Cruising the waters around the Indonesian islands is both calming and exciting.
Where am I?
At sea, between Bali and Java
SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
This morning the seas were very calm and the cruising was smooth. By sunset, there were lightning storms visible at various places around the horizon. I love lightning storms and still find them exciting and fascinating to watch.
Something of import did happen on this day but, let’s start at the beginning.
On the first or second day of the trip, I went to the Sea View Bar (Lido deck, aft) and asked for a shot of Don Julio reposed tequila, one of my favorites. It was happy hour, so a second shot was only $2. I know a good deal when I see one, so I had a second shot.
The next night, I had two more.
On my third visit, Reb (you met him earlier) the bartender, set that bottle of Don Julio aside just for me. Then on nights when tequila was my preference, he’d pull out my “special” bottle and pour me a shot or two (usually two.)
Tonight, I finished that bottle. Top to bottom, it was all mine! I had Red and Kennedy (you met him, too) decorate the label of the bottle and give it to me as a souvenir.
And here it is.
Reserva de Roberto
I think that was a great way to end a day at sea. Don’t you?
What’s coming up?
Tomorrow, I visit Java. I don’t have high expectations, but we’ll just have to see how it all turns out.
Bali is an island that many of the ship’s crew call home. Some of the crew (bye bye, Ayu!) will be getting off the ship for a long and well deserved vacation. Others will be allowed to have their families come aboard for a visit. I’ve given my stateroom staff the day off so that they might enjoy more time with their families. Many other have done the same.
Where am I?
Komodo to Bali
I know that the map looks like we simply teleported most of the way to Bali, but our satellite communications has been on the fritz and it has affected the ship’s communication with the outside world just as much as it has mine.
So, what’s been happening?
Today, I booked a tour through EXC (the ship’s travel agency) to go see some of the richly cultural sights of Bali. I have been told to expect to see an island of great beauty and this morning I’m already anxious to get started.
Stop #1 – Pura Tanah Lot
My tour starts in the morning at 9:30am. We load into our bus to go see the first of three sites that are included in our tour. As I may have already stated, when you stop in any place for only one day, you cannot see all of the attractions that are offered. It seems to me that it doesn’t really matter too much which ones you choose, you’ll always miss out on something. So I wasn’t too selective about the three stops on today’s tour as there is bound to be something memorable.
Our tour guide in Bali
Our first stop was at an ancient Hindu temple. Most of the people on Bali practice Hinduism, and this is one of the temples built around that faith.
The temple Pura Tanah Lot, built on a rock in the ocean.
Now, there were a lot of other tourists here this day, so walking around was a crowded affair. Still, the views of and around this temple were very nice. Here’s a small gallery of some of the photos I took that I found to be most interesting. I have so many more, but if you want to see them you’ll have to wait until you see me.
The divided gate
Intricate stone carving
A guardian of the gate
The area around the temple also had some other scenic attractions like this natural arch just a short walk away and yet still within the cultural reserve.
Natural Arch
We stayed at Pura Tanah Lot for about an hour then it was time to move on to our next attraction.
Stop #2 – MONKEY FOREST
The next place we visited would not be a place that I would call a cultural highlight. Nonetheless, it was interesting and kinda fun. After about a 25 minute ride in the bus we came to the Alas Kedaton Bali Monkey Forest.
The Monkey Forest!
These little critters look so cute. People were just falling in love with them. But, we had already been warned to watch out for our cameras, phones, hats, glasses, or anything loosely attached to ourselves since these cute little guys are notorious and aggressive thieves!
The mommies hang out while the daddies go steal iPhones!
Although the following is not one my photos, it does show these charming critters in action.
I don’t know, but it’s probably because of stuff like that baby attack that possessed the people of this area to create the evil monkey god, portrayed here. I mean, look at the size of that monkey evil!
While we were there, the monkeys didn’t seem so intent with stealing our stuff. Actually they didn’t really seem to care whether we were there or not.
Are the monkeys entertaining us, or vice versa?
So, monkeys were not the only living attractions in the monkey forest. Do you remember the photos of the fruit bats hanging from the downtown trees in Darwin, Australia? Well, they have them here as well.
The fruit bat attraction here at the monkey forest is slightly different from the scene in Darwin. Here, you’re allowed to hold them up by the wings. I chose not to. What would you do?
Fruit bat
So, it was time to leave the monkeys and the bats and get back to human culture.
STOP #3 – THE ROYAL TEMPLE
The main attraction of this shore excursion was to be the Royal Temple, and I was not disappointed.
The divided gate at The Taman Ayun Temple
The main doors to the temple (and a guy in a sarong)
There are three levels to this temple. Pictured above are the steps to the first level. Each of the other levels are continued one within another. Guests are welcome to enter the first two levels, but entry to the third level is permitted only to those who wish to pray.
Here are a couple more photos from the temple. These photos are looking into (but not taken from) the innermost level reserved for prayer.
Something interesting here was that people who were wearing shorts were given a sarong to wear to cover up their legs. This rule applied to men and women alike. I was wearing my Levi’s today so this didn’t apply to me. However, a woman wearing shorts and a well-fitting halter top was given a sarong to cover her legs. Apparently, boobs are OK here, but legs are far too sexy to have exposed in public!
