Friday - It was another glorious day for our cruise through Fjordland. It’s amazing how New Zealand has turned on terrific weather for us but we always seem to encounter bright clear days, especially when we sail into Milford Sound. We sailed into Dusky and Doubtful Sounds first but Milford dragged all the passengers to the upper decks to experience the highlight of the trip.
Nobody was disappointed. Perhaps there could have been more waterfalls but that wasn’t to be. We had to drag ourselves away for Choir Practice and by the time that had finished, we were back on our way to the ocean for the crossing to Hobart. We didn’t bother with dinner and just grabbed some roast chicken and soft rolls to eat on the deck.
Lunch had been particularly nice. They had an Asian Soup Station (which I had expected days before); we lined up, took the doings: various shredded vegetables, noodles, rice, pickled ginger and so on; the chef dropped them in a pot of miso or chicken soup, cooked it for a couple of minutes and then sloshed it in to a bowl for us. Fantastic! It’s these little touches which make Diamond Princess such an enjoyable ship.
The evening entertainment was not to our taste. Scott Davies claims to be an illusionist: a few card tricks and escape from a strait jacket. Pretty ordinary stuff. We then joined Sammy Goldstein, playing the piano, with a Tribute to Broadway Showstoppers. It was pretty standard stuff until he threw in a song called My Dad from a show which Sammy reckons will be on Broadway very soon. If My Dad is any indication of the quality of the show, it will sink without a trace. Sammy accompanied the song with slides of his father, wedding photo, off to the army, playing football with the kids – totally vomit-making.
We were pleased to head off to bed a bit earlier than usual.
Saturday - We created a new record this morning and didn’t get out of bed until 10.15 (am, that is). By the time we showered, it was pointless having breakfast so we just had coffee and went straight into a Pub Lunch – breaded prawns and chips with Wine Trifle to follow. We fiddled around for the afternoon, which included a trip to one of the restaurants to go through immigration. When we were pointed to one of the immigration officers, she said, I know you. You’ve got something to do with autism. It’s just as well I was travelling on my own passport and was with my own wife. Things could have got sticky.
The highlight of today was the iPad Lovers Get-together. I was too timid to go on my own so we both went and it was a terrific forty minutes. The Assistant Cruise Director, Dan, had lots of tips and tricks to pass on (too fast for me in some parts) and there wasn’t a nerd in sight. I know I shouldn’t be surprised but the Tweeners and Baby Boomers have taken to technology in a big way. Tweeners, by the way, are those of us born between 1935 and 1945. Baby Boomers were all born after WW2.
Another average show in the Theatre tonight but followed by a cracker in the Explorer Lounge. One of the entertainment staff, Jamie Clarke, had his own show singing songs by Sinatra, Buble and Diamond, though the best for me was his version of Adele’s Someone Like You. This fellow is a star! We’ve come across him a bit because he leads our choir and has taken some of the trivia sessions.
The late-night quiz was about Geography. We were shown pictures of world cities and had to identify them. The winner got 19 out of 25, and we scored 13 (which is more than half!) There were five in our team, not including the Trivia Queen and her long-suffering husband, who haven’t been around for a couple of days.
We put our clocks back tonight so we get an extra hour’s sleep. I’m sure we’ll put it to good use. Another day at sea tomorrow, and Hobart on Monday.
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