Opals and Romeos

We have 7 full sea days crossing the Indian Ocean until we reach our next destination which is Port Louis, Mauritius. When we docked in Freemantle our butler (Marcelo) left the ship. His contract ended and he flew home to Brazil for a well deserved vacation. We're so sad to see him go as we had grown quite fond of his cheerful greetings and lovely manner. Our new butler is Jean - also from Brazil.  When we began the cruise we weren't sure what to do with the butler service that came with our cabin but it turns out that they can be very helpful with just about everything!  Each day around 5pm our butler arrives with a variety of canapes to snack on before dinner. Jean really out did himself one day with this display (partially eaten before I took the photo) of crab claws, lobster meat, cheese and crackers!   It's hard to imagine but the days at sea fly by. We're keeping busy with lots of activities including some excellent enrichment lectures and bri

Today we docked in Freemantle which is a port city about a 20 minute ride from Perth. Perth is the capitol and largest city in the Australian state of Western Australia. We boarded a ferry in Freemantle for a ride up the Swan River to Perth. Lots of yacht clubs and beautiful homes lined the river. The approach from the river was quite scenic.        In the photo below you can see the Tree Top Walk in Kings Park.     We drove through various neighborhoods in Perth then stopped to spend time in beautiful Kings Park which is one of the largest parks in the world - even larger than Central Park in NYC.        There were beautiful views of Perth from the park.         We then had a brief stop at Cottesloe Beach before driving through Freemantle and returning to the ship.         On our drive back to the ship we passed through some of the wealthier Perth neighborhoods. We saw a rare tree (think it's called a poker tree) -

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels.  We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character.  After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!