Stifling laughter, joyshirley, Christine, Lilac and CTC leapt onto the wharf and ran towards the street.
"Where are we?" Lilac asked as they came to a halt, out of breath.
"I don't know or care!" Christine replied."I am just so glad to be on terra firma again!"spreading her arms out to embrace the city before her.
"It's Melbourne!" joyshirley said excitedly. "Yes, I was starting to feel suffocated, stuck on that boat day after day! I've been making plans on my phone for a fun-filled afternoon and evening for us, girls! Oh, and you too, CTC, if you're game?"
CTC hesitated, before replying that if there was pizza and lots of it included in these plans, then "I'm in!"
"What plans?" Sam asked, catching up with them.
"Sightseeing, lunch, shopping, a hotel..."
"A hotel?" they all chorused. "Why are we going to a hotel?"
"It's a surprise. Just be ready to have fun fun fun! Come on, everyone! We're on a whirlwind tour of Melbourne."
"Oh, my giddy aunt!" Lilac stared at the sleek black 1974 Cadillac limo that had pulled up beside them.
"Jump in! We're travelling in style, smooth cruisin' with no yawing of any sort!" js laughed as she opened the door.
"Where to start in this wonderful city?" CTC said, gazing at the beautiful buildings all around.
"Grand limo tour of the city, followed by pizza and salad for lunch at the Botanic Gardens. A wander round the Melbourne Museum, then full steam ahead on a short tram ride to the CBD. Shop till you drop, but you better not!" js said cryptically, 'then limo to the hotel for dinner. Which none of us have to cook!"
"I want one of those hats with the dangly things you see Aussies wearing in the outback!" Christine said.
The others laughed. "Yeah, why not?"
Discussing their prospective purchases, they enjoyed the few hours respite from the boat and soon it was time to go shopping.
"Buy something nice to wear this evening!" js instructed them. "My treat!"
"It's only dinner in a hotel. Surely I can wear my jeans and t-shirt?" Lilac protested.
Li-lac, please buy something pretty to wear," js wheedled. "You never know where we will be going after dinner."
"Oh, all right, js! Gee, you're boss...er...persuasive, aren't you?"
Loaded with bags filled with lovely clothes, CTC even splashing out on a cool jacket to go with his other new gear, they flopped into chairs at the dinner table js had reserved for them.
"What a huge table. There's room enough for at least six more people," Sam noted.
"Look who's here!" as David approached the dinner table, along with Dr S, GW, jennypearl, Dirk and LaSorcia.
"What's the big idea, running out on us while we were resting our eyes?" David demanded, his eyes taking in the delectable food being served.
"We booked you all in here for dinner too. Just eat up, as we can't get stuck here all night, David!"
David, slightly stunned at js' peremptory tone, did as he was told, with one eyebrow raised.
"Where's that limo? I need to get back to the ship and sleep this feed off." GW groaned as he rubbed his very round little tummy.
"Sleep? No time to sleep. LaSorcia, did you grab their good clothes?"
"Yep! And I can't wait!" she said with a secret smile at js.
"Hey! Do you know what the surprise is? No fair!!" the other girls chorused.
"Everyone just go and get your glad rags on. I've booked two rooms at the hotel here for us. You menfolk, too. Go go go!" js said.
"I am not prepared to go on a ride to an unknown destination, all the while knowing absolutely nothing about what we may have to face during said ride. And where did this limo come from? I find it very suspicious that it appeared, unbidden..."
Dr S was cut off by various cries of "Put a sock in it, Dr S! We haven't got time for that! And js ordered the limo! Her brother's friend owns it!"
Dr S shot a sideways glance at js, his brain whirling almost audibly with thoughts as to what js could be planning. He was sure it would eventually be to the detriment of the brave band of adventurers. Perhaps he could get Sam to find out. That was it. He would tell Sam to quiz js.
Turning to speak with Sam, he saw her rushing into the lift with the other girls, laughing as they tried to guess what the surprise was.
(And no, js is not going to stop writing here, because like Christine, js wants some fun and excitement and joy in at least one country on this adventure and this time she's gonna get it!)
An hour later, everyone met in the hotel foyer.
"Man, I hardly recognise everyone!" Christine marvelled. "We had gotten so salty and sunburnt and our clothes had faded so much at sea all this time..." She looked admiringly at everyone.
"You look lovely too, Christine!" js said. 'Oh, here's the limo! We can all fit in easily. Come on!"
It was obvious js was in a state of high excitement. For a moment, she had qualms that the others might not like her surprise, but dismissed them. Surely they would be as thrilled as she was.
The limo arrived at the Rod Laver Arena and was waved through the gate to one of the entrances to the building. Leaping out and looking at the hordes of people queued up, the penny started to drop.
"It must a concert or a game or something," David said as he and the others were ushered through the entrance.
"Looks like we're going in via the VIP entrance! How cool!" Dirk said, looking round eagerly. "If it's a basketball game..."
gennypearl looked excited. Could it possibly be her fave basketball player in there?
js heard them and shook her head slightly at them, with a smile.
"Not this time, I'm sorry."
An attendant led them to seats in the front row and gave them all a bag of goodies hand-picked by the artist who was to peform that evening.
"Look! All sorts in this bag!" Lilac said as the others delved into theirs.
"I have some men's perfume!" Dr S said with a smile, then subsided bashfully as the others grinned at him.
"But who???"David said, when he saw the personal message in his gift bag, signed by Celine Dion!!!
js was almost jumping up and down in excitement as she saw her pals begin to look as excited as she was. The woman with arguably the best voice in the world would be on the stage before them in less than an hour. Oh, js just couldn't wait!
Three hours later, they made their way out slowly to the waiting limo. Almost everyone was talking at once, overwhelmed by the beauty of Celine's voice. Dr S was surreptitiously dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief. He had heard many fine voices over time, but Celine was in a class of her own.
"What a day! And what a night!" Christine murmured as she sank against the luxurious seat.
The limo purred out of the Arena and onto the road leading to the waterfront. Tired now, everyone began to doze off as the car moved smoothly through the city.
(My daughter attended a Celine Dion concert last night and was totally blown away by the magnificence of her voice. Before coming here, Celine performed in Melbourne and that gave me the idea for this little interlude in the story.)
