Sea Day #3 of 3

It’s another sea day and I have learned we have crossed the imaginary line that now puts us in the Indian Ocean. We are still en route to Fremantle, Australia. Last night we got an invitation to a gathering today at 2:00pm for those of us currently on the ship from the 2020 World Cruise. You can sense a weirdness among the passengers as we approach the place where our 2020 World Cruise ended traumatically and abruptly. We tried to sleep in this morning, not very successfully. I was up and ready to go to breakfast when the Pinnacle Grill opened at 8:00am only to discover it was still only 7:00am. So I went and had some tea and waited and let Megan sleep in. I am happy to report my back in still feeling a bit better yet today I would say I am about 50% back to my mobility and normal activity. Still a way to go, but I will take it!! I had breakfast and then went to Project Linus this morning. I am making great work of my blanket thanks to my back feeling better. We headed back to the cabin after PL and Megan had tutoring at 12:30pm and I took care of some business/ my honey do list, that I had planned to tackle today. We will have two port days coming up and I wanted to put some things off my mind. I got to see Beh, one of our amazing regular servers in the Pinnacle Grill, this morning as well as this evening for a special Italian winemakers dinner I went to. Beh is sadly getting off the ship the day after tomorrow so today was our chance to say good bye.

What a time of reflection today. There was some never before seen (by the passengers) photos shown of our luggage and it’s adventures once we left the ship in 2020. One photo in particular was of the crew lining the 3rd level deck just as I remembered them saying goodbye when we got off the Amsterdam on March 22nd, 2020. It definitely evoked some emotions that leaked out of my eyes. The captain gave a touching speech and then turned it over to Henk and Ian the for a little Q&A session. Ian asked Henk some questions about his most memorable moments of that day and about what he did during the pandemic. Next, came a video presentation where they asked each of the 21 crew members currently on board, all the same questions. It was a time of reflection, remembrance, and a bit traumatic reliving that day for many of the crew and for the passengers as well. I think it was a lovely way to gain some closure and to celebrate what we have triumphantly and successfully survived. We all kinda had a chance to mourn the loss of our beloved MS Amsterdam and I can not tell you how therapeutic is was to be in room filled with people that walked the same journey alongside my family and I. From the chaos of the times, to the struggles and stress we were all experiencing. The fear and the uncertainties of each day as we sailed into Fremantle. I knew this time of the World Cruise and this port would evoke some memories for me. I celebrate the emotions I am feeling as difficult as they are. I am blessed to be here right now in this time traveling and living life again. I am so proud of my family and for all the obstacles it has overcome in these three years. We are so lucky to be able to remember to never wait till tomorrow because it never a guarantee. A philosophy we have adopted in our lives and try to live by.

I went to the Pinnacle tonight for the Italian Cellars Masters Dinner at 6:00pm and Megan went to have dinner in the main dining room with Gail and Marty this evening. I had a five course meal with four wine pairings. The food and the wine were both exquisite. My favorite wine was a jammy red from J Lohr Vineyard in Paso Robles. It was nice to talk with the Sommelier about my experiences having had their wine before and living so close to Paso. I had three new table mates this evening I had not met before and enjoyed getting to know each of them. We brought a farewell gift to Beh, a couple of Disney Numio’s for his daughters and a gratuity to him for him amazing service for the trip. I hate goodbyes but love that he is getting to go home to spend some time with his family. Tomorrow we should wake up just as we are coming into Fremantle. I am anxious to visit this port and to leave it as well, at least on a ship this time. It will be the most emotionally sail away party I have ever been to. But not for a couple of days as this is an overnight. I will enjoy the adventures this port has in store for us.

Hug those close to you and give thanks for the blessings in your life.

