Ms Amsterdam World Cruise 2013 - Adelaide to Freemantle

Wed 20 February 2013

We arrived at the Outer Harbour of the Port of Adelaide at 9.45 am and were greeted by the brilliant music of The Old Gum Tree-O Bush Band playing on the dock. They went through all the old trad Aussie songs which were a great welcome.

At 11am I met up with Larry and 3 of the other barmen and took them over to lunch at the Largs Bay Hotel a few miles away from the Port.

 We had a great time and as they had to be back and on duty by 2 pm the time went very quickly. The old pub served us excellent meals and it gave the guys a chance to relax away from the ship.

After I got back to ship I freshened up and took the shuttle bus on the 40 minute ride into the city. As the place had changed so much since I lived here over 40 years ago I decided to stay on the bus and return to the ship. I will have come and visit Adelaide another time for a few days.

There was an Aussie BBQ on board the ship on the outside Lido deck during the evening with the bush band from the morning providing the toe tapping music.

 It was a fun night and at the end of the entertainment I had my photo taken with the band.

I finished up a great day and evening with a few night caps in the Crows Nest.

Thursday 21 Feb 2013

I had a great nights sleep and woke up at 8.45 am so I had a late brekkie by myself as the ladies had already eaten. I met up with Judi and gang at 10 am to catch the tender over to Kangaroo Island where we spent a few hours.

Judi was happy as she saw a wallaby which she thought was a Kangaroo. We went up to the pub which has fantastic views over the rugged coastline. Of course we had a local West End draught beer while we took in the views.

I had an easy arvo catching up on emails and downloading photos for the blog.

The Crows Nest happy hour was heaps of fun as folk I have met on the 2011 World Cruise are still coming up to me and saying g’day. We had a beaut dinner and some of the others had us in stitches of laughter recount some of their stories.

We had to go to the Ocean Bar for our night cap as the Crows Nest was closed for a private party for the crew hosted by the lovely Anna-Maria a passenger that hosts a party every year on the World Cruise for the officers and crew. I know the crew look so forward to it as they can dress up and be waited on by the senior officers.

I called it a night at mid night and had a great nights sleep. As we are heading west we had to put the clocks back by 90 minutes to be in line with AWST.

Friday 22 February 2013

I met up with Judi for brekkie in the Lido. Today is a sea day so I sent off all my dirty washing to be done. I am so pleased the Great Australian Bight is so calm today and it is not too cold outside on my veranda.

I got a list with the breakdown of the nationalities on board as I know some of you are interested in this info of the main nations. Well only 23 Aussies, I Kiwi, 112 Canadians, 87 Poms, 816 Yanks, 2 Irish and the rest are from other parts of the world. So even the Commonwealth countries combined don’t out do the Yanks.  The total number of passengers for this segment of the cruise is 1140.

The evening was formal and the dinner had a medieval theme. All the waiters were in period costume and played the part. We certainly had a great night with heaps of laughs.

As most of you know it is against my tropical Cairns religion to wear formal gear (well for too long) , I went up and changed before going up to the Crows Nest for a night cap. OMG I think every smoker on the ship was up there so we only had the one drink and went down to the sports bar and had Larry make us a Wang Wang. This was the first time Judi and Fran had ever tried one and they liked it so much they had a second.

Saturday 23 February 2013

Today is another sea day.

I had brekkie with Judi and did some cut price shopping in the morning and then caught up with other friends for coffee.

I had Bloody Marys at the Seaview bar as it was a very sunny day before lunch. The 3 hour nanna nap went down well before early Happy Hour. I am still having folk come up to me from other cruises to say hello. Willy and Raymond and bar staff are really looking after me.

I did the Happy hour before dinner which I may say are becoming more popular so it is hard to get a seat at the bar unless you are early. Dinner was the usual good time with heaps of laughs.

I had a night cap at Larry’s bar and called it a night at about 11.30pm.

Sunday 24 February 2013

We woke up in the Port of Albany and went ashore on the free shuttle bus provided by the Port. Our first stop was Coles supermarket to buy up before we leave Australia. The locals had gone out of their way to provide with information officers, craft markets and a very friendly photosphere. It was a pity that a few showers of rain put a damper on the day. 

We went to the hotel Albany to shelter from the rain and of course we had a beer and some lunch. 

 We had a leisurely walk back to the ship after the rain had stopped. 

We had a great day as Albany is a fantastic place to visit.

Monday 25 February 2013

After an early night last night and a good sleep in this morning I was a little late for brekkie. I spent the morning chatting in the Lido poolside area.

 I had lunch there also and then it was time to pack the overnight bag for my arrival in Fremantle where I will be staying overnight with Warren and Lorraine who I met on a cruise last year.

It is a perfect warm sunny day with clear skies as we head up the WA coast towards the port of Fremantle. Our arrival was slightly ahead of schedule so I had to quickly pack an overnight bag and be outside to meet Warren.

He took me for a drive along the coastline from Fremantle to City Beach and then over to his home in Floreat. I was made most welcome by Lorraine and Warren at there home. We caught up with a few drinks before their other guests arrived. 

The six of us sat down to a fantastic steak BBQ and chatted for many hours. The company was excellent as everyone shared their stories. I think I was in bed by 10.30 pm and had a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday 26 February 2013

I awoke about 6 am and went down stairs to work on my computer until my hosts woke up. We had brekkie and then Warren drove me down to the nearby barbers shop to get a haircut. Then Lorraine and Warren took me on a tour including Kings Park where we stopped for coffee.

 The views from the Park over the city ware fantastic. We continued the tour down to Fremantle. There is no doubt that this area is booming thanks to the mining. I don’t think I saw a car over 5 years old.

I invited Warren and Lorraine on board for lunch and my friend Judi took them for a tour of the ship while I got my cabin ready to have them for drinks before departure.

It was great to catch up with this lovely couple and my sincere thanks to them for making me so welcome at their home and showing me the sights of both cities. 

 I hope they enjoyed their visit to the ship and the small memento I arranged for them.

We set sail at 4 pm and had postcard perfect views as we sailed down the Swan River and into the Indian Ocean and headed up the coast towards the Indonesian island of Bali.