Very early this morning, around 3:30 a.m. I woke up and was wide awake. I decided to take that opportunity to go to the laundry room and do my laundry. At this hour of the night, I had the entire place to myself. The last time I went there, during the day, 3 of the 4 machines were out of order and the other one was in use. Last night 3 were in working order. It costs us $2. to do one load of laundry. We put 8 quarters in the washer. The dryer is free. That room has to be one of the busiest places on the ship. After finishing the laundry, around 5:30, I went back to bed and slept like a log for another couple of hours.
Around 9, I took the tender to go ashore where I met up with Mary and Jim to take a self guided tour of Port Arthur.
Port Arthur on the Tasman Peninsula, is a small village which in the early 1800’s, was not only a convict settlement, but also a complete community -- home to military personnel and free settlers. It is one of the World Heritage Properties and is an open air museum. As one walks through the grounds, one can visit more than 30 historic buildings, extensive ruins and beautiful grounds and gardens. I spent about 4 hours there with Mary and Jim and it was interesting to see the well kept old buildings as well as the ruins of the jail. It was a hard life for all, but especially the convicts, some of them who had done no more than steal to stay alive. It was easy to take a self guided tour, because there were plaques in front of all the sites of interest telling the history of the place.
Upon return to the ship this afternoon, I visited my neighbour in the cabin next door. Her name is Jaina. She and her husband lived in Toronto for many years and have grown up married children there, but they now live in Mazatlan, Mexico. She is an excellent and graceful dancer, especially the dances with a Latin rhythm. She also dances Flamenco. In Mexico, she teaches dancing and gives performances for groups that are trying to raise money for charity , both free of charge because she loves it so much. I know that my foot work and arm motions in Latin dances leaves a lot to be desired and in the course of the conversation, she said she would tutor me – so we had our first lesson right there. She told me that any time I wanted more coaching, just to knock on her door. What a nice lady ! ! ! ! Her national origin is Filipino. She is 62 years old and very petite. She looks as though she was in her early 20’s. I guess dancing does that for you.
Around 6 p.m., the captain made an announcement that we were ready to off toward Sydney, Australia. Instead of sailing directly there, he decided to take a detour. We cruised around the southern tip of Tasmania to pass by Cape Raoul. What an awesome, beautiful sight that was ! ! !
Tonight, the dance hosts in the Ocean Bar, (where a trio of piano, drums and bass play), were very busy. At one point after diner, there were 8 single ladies and 2 dance hosts. After having a dance with each, I didn’t feel like waiting for my turn again, so I went up to the Crow’s Nest on the 9th floor. The 2 dance hosts there were just sitting around waiting for customers, so I got a few good dances in before a couple of other ladies showed up. We danced until the band stopped playing at midnight. Ahhh life on a cruise sure is tough ! ! ! !
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