D19GV – Legless in Singapore?

In my last post D19GV – Bali Higher, my 250th, I described the three days we spent in Benoa, Bali, including a fabulous tour to see the beautiful rice terraces and a Hindu temple on the side of a large lake. Leaving Benoa we had two full days at sea before we reached our next port of call, Singapore. This would be our second visit to Singapore on this Grand Voyage, our first is described in my post D19GV – Free Time in Singapore.

Regular readers will know that for the past couple of weeks or so I have been having problems with my right knee – if I were to sit with the knee bent for even a short time, or do a quite moderate amount of walking, then I would get pain in the knee. I had seen the ship’s doctor a couple of times, who prescribed lots of rice (rest, ice, compression and elevation), and on my return visit told me that he would arrange for me to attend a hospital in Singapore for scans and to see a Consultant.

There had been quite a bit of banter going around before we got to Singapore about this visit, with offers to draw a dotted line around my thigh to show where my leg should be cut off, and to buy me a wooden leg, eye patch and parrot so that I could go for the complete pirate look!

The basic itinerary that we had been given before we sailed on this cruise had said that we would be in port from early morning until late afternoon, so we expected that this hospital visit would take up much of the time, and so we just mentally cancelled our plans for the day. We were therefore delighted to find that actually we would be in port from 8am until 11pm, meaning that we would also have the evening available.

The instructions from the medical centre said that we could attend the Accident & Emergency (A&E) department of Singapore Hospital at any time that day, but we decided that it would be best if we got there as soon as possible.

It was still quite dark as we sailed into port, too dark for it to be worth taking any photographs, so instead we went to the restaurant and had a good breakfast to prepare us for the day ahead.

As soon as Elliot, the Cruise Director, announced that we had clearance we set off ashore. Before we even reached the Immigration checkpoint we were scanned with a thermal camera by people wearing facemasks – obviously precautions due to the Coronavirus. We caught a taxi to take us to the hospital, and the roads were nice and clear, probably due to it being a public holiday for the Lunar New Year celebrations.

At the entrance to A&E we were greeted by two nurses with full facemasks and plastic overalls, who took our temperatures and got me to fill in a form about where we had been recently, before giving us stickers to wear to show we had been checked, and allowing us to enter the building. Virtually everyone inside were wearing facemasks, and we were left wondering whether we should be wearing them too, although no one had offered us one.

After filling in more forms we were left to wait for quite a while, before someone came up to us and told us that the Consultant was at home, but that he would come in to see me – in the meantime I would have X-Rays taken of my knee. After another wait we were called in to see the Consultant, who was really nice. He examined my X-Rays and told me that things looked ok – he said that he had seen much worse on people much younger than me. He then examined my knee, and concluded that the problem was fluid on my knee – but not enough to warrant drawing it off. Instead he told me that it was a problem that would sort itself out in time, and that meanwhile I can still do some walking, but must keep the leg up and rest it whenever I can. He also gave me stronger anti-inflammatory tablets, and stronger pain-killing medication. Phew – I would not be leg-less in Singapore after all!!!

Again as part of the Coronavirus precautions we had to leave A&E by a different route than we had entered it, and then had a wander about trying to find where we could catch a taxi back to the ship. Then fortunately a taxi came along the road towards us, which we were able to flag down and take back to the Harbourfront.

After all these adventures we decided it would be best to have lunch on board ship and rest up, before heading out to enjoy Singapore later in the afternoon, given that we had the luxury of the extra time in port.

One thing we had enjoyed doing before in Singapore was taking the cable car over to Sentosa Island, the ride takes you high over the top of the ship. We thought that we would do this again, but make the return journey after it got dark so that we could see both the city and the ship all lit up.

Travelling across to the Island on the cable car we had familiar views of the ship and the city below.

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We then took the second cable car on the island itself to try and see the large Merlion statue there, but found that area to be under reconstruction, so instead used the cable car to travel down to Siloso at the other end of the island. As we did so we could see that the weather was on the change – there was an abrupt line of very dark clouds and rain coming our way – the late afternoon heavy rain that you get in Singapore most days.

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Reaching Siloso station we waited there for the worst of the rain to pass over, before walking the short distance to Trapizza restaurant where we both enjoyed a tasty pizza meal – a nice change from the regularly-repeating menus on board ship – we had thought it best to change our plans and eat first to allow time for the skies to clear before visiting the Skywalk.

The Skywalk tree top walkway is 11 stories high, and provides an 181 metre walk high above the trees with great views – and even better it is completely free!

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After enjoying the views for some time we took the island cable car back to where the cable car connecting to the mainland goes from, where we found a bench to rest on and wait for darkness to come. While we waited a male peacock came along, and saw its own reflections in a taxi that had stopped nearby. It then repeatedly jumped up, kicking out at the taxi with quite loud bangs. The taxi driver, clearly concerned, then drove off, with the peacock in hot pursuit – much to the amusement of everyone watching!

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As dusk approached we walked around to where we knew we could see across to the mainland in order to tell when it would be dark enough for our journey across.

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As we rode the cable car high in the air we had fabulous views down over the city and our ship all lit up, just as we hoped. However trying to capture these views on my camera was very trying, as the dirty and smeary windows had a much bigger effect in the low light – this was the best I could manage.

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We returned to the ship tired but contented – we had had a satisfactory visit to the hospital in the morning, and enjoyed our sightseeing trip to Sentosa Island later. We had ended up walking further than we intended, so I was left wondering how my knee would react overnight and the next day – I am pleased to report that it has not reacted as badly as it did after our walks in Ambon and on Bali, so hopefully things are on the mend.

Long after I was tucked up in bed and fast asleep, the ship set sail for our next port of call, Phuket in Thailand, which once again we visited earlier on this long cruise. Our adventures there are likely to be the subject of my next post.

 

Postscript 1

A few nights ago it was a formal night on Burns Night, when the life and poetry of the Scottish poet Robert (Robbie) Burns is celebrated. A haggis was paraded into each restaurant in turn to the accompaniment of bagpipes (played by Keith the dance instructor), while Thomas Ellis, the Safety Officer, who hails from the Orkney Islands in the far north of Scotland read the poem to address the haggis, while Niel Myles, the head chef, who is also Scottish, looked on.

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Postscript 2

Late in the afternoon on the day before we reached Singapore we crossed the Equator for the fourth and final time on this voyage – not forgetting too the day we spent recently sailing along it.

This meant of course yet another Crossing the Line ceremony – great fun of course for those newly on board, but for us old-timers the novelty is wearing a bit thin. Of course the senior officers were made to kiss either a fish or one of King or Queen Neptune, followed by an early bathe in the swimming pool.

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Regular readers might remember that at the Surfing the Equator party Dietmar Strutz, the Hotel Manager, threw Carol and I into the pool after he saw Carol encourage the Captain to have him thrown in. This time a very wet Dietmar did come and seek us out, but fortunately it was just for a wet hug for Carol and a photograph with me (shame I blinked at the wrong moment!).

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D19GV – Bali Higher

In my last post, D19GV – Amble around Ambon, I described our visit to Ambon, the first of three ports of call we were to make in Indonesia on the return half of our epic Grand Voyage. In Ambon the weather was a blisteringly hot 41 degrees, but we still managed a walk around the town, and loved the very warm welcome we received there.

Komodo Island

Leaving Ambon, we had one full day at sea before we reached our next Indonesian port of call, Komodo Island. Incredibly this was to be our 4th visit to this remote and rarely visited island, a place where you can only go ashore if you are on an official tour. On our first world cruise we did the ship’s tour to see the famous komodo dragons, documented in my post W1702 – Here really be dragons!. On our second world cruise we came back to the island, and we went to see the Pink Beach, documented in my post W1801 – In the pink!. We made our third visit to the island on the outbound half of this voyage, this time Carol remained on board ship while I took an exhilarating ride on one of the ship’s RIB tours, documented in my post D19GV – A Tale of Three Islands.

If I was fully fit, then on this final return visit I would have loved to have gone back to the Pink(ish) Beach, and done some more snorkelling there. However regular readers will know that I am struggling with a knee injury at present, and I did not think it wise to take on the climbing up and down the ladders needed to access the beach from the boat, or to do the actual snorkelling, until I find exactly what is wrong with my knee. Therefore Carol and I decided just to spend a day on the ship, enjoying the quiet knowing that most other passengers will be taking the chance to go ashore and see the island and the dragons.

Or friends Alan and Sue were doing the RIB tour this time around, so as well as lending them my waterproof camera, I also went up on deck to take photographs of them as they set of and as they returned. Of course I could not help snapping the amazing scenery once again while I was up there! I was also interested to see how much more green the scenery was than when we had last visited the island around six weeks earlier.

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Carol and I particularly enjoyed our lunch sat poolside that day, it was very quiet, and of course the views over the stern of the ship were to die for.

As usual there were several lads on small boats who came close to our ship calling out for people to throw them apples or other fruit. I managed to get a couple of shots of them diving into the water to retrieve thrown fruit, before Carol and I threw some down to them ourselves – yes we are aware of the strict rules about not throwing anything overboard, but we can assure you that the fruit we threw was only in the sea for seconds before a grateful hand gathered it up and took it back to one of their little boats.

