Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

Puerto Princesa, Philippines

Posted on March 20, 2019 by patmathews

March 20, 2019

Well, before we arrived here, we crossed the equator again, this time heading north of it. One of the friends we met on the cruise was telling us that he talked to his grandchildren about it and they wanted to know if he saw the red line! So of course they had the crossing ceremony again. I was doing walk around the deck at the time, so I did get a couple of pictures.

We also had the returning guest cocktail party. I probably mentioned in the past that as diamond members, we get invited to both parties – they have two because there are too many returning guests for just one. One of our favorite things is when they award pins to crew members for their length of service.

Mario got some fresh red snapper and tuna in Bali and grilled it outside on the deck – simply delicious.

We also got an additional guest lecturer on the ship, Brian Unger. Always a lot to learn about the places we are so fortunate to visit.

I didn’t mention in my Bali post about the motorbike drivers. Nyoman mentioned a man from France that had contracted with him for tours. The second day, before they were scheduled to meet, he got a call that he needed to transport them to the airport, the man had rented a motorbike and got in a crash – had a broken leg and wanted to go home for the repair. I wouldn’t rent one of them on a bet, especially here as they whiz all around you and come out from seemingly nowhere. We saw one with a woman and 3 children on it, she was both driving the bike and holding an entire flat of eggs in one hand. Too bad I couldn’t get a picture.

We were slightly behind schedule for our arrival in Puerto Princesa, and we saw the pilot boat from our balcony. This is by far the funkiest pilot boat we have ever seen! As I mentioned before, a specially trained pilot boards the ship before every port. The captain is always in charge, but the pilot provides crucial information about conditions specific to the port to assist the captain in his decisions.

Here are some other shots of our arrival. A band was playing on the pier and there were dancers and costumed characters to greet us. We were each presented with these shell necklaces.

This city has a population of about 216,000 people. It is the capital of Palawan, Philippines and is located 301 nautical miles southwest of Manila. It is said that the city was named after a mythical young woman but history says that it was named after Princess Asuncion who was born in 1864 to Queen Isabela II and her consort, Francisco de Cadiz after the Spaniards came in to the country. When the Princess suffered an untimely death, the Queen had the city named Puerto de la Princesa, later changed to its current name. And the area certainly is beautiful, lots of green mountains and of course, surrounded by water and beaches. We have never been here, and we heard it is the first for our ship, so the captain takes part in a special welcome ceremony.

Our plan for the day was to have lunch with Graham and Shuna. Graham is the artist in residence on the ship right now and Shuna is his wife. We became good friends on a previous cruise and have a treasured Denison original that we purchased then. Graham had the name of a restaurant and we decided to walk there. Of course we were constantly approached by the tricycle drivers wanting to take us to our destination. They must have thought we were crazy to want to walk because it was very hot. These vehicles are built on a motorcycle and have a side sort of cab attached.

On the way to the restaurant we stopped at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. The original church on this site was built in 1872 and in 1961 the small church was renovated and turned into a cathedral. Most of the original architectural design has been preserved. Most of the people in the Philippines practice Catholicism.

The restaurant was one of the most wonderful experiences we have had anywhere in the world. From the art, the design of the building, the food and the wonderful staff, we had a simply spectacular lunch. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is traveling here.It is called Kalui.

The next pictures were taken either by Graham or by me, impossible to sort that out since he air dropped his to me and they are all together on the iPhone! But I know they will give you a snapshot of this great day.

When you arrive, you need to take your shoes off and leave them in a numbered basket.

The art inside and outside of the place is wonderful.

Even the bathrooms are stunning.

Clearly, that last one was taken by Graham. I did not go into the men’s bathroom!

And now, the food. The pictures will not do it justice. We had so much different food and it was all delicious. We started with a lemon and ginger broth soup and a side dish of seaweed (I know, sounds like, what?? seaweed?) But it was quite good. The middle plate below is a grilled tuna.

At the end of the meal, the waiter brought us each a coconut filled with fresh fruit, and then, compliments of the owner, another half coconut with a piece of delicious flan in it.

We all enjoyed it so much and were completely stunned when the bill for each couple came to $19. That waiter got nice tips from us for sure.

To get back to the ship, we decided not to walk in the heat of the day, so each couple got into one of the tricycles. Do you think Norm liked it??

