World Cruise 6

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World Cruise 6



Publishing on 1st March as we arrive in Bitung on Silowesi, Indonesia.



Sunday 19th / Monday 20th February



33S. 26 degrees C

151 E



Arrived Sydney 5am. Cpt wanted to dock before ferries started running. R very excited and dragged me out onto balcony to see Harbour Bridge as we approached. Impressive sight I must admit. Ship all tied up at Circular quay by 6 am.

Some excursions departing 7 am doing immigration on way out. All passengers needed to leave ship before anyone could return. If not going on trip needed to collect ticket and disembark as called. .

We had arranged to go to Jennifer’s hotel which we could see from our just one block up from quay. She was due in from Melbourne at about 9.30 so we were in no particular hurry.

Immigration seemed to going efficiently as we were told no queues so basically leave when wanted.

Sailed through immigration and out into terminal building where asked an official for directions. As I looked around I saw Jennifer at door of terminal!

Hugs and greetings; last saw Jennifer 3 years ago when we stayed with her for a few days in Melbourne before our preCovid cruise as it turned out to be! She only had a rucksack and handbag so decided no need to go to hotel. What did we want to do? Opera House and Darling Harbour we thought. Opera House easy, just follow Circular Quay around the Harbour!, which we did, past the ferry wharves and Archade of shops and restaurants.

We stopped at one of the cafes for a drink and a snack, (R had had breakfast before 7) and a catch-up. After a while we moved on and continued around the quay to the Opera House. I didn’t realise how close it was and accessible. Took lots of photos of course and found a way into the building and a lift to take us up another level. It was a stunning location and an amazing building. We spent a while here and then found our way out.

We suggested Darling Harbour for our next destination, where we could hopefully find lunch. We went there last time we were in Sydney and had enjoyed it as there were lots of boats there and a good selection of restaurants.

We managed to find a taxi and soon arrived. Everywhere seemed very busy, Jennifer picked up from the taxi driver that it appeared to be the end of a week of PROUD celebrations. There were rads closed around a lot of streets near the different quays and wharves. We found a likely looking Italian restaurant and ordered some lunch.

While we were there I tried to contact Annette, a family friend from Sutton Bridge.

Annette and her family had lived diagonally opposite us in Sutton Bridge in the 60s. Our parents were v good friends and Annette has 2 sisters, similar ages to me and my sisters. The eldest 1 year below me at school, Annette 1 year above Leila and the youngest the same year as Louise. We had all been very good friends and spent our teenage years in and out of each other’s houses. Annette had been very artistic and ended up working in Harrods in London and then gone to The Gulf to work in stores there where she met an Australian, Jeffrey, who she eventually married. During the next few years her youngest sister had gone out to Australia to visit and stayed and then her mum and dad. This left her oldest sister in UK occasionally meeting my mum in Tescos while shopping and giving updates on the family over the years. I hadn’t seen Annette for probably 50 years.

Having left a message for Annette on her mobile she soon called me back and we made arrangements to meet at Woolloomoolloo Wharf for a catch-up later in the afternoon.

After a leisurely lunch we decided would be a good idea to drop off Jennifer’s bags at her hotel and our unnecessary belongings at the ship and start making our way to meet Annette. We found a taxi relatively easily and it rid of our luggage but then took an absolute age to find another which we eventually did by finding a hotel where people were being dropped off.

Woolloomoolloo wharf proved to be another rather upmarket harbour with lots of posh yachts and cabin cruisers. Apparently it was originally the wharf from where all the wool was shipped out of Sydney……..that explains it!! …..(the name!!!)

Annette was easily recognisable, really, and we had a very nostalgic catch-up after hugs. She was keen to know all about my family, especially Leila and she gave me news of hers. Her mum and dad are still alive, 95 and 96, her dad caring for her mum who is suffering from dementia, but also having carers looking after them as he forgets a lot of things too. Annette herself goes to spend a week every month looking after them to keep an eye. Her husband was with her, and we all swapped stories of our children and grandchildren. It was a very enjoyable interlude with a drink and some light tapas.

