DAY 1 OF CRUISING AUSTRALIAN BIGHT - ON THE ROAD TO ALBANY, AUSTRALIA We wanted to begin by saying we hope you are enjoying the Blog and we do welcome your comments. We read each and everyone of them. Let's begin with last evening when we enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon. It was very quiet and likely because some people were returning from Adelaide and some were going back out as three or four evening tours were being offered. These are the menus from Waterside. We enjoyed dinner. This was the first of three consecutive evening's we will dine at Waterside. We both started with a chicken consume soup and salad. Since we had salmon for lunch as part of a lunch entree we selected the Kosher Chicken for the entree. You can have it with white only, dark only or white and dark meat. For those who like Chicken it was moist and surprising for Kosher Chicken not too salty as sometimes kosher Chicken can be. The entertainment for last evening included International Pianist Kym Purling who performed at 7:45 and 9:30 PM. The good news is when we arrived back to our room we turned the clocks back an additional 30 minutes. We slept well last evening. We departed port at the scheduled time of 9:00 PM. We are sailing what is known as The Australian Bight. It got its name as it looks like the shape that a human bite makes. A shape of 160 degrees or so of a circle is known in geography as a bight. Australia is large so in this case it is a large bight. Some in the USA might call it a Texas size bight. LOL. The Bight is located off the central and western parts of the southern coastline of mainland Australia and is the name used in Australia in reference for the connected waterbody of the Southern Ocean. We began the day with an early morning workout for Keith, along with Coffee and Breakfast in our room. Keith had an early morning personal training session with Fitness Director Melanie. He enjoyed the session. Fifteen minutes later he was on a Spin bike for the indoor cycling class which Melanie also taught. This was the best class he has taken since we boarded Serenity in December. Melanie created her own playlist instead of playing one of the three standard playlists which Keith has heard over and over and over.........and over since 2015. Each song was a remix from the 1990's and 2000's and had a beat. He loved it. They had the largest turnout since we boarded in December with eleven guests attending the class. Anne Marie walked inside the ship. She also attended her first Yoga Class with since Joe and Marie were on for segment one of the world cruise. This class was taught by Yoga Instructor Miki Anazai. Miki teaches at home in Hollywood and has fifteen years of teaching experience. She also is a practicing attorney. Since Keith had not played Paddle Tennis for a few days he decided to play and shortly after he got up to the courts at 10:00 AM additional people arrived. He played non-stop until it was time for lunch. Two lectures were part of the program: Archaeology Lecturer Adam Ford spoke about Ned Kelly who is Australia's famous outlaw. Australian Military History Lecturer Stuart Asher spoke about United We Fall. He spoke about the tragic story of HMAS Perth and the USS Houston which took place in February of 1942. We enjoyed lunch at Marketplace. In the afternoon, Keith played Paddle Tennis while Anne Marie walked. We spent the rest of the day watching lectures, and visiting with friends and members of the crew. This is today's Daily Reflections Program . Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith
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WELCOME TO ADELAIDE We thought we would begin with some additional photos from our visit to Kangaroo Island. As we reflected on our day one of the highlights was walking in the bush and scouting for wildlife and its similarity to being in Africa and doing the same. The experience is unique and very much different than seeing the animals in other environments. The other item that hit home is the diversity of the world we live in. While we are in our respective home communities it is easy to think that everyone has similar day-to-day experiences as those of ourselves. This is certainly not the case when you contrast Kangaroo Island with others places and that includes cities in Australia such as Sydney. For some people they would be bored living on Kangaroo Island and for other people it would be a dream come true. We are fortunate and humbled to visit another unique area of this beautiful world we live in. The memories we made yesterday will carry-on for the rest of our lives. We can't say enough about the tour company and Bill our tour guide for the day and we are thankful that this unique island was part of the itinerary put together by Crystal Cruises. We have added a few photos from our visit to Kangaroo Island. We decided to have dinner in our room last evening so our pre-dinner drink was in our room. This is the menu from Waterside. We ordered in from the Japanese Restaurant Umi Uma. Dinner included, sushi, sashimi, hot soba noodles (Keith), lobster (Anne Marie). Butler Jaison served the meal course by course. Photos of the sushi/sashimi. We slept well as we sailed to our next port-of-call of Adelaide. The seas were calm and it was a short ride. We began the day as we always do with a workout for Keith at the Fitness Center followed by coffee and breakfast in our room. Adelaide has a population of 1.4 million residents. The city was founded in 1836. We have visited this city on two prior occasions. Highlights include: South Australian Museum which is home to many collections of national and international significance. North Terrace is one of four terraces which bound the central business and residential district of Adelaide. Botanical Gardens & State Herbarium. Eight gardens comprise this venues well as the Start Herbarium. Ayers House Museum which is a