Tasmania to Tokyo – At Sea – Day 24 can be found here.
Today’s Chronicle can be found here...
…And it’s fortunate that I have a copy of the Chronicle, because my recollection of today is already slipping down the drain like so much Duval Leroy champagne.
I suppose it’s blended in together with all the other sea days – which are all wonderful, but there is a sameness to them which tends to make them fuzz up into one delightful, warm, lazy mass. But that’s a big part of why we’ve kept up these trip reports – so that we can go back and remember, long after the ship has sailed.
We slept in again this morning, arriving at La Terrazza shortly before 9 am – where it is absolute bedlam. We don’t have to wait for a table, but by the time I’m seated a significant line has formed. It takes time to flag down a server – who then disappears for an extended period. This prompts me to flag down another server, but the first server already has our table – you get the idea. Thankfully, by the time our order goes in the kitchen has mostly worked through the backlog and our food arrives quickly.
There’s also a crepe station today, which the kids absolutely adore:
And let’s be honest – I enjoy it just as much
We then go for an extended round of ‘walkies’ around the track – 45 minutes, give or take. It rained the night before and it’s cool today, but thankfully the deck still has good traction.
A (not so) typical summer Australian sky
They’ve closed off one section of the rear deck while they carry on with maintenance, which limits the amount of real estate. The track begins to resemble a roller derby rink but thankfully no one is shoved overboard.
Back to the rooms to carry on with homework for a while. The kids are gradually starting to catch up after our extended trip to Tasmania – though they have been aided in their efforts by one of the worst Canadian winters in living memory. Family Day weekend is coming up, and it won’t be long before March break and Easter approach so they should be able to fully catch up by next week if they don’t fall too far behind during our next few port days.
And really, they’ve done great. They’re learning lessons on these excursions that they couldn’t get from months spent inside a classroom.
Plus, this classroom has a cakes station:
Midway through the morning, the captain announces that we will be diverting to assist with the medical evacuation of the passenger who suffered the ‘Code Alpha’ last night. The first option will be to rendezvous with a helicopter at 1 pm, weather permitting. Failing that, we will head to Esperance to unload the passenger to the dock. Either way, this diversion is not expected to impact our day in Albany.
Lunchtime! We’re off to Kaiseki for the first time today.
Today’s menu:
Each of us gets the ramen to start:
And I also get the beef bao:
My wife and I then carry on with a spicy tuna roll:
And the sushi and sashimi sampler:
It’s all very, very good. During our previous trip in French Polynesia, the Cloud was able to procure large amounts of salmon and tuna – but the sushi rice was generally inedible. This, however, is proper sushi. We demolish all of it, and our daughter learns that she quite enjoys ramen.
I head up to the hidden observation platform for a while. This is around the time that a helicopter would be arriving, but the winds are off the charts so that seems unlikely. But I do manage to get some shots of the Australasian gannet:
And the flesh-footed shearwater:
We also spot a pod of dolphins, and I’m one shake of the hand away from getting an excellent shot.
Ah, well – next time!
There’s a little bit more time for homework / reading / writing, and then my daughter goes off to art class to work on a beaded suncatcher. The end result is lovely:
My son and I go to golf putting shortly afterward:
They limit everyone to three shots per hole, which helps move the game along faster. It’s still fiendishly difficult, though we somehow end up with 7 prize points for reasons I do not understand. But I’ll take them!
The kids then head off to bingo, where our son gets some prize points for two rows on the same card. Meanwhile, I take another spin up on deck to see if I can spot any orcas. We are now headed into Esperance so I get some scenery shots instead:
Looks like the pilot boat is inbound to help us enter the harbour:
But it’s time to head inside for trivia. We correctly recall the capital of Belarus (Minsk) and the time it takes for sunlight to reach the earth (8 minutes), and we learn the standard room temperature (23 Celsius). I also completely butcher the Roman numerals for 2,196 – which should be MMCXCVI. I’ll leave that in more capable hands next time! But despite that, we still manage to tie for third – our ‘podium finish’ record remains unbroken.
We have an early-ish start tomorrow, so we elect to have dinner at Spaccanapoli – not pictured, as we all ordered our favourites once more.
Ice cream for dessert:
During dinner, I notice the tender returning to the ship:
No updates from the captain, of course, but hopefully the passenger was able to get off safely and is now receiving the care they need.
A few more shots of Esperance:
And we’re off to Albany at a brisk 17 knots – hopefully in time for our 8:30 am excursion tomorrow.
