Hardest Part is Saying Goodbye … and Packing

Day 51, South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand Cruise

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022; Tasman Sea.

Of course I put off my packing until the very end. And it was made much the harder by our rough passage through the Tasman Sea between New Zealand and Australia. At one point the captain announced seas of 23 feet, with wind gusts up to about 60 knots. As a result, he had to slow down and even change course to ease the effect on the ship.

Photos from the ship simply don’t do justice to the stormy seas, but you can see the effect on the swimming pool on Deck 9 earlier in the day, even before the worst of the motion.

Instead of our intended arrival in Sydney at 6:15 tomorrow morning, we won’t be there before 9:45 a.m. Earlier we got the good news that again we will dock at the Overseas Passenger Terminal in Circular Quay, across from the Opera House. But because the pier is next to the Sydney Ferry wharfs, ships cannot dock there during the morning rush hour. Even the more inconvenient White Bay Terminal is not accessible earlier due to the tidal schedule affecting our ability to sail under the Sydney Bridge.

This will mess up the flights of a lot of people.

I’m flying home on miles, and instead of sweating whether I would make my 11:15 a.m. flight, I originally decided to stay over in Sydney and fly out the next day. It means I will avoid the craziness of travel on the day before U.S. Thanksgiving. But just before the cruise started, American Airlines cancelled my last leg and is sending me to an airport more than an hour away.

So, I’m flying Sydney to Los Angeles (15 hours), Los Angeles to Dallas (3 hours) and Dallas to Northwest Arkansas (1 hour), where I will arrive about the same time I left Sydney, due to crossing the International Date Line. My sister Eloise canceled her Thanksgiving dinner plans to retrieve me. I’ll probably owe her big time!

After last night’s dressy dinner, I made the rounds to find my favorite beverage servers and baristas to give them a little something extra for their great service and to get some photos. I knew Hazel and Aileen from previous cruises. In fact, I wrote about Hazel in a blog post in 2018!

Above, clockwise from top left, are Regina, Jasmin, Aileen, Laura and Montaa.

We had a stunning sunset last night, but even though I watched until the sun disappeared, I did not see the rumored green flash.

I hear about 400 passengers will stay on for the next two-week segment, which goes south from Sydney to Tasmania, Adelaide and Melbourne. The news this morning was that Australia is requiring the non-Australian passengers who are continuing to pack up everything in their cabins. Their luggage will be removed from the ship and then returned later in the day. I’ve never heard of that before, but apparently it has something to do with Australian customs. It sure will make a lot of extra work for the stewards and porters.

The Daily schedule is full of activities to fill these two sea days, although on closer inspection many are sales and promotions from the spa, the shops and other venues. The captain held another question-and-answer talk, and our new lecturer, Dr. Karen Woodman, spoke on “Australian and New Zealand Englishes.” Unfortunately, her lecture conflicted with our Mariner’s lunch. But I did meet her in the Crow’s Nest, and later attended her lecture on Australian indigenous languages. She left the Zuiderdam in San Diego and flew to Auckland to join us.

The captain continues to update the covid numbers. Monday there were 56 in isolation, and today 39 passengers and no crew. I’m not sure what the Australian protocol is for covid-positive passengers who plan to disembark tomorrow.

Once I’m home I’ll write a wrap-up blog post, and then write a couple on my preparations for January’s world cruise. If you have a topic of interest or questions I can try to answer, please post in the comments.