cruise without the surgery, I went ahead with it [December 19]."

So now you know that I continue to have problems as a result of the accident. The surgery enabled me to walk; but the ligaments and tendons have also been injured, and there were hairline fractures on the tibia. I have already scheduled a doctor appointment for when I get home.  In the meantime, I am getting some physical therapy on the ship, which is quite limited.  

I just pray that I can finish the trip for the next two months on a positive note.  I do thank you for your concern and words of encouragement. It means a lot to me. I may complain and whine, but true to my nature, I am like the energizer bunny ..... I kept going and going.  

Exmouth, Australia

The best laid plans often go awry.  I had planned to spend the day doing nothing, just lounging about as I was not going to go to shore.  I have been dealing with some depression due to the never ending pain in my left knee and leg, and my inability to do what I want to do.  I am feeling unappreciated by administration on the ship.  I am frustrated that I am told one thing, and then someone else tells me something different.  I feel like “the help.” 

 

The past week has been crazy with “Code Alphas.”  That means a medical emergency.  At least two more people were taken off the ship this week.  One in Bunbury and yesterday, while at sea, a rescue boat came alongside and took another one off.  This caused us to arrive late today.

 

Michael got ready early this morning because he was scheduled to escort an excursion.  Me on the other hand, was being lazy after a fitful night.  The phone rang and it was the Excursions Office calling and asking me at the last minute to escort an excursion I had requested but didn’t get, and that I needed to be at the loading area in 15 minutes.  I said no way could I get ready.  Then Michael came back into the room and convinced me to go.  So I called back and said I would go.  It is amazing how fast one can get ready when all you need to do is get dressed and brush your teeth.  No make-up, and I did comb my hair.  I forgot my watch. 

 

This is our last stop in Australia, and it was promising to be hot and a bit humid.  Again, here was this little Podunk town with a grand breakwater and new marina.  It was very impressive.  My group of 13 boarded a mini bus that had seen better days.  At least the air conditioning worked! There is not much here.  They are developing it as a winter resort, with lots of new vacation homes on canals that have a dock.  Inland, there are more resorts and “caravan” (RV) parks. 

 

Exmouth played an important role during World War II.  The Americans built a submarine base here.  The base is still here, but is now run by the Australians.  There are VLF (very low frequency) towers used for communications with submarines.  At its peak, there were a thousand Americans working here.  Today, the gas and oil industry, and mineral mining are the life blood of the economy.  The population of the area is only 2,500 people, but can swell to double that in season.

 

The landscape and sky is what I noticed.  This particular part of Australia is the northwestern most point of the continent.  The land was flat and covered with reddish brown gravel.  Very short scrub brush grew here.  There is nothing to see for miles and miles.  The sky is brilliant blue, with nothing to mar its beauty.  We spent one hour driving up and back on a rocky dirt road into the hills to a viewpoint.  It looked like a mini Grand Canyon (well, very mini anyways).  There are lots of caves in the limestone hills. 

 

I noticed that the windshield wipers on the bus hadn’t been used in a long time.  How do I know this?  The rubber was hanging off the blade in tatters!  It doesn’t get much rain here.  We drove back down the hill (which they call a mountain) and on the way to town, we spotted these emus just strolling across the road.  We then took a tour of the town, which lasted all of about five minutes.  They were doing a lot of construction and a great deal of the town looked relatively new.  The commentary from our guide was quite extensive and very animated.  Unfortunately, I could barely make out anything he said due to a heavy Aussie accent and a noisy bus. 

 

The beaches along the Ningaloo coast are where sea turtles come to nest.  We drove to the Jurabi turtle center and spent a few moments there reading the display panels. We then drove to the beach to see if there were any turtle babies heading out to sea.  No, not today.  They usually head for the sea early in the morning or in the evening.  I did see one nest.  We had about 30 minutes here and this was where we could go swimming.  I was one of the first ones in the water.  There was a sandy bottom and a few drop offs, but I got far enough out that I could bob about in the water without getting clobbered by a wave.  It was delicious and I could have bobbed around for a lot longer than 10 minutes, but that was all we had.  Bobbing around in the Indian Ocean was so delightful, but sitting in a wet suit with sand, not so much.

 

We then drove up to the lighthouse, and again saw another vista.  This is where I finally got a wild kangaroo sighting! Too bad I was on the wrong side of the bus to take a picture.  

