February 24
For those who were wondering, Tasmania is an island and a State of Australia.
Burnie, Tasmania, is a major industrial center and one of Australia’s largest and most significant deep water shipping container ports, handling over two million tons of cargo each year. Burnie is where you can access pristine World Heritage-listed wilderness and the unknown beyond. (I always pictured Tasmania as being all wilderness with Tasmania Devils running around, not big industrial ports.)
Upon arrival 12 Australian officials boarded the vessel to conduct a full passenger face to face passport inspection. Each and every passenger had to be inspected, passports swiped and stamped, then checked at the gangway before we proceeded ashore. Hopefully we will not have to go through this at Sydney since we don’t visit another country in between. Australia is the place that has the little Beagles that are trained to sniff out any food that people try to smuggle ashore. Bringing any food or plants into the country is strictly prohibited due to the threat of insects, however passengers still try to stuff sandwiches and fruit into their bags. Luckily the process was quick and we were ashore at 9:30. Because this is a working port a shuttle was provided to take us into town. They take security and safety seriously and do not allow pedestrians on the pier. We were greeted by the Mayor(he made sure we knew he was the ‘real & only mayor of Bernie’) on the dock. Everyone was given a pin from the city.
First thing we did in town was to go to the bank and exchange some US money for Australian money. Our plan was to find the Hop on/off bus to the whiskey distillery, unfortunately the bus was not running. Cabs were about $60.00 so we gave up that idea. We then went to K-Mart to see if we could find a beard trimmer, and finally had success. However, we were so excited that we found it after searching many ports, we failed to realize Australia has their own unique plug that of course doesn’t fit into the converter we have. Now we have to spend our time looking for an Australian converter. I went into a betting parlor but it was too early to bet on the horses so I probably saved money. We then went to lunch at a place called “Mecca” Betty had lamb pizza and I had Spaghetti Bolognese, both were very good. If you like lamb then New Zealand and Australia are the places to be, it is wonderful here. The service left a lot to be desired though. My tip matched the service, zero, I’ve only done that a few times in my life. Back outside we went to the Bottle Store and bought some beer to take back to the ship. There was a beautiful boardwalk to the Maker’s workshop where the shuttle picked us up for the return to the ship. It was a very nice walk along the Bass Strait and I got to enjoy a cigar. We visited the Little Penguin center but we did not see any as they are out at sea during the day, returning at dusk. We then went in the workshop and paper museum, this area used to be known for its paper factories. The people in Burnie were very friendly and welcoming, it would be a nice place to visit for a bit of time. Wish we had more time to explore the countryside.
Penguin Statue in Penguin, Tasmania
We got back to the ship at 4:00 and welcoming us was a Bagpipe band playing for our send off to Sydney. They were wearing kilts and Aussie hats, and were required to wear the safety vests!
We sailed out of the harbor at 5:00, heading northeast towards the south eastern corner of the Australian mainland. We are scheduled to arrive in Sydney on Sunday, February 26th.
February 25th Sea Day
Only one sea day, how sweet is that! Today’s trivia is the last day in the segment, we have people leaving the ship so we will have to recruit new members. The problem is we are losing our members from the United Kingdom and half the questions are from there. We never won, came close but that only counts in horseshoes.
We had a talk by Gavin MacLeod titled “Mary & Me” He recounted his life over seven years with cast members of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”. Quite interesting talk, but dwelled on the death of Ted Knight too long and also the health of Mary Tyler Moore. In the afternoon we went to see the video of the Make-A-Wish Jump by Lorna Grey, our trivia partner. I don’t think I could do that base jump, Betty could for sure as she is crazy.
Tonight evening entertainment was Lion’s Den, a vocal trio who specializes in the sound of the harmony groups from the 50’s to the 90’s, Platters to Bee Gees. Well, I couldn’t stop laughing during the first two numbers and wondering why was I sitting there listening to three Australians of Oriental decent trying to sing Frankie Valli songs. It was very funny. But by the third number it vastly improved and at one point the lead singer of the trio sang a Phantom of the Opera song which was outstanding. I was glad we didn’t walk out.
Overnight we continue sailing on a north easterly course along the South Wales coast until we arrive in Sydney. This sail-in is one of the most interesting of the ports we have visited. We are docking right next to the Opera House and the iconic Sydney Bridge which is the best location.
