Ponant Kimberley Cruise - Day 3 - Embarkation Day

WEDNESDAY 24 APRIL – Day 3

Very excited to board our ship Le Laperouse today, but still more of Darwin to explore first. Had to walk off some of yesterday’s food, so I grabbed the key to the Novotel Gym (they utilise a public gym space a 5min walk from the hotel though I was too busy looking around and missed the turn so it took me nearly 15 – guess that counts as a warm up) for some light weights and then walked the scenic route back home. The vibe of the gym was a bit weird. Saw a naval vessel in Darwin Harbour at the HMAS Coonawarra base across the way from the Esplanade. Followed a walking trail down to Aquascene – a place built on the marine reserve of Lameroo Beach where, at high tide, the fish come in for feeding. They are wild so the timing of the feeding changes with the tide and the number of fish each day is unpredictable, but its something I never knew was here and I think would be great fun to do.  Found a few monuments and artistic sculptures that I missed yesterday, including a beautiful whale tale, and a commemorative plaque to 200 Territorians recognised as part of the bi-centennial celebrations in 1988. One was a Fenton! Clyde Fenton of the RFDS so we will have to do some research on him and find out his story ????

Mindl Beach

We thought a beachside breakfast would be nice, but as the season for markets and tourism to really kick in is still not quite here, our Uber driver advised us against it (as there is nothing and no one there) and suggested that Amy’s Café at the Darwin Botanic Gardens (just across from the beach – a 15min walk) would be a better alternative. What a great suggestion. We had a delicious breakfast – local mango smoothies, great coffee, a laksa hollandaise eggs benedict and wattle seed overnight oats with wattle seed mascarpone and fresh fruit were our choices. Yum yum! We have time to spare this morning so walked around the gardens for a half hour or so, saw the community garden, fountain, crocodile sculpture and playground, and we know there was so much more to explore – it could have been a whole morning out. Cool, peaceful, so nice to see all the tropical plants and hear the unusual bird calls – and it was in the shade!  We left about 9.30am and it was already getting really warm.

Todays photo is one of mine, taken of the gorgeous cafe in the Darwin Botanical Gardens.

RFDS Tourist Facility

Next stop for the morning was (another) Uber ride across past the Waterfront again and around to Stokes Hill Wharf. This is where many of the deep-sea charter day trips and sunset cruise tours of an evening depart from. The pier is built right out over the water, a ton of places to eat and drink – and a nice breeze coming off the water. Mexican, Indian, Seafood, Takeaway Liquor, Ice Cream, Pizza, Tacos, any sort of food you want, it’s here. Too far to walk from town for us today, I would advise an uber/taxi. It’s not all about the distance, it’s just so warm that you end up dripping in sweat and all hot and bothered.

There is however a free shuttle bus service that runs around the Waterfront Precinct, so if you are staying down this end of town it makes life easy.

The visit to the RFDS was well worthwhile. It started with a little video and hologram hosted movie about the day that the Japanese attacked Darwin Harbour, what it was like, what happened and how people survived and ships and planes were saved, as well as describing the loss of life and devastation of the city. Next was a film about how the RFDS was started which was a fabulous story of which I only knew a part, and how the service has evolved to what it is today – each plane can fly over 3500km at over 800km an hour in a single stretch. Can carry 3 patients on stretchers, 4 physicians, has basically full ICU facilities and a custom design aircraft with tail access for the stretchers. There are currently 75 aircraft in the fleet and on an average, they transport one patients every 2 minutes across all states and territories in Australia. If you are looking for a worthy cause to donate to…. this is one.

 

And the lady on the front desk looking after the entrance for the facility has parents who live in my suburb – go figure!

Another easy Uber ride back to the Novotel CBD to get packed up and fine a nice place to chill for a little while before we head for our home for the next 10 nights, Ponant Le Laperouse (we saw her docked in town this morning at Fort Hill Wharf). The Novotel has a wonderful and unique atrium, literally dripping with plants – its so green and relaxing and cool, we just sat here, read our books and had a bite of lunch.

 

PONANT LE LAPEROUSE DAY 1 – DEPART DARWIN

So the Uber ride to the Fort Hill Wharf was easy, and there we found a very basic cruise “terminal” building. A shed with seating inside, no food/drink outlets etc just a waiting room for us to sit as out bags were checked in first, and then around 3.30pm the ships assistant cruise director called us to start coming through. First step was to hand in our medical forms which we completed last night for a health check, we handed in our passports to the ship and will see them at the end again – no chance of us losing them that way - and then received our cruise cards on our Ponant lanyards and went to board. One last security check before boarding where we and our bags were X-rayed and the sign on the door of the building reminded us not to take on flares, bazookas, rocket propelled grenade launchers and other similar firearms!