About 7 pm we said our farewells, managed to find a taxi and went back to the ship, dropping Jennifer off on the way.



On Monday we met Jennifer about 10am outside the terminal and made a plan of action for the day. We had to be back at the ship by 5.30, Jennifer catching an airport shuttle by 4.30 at the latest. She had checked out Harbour Cruises for us, not going on Mondays and Tuesdays. We had heard of Manly Beach as an excursion destination and noticed a departure wharf for it so decided to go there. The weather was lovely, warm and sunny, so nice after New Zealand.

A swift half hour later found us at Manly beach, the ferry certainly not hanging around, Roger thought it must have been doing 35 knots at times! There was a very convenient tourist information office at the end of the wharf and some helpful ladies suggested where we could go. A 10 minute walk would take us from the Harbourside out to a beach on the Pacific side of the town.

We meandered down the street, which turned into pedestrian only halfway down, window shopping. It was atypical seaside town, ice cream shops, cafes, clothes shops, gift shops, etc,etc and very clean.. By the time we got to the end it was time for refreshments so we found a seat outside a hotel opposite the promenade by the sea.

We decided to stay there for lunch and had an enjoyable couple of hours watching the world go by. R had the most enormous Prawn cocktail you can imagine, Jennifer a ceviche of some kind of fish with avocado, lime and salad and I had fish and chips. All very tasty.

After lunch we walked along the promenade. There were some people in the sea, which seemed a bit rough. The beaches are monitored by lifeguards and bathers are only supposed to go in the sea between the relevant flags. Some were not at their own risk. We heard a announcement wile we were eating to beware of bluebottles on the beach! Sounded a rather curious hazard until I asked Jennifer why there were big buzzy black flies, and she explained they were jellyfish!!! There was also the danger of riptides, even close to the shore.

Eventually we turned round and made our way back to the ferry. Back at Circular quay we stopped at an Opal jewellers that Jennifer had gone into the day before. I couldn’t resist trying some rings on too, they were really beautiful. Jennifer had bought one, her favourite stone. Today Roger had decided to get me a ring, as my trip present. He usually does this as a memento of our journey. Lucky me, The colours of the stone are bright turquoise/green, very beautiful.

By this time it was the middle of the afternoon, Jennifer needed to go back to the hotel to collect her bag and none of us wanted to miss out transport. So after a brief cha near the terminal we said our goodbyes for another year, with hugs and kisses. It had been fantastic that she had come to spent the time with us and we had had a very good time. She is hopeful to come to Europe again soon with her husband in the next couple of years.

We went back onboard, deposited shopping in the cabin and went to the Belvedere to wait for sail away of this magnificent harbour, the biggest in the world ( I think)



The Palladian offering this evening was Strings Alive, a violinist and her guitarist/ pianist husband. Amazing, so energetic, and fantastic musicians. Simone and Eric. Played a variety of Maurice including some Irish music.





Tuesday 21sr February



At sea



Port Talk about Bitung, island of Suawesi in Indonesia.



Also Steve Simone’s talk, about Bob Marley. Very interesting.

He was born 6th February 1945. His mother was Cedella Booker and his father was a white Englishman. His parents were very loving and he grew up in St Anne’s Parish in the country and wanted to make peace from a young age. His father died in 1955 and he grew up in his grandfather’s house. He was a serious boy.

He moved to Trench Town, Kingston where he had to be tough. He was very poor. The African ancestors were storytellers and the tradition was kept up. Their experiences through life was reflected in their songs.

Musicians were getting together in Jamaica and having jamming sessions.

He met Rita Anderson and married her in 1966 and in 1969 went to the US to work on the Chrysler assembly line.

He started making music with the Wailing Wailers and began to get recognised.

Eric Clapton gave him the song Who shot the Sheriff.



5pm 25 degrees C. 29. S

153 E. 16.5 knots

Bearing. 8 degrees. ENE F 4



Later we went to a classical recital with Stephanie and Caroline with offerings from West Side Story, Faust, Die Fleidermaus and Gershwin. Very enjoyable. This was followed by the vocal group Tenori, 3 Australian Tenors who obviously enjoyed singing and were great fun. Fabulous voices with songs from Bridge over troubled water to Nessus Dorma.



