Hallelujah – it's a miracle – Gaz has come good! Yes Siobhan's Avomine has done the trick and he is back in the land of the living. We had a great Fathers' Day spending time with our Brisbane friends who had come to meet us at the dock. After a slight hiccup when we were delayed disembarking because the crew were doing a lifeboat drill (Gary only had a minor melt-down...), we then met up with Clem, Jan, Michael & Trish and, as usual, it was as if we had seen them yesterday not 6 months ago. Along with Kevin & Gail, this Brisbane crew were our fellow travelling companions on our tour of UK & Ireland 2 years ago and we all just “clicked” from the first time we met. We have had a few re-unions in the last 2 years and are planning another for Sydney next year. Kevin & Gail have even moved to Newcastle from Canberra to be closer to us...OK, their daughter also lives in Warners Bay, and I suppose they told her she was the reason they moved...but we know better!
Not long after we had sat down for coffee we received a phone call from James who was ringing with the exciting news that my soccer team had won their final and so were now into the grand final next week! This was totally unexpected, (I wasn't playing after all), and it is so fantastic...except I won't be there! I actually thought about flying from Darwin to Newcastle on Saturday, playing soccer on Sunday and then somehow getting back to Broome to join the ship on Monday...OK, it was a split-second thought...but it was there for just a moment. All I can say is I'm so proud of the girls – I have been part of this team for 4 years now and they are all a great bunch of girls – we have a fun time, especially me as Grandma of the team. The last time I was in a Grand final winning team was 1975 in the Moore Park C Grade Netball...now that's a LONG time between drinks. Perhaps now you can understand why I am so excited yet SHATTERED at the same time. I'm expecting great things from the girls (and James the coach)...no pressure, though guys. (Did I mention the last time was 1975????!!!!)
After re-boarding the boat (or maybe it's a ship...whatever), at about 4pm, we rested up & watched a movie in the cabin (27 Dresses – good chick flick), I washed and dried my hair (a mammoth effort in itself) and then headed off to a pleasant dinner followed by a show (Jackie Love – remember her?) After the show, Gaz HAD to have a go at the pokies and dragged me along for a while but then I left him to it and came back to the cabin. This is one of the great things about being on the cruise, you don't have to wait for your partner to want to go home, you just wander off when it suits you. Gary much prefers this to my usual effort when he plays the pokies – he accuses me of having negative thoughts, hoping he will lose so we can leave and go home...and I must confess, he's right! No negative thoughts last night – I simply said “Cya!” and let him lose without my help.
So far I have lived up to my planned exercise regime and I also got the added bonus yesterday of heading off in search of a Sunday paper for Gary who was starved of Aussie news. I finally found one at a 7Eleven about a 15 min walk from the dock, so that was a bonus 30 min walk!
It's now 2 days at sea before we get to Port Douglas...more tomorrow!
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