Kangaroo Island shore excursion was mostly good. The tour guide aka bus driver did a good job of giving us all sorts of information about KI although we struggled to hear the commentary sometimes - not at all helped by shouting children.
Biggest annoyance was actually when leaving the ship before the excursion. Because we had been bumped from the morning version of the excursion to the afternoon one, we had to find our own way ashore and meet there. P&O gave very specific instructions about how to get a tender ticket, left up all the signs pointing to the spot where you were supposed to pick them up, all good you’d think. But then they decided that you could just go to the tender area without a ticket but without announcing this or removing the signs, leaving heaps of people including us wandering around helplessly looking for tender tickets.
Eventually got ashore though, and had time to wander around Penneshaw before we were due to meet for the excursion. Since Adam and I had been there back in early 2020, I knew where the local IGA was, so we picked up some snacks to take back onboard. I also wanted to show Paul the really nice restaurant where Adam and I had eaten - and I did, but all we could see was a burned out building; apparently there was a fire earlier in 2023.
We were on the last tender back to the ship - the tour guide insisted on taking us to one more place even though it was obviously going to make us late. They waited for us, and then we sat there for a while because they said they were waiting for another tour - but no-one showed up, so I’ve no idea what actually happened.
After that, nothing really exciting before we got to Hobart. We did a shore excursion there - quite an interesting tour of the Anglesea Barracks, followed by a couple of hours being taken to various sights around the city. Mostly interesting stuff although again had trouble hearing - this time because the bus air conditioning was really loud. After the tour we wandered into the city as Paul needed to find a chemist. We then had dinner in a random Japanese restaurant - the ship didn’t sail until midnight - and then wandered back onboard.
Very disappointed to be greeted by a notification that our shore excursion transfer to the airport had been cancelled, and that it was too late to get a normal transfer. We now apparently just have to wait in a queue for a taxi and hope for the best. Lovely.
Christmas Day has been very exciting for the kids. The ship was already very Christmassy but lots more decorations appeared overnight. Then Santa arrived on the upper deck, followed by photo opportunities in the Blue Circus. For us, a sad day as it’s our first Christmas without Adam, but it was easier to deal with here rather than at home where his absence would have been so much more obvious.
It’s now lunch-time on Christmas Day and we’re sailing in a holding position off the coast of Tasmania; I presume because it really doesn’t take that much time to get back to Melbourne (not due back there until the 27th) and sailing in circles around Bass Straight could be just a bit uncomfortable!
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