Wednesday 22nd February



Brisbane



Situated some way up the Brisbane River it took several hours to manoeuvre our way with the pilot, who boarded about 4.30 am. We moored up at the new Cruise Terminal situated about 40 mins from the centre of the city. It was a very long walk through the air bridges, about 15 mins, into the terminal building where we went outside to find our transfer coach to The Gold Coast for our excursion.

The journey took about 90 mins along the M1 motorway south ( this road circumnavigates the whole of Australia). Lucky it wasn’t a weekend, then it takes about 4 hours!

After a drive through the suburbs where we passed some lakes and into the built up area of the Gold Coast. Lots of high rise apartment buildings and boulevards. It appears to be a number of townships that all run together over about 60 miles. We were heading for the area around Surfers Paradise and were dropped off about 11 am at the Transit centre. We were pointed in the direction of Caville Road, one way taking us to the lakes, the other to the sea.

We headed beachwards passing the usual seaside shops, ice cream parlours, gift shops, arcades, etc.

We found a very good Italian restaurant near the beach where we were able to sit and watch the sea and surf, looked quite rough, at the Surfers Paradise sign.

We had a very nice mixed plate to share to start…. Calamari,octopus, gnocchi, Aran uni, meatballs, asparagus, chilli pork belly, soda bread. …. And then shared limoncello pancakes with fruit sorbet and a custard cannoli(. (. I’ve always wondered what they were like….. delicious!). Absolutely scrummy.

We had a wander along the promenade watching a few bathers before heading back to catch the bus for the return. The sea was quite rough, no surfers out today though although a few people on the long golden beach.

To be honest it was all a bit like an upmarket Benidorm!

In the evening Strings Alive we’re performing again, opening with The Devil came down to Georgia. - superb!



Thursday 23rd



Sea Day.



Talk by Joanne Brigdon-Jones, Australian Olympic Kayaker.



She was in UK for the 2012 Olympics where she had realised her dream to set to The Olympic Games.

She had been a sporty kid, swimming, athletics, basketball, netball, she’d loved them all. After the Sydney Olympics she had attended a seminar where different body types were discussed being suitable for different sports. The following year she heard there was testing going on and went along. She was selected, along with about 30 others as suitable for Kayaking.

At 14 she was told to think big In training she saw stronger girls going through levels setting goals and aspiring to be better every day. This she did herself , training 3x a day, 6 days a week 11 months a year.

This all got her to 2012 Olympics.

She had had an earlier dream to be a paramedic, and she took a nursing degree in Sydney fitting it around her training and then postgrad training to be a paramedic, She had been concentrating on her post grad studies and so had lost her fitness.

After she qualified she stared training again, having to overcome lots of injuries on the way. Part if the training included the challenge of 3000chin ups in 3 months averaging about 61/day! This challenge was to strengthen her shoulders with lots more gym sessions.

She stressed the Power of the Mind changing her attitude from negative to positive. and was able to be ready for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics when she was 32. However Covid caused it to be postponed and so she continued to tran to be ready in 2021.

She had moved to the aGold Coast to continue her training and arriving in the Olympic village felt very special..

She raced in the K4 class , (4 rowers) finishing 7th overall, and K2 , finishing13th.

She is now retired officially from paddling, and after a 6 month course is an Intensive Care Paramedic. Another of her passions is making and decorating cakes, especially celebration cakes. Throughout her career she has had to work to support her training. She has been 18 years on the Australian team, from 2004 to 2021.

Medals

National Titles. 42

Olympics. 2

World Championships. 8.



Message. Find something you are passionate about

Set goals about how to improve

Work hard to Improve.



www,jobrigdenjones.com.au





Today ship was running with the wind and so hardly any wind on deck by pool. Very warm, altho not cold 29 degrees, cloudy and a few spots rain..

Sat with some new friends we made, Diane and Richard from Peak District area and chatted before lunch. Cloud made it bearable to sit out to eat.



