Wednesday, March 12, 2025

Another sea day today as the Norwegian Sun traveled from Cooktown, Queensland, Australia to Darwin in the Northern Territory. Andi was up early again today to work from 4:30am-8:30am. Then, the four of us went to breakfast in the Garden Cafe.

I had a moment during breakfast when the reality of our surroundings really came into focus. We are so lucky to be able to spend this time together as a family, floating along in the Torres Strait between Australia and Papua New Guinea, the body of water where the Pacific and Indian Oceans meet. It’s easy to take something as simple as eating breakfast together every morning for granted. I felt overwhelming gratitude to be here with Andi, Tory, and Aden.

Aden asked if he could go to Splash Academy this morning, so we agreed to meet up again at Noon for lunch and school.

Meanwhile, Andi, Tory, and I decided to check out the cake decorating contest happening in the Bliss Lounge this morning. Some of Aden’s friends from kids club participated in the contest against the Norwegian Sun’s head pastry chef. She demonstrated how to assemble a black forest cake; the process narrated by the cruise ship director amidst laughter and participation from the crowd.

Afterwards, we caught up to Aden and his friend CJ in the hallway, along with the girls from the cake decorating event. Aden’s had such a fun cruise hanging out with these kids from Florida. In a way, it’s been great that there aren’t many kids on this cruise ship because this small group has had a chance to form solid friendships with one another.

Aden asked if he could have lunch with CJ’s family today, and then go swimming with them on the pool deck afterwards. I agreed, and arranged to meet Aden afterwards for school.

Tory and I returned to our stateroom after the cake decorating show, and did her school work. Then, Andi, Tory, and I went to lunch at the Seven Seas main dining restaurant. The three of us were seated at a picturesque table by the window overlooking the ocean passing by.

Andi and I each ordered the grilled pork chop for lunch, and Tory had a chicken quesadilla. For dessert, Andi ordered the creme brule and Tory had an orange chocolate mousse.

Andi took an afternoon nap while I did school with Aden in his room. It wasn’t the most ideal setup for school with Aden. He’s more of a morning person when it comes to focusing, and it didn’t help that we’ were sitting on his bed to work. He was quite chatty this afternoon and not at all interested in learning pi equations.

I needed to clear my mind when we finished, so I went to the gym to workout afterwards. Then, Andi and I walked together on the walking track to get some steps in for the day. It’s been a real treat having a gym and a lot of open space to workout on the cruise ship. I don’t typically like working out in the afternoon, but I like that it’s not busy at this time of day.

Tonight’s main stage entertainment on the ship was another singer. None of us were particularly interested in that, so the four of had dinner together in the Four Seas dining room. We struck up a conversation with a nice couple from Alabama seated next to us. Surprisingly, there’s quite a few people from the United States on this cruise as well as Australia and New Zealand.

Tomorrow is our last day in Australia; hard to believe it! We’ll arrive in Darwin, Northern Territory tomorrow for a day of adventuring.