Victorian-era home which was converted to a museum. It is one of the last remaining residences from the 19th century. Victoria Square. It was named after Princess Victoria who would become the Queen of the British Throne. Adelaide Zoo. A terrific zoo which we went to on our first visit to Adelaide. It is home to over 2,500 animals. Downtown area includes a beautiful University and as mentioned the Zoo. These are photos from a previous visit to the city. We walked for quite a while along the coast of Adelaide. Gorgeous weather. A terrific day to be outdoors. The locals are very friendly. When we walked to the cruise ship terminal there were several representatives from the city who welcomed us and were very helpful in answering questions and providing guidance. During our visit and walk-around we spoke with several people who live in Adelaide who were equally friendly and helpful. We've included a brief video of musicians performing for the guests right across from the gangway. Back on Serenity, we enjoyed a salad entree at Marketplace and Keith played Paddle Tennis and also walked with Anne Marie on the Promenade Deck. We are enjoying the rest of the afternoon on Crystal Serenity. We have an addition (Valentine's Bear) to our family of stuffed animals. This is the Reflections Daily Program from today. Cheers,
Anne Marie & Keith HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY AND WELCOME TO KANGAROOS ISLAND We began the evening with a pre-dinner drink at the Avenue Saloon. The Avenue was fairly quiet and we thought that might last into the evening at Silk. We were wrong about the latter. This is the menu from Waterside. We dined at the Silk Asian Restaurant and have also included the menu. The menu was revised a few days ago and includes a few new items which replaced other ones. This is our third time dining at Silk on Serenity and fourth overall having dined one time on Symphony. Surprisingly the venue was busier than we expected given the sea swells. Since very few guests were dining at the Brazilian Steak House given its location on the deck and being all the way at the bow of the ship Silk may have picked up business from them, or it was just a coincidence that Silk was busy. They expect 90 people dining which is over 10% of the guests. They did has some personnel from other areas assisting including people from Waterside and Churrascaria. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal. We ordered some of the new items on the menu, some items that were new to us and others we have had before. A couple of items that were new to us were on the spicy end but for those who want items less spicy or relatively plain those are available as well. The food tasted fresh and was very flavorful. We had: The new Tempura Prawn Salad which was a wow. Dim Sum Sampler, Crispy Fried Prawn Dumpling and Hot & Sour Soup (Keith) and Chicken Won Ton Soup (Anne Marie). We shared three entrees: Lobster & Eggplant Curry (spicy) which was delicious. Signature Stir-Fry Beef Tenderloin. It as tender and very tasty. Kung Pao Chicken. Very tasty. Shrimp Fried Rice. We were very pleased with the meal. The pace was perfect for us. The waiter asked what pace we wanted and we said slow between courses and we wanted the food to be hot. We dined for two hours. Perfection. The performance last evening by Violinist Ian Cooper was wonderful. We have seen him perform on several World Cruises and along with a couple of other voyages and love his performance and the energy he brings to each of them. We left our Stewardess and Assistant Stewardess candy for Valentine's Day. In the afternoon we gave Butler Jaison a Valentine's Candy Heart. When we arrived back to the room we saw on the bed a cute stuffed animal gift that each World Cruiser received. We slept very well as we sailed to Kangaroo Island. We appreciate the rocking of the ship. We began the day with our regular routine; A workout for Keith, breakfast in or room and a visit by Butler Jaison. This is not only our first visit to Kangaroo Island but also a maiden port of call stop by Crystal Cruises. The daily Reflections Program has a good title to describe Kangaroo Island. "Land of Brews, Wine & Honey and Kangaroos". Kangaroo Island is the third largest island of Australia. It was once occupied by Aboriginal Australians, until the native population disappeared as the land mass became an island following the rise of sea levels thousands of years ago. By the 18th century the island was settled by sealers and whalers. Its name is appropriate because it has numerous Kangaroos on the island. In general, they are tame. Other wildlife found includes little penguins that stand 13 inches tall. The island also has koalas, wallabies, platypus, pelicans and sea lions. Today a major economic driver of the island is agriculture and with a large lobster fishery along with tourism. The Island has a population of only 4,000 residents. It is minutes from South Australia’s mainland. Major attractions include: Flinders Chase National Park. It includes Admirals Arch which is a beautiful natural rock arch shaped by the Southern Ocean and it has sculptured boulders. Penneshaw Maritime & Folk Museum which has three rooms each dedicated to a specific historic theme. Seal Bay Conservation Park which is home to Australian Sea Lions. Stokes Beach is located on the North Coast of this island and is a popular beach of the tourists. Kelly Hill Caves which have an extensive limestone cave system. Raptor Domain which opened in late 2010 on 150 acres of land. It is home to many orphaned, injured and sick Birds of Prey. Keith arranged a private tour for us. We had an amazing tour and day and we highly recommend a visit to this special island. We were met at the drop-off area by tour guide Bill. He is a retired school teacher. We drove to several areas. Our first stop was at Seal Bay Conservation Park where we walked to the beach to see