Seychelles to Cape Town - Ms Amsterdam World Cruise 2013

Thursday 28 March 2013

I was up early and watched our arrival into the Port of Victoria,  Seychelles as I had my brekkie in the Lido. This place sits on latitude 2 degrees South of the equator so I was very warm and humid even before we got off the ship.

There were some local guys playing local music on the wharf to welcome us. I went into town on the shuttle with Joan and we had a look around. It reminded me of Thursday Island only much bigger and full of very friendly people. After a few hours as we couldn't find a pub we headed back to the ship for a late lunch.

On the return trip I noticed the Ministry Of Tourism building which had old cannons on display on its front veranda. This seemed strange to my crazy sense of humour so when I got back to the dock I went over to the Tourist info tent to ask why the had the big cannons there, was it to scare away the foreigners?  

The young ladies giggled and told me they were from the French and English days of occupation so they are now a tourist attraction.

After a late lunch I had a nanna nap before the Happy Hour sail away party held in the Sea view bar aft on the ship. WOW I got some blood read sunset photos as we looks back to the Island.

Dinner was a hoot as everyone told their stories. Many other folk were coming over to our table to say how much they enjoyed the Pope’s visit the night before.

Susan and I went up to the Crows Nest for a few night caps before going to bed. I had to put back the time another hour so we are now 7 hours behing Queensland time.

Friday 29 March 2013

I had a beaut sleep in and got out of bed just before 9 am. I love sea days.

After brekkie in the Lido I came back to the cabin and watched an episode of Ballykissangel.

At mid day I met up with Dick at the Lido bar for our pre lunch drinks.  I had another great stir fry.

 After chatting to Pete and Dianne after lunch I headed down to the cabin for long nanna nap and I missed the early Happy hour. Well it is Good Friday.

I went down to Larry’s bar for a quick red wine before dinner. Susan came along and escorted me into the dining room and we had a great seafood dinner.

I called it an early night after dinner and was in bed before 10 am.

Saturday 30 March 2013

I woke early at 5 am and caught up with emails, banking and other internet chores. At this time of the morning not many are up so there is a fairly strong signal.

Today we arrived at Nosy Be, Madagascar which is a tender port, and as usual there was the wheel chair and Zimmer frame handicap rush (race) to be first in line for the tender ride. When will these pushy old farts ever learn? I had a leisurely brekkie and went down after the rush was over.

What a postcard perfect day it has turned out to be, so romantic with the locals in their dug out canoes trying to sell things and begging for clothes and money as we have anchored off shore.

Nosy Be (‘no see bay’) is the largest island off the Madagascar coast, and Andoany, aka Hell-Ville, is its commercial centre.

I went over on the tender with Dianne and then caught a old little bomb bus shuttle into the town that is after we were over trodden by the rude overweight arrogant Zimmer frame walking stick brigade who as always want to push in. I want to get all my travels out of the way before I am in that situation.

It was so hot and humid and the town was very 4^th world, in fact it was very depressing to see such poverty and under nourished people. We spent about an hour walking around and then decided to head back to the ship. Thank God for the little shuttle busses as it gave us the opportunity to see more of the town called Hell-Ville. The seas were calm and to see the little fishing boats and some of the locals in their dug out canoes selling their goods.

Dianne and I went up to the Lido for a drink and my usual stir fry lunch. Dick came in after his tour and we compared notes.

After my nanna nap I made it to the sail away party, and then got ready for dinner. Susan went to dinner with her husband at the Lido so we could not kick each other under the table at some of the stupid things our table mates say.

I met up with Franz (Susan’s husband) Susan and Dianne at the Crows Nest for a night cap. When I arrived Karaoke had ten minutes to go and may I say thank God for that as some with a few drinks on board would have driven any bugs away as they sounded horrible. Dick wanted me to sing Waltzing Matilda, no way.

I called it a night about 11 pm and as tomorrow is the first of 2 sea days I will be able to sleep in.

Sunday 31 March 2013 (Easter Sunday)

 Went up to brekkie after a sleep in and was to late to catch Judi so I held court with the kids. Everyone was excited about it being Easter.

I called in to the Easter Mass in the main theatre after brekkie. Then I  watched the final episode of series 2 of Bellykissangel after that it was time to go up to the lido to catch up with Susan, Franz, Linda and Russell.