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At present we have a naturalist onboard, who is up on the front deck every morning, and every time we do a sailaway, pointing out the wildlife to be seen. In the Daily Times it said that he hoped we would see dolphins and possibly whales as we sailed away from Komodo Island, so Carol and I went up to join the crowds up with him on the topmost deck. We did see spinner dolphins, but once again I failed to photograph them – I don’t think wildlife photography is my forte.

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Benoa, Bali

Leaving Komodo Island, we only had that night and a morning at sea, before we reached our final port in Indonesia for this cruise, Benoa on the island of Bali. We both very much enjoy the sail into Benoa, with all the small boats, colourful parascending parachutes, beaches and buildings to see, so we both went up on deck to watch our arrival.

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The first time we visited Benoa was on our first world cruise, when I did a ship’s tour to view various temples in the rain, documented in my post W1702 – Bali high. Regular readers might remember that the ship did visit Benoa for three days on the outbound half of this voyage, but that Carol and I left the ship on the first of those days, in order to fly down to Perth and Fremantle in Australia to spend time with Carol’s relations there, reboarding the ship when she reached Fremantle eight days later. This was therefore our chance to see more of Bali on this voyage.

Our plan was not to do anything on our first afternoon, but we had booked a ship’s tour for the second day. We were puzzled why we had not received tickets for the tour, and when we checked with the lovely ladies on the Destinations desk they asked whether we had received a letter about it – no we had not. It turned out the tour was cancelled as only three people had booked it – fair enough – but due to yet another problem with their dreadful computer system we did not get the letter. Carol and I have had endless problems with the tours department computers over the past few months, if I detailed them all it would take an epic post and leave no room to talk about Bali – so I won’t. We felt very sorry for the ladies on the desk, it is not their fault, and they were clearly very embarrassed about all the problems we keep having. So to cut a long story short, instead of doing a ship’s tour, we decided instead to arrange a private tour.

We therefore walked ashore, and talked to the taxi drivers who are always gathered outside the terminal in Benoa. We showed them the place we most wanted to visit, negotiated a price we were happy to pay with one of the drivers, and arranged to meet him at 8am the following morning. He took our name, and also a photograph of us on his phone so that he would recognise us again.

One of the things that Carol and I love about being in port for two or three days is that it gives the chance for a local show to come onboard for our evening entertainment. On the first night in Bali we had a spectacular Barong Dance Show, with over 40 musicians and dancers appearing on the small Boudicca stage area. While the music was a little loud to our ears, the costumes and dancing were amazing, and it was great to have this chance to experience such a different culture.

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We set the alarm for bright and early the following morning, and when I opened the curtains the bay looked very calm and peaceful in the rising sun.

After a good breakfast and stocking up on plenty of water to take with us, we made it down outside the terminal building around ten minutes early, and sure enough our driver was there ready and waiting, holding our name on a sign.

The place we most wanted to visit was the Jatiluwih Rice Terraces, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Apart from the obvious beaches, the two most iconic sights that I associate with Bali are the temples and the rice terraces. Having visited some temples on my first visit to the island, I was keen to get to see the rice terraces this time. There are two places that tourists can view the rice terraces in Bali, at Tegalalang in the south of the island, and at Jatiluwih in the centre of the islands. The terraces in Tegalalang are much smaller, and get crowded with visitors as they are much nearer the resorts in the south of the island. By contrast the ones at Jatiluwih cover a much larger area, and receive far fewer visitors, making for a much more peaceful experience – something that Carol and I very much prefer.

It took a couple of hours to drive up to Jatiluwih, but Carol and I both very much enjoyed the journey there. It was fascinating to see first town, as we drove around Denpasar, and then countryside as we continued our journey north. One of the joys of doing a private tour like this is that we had not just a good driver but a great guide to ourselves, to whom we could ask questions and from whom we could learn about the island and the way of life there.

We were surprised to pass so many stalls and shops all selling ornamental blocks and statues, and our driver/guide Nyoman explained that everyone in Bali has their own private temple in their gardens. He told us that his great interest, like most men in Bali, was for English Premier League football – locals get up in the small hours of the night to watch matches live, and there is a lot of betting on both the results and what happens during a match. It was a shame that neither Carol or I are interested in football, as we were sure he would have loved to have had a more detailed conversation with us about it.

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Eventually the town gave way to countryside, and we started to see rice being grown close to the roadside, albeit not in terraces yet. Nyoman told us that rice is fundamental to their diet, they would not have a meal without it. His family grow their own rice and are self-sufficient in it.

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At last we reached Jatiluwih, and having paid the toll we were able to finally view the rice terraces for ourselves. Nyoman parked the car, and we set off to view and photograph the terraces on foot. Just as we did so a small coach pulled up, so Nyoman encouraged us to walk further down the path away from the coach, where we were basically just by ourselves with the most epic jaw-dropping views all around us. Yes, as well as drinking in the stunning views with Carol, my shutter finger was doing overtime trying to capture the scenes before us – but to be perfectly honest there was no way that I was going to do any sort of justice to the wonderful views or the amazing and peaceful atmosphere there – it was one of those places where you just have to be there and experience it for yourself.

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Nyoman pointed out how the sparkling pure water that comes  from the mountainside is channeled and split to slowly feed all the different levels of the terraces cut into the hillside, and also a small dish containing offerings to the Gods which he said would be made daily. He told us that they can grow and harvest three crops a year in Bali.

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As we walked back along the path towards the car, the small crowd of people from the coach were coming towards us, breaking the peace. Both Carol and I were of one mind – so grateful that things had worked out the way they had so that we were seeing the rice terraces on a private tour just by ourselves, rather than as part of a big crowd being rushed along with just a few minutes at any one stop.

Nyoman drove us just a short way further up the hill, where I got out the car briefly to take a few more shots, before turning the car in the grounds of a temple and heading back down the hill once more.

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Nyoman had offered to take us on to see a lovely temple by a huge lake, and loving the things he had showed and explained to us so far, we readily accepted this extension to our tour. Our drive took us up higher into the mountains, and as we did so the weather became more cloudy but thankfully cooler too.

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Soon we arrived at Pura Ulun Danu Beratan, a major Hindu water temple located on the shores of Lake Bratan, 1200 metres above sea level. Built in 1633, this temple is used for offering ceremonies to the Balinese water, lake and river goddess Dewi Danu, due to the importance of Lake Bratan as a main source of irrigation in central Bali.

We thoroughly enjoyed a walk around the grounds of the temple, through lovely gardens and down to the side of the lake.

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Just as at Jatiluwih, Nyoman offered to take lots of photographs of Carol and I in front of every nice viewpoint – we cannot remember the last time we had so many photographs taken of us together in one day!

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As we walked around admiring the views there lots of interesting statues and ornaments to photograph too.

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By now the heat and particularly the humidity of the day was taking their toll on us, and also my knee was definitely telling me that I had done more than enough walking for one day, so we were glad to get back into the cool of the taxi for the long drive back to our ship.

On the way back once again we were chatting with Nyoman and very much appreciating having this one-on-one experience with a local guide, rather than just a commentary on a coach. I was surprised when he started talking to us about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle and how knowledgeable he seemed about both our Royal Family and about recent events concerning the young couple.

Meanwhile I was of course snapping shots out of the window, knowing that the success rate from a moving vehicle was pretty low. Finally I broke the patience of my normally unbelievably patient wife, who took my camera from me! I had already taken virtually 400 photographs that day which would need  to be sorted and processed, so I totally understand why she didn’t want me to have any more taking up even more of my time!

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Nyoman offered to take us out again the next day, and being such a good driver and guide we told him that in principle we would be very happy to do so, but it would have to depend how my knee was after all the travelling and walking that day. I was very much aware of how badly it reacted to our walk around Ambon, and feared that I would suffer the same way again.

Unfortunately, just as I feared, the knee became a lot more painful and uncomfortable during that night, and by the morning I knew that much as we both would have loved to have gone out with Nyoman again, it simply was not possible for me to do so – I needed to spend the day with my leg elevated, and hope that ice packs and anti-inflammatory medication would calm things down again. I therefore contacted him to give him the bad news, and I spent our final day in Bali sitting or lying on my bed!

After such a great tour with Nyoman, taking us higher into the Bali mountains, Carol and I would have no hesitation in recommending his services to anyone else visiting Bali – here are his contact details:

Around 4pm Carol and I just watched from our cabin and balcony as we set sail for our next port of call, Singapore. This is another port that we visited on the first half of our cruise. It is in Singapore that I am due to have scans and X-rays done on my knee in order to find out just what the problem is, and what the prognosis might be. Whether we will have time, or whether I will be able to do anything else while we have the one short day in port remains very uncertain, so quite what the subject of my next post will be remains at present unknown!

Later at dinner I was looking out of the restaurant windows onto a dramatic sunset over the coast and mountain scenery of Bali – while I was thoroughly enjoying the views, my shutter finger was itching like mad to be outside on deck and hard at work capturing the scenes – but alas of course that was impossible!

 

Postscript 1

While we were in Bali we had another invitation to an Oceans loyalty event – this time it was just for those like Carol and I who have reached the top Diamond Elite grade, and it was for a meal off the ship at a 5-star resort hotel. It took around an hour to reach the hotel, where we were greeted by staff offering us cold face towels and an iced mango drink. The meal was a tasty barbecue buffet, and we were entertained by two men playing guitars and singing, and also for a short while by three lovely young ladies performing a traditional Balinese dance.

