Penang and Phuket: March 24

At Penang we got into something really interesting called Entopia, the Penang Butterfly Farm.  It's a huge dome, three stories tall, filled with plants and critters.  The snakes, frogs, bugs, and iguanas are penned, but as they say, butterflies are free.  Great spot for photography!

Next, a walk at the Spice Farm.  As the name states, they grow spices.  And snakes.  It's a Pit Viper.

OK, so we went to Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket) after all, and spent the night.  Day one, about 200 of us in six buses took an all-day tour, invading "Spectacular" Phang Nga Bay.  This is kind of a cross between Ha Long Bay in Viet Nam and Milford Sound in New Zealand.  Towering limestone cliffs and islands all around, and there is Panyee, a floating Muslim fishing village that dates way back to three original families.  We guessed that since almost everyone's related, the whole village would be invited to a wedding.  And there's plenty of restaurant space to accomodate it, too, because this is the place to come for lunch by boat.

Now, here's a story that we'll always remember.  It's a two-hour drive from Phuket City on the island to Phang Nga on the mainland.  That's four hours on a bus without traffic jams caused by construction, which of course we got caught up in on the way back.  So, it's approaching 7:00 p.m., people were well-fed and well toured, but tired of the bus, and the guide is supposed to make a stop for shopping and restrooms.  When she said we were headed for shopping, everyone on the bus said no shop.  Ship.

Well, she's supposed to follow her itinerary to the letter or else.  But when the bus turned in at the shopping venue, the entire gang cried out "no"!  The poor guide said, well, we'll just stop for a few minutes so everyone can use the restroom.  "NO!"  Next thing, we all refused to get off the bus and started chanting "go! go! go!"  Needless to say, we went, and everyone cheered.  Mutiny on Bus 5!  See?  Even a politically diverse group can agree on something once in a while. We happily signed a release of sorts so she wouldn't get fired for skipping part of the tour.

We surprised ourselves when we actually got up the next morning and went on tour again, but it was worth it.  We went to Elephant Camp for a show, beautiful Chalong Temple, a cashew nut factory (free samples!) and a rubber plantation.  Who knew that rubber trees can be tapped almost every day for 35 years and the work is all done in the middle of the night?  Why at night?  Because the latex runs better when it's cool and it's never cool in Penang except at about 1:00 a.m, when it might dip below 85.

Everyone on board knew old Tom, who had his 102.5th birthday, and was feted in his favorite bars and awarded a new license plate for his walker.  Heard from Tom every day as he passed through the Compass Rose restaurant with the walker:  "plenty of room!  plenty of room!"

Bali, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur: March 23

Everyone thought that an overnight stay in Bali was a good idea, especially the many crew members who call it home. Looked like the Indian staff covered for the Balinesians and they'll get paid in kind when we hit India. We took a temple hopping tour and enjoyed the Royal Temple and Temple Thon Lot.

We would like to mention here that Murphy is alive and well for people who travel.  Just after we left Miami, we got a "good news" message from USAA that our backup credit card, a Mastercard, was going to be replaced by a Visa.  Great.  The new card would be in the hold mail and our backup credit card would be useless.  Oh, now that was good news.  Next thing, we got a message from Capital One that our other backup credit card was breached and canceled.  We finally convinced Capital One to send the replacement card to the Port Agent in Sydney.  They did, but it apparently went to the wrong address and was never heard from again.  Back to the drawing board with Capital One.  Try it again with yet another card and send it to the Port Agent in Singapore and try not to goof it up this time.  We had little hope, but, the phone rang in our suite at 8:00 a.m. when we arrived in port.  The card, miracle of miracles, was here!  Singapore was working out well for us!

In Singapore we took a "bum boat" ride on the river for a great view of the iconic landmarks that are Singapore, the Mer-Lion and Marina Bay Sands Hotel.

And then on to Raffles Hotel.  Story was that one had to wear long pants and closed-toe shoes to be allowed inside Raffles.  We obeyed since we wanted to see inside.  Turns out that first of all, no one is allowed in the lobby except guests and restaurant patrons.  They have a big dude decked out in his Rajah finest to ensure that the riff-raff doesn't get in.

And second of all, the famous Long Bar where one can order a $35 Singapore Sling was closed for refurbishment.  So, our group was the only people there who were in dress code, because roaming the courtyards is a come-as-you-are proposition.  Nice courtyard with plenty of Sling advertising...and maybe this was the 1800's version of a pool.

Singapore was the segment turnover point and 180 guests came and went before we left for Port Klang, Malaysia.  This new segment had an interesting story:  We were originally scheduled for Kuala Lumpur, Myanmar, and overnight in Phuket before heading for India.  The itinerary was changed with the a story about the water levels in Phuket and the plan was to spend four days (four DAYS!) in Myanmar.  The crowd was not amused.  So, the water levels suddenly improved and we wound up in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, and Phuket, no Myanmar at all, and the addition of Sri Lanka.  Some of us conspiracy theorists thought that the whole thing may have had more to do with security than water levels...

