Semurang... And More Temples

We had one helluva storm during our sea day.  Thunder, lightning, and wind made for an interesting view from the Observation Lounge during the cocktail hour.  The storm resulted in a really strange sunset, but we didn't have the camera with us.

At Semurang, we toured the Gedong Songo park, an area containing seven Hindu temples dating from around 700.  Apparently, if one wants want to get anywhere on time in Semurang, one can forget it because of the traffic.  But our tour did want to get there on time, so we left the dock with a police escort that took us all the way to the park.  Upon arrival, we had the choice of riding a horse or walking, since the pathways to the temples are very steep.  We walked, but the horses were fun to have around.

On the path, headed for the temples, what an outrageous view!

 The temple top of the hill is called Number 5.  Extremely complex naming culture, here.  We didn't get to Number 5.  No horse and too tough of a climb.

Some more views of the ancient temples:

The tour provided snacks (pronounced "snakes", which upset a couple of people) of fried casava, fried banana, and fried tempeh that were fantastic.  Here, the horses chow down while we do the same.

We had lunch at the Susan Resort (pronounced "soo-san" and not "suzan").  See www.susansparesort.com.  Small vans are used to get people from the bus parking to the park and around the area because the streets are narrow and twisty. We had to walk the last 100 yards or so from the van to the resort because the little van's engine couldn't get a full load of people up the hill, especially after we'd all had "snakes".  Here's the resort:

And some of its locals:

It was a wild bus ride in both directions once we left the highway, but now our police escort, having been fed at the Susan, got us back in fine form.  By the way, when the tide comes in at regular intervals, many streets in Semurang flood each time.  The tour guide said that when the Dutch left, they took their water management skills with them and Indonesia's never been able to figure it out.

Bali

We took a long tour, about seven hours, with a lot of time on the bus.  But we did get away from the "city" and into the countryside.  It is difficult to see the city when you're there, because Bali has a rule that no building can be higher than the palm trees.  The countryside is beautiful, tropical, with rice paddies and palm trees.  Along the way, our tour guide gave a lot of good information about Bali:  parents and teachers are very serious about education and preparation for a job.  Respect for parents, especially mother, is paramount.  We could use a little of that action at home!

Here's our guide at Tenganan Village, an ancient artisan village:

The artisan's wares for sale:

And they like to really doll up their roosters!  Notice the pink one is the cage?

Balinesians are descendants of a prehistoric race.  The first inflow of changes were due to Indian traders and travelers who brought with them the Hindu learning and religion.  The most persuasive influence of Hinduism came from the nearby island of Java.  With the fall of Java to Islamic influences, Hindu priests, nobles, soldiers, and artists fled from Java to Bali to escape the Muslim conquerors.  The Hindu culture still flourishes on Bali.  Today, Bali's history is still evident; for example, Nyepi (silent) Day is celebrated during March or April each year.  On this day, Balinese do not work, light fire, use electricity, go outside, or fulfill personal desires.  It's a day of cleansing...the island is silent, and after sunset, dark.  The airport's closed.

Another example of ancient Bali tradition is the naming process of children.  We kept meeting crew members from Bali named "I Made" (pronounced ee-mod-ay).  Now we know why:  there are only four names in Bali and they correspond with the child's birth order.  First born is named Wayan, second is Made, third is Ketut and fourth is Nyoman.  If there are more than five children, the cycle repeats.  So if a guy's named Wayan, you may say "oh, you're the first".  He may respond, "no, I'm the fifth".  The prefix "I" is given for males and "Ni" for females.  So, we have met a lot of second-born males (of maybe they're the sixth).

On the tour, we stopped at Karangasem Palace, where the last royalty of Bali lived.  The royal's descendants still live on the property.

Always Hindu influence, statuary saluting Hindu gods.  Every home, village, and suburb has a temple.

The day finished up with lunch at Rama Candidasa Resort.  Of course, the resort has a temple, too!  Here's a couple of photos from the resort, but you can check it out for yourself at www.ramacandidasahotel.com.  Take a look at the prices!

Komodo!

On the approach to Pulau Komodo (Komodo Island), a tiny island just 22 miles long and 9 miles across, it's hard to imagine that this is the home of the "fearsome dragons" described by late 19th-century explorers.

But then you remember that this innocent-looking place is inhabited by 13-foot-long, 220 pound "Ora". This is the protected habitat of the Komodo Dragons.  They roam the island freely, forage for their own food (they are not fed by humans) and they raise their little Komodos here.  The only things between us and them were Park Rangers with sticks.  We wished they had bigger sticks.  There are stories of people disappearing, but a trip here is safe as long as you stay with a park guide.  The Ora is the largest species of lizard on earth and lives alongside a population of about 200 people, descendants of former convicts who were sent to the island.

Here, we follow the Ranger into the brush.  Wave to the people on the dock, for you may never see them again:

Several other species also reside here. Deer, small buffalo, macaques, and wild pigs (dinner for the Ora), as well as 150 types of birds.  Pulau Komodo is a UNESCO Heritage Site and is one of the 17,508 islands that make up the Republic of Indonesia.  We'll let the rest of the pictures speak for themselves.

Honestly, this is one of the coolest things we did on this trip.

