Greetings from a very rough...Tasman Sea...dishes are rattling !

Feb 23’d…at 3:15p (it is 11:15 the 22’d your time, I think)
Hello Everyone……….!
Today is a BEAUTIFUL day while we said in the Tasman sea…en route to Melbourne, Australia.
It is a day for laundry, and rest and relaxation after a lovely day in Tasmania.

It has been awhile since I last wrote, as I am still fighting a terrible bout with Asthmatic Bronchitis. I think I finally have it licked…though…..yay ! I caught it ON the ship…first time for this kind of problem on Crystal…but SO many folks have it, it is almost hard to escape it.
Last night, we had a lovely intimate dinner in our stateroom…Hot wild mushroom soup…and California rolls…a glass of wine and then, early to bed…I mean early…as in 8pm !
Today, we both feel much better. Pat is doing all the lectures while I am relaxing…while catching up on laundry. I have succeeded in timing my laundry just right…commandeering several washers at once…and getting done in a whiz…while others are at lectures etc. It is kind of nice to just be alone, only with the sounds of the rolling waves of the sea. They are hypnotizing to me…I really LOVE the water and this time is precious.
I have to tell you that I awoke this morning about sunrise, just for a few moments…long enough to see the full moon, along with the rising sun…what a beautiful sight with only the open sea as a contrast. Simplicity…one can easily imagine that these feelings must have called the early sailors to sea… ! I remember seeing a HUGE bunch of dolphins playing near the boat…the other night. Another beautiful sight out here in the middle of NO-WHERE ! Surely, I wasn’t close enough to really photograph them to share with you all……….but, they looked as if they were having a “ball” playing in the waves. Sort of reminded me of when, as a little girl, I would go with Mom and our family and cousins to just ride the waves of an ensuing North Blow up on Lake Champlain. We, too, had such fun ! it makes me realize that we truly are ALL creatures in the world…and much the same as our animal and fish friends.
So lets see…yesterday we were in Tasmania. Who goes there??? Who even thinks of Tasmania ??? I certainly didn’t …’till yesterday!
We landed in Hobart, Tasmania and found it to be a lovely little city with VERY friendly residents. They even have a TARGET ! After walking around a bit…we took an excursion to a local game farm where we got up close and personal, (as they say) with Kangaroos, Koalas, wombats and many other birds. They animals were walking freely about…and we could feed them and just spend time talking and scratching them, as one would a favorite dog. Especially fun, was stroking under the chin of the Kangaroos…and also, scratching them between their ears. NEVER thought that I would have a chance to do THAT. They loved us to do that, even when we didn’t have any food to give them…in fact, it seemed as if they sought us out, at times, just for the attention. The Koala bears were SO cute…I wanted to hug one…but, alas, they only wanted the park ranger, so I had to settle for a picture next to one. Oh, I did scratch it, also, but the hugging was OUT ! L
Of course, we finally got the Tasmanian Devils to come out to play…but, as they really DO bite, the game keeper was the only one to play with them. Actually, I expected to find the Tasmanian Devil to be a scary, mole like creature…ugly. But instead, I found out that they really are quite cute. They are a dark brown with lots of fur…little beady eyes and a short, pointed snout. A little mole like, but so cute…especially the babies.We saw some adult ones and some babies, too. Will try to upload some pics of the animals under the file “Tasmania” so, look for them in:
http://otooleworldcruise2008.shutterfly.com (password: CRYSTALS).
So far, I am trying to keep up, so that you all can match pictures with blog entries along the way. REMEMBER>>>YOU CAN NAVIGATE TO ANY AND ALL OF THE ALBUMS…AT ANY TIME, after having seen the featured album, by simply clicking on
otooleworldcruise2008 COLLECTION…and that action will give you access to ALL the albums. I add pictures occasionally to the general albums…ie speakers, friends etc…so once in awhile…check them out, if you wish.
I hope, also, that you are seeing/enjoying the blog too……
http://nancyotoole.blogspot.com
It is such fun to write to you there, to recap the day, or to share the special memories along the way.
Tonight is a formal night…and soon, we all will be decked out in “finery”…I confess that although many think it might be a chore…I love to dress up and feel elegant at a lovely dinner. The Security officer of the ship, sits at our table with us…he is a young man who has his captain’s licence…is from Australia, but lives in Spain (one of our favorite countries !). This will be his last time hosting at our table, as he goes on vacation soon…for about three months. He enjoys fine wine and is gracious enough to host the wine for our table on formal nights. We have had some lovely French wine and some New Zealand wine…not sure what we’ll have tonight. Sort of like wine tasting as he usually picks wine which I would have chosen……..
It is fun hearing from him, what he is able to share about how security works on a ship such as ours. Often information is classified…but he is open and willing to share with us, what he can.
The two women who service our cabin are so sweet. One has a husband who also work on the ship…he is the chief computer person in the computer university at sea . He is very patient, knowledgable and available most of the time to help sort out any computer problems one might have. She works as an assistant to “Nina” who is our main housekeeper. Nina is a bit older, according to her…and many of the girls look to her as their “mom”…sort of. She isn’t really very old…and is a real sweetheart…they both are. So “chipper” and friendly and helpful. I don’t know how the staff does it…but very, very seldom do you ever hear/see any staff person in a bad mood. This fact really makes the whole experience wonderful for each of us. They are very knowledgable about ports too…often I get more info from them about what to see than the consierge person.
AAAAAAAAhhhhhhhhh! The sea is picking up, now, waves are getting bigger…should be a fun night. Glasses are rattling...I am busy securing things before we go out for the formal evening.The Dancers will surely have a fun time entertaining us tonight...may have to change the entertainment. However, for us (luckily), the higher the waves, the more they lull us to sleep…so, no problem…just another hurdle…that is how to sleep and NOT roll out of bed (REALLY, I came about an inch from doing just that one night recently!!!)
Well……..this is all for now. I’ll write again after Melbourne…Pray for good weather…as Australia just finished with a hurricaine , and we are hoping the weather will be clear for us while we are there.

Much love to each of you , from both Pat and me >>>
Nancy