32. The cruise ends and exploring Australia is about to begin

We are due to dock in Fremantle tomorrow at which point the cruise part of our trip to down under ends, but our tour of Australia begins.

The six weeks we have had onboard seems to have gone by in a flash and it only seems like yesterday we were boarding in Southampton. We've seen some great places, met some lovely people, and above all, enjoyed the experience. We have also met two other people who made the same journey as I did from England to Australia on the Fairstar back in the 60's.

So, at this point, a few thankyous and words of advice are due:

John and Jutte, Eric and Barb, Chris and Robyn...thanks for making up our teams for trivia, even though we didn't manage to win;

Richard and Louise...thanks for your surplus gin and tonic;

John and Myra, John and Claire, John and Jean...thanks for your company and the laughter; (lots of Johns on this ship!)

To those people to whom we give our made up names...The Batty sisters, the Ganja Man, Walking Man, Walking Lady, Noddy Holder, Mr Magoo and Cyndi Lauper....a cruise wouldn't be the same without you;

To the house band, Liquid Blue...lead singer, please practice your dance moves: lead guitarist, hope your leg gets better soon: keyboard player, please give up the occasional lead vocal: the two girl singers, don't let your skirts get any shorter or you may get arrested!

To DJ Nadia...please smile and don't look so bored even if you are;

To the Entertainment Staff...you all did a superb job;

To the stewards...efficiency epitomised;

To the waiters and bar staff...a great job by all, even though it can be tough at times when fellow passengers are rude and ungrateful. (Richie, the best waiter by far and you should show the rest how the job should be done);

Last, but not least...To third officer Susan. I know you are not nearly as stern as I have made you out to be! It must be a thankless task getting everything running smoothly ashore. You have a fabulous job seeing the world from the bridge of a cruise ship and getting paid for the privilege....who could ask for more?!

More to come once we have made it safely from Fremantle to Perth and have wifi connections in our Perth hotel!