Because we had a day at sea coming up and no one needed to get up early we had booked into Frescobaldi Tuscan Wine matching at Sabatini’s for dinner, as mentioned previously. Usually when you attend a dinner with wine matching you get one glass of the course showcase wine, but in this case they just kept topping it up until the next tasty drop was presented. Hence the slow start!
The previous night saw a bit of sway in the ship, nothing terrible but it was noticeable as all of our days and nights have been like sliding through jelly.
Several evenings ago we meet Cath and Kim, not the actual Cath and Kim from the telly, but these two ladies are Australian and are called Cath and Kim and have been friends since they were five years old. We met them when Lance was looking at some photos that the ship photographer had taken of us and Kim leaned over and said, “Where’d you get her from, you’re batting above your weight.” My reply would have been “Should have gone to Spec Savers!” But Lance struck up a conversation and we have since bumped into them several times. They told us that they were doing a pub crawl on the day at sea and to meet at the pop up Irish Pub at mid-day to join them and some others. Well we turned up at O’Malley’s just after twelve and ordered lunch and a pint of Guinness. After a while I checked my messages on the ship app and they had a big night the night before and were still in bed, and the pub crawl was off! So we just lazed around the place for the rest of the day.
We have chatted with loads of of really lovely people on board. Most of the people have been Australian and there are few kiwis, but maybe that is because we talk to anyone!
The following day we were to stop at the port of Shimizu where we should be able to see Mt Fuji. It was a cloudyish morning so after breakfast I wandered forward to the bow to see if she was finally out of her cloudy cover, as we have passed her twice whilst on the bulletin train and she was hiding. Walking out onto starboard side I gasped out loud; there she was, a little bit hazy but still in full view. In fact we could see her from our own balcony!
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| Mt Fuji Our tour that day was to take us to a tea ceremony in Gyokuro-no-sato which is about 40 minutes from the port. The drive took us into the hills past little clusters of houses with vege gardens in almost every yard. In many points there were huge bridge expressways flying over tiny villages so we had a bird’s eye view! Tunnels also took us through the hillsides, some going on for kilometres. |
Finally we stopped in a small village and were taken to the tea house. Shoes off and many were relieved to see that we were to sit on chairs rather than on the mats. Three grandmas looked after us in their beautiful kimono and our guide translated for them. The ceremony was short but we loved it and it was really special. And I was amazed how the little nanas were kneeling on the mats and got up and down without any grunting noises or the need to pull themselves up on something! There is something to be said about drinking your tea at floor level!
There was also a pretty little Japanese garden and once again the fish came flying to the surface as I stood at the edge of the pond, no food from me!
Our next stop was a pine forest that for us was quite ordinary as we have many similar at home. So we nipped off to a little sushimi restaurant by the car park and gobbled down some delicious tuna, salmon and what looked like white bait. There was only one person in the kitchen and he looked about 99 so obviously well practiced!
This was the first time that our cabin was alongside the port as at all other stops we were on the sea side. Each time we left a port we would sit on our little balcony and watch the tug and the pilot boat manoeuvre us out from the dock. At Shimizu we were alongside the port and could watch the goings on as we prepared to set sail. We noticed that the customs men were still at attention and one kept walking out to look towards the car park. All aboard time was 5:30pm and at 5:55 a cheer went up from all passengers on their starboard balconies as someone coming running at full speed around the corner! They were quick to get things sorted because at 6:05 we were on our way.
As we left, all of the stall holders, customs people, traffic wardens etc. lit up their phone torches and waved us off. It was so lovely, and then over the loud speaker from the port was a good bye in Japanese and English and BANG! There were fireworks! It was marvellous and extra special because it was our last port.
We packed up before dinner as our cases need to be outside our cabin before 9pm. Home tomorrow!
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