At Sea – Day 36

Today we sailed out of Australian waters and are now in Indonesia/Timor Leste. We land in Timor Leste tomorrow, and today we learnt some interesting facts about the third newest nation in the world. Only Montenegro and South Sudan are newer. It is also one of the poorest nations in the world. It was a Portuguese colony that suffered a postcolonial struggle to become independent from Indonesia. Quite unreasonably I feel I should write to my MP for an explanation as to why I have to pay a $55 visa fee, while almost everywhere else in Europe is exempt.

We have had a great day today, after a late breakfast we talked to the Ventures Team, these are the knowledgeable experts who are on the ship. They are so willing to impart their considerable knowledge. They also reassured Marion that she would enjoy the zodiac trip to the beach tomorrow. There was then a caviar party where unfortunately even though it was before midday Marion and I drank a little too much. I think it was the strawberry daiquiri that did it. We and the other teams were thus well lubricated for trivia, how was it than one of our team knew the exact date that Disneyland opened?

We had and agreeable lunch with an Australian couple, he is a former Cathay pilot who regaled us with several “tall” tales, including the one where the pilot hung a pair of fluffy dice in the windscreen of a 747. After the Timor lecture there was a classical concert on deck, very relaxing. I then cleared the swimming pool by doing aqua-robics; the water temperature was just less than 90 degrees.

Finally we watched the sun go down and then had a lovely dinner. We are ready for Timor Leste tomorrow.

North of Darwin – Day 35

This was the third of four consecutive days at sea so the blog will be quite brief. After an early morning shower it was dry today, with the temperature in the mid-eighties. There is only one or two degrees change at night.

It was a quiet start as Marion was a little under the weather, no it was not alcohol related. It did however turn out to be quite a social day. As usual it was the trivia quiz before lunch, which we shared with Fred and Kathy from Pittsburgh. Much political discussion, Fred who is a lawyer is convinced that Trump will be in trouble with the courts in the southern district of New York over his tax affairs. We shall see.

During the afternoon we had a really interesting conversation with two of the experts on the cruise. It is really interesting talking to people with a great expertise outside of ones experience. For instance I did not realise that Darwin and similar explorers financed their expeditions by selling the specimens that they collected. Joe also told us of his experiences undertaking environmental impact studies for offshore wind farms. It turns out that they could actually be helpful to seabirds by creating new reefs for fish. Even onshore wind farms are not damaging as long as they are not on the migratory routes of birds of prey.

After some exercise in the pool we had a very pleasant dinner outside with an Australian couple, who lamented the cold Sydney winters, but extolled the virtues of Indonesia. Another potential holiday destination?

Tomorrow is our final day at sea before arriving in Timor Leeste, one of the world’s newest countries.

Somewhere South of Papua New Guinea – Day 34

Today there has been no sight of land at all as we navigate between Australia and Papua New Guinea, so we have been left to our own devices, and a very relaxing day it has been. The temperature stays at around 84 degrees day and night so the swimming pool is a lovely temperature; in fact it is pleasantly cool compared to the outside temperature, Ideal for Marion’s aquarobics. The only problem is that every couple of hours there is a heavy rain shower.

Our team won the trivia today, mainly because one of our number knew the Internet code for Antarctica. We had a lovely lunch outside during which time we were offered three cocktails, I finally succumbed to a peach daiquiri. I attended a lecture on change in Indonesia where we were literally bombarded with political and economic facts and figures. Needing to get this out of my system I had a short session in the gym.

This evening we had an Indian meal, with a couple from Pittsburgh, Fred is a keen sports fan with tickets both to the NFL and the MLB, so an interesting conversation on knuckleball pitchers was had. Kathy has an extremely interesting job administering the philanthropy of a foundation designed to make life in Pittsburgh better.

Clocks go back tonight so we have an extra hour in bed, we need it with all this hard work.

Cape York – Day 33

I realise that my day count has been a little out so hopefully I have corrected it today. This morning dawned dull and overcast with a very high humidity of 80%; this means that every time I go out on deck from an air-conditioned environment my glasses steam up. Also I have to open the camera up for some minutes before it is usable.

No matter we have had a great day today, it might seem a little tedious to those of you reading from afar, but we have really enjoyed it. After a leisurely breakfast and an additional coffee we attended a lecture about Indonesia, Knowing nothing about this country it was very informative. From end to end if superimposed on the US it would stretch from Portland to three hundred miles off the coast of Maine, it has 22% of the world’s active volcanoes, and the temples dating from the tenth century are spectacular. The lecturer by coincidence had graduated in geography from the same university as myself albeit ten years earlier. I shall have to look into getting one of these gigs on a cruise ship!!! 

Then it was trivia, we were off form today, do any of my readers know what the Dutch navy gave to sailors to prevent scurvy?

This afternoon we spent on deck as we navigated through the reefs and islands at the tip of Cape York, in the extreme North East of Australia. This is an area that is not visited much, there are no roads and few cruise ships follow this route. Combined with the storm-laden skies this was very beautiful. The experts on deck were able to identify our exact position as well as the many bird species that surrounded the ship.

This evening we have had a lovely dinner; it was a chef’s presentation of six delicious courses with beautiful well balance food. This was rounded off by a game of Scrabble. Another question for my reader(s), would you allow “strim”? 

