Cruising from Bali to Irian Jaya and down to Cairns

[Daver6]

Woot! I figured this out. I’ve been bumped up to the next status tier of Grand Admiral. I have a feeling Grand is in the sense of the French word but I’ll take it anyway.

Grand Admiral is the third of four tiers and I would say it’s equivalent to being Platinum, and it’s for life.

I have quite a few Ponant cruises booked but recently they changed the status achievement by the fact you have to actually finish the cruise rather than booking it but I must’ve crept in just before they brought in that rule.

So grand admiral are your personal pronouns now and I shall address you as such in person

 

[RooFlyer]

So grand admiral are your personal pronouns now and I shall address you as such in person

GA should be OK in most circumstances.


Last night was the Captain's Gala dinner preceded by coughtails on the pool deck, where the executive team was introduced.






Abd then, a first for me - attended a show on board. 'Beatlemania' - was pretty good.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Never thought of white chocolate with Cauliflower @RooFlyer - your verdict?

 

[VPS]

Never thought of white chocolate with Cauliflower @RooFlyer - your verdict?

Personally I like cauliflower but white chocolate will ruin everything

 

[RooFlyer]

Never thought of white chocolate with Cauliflower @RooFlyer - your verdict?

"OK" but it commented on unfavourably by others at the table.

 

[RooFlyer]

We approached Komodo Island at 6am. The Komodo National Park consists of several islands of which Komodo is the largest. the dragons are on 5 of them. I guess everyone knows about the Komodo dragons - largest reptile EDIT: lizard (thanks @Human) on earth. Kills prey - deer, pigs, cattle with a single bite that takes a short time to die.

Komodo dragon - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

An early breakfast as we were off at 7:20 to best see the dragons and avoid the heat. Chef at the ready



Moored at the pier - advantage of small ship cruising! The green tent things is the tourist 'market' and there are (basic) toilets there, shelters etc. The village is somewhere distant. 4G mobile coverage.



We were warned that we would 'probably see dragons, but within 5 minutes, and during the initial talks by local guides, we had three.









This was a 2.5 hour, 3km level walk; each group of 15 had a guide and 2 locals with poles with forks at the end, .... just in case ...

AS we walked on two more. Don't be fooled - there are several rows of curved teeth in there:

 

[RooFlyer]

We came to a clearing called 'the hunting ground'. There is water piped there to attract the deer etc, so the dragons can have a feed. Three more dragons.

They use their tongues to smell, like other lizards.

You got quite close to them ... maybe within 2 metres? This guy came straight at me, so I backed off

 

[Human]

Great photos @RooFlyer !

 

[Human]

the Komodo dragons - largest reptile on earth

Largest reptile on earth or largest lizard? I thought the saltwater croc was the largest reptile.

 

[RooFlyer]

Largest reptile on earth or largest lizard? I thought the saltwater croc was the largest reptile.

Correct - largest lizard; I shall amend

Moving on, and a great sight. Komodos take the mounded nests of scrub fowls - about the size of a chook:





and excavate them in order to lay their own eggs. They make two digs - a deep one, and a shallow one, apparently to act as a decoy.

This gal had just started this today and is way early, but it was a wonderful sight.

Another one wandered past

 

[RooFlyer]

Feeling pretty chuffed,one of the local 'guards' spotted something just off the track. A baby dragon (maybe 3/4 m long), up a tree. They live there for a year or two to avoid being eaten by other dragons,

On the other side of the tree ... just the tail



But it climbed down



and walked off. Nicer colouring than the adults

What we didn't see that one group did was a dragon eat a small deer - alive. Guides said they might see that once a year.

 

[RooFlyer]

A few plants - including palms and orchids









Token bird - sulphur-crested coughatoo (?variant)!

 

[RB001]

sulphur-crested coughatoo (?variant)

A relative, of sorts. Namely the yellow-crested coughatoo.
Almost all sulphur-crests don't have the yellow patch on the cheek (subtle on your friends above), and are bigger in general, which doesn't help when you don't know their age!

Yellow-crested cockatoo - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[RooFlyer]

Back to the boat



... passing this guy flaked under a jetty



and a bit further on this guy and another one. Total sighted about a dozen.



Set sail, north between many islands



Lunch on the pool deck. I sat with a lady from Geneva, a gent from Montreal and another lady from Paris.



Bought this German Riesling for about 40 euro I think, but then a 25% status discount.

 

[RooFlyer]

A short sector, anchoring at a nearby 'pink beach'. Not really pink, just the name. Swimming and snorkelling over a reef of beige soft coals and some spectacular blue starfish.

Just had dinner with a lady from Paris; she is generous in speaking English 90% - the rest I could sort of follow if she spoke slowly. Mains of Beef Wellington with mushrooms (seriously!!)