As we drove back to the pier, we could see many termite hills that looked like statues. This area is known for these nests, and they can be up to ten feet high.

 

I was ready to go back to the ship at this point.  I was hot and tired, and I was looking forward to jumping in the pool to cool off.  I dropped my backpack off, and made a beeline for the pool.  I got in the water and wouldn’t you know it, the water was hot.  I could not cool off, so I got in the shower and just let the cool water run until I felt the cooling effect take place.  

I went back to my room because it was too hot to stay out on the pool deck/grill and have some lunch, and I couldn't go to the Colonnade because I was dripping wet.  I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich from room service. I told them use only two slices of bread, not three, and leave the crust on. They did that, but forgot to put more than a brief taste of cheese on it. Preparing American comfort food is a mystery to them. 

 

MICHAEL

 

Not too much to add here.  I escorted an excursion on a glass bottom boat to the Ningaloo reef.  It took about half an hour to get to the boat, and we passed most of the things Beverly has already written about.  Our boat was named Titanic; not such a good start.  And, our captain was a hippie, surfer dude who basically wanted to be done with the cruise so he could go surfing.  We saw a lot of beautiful, living coral and a few fish.  To be fair this really is not the best season to take this trip, but such is life.  The Ningaloo reef is the largest “fringe” reef in the world, measuring some 150 miles in length.  Fringe means it is right off the coast (a mile or less) while other, more famous reefs like the Great Barrier Reef, are as much as fifty miles off shore.

 

P.S.  Happiness is being caught up on the blog!

Geraldton, Australia

The people are great, the small towns not so. There's nothing here in these small towns; I don't know why we were here. This place is one of the windiest cities in the world and you think the wind would blow the flies away.  At least we did not have our alarm clock go off at 5 AM or 6 AM as we arrived at 10 AM.  

The ship dropped anchor and we tendered into shore.  We arrived at a very nice marina that had an incredible riprap breakwater.  The breakwater was made up of large stones and as one of the locals said, “there is no shortage of rocks around here.”  Many of the small towns we have visited here on Australia’s west coast have some mighty impressive breakwaters and docks.  They need them because they are on the Indian Ocean, which can get pretty fierce.

 

There was a large greeting committee and people playing music.  They had matching shirts and hats, easy to identify if the need arises for help.  We understood that they had some nice beaches, so we were ready with towels, suntan lotion, water and wearing our bathing suits.  We walked along a brand new waterfront, past the museum and a large residential building that had an open air restaurant on the ground level.  And we walked, and walked with another couple who KNEW where the swimming beach was.  I have learned from this experience to check the sources first and not just take someone’s word for it. 

 

We finally arrived at the beach and the wind was blowing pretty darn hard.  I had a hard time keeping my hat on.  The sand on the beach was whipping around.  Michael went to check on the water and came back saying it was cold.  If HE says it’s cold, then there is no way I’m even going near it.  So we trudged up to the street, hauling all our gear and neither one of us was happy about this.  We found the main street and I spotted a grocery cart.  I put all our junk in it and Michael said I looked like a bag lady and that he wouldn’t walk with me.  Hey buddy, YOU were complaining about having to carry all the junk and I found the solution. Besides, I have to nurse the knee.  He wouldn’t take my picture, but we ran into Lillian and she was more than happy too.  Anyway, she needed the practice.

 

We walked the main street (oh about 2 blocks) and by then I was fed up. The flies were driving me crazy, and I just wanted to go back to the ship.  The shuttle was sitting right there and I got on it, carrying EVERYTHING by myself. Michael wanted to explore the town, although there was nothing to explore.  I made it back to the ship, lugged the junk up the steps, into the elevator, and down the long way to the room.  I went up to the pool deck, but it was too windy there. Michael came back on the next tender as he found there was nothing to do.    

 

I spent the rest of the day doing ?????.  I can’t even remember so I guess I didn’t do anything important.  I think I fooled around with loading photos onto the computer.  Oh my, it’s just one day later and I can’t even remember. The days on these non-descript ports makes one seem just like the other.   

 

Fremantle/Perth

FREMANTLE

 

Wow wee!  I could actually live here.  Fremantle is the port city that services Western Australia and Perth, its capital.  Perth is about 15 miles up the Swan River.  We spent two days here and really got to see quite a bit of both cities. 