Dick was in fine form and kept having a go at me about not singing Waltzing Matilda last night at karaoke.

I had the usual stir fry for lunch and then it was time to met up with Pete for a few Bintang beers on my balcony. I followed all this Easter excitement by having a long and may I say well earned nanna nap.

I awoke too late to make the early happy hour with Dick so I just got ready for the later one. Tonight was an Easter formal night and every one encouraged to dress in Pascal colours.  I wore a light blue shirt with a pale pink bow tie with the black tux suit.

 Franz (Susan’s husband) was the officer appointed to our table for the formal night and boy oh boy did we have heaps of fun. We were the last table to leave the dining room.

We ended up having a late night at the Crows Nest as we waited up to mid night to welcome in Judi’s birthday. I got to bed about 1 am however we had to put the clock back an hour so that was a bonus. We are now 8 hours behind Queensland time.

Monday 1 April 2013

I slept in and didn’t get up to brekkie until just after 9 am as today is another sea day. At 10 am I went to the talk on Cape Town and I am really looking forward to visiting that city.

The remainder of the morning was filled in by holding court on the Lido deck and at mid day I joined Dick for one of our animated discussions trying to solve the problems of the world.

Lunch was the usual Caesar and stir fry. I gave the young Indonesian lady who makes and serves my Caesar at the bar each lunch time a little rabbit stuffed toy we were given as an Easter gift on Easter Sunday. Well you would have thought I gave her $100 tip as she was so excited.

After lunch I had a long 3 and a half hour nanna nap so I missed Dick at the early happy hour.

I went to Larry’s bar before dinner for a quick drink and catch up with a few friends.  Susan walked me into dinner and we celebrated Judi’s birthday. After 2 drinks at the Crows Nest I called it a night about 11.30.

Tuesday 2 Apr 2013

Today we arrived at Maputo, Mozambique. After brekkie I caught a shuttle bus into the Felma Market. Even from the ship it looked like a developed city with heaps of skyscrapers and modern buildings but the ride in proved it was a 3^rd world city. I think traffic lights were only there for decorations as no one seemed to take any notice of them. 

After a 40 minute ride through the city we arrived at the markets that were full on local handy crafts, carvings etc.

After a couple of hours Linda and I found a bar and tried the local beer which was great. We were then joined by Franz and Susan so there were heaps of laughs. Linda and I thought it would be a good idea to visit the toilet before the trip back to the ship. Well as a bloke they had normal urinals however in the ladies it was the hole in the floor. The toilets were very clean and Linda an experienced traveller had no problems like some of the old overweight yank sheilars.

We seemed to come back to the ship a different way and it only took 15 minutes and there was nowhere the traffic congestion we experienced on the trip to the markets.

  

On return back to the ship I met up with Susan, Franz and Eileen for lunch at the Lido bar. I had a beaut chicken and prawn stir fry. After a few drinks I came down to the cabin to catch up on the emails as I will not have time to have a nanna nap before sail away happy hour.

It was a great sail away out at the Sea View Bar with a beaut sunset. I then went to get ready for dinner which tonight I had been invited to join Russell and Linda. What a fun night we had.

I decided when I got up to the cabin to call it an early night.

Wednesday 3 April 2013

I awoke to the sound of a chopper hovering outside my balcony just after 6 am. It was the transfer for the Pilot to take us into the Port of Richards Bay, South Africa. I dived out of bed and on to the balcony to get some photos of the pilot being lowered down on to the fore deck on my level 6. It was rainy and windy and it was done with such professional ease.

 In my maritime days I had done some helicopter transfers with the pilots from Gladstone and Hay Point in central Queensland but it was always in perfect weather and the chopper landed on the ship, so I admire these guys being lowered down to the deck.

After brekkie we had to do a face to face passport interview with the South African officials. These ladies and gents would have been the friendliest officials I have ever uncounted on any of my cruises. They were laughing and making the process fun. Of course I didn’t need any encouragement.

The day could have been a tropical downpour day in Cairns, OMG, it rained and blew. I had a ships large umbrella to keep me dry, but it nearly turned inside out in the wind. The rain gave us a break from the heat of the past few weeks.

