I was so glad that I returned to the ship around lunchtime because by 4pm bad weather was appearing on the horizon! The beautiful flat ocean turned - the book title ' The Cruel Sea' came to mind! The tenders were having major problems getting passengers onto the ship. Even once tied to the pontoon, the crew was working overtime helping passengers off. At one stage, the rope, tying the tender to the pontoon, snapped. The tenders had to move away from the ship, and a novice, like myself, was wondering how they would get everyone back on board. I must admit my stomach was churning!
The captain started to turn the ship to give the tenders some shelter from the wind, which helped. It was still very precarious getting on to the ship - the tenders were just being tossed around - but the crew worked really hard, and everyone got back on without injury! You could hear the cheers from the passengers as they finally reached the side!
The storm really drew in with incredible lightning, and the sea became rougher. Eventually, the captain announced that they were cancelling all tenders taking people back into Mooloolaba and were only going to pick up people from the tours - some had gone Brisbane or Noosa or Australia zoo! Everyone was obviously back on board by 7:30 as we moved out to sea earlier than expected! The lightning was incredible!!
The people in the cabin next to me are a mother and daughter. The daughter is a travel agent in Queensland and managed to get this cruise from Sydney to Cairns (not a stop where people usually get off!). It's obviously a PR thing as some travel agents are coming on for the day to look around.
Last night I went with them to the steak restaurant. The food was delicious.
The majority of staff are from the Philippines, and when we dock in Manila, they are being given a half-hour time slot to catch up with family! Juan, my steward, is from Honduras. He was supposed to leave the ship in Sydney, but the replacement staff from the Philippines had the wrong visa on arrival here and were sent back. He now stays on until Manila!
Woke to a grey, not so calm day, but was able to get my one nautical mile (1.85km) walk in before breakfast! I listened to a talk about 'Australia's Vanished Giants' - quite interesting. In the afternoon, I was at a talk about Airlie Beach. I then had a restful afternoon reading before an Italian themed dinner followed by a country singer in the Cabaret area.
This morning (Wednesday), I woke to find us cruising through the Whitsundays.
Left the ship by 9am witha tender trip of 40 mins to Airlie Beach. Had a walk and swim now going back to the shi
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