Category: Cruises

A Relaxing two weeks

The view as we sailed from Sydney aboard Royal Princess in March of this year.

It was a four-day sail from Sydney to Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, so St Patrick’s Day was celebrated at sea.

As we approached Noumea it was strange to see broken water so far off the coast. It was as if we were passing a reef or large sandbank.

A distant shot.

Maureen & I had been to Noumea a few times, so we decided to walk to the local market – partly for exercise and for Maureen to check the items for sale. We reached the market area, and it was all closed – we had arrived on a Monday. So we started back to the ship because it looked like it was about to rain. On the way back I took the photos of a Tchou Tchou train – Noumea is famous for these trains, there are several and each one is a different colour. I don’t know if the colour denotes the route or if they all do the same route.

I took the above from our balcony, as you see we were in a working port because the cruise terminal was occupied by another cruise ship. The other vessel can be seen just under the second crane. Not long after we reboarded it started to rain.

Our next stop was Mystery Island, which is a small island in the Vanuatu Group. To get ashore was a tender job.

The island had a grass strip airport, which is seven feet (2 mtrs) above sea-level. The airline services the island twice a week, because the island is uninhabited and is only populated when a cruise ship arrives. The correct name of the island is Inyeug. We walked around the island in just over thirty minutes.

Our cruise ship through the trees.

The weather looked like it was turning from a beautiful tropical paradise to a soaking rain day so we caught the next shuttle back to the ship.

Just as we arrived at the ship it started to rain.

Within a few minutes after we boarded it became a tropical downpour. Long lines for the tender stretched along the shore and people were quickly soaked. The island did not have any shelter – only an occasional palm tree.
You can guess the conversation for the rest of the day.


Our next port was Port Vila the capital of Vanuatu – the above as we entered the harbour.

Small coasters & fishing boats as we moved slowly alongside the wharf. 

I have always liked Vanuatu and the capital having visited the area on business in the 1980’s. It hadn’t changed all that much -but as we went alongside the wharf, we realised just how heavy the rain had become. It was pouring down. We had planned a visit to a well-known duty-free shop in the town centre (about seven minutes from the ship by mini-bus.)
So, it was umbrella time and a ‘fast’ run to a minibus – ever tried running with an umbrella in heavy rain and avoid the puddles (small lakes in places). Cost to the duty-free shop $5, it has been $5 for years. Vanuatu is not a rich country but has some very good resorts and the people are very friendly, it is popular holiday place with the Australians & Kiwis.
As you see in the picture below the roads are not as well cared for as most of the roads in Sydney.

I took this outside the duty free shop as we waited for our mini-bus to take us back to the ship.
I had bought two bottles of spirits, Bombay Sapphire 1.25 ltr for AUD $26 and a 1.25 ltr Scotch whisky for AUD $46 and both were delivered to the ship free of charge and they were well packed for carrying off the ship in Sydney- great customer service and a lot cheaper than the duty free shop on the ship.
Before Covid this duty free shop had a large range of goods for sale, and I wanted to buy an new electric razor and considered I’d wait until Port Vila. The choice was one single electric razor and the choice of other items was very limited, once the cruise ships and holiday makers had stopped due to Covid the economy had crashed.

A day at sea as we sailed for Fiji, the weather was beautiful, the sea was calm, and the Seaview Bar was the place to be for a pre-lunch drink.

Sunrise as we approached Lautoka in Fiji – which is the main port for the export of sugar.

For me the only way to shop – the locals brought their shops to the ship, Maureen was happy, and I bought two shirts, both made in Fiji, I checked.
Next stop in Fiji was Suva the capita, designated as such in 1882.

The ship docked so close to the city centre which was about a five-minute walk into town.
We had visited the Suva area on previous trips so we just wandered around the town, until it got too hot and we were back on board quick sharp.
Once again stalls were set up along the wharf and Maureen bought a set of earrings – a lot easier than going from shop to shop and they were cheaper.
Next morning as we approached Dravuni Island.
Another tender port – the island has about 150 people, including children and they have their own school.


I’ve posted about this island in other blogs so will not repeat myself, but see below for the link.

It was very peaceful sitting facing aft with the Outrigger Bar behind us. The ship moved gently at anchor as the scenery slid by.

Dravuni Island

If you are interested in earlier post about Fiji when it was called the Cannibal Is. check November 2021.
Other posts about about Suva December 2019
Mystery Island May 2023.
Port Vila – when it was dry – December 2019 


Two days left

Burnie (circled) is on the northern coast of Tasmania.

