I hate it when people ask me, “What was the highlight of our trip?” For me, it’s the totality of the trip, not one incident or even day that makes a trip memorable. But there’s no denying that snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef would be pretty high on my bucket list if I had one. And unlike Bali, which for me didn’t live up to its billing, the GBR came through with flying colors.
We mustered to go ashore at 9:15, bussed to the GBR charter dock and all 250 of us were on board before 10 for the hour-and-a-half ride to a floating pontoon anchored over the tour company’s assigned section of the reef. As our bus driver predicted, winds were light and the seas calm with only a slight swell.
The pontoon is a huge platform supporting both scuba diving and snorkeling. It can hold in excess of 300 guests. They also operate a “semisubmersible” a tin-can looking craft that seats 26 in its oversized keel beneath the water. We took the 30-minute cruise and saw similar fish and coral as we did snorkeling. Lunch was served. It’s quite an operation, especially considering the 250 passengers today average at least 70 years of age.
The big deal, of course, was the hour we spent snorkeling. We’d done snorkeling with Jeff and Carter in the BVIs last Spring and in Hawaii with Esme in Hawaii last Summer. So, we knew what to expect and, as I said, the GBR was the equal of the other two. See the pictures – mostly coral scenes – to get a sense of what it was like.
Rather than take a bus back to our ship, we walked along Cairns’ very nice waterfront. It was a long walk since we had to pass the length of a P&O cruise ship, a real boat, complete with a water slide and an uncountable number of decks. Different market segment, for sure. Not many Orion passengers would make it down a waterslide, although a surprising number of, shall we say, questionable oldsters did just fine snorkeling. I shouldn’t be so quick to judge the old people with whom we are traveling.
Tomorrow: Townsville and a look at the other Queensland tourist attraction, the rain forest. No more snorkeling until day after tomorrow.
By the way, for those keeping score at home, we’ve now been on the road for 15 days, with 15 more to go. Half way!
Check it out. It’s sure to relieve the boredom you’re suffering from all my still shots. She’s putting together a movie of the video I shot underwater today. We’ll put that up soon.
“Can we swim at the Thursday Island beach?” asked one of the guests. “No. If the crocodiles don’t get you the sharks will,” responded the Guest Services rep.
You guessed it.
I went swimming, well, wading, at Thursday Island. There were lots of locals, including little kids, so I figured the kids were slower than me and tastier than my old carcass, so I’d be safe. And indeed, I was.
Thursday Island is one of the Torres Straits islands, located between the northernmost tip of Queensland State and Papau New Guinea. The Torres Straits islands, 274 of them, depending on how you count ‘em, is home to an ethnically distinct group of Melanesian peoples. They figure the islands have been populated for 2,600 years or so, which is recent in comparison to mainland Australia, which has evidence of habitation 50,000 years ago. Today it’s a Shire of Queensland.
And yes, there is a Wednesday Island and a Friday Island, so named by the Brits who explored here in the second half of the 19th century. They apparently ran out of dukes and lords and whatever, the names of whom they usually affixed to newly discovered lands. Sucking up to the boss is an old tradition.
Thursday Island has a history of being a center for pearl and shell harvesting, although those industries have declined significantly since WWII due to competition from Japan and cultured pearl farms. As the shire hub, public service is a significant source of income as is a developing tourist trade.
Speaking as a tourist, I’m glad we came here but Thursday’s got a ways to go to rival even Bali and Lombok. Not a single temple to be seen, just a Catholic Church (there are other churches, I believe). White tablecloth dining isn’t prevalent but the local hotel does sport the northerly most bar in all of Australia. They served beer and crisps and played rugby matches on the widescreen TV. We partook of all three after our walk around town.
Our walk covered the aforementioned crocodile beach and the Catholic church. The town cannot be termed picturesque by any stretch of the imagination, but it does sport some very friendly people. Most greeted us as we passed by. We had a nice conversation with a young couple with an eight-month-old son. They’re from Canberra, where they will be returning in a couple of weeks after his one-year deployment on Tuesday Island with the military.
