February 22 George Washington’s Birthday
Woke up this morning to the same weather, very overcast and a light drizzle. During breakfast we saw a rainbow, we never saw one in the middle of a sea. We are sailing west thru the Tasman Sea. The Tasman Sea is the body of water between Australia and New Zealand and covers an area of approximately 2,380,000 square miles. This morning we were 650 miles from Burnie, Tasmania, our next port.
Betty attended another culinary demonstration given by Chef Antonio. She learned all the Princess Cruises culinary secrets, none of which she will ever use at home.
The weather finally cleared up around 1:00 in the afternoon, we now have blue skies with large white clouds above. It is cool, around 62 degrees.
We did trivia in the morning and did average. We have a good time playing and it keeps us involved. At afternoon trivia we tied for first place but lost the tie breaker. Betty did laundry in the morning and luckily she didn’t get beat up. There has been one fist fight in the laundry so far, one woman punched another for taking her clothes out of the washer. (This happens on every cruise we go on, which is why I think the men should do the laundry.) To have the ship do your laundry is very expensive, for example a pair of socks is $1.25, T shirts $2.75, slacks $4.50 and shirts $3.50. Betty can do a load for $4.00 washed and dried, so it is a lot cheaper. (And or so much more fun.) The funny thing is every time she does the laundry, the next day that offer all you can fit in a laundry bag for $20.00.
We had a port talk on Burnie, Tasmania and it looks like we can take a hop on-hop off bus to various locations. We will see what happens on shore. The ships tours don’t seem interesting and of course too expensive. It sounds like a very interesting town.
Tonight was formal dinner night in the Club Restaurant. Betty looked beautiful all dressed up, of course she is always beautiful to me. I should have taken a picture!
February 23 HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOANNE
This morning we awoke to another beautiful sunrise, most sunrises at sea are amazing. We were at breakfast when the sun finally peaked through. We started the day with clear skies and a temperature of 52, with a forecast of 64 for the high. The forecast for tomorrow is clear skies temperature around 70 degrees.
Betty attended the Scholarship at Sea: Naturally Australia, explaining why Australia is unlike any other place in the world as a result of geological forces and climate changes.
After dinner we attended the evening show, the 2012 Pacific Princess World Cruise Choir. It was formed in 2010 by David Crathorne, the casino lounge piano player. This choir has an all-time high of 62 passengers and they put on a very good performance.
Betty was disappointed as we sailed across the “Roaring Forties” as it wasn’t really roaring. It was windy, but the waves never got really big. The last time we sailed through this area the ship was really bouncing around, dinner plates were crashing off the tables.
We were glad to see tonight come as tomorrow we will arrive in Burnie, Tasmania, Australia after 5 days at sea. We only have one stint of 5 days at sea at a time, then we have one of 4 days but most will be 1 to 3 days.
