Category: Travel

Melbourne: Cruise Port to Airport

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It just struck me as interesting. It’s Cruise Port not Cruiseport and Airport not Air Port. I know, I know, we drive on parkways and park on driveways. 

Dawn Princess arrived on time Tuesday morning in Melbourne. We had said our goodbyes to table companions and waiters the evening before but we did encounter our Junior Waiter again at breakfast. After that it was a hurry up and wait day. Two big suitcases were, hopefully, making their way dockside as we cleared the last of our belongings from the stateroom so Rodel, our steward, could make it ready for the next guests. Now it was wait time, along with about 900 others leaving the ship in Melbourne. Disembarkation was orderly as usual and we were among the last to walk off. By 10:45 we were on a coach heading for Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport.

Wait time! No Air New Zealand personnel at the desk until 3:30 PM. How to kill nearly 4 hours at an airport, hmmmm? Oh goody! Check-in time, Hurry up, let’s be first. Wait time! How to kill 3 more hours at an airport AFTER clearing security. The only good thing was that we seemed to be in between the morning traveller rush and the evening rush. Security and customs areas were almost empty. Wine time! 

Ah ha, our airplane arrived and close to on time. Boarding commenced with wheelchairs and baby strollers first but somehow as a result of bizarre placement of lounge benches and  corral tapes we ended up with the pre-boarding group. Why not, we deserved it. Now, being first on the plane we wait some more.

Only 30 minutes late off the ramp but only 15 minutes late on arrival in Auckland, thanks to winds aloft. Air New Zealand did have what they referred to as a meal on board, The smell was enough to put me off. Give me rough seas any time. Gail was braver than I and tried something called beef and noodles. A bread roll and sweet cake went down and the rest went back. 

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The overhead sign in the airplane just needs a slight change.

Quite amazingly, we were quickly off the plane and even more amazingly our luggage was in the first batch to arrive on the carousel. Yes! By the way, I think the world’s largest duty free liquor store is between the gates and baggage pickup at Auckland airport.

Passport control took but a couple of minutes, now on to agriculture control (or whatever they call it) Gail always carries packaged snack food with her to manage her blood sugar. The chap at the first inspection station could not get his mind around “packages of ritz crackers with cheese” so we were re-directed to secondary inspection for the first time ever. The lady at the inspection station took one look at the bag of snacks, shook her head in disbelief, asked a couple of additional questions then shooed us off to X-ray. Yep, both coming and going in New Zealand. Looking forward to the body search on exit. We really hate air travel these days.

Our Supershuttle van and driver was awaiting his passengers of which we were two and it was easy to find. Auckland has “day time” and “construction time” on their roads. Fortunately, traffic was very light at 1:30 AM and we were at the hotel before 2. During checkin Gail indicated she was hungry and our order for pizza and wine went to room service before we started for our room. We needed a user guide for the elevator. “Insert and remove key card then select your floor.” Sounded simple enough. Figured it out eventually.

Finally, dinner…and sleep.

Adelaide

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We had a really pleasant autumn day in Adelaide. Lovely and sunny with mid 20°C temperatures. We didn’t actually make it into the city of Adelaide, having visited before we opted for a stop in Port Adelaide, where we had not been previously. So, after a leisurely breakfast we came down the gangway, through the terminal and across the street to the train station. Envious of Australian seniors who were able to ride for free, we anti-ed up our $3.10 (each) for a 2 hour ticket. The train arrived and departed right on time and about 10 stops later we arrived in Port Adelaide. 

The train platform was well above the street level and the only apparent access was by way of an inclined ramp that snaked back and forth seemingly endlessly. Once on the main street we followed the crowd to the water’s edge where there was a large building containing what I would call a permanent flea market. Gail actually found a book she hadn’t read for an amazing $2 price tag. The port is a dolphin habitat and there are tour boats offering to take anyone out to visit. The small town boasts several museums. A maritime museum, airplane museum and a railway museum.

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After browsing the buildings and side streets we approached the railway museum and decided to take a look. They took pity on us and only charged us seniors rate even though we lacked an official Australia seniors identification. As soon as I get a stable internet connection I will upload photos of about two dozen locomotives and other rolling stock. We found it quite interesting in many ways. Some of the “more modern” carriages were remarkably similar to some we had traveled in during our 2007 visit to Australia. Gail had the opportunity to see the inside of her first caboose. 

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We continued our leisurely walk through the town. Based upon the number of vacant shops, the town has seen more prosperous days. However, there was plenty of street traffic particularly as we moved away from the waterfront to less “touristy” areas. One unexpected sight was this 1959 Edsel parked near the flea market.

We grabbed a couple of small bags of  McDonald’s fries then climbed the endless, zig-zag ramp to the train platform. Once again the train was right on schedule and, being honest folk, contributed another $3.10 (each) to the transit system. We made it back to the ship in time to get lunch and do a last load of laundry before starting the homeward trek on May 6.

Albany area

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Our over night trip from Fremantle was to arrive by 11 AM in Albany. Mother nature had other ideas and we arrived an hour or so later than expected because of wind and waves. We certainly noticed the seas during the night but I think we are becoming accustomed to the bumpy ride.

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Here’s an interesting note. We were advised to adjust our watches one hour ahead last night, which we did. When attempting to convince my computer to adopt our current time it turned out that the selection was to be Eastern Indonesian Time. I investigated further and it is also Japan Standard Time or Palau time. There appears to be no area of Australia sharing this time zone. My iPhone seems willing to adopt a time associated with Eucla, Australia which is 15 minutes behind Eastern Indonesian Time. Incidentally, Eastern Indonesian Time is also Irkutsk Standard Time although this region appears to be at least one and a half time zones west of Indonesia. Ah, the trivia one learns.