Our driver Rodrigo took us on a tour around the city and past markets and the bay walk. The Bong & Rose was our vehicle.

We bought only a magnet that looks like one of the masks in the restaurant. We will never forget this fabulous day.

Posted in Asia, Food, March, World Cruise 3 | 3 Comments

Bali, Indonesia

Posted on March 18, 2019 by patmathews

March 16 and 17, 2019

I have so much to post about Bali! It is our second visit here and two years ago, we hired a local guide to take us around. We had a fabulous time and became Facebook friends, so this time, I contacted him and he was available for both days. So, thank you again, Nyoman Terep, for the amazing repeat visit to Bali.

When we first met Nyoman (pronounced like Norman!), he told us about how Indonesians name their children. He is the third child.

A birth order name is chosen from a few typical names according to the position of the child in the birth order of siblings. The people of Bali use the birth order name to refer to one another.

The first born are named Wayan. Wayan is a Balinese name meaning “eldest”.

Second born children are named Made, Kadek, or Nengah. Made and Nengah mean madya or “middle”. Kadek means “little brother” or “little sister”.

The third born is given the name Nyoman or Komang. These names may be shortened to “Man” and “Mang” respectively.

Fourth born children are named Ketut. Ketut is often shortened to “Tut”.

If there is a fifth child in the family, she is often called Wayan Balik. And for additional children, the same names are then repeated in order!

The prefix “I” is for boys and “Ni” is for girls. So he is I Nyoman.

Here was our sail in on Saturday. The harbor is a very busy place with lots of boats, parasailing and other water sports. The Mountain “Mother” Gunung Agung is seen in the first picture.

Our Balinese welcome!

We told Nyoman that our priorities for the day were the Ulun Danu Temple in Bedugul and the Tanah Lot Temple.

We accomplished that and much more. Since we had an overnight stay, we didn’t worry about timing and it was a good thing since the traffic was horrible. It took more than 2 hours to reach our first destination.

We saw bamboo poles decorated with young coconut leaf decorations lining the streets all over Bali. These intricately decorated poles, naturally curved at the top, comprise harvest items such as rice, fruits, coconuts and coconut leaves. The men of the households erect their ‘artwork’ at each household gate on the eve, resulting in an impressive view throughout all village roads.

The other thing we noticed as we traveled along were the very large posters encouraging people to vote for candidates for next month’s elections. They seemed to be everywhere.

While most of Indonesia is Muslim, in Bali, 95% of the population practices Hinduism, but it is a much more relaxed and moderate approach than you see in India. The population of Indonesia is 260 million and 4 million live in Bali.

We witnessed a long line of people along the road on our first day travels. Nyoman told us that the people were returning from a cremation ceremony.

Cremation in Bali is usually one of the most expensive rituals to perform. In Bali, before the cremation, people go through a burial ritual where they bury the dead for some time. Usually, this burial ritual is being conducted near a temple called Pura Prajapati. This burial ritual acts as an interim state. Due the funds needed for cremations is quite high, they will go through this interim state until they are financially ready. Once the family members are financially ready, they will select a day to perform the cremation ceremony. And, Nyoman told us that many people from a town or specific area are often removed from the burial sites together and cremated together – so that explained the long lines of people we saw in that village. I thought it was disrespectful to take their picture.

We passed several places that were getting prepared for weddings, which did add to the traffic for sure. Since most people have their own temples within their homes, some weddings take place in homes.

There are impressive statues everywhere! This is just along the road.

Since the ship didn’t get in until 11 and the traffic was so bad, Nyoman stopped for lunch at a restaurant overlooking a beautiful valley and rice fields. We had a delicious Indonesian lunch with rice pudding made from the black rice for dessert.

Our first temple visit was to the Ulun Danu Temple in Bedugul which is at an altitude of 4900 feet. This is a major water temple which serves the entire area. It is on a lake that is so beautiful with the green mountains in the background.

Clever sign, right??

We went on to the Taman Ayun Temple which is also known as the Royal Temple. It was built in the 17th century. It includes a wide moat, exquisite wooden shrines and beautifully carved gates. We could only walk around the outside of this temple. There was one woman inside leaving an offering. Offerings are seen everywhere, not just in the temples and can be almost anything, from fruit to flowers. Nyoman had an offering on the dashboard of the car. Outside of homes and businesses are small temple replicas where offerings can be seen.