The “included tour,” which we joined after our independent walk and beer stop, was the highlight. First, a Country elder, Uncle Willie, gave a welcoming speech, and gave us permission to enter tribal lands. Then, two local artists made presentations. The first, a young multi-talented artist/musician/dancer/palm oil salesman, gave a talk. The second was a man and his family – wife, two daughters and two sons – who gave a demonstration of aboriginal music and dance. The mom and dad and two daughters sang and played drums to accompany the sons who danced in traditional costumes.
The performance was quite good and, being the third or fourth of the day, the family was visibly tired. Performing for cruise boats is not their full time jobs. The really interesting thing was the dedication of Dad and Mom to instill the traditional culture into their kids. Song and dance is their chosen method.
We spoke briefly with the dad afterwards. I told him of the similarities to his culture and that of our First Nations friends Darryl and Andrea from New Brunswick, Canada: respect for elders, stewardship of the land, taking from the land only what is needed, not what produces the greatest profit. I could close my eyes and hear Darryl speaking the same words as he used to do on our all-day golf outings. It’s also the same message we heard from Polynesians this past summer in Hawaii with Esme.
After dinner we attended a video performance by the Metropolitan Opera – Mozart’s Magic Flute, translated into modern English. The words were hard for our hearing aids to report with great fidelity to our ancient ears and brains, but we got the drift. The costumes and scenery were worth the price of admission. And, spoiler alert, both guys, and arguably all three guys, got their girls before the final curtain fell. No one died in the third act.
Today, Monday, is another day at sea. We’ve been pretty lazy – it’s 5 PM and I’m just now writing up yesterday’s outing. We did attend a presentation by Viking’s guest astronomy lecturer on the birth and death of stars. Interesting, but pretty deep weeds for the uninitiated. Afterwards, I told her that her discussion of Maxwell’s Equations induced an episode of PTSD, flashing back to Lehigh University and the EE exam covering that subject.
Oh, and one other thing. We booked yet another trip, this time a Viking Expedition to Antarctic. Yes, that’s right, ice, penguins and barfing across the Drake Passage. We’ve talked to four couples on this trip who’ve told us to do it, so we’re doing it. Stay tuned!
Tomorrow we’re in Cains, Queensland where we will be going out to a floating platform for a day of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. We don’t have another sea day for three days, so I’ll have to get cracking on the blog with greater energy.
For 50 years, Judy and I have had turkey for Thanksgiving. We remember days with our parents and siblings, our kids and grandkids, with friends and by ourselves. Would this year, celebrating in Darwin, Australia, end the string? Nope. The Viking folks came through for Year 51 with a turkey dinner with all the fixings, including pumpkin pie for dessert.
Today was also crocodile day. We traveled an hour east of Darwin through the countryside to the Kakadu National Park. The tour was operated by the Spectacular Jumping Crocodile Cruises and lasted about 45 minutes. And indeed, we saw crocodiles. Half a dozen of them.
Now we’ve seen plenty of the crocs’ cousins, alligators, in Florida. Crocodiles are larger and more likely to attack then alligators. The captain of our pontoon craft warned us that crocodiles see pretty much the way we humans do. They are particularly attracted to bright colors, such as the red life jackets the company distributes in the unlikely event that we have to abandon ship in the middle of the croc-infested Adelaide River. When not dining on tourists, crocs, the big ones anyway, have been known to go after water buffalo but are mostly satisfied with 12- to 18-inch fish, which are plentiful and easier to get.
The Adelaide empties into the Arafura Sea and at this point is brackish water. It therefore supports both freshwater and saltwater crocodiles. I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t know the difference and would swim equally hard no matter which was chasing me. Saltwater crocs actually prefer freshwater. Go figure.