After about 45 minutes at this temple it was time to return to the ship. Coincidentally it was just starting to rain so the timing was perfect. Time for just one last photo of the intricate and ornate stone carvings guarding the temple.
SO, anything else?
Much of our tour today was spent in a bus getting from one place to another. As a result, I got to see a lot of Bali as it really is (as well as getting to see plenty of cultural history.) I don’t have a lot of photos of the “real Bali” because, for me, the real Bali is not attractive. There is much poverty on this island, and most of the homes and businesses we drove by were in poor repair and of doubtful sanitation.
Bali is an island paradise, but not for everybody who lives here. The traffic is awful, the streets are narrow, and the primary transportation seems to be motorbikes. (Not motorcycles, but little two-wheeled sewing machines with saddles on them.)
Given the opportunity, I do not think I would return to Bali. I was actually quite happy to return to the ship and take a shower. So far in Indonesia, I’ve seen a forest full of lizards, a forest full of monkeys and bats, and some temples that were probably very impressive in the 1600’s. All in all, the fulfillment of my expectations is coming up just a bit short.
My first visit to Indonesia, and it starts with a visit with the world’s largest lizards. I first met this species at the San Diego Zoo. I was so impressed with them there. Now, I get to see them without a wall between us!
Where am I?
Komodo Island, Indonesia
So, what’s been happening?
Komodo island is, in its entirety, a national park. As such, it has very limited infrastructure. For example, there is no docking ability for the Amsterdam, only a small concrete pier exists at the park entrance. Therefore, the Amsterdam anchored just off shore and we used tenders to get to the pier on the island. Well, at least a few of us did.
Indonesia is very careful about this island and its environment. Nobody was allowed to off-board the Amsterdam unless they had pre-purchased tickets to the park. Tickets could be purchased aboard ship and via the internet. In any case, if you didn’t have a ticket in hand, you were not allowed to leave the ship.
Once we reached the island by tender, we were immediately greeted at the pier by somebody representing the tour company that sold our ticket, as well as a park ranger. We stayed in the company of these two throughout our tour. They were there not only as guides and to protect us from the wildlife, but also to protect the wildlife from us. The rules of the park were very strictly enforced.
The deer feel safer out in the open!
Almost immediately upon arrival we started seeing wildlife. Pictured here is a deer laying on the beach, seemingly unbothered by our presence. We learned that, unlike other places in the world where deer tend to hide in the forests, the deer here prefer to relax in the open. This is because the deer can see approaching Komodo dragons more easily in the open.
And, since I’ve mentioned dragons, the Komodo dragon is what I’m here to see. It is the largest lizard in the world, it is venomous, it can run at about 12 mph, and it kills things.
And those are Komodo dragons!
Here, on the island, these scaly beast are running around in their own habitat. They are not on leashes. They are not in cages or in any other way encumbered in their movements. The park rangers are only equipped with a stick having a small forked branch at the end. So, if you want to commune with large poisonous lizards in the great wide-open, this is the only place in the world where you can do that.
Robert and lizards at a water hole
We met a group of lizards near a watering hole about 800 feet into the park. Fortunately for us, these lizards must have had a meal lately because they did not seem all that interested in us. Still, the rangers drew lines in the dirt to indicate just how close we could get to these “monsters” without risk of serious injury.
Robert and “Jub Jub”
In the photo above, the guy in the yellow pants is one of the park rangers trying to protect me from doing anything stupid like getting closer to this big male Komodo Dragon. No worries; I had no desire to get any closer!
Our walk through the park was about two miles long and, in our case, included a little side trip. There was a couple in our small group (seven people) who were geocachers. Geocaching is a game played around the world where small containers (called caches) are hidden so that others may have the thrill of finding them. Cache hunters are only provided with GPS coordinates that they obtain via the Geocaching app. The actual cache could be hidden in a tree, under a rock, or in even more insidious places.
In our case, the cache was hidden somewhere at the top of a high hill in the middle of the island. Fortunately for the geocachers, they found their cache! Fortunately for the rest of us, we got to see this tremendous view of the forest and the bay below.
A view of the bay.
Along the walk back down the hill, we didn’t see any more Komodo dragons, but we did see some other wildlife, like these brightly colored snails.
At the end of the trail there was a small “shopping mall” waiting for us. This mall was nothing more that a string of tents where those few people who are living on the island try to separate tourists from their money. And, they’re pretty aggressive about it, too!
I did buy a couple of items there. First, our park ranger, Dedy, has a family who had set up a table in the “mall” and I wanted to reward him for a job well done so I bought this Komodo dragon from them.
My personal Komodo dragon, covered in mother of pearl
The second purchase was far more important to me owing to the heat and the humidity (both very high!) That’s me and the four gentlemen that must have seem me coming from a mile away!
That’s a 750ml bottle of Bintang pilsner beer
After about 2 1/2 hours, our visit to the island was over and we tendered back to the Amsterdam. I had a fun visit to Komodo, and was never bitten.
SO, anything else?
Of course!
March 17 is St. Patrick’s Day, and even in this part of the world (or, at least aboard our ship) a celebration is a requirement!
Now there’s one scary leprechaun!
