Day 2 – Up the Coast of NSW

We are at sea cruising our way up the Australian coastline, heading for Darwin. I offer a monologue on shipboard life to set the scene. There are the older, not so old and younger passengers on board. The older passengers are to be found in games rooms, coffee shops and immersed in books on deck chairs. The not so old are to be found in the gym, fast walking on deck and sunning at the pool. The younger passengers are in fact members of the first two groups who are lying about their age. This is a world cruise and has attracted an older group of people.

Do not be put off cruising at this point as it is completely the opposite passenger makeup if on a shorter cruise where much younger people dominate the decks.

We are really happy with the passenger mix as the pools are largely empty and the gym equipment is not used for more than five minutes at a time. The only downside so far is very slow entry and exit to lifts and pushing every floor button citing that they did not bring their glasses!

We are roaring along at an average speed of 18 knots (30kph) and we arrive in Darwin at dawn on Thursday, crikey. Talk about going “cold turkey” on stress. There is a huge gap between the physical and mental stresses of work and the stress of which martini to choose to have served to you, in which spa, on which deck. Apple & lychee is now my preferred martini, shaken not stirred of course.