It was a lovely evening and once again both Carol and I appreciated just how much recognition is being given on this long cruise to high-ranking Oceans members. While not in any way wanting to appear ungrateful, we can’t help thinking the balance has not been quite right between recognition events for high ranking Oceans members, and those passengers on lower grades who have still shown a lot of loyalty and spent a huge amount of money with the company in order to do the full Grand Voyage – the “all-rounders”.

Postscript 2

When I began writing this blog back in early 2016 it was mainly for my own benefit, so that I could remember what I saw where as I started to do longer cruises, with a side benefit that friends and family could see where I went and what I saw. At that time I never dreamt that four years on I would still be writing away, with much longer posts containing many, many more photographs, or that the readership for my blog would have grown so much. I was amazed to see as I prepared to write this post that it would be my 250th one! Quite a landmark I never imagined I would reach. We do have some more cruises booked after this Grand Voyage concludes, so don’t worry, hopefully fingers crossed the blog will continue for a while yet before I have to hang up my keyboard as it were.

D19GV – Amble around Ambon

In my last post, D19GV – PNG VG!, I described our visits to three small and remote ports of call in Papua New Guinea (PNG), where Carol and I were both blown away by the lovely scenery and extremely friendly and welcoming people.

My recent posts have been long ones, covering several days in port in each one, each of which has taken me a long time to create, and no doubt any readers a long time to read through, so this time I thought I would go back to the old school and do a much shorter post about just one day – our visit to the Indonesian port of Ambon, which we visited after three full days at sea.

We had not booked a ship’s tour in Ambon, instead we were planning to just walk around the town by ourselves. Looking at the map of the town provided by the ship there were only three landmarks identified to see, which was probably just as well as my injured knee was still giving me cause for concern, and I was only doing very limited walking.

When I pulled back the curtains in our cabin early that morning, and stepped out onto our balcony, I could instantly see two things – that we had already almost arrived in Ambon, and that it was a lovely dawn with a colourful sky overhead:

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I threw on some clothes as quickly as I could so that I could rush up onto the topmost deck and take some photographs before the dawn colour was lost from the sky.

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As we slowly inched our way towards the quayside, I could see that we would be docking with our balcony facing the shoreside, so I returned to our cabin so that I could watch us make the final approach with Carol. We could hear a band playing a welcome on the quayside long before we could actually see them. Finally we could see not only the band, but also a group of ladies in costume who we assumed were dancers, and also quite a crowd of other people waiting for the ship, some in uniform and some not. There was also a couple of colourful banners welcoming the ship to the port, which was lovely. We assumed from all the people that this must be a maiden call for Boudicca into Ambon, we just don’t understand why they don’t put this information into the Daily Times.

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Carol and I waited and watched for quite some time, hoping that we would be able to watch the maiden call ceremony from our balcony. However once the gangplank was finally rigged, instead of the ship’s officers going ashore for the ceremony, an unbelieveabe number of local people came up the gangplank and boarded the ship, so it was obvious that the ceremony was going to be held on board somewhere instead.

At this point the ladies in costume did start to dance, their routine involved small drums which they played as they danced to the rhythmic drum music coming from the band.

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By now it was already getting seriously hot outside, so we decided that it would be best to head out as soon as possible after our breakfast, so that we would be back before the worst of the heat in the middle of the day. Armed with plenty of water we set off through the terminal building and out into the town. It was soon clear that the town was a bit of a mix of ‘shabby chic’ and just plain ‘shabby’, but it was an interesting place to walk around nonetheless. However we did need to keep a very close watch on the pavement ahead of us as there were lots of uncovered quite deep holes everywhere – the “health and safety” brigade back home would have had a field day!

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Our first target was to view the outside of the large mosque that we had seen from the ship. Outside the mosque there was a group of young boys who were clearly delighted to pose for my camera, and giggled excitedly when I showed them the photos that I had taken of them.

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Moving on we walked along quite a main street towards our next objective, which was the World Peace Gong. As we walked along we could not help notice that the whole town centre seemed to be festooned in banners welcoming our ship, crew and passengers to the port – In all my time cruising I have never seen such a welcome!

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The original World Peace Gong was cast in Indonesia back in 2002, before being taken around the world. Several replicas were then made, for display in various countries around the world, and places in Indonesia, including Ambon. We decided to rest on a bench in the shade before viewing the Gong, which was up a steep flight of steps. While we rested a lady from the local tourist authority came up to us and asked if we would answer some questions for her. She asked about our experience visiting the port so far, and we told her we could not get over how welcoming everyone was, and especially all the welcome banners everywhere.

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Near the Gong there was also a park with a huge statue of Martha Christina Tiahahu, a freedom fighter and National Heroine of Indonesia, and the entrance to the local army barracks with another imposing statue outside.

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By now the heat and humidity was really getting to us, so we started to retrace our steps back to the ship.

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As always we had been on the lookout for the unusual and quirky to photograph as we walked around.

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Reaching the cool of our ship, our first stop was the gelato bar up on the Marquee Deck – I am sure the first few mouthfuls I ate turned to steam on the back of my throat!

We were more than happy to rest in the cool of our cabin for the rest of the day.

As we prepared to set sail around 4pm that afternoon, quite a crowd had gathered on the quayside to wave us off. The Captain in his departure announcement told us that it had been 41 degrees in the shade that day – no wonder we felt so hot – and that a young lady officer would be in charge for the sail-away for her first time (not a word about lady drivers from me!).

The crowd on the quayside danced to the live music that had been playing nearly all day, and waved and cheered as we slowly eased away from the quayside.  To be honest both Carol and I felt quite emotional as we sailed away, having experienced such a welcome from the local people once again.

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As we sailed away from Ambon I watched and photographed first from our balcony, and then up on the topmost deck.

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Visiting first the three ports in Papua New Guinea and then Ambon in Indonesia has been such an eye-opener and such a treat – they are all very remote and rarely visited places (apparently Ambon only had one cruise ship visit last year). In comparison to us the people have so little, yet they had been so friendly and welcoming – I think we in the so-called civilised West could learn a lot from them. To Carol and I, visiting such places is what makes cruising special, and of course that is only possible when doing a world cruise or grand voyage on the smaller ships that Fred. Olsen operate.

Leaving Ambon we would have one full day at sea before we reach our next port of call, Komodo Island. We have already visited this remote island earlier on this grand voyage, see D19GV – A Tale of Three Islands. Carol and I will not be leaving the ship this time, so for once I can say that our adventures there will NOT be the subject of my next post!

 

Postscript 1

The walk ashore in Ambon was the first real walk I had done on my injured leg for many days, and I was concerned how it would react to the exercise. Unfortunately that night it really started to hurt again, so I went back to see the doctor again this morning. I am now on stronger tablets, and they are going to arrange for me to have my knee scanned and x-rayed when we get to Singapore in a week’s time. It sounds like this is likely to be a medium or long term problem, which if so is unfortunately really going to limit what I can do in the remaining ports on this cruise. Fingers crossed, hopefully I will still be able to do enough to keep this blog interesting!

Postscript 2

This week we have had our dinner Poolside a couple of times.

They have started inviting the ‘all-rounders’ (those doing the whole grand voyage from Dover to Dover) in groups to have a free dinner in the Grill, with senior staff hosting. For our meal we had our Cruise Director Elliot Taylor and his deputy Ritchiel Diamante as our hosts, and we all had a fabulous evening. It was fascinating talking to our hosts, and getting their perspective, both about this cruise, and on the future for cruising with Fred. Olsen.

The second occasion was last night, when they held an Indonesian Barbecue poolside. The food was simply delicious, and made a lovely change from the repetitive menus that we are still getting in the main restaurants each night.

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D19GV – PNG VG!

In my last post, D19GV – … and Over the Rainforest, I described the three days we spent in Cairns in northern Queensland, Australia, which included a tour that took us on the scenic Kuranda Railway and on the Skyrail high over the rainforest – in the rain!

Sadly leaving Cairns and the fabulous Australia behind, we had just one full day at sea before we reached our next port of call in our next country – Alotau in Papua New Guinea, or PNG as it is usually abbreviated to.

PNG is a country that neither Carol or I knew much about before our visit there. I was aware that much of it was remote and unexplored, with high mountains and rainforest, and many remote tribes, some still not in contact with the ‘civilised’ world. I also thought (or was it hoped) that headhunting and cannibalism, once common in the country, had finally been stopped. We were therefore both quite excited to visit somewhere so remote and rarely visited and to have the chance to learn more about it, albeit with just a little apprehension as to what we might find there.

We would be visiting three ports of call in PNG – Alotau, Madang, and Wewak – all of which were small places that Fred. Olsen’s small ships can get into, unlike those huge ‘blocks of flats’ that are all too common on the high seas these days. Our last few days in Australia combined with or days in PNG made for our busiest time on this epic cruise – with seven days in port during a 9 day stretch – no wonder we are both tired now, and I am struggling to keep up on this blog!

Alotau

We made sure that we were up and dressed very early on the morning we approached our first port in PNG, Alotau, as we had been told that between 6:30 and 7:30 we would be enjoying scenic cruising through the Kawanasausau Strait,  also known as the China Strait. The strait, 7 km in length but just 1 km wide, lies between the mainland and Sariba Island. Carol and I watched fascinated from the topmost deck as we threaded our way around small islands and then through the narrow strait. Passing the small islands and the narrow strait reminded me a little of cruising up the coast of Norway, expect of course for all the tropical trees everywhere.