For this celebration we did a pub crawl, visiting four different bars around the ship, having a different drink at each stop (we didn’t get to choose our drinks) and being entertained in a variety of ways. Here’s Michael (you met him earlier) setting up one of the bars for both our drinks and our entertainment. Michael and his colleagues had set up pint glasses (with one type of liquor) and on top of those they set up shot glasses (with another type of liquor.) At Michael’s command, a bartender pushed the shot glass at one end into the next shot glass in the progression. In the end, the shot glasses tipped each over like dominos and dumped their contents into the pint glasses, creating our drink at that bar. Wish I had the video!
Michael sets up one of the bars
Here’s one very short example of the entertainment. (I’m sorry I didn’t record more of this performance, but I was not focused on that task at the time.
Four bars, four strong cocktails, and I was done for the day!
Komodo Island has been a fun stop. It was a long day (starting at 6am and continuing until midnight) but so full of exciting and fun adventures. Glad I was here!
Anything else interesting?
World, meet John
Yes! I’d like for you to meet my traveling buddy, John. John and his wife are passengers aboard the Amsterdam. I met John one evening during the Cigars and Cognac event and we struck up a great relationship. A couple of weeks after meeting John, I was invited to and became a permanent member of his dining room table (where, I might add, he reigns as king!) I’m so happy to be a part of the amazing Table 64!
Unfortunately, John and his wife, Patricia, will be leaving the Amsterdam in Singapore in order to continue their adventures in Thailand and China. In the mean time, John and I enjoy a Bintang on Komodo Island in an effort to beat the heat.
I’m on my way to scratch off another new country on my world map: Indonesia. I know so little about this part of the world, I’m excited to learn more.
Where am I?
At sea, after leaving Darwin
SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
I’ve already mentioned how I love days at sea. It’s a great time to relax, catch up on some reading, or take advantage of some of the activities offered by the ship.
One of my favorite activities is attending sessions in the America’s Test Kitchen studio. I try not to miss any of these great classes on cooking techniques and ideas.
World, Meet Abby
Please meet Abby. Abby is our America’s Test Kitchen chef. She runs the show in the Wajang Theater which is set up to be exactly like a kitchen on a television cooking show.
Abby is a chef who signed on with Holland America Lines (HAL). HAL created an exclusive business partnership with America’s Test Kitchen and Abby was the first to be selected and trained in that venture.
Abby conducts regular classes and also hosts guest chefs that join the ship here and there around the world. It has, so far, been an amazing experience to watch, learn from, and chat with so many amazing kitchen artists on this ship.
In Friday’s class, Abby showed us how to make some Dim Sum. She made hot chili oil, Shu Mai, shrimp potstickers, and a soy-ginger dipping sauce from start to finish in less than an hour.
I picked up nice, shiny, heavy card stock versions of the recipes, but a better way to obtain and keep these gems is through the HAL/ATK website, which I am now sharing with you! In fact, every recipe used in Abby’s presentations can be found on that website.
These little dumplings are very easy to make and taste wonderful. Perhaps, when I return, some of us might like to get together for an evening of cooking and dining. What do you think?
Anything else of interest?
Well, yes.
Previously, I asked you if you’d like to have a video tour of my new stateroom so that you might get a better idea of what it is like. I now offer you that video.
Come in. Look around.
What’s coming up?
Next is a visit to Komodo Island. Big lizards!
P. S.
The bandwidth and Internet availability in this part of the world is not the best. Please forgive me if I fall a bit behind in my posts. I’ll try to catch up as we approach larger cities.
We’ve been promised that this will be our hottest and most humid day of the voyage. I’m ready. Bring it on!
Where am I?
Welcome to Darwin, Australia
So, what’s been happening?
Today I purchased a ticket for the hop-on hop-off bus in Darwin. This bus is a rolling tour of the city with various stops. If you see something that you want to explore along the way you just hop-off. Later, after you’ve satisfied your curiosity you just hop-on again and continue your tour.
Hop-on hop-off bus
My plan was to take the entire tour and then hop-off at a pub I had previously identified as an interesting one via the Untapped app. At the third stop I realized that we were a couple of blocks away from the pub I wanted to visit, so I hopped off.
I walked the two or so blocks to the pub (Six Tanks Brewing) along one of the main streets in what must be the tourist district. Within that very short walk, I found all of these tavern stalwarts:
Shenanigans
Monsoons
The Tap
Wisdom?
Ultimately, I found my way into Six Tanks Brew Pub. Not surprisingly, right up front and on display are six stainless steel fermentation tanks.
Six Tanks Brew Pub
Now, a really unexpected part of my visit to this little downtown Darwin brewery was that they had no beer. At least, they had none of their own beers! All six tanks were labeled as “coming soon!” To me, that just seems like bad management. For example, little McFate brewery in North Scottsdale has but a handful of fermentation tanks, yet always has a full pallet of beers on tap.
In spite of this unsuspected exprise, there were four guest beers, plus Heineken. I had a pint each of the two pale ales offered and threw in an order of fish and chips to round out my experience. The fish they used was called barramundi, which I’d never tasted before. All in all, not bad, and refreshing on a very hot and humid Darwin day.
After having sated my every desire (ha!) I headed back to the bus stop to pick up the hop-on hop-off. While waiting, I started digging around in my pockets looking for my ticket. It was gone! I have no idea where I might have lost it and paying another $23 for a ride home was not in my playbook. Therefore, I decided to walk back to the ship.