Sea Day

Today is our second sea day and I consider it a blessing to have the time to rest and relax my achy back. We slept in a little bit this morning. With all the time changes right now my body is slightly confused about when it should and should not be waking up. We are skipping breakfast this morning because today is Sunday Brunch. Tiny food day!! We are joining three, most lovely people we met from Florida. A husband and his wife, along with the man’s sister. Early into the cruise the sister came up to Megan and I and introduced herself. Turns out she recognized me from following my blog. I am not using their names because I didn’t ask their permission and hopefully I can revise this later! We spent part of Derby day with them and get to exchange quick conversations with them most evenings as they pass by our table in the main dining room. You would have to work VERY hard to not make new friends on a world cruise. After brunch we went home for Megan to get ready for tutoring and I went for a massage on my back and then immediately after saw the acupuncturist. After tutoring Megan did homework and some reading and then went to play Catan at 3:00pm. We met back at the cabin around 4:00pm to get ready for dinner. I am happy to report I am starting to feel better. I feel like I am healing and I am able to move little better today. It’s been ten days since I injured myself and I am looking forward to being fully recovered. After dinner we went to the Main Stage for this evenings performance. It was done by a Sand Artist John Thiering who was recently on Australia’s Got Talent. It was a neat to see what he could do with sand, a light box, and just his hands. We really enjoyed his performance. After the show we headed home and I got ready for bed. Megan went off to play cards with Gail and Marty. Tonight we set our clock back yet another hour. We are now 8 hours behind you all in CA. When I wake up at 7:30am for my day, Valerie is ending her day at school back at home. Makes communication a little more difficult, but emails can be sent as well as text messages. Just may not always get immediately responses. Tomorrow another sea day. Yea!!

Quick carpet story/explanation. Someone posted yesterday on facebook the above photo with the caption “I found where they live when not on duty”. Holland America puts a carpet in every elevator that has the day of the week on it. In case you forget what day it is, which can happen on a journey this long, by some miracle, the carpet fairies comes out every night and change every one. I have never seen it happen, but I know it does happen. Thank you HAL carpet fairies for helping us to know what day of the week it is!

Sea Day 1 of 3

Hello from the Southern Sea’s of Australia. As we head West towards Fremantle over the next few days we get an opportunity to rest up, socialize with our friends we haven’t seen in a few days while we were in port, and catch up on some of our daily pass times. This morning we were up and off to the Pinnacle Grill for breakfast. Then we went to project Linus. I finished my fifth blanket and got to turn it in. I also, got to start my sixth blanket. I haven’t been able to crochet as much with my back bothering so much so I feel like I have at least temporally sewed down a bit. Hoping to get back to it more frequently as soon as I am feeling better. I went and had another session with the acupuncturist today as well. The recovery is slow and I am uber frustrated with the fact I am forced to slow down. The Dr. said it’s my body trying to tell me something so I just have to listen and allow myself to heal. I haven’t been to the gym in over a week and I suspect it will still be bit longer. Since Megan isn’t have tutoring today, because it is the Sabbath for our tutor, she and I took one of our newly purchased puzzles to the crows nest and spent about 3 hours completing a puzzle from start to finish. We got to listen to the afternoon trivia (we don’t play) and then the room turned to people coming in to play games. Mah Jong, Rummikub, bridge, chess, it was quite a mecca of activity. After we finished our puzzle we headed home to get ready for dressy night dinner in the main dining room. Megan and I wore our new dresses we purchases in Sydney and sadly, we forgot to take any pictures. We’ll have to wear them again, not a problem on the ship, and take photos next time. After dinner I was straight into my PJ’s and did get a chance to do a little extra crocheting tonight in the cabin as Megan and I watched a movie and just relaxed. We set the clocks back an hour again tonight. Making us 7 hours behind Ca time zone starting tomorrow morning. We are not setting an alarm tonight and we are sleeping in tomorrow. Tomorrow another sea day! Hugs from Megan and I!!

Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island, Australia

Today was a very long excursion day. Lots of stops, lots of time on the bus, and a full day getting to see all around Kangaroo Island. We were up at 7:30 am and grabbed our quick Lido breakfast today. We met our tour group at the Main Stage at 8:45 am. We are a group of about 40 today which is much larger than our group of three from yesterday. We took the tender over to the island and hopped onto two smaller buses and began our adventure. Kangaroo Island has a population of about 4800 people. It has one stop light and it moves around depending on where the road construction is taking place. (Feels like home) People generally come here for holiday via ferry from Hobart. When one of the larger ships come into port, the island population doubles. All water mammals are protected here. There is a $50,000-$100,000 fine for killing an animal here. We stopped first at the Pennington Bay lookout to get a fantastic view and some scenic photos. Next, we went to Emu Ridge eucalyptus oil distillery. The family has owned this distillery for generations and they are still making oil they way they have for almost a hundred years. They had an emu and a couple of young kangaroo’s on the property as well. We also got to try four types of Colony Cove apple cider that is brewed on Kangaroo Island. Our next stop was the Emu Bay Lavender company. We learned a little bit about their fields. They produced two types of lavender there. One is edible and the other is use for the essential oils. We were also served a nice sandwich and a lavender scone with lavender jelly and clotted cream for dessert. Next, we ventured to the Island Beehive honey company. The oldest honey producer in the world. Kangaroo Island is extremely protective of what they import onto the island to protect this precious buzzing commodity. If we are caught taking anything off the ship that is not allowed (basically only water) you can loose your passport and be issued a $5,000 fine. We got to sample three types of honey produced here and honey ice cream. It was kinda of a food fest day. Our next stop was in the town of Kingscote where we were given an hour to shop and relax on our own. Megan and I bought postcards and stamps from the local gift shop and had a bit of a snafu trying to find the post office. Luckily the lady at the shop we popped into for a homemade pizza and another cider, agreed to drop our cards in the post for us so we could run back to the bus and make it on time. Next, we stopped at another scenic overlook where we got a great photo of our floating home out in the bay. When we tried to leave there, our bus decided it wasn’t ready to go to the next stop. There was an issue with the door of the bus and it would not allow the driver to use the accelerator. So bus #1 took their passengers to tout next stop for wine tasting at The Shy Wren tasting room and then came back and picked us up and delivered us to the wine tasting as well. By the time we were done with the tasting a second bus had arrived to transport us all back to the pier to catch our tender back to the ship. It was a long day, just over 8 hours. My back is not happy after sitting all day. I go back to the acupuncturist tomorrow. Today was the first day in a week I did not need a Motrin to make it through the day. But I will probably take one to get me through the night. Fun facts about the Australian flag. It has both an Emu and a Kangaroo on it. Australians consider Kangaroo to be a bit of pest animal. They are actually raised here for meat. But those two animals are on the flag because they can not move backwards. Australian wanted to use them as a symbol of forward progress, ie always moving forward and never backwards. So there is your lesson for today. You’re Welcome. Since we did not make it back onto the ship in time for our 5:00pm seating in the main dining room, we opted for a more casual dinner in the Lido this evening. After eating all day neither of us were very hungry anyway. After dinner we came home to do a little cleaning up. Megan cracked open her jar of honey we bought today and thoroughly enjoyed some. She loves honey. Sweet Dreams to all my sleeping friends and family. Tonight we set the clocks back another .5 hours again. Making it now a straight 6 hours difference between us and CA. Yea!! Makes the mental math so much easier. Hugs and Love from across the sea!

Adelaide, Australia

It’s excursion day. Despite my back aches and pains I am determined to try and make a go of this!! We woke up around 7:30am and got dressed and ready for our adventure. There is water bottles in our go bags today cause it supposed to be a HOT one. We grabbed a quick breakfast at the lido and met our excursion group in the Main Stage. Today we were a group of three passengers and one crew member, why you ask….cause today we are bike riding again. Now, I had every intention of trying to sit this one out, but when I learned they were e-bikes….despite my doctor’s encouragement, I tackled it. We rode about 12 miles today. I used the pedal assists all day, Megan worked a little harder. We had a lovely ride through the outskirt of Adelaide. We saw some beautiful architecture, learned some history of the town, visited the Adelaide Oval, walked across a swinging bridge, saw the old Adelaide Gaol (pronounced jail, but for some reason a different spelling) saw some fruit bats (ok a lot of fruit bats; zoom in on the tree photo, those are not pine cones), got to go wine tasting (Megan had a non alcoholic Gin cocktail), and ate charcuterie. Our guides and the company that ran the tour were super nice, knowledgeable and a lot of fun to spend our day with. When we got back to the air conditioned van at the end of our ride it was 100 degrees in Adelaide. It made for a very HOT day and we were happy to get back into our air conditioned bubble of a ship by around 2:00pm. We relaxed and hydrated the afternoon away until it was time to get ready for dinner at 5:00pm. After dinner I had a 7:00pm appointment with the acupuncturist and Megan went off to play cards with Gail and Marty. Tomorrow we have another port and then a few days at sea. But that adventure will have to wait until tomorrow.

