Noon Report:

• Location: S 20° 13.35′, E 148° 44.45′
• Speed: At Anchor
• Course: At Anchor
• Weather: Rain
• Temperature: 24º C, 75º F
• Wind: ESE 20 knots

As promised…

We presented ourselves in the Theatre at 8:45 for our excursion and waited just a bit until they called our group. We trooped down to the tender loading platform (A Deck, aft) and on to the tender for a hot, bouncy, and stuffy half-hour ride to the dock.

Cheryl’s Factoids:

• Arlie Beach on Whitsunday Island is called “The Heart of the Reef”.
• The Great Barrier Reef, which stretches from here clear up into Indonesia and the Philippines, is the only “natural” wonder that you can see from space.
• There are 7 Natural Wonders of the World – the other 6 are: the Aurora Borealis, the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro, the Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, Victoria Falls, and Paricutin – a volcano in Mexico so new that scientists have been able to watch how a volcano is formed.

From the dock it was on to our bus and on the road. Our driver took us on a bit of a scenic drive (or as scenic as the drive could be with the low clouds and rain) and talked about the area, its history, and its economy.

Cheryl bought a pair of shoes. OK, her formal black shoes really did need to be replaced and the shoe store on main street had the perfect pair. It was too easy.

We also picked up a couple of things at the drug store and enjoyed wandering a bit in the rain before getting back on the bus for the return to the port.

The tender ride back was much less painful, though no shorter. We stopped by the stateroom to off-load our treasures and lose our raincoats and headed up to lunch.

Side note: Among the many, varied, and excellent choices at the Cafe today were Pork and Ponzole Burritos.

After lunch we had a break of an hour or so before the first of the afternoon lectures: “The Royal Flying Doctor Service: A Medical Lifeline for Australia.” Sadly, by the time for the lecture I was asleep and Cheryl (bless her heart) was too kind to wake me.

We did, however make it to Russell Lee’s talk:

It was a fascinating look at the explorer who set out – on three separate occasions – to map the Australian Outback in the early 1800’s.

This was followed at 6:30 by Robin Petch (our whale and dolphin guy) and a review of naval terminology that has made its way into popular use. He talked about such terms as “Three sheets to the wind”, “Over a barrel”, “Bitter end”, “The whole nine yards”, and such.

Then it was dinner and BBB (9/26 – we’re getting worse).

So that’s the rainy day in the Whitsunday Islands. Tomorrow we’re in Cairns and will get a close-up and personal look at the Great Barrier Reef – Can’t Wait!

Till then, R