The first thing I did as I started in the general direction of the ship (which I could not see, but I was pretty sure I knew where it was) was to detour slightly and take in the bicentennial park that runs right along the coast. It’s a very nice park, well laid out with meandering paths that provide beautiful views of the ocean and the harbor. Here are some of the photos I took along the way. (Click a photo for a larger view.)
Looking down the length of the narrow park that parallels the coast
More of the “bin chickens”
Some natives enjoying the ambiance
Could that be the Australian navy?
The Amsterdam comes into view
My walk would have been so much more enjoyable if it wasn’t for the heat and humidity. My friends in Phoenix understand monsoon-season conditions, and it was just like that here, only more so. I only bring this up again because I didn’t really know the shortest path back to the ship as I strolled around the town, and it took me a bit longer to find the ship than I expected. All the while, I was exercising in the heat when the humidity was so high that sweating did nothing to cool a person down.
In total, I walked about two miles to get back. Two miles doesn’t sound like much and in better weather conditions I’ve been know to walk more than three times that distance quite comfortably. However, today was a challenge. After walking around for about an hour in this (92ºF, 95% rh) I did finally find the ship and make it back to my stateroom. I was very happy to be back into the cool, air-conditioned room where something odd happened.
After something like 5 minutes back into the comfort of my cool stateroom, my body unleashed a torrent of sweat. I can only remember one other time in my life when this phenomenon occurred, and I’ll bet that Cindy Upson can remember it. Within another five minutes I was completely awash in sweat. My shirt, my underwear, even my denim Levi’s were sopping wet. It was as if I had just crawled out of the swimming pool after having been pushed into it as somebody’s idea of a joke.
And there were other physical symptoms of distress. My Apple Watch monitors my pulse. It is programmed to let me know if my resting heart rate exceeds some threshold amount. I had set that threshold at 100bpm. As I set on a chair in my room, my watch tapped me on the wrist and informed me that, over the previous several minutes, my heart rate had exceeded that threshold. Typically, if I receive that message, I can calm myself, breathe deeply for a minute or so, and my pulse will return to normal. Not this time. After taking a moment to “meditate” my pulse went down to around 90bpm (still too high!) for a moment, but then jumped back up to over 100. After three of these episodes, I decided to take some additional action.
NOTE: This is an example, only. This is not a screenshot of my actual watch.
I stripped myself out of my clothes and immediately jumped into a cold shower to try to bring my body temperature down. With the cool water beating down on my head, I started to feel some relief. After a while, it worked, and within about 30 minutes I was feeling much closer to normal.
And yet, the story continues. Within a couple of hours after that shower I developed an insatiable thirst! While sucking down water (so much that I almost felt nauseous) I realized that when I left the ship, I had taken no water with me. And, apparently, the two pints of beer I consumed weren’t much help, either.
Anyway, using the Joe Caracci recommended urine color measuring scale, I determined that I was somewhere between the bottom two colors indicating. Kinda scary, and really stupid. I’ll learn from this experience.
SO, anything else?
Well, yes. Kinda.
Later in the evening I had arranged for a rather special dinner in the Pinnacle Restaurant aboard ship. The Pinnacle is a high-end steak and seafood restaurant for which an additional charge applies. In this case I was welcoming a new friend to join me for dinner.
I’m a solo traveler and I like that just fine. However, humans are social animals and we do need to interact with each other on occasion, at least. On this occasion, I asked a charming fellow passenger to join me for dinner.
World, meet Barbara!
Barbara is somebody I met during my tour of the Temple of the Moon in Trujillo, Peru. During that tour we came across each other largely, I think, because we could both climb the 12,734 stairs from the visitors’ center to the entry point of the temple with less difficulty than some of the other visitors. (Ok, not 12,734 actual steps, but in my mind…) Barbara caught my attention at that point because she got to the top of all those steps as if we were walking on level ground. Most certainly, I was impressed. I swear Barbara is as physically fit as Stephanie Foster. (And, I might add, equally attractive!)
Since dinner in the Pinnacle is prix fixe without a set sequence of courses, we were free to order as many items as we desired. And so, we did. We knew all along that we would never be able to finish everything that we ordered, but it made no difference in the price and we were anxious to try a good many kitchen delights. So, the mega-feast began!
Since we were indulging in pork, beef and fish, we asked our sommelier to make a recommendation for a wine to accompany our feast. When the sommelier suggested a rosé I thought he was just copping out, at first. Still, we accepted his recommendation and he brought to our table one of the nicest rosé wines I’ve had in recent memory. It was delectably dry with such a nice light flavor that I could not detect any flavor conflicts between the wine and the many sauces and spices of the plates we ordered. You can see Barbara holding that shapely (and empty) bottle of rosé in the photo above.
We somehow managed to enjoy over three hours at dinner, sampling so many items from the menu.
I know that some of you are either hoping I’ll find the love of my life on this cruise, or are worried that I may die of terminal loneliness. I know that you’re wanting to ask me, “So, was it a date?” Let me say this: Barbara and I did have a very memorable meal together, and a lot of my pent up need for human interaction was released over our three (plus) hours of conversation. And, I do look forward to our next encounter, whenever that might be. I hope that answer is as ambiguous for you as I meant it to be.
Following dinner, I was still a bit wound up so I went for a stroll around the ship. From the very back of the ship, looking toward the bow, I saw this sight (see below) and though it was rather pretty. What does not show in the photo was there were several lightning storms sparking around the ship in as many directions. I stayed out there on that deck for about an hour just “living in the moment.” It’s amazing how fast an hour can pass when you’re not thinking about the time.
