The Hughes Zoo

After the previous two relaxing-ish days, Saturday was back to hectic insanity - packing up the hotel (leaving my favourite belt on the back of the bathroom door), checking into the ship and dragging luggage a couple of blocks to the warf. Despite everything, it went surprisingly well and we were onboard in time to grab some late lunch/early dinner before we set off from the Harbour.

I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting, but I was a little underwhelmed. I mean, the ship’s huge, our room’s nice, the staff are great, the food is constant, but there just seemed to be something missing. For one thing, not only is the alcohol not free (as I’d thought) but it’s pretty damn expensive. Not that its a big deal, but it sort of shattered my illusion of not having to worry about anything once we were on the ship.

Jeremy was in a crazy mood, overexcited and a bit scared about all the changes that were going on. But after dinner, while Ange took Will back to the cabin, we sat on a window seat and watched the light fade on the ocean. It calmed him down immensely. The boys both passed out early without even having the prerequisite bedtime stories. The motion of the boat ensured all 4 of us slept like logs.

After flicking quickly through the TV channels I was pretty sure I was going to miss the Pies game, but while wandering around after the boys were in bed I discovered they had the game on in the casino and I caught the last quarter. Needless to say, this (and the result) lifted my mood more than a little.

To wash off some of the excitement from the game I continued the exploration I’d started earlier in the night. Wandering around on the decks of a night time is a little surreal: surrounded by endless blackness, with just a few feet of water around the boat illuminated by the cabin lights. The decks are deserted due to the howling winds, so it feels almost solitary. It’s really quite relaxing.

Photos for the day