PORT DOUGLAS, AUSTRALIA February 28, 2008

Port Douglas is a small town far north in the state of Queensland. The town’s population quadruples with the influx of tourists during the peak tourism season May-September.

Port Douglas is near the Great Barrier Reef. There are numerous companies that run daily trips from the marina to the outer reef and the Low Isles for scuba diving and snorkeling. Port Douglas is also well known for it’s many restaurants, golf courses and five star resorts.

Today we visited a rain forest nature park to see many animals and plants that are not seen at home. We traveled through the rain forest in Army Ducks (really DUKW’s) and then into the water to see some aquatic plants and animals.

When we left the rain forest we boarded a scenic train to come down from the mountain. We traveled along the Barron River. At one point the river fell 1000 feet over the Barron Falls and it was spectacular. The picture we have of it doesn’t do justice to the beauty of the view.

I was particularly interested in the number of different types of termites. One of the species attacks a particular type of tree, the Black Wattle, and only eats the core of the tree. They leave to outside shell of the tree intact. Now the aborigines use this Black Wattle tree for their boomerangs. The aborigines also make a musical instrument called a didgeridoo. This is a 4 to 6 foot long and 3 to 4 inch in diameter straight piece of wood that is hollowed out. The player blows into the end of the instrument like a horn and produces a low buzzing sound. Anyway to make this instrument they simply take a log of the proper dimensions and stick it into a termite nest and in 9 to 12 months the log has been hollowed out and with some finishing touches the instrument is ready to go.

See some of the aborigines with their didgeridoo (see the man on the left) playing it and dancing on the deck of a tender from our cabin balcony.

We have with this stop visited 4 different cities in Australia from Melbourne in the south to Port Douglas in the north. Melbourne is about the same distance from the equator as Chicago and Port Douglas is equivalent to Miami. I am struck by the diversity of climates in the country of which I was not aware. Further to this surprise today we came down from a mountain peak to a seashore town filled with world-class resorts. We have similar resorts in the Miami area, but of course no mountains or rain forests. Again we find unexpected diversity.

BRISBAIN, AUSTRALIA February 26, 2008

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA February 26, 2008

Brisbane is a city in eastern Australia, capital of the state of Queensland and a seaport on the Brisbane River, near Moreton Bay. Brisbane was founded as a station for British convicts in 1824. The term POHM refers to Prisoners of Her Majesty and is usually used in a phrase “pohmy bastard” in a fun loving way.

The city is accessible to oceangoing vessels with 2 miles of wharf space. Wool is the chief export. Other leading exports are meat, hides, sugar, dairy products, corn, pearl shell and coal. Brisbane is an important manufacturing center with diversified industries, including food processing, tanning automobile assembling, brewing, and the manufacture of lumber, clothing, tobacco products, boots and shoes and machinery.

We had a chance to tour this beautiful cosmopolitan city with its old Parliament House, the town hall, Brisbane Museum and the buildings of the University of Queens land. In addition there is much modern architecture built for the 1988 World’s Fair which was held in Brisbane.

After our tour we traveled to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Here in addition to the Koalas we were treated to a wonderful exhibit of sheep herding by a master of training dogs to do his bidding. He has these dogs so highly trained they seem an extension of his will. With subtle motions and signals they not only herd sheep but stop, go, sit, stand, lie down, while they are running in the field. They even go jump in the pond at his command. When we owned our sweet and loving dog and I gave her a command, she had no idea what to do. It was as though she was in a different universe, so this demonstration was a real amazement for me.

Judy was very much anticipating holding the Koala. The cute animals were very cuddly. It seemed that this “cuddling” was their primary occupation because they slept 20 hours, ate for 3 hours, performed some bodily functions for part of the remaining hour, which left about ½ hour to be cuddled. Luckily they had 139 koalas in the sanctuary so all could share the laborious cuddling task.

Judy met Specs who weighed about 25 pounds, was very sweet and awakened the maternal instinct in the holder. Specs I’m sure considered the holder more like a tree to which he was trying to get comfortable for a little nap.

Jim tried to get a small kangaroo interested in his hand but evidently the hand did not include food and the animal had seen a hand before and was not interested..

The Rainbow Lorikeets were very colorful as the name would imply and were a treat to see.

Finally we left the park and the koalas were again off duty and sleeping.

SYDNEY Februayr 23 & 24, 2008

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA February 23 & 24, 2008

Sydney is the state capital of New South Wales, located on the east coast of Australia. The city was established in 1788 when Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet landed in Sidney Cove and claimed Australia for the British. With a metropolitan population of over 4 million people, it is the most populous city in the country of about 20 million.