At some point, I realized I was very, very tired. It had been a long day full of new experiences. Physically, spiritually, and a bit emotionally, too, I was spent. At last, a wave of exhaustion was crashing over me so strongly that I could no longer resist the arms of morpheus.
Anything else interesting?
No. Wasn’t that enough? Jeez!
So, what’s coming up?
Two more days at sea as we head to the land of dragons. No, not the castle at Dragonstone, but rather the island of Komodo. Komodo is the home of the largest lizards on earth.
Monday, March 11, 2019 Tuesday, March 12, 2019 Wednesday, March 13, 2019
It’s getting hot and humid! Every day it becomes just a bit more “sticky.” Good thing I’m monsoon-season tested!
Where am I?
Three days at sea
SO, WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING
Well, the most significant thing that has happened in these three days at sea is that I’ve moved. I’ve relocated. I’ve upgraded!
Early in the trip, I posted photos of my room, Stateroom 1960. Here’s what I posted.
My room (looking toward the door)
My bed (looking toward the window from the door)
A very dirty window
I mentioned in my earlier posts that I was not very happy with my room, but that I had chosen a window room (rather than a balcony room) to save some money. Each day I grew a little more disappointed that I hadn’t just spent the money on something that would leave me with happier memories.
Then, two sisters on my trivia team (Molly and a-woman-has-no-name) informed our team that they had upgraded from a Verandah room to a suite, and that their Verandah room was possibly available. Possibly, because this cruise is sold not just as an entire voyage but also in segments. It would be possible that somebody had already purchased their room and would be joining the ship at a future port.
I decided to check in with customer service and let them know I was interested in taking stateroom 6209 if it was available. It took them a couple of days to confirm that it was, indeed, available. After a quick tour of the room, I told them I would be very happy to take it!
Well, as of this writing, I’m in my new room. I’m no longer just above water level. I’m now two decks below the Lido. I’m on deck 6, if you will, and they call it the Verandah deck.
Examine the photo in the gallery above captioned “A very dirty window.” That is what I would wake up to and look through each morning. Trying to take a photo through that glass was ridiculous. Now, compare that photo with my first outside view after moving to my new location:
Now, that’s a view!
I think you’d agree that there’s quite an impressive difference. Now, let me give you a very brief tour of my new room.
Bathroom
The bathroom in the new stateroom is about the same as the old room with a couple of key exceptions. The first one (pictured) is that I now have a Jacuzzi tub, which I plan to enjoy with some bath salts. Not pictured is the upgraded shower and faucet hardware.
As you enter the door and walk past the bathroom, you come into the bedroom.
The bedroom
The bed itself is the same as in the last stateroom, however I now have a seemingly infinite supply of pillows. There are also more mirrors in this room and I’m still training myself where not to look.
Next room is an area I’ll call “the study.”
Looking to the left
Looking to the right
This area is bigger than the “study” area in the old stateroom. It has a better TV and a better connection to the entertainment provided by the ship. Not actually pictured in the above photos is the mini-fridge! I now have a place to keep multiple bottles of wine and bubbly cold.
You can also see the door to the balcony which just may be the most important room of all!
My new view to the world
On the balcony there are two deck chairs with ottomans (ottomen?) Also included but not pictured is a small cocktail table where I can set my cold beer! I really must say that it is so nice to sit on that balcony and watch the ocean go by. I feel much more in touch with the world I’m sailing through. I expect to see more marine life now, including dolphins, turtles, and flying fish. If I was lucky enough to see a whale I think I’d be in need of emergency laundry service.
Moving from one stateroom to another was a bit of a pain. Anything on a hanger was easy to hang on a bellboy’s cart. But, everything else had to be packed up in my suitcases for transport. Once I got to the new room, I then had to unpack everything. Which…
…is something I haven’t finished doing yet. So, if you’l excuse me…
What’s coming up?
Tomorrow we’ll pull into Darwin, Australia. It is supposed to be the hottest and most humid day of the voyage so far, therefore I’ve planed a tour in an open air bus. Oh, yes. I’m so smart.
P. S.
My photos are missing some of the details of the room, and I’ve tried to describe those details in text. If you’d like to see a video tour of the room, just let me know in the “Reply” section of this post.
I’m now in the FNQ! That’s how the locals tell you that you are in Far North Queensland.
Where am I?
We’re in Cairns!
So, what’s been happening?
Like many of the places that we’ve visited, Cairns is a quiet place to be on a Sunday morning. I did arrange for a Segway tour this morning, so the lack of people out and about was probably a plus for me.
My first challenge was to get to the meeting place for my tour. The ship and the meeting place were about two miles apart and I was determined to walk there. My walk was actually quite enjoyable. I started out going down Abbot St. which is in the downtown area and is a center for touristy shopping. Unfortunately (or, perhaps fortunately) the stores were all closed on Sunday morning. About halfway to the meeting point (about 1 mile) I left the city streets and continued walking along the esplanade.
The esplanade is a narrow park that runs alongside the coast and fronts almost the entire downtown area of Cairns. It is well maintained and offers a nice meandering path through trees and well manicured lawns. I saw people jogging, biking, and just walking hand-in-hand. Eventually, I could see Craig Chalmers waiting for me at a park picnic table.
