New itinerary

New itinerary

Thursday, February 22, 2024

Arlie Beach, Whitsunday Island, Australia

As we are getting closer to the tropics, the air has become quite hot and humid with clouds threatening to rain. But that did not stop anyone from going on their excursions today.  Michael was up very early as his excursion left at 8:45 this morning. I will let him tell you about what he did today.

It was a short, but very enjoyable day. I signed up for a six course seafood lunch, which started at 10 AM and included two glasses of wine, so by 11:30 I was half smashed and full. They took us to an award-winning seafood restaurant called Fish D’Vine. Every day they assess what super fresh fish arrived in the morning and plan the six course menu. Accordingly, I’ve included the menu below, so you can see the amazing dishes they served. In fact, they actually prepared each one of them in front of us, so it was even more enjoyable. 


Red Throat- Michael liked this one the best

Pineapple fish

Dessert

As we’re having lunch, it started to rain, so the weather got terribly muggy. The half mile walk back to the ship was drenching, and a shower was absolutely necessary. I spent the rest of the day lounging around, with a little laundry thrown in for good measure. Tonight we’re going to a birthday dinner in Manfredi’s and so a steak dinner will sit nicely on top of the seafood dinner. (P.S. he didn’t have steak).

Beverly here. As you know, mornings are tough on me, and the last few days of walking many miles has taken a toll. So I decided to do nothing, and go to my favorite spot and sit and knit.  However, I’m always afraid that I’m going to miss something. So with just a few minutes to spare, I went to see if I could get on the included tour, which was a boat trip around Whitsunday Island, the largest island in the archipelago. The Whitsunday archipelago  emerges from the Coral Sea amid the great barrier reef. There are beaches of pure white sand that contains silicon so the sand never gets hot.  The tour ship rafted next to our ship on deck A so there was no walking involved.  This tour was two hours, and it was about an hour too long. The guides pointed out resorts that have been abandoned when hurricane Bonnie came through and destroyed them. Apparently, the Chinese are buying up lots of property with plans to fix them.  I didn’t see anything interesting. 

Tour boat rafted to our ship



We didn’t see much more than this

My Apple Watch is apparently ready to bite the dust. It gives me the wrong date and most important, it gives me the wrong pedometer reading.  My watch said I walked 2.8 miles today and my phone said I walked 0.8 miles today. Since I never walked anywhere other than on the ship, I have to believe that my phone is correct. And I thought I was having a pretty good day.

After resting up, we decided to go to tea and do laundry on the way. How many times do you get to go to the laundromat when the ship is full and actually get two machines? Not very often. Is it quite a schlep from our room to the laundry but we were able to get it all done before going to dinner.

Tonight, dinner was in Manfredi’s private dining room. Duncan and Tom were celebrating their birthdays, and there were 10 of us enjoying a lot of stories, a lot of laughter, and sharing stories of how we met.  Both Michael and I had the special spaghetti dinner with assorted seafood.  It was yummy. We have known Duncan and Melinda for over 10 years and it’s because of them we’re on this world cruise. Two other couples, Thi and Emily (Who happened to live 20 minutes from us!) And Tom and Kathleen have become our “group.”  

Thought you would like to see my knitting group. They come every sea day whether it’s mentioned in the daily newspaper or not!


Good news from Touchmark. The repairs to our house are coming along and should be done by mid March. 

Shout out to our dear friend, Carol. Sending our love; we are thinking of you