Anita had tried to go to the pool early this morning, but her access card would not open the door. She went down to reception, and a worker returned to the pool with her and used his card to let her in the pool area. The reason her card didn’t work was the pool doesn’t open until 8 o’clock!
After packing most of our gear, we walked to Harris St for coffee and croissants. We had a second coffee in the casino before catching the taxi from hell. The cab pulled up at the Star Casino rank, and the driver loaded our bags in the boot. The cab smelled of cigarettes, the driver spoke nonstop in a foreign language into a mouthpiece, and he drove too fast and erratically. I was recalling the increased risk of drivers being distracted when talking on a mobile phone! There was one near miss with another taxi.
When we arrived at the Overseas Passenger Terminal, no fare amount was shown on the meter. He told us the fare was $48, so without thinking, we handed him a fifty dollar note. We were distracted seeing friends as the driver unloaded our bags, and clearly we had not appreciated what was going on until after he had left. We are out of practice travelling, so it was a good reminder for us to double-check everything before each trip. The fare should have been about $20. We didn’t notice the name of the taxi company, his name badge, or anything else that might have allowed the slimebag to be identified.
The first people we met up with in the queue for Cruisin’ Country were Beccy and the Hussy Hicks, Lisa and Jules. Lisa’s parents and sister are on board, so she will be juggling her time between work, friends and family. There are at least 20 other Roadies on board the Royal Carribean ship Brilliance of the Seas. We will be at sea for two days, spend three days around Noumea and Lifou, then spend two days sailing back to Sydney. Live country music will be being played somewhere on the ship from 8.30 am to 1.30 am, not that we are likely to see much after 10 pm!
The ship was built in 2002 and refurbished in 2013. Some parts look shabby, such as the cupboards and drawers in our cabin. The shower is tiny compared to those on Viking ships.
It was good to see views of Sydney, but we don’t miss this huge city.
We had a late lunch with some of our friends. Unfortunately, two other friends had their holiday ruined thanks to a cancelled flight out of Adelaide yesterday. They were rebooked on a flight which went to Hobart and Melbourne before coming to Sydney. They there were not able to get to the ship before she sailed.
The ship issued room cards in orange or purple, and this determined whether passengers ate early or late in the dining room, and whether they saw the late or early evening show. There was a major cock-up as we were all issued the wrong colour. New room cards are being printed overnight.
We enjoyed this evening’s shows performed by Amber Lawrence and McAlister Kemp. We tried to watch Hayley Jensen, but there were too many loud drunks. Our final outing was in the Colony Room, listening to Ricky Albeck and the Belair Band – Ricky is Beccy’s son. She is in the audience, and so is her mum and sister-in-law.
Committed Travellers 