It wasn’t good. The Diamond Princess was now quarantined for 14-nights and 20 passengers and one crewmember on board had tested positive for the virus. The 14-nights was not at all a surprise, but it is an unusual thing to find ourselves on a ship that, although it had denied boarding to 30 passengers from mainland China, had allowed guests from Hong Kong to board. We feel a little like we are just waiting to see if we make it through this cruise and onto a plane to the US unscathed. Especially me. I am one of those high-risk people we hear about. If it’s on this ship, it will find me.
By 9:30am, we were getting tired of being on the ship waiting to hear back from the Port Agent and took matters into our own hands. I Googled dentists near me, found one literally at the end of the pier, phoned and was given an appointment for 4pm. That was perfect. If we had been sailing at 5pm, it wouldn’t have worked, but our late departure took the pressure off. We put the crown in a pill bag, gathered up our Myki Cards for Melbourne transport and stopped by Guest Services to tell the Administration Manager we were all set and no longer needed an appointment through the Port Agent. We added AU $5 each to our Myki Cards right in the cruise terminal (there is a Myki information counter that sells cards to people who don’t already have one) and set out to first find the dentist and then board the #109 tram into the CBD. The dentist was just steps away from the tram stop; it couldn’t have been easier. Once we knew where we needed to be at 4pm, we wanted to do some sightseeing.
There were two main things we still wanted to see in Melbourne: Fitzroy Gardens (and Cook’s Cottage located there) and the Queen Victoria Market. Since Fitzroy Gardens was just beyond the tram #109 route from the port, we went there first. We’ve become fairly adept at riding Melbourne’s trams...but are still disoriented when we step off of them. I think it’s the combination of them being on the left side of the road plus the diagonal streets on the right side of the CBD. Fortunately, the people of Melbourne are incredibly welcoming, and we were quickly pointed in the right direction any time we looked confused. Which must have been often, because we received lots of offers of help. ;-)
On the way to the gardens, we passed by St. Patrick’s Cathedral and stopped in. It’s a beautiful church, equal to many we saw in Italy, with some exquisite stained glass windows.
St. Patrick’s Cathedral
I always compare cathedrals to the one in which G and I were married. It was spectacular, but this one might have it beat.
The main altar
The pipe organ
One of several side altars
This was a beautiful water feature leading from the cathedral to the outer edge of the church property.
The day was warm, not too hot, but it felt heavenly to walk under the shade of the trees in Fitzroy Garden. I had expected more of a botanic gardens with labeled plants, and in the US we would call this a park, rather than a garden. But it had gorgeous walks and paths and was busy with study groups and outdoor meetings groups sitting on the grass, and with lots of people out walking. Cooks Cottage, Captain James Cook’s parent’s home in England was dismantled and brought to Melbourne in 1933 for the city’s centenary. Reconstructed in Fitzroy Garden, the house is furnished as it would have been at the time of its original construction in 1755. We purchased tickets to tour the house and also the stable, where there were displays about Captain James Cooks’ life and the relocation of the cottage.
Cook Cottage in Fitzroy Garden
The stable on the left side
The kitchen
The kitchen
A bedroom with a very narrow bed
The main bedroom
Sitting room
There were volunteers dressed in period costumes
From Fitzroy Garden, we caught a tram en route to the Queen Victoria Market, the largest market in the Southern Hemisphere. We had intended to connect with another tram to get there, but our driver soon told us that there was a break down on Collins Street, a major street in the CBD, and our tram would drop us off a few blocks early and then reverse itself. I guessed I had never thought about it before, but any breakdown, especially on tracks that multiple routes travel on, really shuts down the system. We walked those few blocks to Elizabeth Street, and caught a tram going north to the market.
I had no idea what to expect at Queen Victoria Market, but it featured multiple buildings and roofs with stalls selling everything from fresh meat and seafood to cheeses, spices, flowers, sit down and take away (American: carry out) meals, souvenirs, leather goods, produce, you name it. At the exact moment I was thinking about how much fun it would be to shop like that every day, G was saying that it would be way too time consuming to do so. Time consuming, but entertaining, and the produce looked so beautiful and fresh.
The main entrance to Queen Victoria Market
Unlike the seafood markets in most parts of the world, these were refrigerated. Because...Australia
Because...Australia
So many spices and blends
Olive bar
Who could possibly hate cheese? Hate how unhealthy it is, sure, but cheese used to be one of my favorite food groups!
Ugh
Shortly after 3pm, we boarded a tram back to where we could connect with a #109 tram back to the port. It was obvious the system had not fully recovered from the earlier breakdown, because it was packed, but at 4pm we were walking into the Beacon Cove dental office. We asked and were told that it would cost AU $477 for today’s visit, and I was dumbfounded, but also couldn’t see waiting even a week until we got home to get this fixed. It could cause even more damage to wait, and if- heaven forbid- our return was delayed at all, I needed to get this fixed. G ran back to the ship to get more cash; we had enough to pay for it, and wanted to use it instead of paying with a credit card with its 1.1% Australian surcharge (even if the card itself has no international fees). And the dentist was excellent and thorough, taking an X-ray, doing an exam and meticulously prepping the surface. It was after 5pm when she was done, and I was happy we were sailing late.
We reboarded the ship and went directly to dinner in the Concerto Dining Room. G wanted to go back off the ship after dinner, but, when I synced my Fitbit, I saw that we had already walked 22000 steps today, and I had endured an hour long dental appointment. Instead, we went to see comedian Sam McCool in the Princess Theater. I found him harious, but many didn’t. I guess I have a very specific sense of humor that he just happened to appeal to.
Day 3 dinner menu, page 1
Day 3 dinner menu, page 2
Day 3 dessert menu
We walked across the Lido Deck afterward, and the sky was very twilight-y, almost like a ceiling mural of pinks and blues. We used local cellular to access the internet and check on any developments about the Coronavirus. We have two sea days coming up, and our ability to get news from the internet will be non-existent.
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 1
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 2
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 3
Day 3 Princess Patter, page 4