Day 49 28th February 2011

We gained an hour last night so we are currently GMT +11. This makes working out when things are happening in the UK and elsewhere difficult. It is easy to get confused, for example as we went to bed last night the England Cricket team had just started their innings in the Cricket World Cup. It seems easier to work things out when we are behind the UK. The crew are in a state of shock that England managed to draw with India after they scoreD 338. It is an amazing result. At dinner last night the waiters kept popping out to get the Indian score since they batted first so we had a continuous stream of news about how well India were playing.

Leaving Brisbane last night was like one continuous light show. The lights of the suburbs of the city combined with the occasional ship going up river as we went down made a magic display. At one point we saw what seemed to be a large flock of birds circle the ship but they were very large bats. There were probably several hundred of them, jet black and silent. They were obviously after the insects that were flying over the water.

Last night we went to see Aubrey and Miller who are two Australian singers. They were quite good although I think not to everyone’s taste since they sang Waltzing Matilda as well as a range of other folk and country numbers. They used a variety of musical instruments including a didgeridoo and one made from lager bottle tops also guitars and banjos.  

This morning we are sailing south with the coast of Australia visible on the starboard side of the ship or opposite our balcony. It is on the horizon which means that it is at least twenty miles away.  It is a hot day about 30c with calm seas. Curiously, we have not seen another ship although running parallel with the land. You would have thought that it would be crowded.  Equally we have not seen any sign of any animal life in the air or water.

This afternoon we went to hear two talks one on the lyrics of American Pie and one about the production of the World at War neither lived up to our expectations. We are off to a drinks party tonight hosted by Gordon and Janet, our table companions.