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| Last night’s sunset from the ship. |
We’re thrilled to be in Darwin today. We plan to get off the ship to tour the town after having purchased round trip shuttle tickets at US $10, AU $13, per person.
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| This morning’s sunrise over Darwin, Australia. |
Now, our big decision for the day is; do we go to town early and return to do the balance of today’s post, or do we head out early after the crowds getting off the ship thin out and to avoid the worst of the heat of the day?
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| The interior of the casino where many passengers hand over large sums of cash to the ship. |
Today’s high temp is expected to be 99F, 37C, with relatively high humidity. Apparently, it’s always hot in Darwin, a tropical climate. Both dressed in cool, casual clothing, we’re as prepared as we can be with plenty of Australian cash, insect repellent, sunglasses, and the camera on hand (including an extra battery).
There’s no doubt we’ll be back tomorrow with photos of the city, beloved by Aussies and tourists alike. A tender boat is not required here with a convenient pier to accommodate massive ships such as ours.
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| On several occasions, we attended movies and shows in La Scala Theatre. |
We continue to have a great experience, dining, and chatting. It’s surprising how many passengers aboard this ship have had extensive travel experiences, many with much more than us over a period of many years.
For us, having traveled very little in our old lives due to my prior poor health, we have a lot of catching up to do. Even after 42 months we still have so much of this world left to see.
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| Cruise ships tend to have somewhat of an overly done, gaudy, often 1980’s theme, even when the ships are new or newly remodeled. |
At this juncture, we continue to discuss where we’d like to visit in years to come. We’ll never run out of options. It remains a matter of planning both financially and geographically what ultimately will work for us.
It’s funny how when we’re cruising, after hearing of countries and venues others have visited and loved, we open up our minds to a wider range of options for the future.
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| View of the Promenade Deck from a distant railing. |
By the time we’ve completed the upcoming cruise to Antarctica on January 23, 2018 (21 months from now) we’ll have been to every continent on the Earth. This fact is mind-boggling. Who’d ever thought this was possible for us?
However many continents, countries, and cities we’ll have visited we’ll still have so much more to visit. One could spend an entire lifetime and still have more awaiting their curiosity.
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| Each sea day, Tom attends the Shed meeting in this bar, the Pig & Whistle located on the Promenade Deck, a street down the center of the ship. |
It’s not as if we have a goal of any particular number of countries to visit or sites to see. We didn’t want to place that kind of pressure on our travels. For us, it is not about quantity and more about quality for those experiences in which we learn, thrive, and grow. One is never too old to acquire new knowledge, health providing.
As I began writing today, the answer became clear…finish today’s post and then take off for Darwin. The lines for disembarking the ship and boarding the shuttle will eventually thin out and soon we’ll be on our way. There’s no point in standing in line for an hour.
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| With land at a distance, we captured this sunset shot. |
Thanks to all of our readers for their patience over these past several days. Most likely, it will be equally difficult to post in the upcoming week with more sea days on the horizon until the cruise ends in Singapore and we fly to Bali.
Once we’re settled in Bali in eight days we’ll be back to our routine of posting daily with new photos and of course, the photo from “one year ago.”
Have a beautiful day! We plan to do the same!
Photo from one year ago today, April 23, 2015:
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| Driving down a road we hadn’t traveled, we followed the shore of the Hanalei River in Kauai. For more photos, please click here. |