Tasman Sea

Thursday 13th
Umm, yes the seas did reach 6.5 metres and unfortunately were coming side/aft for maximum effect. So there was a bit of pitching, rolling & shuddering but not enough to either worry us or disturb the usual sea day activities - food, drink, talk, more of the above and of course Vivian's bridge in the afternoon.

The Captain slowed the ship down to 11knts and made a more northerly course to avoid/ minimise the effect but this is apparently making us a little late in our expected arrival in Melbourne on Saturday.  Many of the (Australian) passengers are unwell and the onboard medical centre is doing a roaring trade.  I have a cough & runny nose but thankfully have both aspirin & antibiotics in hand. 

Friday 14th
Groundhog Day.  Good news however is that my sniffles have gone and I am 99%, so pleased about that.  We have speeded up and doing just over 19 knts and thankfully the seas are down to 3/4 metres.  Most people have adjusted to the motion of the ship but unfortunately Cabin Fever has struck quite a few inexperienced cruisers, who can't wait to get off and are starting to find fault in anything.  Pity.

Saturday 15th
Nice calm entrance into Port Melbourne and a little bit of watery sun as well.  As expected, we were an hour late but that didn't worry us as we were meeting my brother Lynn & his wife Wendy at 11.00.  So a leisurely breakfast and later a cup of coffee before we got off the ship.  Of course there were some 1700 Aussies to disembark and they all had assembly times & places to meet, so was quite a bit of a logistical nightmare.

Anyway, just after 10.00 I suggested that we get off, as I was aware that we had to do immigration.  On other cruises often the immigration is done on board before port to speed up the process, but not here.  We got off the ship with no problem but ended up in a queue of several hundred departing passengers.  No transit lane - apparently not enough of us!  Anyway after 45 minutes of "friendly Immigration & Customs Officers" - Not.  we found ourselves outside and made our way down the dock to the tram stop.  Had about 5 minutes to spare before the tram arrived with Lynn & Wendy.  We found it easier to meet them at the port, rather than navigating to Melbourne.  We did the same thing last year, when we were on the Diamond and it worked out well.

Was great to catch up and we had a great time and a lovely lunch in as waterfront pub about a kilometre from the wharf.  All too soon it was coming up 3.00 and we needed to be on board by 3.30, so a bit of a mad dash.  Although we thought we were last on (& probably were the last into the departure area), we found that there were once again queues to get scanned, immigrated, rescanned and eventually get on board.

Our complaint is not so much the necessary processes, but the time involved.  For us (that is the 199 who got on in Auckland) Melbourne was a another port of call and one could reasonably expect to have the time for a look around.  The reality is that we arrived at 8.00 and were due to sail at 3.30, so allowing for officialdom, probably only 4-5 hours, which is hardly time to get into Melbourne proper, but being resilient Kiwis, no one complained ☺

A smooth sailing out of Melbourne, but quite cool, particularly as they'd had temperatures in the 30s earlier in the week.  Quite funny being the "oldies" on board and watching people consulting maps etc. trying to find out where they are going.  About 5.30, a knock on the door and it is Pauline & Bill, friends of our Vancouver friends Rohays & Don, who of course were so kind to us earlier in the year.  Anyway we had a good chat and a plan to meet up for both coffee and a photo later on.  Bill is President of their local Probus club and they ate travelling as a group of nearly 40 Probians - that is a group of Probus members in case you're wondering.

Sunday 16th
OK, real time - the Tasman is living up to it's reputation and the sea is up to a good 5 metre swell, it is windy , wet and cold.  To make matters worse, Vivian has got the cold now, so I am sharing drugs with her !!!!  However I see that the weather back home is no better, so hope it clears by Wednesday.  As I keep telling people, we were so lucky that every port day in NZ was perfect and I hope it will be the same for our new friends on board.

Not wishing our cruise away, but tomorrow will be our 2nd formal night and Tuesday is bag packing day. Nooooooo, all to quick.