Whispering sweet nothings.

[turtlemichael]

 

[drron]

We actually probably did wave at you Turtlemichael.

.
Within a minute the empty ferry passed us and went between the 2 Silversea ships.

 

[turtlemichael]

We actually probably did wave at you Turtlemichael.

.
Within a minute the empty ferry passed us and went between the 2 Silversea ships.

Ditto Mrs drron! I asked Chef David to say hello to you both so if he hasn't you can give him a reminder. Hope your weather is as good as ours at the moment.

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 28 Feb 3 Sydney

On Day 2 in Sydney the sun came out and the and we trudged off for more shopping. It was mainly things like toothpaste and vegemite. We had lunch with Turtle 2’s sister and her husband at Baccamatto Osteria in Riley St hoping for a very good meal. It didn’t let us down. It is one of the go-tos for us in Sydney. Silversea had put on a shuttle ferry from White Bay to Circular Quay which was very convenient and made the docking place seem a bit more like the Urals rather than Siberia.

The sail out was in spectacular weather and that was Sydney. The second of the nine segments has come to an end and now it is on to Bali.


This is the second time I've posted this. Oh well

Under the bridge. I like this pic.


Farewell to the Pilot

 

[turtlemichael]

And now we head to Bali via Brisbane, Cairns, Darwin and Komodo. But there is talk of a low in the Coral Sea on Friday/Saturday. Turtle 2 says I should not look at weather forecasts!

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 30 Feb 5 Brisbane

We were on a mission in Brisbane to pick up a camera shade hood. We’d been into Ted’s Camera store in Sydney which didn’t have one but were assured, after the sales guy checked his computer, that they had plenty to Brisbane. We got the Silversea shuttle bus into town and, needless to say, Ted’s didn’t have any so we went hoodless. "We haven't had any for months, mate" We’ll try at a store we know in Cairns in a few days.

We had a quiet day, the hood hunt being the highlight. We wandered around for a while and eventually got the City Cat back to the terminal at Hamilton.

Life is tough on a world cruise.

Not sure what happened here.


That's what I'm going to need after this cruise.

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 31 Feb 6 Off Bundaberg

A special breakfast today. It was a bloody mary, champagne and caviar breakfast. Bloody marys at 9.00am go down rather well but I can't get used to how Americans put everything, sweet or savoury, on the one plate for breakfast. I have to admit though that caviar, eggs and French toast do go nicely together.

We had interesting company. It was an elderly couple from New Jersey on their 5th world cruise. They surprised us as their views were certainly not what we expected.

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 33 Feb 8 Cairns

The camera store we know in Cairns, and one other, failed the task too. No camera hood in Cairns – it had to be ordered in. But we did learn that if Camera House had had it, it would have been $25.00 cheaper than the same item from Ted’s Camera Store. Now it looks like Osaka or Hong Kong for the next attempt.

I’d been anxiously watching the weather in Cairns for the week before we arrived with the monsoon trough very active and lows reported to be spinning off during the time we’d be in the north. There are clearly not many ways to avoid a cyclone in North Queensland waters if it is in your way. You usually have to sit out the worst of it and if there is one thing cruise companies don’t want to do is to be late into the next turnover port. That for us will be Benoa, Bali in a week. They’ll skip interim ports before they allow that to happen. Fortunately, all that disruption was avoided, and Cairns put on a typically showery and steamy wet season day. The humidity was very early-February.

We docked at the terminal next to the clock tower and directly opposite the apartment we lived in for six of our 21 years in Cairns. Our day was haircuts, a skin-check from our old Cairns doctor, a quick catch-up, a walk around Rusty's Market for old time's sake and some more essential shopping. I’ve bought another jar of vegemite as some of the Australians on board seem to want to take a scoop at breakfast.

A number of people have left the ship for a 3-day overlander to Darwin, via Alice Springs and Uluru, where they’ll rejoin the ship. Our Trivia team is decimated. Those who did a trip to the Reef had a good time and those who went to the Kuranda visit loved it too. Apparently, the Barron Falls were like a mini-Niagara though Cairns has missed the volume of rain Townsville has had. We settled for a couple of early evening beers at Mondo.