Compared to mainland Australia Tasmania looks ‘small’ but to give you a better idea of the size of Tasmania the island is a similar size to Ireland, and larger than Belgium, Denmark or Sri Lanka.

Once again, the shuttle bus service was free to visit the town. When the bus stopped near the town centre the Lady Mayoress of Burnie, Teeny Brumby, boarded to welcome us to her town. She had her chain of office around her neck but not the cloak.

It was a nice touch and must have been tiering for her because she welcomed each of the buses – Coral Princess had 1900 passengers, but I don’t know how long she kept up the welcoming.

Sunday in Bernie – the main street was quiet

There was a small local craft market near were the coaches stopped, but all the main street shops were closed except for the Red Cross shop – again.

The local beach was popular for exercise.

One of Burnie’s main exports is wood chip – nearly two million tons a year and nearly a million tons of logs.

Emu Bay as we sailed from Burnie.

Pilot boat coming alongside to ferry the pilot back ashore.
Photo taken from our balcony.

It was an overnight sail from Bernie to Hobart.

View from our balcony as we moved alongside.

The boat harbour and the Coral Princess can just be seen on the right side of the photo.

Later in the morning the light was different. Coral Princess in the background.

Seals in the harbour – statues

There was a competition on the ship for creating a model. The above is the winner – it took the creator & his wife four days of solid work. The model was made from cardboard.
You cannot see in the above photograph but each porthole on the model has the face of a different crew member. See below.

The swimming pool crew did not just stack towels  . . . . 

There was a small museum onboard about how things were ‘done’ in earlier times. It was interesting and I was surprised to see a BISNC vessel.

When I was at sea it was with this company British India Steam Navigation Co Ltd. (I could not see or work out the ship’s name.)

This one was easier P&O Moldavia – 1922 built in Birkenhead (the town where I was born) by Cammell Lairds Ship building.
She was built for the Australian run – her final voyage was in September 1937 from Sydney to the UK.
In April 1938 she was sold for the breakers yard in Newport, Monmouth shire.

I was returning a book to the ship’s library and noticed a middle-aged lady (couldn’t say old lady because I think I am older than her) sorting returned books into alphabetical order.
She was using the area on the left of the picture.
The lady was not in uniform nor did she have a badge indicating that she was a member of the crew so I asked if she was a crew member.
‘No Dear’ she replied, “I just like to keep busy.’
Then it occurred to me that perhaps she and her husband were the couple who had been sailing in Coral Princess for a long time and had been on TV.
I asked if she was the lady who had been onboard for 450 days, ‘No Dear’ she replied, ‘I think it is nearly closer to 700 days.’
Then we were interrupted as other passengers entered to return books. 

###########    

All of a sudden it is time to pack – 28 days can go very fast on a holiday.

Welcome to Sydney at 5.30 am, at least it was warm enough for shorts. 

Around Australia with six days to go

Adelaide

On arrival in Adelaide, we were met by Maureen’s cousin Hazel and her husband Ray and they kindly took us to Hahndorf which is a short drive in to the hills from Adelaide.
The small town has a German background so rather than repeat myself I have added a link to a blog about Hahndorf that I posted in 2016. Not much had changed since our first visit because the small town is a protected town.
There was one noticeable change for me because when we visited a German style restaurant for lunch and ordered a German beer for Ray and myself, I was asked to pay $30 deposit for the ‘steins’ and a lot less for the actual beer. I’ve never been asked to pay a deposit for a beer container.

At the end of the lunch, I did receive my deposit back as I paid the bill.

A Stirling coincidence

Melbourne

                                                  Our next stop was Melbourne.
In Melbourne we were met by two old friends that we hadn’t seen for thirty-eight years.
We used to live near each other in the early 1980’s when Maureen I built our first house in 1981 in a small (as it was then) town called Sunbury (named after the London Sunbury). 

Sometime in 1981, I’m with our two children next to the bricks that would be used to build our home. At that time, we lived in rented accommodation about an hour’s drive from where we planned live.
We visited the sight to make sure that the correct bricks (as in colour & texture) had been delivered. I did not want anything to go wrong. As you can see the area was wide open, the only thing that had already been built was the road through the anticipated new suburb.

