Day 41 - Saturday February 24, 2024, Newcastle Australia

Arrival 7:00 All Aboard 17:30 Departure 18:00

The rain that started in Sydney yesterday has followed us up the coast to Newcastle. It was raining so hard I was unable to take any pictures of the landscape or the harbour entrance. It is good that Janice has booked a cheese and wine tour today. I on the other hand took the shuttle into town for a look see.

The city is located at the mouth of the river Hunter and is considered the seventh busiest port in the country. Newcastle is famous for its coal and is the largest coal exporting harbour in the world.

Any plans to go to places that I had researched were thrown out the window with the rain. I was able to find Newcastle Beach though. Here I saw lifeguard candidates going through their paces to become lifeguards by climbing into zodiacs and racing out in the largest waves that were battering the beach. They were simulating sea rescues. At one point you could see the waves raising the zodiac out of the water.

Back at the ship there is the sound of ship's horn blaring to ensure no ships or boats are in its way. A large container ship is turning the bend in the river with what looks like a large white sign on the front as it makes its way to the ocean. What can it be? As the ship gets close to Insignia, I can see the name Shofu Maru "Wind Challenger" - Innovative Sails for a Sustainable Future. It is the first coal carrier ship to use a hard sail wind power propulsion system. When in use the fiberglass sail can extend to a height of 55 meters and should be able to reduce the ship's fuel consumption by a small amount. It is the beginning of a new form of Green Energy.

Here are Janice's comments on her cheese and wine tour. It was a ship tour with Bev and Glenn where the first stop was at a winery that also made local cheese. Well they somehow were not expecting such a big group so we had to wait half an hour before getting the cheese and then we had to go to a different room for the wine which was also not set up for our group. It would have been nice to have the wine and cheese together. On a positive note, they did supply me with gluten free crackers. The cheese factory Hunter Valley Cheese provided us with a good selection - Duo Frommage Blanc, Hunter Valley Natural Feta, Branxton Brie, Hunter Gold Washed Rind, Hunterzola. The wine from McGuigan however was subpar. The second winery Hope had a lovely selection of 6 wines with generous pours although we were somewhat rushed due to the delay at our first stop. My highlight was certainly seeing my first kangaroos in the wild even though it was from a moving bus.

We have been told to expect some motion of the ocean as we leave Newcastle for two sea days. Our next stop is Whitsunday Island 940 nautical mile away.

The ship's clocks will move 1 hour back between February 24 and February 25. I think I will start a chart to see how many changes we've had since Miami.