a seal colony. Bill spoke about the colony, the mating season, the timeframes for going to sea to catch food along with many other aspects to the seals. It was very special. We arrived there before the larger tours. The drive involved a combination of driving on the two lane roads and also getting off and driving on dirt roads. This saved time and gave us the actual experience of what many locals do. From there we drove to Stokes Bay and saw Koala's in Eucalyptus Trees. We also visited Lathami Conservation Park and saw several Wallabies in the Bush. We enjoyed a barbecue lunch inn the Bush. The lunch included King George Whiting Local Fish, Potatoes Grilled Phoulemi Cheese, Salad and Melon which the chef had prepared and Bill cooked for us. We enjoyed wine and soft drinks. We visited Pennington Bay Beach at the end of the tour. It was breathtaking. During the course of the day we saw several Kangaroos and Sheep. The sheep are dark because they are dirty. This is a beautiful island and very special. It does take a special person to live here. With a small population the benefit is that it is very quiet and a place to enjoy the nature and all that the island offers. At the same time, you won't find a department store on the Island so for many items one would need to drive to where the ferry is located, take a 45 minute ferry over to the mainland and drive another ninety minutes to Adelaide. We are glad that we had the opportunity to visit this special island. This is a copy of the daily Reflections Program for today. ON THE ROAD TO KANGAROO ISLAND Last evening we began with a pre-dinner drink at a Cruise Critic Party. There were a lot of guests who participate in this forum in attendance along with senior officers and staff from Crystal Cruises. It was a pleasure speaking with people who we know from previous cruises and meeting some people for the very first time. We enjoyed dinner at Waterside. These are the dinner menus. We began with an appetizer of Tuna Tartare which Head Waiter Augusto prepared for Keith and a Crispy Shrimp Spring Roll for Anne Marie. Anne Marie's appetizer came from the modern cuisine menu and is shown in photo number to. Next course was Caesar Salad for both of us. Keith had Salmon for the entree which is available each night and Anne Marie had the Cordon Bleu. Entertainment featured two performances each of two shows; Vocalist Chesea Gibbing performed at 7:45 and 9:30 PM and Crystal Dance Starts Curtis and Beverly performed at 8:45 and 10:30 PM. On top of this there was live music at Crystal Cove, Palm Court and the Avenue Saloon. The good news is that we set the clocks back before we went to sleep. This doesn't happen often but we brought the time back thirty minutes rather than one hour back. We slept well as we are sailing to Kangaroo Island. While you could feel the sea swells overall the ride was good and we had the benefit of sailing on a course that provided protection from much stronger sea swells and wind if that Captain had not revised the original course. Keith was up early and began the day with a workout at the Fitness Center. While the sea swells could be felt the movement of the ship was far less than we have experienced when the seas are very rough. Keith could hear the howling of the wind from the door leading to the outside deck of the Fitness Center.’ After having breakfast Keith returned to the Fitness Center for an indoor cycle class and Anne Marie went to have her hair done at the Salon. Nine guests took the class including Keith. When Captain Giske spoke from the bridge he had some good news. He said that the seas would remain about the same between the sea swells/wind/speed of Serenity and might get better as the day unfolds. We were happy to hear that. The weather forecast for Kangaroo Island sounds pleasant with a high of 70 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy with no wind. Today's program included lots of activities and enrichment. There were three lectures; Ken Rees spoke about our next two ports of call - Kangaroo Island and Adelaide, World Affairs Lecturer Dr. Sheldon Simpson spoke about the evolution of Japan from a defeated state at the end of World War II to having the third largest economy in the World, Australian Military History Lecturer Stuart Usher spoke about Austrian Soldier George Aspinall's photographic record of his time in Japanese Captivity. Keith attended the talk given by Ken Rees on Adelaide and Kangaroo Island. We have never been to Kangaroo Island so it was very informative. Ken noted that agriculture is the primary driver of the economy followed by tourism. He showed his sense of humor by saying that the first time he went to Canary Island he thought one might see Canary's but that is not the case. Then he said when he went to the Virgin Islands he was expecting virgins. Well, let's leave that one alone. However when you go to Kangaroo Island there are Kangaroos there. In fact, lots of Kangaroos around with many roaring wild. There is much more to see including Seals. There are certainly other things to see and enjoy including wine and cheese. We returned to Marketplace for lunch where we enjoyed our usual salad entree. At it turned out there was more movement of the ship starting late morning than earlier in the day. In fact a few times we felt a jerk of the ship and a couple of times some items on the table that were not on table mats started to slide towards where Keith was sitting. Captain Giske had advised to stay inside and be careful walking around the ship which is good advice. The theme for today's lunch was the Asian Buffet featuring many items including sushi. The meat being cut today was a Pig and a whole Pig was located on the port and starboard sides where the buffet is set up. We enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with speaking with fellow guests and members of Team Serenity as well as reading and writing.
