I am back from a months holiday.  Naturally I wore my Red Hat as seen in my profile picture.  Unfortunately I left it behind on a bus as I toured the Margaret River Wineries on a cloudy day.  We spent a week prior to our cruise travelling the south west coast of WA.

The cruise started still cloudy and I was thinking I would pick up a new Red Hat somewhere.  The ship only sold caps so I waited for the first port of call.  Meanwhile I wore my purple shirt with red hats on to breakfast and was approached by Ros who said she was from Queensland and also a Red Hat Queen.  We decided to approach the Tour Events Organiser and have a Get Together published for afternoon tea in the Regency Dining Room.

Meanwhile I still couldnt get a red hat but got a red cap and a red scarf.  The event was published in the "Princess Patter" and I was very nervous as to if I would be the only one attending.  On a large ship of nearly 2000 passengers and 900 crew you often never saw a person again after talking to them.

I looked up through the glass lift and saw those familiar colours of red and purple and with a huge smile on my face found 12 other Red Hatters waiting to go into TEA.  We all had a great chat and introduced ourselves.  Most hadnt come prepared for Red Hatting and very some were very inventive with hats from T Shirts Balloons etc.  We agreed to meet again but unfortunately they didnt slot it into the program.   Several other ladies approached me on the cruise and made enquiries about red hatting and as I carry "The Warning" with me I was happy to encourage them to join our sisterhood.

I hope they all find chapters and one lady I know thought she would start her own after talking to me.

What a simple way to network and make friends, just wearing a red hat and as purple is the fashion at the moment I wear a lot of that both official red hatting and not.

Hugs to you all, keep smiling.