We were keen to move in to be ready for the new school year for our son & daughter.
The school was a new school, and we wanted our two children to start school at the same time as every other child in the area. 
The above is my son on his first day at school, our daughter experienced her first day at school in the UK.
I posted the above to show the wide-open space that was in front of our house. 

Our first house built in 1981 – photograph taken 2023 – how time flies.

When we moved in we didn’t have a neighbour on both sides – the one on the left was being built and the other side was an empty plot of land. 
I looked across the road and the views were of houses as far as I could see.
We used to be able to see Mount Macedon, where the movie Picnic at Hanging Rock was set, now the view was no more. Below is a link to a blog about the bush fire that we experienced in Sunbury, our first Australian bush fire. The first half of the post has nothing to do with the bushfire.

Christmas 1981 to Feb 1983.

The one place in Sunbury that had not changed in 38 years was the local church, St Mary’s Anglican church. 

In 2017 the church congregation celebrated the 150th year of Christian services.

New shopping centre, car yards on the outskirts, new home site areas pegged out for house after house, the place had grown.

On our return to the ship, I tried to capture the new feel of Melbourne. When we lived in Melbourne the drive from home was along country lanes to the airport area followed by freeway into the city.

Today the three-lane freeway has been upgraded to a five (I think) lane freeway that allows for high speed travel. Passing the airport, which was opened in 1970, the freeway continued a lot closer to Sunbury than I remembered and much of the land around the airport that used to be fields is now a cargo village and other support industries for the airport.
I suppose this is progress.

The journey back to the ship would take us over the West Gate Bridge, which opened in 1978. I lived in Melbourne from late 1980 t0 1985 and never had cause to use this bridge, but we would today. 

Elevated loop of M1 Melbourne highway going through West Gate bridge during rush hour high traffic time with lots of driving cars above local residential houses.

Above picture off the internet

Melbourne CBD as we approached the West Gate Bridge that took us over the Yarra River. 

The West Gate Bridge as we approached the area where the cruise ship was berthed. The bridge carried five lanes each way at high speed, and I was glad that I was not navigating.

I took the above from the road to illustrate how green the area is where the cruise ships dock along a dedicated cruise pier.

At the end of the street our cruise ship can be seen

It was farewell Melbourne.

Sailing around Australia part five

A night alongside as we waited for the wind to drop –

We had the entertainment in the evening Drew Levi Huntsman who sang and played music from Elton John & Billy Joel, but mainly Elton John.

Saturday was supposed to be alongside in Fremantle (11th November) but we didn’t go alongside until around 8.00 pm on the 11th. Best laid plans etc – we had arranged to meet friends on the 11 th for lunch, but fortunately we were able to contact them about the delay.

The following day being Sunday meant that the local shops in Fremantle would not be opening until 11.00 am and we were to meet our friends at 11.30 am.
BUT there was a silver lining the Sunday Market was open.

Clothes and more clothes and crowds.

  

It didn’t take long for Maureen & I to have our fill of the market.

 Walking past the closed shops I had to take this picture . . .mainly for Liverpool & Birkenhead readers.

For those who may not know of the word Scouse is a name given to those born in and around Merseyside UK.

It was a short walk from the market to the area where we disembarked from our shuttle bus.
We wanted to see parts of the old town near St John’s Anglican church.

The current church is the second church on this site – the first being opened in 1843 and the current church was consecrated in 1882.

After we had walked around the outside of St John’s church, I saw a statue close to the Church and walked over to read the details.

After reading the outline of Vice Marshall’s record I photograph the statue.

Air Vice Marshal
Hughie Idwal Edwards
The Air Vice Martial began his military life in the Royal Australian Air Force in 1935, and in 1936 was transferred to the RAF in the UK. 

In April 1940 his war began –

4th July 1941 Distinguished Flying Cross
22nd July 1941 Awarded the Victoria Cross 
8th January 1943 Distinguished Service Order  
01 January 1945 Mentioned in Dispatches 

and in peacetime  . . . .

11th February 19 1947 Officer of the Order of the British Empire
11th January 1959 Companion of the Order of the Bath
 01 July 1959 appointed as aide-de-camp to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
8th October 1974 Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George 
1974 – 1975 Governor of Western Australia 
For more details click the link below.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hughie_Edwards

He became the most highly decorated Australian serviceman of WW2.