The next picture is a statue of the goddess of rice.

These characters represent good and evil and are used in performances

The Balinese dancers are just beautiful to watch. Nyoman says that girls start learning the dance at about 6 or 8 years old.

You may wonder about our long pants on a hot Indonesian day. It is expected that shoulders and legs are covered when entering temples. Most do have a kind of sarong that they lend you, but we chose to dress as expected when doing our visits. Indonesians do not wear shorts except for field workers and becak (a kind of bike taxi) drivers and they look down on people who do.

The last temple we visited was the Tanah Lot Temple. It is also referred to as the Sunset Temple. The black lava towers of this 16th century temple are situated on a rocky outcrop just off shore, and we were hoping for low tide so we could actually cross to the temple. Unfortunately it was not low tide so we had to settle for the beautiful grounds and take pictures of the temple.

So we had accomplished our list of things to see today and Nyoman was going to take us to a romantic restaurant for dinner (and wait for us there!!) These Indonesians are so polite and wonderful. But as we got closer to the restaurant, the clouds thickened and it started to rain. This restaurant was outdoors with a view and he said it is not as impressive if you have to be indoors, so we chose to go back to the ship and have dinner on the covered terrace.

We agreed that he would pick us up by 7:30 on Sunday as we leave at 3 and had other places to see. We hoped that the traffic would not be as bad.

We had a room service breakfast (for the first time) so we could leave the ship early.

Sunrise was beautiful.

Our agenda today started with the Uluwatu Temple which you might say is the most spectacular of all of them (but each is equally impressive). It is an ancient temple perched on awesome seaside cliffs. Nyoman warned us about monkeys that will definitely steal your glasses, so we left everything except cameras in his car!

Here is what was left of one pair the monkeys got to.

We walked all around from one end of the cliffs to another. Here we needed to wear a cloth sash around our waists to visit the temple. There were a lot of people bringing offerings and small children learning to play the traditional instruments. Magnificent.

We visited GWK Cultural Park. We got there before 10 and wanted to go up into the recently completed GWK statue which opened at 10. Unfortunately when we got in we found that it is too new to be opened to go into, so we settled for pictures of it and other beautiful structures around the entire park.

We weren’t there for the dance performance but did get some pictures with the performers.

Last stop for the day was in the Nusa Dua area which is a high end beachfront area with luxury hotels and a golf course. There is a water spout area that is impressive when the waves are high, but that wasn’t the case today. The rocks are immense.

You know I always like to take pictures of children, with parent permission of course. Here are a few from Bali.

When we returned to the ship, we found lots of St. Patrick’s day decorations and goodies.. yes, they do honor all of the holidays here on board! By the time I took the picture, the top clover leaf had already been eaten!

The day finished with a cabaret by Stephanie and Nieks of the entertainment team, and a celebration dinner for Marilyn’s birthday.

Goodbye for now, Bali and Nyoman, see you next time!

Posted in Asia, Excursions, March, World Cruise 3 | 1 Comment

Komodo, Indonesia

Posted on March 15, 2019 by patmathews

March 15, 2019

“Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup”.

Well, we have left Australia and are now in our first port in Indonesia – Komodo.

Here are some pictures as we sailed in. We anchor off the island – it is a tender port that docks at a small pier, shown in one of the pictures below. The island is very green. We had storms all night but no rain this morning. The local people approach the ship in their small boats hoping for guests to throw money to them. We are strictly warned against that.

First of all, about Indonesia. It is made up of 17, 508 and has the highest Islam population in the world. There are 127 natural volcanoes here. Adam Tanner did a talk about Indonesia yesterday (again, standing room only) and had a lot to say about the corrupt government in the past as well as the economic success here.

Komodo is one of three major islands making up Komodo National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The park was established in 1980 with the sole purpose of protecting the habitat of the Komodo dragon. The dragon was first discovered by a zoologist named Peter Ouwens just over 100 years ago even though it dates back 40 million years in one form or another. Komodo is the only natural habitat of the Komodo Dragon. The island of Komodo includes about 60 square miles of craggy mountains, deep canyons, savannas and monsoon rainforests.