The Captain and Hotel Manager were at the top of the gangplank to personally welcome us onboard. We were ushered to the Reception Desk on Deck 3 to have a security photo taken, and leave our c/card as a guarantee for extras – premium beverages, spa, boutique or excursions (only one on this trip - the Helicopter Trip to Mitchell Falls).

Once that was done, we were personally escorted to our cabin where our bags were already in our cabin waiting for us. We did most of the unpacking before heading back down to Deck 3 to collect a welcome drink and make our way to the safety muster and ship life briefing. We were introduced to our ship’s crew in all the different departments and listened to the safety muster drill. We then had to return to our cabins and collect life jackets, then proceed to muster stations. We were all marked off at the stations and then the Captain once again reminded us of the emergency and abandon ship signals, then we were allowed to return to our cabins. We requested a few extra hangers on the way, as Steve and I MAY have over packed a little bit, but we certainly have wardrobe choices!

Sail away from Darwin was 5.30pm. About half an hour after we left the boat slowed and we saw the pilot boat pull alongside and the pilot “jumped ship” literally and return to Darwin as we continued to head for open water.

The sunset was lovely, and the flip side was watching the full moon rise over Darwin as we left. Darwin appears to be built on the top of a shelf – to get to the Waterfront, or any of the beaches there are quite steep downhill pathways to follow/drive down. Its not at all what I expected.

We started to chat to some of our fellow sailors- Apart from another group of travel agents, Steve and I would be amongst the youngest on board – and after cruising on big ships in the past there were a few things to get used to. No Kids. Lots of people aged over 70. Only two places to dine – formal on Deck 4 or casual on Deck 3 (but still dress shorts, shoes and a collar short – no boardshorts or thongs in sight) plus room service. The gym is 5 pieces of cardio equipment and no weight machines. There is still, however, a stretch class on deck or in the theatre the mornings. There is one bar on Deck 3 in the Main Lounge, plus there is the Blue Room (closed tonight and only open selected hours on some days) plus a limited bar service in the Observation Lounge (only open certain hours each day depending on itinerary) so only 2-3 max places to get a drink (plus minibar which is included and restocked daily) and don’t forget the welcome bottle of champagne and fruit plate in our room. Still, more than enough.

Dinner tonight we went light and easy and enjoyed the casual buffet of roast lamb, Chicken Caesar salad (but deconstructed so you could choose what ever you liked) with a selection of cold seafood (smoked salmon, kingfish, cod and a beautiful crab salad served on avocado and with celery sticks.) There was also a charcuterie plate with chorizo, salami and corn meat with 4 different cheeses (cheddar/stilton/camembert and another I cannot recall but was delicious) with bread rolls, and did I mention the cold potato and leek soup? I may have had two of those as they were served in shot glasses and SO tasty????

Dessert buffet was great portion sizes (ie small) of a selection from blueberry friand, apple and rhubarb pie, crème Brule and rum baba. I was very restrained and went only for the rhubarb pie, however the freezer beside the buffet with 4 flavours of gelato/ice cream was very tempting!

The guest to staff ratio on this cruise is fabulous – 145 guests (97 staterooms) with 135 crew on board to look after us.

Once we leave Darwin we change time zones pretty much straight away – at 1.30am tomorrow morning the clocks shift back 1.5hrs so it becomes midnight – very excited about the extra sleep!! Tomorrow is ANZAC Day and we intend to be up at 5.45am for the Dawn Service on board. Then 8am on sundeck for stretches then 10am expedition briefing then depending on what group we are allocated for the shore excursions; we have lunch before we head out. Looking forward to getting the trip REALLY happening tomorrow ???? BUT since I am not great on tech and have no idea what my phone will do overnight we have called Reception and asked for a wakeup call a half hour before Dawn Service. At least that way I won’t make a mistake and miss it all together!

 

DAY ONE HOT PONANT TIP

The beverages are included in your fare on Ponant including the minibar which is restocked daily. All types of drinks are included – beers, wines, spirits, cocktails, tea/coffee/juice/soft drink. However as with all well stocked bars, aside from the 3-4 choices in each alcoholic category that are included in the fare, there are premium brands on offer, and these come at a cost. For us on this cruise, the included brands of all the drinks were perfectly fine. However, if you do enjoy a Johnny Walker Black or Blue rather than Red, a Veuve rather than a house champagne (which was perfectly nice and we found retails at about $60/bottle at home), then the daily drink package fee of EUR25pp/day is well worth it – three drinks and its paid for itself.

By Sarah Fenton

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