Day 44 - Downunder 2016 - Wed - 11/09/16 - Albany

The question of the day today will be: Where were you when you heard the news that Donald Trump was elected 45th President of the United States? For us the news came today while we were walking around Albany, Australia. It's a charming and welcoming city which has a long and rich history associated with seafaring and whaling. We enjoyed a slow and pleasant sail in after our normal breakfast. There's a narrow channel leading one into King George Sound and past the Vancouver peninsula, and a cargo ship taking on a load of some mineral ore. As we approached the dock, the captain had the ship do the cruise ship dance, rotating the Maasdam 180° clockwise and gently bringing her alongside the pier where a fleet of tour and shuttle busses were waiting to take on their precious human cargo. At 10:02 we received our Cruise Director's announcement that we were cleared to leave the ship via the gang plank on Deck 3.

We disembarked the ship immediately to a brisk chill and found our way to the free shuttle which quickly whisked us into town. We were the only ones who elected to stay on the shuttle until the second stop near the museum and the Brig Amity replica. We got to the museum at 10:50am and learned that because of our ship being in town it would open at 11am and not the advertised 1pm time. We chose to tour the ship first (it was really interesting) with an audio guide to describe the various aspects of the ship and its cargo. All of this cost only $5AUD each. Then we toured the museum (another $5AUD) with a powerful exhibit on forced consent adoptions and an exhibit displaying aboriginal artifacts that are normally on display in the British museum in London.

Next door was the Gaol (jail), and we toured it as well for another $5AUD. From there we walked up the main street (York) admiring the Art Deco and touring St. Paul's Anglican where the helpful docent rang the bells for us. This church also has some nice stained glass which I am always on the lookout for.

We enjoyed a very nice döner lunch at a Turkish owned restaurant. It was probably one of the best sandwich of its kind we have eaten throughout the world. We also enjoyed some pleasant conversation with the owner and his wife about Trump's election. While they are concerned about him as president, I tried to convey that he was elected because the American people wanted a change.

We continued our walk around town and then back to the ship where we reboarded around 4:30pm and went to the Crow's Nest to watch the sailaway which started around 5:45pm. Once we slipped away from the dock, the Maasdam headed back out to sea around the ore carrier and through the narrow dredged channel. As the sun set off our starboard side and darkness crept in, we suddenly had a pod of dolphins cavort in front of the ship.  

After a quick minute steak and mahi mahi we enjoyed an Irish magician, Patrick McCullaugh and then watched an Australian movie, Goddess, which was a funny but perceptive 'chick flick'. We finished the evening watching the election coverage and needing to move our clocks forward one hour as we are now heading back west towards Adelaide as our next stop.

If you have been reading my blog this far (thanks for the thousands of page views!), you might be interested in how it's created. Each night as we wait for the main show (showing up 45 minutes early is important if one wants a seat on the comfortable benches), I would compose the text on my iPhone 6 using the app Evernote using my left pointy finger as I didn't bring my Bluetooth keyboard. If needed, I finish writing it later (sometimes the next day when we were at sea). Then when we reach a port location with internet access, I copy the title and text into an email and send it to my blog address where it automatically posts.

Some may ask, why no pictures? My answer is simple, it takes up bandwidth ($$) and time. Plus I try to paint word pictures in my writing style and provide helpful observations. But never fear, when we finish the cruise and get back home, I'll upload many, many pictures to a website and provide the link. I am on Facebook and do put a number of pictures there (ease of upload and seamless picture compression) during the day while we are touring for my friends to see. If you want access to those, friend me on Facebook.

Remember, while the destination is important, savor the journey.