 

Fremantle is not only a cargo and cruise ship port, but it is home to many marinas filled with assorted types of pleasure craft.  It is also a seaside resort, although people commute to Perth for work via a super fast train that runs every 20 minutes and only takes about 25 minutes. 

 

This beautiful coast port city was established in 1829 as a port for the Swan River Colony, and is located on the Indian Ocean.  Captain Fremantle claimed the entire west coast of Australia for Britain.  The settlers found the soil to be very sandy, thus they moved inland to find better soil in which to grow crops.

 

In 1850, much to the anger of the settlers, Fremantle became a penal colony.  The prisoners were all men who were close to finishing their prison sentences and were, therefore, considered to be controllable.  They built much of old Fremantle, which is still standing today.  The old prison was decommissioned in 1991.  If you had the bad fortune to land yourself here, it was bed, bucket, and bible.  There were no sanitation facilities even in modern times.  This has become a very worthwhile attraction, and Michael will give you a description of his tour.  I did not take the tour as I was doing routine maintenance:  getting my nails done. 

 

Two other important events in Fremantle’s history is the harbor became a key part of the strategy of Allied Forces during World War II, and in 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club defeated the New York Yacht Club to win the America’s Cup.  This spurred many upgrades in the area, including a new pleasure boat harbor and famous Cappuccino Strip where many alfresco dining establishments abound. 

 

Neither Michael nor I had an excursion, so we just took the shuttle into town.  It was around 90 degrees today and with its Mediterranean climate, the heat was not uncommon. We went to the market, which housed fruit and vegetables as well as arts and craft items.  We found the prices to be double the prices of the Sydney Paddy’s Market and Melbourne’s Queen Victoria Market.  It was not a very large market and it was rather stuffy as it was not air-conditioned.  I had seen a nail shop on our way to the market and I went that way, while Michael went to see the prison.  I am glad I didn’t go because he said there was a lot of walking and it was hot. 

MICHAEL

 

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Fremantle today, the high point of which was my visit to Freemantle prison.  This prison was in operation from 1868 until 1991.  What made it stand out from the other prisons I have visited in Australia was the fact that it closed only 22 years ago, and consequently still looks like a real prison rather than a restored prison.  The tour itself was great. We were 27 people, and all the men were required to be processed. I leave it to your imagination what was involved in that.  All I can say is that we are calling our guard "boss" for the rest of the morning.

It was a very large prison, housing thousands of people during its lifetime.  We visited the main cell block, solitary confinement, the kitchen, the eating areas, the toilets, the exercise yard, the guards quarters, and even the gallows.  Yes, 43 people were put to death here including one woman.  Virtually everything was in working order; one of the people on our tour was allowed to push the lever which actually opened the trapdoor to drop the condemned person through.

They did not have very many modern conveniences though. While they had toilets as I said, this was a combination of a toilet seat under which was a bucket. You had to remove your own slop  and place it into a large holding tank.  They told us that from the day the prison closed, it took fully two years for the stink to go away.

BEVERLY IS BACK

 

The city is clean, not too big and since it was Sunday and lunch time, alfresco dining was booming.  We hopped on the red bus line, toured around, and went down to the Cappuccino area where the marina and fish and chips restaurants were.  The buildings were Victorian in style; many were made out of limestone.  Many of these old buildings were deceiving in that they retain the façade, but the insides were all new.  This gave the city such charming character. 

 

We walked over to the wharf area and went into Cicerllo’s Fish and Chips.  Whoa, what a HUGE place this was.  We walked in and were greeted by an employee who handed us a menu.  You then get your own bottled drink, then go to one of several counters to place your order and pay.  They give you a pager, and when your order is ready, you go to the pick-up counter.  You have to pay extra for ketchup and tartar sauce.  The price for two traditional fish and chips orders plus two drinks came to around $40, and that’s without ketchup! because we didn’t know you had to buy it until after we had already paid. 

 

We found a table outside on the deck and thought we had lucked out getting a table.  And then you could see a sea of tables below the deck.  They can seat several hundred people!!!!  There was a live band playing nearby, and fortunately, they were playing our kind of music.  The food was good and properly greasy.

