#177 Nomad Diary. 9-15 March 2024. Cruising on Royal Princess Ship to Sydney. Sea Days. Hobart, Tasmania. Melbourne, Australia. Sydney. Friends Get Us at Port. Begin Road Trip to Gold Coast with Gary and Trisha.
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| Melbourne Port Morning |
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| Melbourne Crabbing Boats |
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| The Lady Nelson Ship Manned by Volunteers |
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| Ferry to the MONA Private Collection |
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| Arriving at MONA |
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| A Sculpture at MONA |
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| View at MONA |
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| View at MONA |
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| Large MONA Grounds for Visitors |
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| Sideways Photo of MONA Below Ground Gallery |
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| In MONA Below Ground Galleries |
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| Lunch at MONA Wallaby. Delicious! |
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| Lunch at MONA. Wild Boar Taco. |
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| View at MONA. Picnic Grounds. Live Music Stage. |
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| View at MONA Saturday. 9. A sea day in the Tasman Sea. Our interior room creaks with the movement of the ship which is quite rocky. We are eating well as we always do on a cruise ship. We went to a port talk about Hobart, Tasmania where we will be on Monday. We have an early dinner with Paul and Angie from Singapore. We had a call with Jeremy and Andrea and Quinn in Brasillia, Brazil. They made it to their new home and were eating dinner. Quinn showed us his new bedroom. There is basic furniture there placed by the state department as they have not yet received their shipment. So pleased to know that they have arrived and are able to rest and get acquainted with their surroundings. Sunday. 10. Today we had our regular morning workout in the gym, coffee in the International Cafe, and looking forward to worship with a Singapore couple, Paul and Angie, in their cabin. We will attend at 1:30 and watch their Singapore congregation online together, sing hymns, listen to the preacher’s lesson, and take a communion of unleavened bread and fruit of the vine together. After our worship we stayed around another hour talking and visiting together. They have some similar experiences in life to us and some very different. Our cultures are quite different and it is the English language and the Bible message that connects us. I’m so grateful to know them and to hear about their 20 years in China with Paul’s work and their retired life in Singapore now. They have a son who married last year and they have their daughter in law in their family now. Angie kept encouraging us to come visit Singapore. I told her that I appreciated her invitation very much. Asia has not been on our list of places to visit but I’m so happy to now have them as a connection now. Monday. 11. In port today at Hobart, Tasmania. It is our first time to Australia. It’s about 65 degrees with clouds. We decided to walk off the ship and maybe do the hop-on hop-off bus. The line was long there and we walked on by following the water south. We saw another ad for another bus route. We went into the building to get tickets and they were sold out. The ticket seller suggested for us to get a ticket to go to the MONA, a modern personal museum collection that is an 11 km ferry ride to get to. We decided quickly to go. We got our tickets, found the line and were on the 25 minute ferry ride up the river. It was comfortable and scenic. We read the brochure and downloaded the app on our way. We arrived and walked the famous 99 steps up to the compound. It looked like the bad guy’s lair from any James Bond or Incredibles movie. It was very real as someone who has loads of money and employs some very talented architects to create a vision of a place to bring people and have a gathering place. There were wide interesting places to look at and then to go into the museum which is down in a bunker vault that is huge. The building again was amazing! The collection very eclectic and some areas were marked ‘adult’ and we didn’t want to see what a child was restricted from seeing. There was plenty of space to wander through and look. The most interesting to us was a section of church art with several rooms and then another water fall printer with words coming out in water and falling 2 stories. We had a fabulous lunch at one of the many restaurants. There was live music and a ferry ride back. We were tired from getting up so early. We went back to the ship and napped! Then I did a soak in a hot tub on deck as the weather is so much warmer than just a few hours ago. We met up for dinner in the dining room and went to a magic show in the theater. |
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| Fancy Presentation Cream Puff at Ship's Dining Room |
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| Selfie in Melbourne |
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| Melbourne |
