Crossing the Coral Sea
Saturday, 5 October 2013
05.10.2013 - 05.10.2013
I left Jenny in bed and headed up to catch the sunrise. I was greeted by strong winds and a decided chill in the air. The sunrise was spectacular and worth the early rising. I had breakfast at the Horizon Court and returned to the stateroom. Jenny had her breakfast delivered by the 'Room Service' waiter and declared that she was feeling a lot better.
We made up some gratuity envelopes and vacated the cabin so that Joseph could wave his magic wand and make it all look bright and sparkly again. After a short time in the Crooners Bar, Jenny headed off to craft and I joined a growing crowd in the Theatre.
Today's event was a Culinary Demonstration to be followed by a Galley Tour. The Executive Chef and the Maitre d' Hotel, supported by a huge cast of cooks and waiters provided and hour of enjoyable antics on stage while passing on some excellent culinary tips.
I had arrange to meet up with James for the Galley Tour. Early in the cruise I had mentioned to the Chef that James had worked aboard a cargo ship as the baker during WW2. This being a good four weeks later I wasn't sure if he remembered so it was a great surprise that when I made the introductions he welcomed James and asked him to wait for the 'tour' to complete. When the last of the passengers had completed the tour, the Chef led James through the bakery and the pastry area and introduced him to the staff working in those areas. James was treated like a VIP and you couldn't knock the smile off his face. Wherever we went the Chef introduced him as a man who was doing their work, only 70 years ago. Staff of all ranks stopped their work to shake his hand.
When we left the galley James kept on saying 'That was the most memorable part of this cruise'. I was very happy to have made his day.
By this time the ship had entered an area of rougher weather and the ship has reduced speed to battle some significant chop.
The central stage of the Horizon Court was was the focus of a Pastry Extravaganza featuring and all manner of sweet decorations. The inclement weather had brought all the sun worshippers indoors and it was impossible to photograph the cakes for the crush of people surrounding the display.
After lunch we returned to the stateroom we were amazed to see the spray from the bow-wave occasionally reach our window on Deck 9 !! With Deck 3 being the sea-level deck we are at least six stories above the water. Awesome !! Decided that the best way to enjoy this ride was to adopt a horizontal position, surprise surprise, I fell asleep. Awoke about about 1530 and started to write this and found that the ship's actions caused me to miss-key more often than normal.
Formal night tonight and lobster on the menu, I elected to try the Beef Wellington and was certainly not disappointed. The ship continues to crash through and into the waves. All entertainment in the Theatre, 2 decks below us, has been cancelled due to the violent movement of the bow section
The Captain made his farewell speech and promised calmer seas ahead. There was a large gathering in the atrium as he recounted the significant highlights of this voyage. Will now close this note and find somewhere to upload it.
Last day tomorrow.
My photos are posted each day to http://365project.org/tonydebont/365
Cheers ... Tony
Posted by greynomadm 02:14 Archived in Australia