World Cruise - Day 40 - Feb 21 - At Sea/Fjordland Scenic Cruising

It’s colder out this morning and a little rainy.  The sunrise was foggy and overcast, so no real sunrise to speak of, so I think I’ll hold on pics for when it clears up (hopefully) later this morning when we are in the fjords.  The weather reminds us of Seattle and what Seattleites refer to as a “spitting” rain, where is it just barely drizzling and very small droplets of water, not really worth using an umbrella.  So most Seattleites just wear a rain jacket with a hood.  I think Brandon still has not used an umbrella in the five years we have lived in Seattle.  People hear that it rains a lot in Seattle, so they think that it rains hard.  It is correct that it is overcast a lot and it rains a long amount of time in Seattle, but the annual rainfall in Seattle is less than New York City.

The mountains are visible from the port side of the ship, we are on the starboard.  We should get a view of land when the captain turns into one of the fjords shortly.  OK, I can see land now from our balcony, but it’s still very foggy, can’t really take any pics yet.  It’s only 7:30a, so the sun has only been up (if you can call it up) for the past 15 minutes or so.  Hopefully the sun will burn off some of this fog to give us some views.  Here is what it looks like:

I guess it’s at least somewhat interesting, even though it’s difficult to see at this time of day.  The boat coming toward us is the pilot.  It looks like a dead end ahead with that big mountain straight in front of us, but I think that maybe the fjord cuts to either the right or left.

One of the naturalists aboard speaking about Fjordland said that it’s actually prettier when it’s raining, since the waterfalls will be flowing.  She said that it’s either clear views or waterfalls.  If there is no rain, no waterfalls.  So I guess the ideal would be if it rained right before we arrived, then cleared up to give both views and waterfalls?

Here’s our first view of some of the waterfalls as we are coming into the fjord:

Patti, I don’t know if we will be seeing Tasmanian devils while we are in Tasmania, I haven’t seen that listed anywhere in any of the highlights or tours?

Captain came on to say we are entering Milford Sound and also mentioned that the rain will make the waterfalls even more spectacular.  It is supposed to clear up around noon, so perhaps we will have the best of both worlds?  I can see that this day is going to be shaping up as a day of photographing spectacular waterfalls.  Here are a few of my best shots:

This is the view from our balcony as we make our way into Milford Sound (which they said is misnamed, it should be Milford Fjord).

There are waterfalls everywhere.

Often there are several waterfalls near each other, like this major one and two minor ones next to it.

Or this major one and almost major one on the left.  Both make a dramatic drop to the sea.

This waterfall splits into three main sections as it comes down the hill.  Look at the trees on the shore to get a perspective of size.

This is the full view of one of the mountains with all of the waterfalls cascading down the side.

Closer up view of the waterfalls.

The beauty of these waterfalls is magnificent.  One thing you need to be careful about in general on a cruise like this is to not allow yourself to get jaded.  I think I’m already a little bit jaded by the whales and dolphins.  “Oh look, another dolphin.  Ho hum…”  We have to each day count our blessings and be thankful for the beauty of God’s majesty all around us.

We’re now at the end of the fjord and doing a pirouette spin so that everyone can get a view of this magnificent waterfall at the end of the fjord:

There seems to be some sort of small fishing village at the end of the fjord.

The sound of the waterfall is quite loud, even this far away on the ship.

Krissie is going to do some painting today, so hoping to see a waterfall painting perhaps later today?

We went up to the Panorama Buffet for breakfast.  It was kinda funny to see all of the warm weather people bundled up in their winter clothes, while I’m walking around in a t-shirt and shorts.  I guess this is considered cold, since it is about mid 50s this morning.  The forecast was for a high in the mid 50s, but the Captain this morning said we would get to a high around 60.

So I’m finding out that Blogger just changed some of the specs on how it formats.  Previously, it was automatically formatting paragraphs separately, so I just wrote each paragraph with a single carriage return.  Now it is running them together, so I am doing a double carriage return.  Hopefully it formats correctly for those reading this on e-mail.  Also, I noticed that I still have a problem with some photos getting rotated incorrectly due to Blogger thinking it knows better than me how to rotate the pics.  I may not be able to correct those until we return home in May. For now, either rotate your computer/laptop or rotate your head for proper viewing.

We’re now heading back out of Milford Sound and seeing all sorts of new waterfalls, which are all flowing due to the rain:

Krissie’s painting is progressing, but I’m not allowed to photograph the entire painting until it’s finished.  But this gives you a perspective of the ever changing landscape she is painting.

More waterfalls, at least six or seven are visible in the picture above.

Close-up of the largest waterfall.

We’re now exiting Milford Sound.  Thompson Sound, Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound are all coming up later today.

Krissie is changing up her painting style based on how she is inspired by the scenery.  Today she did two paintings, one in what she calls her Monet style and another one in what she calls her Van Gogh style.  She has decided that her thing to paint is the sun.  Degas had his ballerinas, Monet had his water lilies, Cézanne has Tahiti, Krissie has painting landscapes with the sun as her theme.  Interesting, since that’s what I like photographing.  Here is her Monet style painting:

She’s not yet finished with her Van Gogh style painting, although I’ve seen it and it is very different than her other paintings.  I hope to be able to show it to you soon.

