Saturday March 18, 2023
The morning lectures were the “Aussie Advert Man” as we have dubbed him – Dr. Dennis Foley – who gives talks on upcoming stops on the itinerary in Australia extolling the virtues of the next port, selling the benefits. This time it was Busselton, Perth and Fremantle where, wines, coffee and great nature walks / scenery seem to be the predominating features as well as rough seas as the Southern Ocean meets the Indian Ocean.The second talk was Luisa “Bang Bang Lulu” Hawton who started off at 15 to become the skate board champion of the world, and nearly made it reaching number 7 in the world and along the way meeting some of her teenage idols and gaining a lot of self confidence. Due to injury and then marriage and eventually 2 babies (a son and a daughter) she gave that up and after accompanying a friend to a gym where boxing was an option, she fell in love with the sport and became Asia Pacific female boxing champion and a 2 time WBC world boxing champion, being named “boxer of the year” a title that had gone to Mohamed Ali, And other such illustrious individuals. She was very poised, spoke slowly, but very well, not boasting, but explaining her life story. A riveting talk.
We then went to the Lunch and Learn – Southern Hemisphere wines, which we always enjoy, but end up knowing that the afternoon would be “lost”.
- Amuse Bouche with Albariño, Bodega Garzón, Garzón, Uruguay – Very good
- Caesar Salad with Sauvignon Blanc, Single Vineyard “Garuma”, Leda Valley Chile which we did not enjoy as much, and the Chardonnay Reserve, Vergelegen, Stellenbosch, South Africa which we did enjoy.
- Pepper steak with Shiraz Reunion, The Lane, Adelaide Hills, South Australia which was quite good and peppery which went well with the meats and Estate Malbec, Coloma, Salta, Argentina known particularly as it is grown at 3,100+ meters (10,200 ft) above sea level, the highest in the world.
- The cheese course was paired with Riesling Billi Billi, Mount Langi Ghiran, Grampians, Australia and Kelly Washington Pinot Noir, Central Otago, New Zealand.
- Finally the Desert / pudding – Apple pie a la mode with a (sweet) Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Viña Morandé, Casablanca Valley Chile which we greatly enjoyed.
After lunch we rested after the “exhausting” 3 hour lunch, before the formal black tie “Roaring 20’s” Gala dinner. We decided to skip the Broadway Rocks show by the Cunard Singers & Dancers, now known as the Royal Court Company, as we have seen the show various times. It is a good show, but having seen it various times, we decided to skip it. Today there was a bit more movement of the ship, not major, but a bit of moving and shaking.
Roger & Anne Travels 