 

We then walked along the waterfront and up a hill to the Round House, a fort that overlooks the harbor.  It was originally built as a jail and is the oldest and first permanent building in Western Australia.   There were many steps both up and down to get there and it was slow going for me, but I made it.  There were big, thick sturdy walls to hold on to. 

 

We continued walking along the esplanade and saw the Western Australia Maritime Museum, and saw many historic colonial buildings.  We then boarded the blue bus to continue driving around town and the port area, and decided to get off near the ship instead of going to pick up the shuttle. 

There was a long ramp up to a walkway that traversed the railroad tracks and then another long ramp going down. Then it was just a short walk through the port area to the ship. By this time, I was ready to cool off.  The sun is very strong here and makes it feel hotter than the temperature would indicate (I might just be ready to start carrying my umbrella so I can bring portable shade when I need it).  It was pool time, time to do some serious cooling off.  I am not a water baby, but it is the only sure fire way to get cool fast.   

 

We had a pleasant dinner in the Colonnade with Nancy and Herman.

 

PERTH

 

Just when you think you can’t do anymore, and all you want to do is sleep and lounge around, you get an excursion to escort.  Sigh.  It was a tour of Fremantle and Perth.  We overnighted in Fremantle, so there was no early alarm clocking going off at 5am.  Michael was on his own today.  I tried to get him to come on the tour with me, but he is stubborn and had decided to take the train to Perth and wander around.  He can wander all he likes, but sometimes you miss the details. 

 

He walked to the train depot, which wasn’t too far from the ship, and bought a one-way ticket to Perth for $4.20.  You cannot buy a round trip ticket. 

 

I, on the other hand, wound up with a really good tour with an excellent tour guide.  We did the Fremantle thing, covering territory we covered on foot yesterday.  I did learn that the Art Center was once the loony bin!  There are night time tours at the Art Center and the prison, where it is purported that ghosts roam about.   

 

We then drove through the suburbs between Fremantle and Perth, and I have to say there are some spectacular homes here.  There is a lot of wealth in Perth due to the mining of minerals boom.  The money earned from the mining industry causes the prices to escalate.  A pint of beer can cost $10!  In fact, Perth is Australia’s most expensive city. These suburbs run along the Swan River, so you can bet waterfront property is costly.  In America, they call the homes McMansions.  One beautiful home after another, all with excellent landscaping.  Gardeners, there is plenty of work here.

 

We saw private schools, universities (there are five in Western Australia), tree lined suburbs, and plenty of park land.  The Swan River in the city of Perth is quite wide, but not very deep.  A huge lagoon was formed right in front of the central business district.  There are a lot of Asian students who attend school here, and most go to private schools.  There is a government run health system and a private one; if you want to get your aches fixed in a prompt manner, don’t rely on the government.  An ingrown toenail could keep you in pain for 18 months or more before you could see a government doctor.  It’s about priorities.  Most people who can afford to choose to get private insurance. 

 

We went up one of the few high hills to the Botanical Gardens.  There was a very moving war memorial and monument to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  From here, we could see the entire city and many suburbs on the other side of the river.  We then drove around the central business district, where they are busy converting unused office space into hotels and apartments.  There is a serious shortage of hotel rooms because of the mining industry, and the powers that be are encouraging people to move into the city.  The transportation system in town is free, but as the population increases, so do the cars. 

 

 

Bunbury, Australia

What in the world is a bunbury?  It is the third largest city in Western Australia, surrounded on three sides by Koombana Bay on the Indian Ocean.  It has a population of 35,000 and is a working port that exports minerals, aluminum and wood chips. 

The brochure we received was quite extensive, but when you read Michael’s description of the town you will wonder how they can publish so many pages.  The attraction of this area is the outdoor activities like fishing, crabbing and hiking – and – ta da dolphins.  There is a resident population of around 100 bottlenose dolphins that live in and around the harbor, and deliver calves in the Collie River.  The Dolphin Discovery Center is located here and offers tours to see the dolphins in their natural environment.  Major industries for Bunbury are farming and agriculture, wine production, woodchips, alumina and of course, tourism. 