Todays afternoon lecture was Steve Simone talking about Stevie Wonder and Motown..

This was followed by another classical recital from Stephanie, soprano , and Caroline, pianist. Stephanie is very expressive in her songs making it more enjoyable, and Caroline played an interesting variation on Happy Birthday in styles from Baroque to Wagner and several others in between. Shame they're getting off soon. Think this was last concert.

Evening entertainment was Tenori again, the 3 tenors, this time singing songs from O Sole Mio/ Its now or never to I will walk 500 miles with audience participation.a.



Tomorrow have to do render transfer for Airlie Beach.. Feeling very apprehensive as haven't done this before. Worried about stepping over the gap astheshpmad tender move with the swell.



Friday 24th February



Airlie Beach andWhitsundayIslands.

Great Barrier Reef.

20 S

148 E

In the Tropics again

Depart 10am for transfer to quay.

Down to Deck A, about 10 steps down to a platform on side of ship……. Relief…… there’s a ramp over to the tender! Oh, thank goodness! Strong sailor hands too to help me as the tender still moved unpredictability. Managed it! Found a seat in the tender which seems to hold almost 100 people. We were very close to water and had a bit of a splashy ride to shore about 30 minutes, a bit rough, must be force4 at least. Also a ramp at the pontoon when we got to the quay and onto dryish land. (it had been raining) Into the terminal building to find the transfer to the airfield for our flight.

Our group was collected and taken by minibus to the airfield, about 10 minutes away.. The first group was called, including Roger and me. Were weighed to balance seating and after safety film taken out to airfield to our plane, an American turbo prop my expert informed me. Although it was a 12 seater plane there were only 8 of us, so we all had a window seat.. Roger and I were lucky to be sitting on the backseat, lots of legroom.

The flight was to be approx an hour, or over the Whitsunday Islands and then across to the reef. It was still quite windy although the stalls that had been around earlier had gone over. Take off seemed a bit bumpy to me, but Roger was in heaven. The views were amazing of course, the pilot banked the plane around btsidesso we all had superb views of the islands with the white sands and then out to the reefs where we could see some of the catamarans that had been other excursions for snorkelling. The heart reef, only 17 metres across, was one of the furthest out, can only see its shape from above.

Back to base and then when other planes back with rest of group back to to the quay. We had time for a short walk around the nearby marina for a drink finding some shelter from the next rainstorm., before heading back to the ship. They seemed to have found a big catamaran from somewhere which was doing the transport instead of the tenders, much easier to board. Back at the ship had there was again a ramp to help cross ver from the catamaran but quite a big step down too onto the platform.. Wasn’t quite so apprehensive this time and stepped over more easily, assisted by the crew. Very slow back up the 10 or so steps to the main level inside the ship but made it without any mishap. Did it!!

I did have to ave a bit of help going up steps etc. Roger helped with a n extra push or 2 n my bottom, just to give me the extra needed impetus my arms and shoulders couldn’t manage.

Headed off for some late lunch and a drink. Read some for rest of afternoon. Ship headed off late afternoon N forCairns overnight, due there tomorrow morning.



Headliners singers doing their own show in the Palladium this eve, songs from shows ( but not shows I’ve seen or head of lately, bit disappointing) Are good singers though.



Saturday 25th February



Cairns



16 S

145W



Foggy. Captain ( with pilot) made it in on the second attempt. Was too dangerous first time, with the rain and fog at dawn on our first approach. The weather had started to clear a bit by the time we made it to the quay about 9.30 .

As we had arrived late all tours were put back by one hour. We were going to Port Douglas, about 90 minute ride N along the coast to another seaside town.

We went down to Q to get off, there appeared to be 2 Qs, one lot getting onto a catamaran to go t the Barrier Reef, the other to the quayside. It looked a very large number getting on the cat.

We found our way along the quayside to our bus for Port Douglas. Front seats already taken, other’s with accessible needs got there first, so we sat on the second row after a couple moved further back for us. Wasn’t so bad, some of the front seats, although easy access, had very little knee and feet room

We headed N along the coast road and we’re drip fed lots of interesting facts about the areas by the bus driver.

