Day 53 - 11/24/22 - Eden, Australia

 Overnight there was a bit of turbulence but nothing like the previous two nights between Auckland and Sydney.  The port of Eden is really a small fishing village currently with one dock large enough for our sized ship and a second under construction.  Across the bay is a commercial port for what looks like bulk liquid cargo of some type.  The approach into the docking position is very narrow, and the bow of the ship seems like it's about to touch the land at the end of the bay.  The actual town center is located about a mile up the hill and the port provided shuttle buses up there.

As soon as we were cleared, we disembarked the ship.  Our keycards wouldn't work again, so we were instructed to replace them when we return to the ship in the afternoon.  On the way off the pier I chatted with Captain Wouter and asked him if the bridge staffing condition during the adverse weather crossing was a code "Red" or highest level of staffing including himself.  He laughed and said, "No, just yellow."  Yellow is the next code level down from red and didn't require his presence on the bridge.  But he said that he was there until they reached calmer waters and then got a few hours of sleep.  

When we got off the bus, there was a historic church that we visited and across the street was a huge mural of a blue whale being chased by a pod of orcas.  Historically in this bay there was a hunting technique used up until the 1930's that involved the orcas driving the whales into the bay where the whalers harpooned them.  The whalers then fed the tongue and mouth area to the orcas as a reward.  There was a noted orca named Tom that did this for many years and one day was found dead in the water.  His skeleton was preserved and became the starting point for the local killer whale museum which we visited late in the day.

We started our walk by chatting with a spoon carver.  I ended up remembering I knew a spoon carver in America and I gave the Australian spoon carver his contact information.  We continued our walk to the end of downtown and found the national memorial to the Timber Workers (logging industry) which is located a bit out of the downtown area.  

Walking back we shopped some more and read many of the historical marker signs.  We even had a chance to chat with the artist who created the large whale mural as he was doing some touch up work.  In the middle of town we had fish & chips at Eden Fish & Chips and it was yummy.  The portions were huge.  We stopped at the Killer Whale museum and enjoyed it thoroughly.  It's well curated with the skeletal remains of Tom as the pre-eminent exhibit and we watched a short movie about the whaling industry that is long since gone.  They also have a replica of a lighthouse and we climbed the 26 stairs to the top to enjoy the views of the harbor area.  

Leaving the Killer Whale museum, we walked down a winding concrete path through a miniature botanical garden.  Among the plants there was the Mountain Devil shrub (Lambertia Formosa).  The seed pod that is formed has two horns that led to its common name.  A local person clued me in the plant or I would have never spotted the devil feature.  All I saw were the pretty red flowers that precede formation of the seed pod.  It's native only to this part of Australia.

Before dinner, we watched the sail away from deck 9 forward until it got too windy.  We were able to view the historic whaling tower that's at the entrance to the harbor.  We also tried to get our key cards replaced, but the line was too long.  

We ate Thanksgiving turkey dinner in the LIDO where it wasn't crowded at all.  Of course, pumpkin pie ala mode was the dessert of choice. It wasn't lost on us that we were eating Thanksgiving dinner after visiting Eden. 

Afterwards we went back down to the Guest Services Desk to get our key cards replaced.  It was a 25 minute wait in line and I was number two in line.  The guests that were being helped at the counter never left the entire time I was there.  If additional staff hadn't shown up, I might still be standing there.  While standing in line, I took the opportunity to write a comment to the Hotel General Manager about the problem yesterday with respect to not needing to take luggage to the Australian Border Force screening.  They really only wanted to see the declared items.

Cantaré performed their Timeless set (3rd time we've seen it this cruise and once in August). When I walked back to the stateroom at 8pm, the Main Dining Room dinner line stretched out past the elevator bank, and people were not happy.  With a full ship and with a heavy contingency of Australians who generally like to eat late, I can see why there's a problem.  I don't know if staffing is up to needed levels, but we've found the LIDO wait service to be a tad better than the previous two weeks.

I'll end my blog for today with the Covid numbers and a comment about testing.  In his departure message, the Captain set the expectations with respect to our port call at Port Arthur that we may have a shortened day there due to incoming weather.  He's been really accurate in setting expectations on the various ports that we have missed due to weather.  There was one new case of Covid today and the total cases are 7 (5 passengers and 2 crew).  

Yesterday I found it interesting that all of the incoming passengers had to have a covid test and we passengers who were already on board didn't have to take a test. 

Our room temperature problem is still not fixed and I made another call to have it checked out and learned it can't be dealt with until tomorrow.

Here's hoping that we won't have super rough seas as we make our way to Tasmania and stops at Port Arthur (a former historic penal colony) and Hobart. Tomorrow I host the 3rd and final Cruise Critic Meet & Greet for this voyage.