We had an uneventful day on Wednesday, sailing across the Tasman Sea. There were lots of birds: albatrosses, fulmars and shearwaters particularly, but the weather was miserable and most people (except the smokers) stayed inside. The smokers have been allocated the starboard sides of Decks 4, 11 and 12. This seems a lot and is a nuisance if you want to walk around the deck. There aren't too many smokers but they spread out and claim their territory so making a circuit is like running the gauntlet. One throwback smokes cigars so he is certainly one to avoid.
The Wednesday night act was an impressionist, singing like Frank and Sammy and so on - a bit trite but he had a nice patter to go with it. To make sure we got the message, pictures of the artists flashed up on a screen behind him. Then, all of a sudden, the pictures changed to cute babies. Not another one! We'd already suffered this indulgence from Colleen a few nights before and now a bloke is playing the same sentimental card! It turned out that he was Colleen's husband and it was the same precious baby. Who needs it!
Anyway, we survived this and looked forward to Melbourne where we had decided that we would get off, no matter what. The weather was pretty ordinary but we got out our jumpers and rain jackets and set off. The first trial was to line up, with hundreds of others to buy a Miki ticket. It seems you can't buy a ticket on a tram anymore, so we handed over $7 each for a Seniors Visitors Pass. It only costs $2.50 for a day ticket in NSW so we felt a bit ripped off. There were literally hundreds of people trying to get on the tram. The Diamond Princess was also in dock so there were probably 5000 people trying to get into the city, with no extra trams put on.
Eventually, it was our turn and we scrambled aboard, even finding a seat. Opposite us was a couple from Tamworth, travelling on the Diamond. They hadn't bothered with a ticket, realising that no one would be checking in the bunrush. They really didn't know where they were going so we steered them to Bourke Street. Later on, we were standing in the rain, waiting for a 109 tram to take us back to the ship, when we saw them on a 112, heading for St Kilda. Clearly they had got on the wrong tram, and it serves them right. Country bumpkins, trying to cheat the system!
I felt for the international visitors, expecting some Australian sunshine, but we know how fickle the Melbourne weather can be and weren't surprised. It was nice to get back to the ship for a bowl of hot soup.
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