As you can see from the today’s ship position information, we are now well on our way from Busselton, 200km south of Perth/Fremantle where we called yesterday. We have left the Indian Ocean and are now steaming east in the Southern (Antarctic) Ocean towards our next port of call, Adelaide. The sea has felt slightly choppy, being influenced by what I call “resident currents” from further south. The air temperature is a disappointing 20 degrees although the sun did feel warm in sheltered areas. Seas are reported as “slight”.
Yesterday, we anchored around three miles from Busselton, a sleepy residential coastal town with population around 30,000. Originally a logging town, Busselton boasts the longest jetty in the southern hemisphere. Perhaps 30 or so miles away is a prominent winery which we visited. Set in tranquil undulating countryside, vineyards are established to produce the finest and most varied of wines. In a covered verandah area, and also inside, is a very high end restaurant. I think our meal was of five courses with appropriate wines for each course. Busselton might have been slightly non-descript, but the Aravina Estate Wine and Gastronomy Experience was worth travelling halfway around the world to enjoy! Fifteen of us occupied a minibus for the journey; there was much excitement on the way as a sharp eyed passenger spotted a wild kangaroo with a youngster in tow. Thus, I saw my first kangaroo!
The penultimate course! (Duck with appropriate trimmings)
For some reason, the tour ran slightly late and the tender service back to QM2 was extended.
I perched myself outside on the upper deck for the ride back to the ship for spectacular views of QM2 which looked quite enormous as we approached. Despite having enjoyed a large lunch of several courses, I did join my table companions for second sitting dinner in the Britannia Restaurant, followed by a superb Beatles tribute act in the Royal Court Theatre. That the band’s hair style only resembled The Beatles slightly; their sound, attire, musicianship, and choreography were to perfection. The only inaccuracy was perhaps the absence of several thousand screaming teenagers. Those teenagers would be our age now….that’s a bit sobering! What is also sobering, I had a cup of hot chocolate before going, finally, to bed!
Today, I had a long chat with the Port Lecturer. I then visited the Tours Office, and booked shore excursions at ports up to Hong Kong. There is now the opportunity to spend a day in Bangkok which I have booked also.
More news soon,
David.
David's Cruise 