Built around Sidney Harbor, which is sometimes considered one of the most beautiful harbors in the world, has on its shores structures such as the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge, which are globally, recognized icons of the city. Sydney is a major domestic and international tourist destination, notable for its climate, famous beaches, culture, renowned landmarks and modern architecture. It is Australia’s main financial center and the skyscrapers of its financial district cluster around Circular Quay, making the city’s skyline one of the most distinctive in the world.

Queen Victoria made her first call on Sydney on February 23, 2008. Her famous sister Queen Elizabeth 2 who is on her farewell World Cruise, made her final call at the port exactly 30 years she made her first call here on February 24, 1978.

We docked at the Circular Quay with Jim and the Queen Victoria. You can also see the Sydney Opera House nearby. We were met by dear friends Barry and Louise Mc Lean and given a tour of the North Beaches, which were the most beautiful beaches with great surfing. See the Sydney Opera House again from the ferry.

On the second day in Sydney Maud, a friend of Barry and Louise, entertained us in her home with a lovely lunch with her friends and family; a warm and welcoming group of new friends.

The thousands of people who visited the harbor on land and sea to see the two queens were absolutely astounding. Take a look at the panoramic views taken from the air of the two Queens. The first shows the QE2 in the fore ground and the second the QE2 is on the right. In both cases the older QE2 has tugs guiding her in the harbor where as the QV tugs are not needed. The vast armadas of smaller pleasure boats were a sight to see.

As we pushed off from the dock and while we make our way out of the harbor the many scene of the mobs of people were memorable.

The last picture is of the crowds at the headlands waiting for a final view as she left the harbor.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA February 21, 2008

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA February 21, 2008

Melbourne is the state capital and largest city in the Australian state of Victoria and the second largest city in Australia with a population of approximately 3.7 million.

Melbourne has a world reputation as a very sports oriented city with numerous sports venues that house Formula One Grand Prix, tennis, sailing, swimming, cricket, Australian Rules Football and soccer among others in various stadiums that include a 140000 capacity stadium. Very impressive

Melbourne has twice shared top position in a survey by The Economist of The World’s Most Livable Cities on the basis of its cultural attributes, climate, cost of living, and social conditions such as crime rates and health care, once in 2002 and again in 2004.

We visited the Shrine of Remembrance which is a war memorial initially for the World War I veterans and today to include all of the conflicts in which Australia participated. Special interest is in the statue of the donkey used as a successful field expedient in transporting the injured in the battle of Gallipoly.

The Royal Botanic Gardens are very extensive and beautiful.

The first governor of the area, La Trobe, lived in this 1839 cottage.

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND FEB 17, 2008

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND February 17, 2008

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, the country’s second largest urban areas and the most populous nation capital in Oceania. Wellington stands at the southern tip of the North Island in the geographical center of the country. Wellington is named in honor of Arthur Wellesley, the first duke of Wellington and victor oat the Battle of Waterloo. The Duke’s title comes from the town of Wellington in the English county of Somerset.

In the maori language Wellington goes by two names. Te Whanganui-a-tata refers to Wellington Harbor and means “the great harbor of Tara”. The alternative name Poneke is often discourged because of a belief that is nothing more than a transliteration of the harbor’s former nickname in English, Port Nick, short for Port Nicholeson.

Today we were taken on a special tour to the symphony hall in the center of town. There we enjoyed a cocktail hour prior to being escorted the the symphony floor. Since there were no chairs they were able to set up a formal dinner for all 80 of us complete with unlimited wine. After the gourmet meal a group of operatic singer entertained for and hour. We then toured by buss to Mt. Victoria which provided a panoramic view of Wellington and it’s harbor.

As a final send off from the port a group of bag pipes and drums serenaded us at dock side. I must say it was a very touching way to say good-bye to the wonderful country of New Zealand

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND FEB 16, 2008

NAPIER, NEW ZEALAND February 16, 2008

Napier (Ahuriri in the native Maori language) is an important port city in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. It has a population of 57,000. Napier is the largest cross bred wool center in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the largest apple, pear, and stone fruit producing areas in the country. It has also become an important grape growing and wine production area.

Napier was struck by a disastrous earthquake on the morning of February 3, 1931. The town was leveled; what remained was consumed by fires. The town completely rebuilt itself using the contemporary Art Deco style of the time. Now the town is still noted for the continuing architectural Art Deco style.

We were lucky to be able to be in port during their ART DECO Weekend. The annual weekend festival this year included the Queen Victoria. During the docking of the QV, a greeting was provided by swarms of pleasure yachts, an overhead air show and thousands of visitors lining the shore docks and overlooking bluffs.