We are now motoring along towards Darwin, sailing across the top of the Gulf of Carpentaria and we’ll be in Darwin in 48 hours.


The Captain watching us dock.

Rusty's market.


Mondo.

Passing Cape Melville.

We are hoping the captain isn't relying on the in suite TV for navigation or he might be confused as to what side of the equator we are.

 

[Pushka]

There’s something rather special about docking in a familiar port and doing routine things and then getting back onboard to a luxury ship.

 

[RB]

Day 33 Feb 8 Cairns
A number of people have left the ship for a 3-day overlander to Darwin, via Alice Springs and Uluru, where they’ll rejoin the ship. Our Trivia team is decimated. Those who did a trip to the Reef had a good time and those who went to the Kuranda visit loved it too. Apparently, the Barron Falls were like a mini-Niagara though Cairns has missed the volume of rain Townsville has had. We settled for a couple of early evening beers at Mondo.

.

Not sure if you have any news feeds onboard but this was a video of drone footage of Barron Falls Barron Falls, Cairns North Queensland, Phantom Drone view in Flood 27th Jan 2019 - YouTube

 

[turtlemichael]

Thanks RB. I hadn't seen that. It is very impressive! Someone who saw it said the noise was also deafening.

 

[love_the_life]

Thanks RB. I hadn't seen that. It is very impressive! Someone who saw it said the noise was also deafening.

Pity the drone footage didn’t heave out the naff soundtrack.

 

[Pushka]

Pity the drone footage didn’t heave out the naff soundtrack.

Did it? I usually don’t have volume on the iPad turned on. Otherwise the games I play are noisy.

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 37 Feb 12 Darwin

Three sea days after Cairns it was Darwin’s turn. The docking took an eternity in what appeared to be relatively easy conditions. We approached at snail’s pace and there were worried looks on the faces of the captain and the pilot. I turned out that we were catching a fairly stiff cross breeze and they were worried about the tidal depth and that we might hit the wharf. But we got there and during the day experienced one of Darwin’s massive tides. At one point the wharf was well below our window and a few hours later we had a great view of the wharf’s undercarriage.

There seems to have been a lot of building in Darwin in the few years since we were last here. It looks mainly to consist of city apartments of varying architectural merit. But it remains a sleepy town and we found it hard to believe that its population is now over 140,000.

We decided to have a quietish day and just go out to the Museum and Art Gallery at Fannie Bay. It was very impressive for a regional gallery. They have a good display about Cyclone Tracey though there is a newer one elsewhere in town I think. We discovered that Seniors in the NT get free local public transport and the Gallery was free admission, so we had a cheap day. Some people had gone on a ship’s tour to the Gallery and paid nearly USD100. We remained quietly smug.

We’d planned to go out for dinner given we were not sailing until 11.00pm but, having both acquired heavy colds, we gave that idea a miss. Half the ship seems to have sore throats. Ah, the joys of ship travel.


Sunrise as we approached.


Sadly Alex Got on the wrong bus. Not so fantastic Alex.





Boats that had made their way to Northern Australia.

 

[Pushka]

Day 37 Feb 12 Darwin

Three sea days after Cairns it was Darwin’s turn. The docking took an eternity in what appeared to be relatively easy conditions. We approached at snail’s pace and there were worried looks on the faces of the captain and the pilot. I turned out that we were catching a fairly stiff cross breeze and they were worried about the tidal depth and that we might hit the wharf. But we got there and during the day experienced one of Darwin’s massive tides. At one point the wharf was well below our window and a few hours later we had a great view of the wharf’s undercarriage.

There seems to have been a lot of building in Darwin in the few years since we were last here. It looks mainly to consist of city apartments of varying architectural merit. But it remains a sleepy town and we found it hard to believe that its population is now over 140,000.

