Btimmer

After a wonderful day in Eden, we are just preparing to depart. The Covid numbers are good. 1 new case with a total of 5 passengers and 2 crew in isolation. Captain Wouter did set some expectations about our port call at Port Arthur in a couple days that we may have to cut it short due to deteriorating weather conditions. Here's a few pictures from today.

Today was turnaround day in Sydney. We have a full ship and the age demographics have definitely dropped. We visited the aquarium and loved it. Hopefully tonight will not be as rough as the last few. My blog has lots more detail especially about the fiasco with needing to drag luggage off the ship. Below are a few pictures from today. Lunch Making music on the ferry The famous Sydney Bridge An iconic sight Pilot boat

The Captain just came on at 6:20pm ( it's very rare for him to make public announcements except at noon) and said the sea height has increased to 23 feet and we've altered course to a WNW heading to position better against the seas. It's been rocking and rolling all afternoon, but we are packed for the turnaround day. He still expects to be alongside the pier at 9:45am.

All afternoon the seas have been rough and the ship is moving around a lot. The ship's speed has been reduced to around 15 knots and the Captain just came on mid afternoon and noted we have 50mph winds (11 on the Beaufort scale), heavy seas and the outside decks are closed. Motion sickness bags have been placed throughout the ship. The lido pool is really splashing!

We just received official word that we are docking at 9:45am. We're currently only doing 15.4 knots and the ship is really pitching. The Lido pool is really losing water in impressive waves.

We're aware of that option but I'm not comfortable storing very important items in a locker. Thanks, though for the suggestion.

We just received word that on Wednesday, November 23 on our turnaround day that we need to pack everything up and present it to Australian Border Forces for inspection. The luggage will then be delivered to our new room, but we can't get back on and have to carry our hand luggage with us until the zero count is reached. I have a backpack and a CPAP machine, so I'm not going to traipse all over Sydney with that. We are to receive our written confirmation of this along with new luggage tags, key cards, etc. tomorrow. It unfortunately will destroy our plans for doing the sightseeing we had planned. And, of course, there's the issue of when are we going to arrive. The Captain told a small group of us that if we arrive late, we likely will depart late as the same restrictions we have docking in the morning will be in place during the late afternoon hours (during those times no thrusters can be used as it disrupts the ferry operations). I suspect all of this has to do with needing to do the ABF inspections on 23 Nov for all guests who have visited a non-Australian port and the next leg is entirely Australian ports so a border inspection is not needed.

Today we received our platinum medallions for having sailed over 700 days with HAL.

After his one hour 'Ask the Captain' session, Captain Wouter answered questions for another 45 Minutes. I learned our Covid number is down to 49 cases including one crew member. I'll write more details in my blog tonight. Tonight we enjoyed dinner in the Main Dining Room. It was the last Dressy night of this cruise. Cecelia & Angela ( we met her on the Zuiderdam in January in the Canaletto Escargot Salad Shrimp & Peppercorn steak Coconut cake

Keep following my thread and I'll give the most current information from the ship. The 6:30am slot is the reservation time, and because of ferry schedules, our Captain said the next available slot is 9:45am. We're experiencing an increased amount of motion from the ocean since this morning.

Our Captain just announced that it is very likely that we won't make our 6:30am arrival in Sydney on 11/23. Tomorrow we are facing very stormy seas and may not be able to maintain the current high speed. Sydney has arrival slots and the next available slot is 9:45am. The Covid count is down but I couldn't hear the specifics. Perhaps he'll repeat the info this afternoon in his Ask the Captain session.

We're just departing Auckland after the shortest ever major port stop for us. We walked about 4 miles RT to church. The Covid # just announced in the departure message was 2 new cases and 3 more than reported yesterday for yesterday. By my count we have 56 total not knowing any recovery numbers.

Thanks. We've been to about half of them.

When we got back to the Tauranga port, our guide took us on a little drive around the port area and I realized that we visited here in 2014, but didn't leave the port area. I'm glad my descriptions of what we do are of some help to you.

We did a fabulous excursion today to Hobbiton and Rotorua. Pictures later. Just as we were boarding our tour bus for the ride back to the ship, our independent tour guide informed us we were staying overnight due to poor weather conditions. It's quite wet in Tauranga at the moment. And waiting for us was the letter from the Captain announcing the cancellation. So it's time to make lemonade out of lemons.

We had a nice stop in Gisborne. We walked around the town and along the beach before taking the steam train excursion out to Muriwai where some children performed Maori dances. This railway is very unique in that the tracks cross the international airport runway. It's the only one of its type in the southern hemisphere. As we approached the end of the tour, we came close to hitting a lady and her dog who were walking on the tracks and oblivious to us approaching. I was standing on the very front of the train and could hardly believe my eyes. Our Covid isolation count continues to rise and is now 40 passengers and one crew member. That's 5 more passengers than yesterday and 10 more than the day before. Our Captain indicated that the currents are very strong entering the harbor at Tauranga and that's what's delaying our entry. He also indicated that the tendering conditions for Waitangi (Bay of Islands) the following day don't look promising. Perhaps we can reach Auckland early and have more than 4 hours there. Here's a few pictures. Sunset tonight Steam Engine Memorial to Captain Cook's Cabin Boy who first spotted land at New Zealand Captain Cook memorial

Napier is the art deco capital of the world. We did a vintage car tour in a '38 Packard plus there was a collection of them parked on the pier along side the Westerdam. There's also a building with our family name on it.

On a cheerier note, I enjoyed the garden by the info center. Plus we had a rainbow during our sail out. Here's a few pictures.

I just received the masking letter, and it's been in force for the past week since the Majestic Princess incident. It hasn't dampened our enjoyment of the cruise.

I just received this confirmation of the Port change for 23 Nov. IMPORTANT NOTIFICATION Nov 23, 2022 Dec 06, 2022 Westerdam W279 Sydney Sydney Please be advised that embarkation for your upcoming Westerdam voyage on Wednesday, November 23, 2022 will now take place at the Overseas Passenger Terminal (OPT) rather than the White Bay Cruise Terminal (WBCT) as previously scheduled. The Overseas Passenger Terminal is located at Circular Quay West, The Rocks, Sydney, NSW 2000. Your disembarkation is scheduled to take place at the same pier. Guests with a Holland America Line pre-cruise hotel or transfer will be taken directly from their hotel or the airport to the pier. Guests with independent transfer arrangements should be guided accordingly, and are requested to arrive at the time indicated on your boarding pass. We look forward to welcoming you on board Westerdam.

In his departure message from Napier, the Captain indicated we now have 30 passengers and one crew member. In a personal chat with the Captain, he confirmed that we are docking at Circular Quay.

And my last update for today is that the Captain said in his departure message from Wellington that we have 4 new Covid cases bringing our current total to 15. He didn't specify if it was passengers or crew (that I recall). Masks are required indoors except when eating or drinking AND they have staff positioned at the hand sanitizers to encourage use of those devices before entering the LIDO restaurant area.

Here's another update about dining options on the Westerdam. A few days ago, they re-opened the Taco Bar in the Lido Pool area near the Dive-In. We haven't tried it yet, but we haven't seen an operating taco bar on a HAL ship in a number of years.

No, these were taken at the Wētā Cave studio in Wellington. This firm did the large soldier figures in the Gallipoli exhibit at Gallipoli as well as being a creative resource for many motion pictures including the Lord of the Rings series, Hobbit, and many many more movies. I highly recommend this tour which takes about an hour and a half. I don't offhand know the cost as it was part of our Tours By Locals Tour with Robbie.

Covid cases are up by 4 passengers to 1& cases in total.