Farewell to Australia – Day 31

We left a very wet Cairns in the early evening bound for Dilli in East Timor, 1400 nautical miles away. This was our last Australian landfall after over for weeks in the country. It is sad to leave Australia, a country that we found hugely hospitable. We have thoroughly enjoyed our stay here; it is a marvellous and surprising country. Without exception we have been received with friendliness and enthusiasm. The public infrastructure is excellent and everywhere is immaculate. Against expectations the food has been very good, and we have eaten some exceptional meals. The cities have been vibrant and interesting, while the countryside has excited us. Hopefully it will not be too long until we return.

Our plans for Cairns were changed and judging by the reports of others it may well have been for the better. The trip to the Barrier Reef involved much too much walking for Marion so we opted for a different sort of day. I took a zodiac trip to the mangrove swamps that surround Cairns; two experts who explained this unique habitat and the creatures that live there accompanied us. The mangrove tree can withstand saltwater so grows on shallow silt deposits that are exposed at low tide. The roots system cleanses the water run-off from the hills, this is important for the Barrier Reef, as it means that the reef is protected from pollutants. In turn the reef protects the mangrove habitat from strong waves.

I returned from the tour in late morning and joined Marion for lunch, after which I explored the city of Cairns while dodging heavy showers. It is a modern city, which has grown in recent years due to tourists coming to the Barrier Reef. Like many others it has built an attractive promenade and because jellyfish make the sea inhospitable has a large lagoon like swimming pool on the foreshore. It had a lovely art gallery with a David Hockney exhibition and attractive shop.

Those that went to the Barrier Reef reported poor conditions due to the rough seas and little sign of fishes or reef, so I think that we may have had the best choice made for us. We are now looking forward to four days at sea.

Townsville and Rainforest – Day 30

By now we are well along the Northern Queensland coast, and today docked at the capital of the region, Townsville. Now in our Rough Guide to Australia, Townsville does not get a favourable description, so we had low expectations. We docked at 8am by when we had already had breakfast in our room as we had an early start on a rainforest tour. The weather was overcast but the sun was trying to peek through. First impressions are always important and Townville had a group of cheerful volunteers to meet and greet the arriving passengers. Soon we were driving along the city’s promenade, which like Australian cities everywhere was immaculate. Much attention has been given to the infrastructure, including a cycle path following the coast for eighty kilometres. The city is also Australia’s major military centre.

Now despite having an attractive beach, and I assume warm seas there was no swimming, because at this time of year there are stinging jellyfish offshore. Swimming is only allowed in a small area that is fenced off from the rest of the ocean. The city is also suffering the effects of devastating flooding in February during a tropical cyclone. Then they had many metres of rain over one week, in perspective they normally get a metre a year. The reservoir went from 13% of capacity to 213% capacity within days. As a result the decision had to be taken to release some of the water, which caused devastating flooding in the city.

Our first stop was for elevenses at Mr Frosty, an ice cream parlour with a difference, most of the flavours were locally grown tropical fruits. I had a type of mango that produced an ice cream that looked like chocolate but tasted quite odd. Suitably refreshed we climbed the hill to the Paluma National Park, this is a UNESCO World Heritage site recognising it as one of the most ecologically diverse habitats on earth. Our guide said that it was second only to a part of Venezuela.

One of the unique things is that it contains a number of very primitive plant and animal species, flightless birds and very slow growing trees. All are in a competition amongst the dense forest for light. So trees have enormous canopies, birds excrete stick seeds that attach themselves to leaves high in the canopy, and the parasite plants then grow high in the forest. Some plants lay dormant while others grow rapidly. Some trees had huge buttress like roots. What was noticeable was how damp everything was, I wore a hat and at the end of the walk it was quite wet, despite it not raining.

The road that we took up the mountain had only been built in the 1930s as a work relief scheme; it spawned a little community of ninety or so houses at the summit. Here we had our lunch in a community hall. This was an opportunity to talk to some locals about the history of the village. From being a place to support logging, it now hosts two camps where scientists and students come to study this unique environment. Apparently plants that grow very slowly are excellent to study for the effects of environmental change. So an interesting and informative day.

Airlie Beach and an Anniversary – Day 29

We are now in Northern Queensland within the Great Barrier Reef natural reserve. Today we anchored off the small town of Airlie Beach. This is the centre for exploring the Whit Sunday Islands a group of seventy or so offshore islands. Our method of exploration was an old wooden schooner called the Derwent Hunter. This was the last working sailing boat built in Australia, in Hobart Tasmania in 1945. Captain Pete recalled its varied career since then, which included working for the Australian secret service. It was an exhilarating trip because much of the time it was under sail, and with the strong wind we fairly whipped along. Did I mention that once again we have brought cloudy overcast weather to Australia, the consolation was that it was really warm.

We anchored in a sheltered bay to snorkel amongst the reef. I am afraid that I was not very successful with snorkeing as without my glasses I could not see very much. Also every time I took a breath I seemed to get a mouthful of seawater. However it was possible to look at the coral through a sort of reverse periscope while on the zodiac. Even this limited view enabled me to gain a perspective on a unique and lovely environment. The colours of the fish were amazing. After a picnic lunch we had an exhilarating sail back to the port

Today was of course our wedding anniversary so we had booked the speciality Thomas Keillor restaurant on board. Prior to that we had pre-dinner champagne accompanied by caviar, a real treat. In the restaurant we had a lovely meal, both choosing lobster thermidor for our main course. We were then presented with cake for our anniversary and a white rose for Marion. 

We have had a great anniversary and one that will live long in our memory.