Thanks so much to all those readers who sent me photos taken from the helicopter when the Golden Princess sailed into Sydney Harbour last turnaround day! I received the photos from the Princess Facebook page from several people, and, though I couldn’t spot me individually standing on the bridge, I know I was there. I’ll never forget it!
Moving clocks two hours ahead in the past two days caught up with us today, and it was 9am before I joined G in the Horizon Court Buffet. It was grey and chilly this morning, and, with many passengers sleeping through breakfast in the Donatello Dining Room, the Buffet was packed. We joined a couple from Sydney and ended up talking to them most of the morning. In fact, we made it back to the cabin just in time for the morning pill taking activity before it was time to go to lunch. Yep, it was a sea day!
Tonight’s salad was as beautiful as it was delicious.
Lunch was light, just salads and fruit plates for both of us. G scurried off to Skywalkers for the veterans get together at 1pm but said he’d try to catch up with me later in the afternoon. I went to the Princess Theater for Wendy Fuller’s 1:15pm lecture on the ports of Picton and Napier, then stayed right there for Kane Holmes’ presentation on the Polynesian migration (right up my alley!) and the birds and plants native to New Zealand. At 3pm I followed him into the Piazza for Maori hand games (fun, but complicated). I am loving these cultural activities (and tomorrow night we have a special Maori dinner menu item).
It was close to 4pm when I returned to the cabin and G didn’t show up until 30 minutes later. He had been talking with fellow vets the entire afternoon. We are both enjoying learning about the history of Australia in WW2, and he returned today with tales of the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, people of Papua New Guinea who hid and supported Australians when the Japanese invaded their island.
It was time then to get ready for the evening and we went to dinner before 5:30pm. The sun had returned by then (Captain D had said it would) and the Tasman Sea remains kind with just a few minor bumps. Lucky us! I had black bean and pumpkin soup, a wonderful salad with avocado, then another wonderful salad with avocado and vegetable korma made vegan. The Indian food has been delicious, probably thanks to the influence of Indian Executive Chef Raggie Saldana.
Tonight’s salad was as beautiful as it was delicious.
Tonight’s show in the Princess Theater was a tribute to Dolly Parton, starring Donna Campbell. We arrived about 40 minutes early and the theater was filled just a few minutes later. We’re not minding the waits too much; tonight it gave me some time to start this post on my iPhone. The show was fantastic. Donna looked and sounded just like Dolly Parton when she sang...and like an Aussie when she talked, which was a little disconcerting. But she displayed that same sunny, upbeat personality as Dolly Parton which made it more convincing.
When we walked out of the Princess Theater, we were shocked to see it was still light out. Sunset finally happened about 9pm, and, because it was too chilly to stand outside, we watched it from the Horizon Court Buffet.
Tomorrow is a big day, as we cruise New Zealand’s largest park, Fiordland National Park from 7am to 4pm. We have cruised it once before, on the Diamond Princess, and had a balcony cabin on Aloha Deck then (in the same area we are in now). The views were so huge that we ended up out on the Terrace Deck to take photos anyway. We had full double rainbows then, the brightest and most intense I have ever seen.
If tomorrow is half as spectacular, I will be thrilled.
