Noumea - New Caledonia

     A week has passed since my last update in Mooloolaba.   After a few days at sea, we spent two days in Sydney.  Then a couple more days and here we are in New Caledonia.  We will be here until 1600 this afternoon.  FYI, we are still living in tomorrow land and don't know when we cross back into yesterday.  It's Dec 1 here.  Weather is lovely.  I had planned to go ashore, but somehow I missed the memo.  I don't care to wander around Noumea alone, but thought I'd update the blog.


     Sydney was very nice.  Lots to see and do.  We were only there for two days and day two was thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.  I kept the ship in order while Anh led the VN cohort to China town.

Ron & Ruth Prosise

     Sydney day one we took a harbor tour with Captain Cook then we had lunch ashore and finished up with the "hop on hop off" bus.  Ron and Ruth (our companions du jour) stayed on the bus when we got off to explore China town.

     The bus tour was a little too long for some of us.  So I was surprised that we wanted to trek around China town.  Silly me...

Smitten by the sand man

         So we went into the "Market Center" in China town.  It was just a four-story shopping mall.  Then we wandered around and had supper at a Japanese Mom & Pop business. 

The second day in Sydney, I met the man that had been taken off in Dutch Harbor with a heart attack.  His name is Hans and he's ninety years old.  In Anchorage, they gave him a pacemaker and sent him home to Florida.  He contacted the cruise line and was flown to Bali where he hitched a ride for the remainder of the cruise.  He was extolling his good luck over a big ole cigar.

     Here are a few of the sites we saw in Sydney.

Anh imitating art

Notice people on top of the bridge ($300 ea)

 Personal note:  Stepped on the scale this morning to see how my weight is doing.  Don't feel like I'm losing any weight.  Turns out I've gained two pounds over the last two months.   This is unacceptable.  The goal is to lose weight.  Making a new plan to kick it up a notch for these last twenty days.

Mooloolaba - Australia

What did you do on your cruise?

     So after three days at sea here we are at Mooloolaba.  We had to tender into port and the day ashore was shortened because of expected high winds this afternoon.  I won't have much time to wander around town and wifi is slow.  The town looks lovely and I'd like to come back sometime and spend a week or so enjoying the waterfront. 

     Some of our shipboard friends will be leaving us in Sydney.  I'm not too jazzed about that.  We have an early bird table on the Lido where we gather in the morning to watch the sun come up and pontificate about the state of the world. 

     Maggie will be leaving us in Sydney and I will miss her.  She takes great pictures and I'm sharing a few of them with you today.  She has a great sense of humor too.

Komodo lizard/dragon

We have been cruising now about fifty-seven days so we have about twenty-five to go.  Time passes so quickly.

 This one reminds me of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector.

Things that hang low

Cairns - Australia

     So we had a easy start to the day.  Late breakfast and leisurely departure.  We started off agreeing that we would wander around town, but that soon became eating at a Vietnamese restaraunt, and going to the botanical gardens. 

     It was wonderful because we met a lovely couple from England named John and Dawn.  It was so much fun visiting with them that we had two rounds of stout and a couple hours of conversation.  Unfortunately for Anh, she went shopping while I visited with them.  What delightful people!  John is a retired dentist and Dawn is retired from managing the office.  They have been travelling since they retired several months ago.  We talked at length about politics and religion.  We discussed the English reformation and John was well versed in the topic. 

     I'm not sure what everyone else did today.  We followed the footsteps on the map around town until we got to the mall.  Anh bought a dress or something.  I looked at a drone they were practically giving away for $3,000.  Of course, I consider it a successful day if I avoid buying unnecessary stuff.  But it was very cool and I was tempted (yet without sin).


    Cairns is a tourist town.  So we did tourist stuff.

     Ron Sr. went snorkeling with Ron Jr., Donna, Carol, and Roger.  Can't wait to hear the report.  Hope all went well.

     We went to the botanical gardens and saw lots of cool plants.  Walked a lot!

     We had lunch at a VN restaraunt.  Anh had Bun Thit Nuong and I had Pho Ga Nha and a Cafe Sua Da.


 After all the walking, I'm anxious to get home and order a massage chair.

Called Vergil and visited briefly.  I'm looking forward to seeing him when we get home.  I'm also mindful that we've been gone a long time.  I miss our church and am looking forward to getting home.

Don't misunderstand, I love the cruise and all the people we have grown fond of on the ship.  We have the better part of a month before we land in LA.

Darwin - Australia

 Woke up early as usual and got a nice hot shower before trundling off to the Lido for coffee and eventually breakfast.  The sun was beautiful when it peeked up on the horizon glowing red.  I didn't move fast enough and so didn't get a picture of it.  Today is Sunday and so after breakfast, we went to the Wajang Theatre for a worship service.

About 0900 the gangway was open so we made our way off the ship and onto the waiting shuttle.  Greeting was cordial and in English.  How wonderful to hear your native tongue.

The shuttle took us to a mall that sadly was mostly locked up tight for Sunday.