Start the day with a good walk!
Craig Chalmers is a co-owner and full operator of Cairns Ninebot Tours. Although he is a native of New Zealand he has lived in Cairns for more than ten years and knows his tour territory well. When I write “tour territory” I mean the places where Segways (or Ninebots) are allowed to be used. Unlike in the US, the Ninebots are not allowed in many places, one of them being the esplanade (and many other places, too!)
As is common, many of the cruise ship passengers elected to take in some of the attractions outside of town. Today, though, I decided to get to know the town of Cairns a bit more intimately. Craig took the lead and we “glided” over to the Cairns Botanical Gardens.
Welcome to the Botanical Garden.
If you’re into plants, especially tropical plants, this place is nothing short of amazing. Growing up in San Diego, I use to love to go to Balboa Park. In that park there is a botanical garden that has many tropical and sub-tropical plants. It was free to visit and I use to love to go there on a Sunday afternoon and see what was new or what was blooming. (It also made a nice place to take a date in middle and high school!)
The gardens here in Cairns are configured to resemble a rain forest. Today was also a rainy day so my tropical experience was complete. Now, allow me to show you some of the plants that simply took my breath away.
The “Lipstick” palm
The “lipstick” palm: I love palms and this is, for me, one of the prettiest palms in the world. I first saw a small grove of these in Panama in front of one of the government buildings. This palm looks almost like bamboo and the red stalks make it very eye-catching. These plants remind me of when I lived in San Diego a few years. There, I had a small cluster of Baby Queen palms that looked very similar but did not exhibit the bright red color of these beauties. I would love to grow these a home, but they wouldn’t last through the first winter there. They need heat and humidity. Too bad.
Lobster Claw
Heliconia Rostrata, or Lobster Claw: This plant produces some of the most spectacular blooms, and in super bright colors. Furthermore, the blooms look like long strings of lobster claws. It has no real scent, but with a face this pretty, who needs perfume?
Pitcher Plant
Pitcher plant: This cool looking flower hangs down from a leaf from the main plant. The stem grows down, then curves up forming the bell of the flower, kinda like a saxophone. Now here’s what makes this flower so special: in the bottom of the bell is a sweet nectar. Insects can smell it and are drawn inside the bell. Once inside, the insect finds that there are fibers (“hairs”) growing in there and they point down. This means that the insect can only go deeper into the bell and cannot crawl out! Ultimately, the insect tires from trying to escape and falls to the bottom of the bell where it is decomposed and absorbed into the main plant. In other words, this plant eats meat!
It’s just like a rain forest
The lushness of the plants in the botanical garden must be seen to be believed. And the variety! There must be over a thousand different kinds of plants, each one special in its own way. Cruising through here in a light rain on a Ninebot with butterflies and dragon flies all around made me think of Jurasic Park. When the ride was over and we had to return to our starting point, I truly just wanted to stay and explore more of this amazing place.
Craig dropped me off back at the ship so I didn’t have to walk the two miles back. He also put me on to the fact that there was a brewery in the building right next to the cruise ship terminal back at the dock. I stopped in and found a couple of tasty beers while I watched a heavy shower come down. It was a sure sign that (after our visits to Picton and Sydney,) we’re definitely back in the tropics again.
We leave Cairns
Too soon, the hour for our departure of this port of call came and went. As we pulled away from Cairns, I felt like I would love to come back here and spend a couple of weeks. The people I met were very friendly, the town is laid out in an attractive fashion, and the tropical climate supports the kinds of plants that you or I would never see back home in Phoenix.
Anything else interesting?
Why, yes! Thanks for asking.
On the ride back to the ship, we drove down Abbott St. once again. I don’t know how I missed this sight on my walk from the ship earlier that day, but when Craig pointed them out, I could see them everywhere.
Fruit Bats!
Those are fruit bats, also known as flying foxes. There’s hundreds of them and they’re all hanging from the trees that line the commercial district. This would be one block away from the esplanade. Craig tells me that the city of Cairns has been trying to find a way to get the colony to relocate but their efforts, so far, have failed. This year they’re relaxing their efforts because of some environmental issues that have occurred in the last twelve months. First there was a very extreme heat wave last summer. It was so hot for so long that fruit bats began falling out of the trees, dead. There were dead fruit bats lying all over the commercial area and people were using wheelbarrows to haul the bodies away. There was also an impact on the source of the fruit bats’ food, so they have been doubly strained this year.
Some people don’t want them around the city area, but I think all of those flying foxes look pretty exciting as they hang from trees directly above high-end department stores! What do you think?
So, what’s coming up?
We’re headed next to Darwin, which is a very small, very hot, and very humid place. Perhaps I can grow some gills to help me to breathe in all of the moist air that waits for me just four days from now.
We’re now heading north up the west coast of Australia. I’m excited to visit some places I heard about all my life but have never seen. Townsville is one of them.
Where am I?
We’ve arrived in Townsville
So, what’s been happening?
Townsville is an interesting little place in Queensland. Like most communities in Queensland, Townsville seems to rely upon tourism to fuel its economic engine. At least until 3pm on a Saturday.