Sea Day/Adelaide, Australia

Today was a sea day and port day rolled into one. Happy Valentine’s day to all our loved ones back in the states. Being a day ahead we had Valentine’s day here a day before so it feels like we had almost 48 hours of lovey dovey holiday this year. We set our clocks back .5 hours last night. That time change in always a strange one, only a half an hour.  I started my day with an acupuncture appointment at 8:00 am. I had never been to one before but had watched someone get it once. I felt some relief and am going to see him again tomorrow. It was explained that is is similar to chiropractic care in that you have to go a few times in a short period of time and then less often for maintenance. I ate breakfast solo this morning and gave Megan some extra time to sleep in. Then I got a chance to go to project Linus. After, I went with Megan to eat lunch. Then we headed home to read and get ready for the afternoon activities. The ship pulled into Adelaide Port and we were cleared to get off the ship at 2:00pm. Megan and I took the first train from the port into Adeleiade. The train was about a 40 minute ride and it was standing room only. So many passengers got off the ship and filled that first train out of the station. When we arrived in downtown Adelaide and walked around. We ate some fantastic sushi. Megan got a squish mellow, we found a cool toy store and we got a couple of puzzles too. Megan also found and bought pop tarts. We were excited to find a skate shop and I got a Santa Cruz Brand T-shirt. The shop owner was excited to meet someone “from” Santa Cruz and gave us some stickers from his shop. This shirt is special to me now  cause it’s from Australia. We also went into Lincraft and I bought some Australian Merino wool yarn and I am going to make myself something as a souvenir too. We walked about 10,000 steps today. We found a small Mexican restaurant before heading back to the train station and split an enchilada. There were way less people on the train heading home and we luckily got to sit. We spend the night in Adelaide and have an excursion tomorrow. We are showered and ready to hit the hay tonight. There are six squish mellows on my bed and Megan. It’s getting crowded in here. Lol!! 

Sea Day “Happy Valentine’s Day”

Good morning and a Happy Valentine’s Day to all you back in the states. I am loving life on this lovely lovey holiday but I am still hating my back. Another rough night of sleep last night and I am frustrated with the slow go in getting back to normal. Last night we received a lovely box of See’s candy compliments of our amazing representative Dan from Cruise Specialists. It was a nice “piece of home” from across the miles. We slept in a little this morning and skipped breakfast. We got to spend a little time at Project Linus and the I went and got another 30 minute massage at 10:15 am this morning. After a session with her she recommended I get a consultation with the acupuncturist. So I grabbed a quick lunch and then headed back for a consultation. I scheduled an appointment for my first treatment with him for 8:00am tomorrow morning. I am still on gym restriction and have been encouraged to try and take it easy. He wanted to fit me in this evening, but tonight was our second gala/formal night. I have a lovely red dress that I had been waiting to wear and I am not missing out on tonight festivities. I did relax this afternoon and rested my back. When we got back to our room this afternoon we found two long stem roses and two boxes of chocolates on our bed compliments of Holland America. A lovely gift on this special day. We were all dressed up and ready to go to dinner at 4:45pm so we could go and have photos taken. Everyone was dressed in their finest tonight. It was quite lovely to see all the couples celebrating together. We did have a guest for dinner at our table this evening, as we had requested to have officers and staff to join us on special occasions. Staff member Spencer, the Sport and Athletic Director, joined us at our table for dinner tonight. He was on the 2020 WC and we had such a nice time talking to him and catching up on everything he has accomplished in the last few years. After dinner we took a gazillion photos and then went to Crow’s nest. On our previous world cruise the Crow’s nest was the center of events in the evening. Live band, dancing, a bar and where everyone went. On this ship there are 3 smaller areas that people distribute around to at night. But tonight they moved the band to the Crow’s nest and it was wonderful. A large place for the beautifully dressed guests and crew to relax, laugh, drink, talk and dance the night away. We actually stayed up till 11:00pm. We loved people watching and spent our time visiting with Freddy and Bob and Marty and Gail. When we got back to our cabin our bi-weekly flowers I ordered for Megan and I had been delivered, a dozen red roses and a bonus Happy Valentine’s Day bear from the florist on the ship. We also had a towel swan on our bed. We definitely feel spoiled and pampered and loved on this Valentine’s Day. E-cards have been sent to all our loved ones back at home where it is just now Valentine’s Day. We are ready to sleep fast and to enjoy a mostly sea day tomorrow. We will arrive into our Port in Adelaide around 2:00pm. We had scheduled a private tour to go hold a koala bear, but sadly, the weather is forecasted to be 90 degrees and due to the stress of the heat on the animals our excursion got cancelled. We have a few more ports in Australia and hopefully the opportunity will afford itself to us before we leave this beautful country. Sweet Dreams everyone and Happy Valentine’s Day!!