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Leaving the strait we sailed on into Milne Bay, where Alotau is located, and which was the location of the famous battle in World War II, which marked a turning point in the War of the Pacific.

Carol and I went up onto the main deck after breakfast, just in time to see our final approach into the port. There were lots of dug-out canoes in the water, and on the quayside sheltering from the already hot sun were lots of local dancers in native costume waiting to perform. Quite wisely they remained in the warehouse or just outside until the ship was safely moored and the gangplank had been made ready. Not knowing how long the dancers would be there, I took some shots of them from above.

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In fact I needn’t have worried, for the time we got ourselves ready and went ashore, they were still dancing away in the blazing heat.

Carol and I had decided not to book a tour in Alotau, and we were just going to explore the town by ourselves, which in hindsight was a mistake – we would have done much better to have booked a ship’s tour to one of the local villages. When the tiny old shuttle bus, complete with very cracked windscreen, took us for the short drive along the coast to the town centre, we found that it was a very small, and being a Sunday in a Christian country, nearly everywhere was closed too. We did pass a small local market on the way, but mindful of my still painful knee injury we decided not to walk back to that, and instead just strolled down to the water’s edge and took some photographs there. One thing that was instantly obvious was how friendly and welcoming everyone was, waving to us and saying hello as we passed.

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We did not linger in the town long, and soon caught a different shuttle bus back to the ship, where the dancers were still performing. We understand that amazingly the dancers continued to perform for most of the day, provoking some complaints from passengers on that side of the ship about the incessant drumming.

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After lunch on board and a much needed rest for my leg in the early afternoon, we later  went down to the Neptune Lounge to hear a most interesting talk entitled ‘Papua New Guinea from a local perspective‘, given by Jehoram Mataio, one of the leading characters within the Alotau community. He was a very entertaining presenter, and gave us a really good insight into the country and what life is like there. He talked about how new the country is – it only gained independence in 1975, and about how rapidly many of the people who live there have gone from living in almost stone-age way to modern life with mobile phones. He also talked about how there are so many languages spoken in the country – well over 800 – and about the importance of the family – including the extended family – and of respect and support of each other. Jehoram also told us how their society is a matrilineal one – that is when kinship and inheritance are though the female line. He spoke very eloquently for well over an hour, and we learned so much about their way of life.

While we were at dinner that evening we set sail for our next port of call – we had one full day at sea before reaching Madang.

Madang

Once again I was up early on the topmost deck to watch our sail into our next port in PNG, Madang. As we approached we had a good view of the Coastwatchers Memorial Lighthouse, before sailing through the narrow entrance into the Madang Lagoon. On the shoreline there were lots of local people, once again waving a welcome to us as we passed. As we approached the small jetty with its line of warehouses, a well-laden taxi-boat passed us – these are a very common sight in the lagoon.

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This time we were booked on a ship’s tour – it was called Madang Harbour Cruise.  This three hour tour would take us on a pleasure boat all around the harbour and lagoon, with a stop at a small island for an optional swim.

Leaving the ship we had a short ride in one of three small old coaches around to a jetty adjacent to a resort hotel, where we transferred to the pleasure boat. There were not nearly enough seats to go around outside on the open decks, so Carol and I just stood up on the foredeck to watch the lovely scenery unfold before us. Initially we sailed past Boudicca – it was interesting to see one last poppy was still present on her stern – before a circuit of the harbour where there were quite a few old ships moored up and rather forlornly rusting away.

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We then sailed back past our ship and out into the lagoon, past a myriad of islands, some smaller than others. It all looked so lovely and so idyllic, and Carol and I kept saying to each other how lucky we were to be experiencing such beautiful surroundings in such a remote and rarely visited part of the world.

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Eventually we reached the small island where we were to stop to allow people to swim. As the crew dropped the anchor, a tiny lizard suddenly appeared from nowhere, and I quickly grabbed a snap of it before it scurried away.

Passengers had a choice of just remaining on board, going ashore to swim from the beach using a smaller boat which had been tracking us out, or swimming from a platform lowered from the stern of our boat. While I would have loved to swim in the clear tropical waters, my head told me that I must play the long game and look after my injured leg, so instead Carol and I remained on board, finding a seat in the shade at the stern of the boat. It was still very idyllic sitting there looking at the tropical beach and the stunning clear turquoise water.

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After a while the other passengers were brought back onboard, and we set off again around the lagoon. This time Carol and I stood on a higher deck towards the front of the boat – I always like to see where we are going and also to be able to see both sides of the boat or ship so I don’t miss anything! We passed lots more small islands, and many more local people both on the shores and in dug-out canoes waving to us.

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Eventually we made our way back to the jetty, and we reluctantly returned to our ship using the same three old coaches.

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It had been a delightful tour, one that we would have no hesitation in recommending should anyone else be lucky enough to come this way.

That afternoon we were content to rest in our cabin, and I was grateful to be able to put my injured leg up after all that standing on the boat tour. We had a wonderful view across the lagoon from our balcony, and for much of the time there were children in canoes close to the ship calling out asking for fruit to be thrown to them – just as we had seen before in Komodo Island. We threw a couple of apples to them, but this just provoked more demands – such as for watches and mobile phones!

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Later that afternoon we watched from our balcony as we sailed out through the narrow passage and out into the open sea. Once again there were lots of people on the shoreline waving to us as we sailed past.

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We sailed overnight to our third and final port in PNG, Wewak.

Wewak

As usual we awoke very early the following morning, but looking out it was a very dull and misty morning as we sailed along the coast towards Wewak – this was the most exciting view I could find to bother taking a photograph of!

We had been told that we would be anchored up off Wewak, and would need to use the ship’s tenders to go ashore. We were therefore surprised when a tiny boat came out and delivered a pilot onboard, so we went out onto the main decks to investigate. There were no signs of the tenders being prepared, and indeed we were still slowly creeping in towards the shore and towards a long but small jetty. We could see from the waves breaking that the sea must be very shallow around and about, so we were very surprised and impressed that the Captain and pilot were actually bringing us to dock against the jetty. Understandably it was a very slow and cautious approach, and we overhung the jetty quite a lot at both the ‘pointy’ end and the ‘blunty’ end. We stood for quite a while watching the final approach, and then the mooring ropes being taken ashore using the little boat.

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Just as we got back to our cabin to prepare for our tour ashore, the Captain made an announcement to say that instead of tendering ashore, for now we were docked, but due to the shallow water and weather conditions that would constantly be under review all day, and that it might be necessary to leave the dock and anchor up in the bay, in which case the tenders would be used to return people to the ship.

We were booked on a two hour tour called Wewak Highlights. This was due to take us to a high viewpoint with a war memorial, to a place with Japanese gun mounts, to a local school where the children would sing to us, and finally to a local handicraft market. A day or so before the tour we received a letter that the itinerary had been changed – we would no longer be going to the local school as it was school holidays in that region of PNG.

After checking in for our tour in the Neptune Lounge, we had quite a wait before being called to go and board our coaches. This was due to all the tour coaches and shuttle busses having to be relocated as our berth had changed.

When we got to the far end of the gangplank there were two locals in costume posing with the passengers for their photographs, while there were lots more dancing on the quayside. I managed to catch some photographs of the dancers from the window of our coach – again it was a rather old and small one.

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We set off in convoy down the jetty past the dancers, and once over some very bumpy ground near the jetty we were on better roads as we made our way up the steep hillside, past the fire station and quite a few houses on the way. Eventually we reached our first stop, the viewpoint at the top of Mission Hill. Here there was a stunning view out over the bay, and we could look down and see our ship, and just how small the jetty was that we were moored against. Here there were several memorials to the brave soldiers of the different nationalities that fought in the area in World War II. Opposite there was a small church, that was simple but attractive inside.

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Part way back down the hill we turned off to find the Japanese gun emplacements. There was also a good view over the bay from here. We did not bother to climb down to where the rusting guns were located, but instead talked to one of the many local people who were gathered there to greet us.

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Returning to our coaches we drove down to the bottom of the hill, where as a replacement for the school, we stopped to view a church. This had quite a sizeable outside seating area as well as the church building itself. We were surprised how large the church was inside, and to see the stained glass windows.

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Our coaches then took us along the bay to the centre of Wewak, where we just did a loop through the town, which seemed really busy with people. It was interesting just to see what a busier town was like from the coach. We then drove back along the bay, and I had good views of a half-sunk ship and our own ship, thankfully still afloat and at the jetty, across from the long sandy beach.

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Our final stop was at a small crafts market. We had a good look around, but nothing caught our eye to buy, but as always it was interesting to see what was on offer, and also to people watch.

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Returning to our ship past a sports stadium, we found that the dancers were still performing on the quayside. Carol was keen to get back to the cool of the cabin, but I stayed down on the heat of the quayside for a few minutes longer so that I could get some closer shots of the dancers.

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Once again we were happy to rest up in our cabin that afternoon, this time with lovely views across the bay from our balcony. I did pop out onto the open decks to take some photographs of the bay, and of one section of the beach that had intrigued us – with our eyesight it looked like there were seals on the beach (not possible) – but zooming in with my camera I could see that they were in fact tree stumps!