We were here in March of 2017 and once you have seen the Dragons, in our opinion, you don’t need to see them again. To read more about them and this area, you can look at the post from that visit, Komodo 2017

There are fewer than 300 Komodo Dragons left and their existence is in jeopardy.

Here is one picture of us with a dragon in March 2017.

So, my plan for the day on board was a spa day. I started with my hour long walk on deck after breakfast, then headed to the steam room and a series of treatments including a full body massage, a pressure point foot massage, a scalp massage, revitalizing hand and arm massage and collagen eye treatment followed by another steam. So relaxing!

Tonight we are eating dinner in Polo following a cocktail reception with Graham Denison, the artist in residence.

Tomorrow and Sunday we will be in Bali. My massage therapist today lives there and will be allowed to leave the ship overnight to be with her family! I assume there will be other crew who will do the same. Our spa manager, Laura, departs tomorrow for a well earned vacation. Have a great time, Laura!

Posted in Asia, March, World Cruise 3 | Leave a comment

Darwin, Australia

Posted on March 13, 2019 by patmathews

March 13, 2019

Yesterday, we were invited to a party at 11:15 AM for the ATW guests in the Insignia lounge. It was an Asian theme and wow, did they do it up right. Many types of Asian delicacies, including sushi, tuna, ceviche, egg rolls, chicken wings, rice balls, dumplings and many more. Then there was a whole array of sweet items too. Amazing. We started off with a Bejing bellini, which was champagne and lichee juice and it was delicious. There was a video of some of the highlights of the trip so far. Damien, the general manager, welcomed us and the new entertainment team did some Broadway songs from the show that they will perform tonight. Lovely event and no need for lunch to be sure!

Today we reached the last port in Australia, Darwin. We have a pilot on board as it is tricky to navigate the Great Barrier Reef, and he has made several announcements as we passed Wednesday Island and other islands on our route to Darwin. He also gave a lecture which was standing room only, as have the lectures by our newly arrived guest enrichment lecturer, Adam Tanner.

Yesterday it was about the British Empire, Convict Transports and the Colonization of Australia. I had to stand, there wasn’t an empty seat in the theater! He is that good. Luckily they re-broadcast them on the TV in our room. This was very interesting – he told the history of what Britain decided to do with their convicts – everything from putting them on ships, considering sending them to the Caribbean and Africa, which were rejected for many reasons, finally leading them to Australia. Most of them got a sentence of 7 – 14 years for relatively minor offenses. When they served their sentences, many stayed in Australia. So now a lot of people have convict ancestors – they populated a lot of Australia.

Just before the lecture, I won the blackjack tournament. And I am learning to play Texas hold ‘em too. In the last tournament, I was third to last to be eliminated, the top two get money. The only other time I played in that tournament (on the last cruise), I went out after the first hand as I had a king high flush – pretty darn good hand – and someone else had an ace high flush. #$@W^%^& So guess what happened this time? I had a KING QUEEN high flush, went all in and one of the other two remaining players had an ace high flush. What are the chances!!! But this time I played almost to the end. We will see if I continue with that one.

Here’s our sunrise arrival into Darwin.

We spent a couple of days in Darwin two years ago, so we opted to take a tour of two places that we hadn’t seen before – Crocodylus Park and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory.

Chris was our guide and she gave us many facts about Darwin en route to the first stop, Crocodylus Park.

Darwin is Australia’s only tropical capital city and yes, it was tropical today, 91 degrees and very humid. This is the rainy season here but Chris said they have only had less than 1/3 of the amount of rain they usually get and if it doesn’t get better before May when the rainy season ends, this will be the driest rainy season on record, very bad for the farmers. A big crop here is mangoes and they are quite worried about that crop.

Darwin has a big military past, too. Last visit we learned about the Japanese bombing just 6 days after Pearl Harbor which sunk 12 ships. There were a total of 64 raids conducted on Darwin over a two year period and over 300 people were killed.

The Crocodylus Park was a fascinating place. It is a crocodile research facility operated by wildlife research consultants and also a park that has a number of other animals in it.

We were greeted by a guide who took us for the first part of the adventure, crocodile feeding. Basically, you held a large pole with a piece of chicken on the end of it and the crocodile would jump up to get the food. I had the chance to feed Mildred. Norm took a video which, again, I can’t post on the ship. Maybe one day I will try to post all of the videos from shore!

