533. Sunday 12th February 2017. Aboard the P & O Lines Ship PACIFIC ARIA…

Friday 10th February

Ever since I was a small boy, when an event was to happen I would internalise my emotions and excitement. So on Christmas Eve or the eve of a planned holiday I would only be able to sleep in fits and starts. Finally as the sun begins its weary climb above the horizon I would be wide awake and ready for whatever the day had in store for me. Last night was no exception. I was awake at 3am. Eventually the day got under way, Donnis woke, we breakfasted and finished packing.

The adventure was about to begin.

Graham and Wencke were on time and within minutes we were on the M1 cruising toward Brisbane. We had an easy run through traffic until about three Klms from the Cruise Terminal, then traffic was bumper to bumper and crawling at a snail pace. Even so, we arrived a good half hour earlier than our processing time. Finally we went through all paperwork and security checks and passport controls and we were on board the P&O Ship, Pacific Aria.

This is the adult pool on the aft of deck 10. Noboby under the age of 18 was allowed here. That rule was policed by the adults. The ship is berthed on the Brisbane River. The city of Brisbane is in the back ground

Looking at Brisbane as we arrived aboard ARIA.

More of Brisbane River.

Lunch was a bit chaotic in The Pantry on deck 11. Not surprising really as 1,000 or so people wanted lunch at the same time.

Early morning at The Pantry before the hungry hordes descend for meals. Within thirty minutes it was packed with people wanting breakfast.

Our first happy surprise was our cabin. We expected a tiny internal cabin as we had when cruising with Norwegian Cruise Lines in 2015. This room was twice the size and even included a lounge and a comfy King Size bed.

The ship has 1,268 passengers and a crew of 700. Not a bad ratio!

As the ship moved down the Brisbane River and passed under the Gateway Bridge, I realised why the State Government and indeed the Gold Coast City Council both want to build a new cruise terminal. Our ship is large but is not the largest cruise ship operating, not by a long shot. Even at low tide there was not much clearance under the bridge.

On deck 12 navigating the Brisbane River heading towards the Gateway Bridge.

Getting closer to the Gateway Bridge. Hmmm! I have now reconsidered the distance from the top of the mast to the underside of the bridge. We were cruising at low tide. It is a small ship. I can imagine how a ship twice the size would have trouble getting underneath the bridge.

It seems many ships cannot pass under the bridge which incidentally from a drivers point of view is very high and steep. The Gold Coast wants to get in on the action of more cruise ships wanting more ports of call.

A small tributary, Bulimba Creek, running into the Brisbane River seems to be a graveyard for sunken boats.

As the ship cruised along the coast we saw the Glasshouse Mountains of the Sunshine Coast from a new perspective with cloud cover and sunshine poking through the gaps in the clouds.

Looking at the Glasshouse Mountains – Mount Tibrogargan – on the Sunshine Coast. The sunset was a bit hazy due to salt in the air.

The Ship Pilot left via motor launch at Caloundra and we were on our way under the control of the ships captain.

Tangalooma Wrecks on Moreton Island is a site where 17 vessels were deliberately sunk to form a safe mooring harbour and to establish exceptional dive sites.

Dinner was in the Waterfront Restaurant and a great meal at that. Donnis and I shared a bottle of wine which set me up for another night of restless sleep

Most of our breakfast and dinner were in the Waterfront Restaurant. We always tried to get this table…144 or 142. We had a great view of the world and the serving staff were very good and we had them trained with our needs. For example Donnis always wanted fresh cream for her coffee and Wencke wanted a single breadroll at breakfast. Graham was very particular. He wanted food.

Saturday 11^th February

Well, as with yesterday’s bad sleep today was much the same. I slept fitfully. Perhaps it was the bottle of wine Donnis and I absorbed at dinner.

I was up at 5am watching the sunrise.

Amongst all the activities on board I did a Flying Fox flight from the ships funnel to an anchor point amidships.

I have climbed the funnel and am getting a final safety briefing for the ZIP line. Or Flying Fox as we call it in Australia.

After donning a heavy cumbersome harness and climbing a ladder to a platform on the funnel and connecting to the steel cable I was ready to launch into space.

Almost ready.

