No Land in Sight

What the heck has happened since I last wrote on here? It really wasn't that long ago, but feels like a lifetime! 

For one, Tasmania was a hell of an experience. From petting wombats and koalas to getting attacked by kangaroos and being FROZEN cause believe it or not it gets cold in Tasmania, it was an incredible time. I spent most of my second day of Hobart sitting at the waterfront catching up with people back home but it was a nice place to sit in, even though it was very cold! 

Back to this whole kangaroo thing. I signed up for a tour to go check out the Bonorong Wildlife Sancturary which houses all sorts of wildlife that people call in about to get rescued. Much like animal control back home - you see an injured animal on the road, you call, they come and rescue them, rehabilitate them and send them back out if they're not severely injured or sick. This place houses wombats, tasmanian devils, koalas (which aren't native to Tasmania) and HUNDREDS of kangaroos. It was such a fun experience and I love that within my first 3 days of being in Australia I was able to encounter them! Feeding some, some of them feeding on me lol. I was feeding one giant one from the palm of my hand when he realized that the bag in my other hand was FULL of food. He latched on to my arm and started chomping at my bag of food … so my left arm is now home to fun little reminder - a kangaroo scar. Pretty sweet story to tell the grandchildren I'd say. 

I've survived 2 cruises so far and this week I'm starting my first HOD run. If you've been following my blog since the start you'll know that HOD is Host On Duty week. If you haven't, now you know :) Basically means, that I run the activities during the day when people are off in port and I'm the go-to person for the week if things need to be done with in the entertainment department. It also means no land for the next 9 days until we arrive back in Sydney on the 12th. I've basically exhausted the rest of my team with question after question after question but hey, I'd rather do something right the first time then do it wrong and have them ask ME 'well why didn't you ask how to do it?' 

This cruise is the last cruise for one of the hosts, and honestly I can't wait for him to go. I know that's an awful thing to say, but him and another one of the hosts were already in 'going home mode' since the day I got here. I get it. We all get to that point in our contract when we're a cruise or two away and we just stop caring. I'll admit 100% that I've been there. But it's just not a very nice environment to come into. Yeah, they answer my questions and they help when I ask, but they just weren't very welcoming. I know I said they were in my first entry from Oz, but things changed very quickly. I already know (from an incredibly reliable source) that they didn't want to get to know me from the day I got here, so that's a nice thing to find out. So sayonara folks. Arrivederci. GTFO. 

Besides all of that, I'm in love with Australian guests. Nothing against American or Canadian guests, but these guys are pretty top notch. I haven't run into anybody who has been disgruntled about anything, complained about the most useless stuff. I mean I'm sure it happens a lot more to say a Guest Services Associate but for me, none. Everyone is so laid back and happy to be on vacation. When they come down for tenders, they don't complain about the wait time. They don't complain about procedures, they just do it because that's what they're told to do and they're not in a hurry to do so. If I could sail out Australia for the rest of my contracts (who knows how many I'll do) that would be a dream come true honestly. 

Well I suppose I should be off to some good old bean bag toss, which apparently is a new thing to Aussies and I always have to explain the game. It's all good. They have a ball doing it and of course who doesn't want to win they're very own ship on a stick? 

Ta for now!