We saw a lot of the crocodiles, all ages, some in breeding pens and others in small enclosures. There is also a lagoon which has many in and around it.

Then we had the chance to see and hold a baby crocodile. Of course we both had to do it.

Here are some of the other animals they have there.

We did learn to back away from the lion as he was spraying to mark his territory.

We do love our creatures – maybe not the snakes and crocs, though.

They had a very nice gift shop and many of the purses cost thousands of dollars. Chris said that the crocodile leather costs $80 per square centimeter so that is why they are so expensive.

We asked about croc attacks and she said there have been only 24 deaths since 1971.

They were selling crocodile meat (which by the way, we had at dinner the other night in the Terrace Cafe – it DOES taste like chicken). I picked up the recipes which I dare say I could use for CHICKEN.

Then we went on to the museum. One of the highlights in this museum is the story of Cyclone Tracy which hit and devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve in 1974. There were many stories and pictures and you could go into a booth to hear the actual sounds from the cyclone. Creepy. More than two thirds of the population were air lifted out. Now they have much more secure building codes and early warning systems but they haven’t had one as bad since.

The museum has many displays of birds, insects, shells, etc. Their butterfly and moth exhibit is beautiful. There was also a student art exhibit and I was really impressed with the work.

There was an exhibit of some of the boats, and also Sweetheart, one of the sort of friendly crocodiles, which suddenly died. I couldn’t even fit the whole thing in one picture!

There was a spider exhibit which we didn’t go to but we took pictures next to the metal web and spider photo! I guess they wear sunglasses in Darwin.

There is usually an aboriginal art exhibit but the student exhibit is there now. This is one of the pieces of the art that is done on the walls of the hills and in caves.

Very nice day. On our way back to the ship, we did a small tour of the town and we remembered visiting many of the places we passed. We decided to get back into the air conditioned ship and not do any shopping here!

Tomorrow we have a sea day before getting to Komodo Island. You cannot visit there without being on an organized tour. We did the combination of the island and snorkeling last time so it will be a relaxing day on the ship for us.

Posted in Australia, Excursions, March, World Cruise 3 | 1 Comment

Great Barrier Reef video (sorry, didn’t load) and a couple of other items!

Posted on March 11, 2019 by patmathews

Well, the video did not load, apologies and will do it from shore if I can.

On the trip, we also learned from the marine biologist why the sea cucumber is so valued- they call it the “vacuum cleaner” of the sea as it collects soiled sand and poops out the clean and spits out the water.

We are living the dream and loving all of our adventures. We have shared it before, but here it is again. Our motto.

Posted in Australia, March, World Cruise 3 | 3 Comments

Cairns, Australia

Posted on March 10, 2019 by patmathews

March 9, 2019

We had a special event in the lounge yesterday. Our artist in residence, Graham Denison, did a 2 hour demonstration of this painting. He designed a mountain and waterfall scene and did the entire painting on a small canvas while we all watched and asked questions. We bought one of Graham’s original paintings on our last cruise and are big fans of his unique style of painting. He does everything with one palate knife! Here is his website in case you are interested in seeing his story and his work.

Denison Art

Here he is working on the canvas with the screen showing the picture as he is working on it, and here is the finished painting from today. Amazing artist.

We were invited to dinner in Toscana with Roberto Paterno, the food and beverage manager on the ship. He brought Laura, the spa manager, who had never been in Toscana before. Since he is from Sorrento, he knows Italian food for sure and that is the Toscana specialty. We had a really nice evening.

Our arrival into Cairns (pronounced Cans) was a bit cloudy but we heard it would clear up and be a nice day.

Our adventure here was to the Great Barrier Reef – a World Heritage site. We went to the reef on our Australia and New Zealand trip back in 2009. We have been reading so many dire articles about the reef and wanted to see it again. Our trip started with a 1 1/2 hour trip on a catamaran which came right up to the ship to pick us up. The crew was having a drill at the time so we got to see them lower the railing as they would have to if they were lowering those lifeboats.

There is an enrichment lecturer on board, Tyrone Ridgway. He has a PhD in Marine Science and almost 20 years experience working on coral reefs. In his lecture he talked about the reef which stretches for more than 1242 miles along the northeast coast of Queensland, Australia. He said you can fit 70 million football fields in the area covered by the reef! That is certainly a mind boggling number. It is so big, it can be seen from outer space.