Let go of the cable once you are airborne they said. My mind said Ok but one arm said “No way” and hung on for dear life.

and away I go. Note I am still hanging on with both hands.

woohoo I finally let go with one hand.

halfway.

It’s all over. Arrived safely. Pride intact. The little girl behind me was already a seasoned rider. This was only the second day and already she had clocked up 6 rides…on this voyage. She has been on so many cruises with her parents she knows the staff by name.

Whew! That was over too quickly. “Can I do that again?”

Deck 12 looking aft. On the left is a rectractable roof covering the swimming pool on deck 11. It is closed during rain or bad weather but otherwise kept open to provide a sunny place to lounge and swim and play table tennis. It aslo allows in a breeze…much needed especially in the table tennis corner.

There is a hive of activity during the day with many events for the adventurous and not so adventurous alike. We tried a game which was a cross between Bocce and Bowls, Shuffleboard, Table Tennis, a talk on our various destinations and ran out of time to do Line Dancing. Tomorrow is another adventure day at sea and we will see what that brings.

Donnis at The Pantry with the open deck 11 in the background. We tended to sit on deck 11 at night and had our tea/coffee and cheese platter.

Tonight we dined at The Dragon Lady Asian Restaurant. (a mix of Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian) That was a great experience. We all tried something different stepping outside our usual culinary experience.

After dinner we went to a floor show in the auditorium

Deck 6 at night. Normally you can walk all the way around this deck. It is lit all night. It is also the deck allocated for some smoking areas, also Shuffleboard and Deck Quoits. It is also where emergency drill is held and where the tenders/lifeboats are stored. It is where we are assigned a lifeboat and have to bring a life jacket from our cabin for evacuation drill. You can see the underside of a lifeboat and a station number to assemble.

and afterwards I was asleep within minutes of arriving back in our cabin.

Sunday 12th February

Another morning waking and on deck at 5am. At least I could again watch a sunrise

Meanwhile from deck 11 the sunrise was pinking the horizon.

on the Starboard side of the ship and the moon on the Port side.

On the Port side at 5.30am the moon was still setting in the west.

The day unrolled with reasonably slow swells and brilliant sunshine.

The adult pool.

Apart from the usual meal times we managed to squeeze in games of Shuffleboard,

Wencke won at Shuffleboard.

I was knocked out first round.

Graham was also eliminated.

Bocce Bowls, Boule, Ballroom dancing lessons and Graham and I wore each other out playing aggressive table tennis.

In the afternoon the wind and swell changed direction and we could see we were running into some heavy weather ahead. We noticed the ship was no longer moving ahead and was wallowing in the swells. The Captain informed us a sensor on one of the engines was warning of a fault. Eventually the fault was found, fixed and the sensor replaced to be on the safe side.

The bad weather increased, now instead of a following swell we were taking a swell almost broadside increasing the ships rolling motion. In order to avoid the worst of it the ship altered course which means we will be a few hours late arriving at our first port, Alatou PNG, in the morning.

The rolling and heaving of the ship took its toll on many of the passengers. Donnis was barely able to eat more than a few mouthfuls while I struggled with cramming in three courses at Angelo’s Ristorante.

We could not even take a walk on any of the outside decks. The doors had been roped off as the decks were too windy, wet and being too dangerous to have passengers wandering about on a rolling ship. A pity really as Donnis and I would have both loved to have the wind in our faces to clear our senses.

A school of some sort of fish attracted sea birds in the middle of the ocean and no land to be seen anywhere.

After watching the floor show of a magician we watched a movie on TV and were rocked to sleep.

Meal times are a great experience. The Pantry is a cafeteria style dining area which is open from 6.30am to 9.00pm daily. This is a place to avoid…sometimes…as dessert and pastries are available all day as is coffee and tea. It is too tempting. We have a choice of three restaurants.

The large Waterfront Restaurant which serves traditional style breakfast lunch and dinner. There are also Angelos Ristorante which serves traditional Italian fare while the Dragon Lady serves Asian fare. These dining places are included as part of the ticket place. There are other dining rooms which are not complimentary.

It will be interesting to see what the weather brings when we dock tomorrow.

I expect to publish daily for another week as we visit various ports of call.