Cheers, Anne Maire & Keith DAY 2 HOBART We wanted to share additional information that we learned from tour guide James during yesterdays' tour. - Tourism continues to grow in this region. There has been a significant increase in the number of cruise ships visiting Hobart and one other port in this region over the past three years. - Other drivers of the economics of the region include fishing and agriculture. Farmers try to maximize the use of their crops. For example, potatoes are not only sold but also used to make vodka. The region produces grapes used in various white wines including sauvignon blanc and chardonnay. Lumber is another key driver of the economy. - The airport that serves Hobart does not offer international flights. Service is planned to New Zealand and there has been talk of a flight to Southeast Asia. We believe the runway needs to be expanded to accommodate larger planes. -We drove across the Tasman Bridge and James spoke about the fatal accident which occurred on the evening of January 5, 1975. A bulk carrier carrying 10,000 tons of zinc ore concentrate struck the bridge. Twelve people including seven crew on-board the vessel and five occupants in four cars died. In addition to loss of life it resulted in economic impact to the area. The bridge reopened October 8 of 1977. We also wanted to mention that yesterday was a holiday which is the Royal Hobart Regatta. The long weekend includes water events on the Derwent River. In addition to the water events there is continuous entertainment and a concert. In the sky there are fly-pasts by the Navy and Air Force and a fireworks display. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at Palm Court before we had dinner at Waterside. There was much to see including the sail boats from todays festival and the Azamara ship docked next to us along with the fabulous Crystal Serenity crew. Keith tried a New Zealand beer that they brought on-board in Auckland. They are trying to bring on-board a local beer where this is possible at many of the port-of-call stops. We chatted with several guests and with members of Team Crystal. These are the restaurant menus from Waterside. Thank you David and Rock Baum as we enjoyed some of the wine from the bottle that you gave us in early January on -board Serenity. It was delicious and we will have more this evening. We both began the meal with the Seared Tiger Prawns appetizer. The sauce that accompanied it was very tasty. From a presentation point of view it looked like a sunny side egg. We both had salad. For our entree Keith had the Roasted Australian Emu. Emu is a cousin of an Ostrich. It tastes like a steak but has almost no fat and is supposed to be healthy. Anne Marie had the Seared Tarakihi Fillet fish. Head Waiter Augusto said a particular Cheese was available last evening so Keith planned to try it along with one other one. He ended up getting more than he bargained for (LOL) so he had just a portion of each of the four cheeses shown in the photo below. Last evening was also White Extravaganza. They held the Party earlier than in the past with a start time of 7:45 PM. We are thinking the early start time recognized that we are in port for an overnight and there will be tours tomorrow morning prior to our departure time of 1:00 PM. We slept well even though we were docked in port. We began the day as we normally do with a workout for Keith, coffee in our room and a breakfast of cereal and fruit. We would have gone into port but Keith had a haircut at the salon. The original plan was for Keith to have the cut tomorrow but we realized Anne Marie had an appointment for the same time so we moved Keith's appointment up to today as we have a tour two days from now in Kangaroo Island. While Keith was having his haircut, Anne Marie walked inside the ship. By the time Keith was back from the Salon, with rain and cooler temperatures and with a 1:00 PM departure we decided to remain on the ship. On our last visit we walked around Hobart and that is what we would have done today. We returned to Marketplace for lunch. Keith didn't think he could play Paddle Tennis but he checked the court and he along with two other guests dried the wet spots. The weather changed from sun to cloudy to wind to no wind over and over. Before we departed Captain Giske spoke from the bridge. He said because of very strong winds and sea swells we would go via a different route to stay in a protected path. He will update us at 9:00 AM tomorrow and he expects that at Noontime we will leave the protected area and be out in the open seas and experience strong sea swells. Keith played Paddle Tennis until it became too windy. In fact, on one of the last plays his hat flew off and he turned and strained a muscle. Hopefully, it will won't be too bad. Keith got together with friend Bob and Anne Marie read and wrote and spoke with our daughter Jennifer. This is the daily Reflections Program from today. Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith WELCOME TO HOBART Thank you Gilly. We had a great time with the family and we look forward to seeing them again. In the meantime we are enjoying being back home on Serenity. Thank you Judy. We love our family. We had posted a photo of the World Cruise gifts that were waiting for us when we arrived back home to Serenity from our visit with our family in Sydney. When we posted the photo we had not yet read the letter from World Cruise Hostess Stacey Huston that included not only some information about the gifts but updates about upcoming events. The jewelry was designed Hubert Gems who has a presence on both Symphony and Serenity including an entire Jewelry store on Serenity. The gents all received a yellow gold lapel pin. In addition to the stainless steel bracelet and the first thematic sterling silver charm, over the course of the remaining voyages the ladies will receive three additional charms to add to the bracelets. The charms can easily be added but the folks in the Facets Jewelry Store are available to place each of the additional charms on the bracelets. We think this is a wonderful keepsake. We enjoyed a pre-dinner drink at the Crystal Cove. Bartender Afzal took excellent care of us. We spoke with fellow guest Carole and enjoyed a terrific conversation. She is a wonderful person and so glad to be sailing with Carole again. Last evening we dined at Prego. This is the menu for Waterside. We began with a pre-dinner drink We dined with one guest on the full World Cruise who we met at the beginning of the World Cruise. Unfortunately his wife could not make it as she was feeling under the weather. We enjoyed drinks with them one evening and discussed getting together for dinner. We will organize another dinner so the four of us can dine together. We enjoyed a wonderful meal with delicious food, outstanding service, a beautiful venue and we had non-stop conversation. This is all part of what makes cruising so special. Keith tried the new Seafood Salad appetizer and Anne Marie had Insalada Caprese, Caesar salad for both of us and Anne Marie had a half portion of the Veal Scaolppine al Limone and Keith had the Roasted Rack of Baby Lamb for our entrees. Keith enjoyed the new appetizer as he did the other new one from the other day which is Seared Tuna Crudo. This has a sampling of various seafood items including octopus. While dining we had some movement of the ship where you felt a few intermittent bumps from one side of the ship and other times it felt like a bump on the road. About half-way through dinner the sea swells calmed down. We didn't make it to the show last night. It featured Australian Comedian Simon Palomares. We slept well last night. Keith worked out early at the Fitness Center. With a tour planned for today, we had breakfast thirty minutes earlier than usual to provide more time to get ready for the tour. We arrived to Hobart at 8:00 AM. Hobart's population is a quarter of one million residents. It is situated between Mount Wellington and the Derwent River. Major highlights include: Salamanca Place which used to be warehouses that have been converted into restaurants and shops. Battery Point which was established in 1818 as part of the defense of this city. Tasmanian Museum and ArtGallery which was established in 1846. It showcases the history of the island. Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens which is located on 35 acres of land and has a wide array of plants and trees. Mt. Wellington which rises 4,170 feet above sea level and is located within Wellington Park. The tour we took was a private tour that Keith arranged several months ago. It was a tour of three locations; Mt Field National Park, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and the town of Richmond. On our first visit to Hobart in 2008 we visited the first two sites on a Crystal Cruises site. We enjoyed them so much that we decided to revisit them and added Richmond to the tour. Our tour guide was James who was outstanding. He was very knowledgeable a very good communicator, very easy going, a safe driver and very considerate. We began with a drive to Mt Field National Park which is a World Heritage Site. The park features beautiful scenery and wildlife and has diversity in its vegetation ranging from tall swamp gum forests and massive tree ferns at the base of the mountain to its rainforest to its alpine vegetation. Late morning and into the early afternoon visited the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. The sanctuary provides a wonderful opportunity to see all the Australian native animals closeup while enjoying views of Hobart from the summit of the majestic Mount Wellington. Animals included kangaroo, Tasmanian devils, wombats, kolas, emus and echidnas. We enjoyed a picnic lunch at the site which the owner of the touring company (Jane) prepared for us. Many of the items were home grown. During our visit to the Sanctuary we ran into some Crystal Cruise guests who we know. We also ran into World Cruise Hostess Stacey and Jeff. We ended with the tour of Richmond. It has the oldest bridge that is still in use in Australia and the oldest Catholic Church. It is a charming town. Today is a holiday and many families were out and about and eating outside. Although rain was in the forecast, we had a slight sprinkle as we arrived back to Serenity. This was a wonderful tour. Following is today's daily Reflections Program. We had a great day.
Cheers, Anne Marie & Keith |
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