Hobart, Tasmania

Good morning from Hobart. We awoke in the same place we fell asleep again this morning. Don’t make fun, it’s a novelty to us. I am still nursing a sore back and didn’t sleep very well last night. But I will not let it slow me down. We were up this morning and grabbed a quick breakfast at the Lido before meeting our excursion group for the day. We met our excursion group in Rolling Stone Stone lounge, just to keep us on our toes. We did go to Main Stage first and there was no one there. Make sure you read that app and double check your meeting spots. Then we walked off the ship and caught the bus over to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It is the second oldest garden in Australia. We had a lovely guided tour through as much as the grounds as time would allow. Such beautiful plants and many flowers in bloom. Megan found some Nasturtium seeds in the gift shop and she was excited as one is peach and one is black and she said those colors aren’t common at home. She is excited to get home to plant them. Then we were back on the bus for the long ride to the top of Mount Wellington. I am actually surprised they let buses as large as ours to the top of this mountain. Most of the road was about a lane and half wide and there were cars going in both directions. We had to “suck it in” many times to get by cars coming the other direction. The view from the top was absolutely breathtaking and worth the drive up the mountain. It was about 40 degrees at the top of this 4170′ high mountain and it made for a short time off the bus to take as many photos as we could before running back onto the bus to warm ourselves. Then it was a long drive back down the mountain to back to the ship. We did get to see the Cadbury Chocolate factory that has been here since 1922 making delicious chocolate that many of you will enjoy this coming Valentine’s day. There were several vendors set up in the terminal and Megan found a pair of earrings, I got a lively opal ring and we purchased a couple of pewter friends, one Tasmanian Devil and one Kangaroo to commemorate our adventures here in Tasmania. When we got back on the ship I went to the spa and booked a massage for later in the day and even had to miss dinner but at this point I didn’t care. Megan went and had dinner with Gail and Marty in the Main Dining room. The ship re-broadcasted the Super Bowl at 6:00pm this evening on the ship to give the ship an opportunity to throw a Super Bowl party and have a pub crawl. We did not participate. There were several passengers that did not do excursions today and stayed on board to watch the game live that started at 10:00am our time. My favorite part of watching the super bowl is the commercials and sadly we don’t get them here on the ship so I will have to catch up on the best of in the next few days. Tomorrow is a sea day and I am going to go back to my masseuse at 10:15 am. I ordered room service, took a muscle relaxer and a sleeping pill and crashed hard ( I will admit I am actually writing this a day late). There was a medical emergency in the middle of the night, I think around midnight and there was an announcement made over the PA system that did wake us up. I will respectfully just say that a passenger passed away last night and we pray for his wife and those who knew him. Well tomorrow is Valentine’s day here so I will wish everyone on board chocolate wishes and flower dreams and the same to all of you in the states for tomorrow evening. Hugs.

Port Arthur, Tasmania

We have been at sea for 40 days today. Wow! Where does the time go? We are about a quarter of the way through this adventure we waited for, for three years. It’s hard to believe. Still nursing my achy back so we slept in till about 7:30am this morning when the alarm told us to wake up. We awoke to the ship cruising into the Bay in Port Arthur. This was a penitentiary and the remains of several of the buildings are still here preserving the history of the area. We made avocado toast for breakfast and ate it in our cabin this morning before we had to meet our excursion group at 9:00am in the Main Stage. This morning was a tender port and the seas were calm, but the captain warned us he expected winds to pick up this afternoon and that we should expect rougher seas when we returned later today. This morning we took a bus out to a Chocolate Factory where they hand make some very delicious chocolate. Megan and I each sampled and bought a bar of what we tried. She had a chai cranberry white chocolate bar and I got a raspberry white chocolate bar. We did notice their white chocolate here has 30% cocoa in it which differs from white chocolate in the states that does not have. It was lovely. From there we traveled just up the road to The Tasmanian Devil Unzoo. They have no cages here and the animals run free, in the enclosures of course. We got to go to a bird show, but the weather wasn’t co-operating and therefore neither were the birds. It was cold, windy and lightly raining. We did get to hang with a couple of Cape Barren Geese for a bit. Then we went to the enclosure where the Forrester Kangaroos were. We had the opportunity to hand feed these beautiful animals and spend a great bit a time in their enclosure hangin out with them. Last, we got to learn all about the Tasmanian Devil and see a feeding. Some Tasmanian Devil factoids for you; they bite with 2-3 tons of pressure that is equal to 4 or 5 Pit-bulls. Much like vultures they are scavengers. But there is nothing left of a carcass when they are through. No bones, skin fur, anything. They live about 6 years. They give birth to about 40 babies after only 2 weeks of gestation and the rice size baby has to make its way to her pouch. Ultimate survival of the fittest. Only about 2-3 babies will make it and she will eat the rest. About 5 months later the babies come out and around 9 month of age the mom will go off hunting for food and never return. Nice huh? They are named for the noise they make, early settlers thought the wooded areas were haunted when the heard the Devils making their noises. The used to be in the wild in Australia and Tasmania, but the dingos eliminated the Tasmanian Devils in Australia and they now only live in the wild in Tasmania. They are an endangered species. There used to be 200,000 of them until about 40 years ago when a facial cancer plagued the animals and dropped their numbers to 20,000. After our time at the zoo we headed back to Port Arthur. Megan and I had a chance to purchase and send home some postcards again. We also shared an o.k.ish pizza. We hadn’t had one in a while and it was a novelty to us. We walked around the historical sights a bit before being on one of the last tenders back to the ship around 3:00pm. As promised, or warned the seas were a bit rougher on the way back in and we were baptized a little by the Tasman sea. Once back on board we got ready for dinner and had a scenic sail out of Port Arthur through Cape Raoul. Beautiful rock formations that remind us very much of Devil’s post pile in Mammoth. Strangely to us, I missed the memo, we sailed into a second port today in Hobart, Tasmania. We were cleared to disembark around 8:00pm but we choose not to. This weekend in the Royal Hobart Regatta Festival. There is a wooden boat parade tomorrow but in celebration, tonight at 9:30pm there were fireworks! Super cool being on a ship watching fireworks getting shot off against the landscape of the Hobart city lights. I had never watched fireworks from a ship before and I believe we had the best seats in the harbor. After the fireworks we had live music from a local band that was brought on that played traditional music with kind of a Celtic feel. Tomorrow we have another excursion here in Hobart. But that is a post for tomorrow. We are pooped after our very long day. Thank you for taking the time to read this especially long post today. Enjoy the photos and good luck to whichever Super Bowl team you are cheering for tomorrow. We have Super Bowl Monday here and it is on at 10:00am our time. We’ll be on our excursions but the ship is rebroadcasting it at 6:00pm and having a delayed Super Bowl Party. Good Night!!