Anyway, Port Klang is one of the busiest in the world and serves Kuala Lumpur.  The city is a study in contrasts.

Independence Square:

Thean Hou Temple:

Sri Kandaswamy Kovil Temple (blessing a new Toyota):

The Blue Mosque:

And (everyone's seen them on TV), the Petronas Towers:

Next stop, Penang, Malaysia.

Every morning, Elvis performed live, making espressos at the coffee bar (his name is really Elvis and he does Elvis in the crew show, too).  And every day, we heard...

Cruise Director Jamie, all announcements begin with: "..aaaand....."
Captain Atanas:  "partly Cwowdy"
Our favorite waiter, I Gede:  "so far, so good"

Cairns, Darwin and Komodo: March 11

Cairns had certainly changed since we were there last.  Many more condos along the waterfront. We could live there if it wasn't so bloody hot and humid.  Crickey!

We took off up the hill to Rainforestation to ride the Duck and take the Dream Walk with our Aboriginal hosts.  So, about the Duck.  Rainforestation owns and maintains 12 original World War II amphibious vehicles known as Army Ducks.  They were built by General Motors between 1940 and 1946.  An intrepid Duck Driver takes groups down through the rainforest tracks and directly into the lake.  Yup, just drive into the lake...throw a switch to turn on the propeller and there you go, afloat amongst the lily pads. The old vehicles struggle to make it back up the hill, but they get there.

The Army Duck afloat:

View from our Duck:

What the heck kind of flower is this?

After that, our hosts performed native dances and demonstrated how to throw a boomerang (they do really return), use a spear to catch a kangaroo for dinner, and play the digeridoo.

Next stop, Kuranda Village, which is basically a shopping and restaurant center in the rainforest that grew up from a hippie colony that started a swap meet in the 60's.  Really, a nice place to stop and walk around.

The ship anchored off Cooktown and some people went ashore to steam.  Really, one of the entertainers said he rode the tender to shore and by then he was so hot and miserable that he rode the tender right back to the ship.  We stayed aboard.

Onward to Darwin and the Territory Wildlife Park.  They turned us loose to check out the place independently.  Highlights were Wallabies, nocturnal animals (mostly rat-like marsupials, by the way), and a bird show at the Flight Deck.

Wallaby (kind of a small kangaroo):

This one had been chewing on some type of flower.  He never moved from this position the whole time we were there.  Stoned Wallaby, we think:

Smart bird!  Using a stone as a tool to crack the Emu egg!

 

If you'd seen Gordon's glasses, you'd know why this owl is staring at him!

A day at sea and we're at Gordon's favorite place, Komodo Island.  Once again, into the forest with the "naturalist guides".  Indonesian guys with sticks who aren't really worried about the Komodo Dragons, which are actually the largest monitor lizard, even though the dragons can run faster than they can.  Us geezers would be dinner.

There are about 1300 dragons on the island and they are living in the wild.  They feed on wild deer and wild pigs and do just fine since when they eat, they eat the whole whatever-they-catch.  It then takes them about three days to digest their dinner and they don't need to eat again for three weeks to a month.  They mate in April or May, and about 20% of the hatchlings actually survive.  The mother protects the nest but when the eggs hatch, the little guys are on their own.  If they make it to a tree without becoming another dragon's lunch, they climb the tree and stay there, living on small animals and birds until they are big enough to fend for themselves on the ground.  They grow to be 10 feet long and weigh over 150 pounds.  They have a lifespan of about 50 to 60 years.

Now, last time we were at Komodo Island there were several of the big 10-footers around.  This time, no.  The only dragons in sight were younger ones about five or six feet long, so no dragon riding. Such a disappointment.

 
We left Komodo under a full moon and headed for Bali.  Lots of excited crew members because Bali's home and they get to see friends and family.

Milford Sound, Sydney, Brisbane: March 2

It was a dreary day at Milford, overcast and misty.  But to our surprise, we did cruise the entire sound, almost all the way to the visitor center at the top of it.  There, the captain spun the ship around about five times so everyone could get a good view.  Perhaps we were also waiting for the pilot...

Milford Sound is all about cliffs and waterfalls.  A couple of views from the ship:

We didn't take the cameras into Sydney this time, because we really just wanted a good walk up to the park to revisit the Anzac memorial.  We headed up there, but the memorial was closed for construction work.  Oh, well, it's a lovely park anyway, with botanical gardens nearby.  We ended up at the famous Sydney Opera House and then back to the ship.  Got our 10,000 steps, anyway.

Next stop was Brisbane (pronounced Bris-bin).  We knew we were going to see "crocs and wildlife".  What we didn't know was that we were going to the Australia Zoo, founded by Steve Irwin.  Crickey!

