We arrived in Albany in the late afternoon and prepared for the Gala Concert event. Gary and I in our very expensive (not) suits and Leanne and Kath in black evening gowns. We all scrubbed up pretty well and proceeded to head to the buffet at around 5:30pm.
Yes, you heard correctly, we went to the buffet. There was no dinner this evening so we decided to get something down before the gala event started and the wine started flowing. So there we were, in the best outfits we have, white shirts, bow ties and all, sitting down at the buffet eating pizza, which incidentally is one of the freshest thing you can get at this time of day.
Somehow miraculously Gary and I avoided getting pizza sauce on our shirts and we headed off to the pool deck where the gala event would be.
There was a lot of wait staff with drink trays coming past every 5 minutes, keeping us well hydrated. There was also lots of finger food circulating so we snacked a little throughout the night.
The evening was MC’d by Bert Newton, which was something Kath had been waiting for for around 4.5 years now. Bert was his typical charming self, with Patty there to help crack wise about Bert’s hair. The entertainment kicked off with John Williamson playing some of his greatest hits. Next up was Normie Row, who we recently found out, lives near us at Paradise Point. Normie was very energetic and belted out a few tunes, I didn’t know any of them, but based on the singing from around us, I was in the minority.
Next was Ross Wilson (Daddy Cool, Mondo Rock), again very energetic with a few select tunes, mostly the popular tracks from his career. Following this was Kate Cebrano, who again, played a select few hits. I’m not a big fan of Kate, her music is a bit too ‘elevator’ for me (did I say that out loud?). She has a wonderful voice though and adds a lot to the line up.
Last up was Daryl Braithwaite who was as energetic as everyone else and then some. He played all hit songs and had the entire cruise singing along to a 10 minute rendition of Horses. Ross cameo’d on a track on guitar, and Kate was there for the big ending of Horses. Daryl is a top performer and we’re looking forward to seeing him live at concerts throughout the cruise.
The evening culminated with fireworks that were put on by the local Albany shire as a welcome to the passengers. It was pretty spectacular and everyone was cheering. A great end to a great night.