Disembarking and leaving new friends…

Getting off the ship was a piece of cake, thanks to our suite perk of being “Disembarkation Ticket #1.” We just went down to the gangway at 0730 and once the formalities for the ship were over, off we went.

Greg had gotten up before oh-dark-thirty and come downtown to photograph the ship coming into port so he was there to meet us. All would have been perfect if we hadn’t forgotten one bag. Because we didn’t realize it until we were at Greg & Yolanda’s, back into Sydney we had to go! Could have been worse—we could have been at the airport about to board our flight.

Yolanda was able to get off work early so we went to Ribs and Rumps, a restaurant that was highly recommended. Shouldn’t have been—$250 later we walked out the door. What did we get for $250? A dinner for four: a hamburger, an order of ribs and rump, an order of ribs, a salmon order, some beers and two cocktails. Now I know why the Aussies don’t tip! $250 for what should have been a $100 meal INCLUDING tip in America. Oh well, live and learn! I’ve learned that Australia is a bloody expensive place to eat out!

So we are back in the real world. Nobody to make the bed and bring fresh towels every day. No dinners where we get up without thinking about the bill. No parties where we leave the mess of dirty glasses and empty bottles and come back two hours later to a spotless room and deck. No more entertainment after dinner other than old movies on television. On the other hand, we now have internet that doesn’t take an hour to send an email, we have martinis that don’t cost $10.25 each, and we don’t have to dress for dinner (that last is a mixed blessing—we both kind of enjoyed going to dinner somewhat dressed up even on non-formal nights).

Best of all, however, are the friends we have made on this fabulous trip. Thank you to all those on board who helped make our trip around the world into a very memorable and wonderful journey of a lifetime.