The Vice Marshall’s parent were Welsh, but he was born in Fremantle.
Idwal is Welsh for ‘Lord of the Wall’.
There is a small lake in the Snowden National Park in North Wales named Llyn Idwal. (Lake Idwal)

It was a pleasant sunny day to just wander around the quiet streets and the only shop that we saw open before 11.00 was the Australian Red Cross shop with a sign welcoming cruise passengers. 

I took the above picture because of the old building – I liked it – I think it is called Higham’s Building.
The above picture with people on the left is the location of the Australian Red Cross – it was popular being the only shop open. 

We met our friends and they had arranged a lovely lunch at their home.
Later they were kind enough to drive us back to the ship – after such a beautiful day the weather let us down as we approached the cruise ship. 

The delay in Geraldton due to bad weather Coral Princess was forced to cancel our visit to Busselton (Margaret River wine area) and Albany, which is close to being the southernmost tip of Western Australia, famous for being the last port of call for troops leaving Australia in WW1. 

I have marked the two missed ports – our next port would be Adelaide the other side of the Great Australian Bight

 

We sailed from Fremantle on the evening of the 12th of November and arrived in Adelaide on the morning of the 16th November.
Some might say that the days at sea were too long, but for me it brought back memories of the ‘cleanliness’ of the sea and the pleasure of the isolation in the vastness of the ocean.
Going to sea in the 1960’s without satellites, without the internet, without mobile phones, without I pads, without Google maps, without TV unless you were alongside in port – being at sea was ‘clean’- we navigated using a sexton,  

The basic concept hasn’t changed as to working out latitude. 

and thanks to John Harrison and his Chronometer we worked out our longitude.

As a cadet we read a lot, studied somewhat, and worked alongside the crew to learn as much as we could because one day, if we passed our exams, we would be a deck officer. 
I do not know if the use of a sextant & chronometer is still taught to budding deck officers.  

Sailing aground Australia part three

It was an overnight cruise from Kuri Bay to Broome and this time we moved alongside the ‘new’ pier. Maureen and I visited Broome for a holiday in 2016 and I don’t think they had such a long pier at that time.

Once again, we were able to take the free shuttle in to the town centre. The town had not changed that much, and we were able to have a walk around, but not too long as it was very hot.
After our holiday in 2016 I wrote blogs about Broome so I didn’t wish to repeat a blog I have included three links below and as the area around Broome hasn’t changed much new readers might find the links interesting.

Remember when?

String of Pearls

Come fly with me!

From Broome we sailed for Geraldton, which took us two days at sea.
On the 9th of November, while at sea off the coast of Western Australia near Monkey Is. a remembrance service for HMAS Sydney, which was sunk in these waters on the 19th of November 1941.

The service was held in the theatre at 11.00 am – the theatre was packed.

Above photograph is of the Australian ex-servicemen who arranged the service and also handed out poppies and service sheets as we entered the theatre.
The service was a combined service for Remembrance Day (11th Nov) and a memorial service for the crew of HMAS Sydney, none of the crew of HMAS Sydney survived.
Our schedule was that we would arrive in Fremantle on the 11th November – a port day.
If you wish to read of the battle see the link below – the wreck of both vessels in the battle were located in 2008.
https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/hmas_sydney

The Last Post was played, followed by a minute’s silence – followed by Reveille.

The Last Post

Sailing around Australia part two

After leaving Darwin we experienced a Kimberley Coastal cruise as we made our way to Kuri Bay.

A coastline mile after mile (kilometre after kilometre doesn’t have the same ring) of un-spoilt and untouched coastline.

I doubt that there is much change since William Dampier visited the area in 1688.

Just above the K in Kimberley you can see Kuri Bay where we anchored for some hours.
This bay is only accessible by ship or seaplane, it is the location of Australia’s first south sea pearl farm, which began in 1956 after the West Australian Government repealed the Pearling Act that prohibited the production, sale and possession of cultured pearls.
The nearest town is Derby, which is 223 km (139 miles) south west, not that the distance matters as there isn’t a road or track.

As for going ashore this was only allowed if you were part of a shore excursion.
Going ashore was by tender shuttle and you were warned that this area is one of the hottest areas in Australia.
If you had booked to go ashore you were expected to be fit enough to walk for an hour and a half and be able to climb an unmade pathway. In addition, you had to take your own water and you were warned that there weren’t any toilet facilities.
If you didn’t have the energy to visit the pearl farm yo could take a seaplane trip in one of the pearl farm company’s Mallard aircraft built in 1947.

