Our last full day! And it was pretty full. We breakfasted at about 8.30 then returned to the cabin to finish packing. We had to be at the Aquitaine lounge for 11 for 11.15 departure. Packed lunches awaited us which we had to collect. The gang-plank was not from the main deck today but from an upper deck with a long slope down. We made it to the coach and we had a very informative Guide for the journey to the Eden Project, arriving about 12.30 in the Banana coach park.
The Eden project was constructed in an old worked out clay pit so it was a long way down to the bottom! First we took a park-and-ride bus to a lower level.
Then we had to go down a lot of steps and meet the Guide by the wooden horse. This was by a shop and cafe but we by-passed these to go out to a viewpoint from where we could see all over the gardens and the biomes, the huge greenhouses where the Tropical and Temperate plants are housed.
Left: The Tropical Biomes
Right: The Temperate Biomes
A short walk took us to the terminus of the Land-train, three coaches pulled by a tractor. This took us zig-zagging down the pathways to the lowest level, a short walk from the entrance to the biomes. Just before we reached the bridge my camera batteries ran out. I sat down to change them and J said he would go on ahead and I said I would meet him at the bridge. When I got there I could not find him anywhere. I went in and out several times then saw him coming from another direction with John and Sue Busby, our neighbours! They are on holiday in Cornwall and were spending the day at the Eden Project. Fancy meeting them like that! We spent a brief time with them then went to explore the biomes. We went to the Tropical one first which is made to represent the forests of Malaysia, South America and Africa. Typical houses representing the countries are set amongst the landscape of tropical trees, flowers and waterfalls. The concept of the project is to create an awareness of the dependence we have on plants. They are used for food, drinks, provide us with oxygen to breathe, clothing, medicines, in fact every aspect of life depends on plants.
Scenes inside the Tropical Biome.
Scenes inside the Temperate Biome.
The Temperate Biome held less vegetation but some interesting phenomena. I have chosen just six pictures from each biome to try to give some indication of their contents but of course this does not do either of them justice. Human dependence on plants is the big message. If they are mistreated then they cannot serve us. Our time in Eden was all too short. We did not want to miss the bus, or the ship! We made our way back up via the train. We stopped in the shop to buy some books then up the hill to the park-and-ride bus to the Banana car park. (All the car parks are known by names of fruits!) We actually had some time to spare so we went into a waiting-tent and watched a video about the foundation of the project.
Back on our coach we hit traffic jams such that we travelled 2 miles in 30 minutes! We were due back on board by 5.15 for sailing at 6. We arrived at 5.45 and made it on board just in time, and what a climb up the gang plank! It was so steep it was like climbing Everest, well, almost!
We just had time to change for dinner! Our last dinner! I had Thai soup and J had another starter, we both had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding followed by rum baba.
The last night's entertainment included everybody!. First there was Call my Bluff with the entertainment staff. John as question-master and Alison, Josie and Nicky telling the stories! It was good fun. The Black Prince Orchestra with Irena followed with her actually singing more songs than usual! J decided not to stay for the Farewell Showtime which was at 10pm. as he said he wasn't feeling too good. The show included Deja Vu, Leo Andrew, Philip Hitchcock and Ron Dale - the whole company. It was a good evening, a pity J missed it.
When I eventually returned to the cabin I found that J was VERY unwell. He had been vomiting since 10.45. When things had not improved by 1am I called the ship's doctor. She examined him and gave him some re-dehydration sachets to take in water. She said it was not sea-sickness but a virus. I would not discount food poisoning. He got very little sleep. I only slept from 3 till 6, but that's another day.