The shuttle bus took me to a large shopping mall, which could have been anywhere in Australia or the USA. I was so surprised to see how well developed this area was.

After walking around for a while I heard female voices calling out “Pat, Pat” and on looking around I saw Joan and Barbie. The first thing they asked me was if I had found a good place to have a drink. We went to a fast food restaurant called “John Dory’s “ Fish –Grill - Sushi and thank goodness we did as we were treated like Royalty.  The young ladies serving us were a delight and enjoyed the humour of the 2 Yank sheilas and the Aussie bloke.

 We even had the manager over to welcome us and make sure we were happy with the service. We had drinks and meals and it only cost us under $10 each.

We came back to the ship and then caught up with other friends in the Lido and exchanged stories. I decided I would not go to dinner tonight and have room service instead followed by an early night.

Thursday 4 April 2013

It dawned a beautiful fine day as we approached the port of Durban and a large helicopter lowered the pilot on to the fore deck. The temp has dropped a lot and the max temp today is expected to reach 23C (72F) so that will be good for the obese overweight passengers as they will not be sweating as much.

I had an early brekkie in order to update the newsletter, check emails. etc., and get ready to meet up with Alan and Manny to go out for a look around.

I met the boys at the gang plank at 10 am and then we had to go through South African Immigration in the terminal. Well the passengers just breezed through and were impressed by the friendly officers. However the crew had to line up separately and got the works so I had to wait for an extra 30 minutes for them to come out so I made myself comfortable on a bench using my backpack as a back rest.

We caught the shuttle bus provided by the port authority to have a look around and they dropped us off at a mall by the sea. Again I was very impressed with the city and the standard of living.

The local people we met were so friendly, helpful and polite and it was a pleasure to meet them. After having a look around we found a beaut café to have lunch and a few beers. As like yesterday the service was excellent and we had the lady serving us nearly in tears of laughter as she like us were having so much fun. The meal was so cheep and even with a good tip and the beers & coffee included the cost was only $12 per head.

Manny had to get back for work by 2 pm so he left Alan & I to look around so we went down to the beautiful beach.

On our return to the ship I met up with Russell and Linda for a quick drink and then it was time to have a shower etc. and get ready for the South African BBQ and entertainment around the Lido pool. It was a great night.

I finished the evening with a night cap in the Crows Nest and retired for the evening about 9.30 pm.

Fri 5 April 2013

The morning dawned a beautiful clear day and I went up to the Lido for a light brekkie as I had a Mariners brunch to attend later in the morning.

The Mariners cocktail function went very well and I was presented with a medal. Hank the Hotel Manager and the Captain had a photo taken with me. Hank thanked me for making his staff laugh and also cheering up many of the guests. I thought his comments were nice.

The 3 course brunch was delicious and the service was excellent. After lunch I joined Dick for our usual mid day drinks.

I had a nanna nap in the arvo before the early Happy Hour. Tonight was a formal ‘Celebration’ night, we had a full table with Franz joining us as the Officer.  Franz is always good fun at the table and has everyone roaring with laughter.

We were issued with coloured top hats and I was given a white one for ‘papal duties’ and a green one for the next Saint Pat’s day. Lord knows how I will get all this extra stuff home as Mr QANTAS charges like a wounded bull for excess luggage.

Most of our table went up to the Crows Nest for night caps after dinner. I think I may have had 3 or 4 as it was 1.30am when I called it a night.

Saturday 6 April 2013

I awoke to the sound of the fog horn about 7 am. The waters were very smooth but we were in a very thick fog and it is getting much cooler as we head south to Cape Town.

I had a late brekkie and then found out I have to move cabins tomorrow after arrival in Cape Town which is a bit of a pain in the bum. I have been lucky that I was upgraded to a veranda cabin for the first 51 days and now I have to go down to deck 3 for an ocean view cabin which I paid for.

I spent the first part of the morning packing as the cabin guys will move all the gear for me.

After meeting up with Dick for the usual drinks I then had lunch with Susan, Franz, Russell, Lynda and Dianne around the pool on the Lido deck. The fog has now cleared but the Captain advised us we can expect fog again tomorrow morning when arrive in Cape Town which will be a shame. Let’s hope the fog gets blown out to sea so we can see Table Mountain.

Sun 7 April 2013