We took the local bus and got off at a sort of street mall.  They had booths for clothing and food.  So, of course, we had to partake.  When I ordered a beer I was told I'd have to wait because it's Sunday.  So we found a seat and ate some of the food and visited with the natives.  They were very friendly and spoke English (with an accent).

It started raining and soon it was  a downpour,  so I went and bought two beers, one for Ron and one for myself.  It was really good.  It's called Ginger Beer.

Ron and I wanted to go to the Aviation Museum, but couldn't get the correct bus.  We finally gave up and decided to update our computers.

Today the weather is hot and humid.  Fortunately, there's a breeze and scattered clouds.  If we had a sunny day it would be awful hot.  As it is, we're in the low 80's. 

It's unfortunate that we came on a Sunday, because there's very little open.  I think I'll make my way back to the ship.

Next stop is Cairns Australia, but there'll be some sea time in between.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Bali - Indonesia

This friendly fellow was in Chinatown in Semarang.

     Today we departed the ship in Bali and linked up with a relative of one of our servers.  We both like her and knowingly paid top dollar for a car and driver.

     Best intentions, but a lackluster individual.  Anh tried to set him up with a carload to maximize his return, but he apparently didn't understand.  So we kept with our original deal and just the two of us hopped in for a ride.

     We had expressed our lack of interest in temples, but after a forty five minute drive, we discovered that's where we were going;  A Hindu temple.






     We walked around the grounds looking at ghouls, gargoyles, and goblins designed to protect the sanctity of the place.  On our way out I had a beer and Anh ate a mess of durian.

 I don't know if there's anything quite as doofy looking as me in a dress.

















Here is a more revealing look

So the deal with this temple is it's for people who want to cleanse themselves of bad habits.  At least that's what my driver said.  There is a pool with numerous spouts dispensing water under which one puts their body for cleansing.  I restrained myself from my bad habit of sarcasm and disrespect.  I'll confess here that the longer I was there, the more irritated I got.  Jesus is worthy of all praise and yet people pray to deaf, dumb and blind idols.

I suppose a positive take away is that people are mindful of their sinful state and sense a need or cleansing.

     So on our way back to the ship we stopped and both of us had a one-hour deep tissue massage.  It was wonderful.  I had to fight to stay awake because I didn't want to miss any of it.  I kept looking over at Anh, and I thought she was sleeping, but she denies it.

     So now I need to attend to some of the activities that require access.  Checking statements, returning emails, etc.  Tomorrow the ship sails to Komodo island where the dragons live.  I think we will stay aboard and relax.  Neither of us is excited about the critters.

Be blessed

Semarang Java - Indonesia

Nov 12 (yesterday)  At sea, 

     Fair seas light wind overcast with scattered showers.  Had breakfast with the early risers.  There was lots of jocularity about the functioning of stateroom toilets and speculation as to what might happen in various scenarios of misuse.  Lounged a bit until two ill-tempered females moved in. 

     Wonder off to Ocean lounge and set up chairs.  Now I have some free time to type.  Our next stop is in Indonesia; Semarang (I think).  

     There are several briefings today; 1000 re. Australia, New Caledonia and Vanuatu 1100 re. Semarang.  They are both from Ian of EXC Tours.  He leaves a lot to be desired.  He seems impressed with himself and provides very little usable information.  At 1400 Kate Mead is giving a talk about “Indonesia’s Spice Islands” and then at 1500 Mark Lax is giving a talk “Land of Seventeen Thousand Islands”

Nov 13

     Good morning from the former Dutch East Indies.  For three hundred and fifty years it was a colony of the Dutch.  It has been known as Indonesia since WWII, but I remember hearing about it by the old name and thought you might find the history interesting.  After the Japanese were defeated in WWII the Dutch tried to reassert their claim to this place, but the people didn't want it.  This is probably the shortest explanation of the situation you'll ever find.

     Semarang is not much as a tourist destination.  It is located East of Jakarta (a more recognizable name).  There are a couple of noteworthy Buddhist and Hindu temples nearby, but I'm not much interested in temples.  FYI these temples had fallen into disrepair until Sir Thomas Raffles decided that they should be preserved.  Mr. Raffles was a big shot several hundred years ago.  Singapore has a street named for him and numerous other attractions( Raffles Hotel, Raffles Place...).

     We walked off the ship around 0845 and onto a waiting shuttle.  The bus wound its way through what looks very much like a Vietnamese city until it stopped outside a shopping mall.  Nice, clean, air-conditioned and wifi equipt.  I ignored my revulsion of Starbucks so I could get internet access.  I purchased a Mocha Frappachino so as to stake my claim to a seat.  Since it's early in the day, many shops are just opening up.

     No sooner did I get started than I was summoned via text message to come with the group and drive all over town to see China town.

     I must say it was very dirty and had a memorable odor.
I asked the driver to let me know when there was a cold beer to be had and so I am once again a happy man.

This church was built seven hundred years ago, I'm told.  In remarkable condition for its age.

As usual, I'm running short on time and must return to the ship.  Tomorrow I think we will be in Bali.
Hopefully will have more time to post more.