Today, we were at Kangaroo Island, 13 km off the coast of southern Australia. Our tour first took us to Dudley Winery.

I’ve been to my share of wine tastings, and what I generally expect is that perhaps one of the 2-6 wines being offered for tasting is something I like. At this place, I liked every wine we tasted. Apparently, the grapes are dry grown, and have roots that go deep into the soil so they never get watered. The breezes coming from Antarctica are cool and the soil is sandy. The wines are all both flavorful and mild, and we would have bought a bottle or two, except that wine hasn’t been agreeing with me lately. Just know that if you ever buy a bottle of Australian wine from Dudley Winery, it’s likely to be decent.

While we were at the winery, a guy who looks like Wilford Brimley asked us why we chose to go on this cruise, on the Queen Mary 2. He said we weren’t exactly the “demographic.” The conversation moved on before I could ask what demographic we aren’t. Ancient? British? Posh? I’m now completely curious about what he might have meant. Maybe the next time I see him around the ship, I’ll ask him.

We checked out a lighthouse and a beach camping spot, and they were both lovely, even if the drive there was ten miles over corrugated iron. My kidneys may never recover.

The real star attraction, though, was the tender ride to and from the quay. This is a tiny port without its own tender services, so we used the ship’s lifeboats. They’re pontoon boats, so they’re made of fiberglass and the bottom part is filled with air, so it’s not like they’re going to flip over, but it was like a roller coaster. If we were going parallel to the waves, we bobbled side to side so that the people nearest the windows were looking either into the sky, or down into the water. When we went perpendicular to the waves, we’d crest one wave and hit the trough hard, making every old person on the boat give out a sharp “Oooooooh!” It was like being in a crowd during a fireworks show.