We decided to have a quietish day and just go out to the Museum and Art Gallery at Fannie Bay. It was very impressive for a regional gallery. They have a good display about Cyclone Tracey though there is a newer one elsewhere in town I think. We discovered that Seniors in the NT get free local public transport and the Gallery was free admission, so we had a cheap day. Some people had gone on a ship’s tour to the Gallery and paid nearly USD100. We remained quietly smug.

We’d planned to go out for dinner given we were not sailing until 11.00pm but, having both acquired heavy colds, we gave that idea a miss. Half the ship seems to have sore throats. Ah, the joys of ship travel.

View attachment 154208
Sunrise as we approached.

View attachment 154209
Sadly Alex Got on the wrong bus. Not so fantastic Alex.
View attachment 154210

View attachment 154211

View attachment 154212
Boats that had made their way to Northern Australia.
View attachment 154213 View attachment 154214

Feel better soon. It’s miserable being unwell on holidays but on the other hand there’s someone doing everything for you.

 

[turtlemichael]

Feel better soon. It’s miserable being unwell on holidays but on the other hand there’s someone doing everything for you.

Thanks Pushka. I think we are well on the mend.

 

[turtlemichael]

After 11 days on the east and north coast it's time to say Goodbye Australia. There was a sort of farewell dinner last night as we were about to motor out into the Timor Sea. The Australian theme got a bit lost in translation but they did a good job and it was a fun evening. The Australia Cake turned out to be the one beyond the Tim-Tams and that kangaroo in the Dining Room window was not being hanged. The piri piri crocodile was excellent.

 

[drron]

It seems the 2020 world cruise is popular-one of our trivia team got the last suite.Everyone on the whisper early 2020 is on the world cruise-first time they have sold the whole ship for the world cruise.

 

[turtlemichael]

Day 40 Feb 15 Komodo, Indonesia

Where are these days going? The next few are going to drag a little for Turtle 2 as he has been confined to barracks. Well, sort of. His cough has persisted so he saw the doc today and she has recommended he stay in the suite and away from crowds for a day or two for his own good. He has no temperature and his chest is clear - just the bad cough along with now many others on this boat. We should all be cured by London! I am improving and I got the all clear and am allowed out! A doc consulting a doc is an interesting observation. Part of the World Cruise deal is you get included medical treatment and medicines. Looking at their price list we have saved about USD600 this morning.

The sail into Komodo at dawn was breathtaking. It is spectacular scenery. For obvious reasons we haven't gone ashore to see the dragons. We did it several years ago and it is the sort of thing you only need to do once.

I accept that the population here is trying to eke out a living but there are some disappointments for the tourist. The National Park is itself in poor condition - rubbish everywhere and poor facilities. You cannot enter the island without paying for a guided tour. Fees are very high, before the ship's add-on, so maybe some of it should be invested back into the facilities and the village. I suspect that not much of it gets to the locals looking at their housing and how the kids are dressed.

The standard form is that you are taken on a long guided trek along a muddy path through the savannah and scrub in searing heat seemingly hunting for dragons. There are several alternative paths but the one they used today was about 2-3 kilometres long. It took an hour to cover. If you see fauna of any kind, let alone dragons, you are very lucky. No one has said they did today. Eventually you come to an open area with the other tour groups and maybe by half a dozen Komodo dragons in various stages of sleep! We did see two have a fight last time and that was impressive but generally they look comatose and the odd poke from a guides stick doesn't stir them. The spot here is right beside the staff kitchen with a couple of hoses running and pieces of meat around so they are here to be fed. Once it was live goats but apparently they don't do that now. It turns out that this spot is about 100 metres from the jetty where the trek started. Therefore, it really is a performance rather than anything natural. Of well, as I said they need to make a living and we have seen them once. There are impressive animals to look at and you do get to see Komodo dragons..

Now it is on to Benoa, Bali for the end of this, the third, segment. I'll be going out to a cooking class but Turtle 2 will be cabin bound.

This guy certainly would have had a logistic problem in getting the beer on to the ship, if he had made a sale. He might not have known that there is plenty of free beer on board.
The local traders try to get the passengers on the tender to buy their wares.

 

[love_the_life]

Gorgeous sunsets. Hope you are both feeling 100% soon.