We were amazed to see some of the Vintage (pre-war) antique cars on the dock as we disembarked for a day in the town. There were over 80 of the 350 cars in the rally in town that were on display at the dock. After a pleasant walk to the town, we came upon a cricket game being played by people in 1920-1930’s costume. It turned out the the whole town enjoyed dressing up in some form of the period costume. At a period band shell built along the ocean walk (Marine Parade) they had a full 1930’s band with folks dancing the Charleston and other dances.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND FEBRUARY 15, 2008

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND February 15, 2008

The Auckland Metropolitan Area, or Greater Auckland, in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest urban area in New Zealand. Auckland’s population is approximately 1.3 million making it by far the largest city in New Zealand, with one third of the country’s entire population.

Auckland straddles the volcanoes of the Auckland Volcanic Field. The 50 volcanic vents in the field take the form of cones, lakes, lagoons, islands and depressions, and several have produced extensive lava flows. The volcanoes are all individually extinct although the field itself is merely dormant.

Auckland is popularly known as the “City of Sails” because the harbor is often dotted with hundreds of yachts and has more per capita than any other city in the world with one boat for every four families.

We took a tour of the city and got extensive views of the numerous yacht harbors. We also visited the wonderful Auckland museum. Here one whole floor was dedicated the Maori, Pakeha, the peoples of Oceania. It examines the diversity of Pacific Island communities and the astonishing beauty of the objects they produced.

The visual highlight of the tour was the Sky Tower. At over 600 feet it is the tallest man made structure in the southern hemisphere. At one point they had a glass floor in the observation deck floor. Not many were willing to walk on it except this one who took a picture of his shoes. We then took some pictures at the tower and on the way back to the ship.
Finally we stopped at the New Zealand National Maritime Museum right at the dock where the ship it docked. They have an extensive exhibit of the history of physical boats one of which Judy chose to captain.

LAUTOKA, FIJI February 12, 2008

Fiji is comprised of 300 islands, two of which, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, comprise more than 80% of the total land mass. The total population of Fiji is 850,000. Lautoka is the second largest city with a population of 30,000. It owes its existence to a large sugar mill (said to be the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere) and a deep-water port. It may be of interest to note that Fiji produces some of the world’s best sugar.

Today we traveled by bus to the home of the Burness Family. There we learned of the host’s great grandmother and great grandfather who independently traveled from Scotland and met in Fiji in the 1860’s. Their family grew as farmers and they raised sugar cane on their plantations. Now in addition they raise orchids and artheriums. In the first two pictures you will see examples of these plants.

Next we traveled to Viseisei Village which according to legend is the island’s oldest village. The chief of the village had some of the singers and dancers perform for us with much beauty and excitement. A cooperative market in the village helps visitors “discover” souvenirs.

CROSSING THE DATE LINE FEB 11, 2008

CROSSING THE DATE LINE MONDAY February 11, 2008

For us the date of February 11, 2008 has not occurred.

Today is February 12, 2008. Yesterday was February 10, 2008.

We crossed the 180th meridian, which is the date line. When proceeding west from Greenwich England, one hour is gained every 15 degrees of longitude. Consequently, 360 degrees divided by 15 degrees equals 24 hours, which causes one day to be gained when circumnavigating the globe westward.

When this is done in an airplane it does not seem so significant and is hardly noticed. When it is done on the ocean at 20 knots per hour it has a different relationship and is hard to realize.

There are eleven people on board that have a birthday on February 11, 2008 and those lucky few will not age.

AMERICAN SAMOA -- PAGO PAGO

PAGO PAGO AMERICAN SAMOA February 9, 2008

Polynesians were exploring and settling in remote islands hundreds of years before Europeans visited the Pacific Ocean. These intrepid explorers set sail with no compass and not knowing whether they would see land again. They had a vague notion of the direction in which new land lay educed from the observations of migrating birds. Travel was in a twin-hulled waka, navigating by the stars and by primitive maps made of sticks and shells.
The life of the peoples of the Pacific is bound up with numerous rituals and traditions. American Samoa is made up of seven islands and Tutuila is the largest. The island is high thin and eighteen miles long. Enclosed by nearly vertical rock walls festooned with tangledltropical vines, the harbor of Pago Pago is in fact a drowed volcanic crater. It is located just east of the date line (180th meridian) and just south of the equator.

It is very beautiful coming into the harbor. On the first picture you can see the high mountains and the harbor curving around to the right. As we curve around with Judy in the picture we can see the harbor opening up to us.

The next picture as we got hungry is from our beautiful table #4 finally approaching the dock on port side.

After boarding a tour bus we made a stop at a rather unspectacular (but I’m sure much photographed) rock linked to a legend about two lovers swimming to the island from another island to escape a cannibal king. They drowned just short of the island hence the two rocks….or so the story goes.

I had to take a picture of this golf course. I will never be able to pronounce the name I’LII’LI.

Finally we arrived at a Samoan village recreation and were treated to lunch, handicrafts, family life, cooking, coconut tree climbing, and of course the Polynesian dancing. This is a picture after getting “leied” (that is receiving our lei). Much Fun.