Sea Day

Hello from the Tasman Sea. We are sailing towards Tasmania today and we will arrive there tomorrow. Late last night I started having some back spasms, I suspect from all the walking our first day in Sydney. So I had a rough night of sleep and was not up to going to the gym this morning. Considering I could barely move, I thought it was best not to go. I did get up around 7:30 and went to the Neptune Lounge and got my tea and then came home to wake up Megan. We have taken to going to sleep at night with all our curtains open so we wake up sooner with the sun’s light. I was anxious to go and get some breakfast so I could take a Motrin to hopefully alleviate my pain. The Pinnacle Grill started serving breakfast specials in the last couple of days while we were away at ports and today it was chicken and waffles and Dulce de leche pancakes. I brought two of our avocados that are finally ripe enough to eat and had a vegetable scramble and put my fresh avocado on it. Megan tried and enjoyed the chicken and waffles. After breakfast I went upstairs to the spa to see if there was a chiropractor on board and sadly there is not. Next, it was time for Project Linus and I enjoyed catching up with Ginny and the ladies on everything that had happened over the last couple of days. We all shared our stories about our adventures from time in Sydney. Around noon I was starting to feel little better, thank you Motrin, so I went ahead and went to the gym for my workout. I did a lower incline and lessened the resistance on my elliptical, but I still did the full hour. I was smart and wore my bathing suit under my gym clothes and I went right to the hot tub after my workout for a soak. It was a relaxing indulgence after my workout. I was home and showered and ready to go to a EFFY jewelry auction by 3:00pm with Megan. She (we) bid on and won a beautiful Alexandrite bracelet. It was a fun way to spend the afternoon. Champagne, laughter, and fun was exactly what I needed to get through the day. Then it was time to get ready for dinner. Tonight we tried a new specialty restaurant, new to us, called Rudi’s Sel De Mer. It was a French inspired restaurant and we had wonderful food. Coincidentally as we were being seated we saw our friend Freddy and her husband Bob at the table next to us and they invited us to join them at their table for dinner. So they reset their table for four and we had a wonderful evening with our dear friends. Megan got the opportunity to dress up and wear her new dress she bought yesterday. We had some professional photos taken but attached are a few we took on our own. After dinner we headed home so I could say hello to you all in my blog and Megan went out to meet Gail and Marty to watch the 9:30pm performance in the Main Stage. I am headed to snooze land as we are prepared for our excursion in our first of two ports in Tasmania tomorrow. I will tell you all about it tomorrow night. Sweet Dreams!!