Downtown Townsville before 3pm
Downtown Townsville after 3pm
The downtown area of Townsville is full of little stores and shops, some of which cater to very narrow interests. I just had to go in when I walked by a shop that was advertising this:
As soon as the shop closes, those remaining prepare for a game of Warhammer 40,000.
I don’t know much about this game other than the miniatures that you use to play it look pretty cool. And here’s another thing that I found odd: the only game that the store sold was Warhammer 40,000 and its various add-ons. I guess this game must have a huge customer base in order to keep the doors of a store open when it sells only this one game. I dunno, but if you want further information I suggest you contact Matt Danger Tolle.
So, why was I walking around downtown Townsville? I had been looking forward to my visit to Townsville for a couple of reasons.
Reason #1 – Fast Internet
The Internet aboard ship is atrocious. The service I receive on board is nothing like what they told me in the sales brochure. I suppose I should have seen that coming.
The problem with slow Internet at sea is that it becomes very difficult to upload photos for this blog. The upload process times out and it takes many, many, many retry attempts to get a single photo uploaded. This takes a lot of time and I find that I spend vacation time waiting for uploads to complete instead of reading a book, rewatching Game of Thrones, or just getting three sheets to the wind! (See that? I worked in a nautical term! Excuse me while I take just a moment to feel clever.)
OK, that’s enough of that. Let’s get back to business.
So, when I come ashore I like to find a place that has fast Internet so that I can upload the photos that I had taken two to four days prior. However, sitting in some library or museum just to upload photos means that I’m not out exploring. I think you can see my dilemma.
Now, if I could find a place with fast Internet that also is a point of interest to me, then that would make things better. Much better. So that leads me directly to reason #2.
Reason #2 – The Taphouse
The Taphouse
I had been communicating with the good folks at The Taphouse in Townsville a few days before we arrived. I was hoping this would be a place where I good get a great IPA, some excellent pub grub, and enjoy some fast Internet.
I actually received several replies back from the staff of The Taphouse informing me that they could make all three of these things possible. Hooray! I mentally prepared myself to head into town, find this little place (it’s located in a pedestrian “alleyway” off of the main street in town), get a pint, upload photos, and maybe even get some writing done.
Well, I participated in all of those planned activities except one; I did not get any writing done. Here’s why.
World, meet Michael
While I was sitting at my table, who walks in but one of my ship’s crew buddies, Michael. Michael is a bartender on the Amsterdam and he is also a beer lover. He heard about this place as well and came in during his mid-day break to check it out. We had a couple of beers and talked about beers from around the world. It was great to have some company at lunch, even if it further delayed the next post to this blog.
The Taphouse has a very unusual feature that is worth mentioning here. They have a “serve yourself” system set up.
Go ahead! Serve yourself!
Now, this only makes sense if you’re a local, but here’s how the system works. You purchase an “ID” card of sorts. It’s programmed for your account and it’s about the size of a credit card. Once you have your card you can go up to any of the faucets found in the middle of the room. To the side of each faucet is a little black box with a screen, proclaiming the beer you receive if you use that faucet. You pick the beer you want, then you lay your Taphouse card on the screen. Then when you pull the tap handle, you get your beer. You can pour just a taster, a glass of any size, or a pitcher! You’re only charged for the amount of beer you pour.
The advantage to the cardholder is that you can try a sample of as many beers as you like without waiting for a bartender to set up a “paddle” for you. You also get immediate service (because you are your own service provider.) And finally, it’s kinda fun to pour your own beers from a tap.
Looking around The Taphouse
While we chatted, Michael and I enjoyed a tray of charcuterie that was a nice mix of meats, cheeses, breads, and other goodies. All in all, The Taphouse turned out to be a great little place with great food and beer, but also with a great staff. And since I created such an excellent segue, I’d like to send a shout out to Jesse Marano who works at The Taphouse and is my newest friend on Untapped. Hey, Jesse! Thanks for making my visit to The Taphouse such a pleasant one!
So what are Robert’s beers of the day?
Good beer!
Even better beer!
So, anything else interesting?
Well, since I know you’re keeping track of such things, I should tell you about the perils of walking on a city street while looking at the map app on your phone. If you don’t watch where you’re walking you might just find a hole in the sidewalk where a tree used to be. I did. I stepped right into it, then I flew right out of it.
So, now I’ve got a new injury to nurse. It’s not bad, just scraped up my foot and ankle a bit. Give it a couple of weeks and the bruise will be gone, too. Sorry, I don’t have any photos of this event.
And, this is also interesting (much more so than me lying on the sidewalk.) Townsville has some very attractive beaches, but you can’t just go out into the water. Oh, no. I have been told that, when choosing a beach swimming area, I need to look for those places that are fenced and guarded so as to keep me well separated from the natives. In this case, however, the natives are box jellies. (NOTE: Koalas are NOT bears. Jellies are NOT fish.)
Swim inside the box, and leave the boxes outside the box!
When it’s jelly season (and that season is happening right now!) these beautiful sea creatures can be found in plentiful quantities along Queensland beaches. But it doesn’t take an army of box jellies to hurt you; we were told that a single animal has the potential to actually kill you.
This is a box jelly.
My advice is to avoid the jellies altogether and find a place where you can safely enjoy a pint or three of quality brew.
So, what’s coming up?
We just have this one short day in Townsville. Tomorrow we sail through the Great Barrier Reef and then park this limousine in Cairns for the day.