This town is surrounded by a lot of water and really nice swimming beaches with plenty of playgrounds for the kids.  There are a many nice homes surrounding the harbor.  Bunbury is the seventh largest port in Australia and business centre of the southwest and a hub of regional development. The reason for the large port is because this is an area of substantial bauxite deposits. Bauxite, from which comes alumina, is a major export to Asia and elsewhere.  They also export a number of other precious minerals as well as woodchips.  It is about a two hour drive south of Perth, and Bunbury has all the major benefits of city-living commercial opportunities, facilities and attractions mixed into a beautiful, lush seaside setting with a country pace. The fishing, swimming beaches, temperate climate and proximity to the southwests popular towns make Bunbury a popular spot for holidaymakers heading down the coast south of Perth. 

The settlement was founded in 1836 as an agricultural area.  The town grew when whalers began using it as a port until they moved to Geographe Bay, just off Busselton. Bunbury quickly became the centre of shipping, transporting wheat and timber from inland. Bunbury then took on the role of holiday destination to miners families taking a break from the eastern goldfields near Kalgoorlie.  During the 1950s, the areas mineral deposits were mined and in the 1970s, an artificial deep-water harbour was constructed leading to Bunbury gaining official city status in 1979.  

The summer season (October thru February) regularly sees temperatures around 110 degrees.  Today, it was around 90 degrees; in the sun, it feels even hotter.  I escorted a tour that took us past mangroves, which were created when the harbor and river were jettied (mangroves are unusual at this latitude), and then a cruise up the Collie River for a picnic lunch. 

The vessel we were cruising on was very strange.  It was a houseboat that had cushioned seating with three seats on one side, an aisle, and three seats on the other side sort of like airplane seating.  There was a kitchen/bar area inside, and sliding glass doors front and back.  There was also a very small area on the aft deck.  It was kinda junky, but the skipper was a jolly bloke with a good running commentary. The first mate had killer legs and I was so totally jealous of her.  

Being summer, most of the bush was quite dry and brown.  The river was a muddy brown and there wasn’t much to look at.  

We saw some birds (yawn) and an eagle’s nest (double yawn); the eagles they are talking about are not like the American Bald Eagle.  These are rather scrawny looking.  There was not much to see or take pictures of.

About an hour up river, we finally beached the boat for our picnic.  It was a fenced off area with picnic tables scattered about.  The grass had been recently mowed, but the clippings were left on the ground to annoy me.  I was wearing sandals and the damn stuff kept getting wedged between the shoe and my foot.  There was some filtered shade, but not enough to my liking as it was getting pretty hot.  Food was served buffet style on long tables.  Why do people insist on only going down one side of the buffet tables?  This mystifies me.  There is a long line to get food and the other side of the table works just fine.  So being the good escort, I suggested they use the other side, which, thankfully, they did.  I also suggested they get the drinks out pronto instead of taking orders like at a fine restaurant.  It was hot…and I did not get my drink until AFER I finished my meal.  Planning folks, planning.  Not that hard. 

On the way back, we got a treatise on dolphins and their behavior.  Females give birth in the summer months calves in the shallow waters around Bunbury; the males don’t stick around.  The shallow water offers protection for the baby because sharks can’t attack them from underneath.  The calves don’t nurse in the traditional sense because they don’t have lips.  The mom excretes the milk, which is the consistency of yogurt, from under her dorsal fin.  She does this every hour for the first three months.  I swear, I cannot make this stuff up.  The gestation period for dolphins is 12 months.  At age five, the baby leaves the mom.  Dolphins also like fresh water in order to get rid of sea lice.  We got lucky and actually saw one dolphin today that was pretty far upriver. 

MICHAEL

I escorted an excursion today through beautiful Bunbury, Australia.

The excursion was titled city drive and big Swamp wildlife park. It was, without question, the worst tour I have ever been on.  First of all, there isn't very much to do in Bunbury.  If you combine that with an inept tour guide and a bus where the PA system doesn't work, you know things will not work out.  We toured the entire city and saw such amazing sites as the high school, meals on wheels, the senior center, the Catholic Church, the police station, the City Hall, and a government building that was specifically designed to look like a sinking ship.  You got to love a branch of government that would deliberately build a building that looks like a sinking ship.

The High Point of the tour (just kidding) had to be the big swamp wildlife park.  First of all, there was no swamp, so that takes care of that.  The wildlife park was basically a children's petting zoo that had some parrots and a couple of scrawny kangaroos.  I did get to feed the kangaroo so that was something.  The tour operator had programmed  2-1/4 hours for the wildlife park. Everybody finished it in less than 45 minutes.  The bottom line was that we got back to the ship and concluded a four hour tour in 2-1/2 hours. I have never had that happen before.

