Saturday, February 19, 2011

Hobart and Port Arthur, Australia

Thursday, Feb 17 – Hobart, Australia!

Hard to believe we are where we are and from where we have come. The days pass and sometimes you have to pinch yourself that are really sailing all these days and you are almost to “where???”!! Some of the group leave us in the next few days so that is sad…

Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city; was founded in 1804 and was an isolated prison camp. It is a nice port town; hilly and easy to get around either on foot or with car. We rented a car with friends and headed out to the Bonorong Wildlife Park, where we saw koalas, Tasmanian devils (they whine like a saw buzzing!), wombats (my favorite!), kangaroos, quoll (never heard of them! – indigenous cats), echidnas, emus, all kinds of birds, blue-tongued lizards…most were brought there because they were hit on the road or found in the bush. Emphasis is on conservation, education and rehabilitation of injured animals.

Continuing up the main road on the island, we came across 22,000 fenced sheep so of course we had to stop! (The joy of having your own vehicle)….They had just been auctioned off for $100-125 per sheep. One farmer just purchased 150 and they were counting them out. We saw the sheep dogs in action as they herded the sheep onto the trucks. Some were going to be shipped via ferry to Queensland and New South Wales (states on the mainland). The farmers were very nice and it was great to see this in a real life situation.

We continued up to the small town of ROSS and drove through the two streets. Most of the town’s buildings were built by convicts and there was a female prison, marked today only by a plaque. The buildings were of stone; there was a monument commemorating the fallen from WWI and it had a wonderful small town feel – two bakeries, one hotel, one gift shop, the church, beautiful bridge built by prison stone masons…the rolling hills in the area are covered in dried out grass with a few green trees and there are a few black cows. Along the way, an ironmonger had built statues of animals and people which he placed at the top of various hills alongside the road. Great sculptures!

We continued up to Launceston (LON-sess-tun), the 2nd largest city on Tasmania, to explore the magnificent Cataract Gorge, which is right in the city! We missed the last ride on the world’s longest single span chairlift but that was OK with us. The Bushland, cliffs and tumbling waters of the South Esk River really feel a million miles away from town. We went on two walking tracks (First Basin Loop and Cataract Walk), across the Alexandra suspension bridge over the First Basin and along the gorge.

Wrest Point Casino, returned the rental car but found out the office was closed, the hotel next door was closed where we were to leave the keys and so we had to arrange it with the bar on the corner and we parked in a tow-away zone! Oh dear…
Next time: Cadbury visitor center, MONA private museum, and the markets! There is always something new and exciting to look forward to.

“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built…” – Eleanor Roosevelt

Friday, February 18, 2011 – Port Arthur, Australia

After two ship-to-shore phone calls, found out the rental car and keys had been found and recovered. We tendered right in to the National Historical site of the country’s largest prison, Port Arthur. This area was a timber station in 1830 but it is best known for being a penal colony from 1833-1850. The hardest of the convicted British and Irish criminals and secondary offenders having re-offended after their arrival in Australia called this home. They had some of the strictest security measures in the British penal system. It is now a World Heritage site.

Most of the buildings were damaged by a bushfire in 1895 but you can still see the framework of the church, the round guardhouse, visit the interior of the decorated commandant’s home, hospital and government cottages. There is a harbor cruise to the Isle of the Dead where approx. 1769 convicts and 180 others are buried.

In the 50 years following the establishment of the first settlement in Tasmania in 1803, 57,909 male and 13,392 female prisoners were sent to the island. Many ended up at Port Arthur, where the slightest infraction would be punished by 100 lashes or weeks of solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water. In time, the penal colony became a self-sufficient industrial center where prisoners sawed timber, built ships, laid bricks, cut stone and made tiles, shoes, iron castings and clothing.

Afternoon nap!! Lately, I have been exhausted so I know I need some “me” time. During dinner we sailed past the scenic “organ pipe” rock cliffs on Point Raoul. They were incredibly colorful and the sun was setting on several other islands to cast a beautiful shadow like a white and black photo of the scene.

Saturday, February, 19, 2011 – at sea in the Tasman

This is the first morning we have awakened to rain – a wet deck and rain on the window (which is located inside the promenade deck)!

We were invited to the private engine tour (there were 8 of us) and we saw the three large engines, the waste eliminator, the incinerator and various other loud and hot machines! We wore ear plugs so it was difficult to hear, but nonetheless, interesting to see. Their computer room has a large wall filled with screens and printouts and cameras pointed on the funnels and the azipods. They work a four-hour shift, have time off and then a six-hour shift in the 24-hour work day.
Lunch with friends and then Chorale rehearsal with the band and on stage! We’re semi-professionals! Guest talent show was good fun: magician, accordion player, opera singer, bird whistler, comedian, barber shop quartet, “tip toe through the tulips”…and then the Chorale. We sang a medley of “Try to Remember, Play A Simple Melody, Button Up Your Overcoat, On the Sunny Side of the Street, Bandstand Boogie, A String of Pearls and That Old Black Magic: and finished with our rehearsed encore of “Our Favorite Things” with these words:

“Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up with string,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts, and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.
When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don’t feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heating pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no need for sinning,
Wrinkles and thick waists and hair that is thinning,
And we won’t mention the dent and the dings,
When we remember our favorite things.
When the snow comes,
Or you need Tums,
Do the wisest thing,
Call up your agent and book a GRAND CRUISE,
And then you won’t have the blues!”

Swapped photos from computers and cameras, worked, dinner with the friends who hosted on the Grand Voyage to Asia Pacific in the Fall, Simeon Wood from the UK who played various flutes and pan flutes and Lance Ringnald, gymnast and juggler on the silks were the entertainers.

Every day, we get room service for breakfast. Our room is tidied by the stateroom attendants . When we return from dinner, we have a towel animal creation sitting on the bed – could be anything ranging from an elephant, lizard, penguin, seal or bird…I have never seen such creativity. What takes me 10 minutes, they can do in a minute! We have a casino, movie theater, culinary demonstration center, dance and computer classes, library, lecturers on three diverse subjects and onboard sports where you can earn dollars to redeem for Holland America merchandise.

“Great work is done by people who are not afraid to be great.” - Fernando Flores