Excursion Down Under- part XII

Friday, April 11,2014 & Saturday April 12,2014- Sailing across the Tasman Sea towards SE Australia.

       These two days at sea were both restful and fun. Some wonder “what do you do at sea?” Well, we rise later than usual, eat leisurely meals and catch up on our reading. I finished Tom Clancy’s new book, “Command and Control.”

       We wandered the decks, stopped for an occasional cappuccino and enjoyed the relative quiet of a ship at sea. The nine-foot rollers were making walking a challenge, so we gave that up and watched a movie. A late afternoon nap is a distinct pleasure.

       Dining in the Venetian Lounge was pleasant. A whole array of tasty food awaited us. Baked Alaska, delivered by an entourage of the entire crew, is a wonderful tradition at sea. The Captain’s cocktail party showed off  a few hundred people in their best formal attire. It is a wonderful old tradition at sea that is now falling by the boards.

         Correspondence from the Captain advised us that all passengers were to disembark the ship in Melbourne by 10:00 A.M. No one would not be readmitted until after four P.M that day. They were going to scrub the ship down from stem to stern in order to combat the Noro Virus on board. Most of the passenger compliment ended their voyage in Melbourne, where they had embarked, so it wasn’t a major inconvenience to any one. Those few hundred of us who had boarded in Auckland were anxious to tour Melbourne and its environs, so it worked out for everyone.

         We were approaching Australia, a land we imagined of cowboys, sheep farmers, and crocodile hunters, with a laid back charm that has permanently endeared its citizens to all Americans. I think most Americans know that Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and others are major metropolises with a sophisticated and educated elite conducting them, as well as any city their size on the planet. But that isn’t the image most of us have of Aussies.

           Nicole Kidman had masterfully portrayed the Queenstown sheep stations and rural living in her epic “Australia.” She had also tasteful broached the subject of the native population and the ills they suffered with colonization. It is a subject most Americans are familiar with from our own history.

          “Gallipoli” and other epics gave us an endearing portrait of the bravery of Aussie men and women  fighting for the commonwealth and the country’s far off attachments to the British Raj.

          Deborah Kerr and Robert Mitchum had done a wonderful job portraying the itinerant sheep shearers in early Australia in “The Sundowners.”  And a whole host of sports stars and film actors have announced that Australia has arrived on the international scene as an important player. But were I to choose one image that has endeared Australians to Americans. it would be Paul Hogan’s masterful performance in “Crocodile Dundee.”

           Paul Hogan, a former bridge painter in Sydney, struck an endearing chord that has reverberated through the America psyche these last dozen or so years. The charming rascal, with the utter lack of pretentiousness and winning manner, reminds us of who we were once were, a land of small towns where farmers are among the most prominent people in the area. A place where small town values, with an importance on family ties and living a good and decent life by helping out your community are revered traditions. These are values we once cherished so much in our selves and now see and admire in our Aussie friends. We were much looking forward to the visit.

Sunday, April 13,2014- Melbourne, Australia.

        The ship arrived in Melbourne during the early morning ours. The flashing red and green lights, of the channel markers, led us into port. It was cloudy, breezy, and 60 degrees (F) with a light rain.

         Our ship's berth was across from the three-decked car Ferry “Spirit of Tasmania.” Regular service back and forth across the Tasman Sea to the Island of Tasmania is available here. The tall office buildings of downtown Melbourne sparkled with their neon lights illuminating the early morning gloom.

           Melbourne, a thriving and beautiful metropolis of over four million souls, had been founded in 1835 by John Batman, a farmer and son of indentured servants from Sydney. He and a partner, John Garner who would build and operate the Swann House Hotel, pretty much set up the beginnings of what would later bloom into metropolitan Melbourne. They planned the avenues wide so an ox cart could make a full turn without difficulty. They, and those who come after them, also provided ample land for a Royal Botanical Gardens and parkland through out the city, making it the attractive urban oasis it is today. The gold rush of the 1890’s had drawn many thousands to the area and it grew and expanded exponentially. Melbourne was the first capital of the nation of Australia. Her rivalry with nearby Sydney caused regional differences. They were finally settled when the capital was moved to Canberra in 1927.

        We had breakfast delivered to the room and then met up with our group at 7:45 P.M in the Jammer’s Nightclub on deck seven. We were to take a city tour of Melbourne and a short cruise down the Yarra River that bisects the city.

        I don’t know that you can ever describe a city as large as Melbourne in a few paragraphs. Our impressions of it are a comfortable city with broad avenues and much parkland to provide passive enjoyments for its residents. The 1956 Olympics here had brought the city to a frenzy. The large Olympic swim venue and other arenas like Rod Laver Stadium still entertain the sporting crowd. Everyone here is absolutely mad for Australian Football. It is a blend of soccer, rugby and officially sanctioned mayhem on a field where fans cheers and scream for their sporting heroes. Maybe the Boston Red Sox fans or Chicago Bears football fans equal in intensity the fervor you find here for the AFL game.

        The Tree lined boulevards of the stately homes in the Jolimont section attest to the city’s commercial and professional success. The Victoria College of Arts gives a hint of its sophistication. It is big city bustle with the charm of a much smaller town.The Royal Botanical gardens, with its impressive Anzac monument and the scattered Queen Victoria Statues, remind you of the city's English heritage in tasteful parks with jogging tracks and flowering plants to please the eye.

         Our brief cruise down the Yarra River cemented the impression that Melbourne is a comfortable place to live. Rowers glided by us as our small craft motored down the river. Joggers and cyclists used the river path, enjoying the bucolic settings of a park amidst the bustle of a big city. It is restful and eye pleasing here.

          The bus let us off by Federation Square. A collection of shops and restaurants surrounding the local art museum. We had coffee and sandwiches in the museum and strolled its collection enjoying as always that which is not familiar to us. We were tiring with the day and also mindful of the “last lifeboat “ syndrome of the bus that would pick us up here and ferry us back to the ship. We stood in line for 30 minutes until two buses came and picked up about one hundred of us waiting there. Later groups reported waiting for over and hour. The light mist and cool temps of an early fall day were making the day chill and unpleasant.

         At the ship, we found a mass of humanity that rivaled something out of a portrait of Ellis Island in the New York harbor area during the 1920’s. 1,900 new passengers were waiting shipside for a chance to board the Dawn Princess. The crew was still scrubbing down. This new compliment of passengers were folks from the Melbourne area who would ride the ship for two nights and get off in Sydney. Crew members call it "The Booze Cruise.” It was a brief cruise for them and they got to eat decent food and watch the ship’s entertainment for a nominal sum. They could also fly back to Melbourne for $75 (Aus)

         Loudspeakers summoned those of us “in transit” to board first.  We didn’t argue and made our way through the muttering crowds onboard, to settle in before dinner. We enjoyed a late afternoon “Toonie,” while I wrote up my notes. Then we watched “Gravity” on the TV. and warmed up from the chill of the day.

            This evening, due to the organized chaos of the embarkation, we were seated with six Aussies from Melbourne. Two women were  London expatriates who had emigrated here for work. It was a charming and fun-filled conversation with some good-natured ribbing back and forth about our various peculiar national traits.  A shrimp and lobster appetizer, a filet of salmon, with spinach and black beans, and then a deep dish apple pie with coffee and cabernet made a wonderful backdrop for the pleasant conversation. It was an enjoyable evening meeting new people. We were tired with the day and ready to turn in. We made our way back to the cabin where we read and retired, happy with the day’s travel. Tomorrow, we would set sail for Sydney and the end of our cruise.