Today is our second-last sea day. We left New Zealand yesterday and headed north, wrapping around the top of the North Island and supposedly turning south-west, tracking to Sydney. However, as the captain warned, the Tasman Sea is serving up some tricky conditions. There’s a 5 to 6 metre swell and a strong southerly blowing. We’re going to skirt it. So instead of a straight line to Sydney, we’re making an arc, heading north-west first, before turning south-west tomorrow.
The Tasman has form. It’s a relatively narrow stretch of water, around 2,000 kilometres across between Australia and New Zealand, but it’s where the Pacific meets the Southern Ocean, and the “Roaring Forties” westerlies sweep through it. Sailors call it “the Ditch,” and cold fronts collide with warmer currents to produce steep, short, unpredictable seas. Typical conditions are swells of 2 to 4 metres, so the 5 to 6 metres we’re looking at is on the rough side, though the Tasman can produce well over 8 metres in a proper storm. It ranks as a moderately challenging crossing. It’s a long way short of the Drake Passage, between South America and Antarctica, where storm waves can reach 15 metres and even the average runs 4 to 5 metres, or the Southern Ocean itself, where the winds circle the globe with nothing to stop them. The Bay of Biscay and parts of the North Atlantic can be just as nasty. For a big ship like Edge, it just means a bit of lumbering.
Despite the swell, we make our way to Eden for a steak cooking class. The pitching of the ship gives you a sense of weightlessness every now and then, before you feel really heavy as the pitch goes in the opposite direction. We make it to Eden, which is quite a walk, remembering we live forward starboard and Eden is aft port side.
There are eight people in the class. The format is similar to the pizza class. First, an introduction, then we’re cooking a filet mignon. The chef takes us through the cooking levels and how to achieve them using the thumb-to-finger trick. It works like this. Hold your hand out, relaxed, and press the fleshy pad at the base of your thumb with the index finger of your other hand. That soft, springy feeling is a rare steak, around 49 to 52 degrees Celsius (120 to 125°F). Now touch your thumb to your index finger and press the pad again. It’s firmer, and that’s medium-rare, around 54 to 57°C. Thumb to middle finger is medium, around 60 to 63°C. Thumb to ring finger is medium-well, around 66 to 68°C, and thumb to pinky is well done, around 71 to 74°C. The idea is that the meat firms up as it cooks in the same way the pad gets firmer as you move along the fingers. It’s a handy guide, though it’s approximate, and a meat thermometer is still more reliable.
Then it’s time to cook. A little salt and pepper, and oil into the pan, preferably a high smoke point oil, not olive oil. Onto a medium to high heat for searing. Then some garlic, fresh herbs, and butter to baste. Quite simple, but a couple of new techniques for me to try at home.
We then sit and enjoy our steaks. Quite delicious.
We try some trivia then, with a themed round today on actors, focusing on early roles. With a bit of thought and some clues from our host, we do alright, scoring 16.
We then chill out for a while before lunch. Mardi enjoyed the steak I cooked so much she had one for lunch! I did eat most of the breakfast steak, so for lunch I had a prawn roll.
We then meet a future cruise advisor, exploring cruises in 2028 and 2029. Who knows where we’ll go next!
The afternoon sees some more packing and resting, enjoying the sea day despite the rough conditions. Tonight is the final Evening Chic night, so we dress up as usual and head out to Martinis. It’s always a lively atmosphere, more so when it’s Evening Chic. Gorgeous outfits are on show again, some tuxedos and evening gowns. Mardi wears a pink eyelet linen dress she made, the Atelier Jupe Pippa pattern in fabric from the Dahlia Sewciety. I’m in a suit with my evening shark shirt, dark blue with pencil-line drawn sharks.
After a drink we head out to dinner. Tonight we enjoy scallops and lobster. The mood in Luminae is buoyant, and the staff are all in a fantastic mood, more so than usual. Saira, our greeter, who has greeted us warmly every night, greets us again. We chat to her about her memory. She can remember everyone’s name and room number, which is an amazing skill. There are about 300 people in the Retreat. I offer to help her given how busy she is, and stand at her desk. Mr B, the maître d’, gives me his badge, and I’m maître d’ now. Funnily enough, no one else comes during my time on the front desk. We chat and laugh as I sit down to dinner, reluctantly handing the badge back.
After dinner we try our luck at the casino again. The tables are, as always, quiet. But I find a blackjack table that looks lively. We sit and I play for about 90 minutes, starting with $100 and swinging between $5 and $180. Eventually I finish where I started. A fun, engaging time for a change. We bump into Rosina and Aldo and sit and chat, watching people play slots and poker.
We keep an eye on the footy, as the Rugby League World Cup kicked off tonight and Australia eventually defeated New Zealand 24-22. It was a cracker, with debutant Jack Bostock scoring a hat-trick, including the match-winner in the 76th minute, after New Zealand led 22-16 in the second half. Kalyn Ponga went off with a suspected broken arm. It’s after midnight by the time we peel off and head home.
We stop and watch the silent disco for a while. It’s quite weird. Scores of people on the dance floor, all wearing headphones and listening to the same song, most of them singing it. Thankfully they can’t hear themselves! We listen to “Mr Brightside” by The Killers, murdered by the throng below.
We then head off to bed. The sea remains rough as we settle in for our second-last night.