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We were due to sail at 6pm, but the Captain announced that our departure would be delayed until the wind died down – with all the shallow water around it would not have been safe to sail at the appointed time. While we were at dinner we did slowly and carefully reverse away from the jetty and out into the bay, where we turned and set sail for our next port of call – Ambon in Indonesia. Our adventures there are likely to be the subject of my next post.

Carol and I were sad to leave PNG – we were both bowled over by how beautiful the country was, and how friendly and welcoming it’s people were. We both feel very privileged to have visited this remote part of the world, and to have learned so much about it. If you should ever get the chance to visit this amazing country then do so!

Postscript

With Elliot back as our Cruise Director, and three tropical sea days in a row, we are back to having several events out on the aft decks.

Yesterday they held another tug-of-war competition for the officers and crew. I foolishly didn’t bother to take my camera as I had seen and photographed these competitions several times before, but regretted this when the male Entertainments team arrived on deck in animal costumes, including two of them dressed as a pantomime cow! The big shock was that the 8 times consecutive men’s champions, the Engine Room Boys, were beaten by the eventual champions this time, the Senior Officers! Perhaps their appraisals were due?! The ladies competition was won by the Junior Officers, making it a clean sweep for the officers.

Today we are sailing along the Equator for much of the day, so in the late afternoon they held a “Surfing the Equator Pirate Party“, preceded by a “Crew Fashion Show“.

The fashion show had Elliot as compare, with the Shop Manager providing details and prices of the items that various members of the crew modelled in turn. The final model was  introduced as “Michelle”, who’s interests included taking charge of a ship – and yes, you guessed it, swishing up the “catwalk” came Captain Mikael Degerlund modelling a dress and hat!! Elliot pointed out that he too was wearing the same hat, and then proceeded to remove his outer clothes to reveal he too was wearing the same dress underneath! The two together looked priceless, and everyone there was in stitches – good on them both for being such good sports. The Shop Manager clearly was not expecting all this, and was totally lost for words, so Elliot just threw him in the pool.

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At the Pirate Party afterwards we had free rum punch, and various members of the Show Company sang while some people danced. Passengers who wanted to be thrown in the pool could nominate themselves.

When we by chance had lunch with Dietmar Strutz, the Hotel Manager, earlier today, he mentioned that he was going to try to avoid being thrown in the pool during the pirate party. He asked if we were going in, and Carol said only if he went in first. At the party Carol went up to the Captain and told him that Dietmar was avoiding the dunking, so the Captain told her that he would fix it. A few minutes later the Captain and Elliot swept Dietmar up in the congo line, and so took him around to the deep end of the pool, were Elliot succeeded in throwing in. Of course Dietmar knew what had happened, and came to throw first Carol and then myself in the pool in revenge! All good wet fun!!

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D19GV – … and Over the Rainforest

In my last post, D19GV – Under the Rainforest, I described our visits to Brisbane and Townsville, both in Queensland, Australia. While in Brisbane we just spent the day with family and friends, in Townsville we took a really interesting ship’s tour which took us for a walk under a rainforest.

Early on the morning after we left Townsville we arrived at our next port of call, Cairns, which is also in northern Queensland. Here we were due to remain in port for three days – well more like two and a half as we were to leave at 2pm on the third day. I went up on the topmost deck to watch and photograph our approach, which was made with ominous shower clouds very much in evidence.

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Carol and I have only ‘visited’ Cairns once before, on our first world cruise. I put visited in quotes as in reality we never even got to leave the ship – we both had bad chest infections at that time. We were therefore very keen to make amends and see much more of the town and the area this time around.

My wife Carol often claims that I am obsessed with food – she says that while she eats to live, I live to eat! While that is not strictly true, I will go along with this game by referring to each of our three days in Cairns by a food!

Day 1 – Pie

On our first day in Cairns we were booked on a ship’s tour called ‘The Kuranda Experience & Skyrail‘. This was the tour that we had been booked on and had been forced to cancel on our last visit to Cairns, so we were determined to actually do it this time around. The tour takes you on the Kuranda Scenic Railway through the Barron Gorge National Park up into the Kuranda Ranges, and then back down again on the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.

While the Kuranda Scenic Railway does actually start from the station in Cairns, an 8 minute drive or 17 minute walk from the Cruise Terminal, our tour actually took us by coach to Freshwater station, the next station along the line. Here we had just a short wait for the train to arrive alongside the long platform, having been told by our local guide that carraige 13 was reserved for everyone on our coach, which was near the far end of the train. The carriages were very old, with lovely wood and old photographs of the railway inside.

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The Kuranda Railway was built to service the tin mines at Heberton, as the access roads from the coast became impassable during the wet season. The construction of the railway along route chosen through the Barron Valley gorge was an engineering feat, involving 15 tunnels, 93 curves and dozens of bridges all dug and built by hand by up to 1,500 workers. Construction began in 1886, and was completed as far as Kuranda in 1891. There was no money left to complete the line to Heberton, and so the line became a tourist line instead.

As the line twisted and turned up the gorge we could often see the front of the train further around the bend. From time to time there were also great views out across towards the coast. At Stoney Creek Falls the train slows as it crosses a very high curving bridge, and there was just time to snap the long train as it curved over and beyond the bridge, before rushing to the other side of the carriage to quickly snap the falls themselves. Returning to the first side I then caught a snap of the curving bridge behind us.

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Continuing our scenic ride we continued to climb, twisting and turning, and passing through many tunnels, until we reached the Barron Gorge Falls. Here the train stopped at a station for around 10 minutes, to allow us to alight and view the dramatic falls from an adjacent viewing platform.

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From there it was a fairly short ride to the final station at Kuranda. After such a great local guide the previous day, sadly the one this day was one of the worst we have experienced to date. As an example she gave instructions as to what to do and where to go when we reached Kuranda Station, but only did so at the far end of the long noisy carriage, even continuing to speak when the train announcer was making her announcement. Consequently all those at our end of the coach did not have a clue as to where to go or what to do. When we did arrive at the station the local guide disappeared off up the platform long before we could dismount, leaving us bemused as to where to go.

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After eventually finding the coach, we were then taken up the hill to Kuranda village, where we had just around an hour of free time, both to buy ourselves any lunch that we might want, and to have a look around. There was lots to see, several markets full of interesting stalls, and a host of attractions including a butterfly sanctuary, a bird garden, a koala garden, and a honey house, so the time allocated was simply way too little (as alas so often seems the case). For medical reasons I needed to have something to eat, so our priority was to get that done, and for speed we went to a bakers and bought a lamb pie for me, and sausage rolls for us both. They were delicious, if rather hot to eat quickly! Alas there was not enough time left to see any of the attractions, so we just had a wander around some of the market stalls. Naturally my chocoholic wife was attracted to the “Not just chocolate” stall, especially when she found they gave out free samples! I couldn’t decide which of two t-shirts on display were more appropriate for her. I couldn’t resist trying on the classic ‘cork hat’, but you will be please to hear I did resist buying it!

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Reluctantly returning to the coach, we were driven the short distance back down the hill to the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway station, which is adjacent to the Kuranda Scenic Railway station. By now the heavens had opened, and the rain was absolutely pouring down, but I guess you should expect that in a rainforest, the clue is in the name!

The Skyrail Rainforest Cableway is a sequence of three cable car rides which take you high over the top of the rainforest for a unique perspective of the trees below. In better weather I am sure this would be an unforgettable experience, but sadly in the pouring rain and low misty cloud, and with the cable car windows misting up, it wasn’t so for us.

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At the first stop, Barron Falls, we had the chance to walk to viewing platforms to view the falls that we had seen earlier from the train station, this time from the other side of the gorge. While Carol opted to stay in the dry and wait for me, I used one of the free umbrellas provided, and made my way to the two different viewing platforms. Despite the heavy rain the views were worth it, but I was glad I had the foresight to pack my waterproof camera just in case that morning, as it and I still got very wet despite the umbrella.

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Returning to the stop and my wonderfully patient wife, we then caught the second of the cable cars. Luckily this one did have one window slightly open, and so I was able to hold my camera out of the window to get some clearer shots of the rainforest below.

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At the second stop, Red Peak, I discovered later that you can go for a free guided walk into the rainforest, but there was no time for us to do that, and besides in the pouring rain I don’t think it would have matched up to the one we had done the previous day. Instead we went straight onto the third and final cable car, which took us on a much shorter ride back down to the ground. This ride descended through the clouds, and between that and the steamed up & wet windows any photography was nigh on impossible. Down on terra firma there was the inevitable gift shop, but we were whisked through that after no time at all and back onto our coach.

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It was a fairly short ride back into Cairns from the cable car station, past fields of sugar cane which is the main crop in the fertile coastal plains in that area. Our local guide announced that she was going to give us an extra stop on the way back, we think that this was to try and curry favour after the problems and her mistakes earlier in the day. The extra stop was to view the inside of the Saint Monica’s Cathedral. To be honest the Cathedral just looked like any modern church from the outside, and Carol elected just to stay on the coach. Once inside though, the story was very different, as the building was full of the most stunning modern glass windows. Knowing we had only a very short time there I scuttled around trying to get the best shots of the windows I could, thinking that I could bring Carol back to view them on one of the remaining days in port, and retake any photographs then if needed.

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From there it was a very short drive back to our waiting ship, where we were glad to have a shower and get into dry clothes.