- in 1770 Captain Cook discovered the Whitsunday island. Guess what day???,!!! He dropped anchor in Trinity bay looking for fresh water but encountered the mangrove swamps and so went further up the coast. He was only a lieutenant when he was in Australian waters at this time.

Cairns has a population of about 170 thousand which is swelled to about 250 thousand by the outlying regions. There is a very large hospital in Cairns which services the population.

The area gets about 4 m of rain a year, at the nearby mountain weather station they have recorded 11 m .

Sugar cane is the main crop grown in the area. It needs a lot of rain. All the plant is used so it is an eco friendly crop. After the can is crushed the waste goes to be made into bricks. It is harvested between June and December.

We passed over the Barrant River just north of Cairns where the driver often sees crocodiles. None today. In fact only a few days earlier a man had been walking his dog along the bank when a croc took and killed the dog. There was a croc trap that had been been set to try and catch the croc.

Any wetlands in the area should be treated with suspicion and assume there will be crocodiles. They grow up to 5 metres in length. They may have been bigger ones around but after the war the government gave returning soldiers the job of catching crocs for a bounty. This nearly wiped them out, until in 1970 they were protected.

Australia has lots of nasties, crocs, venomous snakes, spiders, jellyfish…. If you are bitten by a venomous snake you should lie down for 3 das to stop the heart pumping the venom around the body. After 3 days the venom will have lost its potency. Aborigines know how to survive these dangers . There is such good awareness in Australia about these snakes that only 2 people die a year in Australia from snake bites ( use of anti venom and Flying Doctor) ., whereas it it is about 170,thousand a year worldwide, most in India.

Some of biggest problems for indigenous animals comes from foreign species, eg wild feral pigs in the area are destroying and eating the cassowary eggs from their nests. They originate from when sailors had to beach their boat to mend holes in their hulls after breaking them on the reefs. The pigs would have been supplies on the ships but escaped, possibly from Cooks voyage in Endeavour..

Finally we arrived at Port Douglas, a purpose built resort, financed by a rich businessman.earlier in the 20th century, but economic situation meant it had developed slowly. The road in was lined by 2800 oil palms, which made it a rather majestic entrance.

It’s basically a very nice seaside town, properties pretty exclusive, up to 1 million dollars.

We were dropped off near the Main Street, Moosaman Street.

We went off to explore and find somewhere for lunch. It was a very nice town, lots of the usual shops, clothes, souvenirs restaurants, bars, estate agents, etc. We spent a pleasant few hours there before returning to catch the bus to return to Cairns. Port Douglas claim to fame is a 4 mile beach with lovely golden sand, but advice not to bathe as not only crocodiles but also jellyfish, some tiny ones smaller than your hand, that congregated in groups but were very dangerous and also box jellyfish. Some have anaesthetic in the stingers that numb when stinging, but can cause heart failure. Beaches often has stinger nets out to make safe areas for swimming.

The ship was delayed somewhat leaving, there had been problems with one of the catamaran tours because the sea was quite rough.

The tour we had seen leaving had taken about 259 out onto the Great Barrier Reef for snorkelling, swimming, glass bottom boat and submarine at a pontoon out on the reef. Apparently it took nearly 2 hours to get there on this crowded catamaran, lots of people were seasick, it was so rough. The crew did their best to look after everyone, seemingly used to the situation. Those that were not sick enjoyed themselves but many did not enjoy the experience, which was an expensive excursion.. Suits were needed for swimming a which were difficult to put on on the pontoon. On their return it had been too rough to go back to the ship direct so they had to go ashore and had a long walk back to the quayside for the ship, a bit of. A struggle for some after an exhausting day,many passengers not being exactly spring chickens!

One lady even complained there were only little fish on the reef and why were there not any big ones!!

We had had a good time, as the weather had cleared where we were after the gloomy start to the day, whereas in Cairns it had continued to be dull and showery.





Sunday 26th February to Wednesday 1st March



Sea Days.

Heading for Asia.

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