We waited in the theatre for the ship to be officially cleared for us to go ashore and then we were off to our coach. We were taken to Emu Point where we boarded a small boat for our tour of Oyster Bay and the Kalgan River. It was quite cool and fairly moist, particularly at the front of the boat. Never-the-less it was one of the most enjoyable tours of the cruise and perhaps one of the best ever, thanks to the 24 year old operator, navigator, tour guide, raconteur, cook and Captain, Jack Jones.

For the first part of the tour he manoevered the boat around Oyster Bay as he described the history and geography of the area from Captains Cook and Vancouver up to the present. The bay was used to farm oysters and mussels and a small very green island served as a nesting area for pelicans from a much wider area than the bay and river. Jack punctuated his narration with folksy poetry of his and his fathers and stories about the flock of pelicans that greeted us as we came aboard. The heroine of the pelican stories was Percy. Yes, Percy, a female. He named the bird as a youth before he could tell the difference. Percy would dance on command, doing circles in the water for her waltz. Jack would present her with a small fish for her efforts. The bay and the Kalgan River was populated with many species, the birds being the most visible on this day and Jack seemed to know where they would be. Spotting them was quite easy, getting a picture was more difficult but we got a few. 

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Shortly after Jack took the boat through an area containing ramps and buoys marking a competitive water skiing area he grew up to a small dock and extended the boarding ramp. This was our wine tasting stop. We were escorted up a steep his from the river’s edge to Toyota minibus then driven up more steep hills to the Montgomery’s Hill winery. There were a surprisingly diverse selection of wines for tasting and the five I sampled were all worth a second taste. Unfortunately, I doubt we will see the label at home anytime soon. The minibus returned us down the hill to the boat ramp where we waited a few minutes for the return of Jack and the Kalgan Queen.

Waiting for us on the boat was hot tea or coffee and slices of warm damper, a yeast-less but very tasty bread. As we returned down the river to Oyster Bay Jack continued his patter of humour and history. The light was fading quite quickly as the tour was ending nearly an hour later than planned because of our delay arriving in Albany. We ran at full speed across the bay with the plastic side curtains pulled down to minimize the spray. Percy guarded us all the way back to Emu point occasionally taking a fish from Jack’s hand as she glided beside the boat. 

The coach met our arrival at Emu Point and we returned to the ship via the centre of Albany. The driver did narrate as he drove and I am sure everything he’s described must have been there. Being dark by this time, it was a bit difficult to confirm and impossible to photograph. As we boarded the ship just before 6:30 PM the dock was very quiet. We believed we might have been the last to return but a few did not return for yet another hour.

The Captain took us out of the harbour and soon the ship was rocking and rolling through the Great Australian Bight en route to Adelaide, the only remaining port before we disembark in Melbourne.

Fremantle – Perth

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The smooth sailing out of Indonesia lasted for a day and a bit before things got a bit bouncy for the next day or so. There were some who felt discomfort but we survived very well. On the third day of our run from Indonesia to Fremantle we were fortunate enough to see a partial solar eclipse. This is a phenomenon neither Gail nor I have ever witnessed. I believe there may have been one opportunity at some time in my life but weather was uncooperative. This time we had a great view through the safety glasses provided by Princess. I even managed to get some photographic evidence. 

The final day of April marked our visit to the port of Fremantle and the city of Perth, the capital of West Australia or WA as the Aussies call it. We had great weather, sunny and temperatures in the low 20s C. with no hint of rain. The port at Fremantle is very nice. No long industrial jetties, just a pleasant, spartan terminal building. Our motor coach was awaiting us in the parking lot  and we were soon off on our tour. The coach meandered through the streets of Fremantle to provide a quick look the it was off across the Swan River on our way to Perth. 

The traffic between Fremantle and Perth was quite heavy and not that different from Melbourne or Sydney, a little surprising considering the differences in size.  Our tour guide rattled on continuously throughout the trip, filling our ears, if not our heads, with fact and folklore. We were impressed by the appearance of the homes and streets. All seemed clean and well cared for. The area is remarkably green considering how little precipitation actually falls. Prime real-estate is at least as expensive as at home. 

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We eventually arrived at King’s Park which reminded us in some ways of Stanley Park in Vancouver, particularly, I think, because of its size. We spent our time walking through the park to find the Treetop Walk and the Glass Bridge. There were some great views of the expansiveness of the park, the city of Perth below and the Swan River. Unlike Stanley park which is at sea level, King’s Park is high above the river and city centre. It would take weeks to explore the whole park. Near the parking area were some shops, cafes and on the edge of the escarpment an extensive war memorial overlooking the city.

We boarded our coach again for the return to Fremantle and a brief stop at Cottesloe Beach. There were quite a few people in the water, a few trying their luck surfing although they didn’t get very long rides. There were a couple of the iconic Australian Surf Rescue guards along the beach. The port and the Dawn Princess funnell was just visible from the beach.

The coach returned to the port and after a quick stop for lunch we set out to wander about on the streets of Fremantle. Many of the buildings have some history. The Maritime Museum displays an America’s Cup yacht inside and a submarine.There are thousands of names inscribed on a welcome wall outside the museum. There are the expected assortment of souvenir shops along the streets but the port area contained no conspicuous hotels or resorts. We worked our way back to the ship across the pedestrian bridge that conveniently crosses the railway almost directly to the terminal entrance.

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