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| Veggie Bahn Mi. Melbourne |
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| Packing to Leave Ship in Inside Cruise Cabin Tuesday. 12. A sea day. The weather has warmed up! Yay! Our normal morning workout with the gym to ourselves. Coffee at the cafe. Breakfast in the dining room. A 10am show in the theater with the head of the kitchen and the head of the dining room staffs. They banter with humor while presenting 3 recipes cooking on stage. Then at the conclusion they brought out some representative staff from 28 countries! A Filipino staff sung Time to Say Goodbye with the lovely lyrics in Italian and English. Time today to talk and think about our travel schedule to Brazil in July and August. Also doing daily duolingo lessons. Wednesday. 13. Melbourne port today. It was raining on and off and about 65 degrees F. I so enjoyed exploring this city. We had a shuttle bus to take us close to the CBD. There was a free circle tram that rode us around the city on a 45 minute loop. Before we got onboard, we walked several blocks into the center and through a very nice shopping mall. We walked through an alley way that was getting ready to serve lunch sandwiches and different cultural restaurants getting their signs and prices out. Turned out that we came back there and ate lunch at a very tiny Vietnamese restaurant. We had Bahn Mi’s and I had a fresh juice and Darrell had a banana and yogurt shake. We were tired and riding the circle tram was relaxing and out of the rain. We rode the whole loop and then got off at the library before getting back to a lunch place. We went into the library. The architecture was fabulous! There were two amazing antiquity displays. One was old Hebrew texts and books dating from the 9th century through the 19th century. The other displays were a variety of books including an ancient cuneiform artifact! Wow. Thursday. 14. Today the weather is a variety. One time we go outside and it’s warmish and another time it’s too cool with wind! We are going in and out today, and always well-fed onboard! Being our last full day on the ship, they treat us extra special, if you can imagine that! They want to send us all off with good feelings and wanting to return to this cruise line again. Darrell and I have returned over and over. |
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| Gary Driving Through Sydney from Cruise Port |
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| View on Drive to Urunga |
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| During Road Trip with Gary and Tricia. Sydney to Urunga. |
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| Seeing Kangaroos in Urunga |
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| Tricia's Cousin Cathy's House in Urunga. |
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| Cathy and Tricia at Coast in Urunga. |
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| Friday Dinner with Darrell, Andrew, Cathy, Tricia and Gary |
Friday. 15. Leave the ship at 8am. Our cruising friends Tricia and Gary from Gold Coast are picking us up at the port and going for a road trip to their house with overnights on the way. Tonight is dinner with Tricia’s cousin! We were greeted and welcomed by Cathy and Andrew into their home. We had a lovely dinner and a nice room in their home. We saw kangaroos in the neighborhood. Cathy took us on a drive around Urunga and to the beautiful coast just 10 minutes from her house. We enjoyed the visit and seeing into their home and being welcomed.
Nomad Notes.
A couple of people express that they’ve been gone from home about 2-3 weeks and they are homesick. It’s so true. I experience being homesick for the US, and then homesick for travel. I want to visit and be but I am also looking for the next visit to someone I love and want to spend time with. It seems that the amount of time away from the familiar varies before homesickness sets in. I’ve made a sense of peace with waiting for the moments and times I travel to be. I travel and tour making my home where I am. Loving and caring by learning names, listening, sharing, praying and being together with Darrell as we grow older. We have a moving mentality and we are learning to live in this way. Renting furnished accommodations that are comfortable for us, meeting with a local independent church, beginning friendships and renewing former ones.
I’m writing the following on Thursday. Today I am to pack to get off of the ship tomorrow. I called both grands families today. I am feeling the conflict and tug of wanting to be with the grands and be in the US and also enjoy where I am. When I feel this within, I take deep breaths. I pray. I draw. I sing. I listen to music. I take care to express my gratitude. I tell myself that I can do this. I think that this is not a good time to write about internal conflict and yet it is a also a cathartic reflection for myself. I have ups and downs in varying degrees. I have always had ups and downs whether I am in my own home or traveling about from home to home. I know that I am loved and cared for and that goodness is in every place for me. I laugh, cry and love and days like today my feelings are tender and I am gentle on myself.
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