With that great thing hindsight, we wish that we had done this tour ourselves, rather than booking the ship’s tour. This would have meant that we could spend as long as we wanted in Kuranda village before returning down on the Skyrail, done the guided walk from the Skyrail, and chosen the day to do the tour based on the weather forecast, to hopefully get better conditions. The train station in Cairns is an easy walk from the terminal building, so it would just have meant getting a taxi back from the cable car station at the end of the tour.

Day 2 – Rice

Ever since we visited Sydney over the New Year, I had been getting pain and discomfort from my right knee from time to time, most often if it was bent (e.g. when sitting) for some time. This was at its worst while we were sitting in the cramped seats of the small coach on our rainforest tour in Townsville, but after that it was getting uncomfortable more and more of the time.

Overnight between day 1 and 2 in Cairns it was keeping me awake for some of the time, so I decided it was time to visit the doctor on board, despite the expense. The doctor thought that all the walking we did in Sydney was the cause, gave me some anti-inflammatory gel and tablets, and told me to have lots of rice. No, not the vegetable, he meant Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.

Consequently our plans for that day went out the window, and I spent the day resting with my leg elevated, most of the time in a knee support providing compression, but occasionally applying an ice-pack instead. What fun!

Day 3 – Fish

Thankfully when I awoke on the third day in Cairns my knee was feeling a lot easier following all that rice, so we decided that we could manage just a short trip out into the city in order to look around the aquarium. Our plan was to walk there, it was only about 15 minutes away, and then in all probability take a taxi back to the ship afterwards.

Naturally as we slowly made our way there my camera was at hand looking for interesting and/or quirky things to photograph – some of the lovely old buildings I had spotted from the coach on the first day and was glad to have the chance to photograph.

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As we got nearer to the aquarium we came to a row of trees, from which there was rather a loud noise emanating. Looking up we found that the upper branches were simply full of flying-foxes roosting – quite a spectacle.

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The aquarium boasts that it contains over 16,000 creatures from the reef and from the rainforest, and for a while we did enjoy looking around it. As is often the case in aquariums, photography in the low light is very difficult, especially of the faster moving fish.

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It is the school summer holidays in Australia, and there were a lot of children at the aquarium. While we were delighted to see them away from their phones or tablets and taking such an interest in nature, the combination of the (well behaved) noise from them, the darkness and the humidity all began to take their toll, so we decided to hasten our exit and go for a drink and a bite to eat in the adjoining restaurant, Dundee’s. The manager there was so helpful (like almost everyone we have come across right across Australia), called for a taxi for us, and came to tell us when it was waiting outside.

Back at the ship I spent the rest of the day having my rice, not bothering to watch our sailaway.

There was so much more we had hoped to have seen and done on the second and third days, but it was not to be – perhaps we really are jinxed in Cairns – perhaps that should have been my title for this post instead?

Both Carol and I felt rather sad that afternoon to be leaving Australia after three magical weeks or so sailing most of the way around such huge and diverse continent/country. We have loved every moment we were there, and as I said before the people we met were so welcoming and helpful. Of course all the time during journey around Australia the news and knowledge gained of the terrible bushfires has been very much in our thoughts – especially for Kangaroo Island, which we visited and thought so lovely, just a few short days before the fires took hold and destroyed so much, including 50,000 disease-free koalas.

We had the rest of that day, plus one full day, at sea before we were due to reach our next port of call, Alotau in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This will be the first of three ports of call in PNG, and our adventures in these (injured knee permitting) are likely to be the subject of my next post.

Postscript 1

The second day in Cairns was yet another change-over day on this epic cruise made up of 11 separate cruises. The new cruise, like all the remaining cruises, is just two weeks long, and takes us to PNG, then back through Indonesia to Bali:

As always there was quite a turnover in both passengers and officers/crew. Sadly we had to say farewell to our good friends Rosemary & Steven, who are continuing their holiday on land in Australia, New Zealand and Bora-Bora (what me jealous?). However we did get to welcome back to the ship Dietmar the Hotel Manager, and Elliot the Cruise Director.

Postscript 2

As we walked out of the cruise terminal building on the third day a security guard standing in the car park called out to us that it was good that it was a cooler day. Carol responded that you must be joking – the high temperature and humidity were really getting to us. He told us that he moved to Cairns from Melbourne 8 years ago, and it took him (a fitter, younger man) 4 years to acclimatise to the heat and humidity in Cairns. No wonder we were feeling it!

Returning to the cruise terminal later a different security guard closely inspected our ships passes before letting us enter the terminal. Carol asked him what he was checking, and he told her that it was the dates on the cards, as some people have tried to enter on out of date cards in the past. Carol continued to chat with him for a while, and told him how lovely, friendly and helpful we had found Australians on our travels around the country. He responded by pointing out that many Australians were descendants of convicts sent from the UK, and if you compared these friendly helpful people to the cold unhelpful people back in the convict-sending UK, it makes you stop and think!

 

 

D19GV – Under the Rainforest

In my last post, D19GV – SYD-NYE, I described our three-day visit to Sydney, New South Wales, which included the New Year’s Eve fireworks displays, and visits to the historic Rocks area of the city and the suburb/beach resort of Manly.

After I had written that last post, my cousin Peter kindly sent me some photographs of Boudicca sailing out under the Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House.

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Leaving Sydney, we had just one full day at sea before reaching our next port of call, Brisbane, in Queensland.

We had visited Brisbane on both of our world cruises, documented in my posts W1702 – ‘bane of my life and W1801 – Brisbane Buddies. The first time we were docked at the Portside Wharf facility, up the Brisbane River fairly close to the city centre, whereas on our second visit we were docked out at the mouth of the river in a commercial dock, which meant a long shuttle bus ride to the city centre. It was therefore a relief to discover that on this cruise we were back at the much more convenient Portside Wharf, and that a shuttle bus was going to be run into the city centre.

By the time we awoke we had already entered the river, but I remembered from before that it was not the most scenic of journeys, and only went up onto the topmost deck to watch our final approach under the Gateway Bridge.

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Just as in our two previous visits, we were going to be meeting up with Carol’s cousin and her husband, plus two friends of theirs which Carol also knows very well. We took the shuttle bus into the city, and after a little shopping we met up with them, and spent a very enjoyable day catching up. As we were seeing nothing that I hadn’t seen before on our previous visits I decided I could give my shutter finger the day off, give or take a group shot or two….

oops! – here are the correct photos…

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Leaving Brisbane, we then had two days at sea, sailing towards our next port of call, Townsville, in northern Queensland. These two sea days we were billed as scenic sailing the Great Barrier Reef, but of course as that is all under the ocean, we would see nothing from our ship, other than a couple of hours sailing past the Whitsunday Islands. One of these islands is the resort island of Hamilton Island, which we visited on both our world cruises, but which has now decided is closed to visiting cruise ships.

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Carol and I had booked a long 8 hour tour in Townsville, which would take us to see and learn about the rainforest. The tickets had a departure time of a reasonable 8:30 am, but a couple of days before we arrived there we received a letter with new tickets attached, telling us that for ‘operational reasons’ (read ‘we are leaving port earlier than planned’), the departure time had been brought forward an hour, meaning we had a really early check-in time of 7:10! It should be no surprise then that we concentrated on getting a very early breakfast rather than watching the ship sail into port, I just grabbed a couple of snaps from our balcony, showing that the weather was already looking rather ominous, with showers in the distance.

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The tour we were booked on was called “Wet Tropics Rainforest & Crystal Creek“, taking us to the oldest surviving rainforest on the planet. After setting the alarm for so early in the morning, and getting ready so early, it was a little frustrating that we then had quite a long wait in the Neptune Lounge for the ship to get clearance from the immigration authorities, especially knowing that this would be eating into our tour time as we could not be late arriving back at the ship due to the early departure time.

Once we were finally able to leave the ship and walk out through the terminal building, we found that we would be travelling on one of two small coaches, normally used as school busses. These coaches had just three seats in each row, one on one side of the aisle and two on the other, and also unfortunately for people like me with long legs, it had very little legroom between each seat and the one in front. Initially we wondered why they were using such small coaches, but that became apparent later in the tour.

As we set off through the town the driver, who was also our local guide (speaking through a headset), told us to our surprise that Townsville was the largest town in northern Queensland – we had previously assumed that was Cairns. He also surprised us by telling us that there were more people inside the M25 (the orbital motorway around London) back in the UK, than in the whole of Australia. As we drove along the esplanade he pointed out the figure of a lady standing in the water – he told us that this artwork had only been installed a few months ago, and that it is illuminated with lights that change colour according to the temperature of the sea out on the reef.

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Before long we were driving along the main road (the Bruce Highway) heading north. To be honest to start with we thought that our driver/guide was going to be one of those who spoke far too much, but soon we realised that he wasn’t just reeling off loads of dates, facts and figures like some guides do, but instead was giving us a good insight into the nature and wildlife to be found in the area, especially the rainforests. We were due to have lunch at a carbon-neutral cabin resort up in the mountains, and he told us that it was actually owned and run by his parents, and although he now lived down in Townsville, I am sure that background is where so much of his knowledge and experience about the rainforest came from.

