What a lovely day. I walked from my stateroom straight out onto a sundrenched open deck and looked accross to distant islands giving me an instant desire to stay for a number of days rather than just a few hours. We were anchored off Airlie Beach thus necessitating the use of tenders and hire craft for transfer to the harbour. The warmth was uplifting rather than oppressive. The tender transfer was only slightly chaotic. Nevertheless, an air of over-the-top disgruntlement for the most minor of inconvenience was enough for me to join in the conversation with something along the lines of “sorry, but all this is fabulous…..” The Chelsea faces frowned disappaprovingly as if to indicate I was easily pleased! Eventually, we were escorted to a tiny boat in which we would venture out into the shallow waters in search of turtles. The expectation was that we would see hundreds making momentary appearances. That was the raison d’etre of this excursion. The tour guide, who must have been hugely embarrassed saw just three, another participant two, and me just one for a split second. Neither the guide nor Cunard came in for criticism over the lack of wildlife, but the $70 price tag was frowned upon. I kept out of that one! On arrival back at the harbour, we went our separate ways, me to the local snack shop for a tuna and cottage cheese baguette….now, that really was a rip-off, but I wasn’t bothered. This World Cruise works out at 66p a nautical mile!
In the afternoon, I joined a second shore excursion “Airlie Beach, Sights and History”. I regarded this as a “time passer” and jumped on the coach, making my way to a decent window seat near the back. Immediately, we were in fabulous green countryside. We had sugar cane and coffee fields as well as other stuff pointed out. Eventually, we arrived at the Proserpine Historical Museum. My expectations were not high. But this place housed a wonderfully presented archive of the town, population around 10,000. There were artefacts from people who fought in recent wars and conflicts. There is too much to describe right now, but do Google Proserpine Historical Museum; perhaps you may understand my unexpected enthusiasm. I wasn’t expecting coffee and cake to be part of the deal. This was a gem of a tour in a lovely distant part of the world. Perhaps I will come this away again; they want volunteers at the museum. I just wish I had some appropriate skills!
I returned to a sofa in the Carinthia Lounge where the “easy on the eye” harpist was serenading a handful of passengers. She finished her shift despite a guest’s request for her to keep playing. It’s almost 7pm. I have been sitting here well over an hour, comfortable, content and with a pre-paid de-caff latte to savour. Next and final port of call in Australia, Darwin, after three welcome days at sea. I enjoyed New Zealand and Australia enormously and can’t wait to come back..
Thanks for reading. Very best wishes, David.
David's Cruise 