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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.
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