Our Oceania group was the only group on the catamaran (Sunlover Reef Cruises) which was large enough for probably twice as many people. There were indoor air conditioned and plush couch areas as well as many seats and outdoor areas. The big focus was, of course, on safety, and many announcements regarding use of medication, medical conditions, etc., were made on our way out to the reef. They did a passenger count at least 4 times! The seas were pretty rocky and some people did get seasick but we were fine. We arrived at our destination, the Marine World activity platform, and moved from the catamaran over to the platform.

There were a lot of choices of activities. Our plan was snorkeling. Last time we were here, I opted to do the scuba diving which was with a one to one escort since I was not scuba certified. That was an option on this trip too as was sea walking with a special helmet that allows you to have air piped to you while you walk on a special submerged platform. Some of our friends opted to do that. There were showers, changing rooms and upper sundeck with sun lounges and also shaded areas. The catamaran had a full selection of snacks – even ice cream and we enjoyed a buffet lunch and afternoon tea.

There was also a glass bottom boat, a semi submersible ride as well as an underwater viewing area and an area where a marine biologist explained and showed some the important creatures in this area. So it is really a complete package of things to do.

We were encouraged to wear the wet suits that they provided since they provide sun protection and also protection from the jellyfish.

We had a wonderful time snorkeling. The reef was in far better shape than we thought it would be and we saw so many beautiful fish and lots of coral. I did use my go pro camera underwater and Norm used his as well. I have a lot of video and I will try to post one for sure. It might be from port with fast wi-fi though. I also learned how to clip a still photo from a video on go pro. Time consuming but I did do a few that way too. The water was quite choppy and you can sometimes tell that from the video. OK, get ready, here are some of the pictures. We probably have hundreds between us!

A highlight was this HUGE grouper.

And a sea turtle.

Lots of beautiful fish.

And the many varieties of coral! We were told that this summer the water didn’t get as hot so the coral is coming back.

It was a truly wonderful day and one we would certainly do again on our next trip here.

When we got back to the ship, it took a little maneuvering to get us close enough to disembark the catamaran. And lots of the passengers were watching the episode. Here are some shots of that, and also a couple that Maryanne took from her room and shared with me – of us watching the whole thing from the catamaran.

So, I am writing this on Sunday, March 10 – and we were scheduled to be in Cooktown where we had booked a trip on the Endeavor River. Last cruise we were off the ship for these two ports (Cairns and Cooktown) and when we got back on we heard that they couldn’t anchor for the port of Cooktown which is a tender port. Well, today we had our first missed port! Our friend Karen said that it was missed the last 4 times it was scheduled. So we had an unexpected sea day. The winds and water didn’t seem too bad to us but we weren’t surprised to miss it as it is an unprotected port where the captain needs to drop anchor and use tenders for a 30 minute trip to shore. So the conditions have to be safe and also predicted to be safe enough to get us BACK to the ship!

No worries, plenty to do on the ship. We even had Sunday afternoon at the movies (If Beale Street Could Talk) and our butler Sanjay keeps us quite satisfied with daily fruit and pretzels (or any other snack we might want!)

Two more days at sea and then we get to our last Australian port, Darwin.

Posted in Australia, Excursions, March, World Cruise 3 | Leave a comment

Brisbane, Australia

Posted on March 6, 2019 by patmathews

March 6, 2019

So, there are customs regulations that prohibit the casino from opening while at sea around Australia, so we hear it will be closed for 4 days (started with the day at sea on yesterday.) It is always closed when in port.

Today we sailed in to Brisbane. We met the pilot very early while we were still sleeping, and sailed into the city via the Brisbane river. The larger ships cannot come under the bridge so have to dock 14 miles outside the city. Another advantage to be on a smaller ship like the Insignia. Not much to see on the sail in as it was a lot of commercial areas. But when we got closer to the city, here was the view.

Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city and it is a nice combination of big city and green park areas. Today we thought we would go into the city and do the hop on hop off bus but as soon as we left the ship and talked to the local guides, we learned that they discontinued that bus a year ago. We took the shuttle bus into the main part of the city where another helpful guide shared a great walking route and we decided to do that.

The shuttle dropped us off at Anzac Square. It is a state memorial to the men and women who participated in overseas armed service and is named in honor of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps.