Adelaide, Australia

I am sitting on the bed with the computer while the ship is bouncing around in lumpy seas.  We are in the area called the Great Australian Bight.  I do not like being in our room when the conditions warrant grab bars by the bed.  All things that roll need to be contained, and cabinet doors secured less they squeak and sway all night. And going to the bathroom takes some adjustment:  men sit, and women have to pull pants up/down with one hand while holding on with the other.   At least I have my sea legs back.  Anyhow, I will try to maintain some semblance of sanity as I write this blog.

 

It has been a very interesting few days in that we have had three world cruisers we know leave the ship for medical reasons.  This is a very sad occurrence, and I wish our friends get well.  There have been some unexpected personnel changes, and all kinds of rumors fly about the circumstances.  There are no secrets on this ship.  Our bridge players have been putting some pressure on the powers that be regarding the overall bridge program and they are requesting that the Walkers return for next year.  It is very flattering that our players feel so strongly about the good program that we have provided for them.

 

Day 1

 

On to Adelaide.  I was expecting a one-horse town and was greatly surprised to find the fifth largest city in Australia to be quite large and modern.  The population in the metro area is 1.2 million.  Australia has a total population of around 23 million.  The ship is docked in the old port area, called Port Adelaide.  There are old historic wool warehouse buildings here, and there is an air of gentrification going on.  We arrived in Adelaide to nice, cool temperatures.  This part of Australia has a Mediterranean climate, and we were lucky to arrive after the heat wave that had temps around 112 degrees. There has been a 5 year drought, but they had almost 5 inches of rain in two days last week.   Adelaide was settled in 1839 by Germans who were fleeing Lutheran discrimination at home.  Many names are Germanic and there are a lot of Lutheran churches, especially in the country side.  In the city, you will find Catholic and Anglican churches.  The Australian wave is very popular:  this is done to shoo flies away from your face. 

 

I escorted a half-day city tour.  This was a great tour because we got to see the entire city from the comfort of our bus.  My knees were thankful for this.  Older parts of the city look like New Orleans.  Ships from overseas used wrought iron, galvanized iron, tiles and bricks for ballast, so many of the older buildings have wrought iron balconies and galvanized iron or tile roofs.  We saw tree lined streets with many original historic brick cottages. 

The center of town is Victoria Square, where one will find an incredible central market stuffed with high quality fruit, vegetables and meats.  There is also a Chinese barber here; Michael knows this first hand as he got a haircut here. 

 

There are more restaurants of all types here per capita than anywhere else in the world.  The weather is conducive to dining al fresco a good portion of the year.  There is also an incredible amount of construction going on.  In fact, they are building a modern hospital from the ground up that is going to cost $2.1 billion.  Downtown is quite vibrant.  There is parkland surrounding the city.  The economy seems to be going well according to our guide. Unemployment is around 5.8%.  They have a minimum wage at around $18 per hour, so that everyone will have a livable wage.  However, there is always a fly in the ointment:  the cost of everything is very expensive.  There is no tipping, all taxes and GST are included in the price of an item, and there are no pennies (all prices are rounded to the nearest five cents).  They city is neat and clean, and has been voted the most livable city in Australia.

We drove into the mountains to the Mt. Lofty lookout to have a view of the entire city from about 2,500 feet.  It was unexpectedly chilly here.  At the coffee shop, a small hot chocolate was $4 and a cookie – one cookie – cost $4!  I told ya it was expensive here.  We drove back into the city and saw many of the 700 venues for the city’s Fringe Festival, which is a very BIG happening.  There is a lot of entertainment and from what I could gather, some strange and funky going ons.   

 

The only bad part of the excursion was backtracking through city streets, hitting every red light in order to drop 6 people off downtown, causing 28 people to get grouchy and angry.  There was no lunch or food on the trip (except at the Mt. Lofty café and on your own dime), so of course people were worried about missing their lunch. 

 

Upon returning to the ship, I spent the rest of the afternoon catching up on paperwork (wink, wink – the blog) while waiting for Michael to return from his tour.