Fabulous zoo with animals from around the world.

Lots of crocodiles, many of them rescues from all over and nursed by the zoo's animal hospital.  The hospital never turns an Australian animal away and treats them all, young or old.  They have a big show at the "Crocoseum" with, of course, crocodiles, but the fun part is the birds.  Macaws, Cockatiels, various Parrots, and even a Condor are released and zoom overhead with all the appropriate squawking.  The crowd loved it.

At the Crocoseum...crickey!

This Condor is one big bird!

We Need Dinosaur Experts!

Hey, Leo and Isaac...we found dinosaurs!  But what kind are they?

This one liked to have his ears scratched.

Next week, we're going to Komodo Island to see the Komodo Dragons.  Hopefully, we'll send a photo of Big Brain riding the dragon.

New Zealand Part 2: February 21 - 25

On to Tauranga, where we were actually docked in Maunganui.  OK, we're in love.  This is the perfect beach town.  A nice waterfront walk started near the pier and became the base track that circled Mount Maunganui and ended at the Main Beach.  The town's full of homes that are everything from cute to OMG, lots of cafes, shops, etc.  Good thing we had no tour booked, because we really enjoyed that walk.

Next we called at Napier.  Napier was a bustling port town in 1931 when the earthquake struck.  And what an earthquake...the land rose up over six feet and the bay drained, leaving flopping fish and stranded boats.  The town caught fire, all communication was lost, it was a mess.  Fortunately, one of the stranded ships was a Navy ship and they still could communicate.  The sailors went into town to fight the fire and bring first aid, while the ship called for help, which arrived quite quickly in the form of two hospital ships and more firefighters.  In the end, something like 10,000 acres of land were added to what was left of the town.  The town had to be rebuilt.  The city fathers moved all the businesses to the local park, set up a "tin town" for them, and set to building.  Art Deco was the thing at the time, and within two years, a new Deco downtown was ready to occupy.  Today, many of the buildings have been preserved and are a treat to see.

At the park where the tin town was:

Wellington, New Zealand's capital, was next.  We shuttled into town for a walk along the waterfront and through downtown.  Downtown is what you'd expect in a capital city, but the waterfront boardwalk is wonderful.  We found ourselves at Te Papa Tongarewa. Our Maori guide in Bay of Islands taught us that Te Papa means "the land", so maybe Tongarewa means museum, because this is the Museum of New Zealand.  It was free, so we thought we'd have, as they say around here, "a wee look".  They had a fabulous exhibit about Gallipoli.  We'd both just read the history of the Gallipoli conflict that took place during World War I and we ended up spending over an hour just there.  OK, back to the ship, it's wine o'clock, more good food, off to the next destination.

Wellington Waterfront:

And the next destination was Akaroa.  At anchor, we hopped from our ship to the tender to the dock to the gaff rigged Ketch "Fox II", which was built in 1920.  Our intrepid captain took us out into the bay, the caldera of an extinct volcano, under the iron mainsail.  This area is home to the smallest dolphin the the world, the Hector dolphin, and the smallest penguin in the world, the Little Blue Penguin (clever name).  We saw both, as well as fur seals and plenty of Shags (the New Zealand version of cormorants).  The wind came up a bit and we actually spent some time under the real mainsail.  Very peaceful and lots of fun.

Elephant Head Rock:

And a Little Blue Penguin:

The Fox II passing our ship:

And off to Dunedin.  We'd seen the town on the last visit, so we took a tour out onto the Otago Peninsula to visit Pukekura, home of the Northern Royal Albatross Centre.  Within view from the platform, there were about nine Albatross on nests, tending to chicks that were about a month old.  These birds were born here, and after circling the globe for four years or so, never touching land, they return here to breed.  Big birds, with wing spans of up to nine feet, their story is fascinating.  It's a little like the Galapagos here, in that these birds have been around the Park Rangers since they were born and take the Rangers as part of life, having no fear of them at all. They check on the birds, weigh the chicks, and more. Check out www.albatross.org.nz, they even have an Albatross cam on one of the nests.

The white specks are Albatross.  Sorry, photographers, wrong lens.  Oops.

We also visited the only castle in New Zealand, Larnach Castle.  Built in the 1800's by William Larnach, who owned most of the land in the area.  After several family tragedies, the remaining family sold off the good furniture and sold the castle to the state for next to nothing.  It fell into disrepair until being rescued by the Barker family around 1967.  Since then, they have acquired some of the original furnishings and restored the building.  They're at www.larnachcastle.co.nz.

Inside the castle:

Outside the castle:

Finally, our tour of NZ ended with a cruise through beautiful Milford Sound.  Then it was off to Australia by crossing the "exciting" Tasman Sea.  On our way across the Tasman, which was surprisingly calm for once, we had quite an experience:  some geezer referred to us as "young people"!!!