From there we walked down one of the main streets, Edward Street, to the Queen Street Mall, which is a long pedestrian street with many shops. We walked across the Victoria Bridge across to South Bank.

Along the South Bank is a sprawling 99 acre public park of lawns, gardens & playgrounds, plus a river-swimming beach and a Ferris wheel. This was the site of the World Expo in 1988. We took a couple of hours exploring it and were delighted by the pool, the birds, the flowers and the riverfront site view of the city.

There was also a Nepalese pagoda that was brought to Brisbane for the 1988 expo. Beautiful, and lots to look forward to when we visit Nepal next month.

We then walked down to the Goodwill Bridge and walked back across to Brisbane City and into the City Botanic Garden where we spent another couple of hours walking through this serene place.

Lots of birds, open spaces and also kind of a forest atmosphere in part of the gardens, all bordered by the curve of the Brisbane River and also the views of the city high rise buildings.

After the walk through the gardens (and yes, it was hot and humid, but we took a little break on a bench overlooking the river where we had a nice breeze), we decided to look for a riverfront restaurant for a late lunch.

We went to the Bavarian restaurant on the Eagle Street Pier where we met two friends from the ship who were already having lunch there.

After a fun and leisurely lunch, we walked back through the city with the intent of taking the ferry back to the area where the ship was docked (a 40 minute trip). But first we wanted to see the MacArthur Museum. This was his headquarters during World War II where attacks against the Japanese were coordinated. Unfortunately, we found out that it was closed today. So we walked on and came to a very cool farmer’s market. We browsed and sampled and bought some popcorn and macadamia nuts (I didn’t realize that a lot of them are grown in Australia). Then we got on the ferry and had a nice river tour back to the ship. When we got there we struck up a conversation with a young woman who had just returned from Nepal and she told us of some of the highlights!

Again, Lonnie got some good sunset pictures and sail away pictures. I will share when he gives them to me. But here is the view of the bridge from the Terrace Café at dinner. Another fabulous day.

Posted in Australia, March, World Cruise 3 | 1 Comment

Sydney sunset pictures

Posted on March 5, 2019 by patmathews

Pictures courtesy of Lonnie Koeltzow.

Beautiful sunset overlooking Sydney skyline as we left there on March 4.

Posted in Australia, March, World Cruise 3 | Leave a comment

Sydney, Australia

Posted on March 4, 2019 by patmathews

March 3 – 4, 2019

As I mentioned in a previous post, we had a medical emergency on board and sailed into Sydney on Sunday afternoon, March 3 instead of the morning of March 4. And what a sail in it was! Since we came in on a Sunday there were hundreds of boats in the harbor, many doing sailing regattas. It was a beautiful sight. Although we have been to Sydney twice before, we never sailed in to this wonderful spectacle.

On our first trip to Sydney, we did the bridge climb. Yes, we did! The last picture above shows the people doing that climb as we sailed in.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge is the largest of its kind – a steel arch bridge. The harbor is also the largest natural harbor in the world. The famous Sydney Opera House – building it started in 1959 and it was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth on October 20, 1973 – welcomes you to the city. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is among the world’s busiest performing arts centers with over 2500 performances a year. We toured it on our last visit and it is well worth the visit.

We had to have a face to face inspection with immigration when we arrived. Only after every passenger was off the ship and processed could we return to the ship, so we stayed on board until the last minute and didn’t have as long to have to sit in the terminal building. We were docked at the White Bay Terminal which is further from the heart of the city, so we opted not to travel to the city tonight since we had a farewell dinner for Rodney and Candace in Polo.

Here’s the view from our room at night.

The farewell dinner was for 14 people and we had a great time. We will miss Rodney and Candace – and they will be on another phase of their adventure. More on that later.

We had the last show by this entertainment team – Showdown”, and enjoyed it as much as the first time we saw them perform it. As always at the end of a segment, almost the entire crew shows up for a big farewell. It tugs at the heartstrings even though we aren’t the ones leaving the cruise yet.

On Monday, we woke up early – here’s sunrise over the city!

Our intent was to do the hop on hop off bus all around Sydney and then do a trip to the Taronga Zoo. We were out and about by 8 and the zoo didn’t open until 9:30 – and the shuttle bus to town didn’t start until 9, so we decided to take a ferry to the King Street pier where we could walk to Circular Quay and pick up the Big Bus.

