Day 3 - Newcastle

7th January 9.22am
Well, yesterday we spent the day docked at Newcastle. We weren’t super excited to get up and go early because 1 – we are still a little bitter that Hobart got swapped for Newcastle, and 2) Aaron was working and we couldn’t even catch up with him. Nevertheless, we had a lovely time wandering around. It was a really big deal to have a cruise ship in, by the looks of it. As we came to the pier in the ferry, there were people selling souvenir editions of the Newspaper with an aerial picture of the ship, as well as Australian trinkets and stuff. When we got to the main mall, there were volunteer guides everywhere handing out mini koala badges, an emu mascot-type thing running around madly, and opportunities for photos with a kangaroo mascot. ALSO - we were treated to classic melodies such as ‘Waltzing Matilda’ and ‘Pub with no beer’. I certainly hope that it is not like that normally on a weekday! Too much Australiana (and I love my country!!). Tris guided us to a little coffee shop that he has visited before, and all had fattening drinks like thickshakes and iced coffees.

After we got back on ship, we went to the gym, had a swim and some lunch. We were due to sail away from Newcastle at 4pm, so after we were dressed all fancy like for dinner at the specialty restaurant, we went up on deck to listen to the band and watch us sail out. The people from Newcastle were out along the shore waving us away, which was great. Felt like somebody famous. It was all very fun and whatnot until my drink was sprayed all over me when the wind swept across the top of my glass!! Darn large surface area! Tristan, Jordan and I watched as the pilot captain and his buddies from Newcastle who had guided the ship out of the port jumped back onto their tug boat. It was great to watch! The tug pulled up against the ship and connected a rope ladder. Then the three men jumped out and onto the tug. The wind was unbelievably strong, so that was pretty amazing.

We went to dinner at the Olympic Restaurant (the specialty restaurant on board) which is a replica of the dining room from the Olympic – the Titanic’s sister ship. The meals there are amazing! The kitchen is open so you can watch them preparing the food, and the waiters also prepare your meals tableside. One of our waiters, a man from Croatia, carved up my rack of lamb right beside me on a cart. SO COOL!! They also served us cheese between the main and dessert from a cart right beside our table. The coolest thing though, was that the waiters put your plates down SIMULTANEOUSLY!!! We had 3 waiters for the 6 of us. They also take your plates away simultaneously! Haha! I wanted to laugh, it was so strange to see. My dinner was: Tomato, red pepper and mozzarella soup; goats cheese soufflé; rack of lamb in puff pastry with spinach fetta; cheese and dried fruits; chocolate soufflé and coffee. Delicious! 
After dinner Jordan and I went to the Thalassotherapy pool, which is like a gigantic heated pool with spa sections. It was really warm, just like having a bath. Very relaxing! We went to bed after that and slept well.

This morning we all woke up at 5.30 and went to the gym. We need to go, otherwise we won’t fit our clothes by next week. We’ve had breakfast and wandered around a little. Now I am sitting in the ship’s coffee shop having a coffee and typing this up listening to a bunch of Vietnam vets complaining about how crap they think this cruise is. One man just said on a scale of 1-10, he thinks it is a minus 3. What a whinger!! That is one thing that we have been disappointed with so far is the number of people who complain and whinge and bleat about nothing! They complain so loudly too, so everyone can hear. We are trying to be extra encouraging and show our gratitude to the staff to make up somewhat for all of this. They do such an amazing job and are so very friendly. Dad’s stateroom attendant, Basuki, knows him by name - “Mr Rodney”, and says hello no matter where he sees him on the ship.

I had better post this along with some photos and get to doing something else other than sitting on my backside! Bye! xoxo