That’s all for now, so I’ll be saying “G’day, mate!”
So now we’re headed north from New South Wales to Queensland, which means setting the clocks back one hour, yet again.
Where am I?
Day 1 aT SEA
Our first day at sea was rather nice, so I spent much of the day reading the Stephen King novel “Outsider.” Good book, and I might even finish this one in less that 12 months! That’s about the average time I need to finish a book.
I also enjoyed our evening trivia game, especially since I acquired and introduced a new team mascot to bring us some good luck!
World, meet “Lucky”
I found this little guy while visiting the Sydney Zoo and he’s now an official member of our team. Oddly enough, on his first night’s participation, we won! First time! So that’s why we named him Lucky!
Day 2 at sea
On the second day we ran into some bad weather. The seas weren’t too bad, but it did rain intermittently. This gives me a chance, though, to show one of the cool features of the Amsterdam.
On a nice day, the roof is open and we can see the sky. The warm air from outside pours in and the entire pool area on the Lido deck becomes a haven of warm relaxation.
Lido deck with the dome open.
When the weather gets nasty, like it did on Friday, the dome can be closed to lock out the rain, yet we still get to enjoy the pool (and the pool bar!) All buttoned up, the roof looks like this:
The panels of the roof are on rollers and are electrically operated. It takes about 90 seconds to close and secure the dome. Kinda neat!
So, what’s coming up?
Tomorrow we dock in Townsville, Australia. Townsville is a relatively small city but I’ve made contact with a very welcoming pub there called “The Taphouse” and we’ve arranged a get together.
Today’s tour included a drive around to see some of the sights of Sydney, but the main portion of the day was to be spent touring the outside and the inside of the Sydney Opera House. The tour was scheduled to be six hours long.
Things did not turn out as planned.
We left the ship and boarded our bus at 9:00am. Our tour group started out with a nice drive-by tour of some historical places on the way to the opera house. This was nice, but unless you’re the one doing the driving or the navigating, it’s hard to develop a sense of where you are, exactly.
It’s a long drive from where the ship is docked to where the Sydney Opera House is located, even if a bird could fly between the two places in just a few minutes. So, this part of the trip was not a highlight for me.
Eventually, we reached the Circular Quay (pronounced “key“) which includes the area where the Opera House sits.
Circular Quay from the Opera House Bar
Tours through the Opera House can only be conducted buy a special Opera House guide. Unfortunately, when we arrived, our special Opera House tour guide was nowhere to be found. The tour guide from our bus hustled around trying to get us in, but was ultimately informed that the next available Opera House guide would not be ready to take us around for two more hours.
Our bus tour guide decided that we should go out and drive around some more until our opera house tour was ready. Yawn.
Now, we did see some important sights around the town. For example, we learned about the ANZAC bridge.
The ANZAC Bridge
ANZAC is the acronym formed from the initial letters of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. This was the formation in which Australian and New Zealand soldiers in Egypt were grouped before the landing on Gallipoli in April 1915. If you would like to know more about this group and their fate at Gallipoli, I invite you to watch this excellent movie.
On either side of the bridge there is a statue of a soldier. One side has an Australian soldier and the other depicts a New Zealand soldier. I was told that the ANZAC bridge is the only place in Australia with the flags of the two countries flying on either side of a bridge.
The statues of the Australian soldier from World War I, ANZAC.
We also got to see people participating in another, different tour. It was one that I chose to stay away from, though it might have appealed to many of you. In the photo below you can see a group of people descending from their climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I’ll bet they had a great view from up there!
Climbing the Sydney Harbor Bridge (The Coat Hanger)
Ultimately, we made it back to the Opera House in time for our tour of the inside. Now, the bad news is that photography was very limited inside, owing to some copyright issues. As we toured the various theaters inside (there are four!) we were not allow to take photos if anybody or any part of a set was on stage. On this particular day, that was every theater.
The Sydney Opera House
Still, the architecture inside the hallways was just as breathtaking as the theaters themselves.
Looking down the hallway
Looking up toward the ceiling
I didn’t know that the roof is actually tiled!
The tour through the opera house lasted about 60 minutes. After this tour we were supposed to visit Bondi Beach which, I’m told, is something that every visitor to Australia must see.
We didn’t. Why? Read on.
No Bondi Beach for me!
At this point, we were way behind schedule and the evening rush hour traffic was beginning to build up. Our tour guide announced that we would not see Bondi Beach, but we would visit another cove instead. Then, it started to rain and the traffic just got worse.
After another 15-20 minutes in stop-and-go traffic our tour guide announced that we would have to return to the ship as we were supposed to be back at 3pm and it was already after 4pm. So, that was the end of my $119 tour. I was not happy. I bought a six hour tour and got to spend one hour at the Opera House and six hours in traffic. grrr.
Still, as we pulled away from Sydney at 5:30pm, the skies cleared up a bit and I did get some nice photos of Sydney harbor as we departed.
Double rainbow, all the way!
The Opera House as we departed Sydney
This view leaves me with a great memory
Good night, Sydney. Until next time!
As of our departure from Sydney, we’re now facing two days at sea. I didn’t see as much of Sydney as I would have liked, but I still left there feeling like I’d seen some nice highlights, and I’d had a very good time over all.
So, what’s coming up?
Two days at sea. I find that I sleep so well when we’re out on the water.