There are two routes and we planned to do both. It was a beautiful day in Sydney and we got on the bus at about 8:45. We sat on the top and went around part way on one route, then changed to the second route. Here are some of the sights.

We had a chance go into the central train terminal with the clock tower before we changed buses to head out toward Bondi beach.

The beach is absolutely beautiful and the tour through some of the richest areas of Sydney was fun. They pay big bucks for those houses and of course, the multi million dollar views!

We again changed buses and proceeded through more of the city. At this point, it was about 12:30 so we changed our minds about the zoo – that will be for our next visit – and decided to get off the bus at Darling Harbor for lunch.

This building is worth a mention – Central Park Mall. It is the largest vertical garden in the world. The building is covered with plants. It houses 13 cinemas, 3 hotels, 2200 apartments and a shopping mall! We will need to actually visit it next time.

We also didn’t have the time to visit Chinatown which is the largest outside of China and has a beautiful garden. So when people say that some of our itineraries on world cruises go to the same places, I say that we never have time to see enough – just mark what we want to see “next time around!”

Here are a few more pictures from our tour.

We arrived at Darling Harbor, Cockle Bay Wharf, and decided to eat facing the harbor at Blackbird Café. Had a great lunch.

In the restroom, there was a poster on the inside of the toilet door. I wouldn’t normally be so aware or intend to post, but I thought this was quite an impressive program. Later we asked the server about it.

Apparently the program started in England and was approved in Sydney last July. A good way to help people who are in uncomfortable situations before they escalate.

We had a walk around the area after lunch. Two more signs we noticed (these are especially for you, Adam!)

We took the shuttle back, and Rodney and Candace were in the parking lot with their camper/truck that we have heard so much about. It is really well designed and we were so glad to have a chance to see it. They have been traveling around Australia for more than a year now and will resume that nomad life now that they are leaving the ship.

We relaxed on the balcony until the lifeboat drill, then took a few shots of the sail away. Unfortunately I didn’t have my phone at dinner in the Terrace Café because the sunset was beautiful. Lonnie said he would share his pictures and I will post when I get them.

Now looking forward to a day at sea with the next port of Brisbane on Wednesday.

Posted in Australia, March, World Cruise 3 | 4 Comments

At Sea

Posted on March 2, 2019 by patmathews

March 2, 2019

Last night we had the guest – crew talent show. The theater was packed and it was a really fun night. Among the guests there was a magician, a couple of singers, a trumpet player, a harmonica player, a tango dancing couple, Hawaiian dancers, a story teller (great fun) and our Zorba dance closed out the show. One singer from the crew performed a Brazilian song and she was fantastic. I know that people took pictures and video of the Zorba so I will post when I get them.

Today was the boat building competition that always happens a couple of times on a long cruise. There were three entries, two pretty serious entries and one not so much. Here they are:

Our captain and staff captain were the judges and the team with our friends, Mike and Maralyn (in the individual pictures), won the top prize of big O points – each team got champagne as well. Theirs was really a work of art, and all 3 were seaworthy.

Just before the competition on the deck, the captain made an announcement that we would be getting in to Sydney tomorrow instead of Monday because of a medical emergency on board. I found out later that it is a crew member. So we will have an unexpected overnight in Sydney. We will arrive about 4 PM tomorrow.

In the afternoon, Norm and I both went to an Around the World wine tasting. There were many different wines to taste! They were from Classic Europe, Southern Hemisphere, USA and France. The head sommelier, Lubo, who is so knowledgeable, was hosting, with his whole team. I tasted about 6 of them and made some notes but I know that Norm had a much more robust tasting! This was held in the Toscana restaurant and about 60 people were there.

I won the blackjack tournament both yesterday and today. Lalo is trying to talk me into playing in the Texas hold’em tournament and I may just try it one day. Today, though, we had another jewelry making class with our Polynesian lecturer, June. We made this mother of pearl necklace, and the most challenging part was the knot tying to make the sliding cord that changes the length of the necklace.

So even though it is for a reason no one wants to have happen, everyone is looking forward to an overnight in Sydney.

Posted in At Sea, March, South Pacific, World Cruise 3 | Leave a comment