Sunday, 24th April …..

We’re in Darwin today and at last the weather is tropical. It was nice enough in Townsville but today we hit 32 degrees so much of the afternoon was spent around the pool. There is a huge movie screen over the pool deck. In the morning, they project the view from the bridge (which is riveting when we’re in port!), in the afternoon they show videos of concerts or movies. We saw Pink in Concert (fantastic!), Lionel Ritchie (past his best!) and many others. In the evening, they show Movies Under the Stars. The other day it was The Social Network and tomorrow, they’re showing The Kings Speech. Looks like another late night.

The voyage from Port Douglas, north through the Barrier Reef and then through the Torres Strait was a delight. We were looking forward to seeing Thursday Island where Marilyn’s father was stationed during WW2, but I didn’t realize that there are Tuesday and Wednesday Islands as well. Our captain suggested that the early navigators ran out of inspiration when they were naming places. There was also a lot of empty ocean before we reached Darwin.

For Easter Day, the ship’s crew have put out displays of chocolate Easter eggs, pink balloons and hot cross buns for breakfast. There’s a Roman Catholic priest on board who runs occasional services so he’s been a bit busy and there’s also a Jewish Rabbi who’s madly celebrating Passover. The priest’s flock gets to worship in the Vista Lounge but the Jewish contingent has to put up with the Shooting Stars Disco. I think a case could be made for discrimination.

The problems with people falling over continues and Marilyn’s count is up to 7 already, and they’re only the ones she has seen herself. An ambulance came to the ship in Brisbane and someone was carted off, and two people were off-loaded today. I suppose with a passenger list of 1950 or more, many of whom are elderly, you can expect a few to succumb but it puts a bit of a damper on the holiday.

We went off today but, being Easter Sunday, most shops were shut. We’re not keen on the arranged excursions; apart from being expensive, they tend to include stuff that doesn’t interest us. We’re not very good tourists!

The food on the ship has been terrific. We tend to have all of our meals in the Regency Dining Room although there are other options: casual meals in the Horizon buffet, a pizza restaurant, and the up-market Sterling Steakhouse where they have a surcharge of $20. Normally, we have two courses for lunch and three for dinner, with dessert only rarely. Last night was Formal Night so we dressed up in our finery, attended the Captain’s Cocktail Party and then to dinner. For this special occasion, one of the main courses was lobster, and it was great. Most days, a formal afternoon tea is served: scones and jam and cream, beautiful sandwiches and luscious cakes. Although it is a highlight of the day, we’ve decided to give it a miss as it is too easy to have one cake too many.