Around the World Again

Albany, Australia – February 20, 2018

Albany (pronounced “Al-bany” unlike the New York city which is pronounced “All-bany”) dates back to 1826 when it became the first settlement in Western Australia. It was a whaling station for many years and I had signed up for a tour of the last station in Australia which closed in 1978. In January I received a note that my tour was cancelled. Instead of booking something else, I decided to just wander around town. It has a fairly small and walkable downtown area and it is one of the last ports when I have nothing booked and would feel comfortable walking around on my own.

No rush to get off and I wasn’t sure when I would get back so I had a little breakfast before leaving the ship about 10:15. There was a free shuttle bus provided by the city that took you to the center of town.

I walked around, looked at the small craft fair set up next to the shuttle stop, visited two shops like Dollar General (with a little of everything), bought a pair of ear plugs (for swimming) at K-Mart, and ended up at McDonald’s. Great free wi-fi! I spent a lovely hour catching up on e-mails and even surfing the web. For some reason e-mail on the ship is very slow to load – even more so than web sites.

Walked up and down the main street before coming back to the ship around 3:30. Had my afternoon ice cream and finished off my book before trivia. We had 16 and the winning team had a perfect 17.

1)Which two U.S. capital cities have rhyming names?

2)With a population of about 35 million, what is the most populous city in the world?

3)What is North America’s largest rodent?

4)What is the chemical symbol for table salt?

5)What is the name for a mammal that lays eggs?

Due to tonight’s schedule I had decided not to eat in the MDR but in the Lido. I had fruit, Tri-Tip beef, and cookies for dessert.

Listened to Jamm from 7 to 8 pm and then worked on my knitting. Glenn Michael had another Aussie sing-along at 8:45 which lasted until 10:15. He gets off tomorrow and heads home to Sydney for a short time before going to Seattle. He is going to be an EXC guide on the Nieuw Amsterdam and might be the EXC guide on the Amsterdam for the 2019 GWV (Barbara is retiring in the fall).

We arrive in Fremantle tomorrow about 4 pm. Not sure if I will get off the ship tomorrow but have plans for the following day.

Albany sights…