Darwin...Last Stop in Australia

While it's not a terribly photogenic place, Darwin is named for THE Darwin and it's still a little outback community of less than 100,000.  Apparently it's about to become a boom town because they're building a refinery (what a concept!) and  Japan has said they'll buy all the gas that can be produced.  Nice little town, but very tropical...apparently it rains every day, usually in the morning, and you wanna talk about hot and humid?  Unbelieveable.  This is very close to Kakadu National Park, the supposed site for Crocodile Dundee's base of operations.  Truly "outback", the town sports many many Aboriginal people, who for the most part, blend into the town as working individuals, but there were many who seemed to still have the Outback lifestyle...barefoot and speaking one of the native tongues to one another.  We had a tour of a wildlife park scheduled, but cancelled and just walked around town for a while.  Lots of military history in Darwin.  it was bombed by the Japanese during WWII and many ships in the port, including a couple of American ones, were sunk.  Several still lie at the bottom of the bay.

A view of the bay from the park:

 
That evening, in a salute to Aussies worldwide, Gordon let his hair down.

Townsville, Cairns, and (Almost) Cooktown

In Townsville, we visited the Queensland Tropical Museum and then the ReefHQ aquarium.  The aquarium has the largest reef exhibit in the world.  They also have a turtle hospital where they nurse injured sea turtles back to health...when they're healthy enough to return to the sea, they spend some time in the HUGE reef exhibit at the aquarium before being released.

Here's a look at the reef exhibit.  Loved the seahorses!

We took a drive past Reid Park, home of the Townsville race track, where they host V8 supercars.  Saw the pit lane and part of the track, and wished it was a V8 weekend.

Next, we visited Cairns.  Sweet little town.  Oddly, it was the first time we saw many blacks, and most of them did not appear to be Aborigine.  Pleasant place, good shopping, lots of restaurants, and several high-rise condo buildings and holiday apartments and hotels.  We had no shore tour booked, so we planned to walk around town.  It rained off and on all day but we braved it, looking for V8 Supercar t-shirts.  Never found any.

We did enjoy the stroll along the promenade that was close to the ship.  If you look hard, you can see the ship peeking out from behind the palm trees.  Proving that we did indeed have enough sense to come in out of the rain, we got back in time to catch the afternoon movie:  Rush.  We noted later that this is the first time in our 20-year relationship that we had gone to the movies together.

The following day we were supposed to visit Cooktown, but the fog prevented us from operating the tenders.  We had no tour scheduled, but we had wanted to go to the city's botanic garden and walk around. Once the decision was made to skip Cooktown, the ship left, PDQ.  Maybe this keeps people from second-guessing Cap'n Dan's decisions.  Rather than make a beeline to the next port, we meandered along closer to shore and the scenery was very nice.

Aboard Voyager, Off To See Oz

Aboard ship now and off to see other Aussie sights.  First, the ship called at Brisbane (pronounced "brizben").  Here, we visited the Lone Pine Sanctuary.  Not a zoo, but an animal preserve where most of the critters are running free.  First we were treated to a sheep dog show, where Sophie the Border Collie showed us all how it was done.  It was a warm day, so Sophie was a dog in a log until dude came along and let her go play with the sheep.

She rounded them all up and posed for pictures standing on the sheep's backs.  The sheep, apparently, are quite accustomed to this and were happy to cooperate.

One of the participants, however, got selected to participate in the next part of the show:

This guy sheared the sheep in just a few minutes time and he wasn't hurrying.  The wool is then sorted and packaged in huge bundles for shipment to market.  Again, the sheep seemed to care less.

Also at the sanctuary were kangaroos, tasmanian devils, wombats, dingoes, fox bats (huge!), kukkaburra birds (noisy!), platapus, emus, and lots of koalas.  The kangaroos and emus are really tame and can be approached very closely, but the koalas are kept in enclosures.  No problem, you can't wake them up anyway.

The next day, the ship visited theWhitsunday Islands.  Not much to see onshore, so we spent the day aboard enjoying the view and doing laundry.

Asia 2014: Sydney and Around

This look familiar?  Yes, the iconic Sydney Opera House.  We arrived in Sydney the day before Australia Day, which is the Aussie 4th of July.  A walk around town was planned, but setting off for our first destination, we ran smack into a car show.  How is it that we can always find a car show?  Anyway, most of the day was spent looking at the cars, and what an interesting collection. Many cars and trucks that we don't see in the US like Holdens, Anglias, left-hand drive Buicks, and Toyotas that have never been imported into the States.  Some were more recognizable though:

The next day showed us more about the city.  Our Meriton Serviced Apartment was in the center of the business district and very close to Chinatown.  If you opened the window in the apartment, the smell of Chinese Bar-B-Que started your mouth watering.  Except for one night that we HAD to have pies (from a shop called "Pie Face"), we ate Chinese or Japanese take-out every night.  The Dim Sum place just down the street was just fabulous.  Another great find was a Asian bakery called "BreadTop".  This is probably the best bakery ever, and that's saying something when we've been in so many in France! Chinatown was decked out for the upcoming Lunar New Year, year of the horse.

We visited Circular Quay, Darling Harbor, the Rocks, and the Royal Botanic Gardens:

and checked out Mrs. MacQuarie's chair:

The Governor's wife liked to sit here and watch the boats in the bay, so finally a bench was carved out of the stone especially for her.  Now, it's a popular place to sit and watch the boats in the bay.  The view back toward the Opera House and the bridge from the gardens is beautiful:

Next, we took the Ferry across the bay to Manly.  The surf's up in Manly, and the town and beach are keyed to the surf crowd.

We walked the scenic Manly path through Shelly Beach and on up into the National Park.  On our way, we met up with one of the local Sea Dragons (and yes, he's as big as he looks...about two feet long):

On top of the point, there's an old artillery training school with a beautiful loop walk that offers a fine look back at the city:

Warning signs on the way down:

Didn't see any.  They're nocturnal, apparently.  Finally, the famous view, this time from the ferry, and a street scene from the Rocks area:

Next, we head for the boat!