The tour company’s name is stretching things a bit. Until recently, they would dangle bait from a long pole and cause the crocs to jump a number of feet out of the water, thereby earning the “spectacular jumping” part of the claim. Animal rights types stopped that practice so all we saw was crocs floating like dead logs in the gently flowing river. Friends on board saw the bait trick being pulled right in town so the animal rights people haven’t been everywhere yet. But we got bragging rights. I shot some bird and landscape scenery shots too.
Upon our return to Darwin, Judy and I elected to be dropped off in the Central Business District for a brief walk. We went down a pedestrian shopping street (it was 6 PM and the shops were all closed), through the Bicentennial Park, by the Darwin Cenotaph Memorial, by the Northern Territory Parliament Building and the territory’s Administrator’s house, to Christ Church where a youth choir was performing and back to the ship for the aforementioned turkey feed.
Our guide on the bus, and the lecturers here on board, were quite helpful in understanding the Northern Territory. Australia is divided into six states and a number of territories. The Northern Territory is big enough to be a state, but it’s never been given that status. It’s the second biggest in terms of land area but its population of 250,000 is only half of the smallest state (Tasmania).
Darwin was founded in 1869, quite late in the history of European Australia, which dates back to Captain Cook in 1770 and the first penal settlement at Botany Bay (Sydney) in 1788. Its development has been influenced by three main events (in my simplistic and probably flawed view of things):
The gold rush of 1872, which spurred development of Darwin.
World War II and in particular the repeated bombing of Darwin beginning on February 19, 1942. It was carried out shortly after Pearl Harbor by four aircraft carriers that attacked Hawaii on December 7, 1941. The Japanese, rightfully, saw Darwin as a key supply point for the American forces in the Pacific. Many citizens were killed and many others left town permanently.
Cyclone Tracy in 1974, which caused damage to 80% of the town’s structures and killed 71 citizens. Again, many people left town permanently.
Today, the city appears to be quite modern and thriving, although looks can be deceiving. The Parliament building is, in particular, quite impressive and is undergoing expansion. Tourism is a significant contributor to the town’s economy. Cattle grazing and mining are important as are the military and public works projects.
Darwin is the northern terminus of the Stuart Highway, which runs 3,000 km (1,800 miles) from Adelaide in the south, through Alice Springs in the middle (we’ll be there in a week or two) to Darwin. Darwin is a port city for goods flowing from Indonesia and Southeast Asia. It was built as part of the WWII war effort. The Northern Territory extends to just south of Alice Springs.
We’ll learn more when we visit the town’s museum tomorrow. We sail around 1 PM, just in time for a Backgammon game (the software has been fixed; I won a game this morning) and our afternoon nap before teatime and dinner.
Lombok, I think, is jealous of its neighbor, Bali. Bali has the international name recognition. Bali gets all the tourists. Bali earns 80% of its income from tourism. Lombok gets 70% of its income from agriculture and most agriculture is done with manual labor. The last cruise boat to come to Lombok was last May. Guess which brings in more money: tourism or agriculture.
Today, Judy and I divided to conquer Lombok. She went to a pottery demonstration and a wood carving demonstration. I went to a temple, the same wood carving demo, a pearl store and a museum of Lombok history. I suspect that’s the best tourism opportunities Lombok has to offer. No sandy beaches, no swimming pools in tropical settings. No Marriott Luxury Edition hotels. That’s what Lombok needs to compete with Bali.
We saw several musical groups performing traditional Indonesian songs on traditional instruments. One instrument performed the melody. The other six or more percussionists provided rhythmic accompaniment. There was also a sword fighting demonstration, deriving from war ceremonies and now a sport. These groups only perform when there are tourists or visiting dignitaries are in town.
Again today, considerable bus riding was required. It’s not that the distances are so great – probably less than 20 miles. It’s that traffic moves at such a slow pace. Roads are OK but traffic, a mixture of motor scooters, cars and trucks – is snarled. Motor scooters seemed more prevalent here than on Bali, maybe indicative of the relative economic condition between the two.