I just put a load of laundry in the machines.  There were three washers out of order earlier in the day, one of them is fixed now, so was able to get the laundry started.  One of the ladies by the laundry asked if I like doing laundry and I said yes.  She asked if I liked ironing and I said no, but that I do it because it needs to be done, although I’m not very good at it (I still don’t know how to do sleeves without creasing them).  She said her husband likes ironing.  She asked what my wife was doing and I said she was on our balcony painting.  She said I was noble for doing the laundry.  I told her that her husband was truly noble for loving to iron.  I hope I can figure out who he is so that I can give him some of my ironing.

We got 12 out of 20 at trivia this morning, the winning team has 14.  Some of the questions:  What color was the first pair of Levi jeans?  Off white (we put blue).  What storm covers the widest area?  Cyclone (we put hurricane).  Which English city has two 20^th century cathedrals?  Liverpool (we put London).  What facial features flank your glabella?  Eyebrows (we put ears).  What athletes are most likely to perform the eastern roll?  High jumpers (we put gymnasts).  What game was Ivan the Terrible playing when he died?  Chess.  What popular Queensland vacation spot was formerly known as Unbigumbi?  Surfer’s Paradise (we put Great Barrier Reef).  What did Michael Douglas change his name to when he discovered there was already an actor named Michael Douglas?  Michael Keaton (we put Harrison Ford).  And here were the two tiebreaker questions: How many yards in a furlong? 200 (both teams got it).  How many balls in snooker?  22.

It’s time for lunch and the weather has cleared up quite a bit, although it’s still cloudy.  Just not the fog that we were seeing earlier today.  The views were beautiful from the back of the ship.

Hi Maria, thanks for your very kind note.  I have really enjoyed spending time with Dan, Chuck and Stella onboard.  Dan is a standout young man.  I call him “the young stud” when he’s playing any of the sports activities, since he’s so much younger (and in way better shape) than any of the other passengers.  Yet it is his character that most people notice more than his athletic prowess.  I was talking with someone yesterday who mentioned that “Dan isn’t like most 21 year olds that I know.”  And the person went on to say that Dan wasn’t like him at 21 or almost anyone else he knew at 21.  Our son is also 21 and we put him in that same category (along with his cousins and close friends).  Dan has a lot of similarities in upbringing to our son, having been homeschooled and starting college at the community college before going on for higher education.  Yet Dan doesn’t seem like a surrogate son to me, he just seems like a younger friend.  It’s been great to get to know him.

Krissie is back out on the balcony again this afternoon, painting away at the beautiful scenery.  I said, “Wow, you’re at it again?”  She giggled her cute Krissie giggle and smilingly said: “I can’t stop.”  She’s definitely caught the bug.  She said that when she gets home, she will be painting in our backyard.

We got 16 out of 20 in afternoon trivia, the winning team had 17.  In which classic arcade game would you find ostriches, buzzards and pterodactyls?  Joust (we put Donkey Kong).  What –ism of the 1950s inspired The Crucible by Arthur Miller?  McCarthyism (we put Satanism).  What two common household products can be combined to create an eco-friendly house cleaner?  Baking soda and vinegar.  In unofficial baseball scoring, what is a K?  Strikeout.  What does a brontologist study?  Thunder (we put dinosaurs).  What textile printing technique involves putting wax on the fabric before dipping into dye?  Batik.  Which poet wrote the line “Captain, oh my Captain…” after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln?  Walt Whitman.  What year was the world’s fair in Seattle when the Space Needle was built?  1962 (I’m embarrassed, as a Seattleite, to say that we said 1968).  In golf, what is the American equivalent to the British albatross?  Double eagle (we said birdie).  What do you suffer from if you are dichromatic?  Color blindness.

We went into two more fjords in the afternoon, but they weren’t as pretty as Milford Sound this morning.  Nothing picture worthy to compare with the pics from this morning.  So you just have to read my blah, blah, blah words instead of looking at the pretty pictures.  Sorry about that.

Sonia, thanks for the advice on the photos, very much appreciated.  Krissie wants to know if the same thin applies for her paintings, since she is often putting the horizon at approximately center?  Krissie produced three oil paintings today (although two are still unfinished) and four watercolors.  She won’t let me take pics of her watercolors, but I really like them.  She was doing them just for fun while she was waiting for her oil paintings to dry.  She’s into experimenting right now and trying out new techniques.  She’s amazing how creative and how quickly she is learning.  I think she has real talent.

We went with Chuck and Lorraine and Ken and Sara up to the happy hour before dinner for the $3.99 Cosmo special.  Then dinner, which was excellent, as usual.  Then to the show, which Chris Gable from Sydney, Australia, who sang and played both the saxophone and clarinet:

Chris’ best endorsement was Arnold, our friend onboard who plays sax and clarinet (and flute and a few other instruments, as does Chris):

After the show, we went to see David Crathorne in the piano lounge.  It was Power Hour for the drinks, so Sara had something blue:

I’m not sure what that drink was, but it got the party started.  We started tapping, then snapping, then dancing to the music:

Even Ken and Chuck were getting in the mood:

David obliged us by playing some sing along tunes:

We even had some of the ladies at the bar singing and dancing along:

And Sara was singing to Phil (her pet groundhog hand puppet, long story):

All in all, a fun evening onboard.  Tonight we gain another hour on our way heading west to Tasmania.  Tomorrow is sea day #4 of 5 on our way to Burnie, Tasmania.