               

MICHAEL 

I was tasked today to escort an excursion to the beautiful Barossa Valley. Within a one-hour’s drive from Adelaide are some of Australia’s best wineries, including Seppeltsfield, Jacob’s Creek, Yaldara, Orlando and Penfold. Unfortunately, our tour went to only one of those, along with two other less prestigious venues.  More on that later.

 

The, drive to Barossa was beautiful, and on the way we learned a little about Adelaide and the rest of Southern Australia.  I should mention it was a gorgeous day and wonderfully cool.  It got to 77 degrees today, down from 115 just last week!  Adelaide in Australia’s fifth largest city (1.2 million) behind Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane. Our first stop was “Whispering Wall.”  What is that you ask?  It is actually a dam build about 70 years ago; a typical arched structure about 150 yards long.  What makes it unique is that you can stand at one end and talk with a person standing at the other end, by merely whispering.  I thought this was (wait for it) Dam Impressive!  We also got to stop briefly at the Pioneer Memorial and vista where we saw a lot of stone structures built in honor of the original settlers.

The Valley itself is home to 350 wine growers and 170 wineries, some complete with beautiful Chateaus. Bordeaux it’s not, but attractive none the less.  Our first stop was Saltram Wineries where we got to stand around and drink supermarket wine; it was very disappointing.  We next headed to McGuigan Wineries where we got to stand around and drink super market wine.  It was equally disappointing.  We did have an OK lunch here.  I was really looking forward to our third and final stop at Jacob’s Creek, but alas we were to stand around and drink super market wine here as well.  As you can imagine, when I returned to the ship I shared this experience with the Destination Services staff in the hope they might be able to fix the excursion before tomorrow, when it was to be repeated.  As it turns out, Beverly got to escort that tour so I will leave it to her to explain if they fixed it or not.

DAY 2

I got a wine tour.  Me, of all people.  I can tell a bad wine from a good one, but I really don’t give a fiddlers fart about wine (or opera for that matter).  What I got to see was the famous Barossa Valley, whose culture and atmosphere is derived from the mid-19^th century German influence.  And I got up at 6:30am to do this. 

 

Barossa is the wine capital of Australia, and 25% of all wine produced in Australia is produced here.  Sixty percent of this total is exported to China, the US and France.  It was a 90 minute ride out to the valley and all I saw were brown fields that had been harvested.  They call these rolling hills paddocks.  We arrived at the first winery a bit early.  This was the Seppeltsfield Winery, which was established in 1851.  

It was originally going to be a tobacco farm, but they found out that they could not grow tobacco in this soil.  I have no idea how they could determine that they could grow wine instead, but grow they did.  The family prospered and built a house, dining hall for the workers, a three story cellar, a church and numerous other structures to process the wine.  We had a tour of the estate and wow, what a neat place.  There were palm trees planted along the roadside, along every walkway, and even along the path to the family mausoleum.  The Seppelt family was so generous, that during the depression in the 1920s, they had the workers plant the palm trees just so they could keep them working. Mrs. S cooked for 150 workers and had 20 pregnancies, gave birth 16 times, and had 13 children that survived.  And you think you are busy?!  

After touring the wine cellar, we headed to the tasting room.  This is now 10:30am and I did taste the ports, and promptly started to feel a little schnockered.  I cannot hold any liquor.  It doesn’t look good if the escort is tipsy, so I was glad for a few crackers to soak up the alcohol.  This was a wonderful tour and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

Our next stop was to the Jacobs Creek Winery, where Michael went yesterday and was disappointed.  I walked into the visitor center, and there I see a large chalkboard sign that said FREE WIFI.  Forget the wine talk, I was now connected.  The lady giving the tour went blah blah blah, and as the escort I was watching the time.  So I rounded up the group and headed into the wine tasting private room where there were about 8 bottles set up for tasting and platters of cheeses, crackers, fruit and almonds.  I went for the food as I cannot hold my liquor or wine.  I tasted a few, but didn’t really like any of the wines.  Michael said these wines were much better than the stuff they were served yesterday. The cheeses (which are made in the area) were wonderful.  Why didn’t we have a cheese tasting instead?  The almonds and figs were to die for.  These are also locally grown.  Mindful of the time, I encouraged the guide to get the show on the road. 

 

We were rewarded with a quick photo stop at a lookout up over the Barossa Valley. 

It was back to the ship for lunch and an afternoon spent at the pool.