For us, the most interesting part of today’s touring was not the attractions but seeing how people work and live, as best as can be seen from a tour bus. I while away the hours on the bus taking pictures of people, shops and houses. You can suffer through today’ s shots to see what I mean.
One thing that you see here and a lot of other developing nations is a plethora of small food stands and kiosks, often selling just a few items. It’s never clear to me how the people sitting in their stalls can ever make a living. There are so many of them and so few customers. I don’t get it. Then again, I never walk through a shopping mall back home without wondering how all those shoe stores can ever stay in business. How many shoe stores does the world need?
On the other hand, there were several new housing developments that we saw going up on our way back to the ship. Our guide said that the average 20-year mortgage would run 1,000,000 rupiah per month, equivalent to about $600. That’s a lot in this economy.
The temple that I visited was built in 1744 as a Hindu temple. Today, it welcomes worshipers from all faiths, including Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists and Christians. Indonesians pride themselves in their religious tolerance.
We attended a history lecture this evening about the spread of Islam throughout Southeast Asia and Indonesia in particular. Islam came to this region through the activities of Arabian and Persian traders, people interested in economic gain rather than religious evangelism. They allowed Islam to accommodate local religious beliefs, be it Hindu or even animistic religions. And Islam has never been adopted as a state religion. Indonesian law is not based on Sharia law. Religious tolerance results from the separation of church and state.
All pictures from yesterday are now on line and I think I’ve figured out the problem. Finger
Not much excitement today – just the transfer from the Laguna Hotel to the Viking Orion. We didn’t leave the hotel until 1 PM so we did breakfast, a dip in the pool and, to establish bragging rights, waded out into the Indian Ocean. The tide was coming in, so we had to wait for an hour before the swimming area had water. We found a dip in the sand that gave us knee deep coverage. We went in just about as far when we visited the beach in Durban, South Africa so our claim to fame is now well established.
The Orion is just like the Sky, the ship we sailed on when we did the Baltic in 2018, right down to the pictures on the wall. Good food, friendly staff, nice facilities. Tomorrow we’re touring the Indonesian island of Lombok, the next island east of Bali – 89 nautical miles, to be exact. We’re doing separate tours: Judy is going on a wood and pottery arts tour and I’m doing the capital of Mataram. They say it takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to anywhere interesting from the cruise port, so we may be in for more bus riding. We’ll see.
The Guest History Lecturer gave a talk on the history of Indonesia this evening before dinner. I’ll save you the details, but its history is like a lot of other places. Indigenous peoples established trading routes beginning in the 600 AD timeframe, give or take. The Portuguese explored the region (Vasco de Grama, notably). That led to spice and silk routes around Cape Horn that competed with the overland and Mediterranean routes. The English and Dutch saw a good thing and became dominant. Eventually, the Dutch traded rights to New Amsterdam (NYC) with the English, keeping in return rights to the nutmeg rich island of Run. Who got the better deal? The Japanese invaded and controlled the region during WWII. After the war, the Dutch, after a bit of fighting, gave in and Indonesia became independent. Two dictators, Sukarno and Suharto, ruled the nominally democratic country until brought down by corruption. Now the country’s population has stabilized at around 280 million. Its chief exports are petroleum and palm oil. Bali is the strongest island economy due to tourism. It’s a mecca for fun-seeking folks, especially from Australia. Think the Caribbean for the U.S.
One final note on Bali. Bali, as I said yesterday, is 90% Hindu. Indonesia as a whole is 90% Muslim. Bali has its own marriage customs, family groupings and many other cultural characteristics. It has its own language. Our guide, Ayu, worries that, while the Hindu religion practiced by most people in Bali is not in danger, the language and culture of Bali might be diluted and lost. I asked our historian about this. He said that religious tolerance is a real thing in Indonesia and that Bali’s strong economy should keep it safe. Time will tell. Social media and kids being kids are pretty strong forces in its own right.