The driver/guide talked about a couple of animal species that are key to the rainforest. One of our fellow passengers had asked about the mounds of earth that could be seen from the coach – he told us that they were termite mounds. While many Australian home-owners curse the termites as a threat to their wooden houses, he told us that actually they are essential to the rainforests, as they rapidly digest and thus recycle the huge amounts of leaf-litter, that would otherwise accumulate and become a huge source of fuel for a forest fire. The other species that he talked about were the parakeets. He pointed out that there were no monkey or primate species in Australia, and that for a long time scientists had puzzled over why that is, especially as in the distant past there was a land bridge between Australia and Indonesia, which does have these species. He told us that the theory he has read about and himself believes is that the cockatoos in Australia fill the same niche as the monkeys and primates do elsewhere – they live a long time, break off branches in the tall trees, and eat the hard nuts this spreading the seeds of the trees.

Our driver/guide also had very interesting views on the forest fires, which of course were are particularly relevant talking point with all the devastating fires all around Australia. He pointed out that for tens of thousands of years the indigenous people of Australia had deliberately burned the forest every couple of years. By burning regularly, the grass, leaf litter and bushes were kept to a very low level, and so the fire burned through the forest quickly at just a low level to the ground. Many of the Australian species of tree actually require fire to germinate their seeds.

His view is that in too many parts of Australia, especially in the south where the most severe bushfires are currently raging, this regular burning has not been done for decades. This could be due to lack of manpower, reluctance of people who have build expensive houses within the forest to have any fire near them, or even more trivial reasons like the smoke from a burn affecting the washing out on the line. His take is that then when a fire does occur, made much more likely by the extremely high temperatures due to climate change, then the fire will be much more intense and slow burning due to all the extra material to burn. Also because the material is physically much higher, the flames can reach up into the high canopy and burn and thus destroy the whole of the trees, wiping out the forest and everything living there.

After a drive of around an hour and three quarters we arrived at our first stop, by then I was more than ready to stretch my legs and walk around. Our stop was at a roadside café called Frosty Mango. To our surprise and delight, the driver asked us to let him know as we got off the coach how we would like the steak to be cooked that we would be having as part of our barbecue buffet lunch – we were just expecting the usual burgers and sausages.

Inside the café we were offered tea or coffee, cinnamon toast & mango jam, and also an ice-cream – I had some lovely mango sorbet – do you recognise a theme going on here?! Suitably replenished, we went outside to have a little walk around before getting back on the coach. Out the back of the café there were loads of different fruit bushes, each one labelled as to which fruit it bore.

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Leaving the café, it was just a short drive back along the main road before we turned off to head up into the mountains and the rainforest. It was now that it became clear why we were in such small coaches, for the road soon became very narrow as it twisted and turned up the mountainside. Our driver/guide pointed out how the vegetation changed as we climbed – the higher slopes received much more annual rainfall from the rising air, promoting much more growth.

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After while we reached our next stop, McClelland’s Lookout Point. Here we were to go for a guided walk through the rainforest. Before we set off, our guide said a few words about the snakes in the area – basically if we were to see one just back off and leave it alone. He said that by a long way those most at risk from snakes where young men under thirty as they were prone to do stupid bravado acts with them, or throw stones at them which provokes trouble, but provided we didn’t act like them then we would be fine!

The conditions were quite damp for our walk – there was low misty cloud hiding the very tops of the trees, and now and again there were a few spots of rain. Our guide pointed out the very shiny leaves on most of the plants and trees, and told us how water condenses on them, and runs off the pointed end to the leaf onto the ground below, adding quite considerably to the water the plant or tree receives.

He also pointed out the creepers, such as the fig, which use other trees for support and so can grow much more quickly. He told us that the number one commodity in demand an which decides which trees grow high is light, some trees will remain at a low level for decades waiting for a nearby tree to fall, letting in the light that will provide the energy for them to finally grow tall and take its place.

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Returning to the coach we then drove on through the forest, passing a small village called Paluma.  Reaching the summit and descending once more, the driver/guide pointed out the quite abrupt changes in the vegetation, in the much dryer rain-shadow the trees were much shorter and less dense, and there were much fewer bushes at ground level.

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After a while the tarmac road gave way to a dust-track, and finally we arrived at our lunch venue, the Hidden Valley Cabins. As we approached their boundary fence the driver/guide spotted a wallaby on the far side of the fence – I tried to take a photo of it through the coach windows, but instead of the famous ‘Where’s Wally?‘ books, this is a case of ‘Where’s Wallaby?‘!

Our driver/guide just said to follow our nose for lunch, and that was easy as the most wonderful smells of barbecue food were wafting towards us as we descended from our coach. His Dad was busy cooking huge thick steaks on a barbecue grill, and we had the most delicious spread to eat. Yum-yum!!

After our lunch, his Dad took those of us who were interested up to see their solar power system – the Cabins were 100% self sufficient apart from using gas to heat the guests showers and for cooking.

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All too soon it was time to reboard our coaches for the return journey. We retraced our route through the rainforest and back down the mountain, until we reached our final stop of the tour, at Crystal Creek Falls. Here there was a waterfall and pools of water, in which quite a few people were enjoying a swim.

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Leaving the Falls, we had not gone far when the driver of the other coach radioed our driver to report that one of his passengers was missing. From his message we could guess who the passenger was, and a groan went up all around our coach – that passenger’s reputation went before them! Apparently the driver had counted everyone onto the coach, but then that person left the coach again to go to the toilet without telling the driver.

All this meant that we were around 15 minutes late by the time we got back to the quayside, so we had to quickly reboard the ship before they completed removing the gangplank.

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It had been a fabulous tour, especially because of our great driver/guide who had such great knowledge of the rainforests and local area to share with us, and of course because of the fantastic barbecue lunch – a tour we would definitely recommend.

Within minutes of being on board we set sail, and having missed our sail-in that morning, I went up on deck to watch us sail away.

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We were sailing towards Cairns, also in northern Queensland, which we would reach early the following morning. Our adventures in Cairns, where we would be for the best part of three days, will be the subject of my next post.

Postscript

It was only later when viewing social media that I discovered that there was a charity fayre being held on the ship that afternoon to raise money for those affected by all the devastating bushfires. Of course we were delighted that the ship were doing this for such a good cause, and we would have gone down to take part had we known about it, but I have to ask two questions:

1. Why was there nothing about this oh so important event in the Daily Times?
2. We had just had two days at sea, why was the fayre not held on one of those days, when everyone was on board and able to attend, and when there was a captive audience for it?

 

D19GV – SYD-NYE

In my last post, D19GV – HoHo Hobart, I described our visit to the lovely city of Hobart in the island state of Tasmania, Australia, where we used Hop On Hop Off busses to see the stunning views from the top of Mount Wellington and explore the city itself.

After we sadly left Hobart late that afternoon, we had just one full day at sea before we reached our next port of call, Sydney, in New South Wales, Australia, where we were due to stay for three days – the first of which was New Year’s Eve.

The sail into Sydney Harbour has to be up there in the list of the most special sail-ins around, and so not surprisingly for once the decks were crammed with people. Carol and I made sure we were up at the pointy end bright and early to secure our spot, just before we began to enter the harbour.

We could sense the excitement of those around us, especially for those making this approach for the first time. Although this was our third visit to Sydney on a cruise ship together, it was actually the first time we would see all of the approach ourselves – on our first visit we arrived sooner than had been announced, and we only realised and made it up onto deck just as we reached the Sydney Opera House, and on the second time it was still dark.

Sydney Harbour is the largest natural harbour in the world, and as you sail into it, it is easy to see this must be the case. Initially there is a mixture of forest and houses, and then in the haze in the distance the tall buildings came into view above the trees.

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Then as we rounded Bradleys Head, slowly the big two came into view – first the Opera House, then the Sydney Harbour Bridge – known locally as the “coat-hanger”, and the sound of cameras being clicked was all around. As we approached them, two flying boats almost certainly on pleasure flights around the harbour flew over our heads.

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Sailing past the Opera House and nearby Circular Quay, where so many ferry boats sail in and out of to places all around the harbour, we then sailed under the coat-hanger and on up to the White Bay Cruise Terminal where we would dock for three days.

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Returning to the cabin, I posted a photo of our approach to the Opera House and Bridge on Facebook, but in hindsight I did not think carefully enough about my caption – “Just sailed into Sydney for the New Year’s Eve celebrations, fortunately not as hazy as we feared“. This provoked some rather sharp comments back, including “Would be terrible for your view of some fireworks to be spoiled by a fire that is destroying communities, homes and lives…” and “Good job that’s the only thing to worry about than isn’t it  the fires are destroying the place“. Ouch!

Before I continue with describing our stay in Sydney, I would like to take the chance to put the record straight on what I was trying to say in my post, and what my views are about the fireworks in Sydney and the bushfires generally.

Regular readers will know that for some time I had been expressing my shock and horror at the scale of all the bushfires, and my concern for all those affected by them. Having spent the past few weeks travelling around this country, and talking to local people, as well as following all the news on the internet, I have been all too aware of the crisis and tragedy sadly unfolding before us, and the apocalyptic conditions those brave firefighters are facing day in and day out.

