At Sea Once AgainFeb 20, 2008
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| February 20 At Sea Once Again With Fiordland behind us, we set sights on our first contact with Australia. It will require two days and perhaps a bingo tournament or two before we reach the port of Hobart in Tasmania. This provides an excellent opportunity to contemplate how Tasmanian fits into the scheme of things. Tasmania is a state in Australia. It was discovered by a Dutch explorer named Tasman almost 100 years before Captain Cook started poking around, so hence the name. The capital happens to also be our current destination city called Hobart, a place that today has grown to 129,000 residents. As you may recall, Australia was first used as a penal colony. Its first settlers were convicts, the worst of which were subsequently sent down to a prison in Hobart, Tasmania. Many of our ship’s modern casino personnel are suspected to be direct descendants of these early criminals. Anyway, this is how Australia’s second official settlement began. Kathy and I signed up for only our second organized tour which promises to take us out into the farmlands of Tasmania, well outside of the capital city. I look forward to sharing how that unfolds in a day or two. With our plans in place, we settled into the routine for a day “at sea” which includes all the aforementioned temptations unique to modern day cruising. Kathy headed off to the spa for some bizarre treatment they were featuring. I’m not sure if this one entailed seaweed, mud or a special treat of having someone grind your skin with coarse salt crystals as they share experiences from their native Ukraine. Then we met for lunch. Eating meals on a cruise ship is a risk. It’s not the food, it’s the company. Upon entering the dining room you are offered a table for two, or the chance to share a table with others of unknown nationality, sophistication, and mutual interests. Think of Monty Hall as the dining room captain offering you the choice of your own predictable of company, or who’s behind the curtain. We have invariably chosen the high-risk route for lunches, but at night found that a table for two put you within talking… or ignoring… distance, from two other couples, one on either side. We’ve had pretty good luck with our system. At lunch we’ve met a couple from Corona del Mar that taught at CDM High School since the mid-sixties… and they think remember a certain PE teacher named Sue Mayer from the 70’s! The Canadians, however, are somehow beginning to look and sound alike. Then there are the Aussies, New Zealanders (both on holiday) and a lot of Americans. The non-Americans, especially the Europeans and Australians seem to all bring up to us the same politically themed subject: “George Bush has really messed up your country, eh?” I delegate all responses to such insinuations to my associate, Kathleen “The Pit Bull” O’Hagan and simply enjoy both the dinner and the show. Good night from halfway across the Tasman Sea en route to Australia. |
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