I had seen many images of Sydney engulfed in smoke so thick that you could hardly see anything. The day before we had passed through really thick smoke far out to sea, I included a picture in a postscript to my last post D19GV – HoHo Hobart. I also knew that the ship were making plans to issue us all with face masks to wear whilst in Sydney should the conditions require it. I knew there would be many on board who suffer from asthma and other respiratory illnesses, like one of our best friends Steven, who could potentially be in real trouble if the conditions were still bad there. It was in this context that I was expressing relief that the conditions were not as hazy as we feared – absolutely nothing to do with seeing the fireworks as others had assumed.

As for whether the fireworks should have been held, again I was very aware of the controversy, some of the local people we had talked to on our travels were very much against them going ahead, and I could understand their point of view. I also knew about the petition to try to get them stopped.

However clearly it was not our decision to make as to whether the fireworks went ahead, or even whether we sailed into Sydney or not. The authorities that did make the decision on the fireworks pointed out that by far the majority of the money had long since been spent, and of course the decision to hold them in the first place was made more than a year before the current bushfires started. They also said that the fireworks bring huge numbers of people and therefore money to the city, and that much of this would go towards helping those affected by the bushfires. All of this I can understand. Short of leaving the ship and flying home, which would achieve nothing other than stopping us spending money in the area, all we could do was accept the situation before us.

Neither Carol or I thought it was appropriate to party the evening away, when so many were suffering so much from the bushfires, so after dinner we returned to our cabin and sat quietly by ourselves. We did go up on deck to watch the two sets of fireworks – the family ones just after 9pm, and the main display at midnight, as this literally a once in a lifetime chance to see them, and staying in our cabin would make absolutely no difference to those affected by the fires.

Away from the issues of whether the event should have been held, the fireworks themselves were breathtaking. Of course we had seen them for a few seconds on the news each year, but that is usually just a closeup of the fireworks being released from the Harbour Bridge, so we were unprepared for the scale of what we would see. The fireworks were being let off in a huge arc around us – from barges in the harbour and on land, as well as from the bridge itself – and what impressed us so much was how they were all so synchronised. What we loved too was that for the midnight fireworks the crew were up on deck too enjoying the show – many of them clinging to the ship’s funnel for a better grandstand view!

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At least I had no hangover to worry about when my alarm clock went off very early the following morning – as a glutton for punishment I was booked on a tour with an 8:15 am check-in time! For some reason Carol decided to stay in bed and breakfast later, so for once I ate alone. The tour I was booked on was another on the ship’s RIBs (Rigid Inflatable Boats), the prospect of being able to view Sydney Harbour from this different perspective was more than enough lure to get me up and about so early after a late night before.

When I went to check in I found that I was one of only three passengers doing this tour – the early start on New Year’s Day must have put many off. I was pleased to see though that there was a number of the ship’s crew there to fill the spare places on the RIBs.

As this was my third trip on the RIBs I was very familiar with the routine, and this time I was delighted to get one of the seats at the front of the RIB, great for my photography. I knew we would have to keep the speed right down in the harbour, so the extra bounce you can get at the front would not be an issue, and also the slower speeds meant I was likely to be able to take photos single handed as we sailed along.

As our RIB held off waiting for the second RIB to be boarded I could hear laughter from my fellow passengers, and looking up I could see the cause of their mirth – up on one of the balconies, two passengers looking definitely the worse for wear, and still in their party hats, were cavorting around and even disrobing! Don’t worry Rosemary and Steven, I won’t let on that it was you… oops!

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Our route took us out under the Harbour Bridge and onto the Opera House – it was fabulous to get such different views of these famous landmarks. Heading back under the bridge we headed on up the harbour to places I had not seen before – once again it was a brilliant tour, and something I would thoroughly recommend to anyone able to do it.

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As we returned to the ship, I spotted Carol up on the deck waiting for my return, and she managed to get a couple of shots of me from there.

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A little later that morning Carol and I set off to explore Sydney. Just as in our two previous visits to Sydney when we were moored at the same cruise terminal, Fred. Olsen had arranged a shuttle ferry to take passengers across to the King Street Wharf area of the city, close to the Central Business District or CBD. However that day there was quite a distance to the jetty where the ferry departed from, fortunately a shuttle bus took us around to that point.

Leaving the shuttle ferry, we walked towards an area of the city known as The Rocks. This area, between Circular Quay and the Harbour Bridge, is an historic area, full of interesting buildings. We had been there before on a previous visit to the city, but we were very happy to explore it some more.

Under a bridge we found four fabulous murals of how the area used to look at various dates in the past, and walking past Suez Canal (!) and then Argyle Terrace, which dates back to the 1870s, we reached a familiar landmark, the First Impressions sculpture. This has three images of historic figures etched into its surfaces, and although we had seen it before, it still greatly impressed me.

By now lunch was calling, and Carol found a restaurant called Ribs & Burgers, and already having enjoyed a RIB [ride] that morning I thoroughly enjoyed one of their burgers – as did Carol.

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Suitably replenished, we set off again, and Carol found a lovely shop called Get Drenched back at the Argyle Terrace where she bought some gifts for her family. Chatting to the lovely couple running the shop, Carol mentioned that we were heading up to walk across the Harbour Bridge, and they kindly pointed out a much quicker way of reaching this which we would have missed. As well as saving us walking time and distance, there was another big bonus – it took us past Foundation Park, which we would otherwise not have found. This is the ruins of eight tiny houses that date back to the 1870s, each only around 3 metres by 3 metres. The houses were demolished in the 1940s, and the area turned into a park. Low walls have been added to give a perspective of how small the houses and rooms were, and a sculptor has added some steel furniture to add a further glimpse as to how cramped the living conditions would have been.

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Continuing up to the bridge level, we walked along the walkway on the Opera House side of the bridge, stopping frequently to take photographs and admire the views. We could see some people starting the climb over the top of the bridge – on my first visit to the city I had wanted to do this walk, but was unable to do so due to a chest infection. Knowing that you cannot take your own camera on the climb  meant I am no longer interested in doing this challenge, and was therefore very content to walk across the bridge at street level.

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We were content to walk just half way across the bridge and back again, and even walking this far, on top of all the other walking so far that day, meant we were more than ready to sit down and rest, with the bonus of a refreshing ice-cream! Once rested, we then set off to walk back to Kings Wharf, where we caught the shuttle ferry back to our ship.

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As always we were both on the lookout for the unusual or quirky for me to photograph:

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On our third and final day in Sydney we had another early start – we caught the first shuttle ferry of the day at 8:30 am as we had an early appointment back in The Rocks – we were meeting up with my cousin Peter and his wife Sue for the day. I had not seen Peter socially for several years and only met Sue once or twice before, and it was the first time for Carol to meet either of them. We had previously decided that we would all take the ferry over to the suburb and beach resort of Manly, located near the entrance Sydney Harbour, for the day, and Peter had kindly booked a restaurant there for our lunch.

There was a little bit of a wait for our ferry, so we walked around Circular Quay to where we could take some group photographs with the Harbour Bridge in the background. Peter attempted a selfie, which he later sent me and which was hilarious, so instead we asked a passer-by to take some shots for us.

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Arriving in Manly, Peter and Sue led us away from the crowds to a quiet sailing club, where we enjoyed a morning coffee.

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From there the plan was to walk to the restaurant, but after walking for some time through very pleasant and quiet residential streets, it was clear that the walk was going to take far too long, and instead Peter called a taxi to take us the rest of the way.

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The restaurant, Bella Vista, was a gem in a great location with stunning views over Sydney Harbour. The food was great too, and the quantities defeated both Carol and myself!

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We then took another taxi back down to the beachfront in Manly, and wow was that a contrast to the peace and tranquility we had experienced so far. The beach and the esplanade were packed with people, and we were so glad that we had ‘local’ people with us (Peter & Sue actually live in Melbourne, but know Sydney well) to show us the quieter sides of the area.

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Carol and I had worked out that we could catch a different ferry back from Manly, which would take us close to Kings Wharf and the shuttle ferry, saving us quite a walk. Peter and Sue decided to join us, and to our delight we found that this ferry took us first across the mouth of Sydney Harbour to Watsons Bay, before sailing back past the Opera House, under the Harbour Bridge. This was a smaller and faster ferry than the one we had caught in the morning, and we were able to sit on the top deck in the open, for great views all around. It made for a great end to what had been a delightful day. Back on the quayside we said our reluctant farewells to Peter and Sue, and caught the shuttle ferry back to our ship.

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Having taken so many photographs of the harbour over the three days we had been in port, I decided to concentrate on just enjoying the sailaway with Carol, especially as we think it unlikely that we will ever return to this iconic and amazing city. However, being me, I could not resist just one or two more snaps!

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Leaving Sydney, we had just one full day at sea before we reached our next port of call, Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia. Here the tables will be turned, as we are due to meet up with another of Carol’s cousins, her husband and two friends. Our adventures there are likely to be the subject of my next post.

 

Postscript

I am writing this post on the 3rd January 2020. On the 3rd January 2017 I walked up the gangplank of Black Watch at the start of my first world cruise, very much as a confirmed bachelor. At dinner that evening I met my table companions for the first time, and one of them was a lady who I thought was ‘very attractive, but rather scary‘. Her name was Carol, and as we sailed across the Atlantic Ocean our friendship grew and grew, our relationship blossomed, and by the time we had crossed the Pacific Ocean I had proposed marriage to her!

Three years on I cannot find the words to thank her for the way she has totally transformed my life, and filled it with so much love, joy, laughter and contentment.

Happy “Anniversary” my darling!