  The aircraft held a maximum of ten passengers and two pilots – the aircraft was busy all day, and landing was never dull for the plane spotters on the ship.
The pearl farm is owned by a company called Paspaley Pearl which has a string of pearl farms across the north of Australia, the head office is in Broome.

I found it a lot easier to climb a bar stool than pearl farm hill.

I might not have captured a sunrise but as we sailed from Kuri Bay, I took this sunset from our cabin.

and a little later.

Princess often has specialist speakers, and most are very good and interesting. Maureen and I listened to one speaker chatting about Kuri Bay, – he was interesting and had plenty of slides to illustrate his talk. He did warn people who had booked to visit the pearl farm to be very careful during the walk to & from the pearl farm because most accidents happened as people walked down the hill not up the hill.
Plus don’t leave the path due to snakes and unfriendly insects. As I listened the speaker confirmed my choice not to go ashore . . .

The staff who work at the pearl farm are flown in and out I think every three months.
The technical staff who deal with the oysters and implant the seed are highly trained Japanese. The pearl is the only gem made by a living creature.

As the afternoon drew to a close, I couldn’t stop clicking the camera.
The whole area was wild and untamed – civilization was our next stop – Broome.

A Happy and safe 2024 to all who follow and read my blog – thank you.

Sail around Australia part one

Coral Princess – launched in 2002, maximum passenger number 1970, crew of 900 – maiden voyage January 2003. She and her sister ship Island Princess are the two smallest vessels in the Princess fleet. It is thought that the Coral & Island were kept by Princess because they were the only vessels small enough to pass through the Panama Canal.
Since 2016 when the new expansion of the canal was initiated the canal can now handle larger vessels.
I have heard that Coral Princess will be transferred to P & O Australia in a year or two.

Maureen & I had a balcony which we had booked a year in advance – I tried for a mini-suit but they had all been sold. The balcony cabin was fine except for the size of the shower – it worked well but I had to turn around to soap certain parts if I did not wish to turn the water off. It was challenging to keep the plastic shower curtain inside the shower base.

The view from our balcony – couldn’t complain.

Attending muster stations is no longer required – it is all on the TV – watch it on TV and then report to your muster station to be checked. The act of watching on TV I think registers on the system and on visiting the muster station your cabin key which is a Medallion     is scanned. The Medallion system worked very well. I have explained how the system works in earlier post, but will be happy to go into detail if asked.

Our cabin was on the starboard side and as we would be sailing north along the east coast of Australia, I would be able to photograph the sunrise from our balcony.

The best laid plans etc  . .

At least later in the day it was pleasant enough to sit outside.

Brisbane – the Coral Princess was one of the Company’s smallest vessels, yet it is still too large to pass under the bridge that crosses the Brisbane River. 
Brisbane’s cruise terminal is one of the most unattractive of all the cruise ports that I have experienced.
From our balcony we could see Brisbane airport and the various aircraft taking off and landing. There is a rail system from the airport into the city but there isn’t any public transport between the cruise terminal and the airport for passengers to use the rail system.
Princess arranged coaches from the cruise terminal to the city which takes about forty minutes at a cost of $40 per person round trip.
The first departure was 8.30 am and that group of people would be expected to reboard the coach for the return trip around 1.00 pm .
It was not a satisfactory arrangement, and the weather was not all that friendly with the promise of rain so Maureen and I decided to stay on board the ship.
This was our second visit to Brisbane via a cruise ship and we have yet to visit the city Centre.
The terminal cost $177 million dollars and was opened in 2020. To me it would be ideal for a fast river ‘cat’ to operate a service to/from the cruise terminal to encourage passengers to visit Brisbane city and spend money. We were not the only passengers who decided not to visit Brisbane because it was ‘all too hard’.

Our next port of call, which is stretching things a little, because it was an island, and the passengers were not allowed a shore.
We cruised off Willis Island and listened to a lecture about the island which is a weather station located 450 km (280 miles) off the coast of Australia.   I am writing this on the 16th December and a few days ago the island staff were evacuated due to tropical cyclone Jasper. Click below for the short film.

Evacuation

Finely managed to photograph the sunrise as we steamed towards Cairns.

On arrival in Cairns, we moored alongside at the passenger terminal which is only a short walk to the shopping area.
Larger vessel in the fleet would anchor off Yorkies Knob and the passengers would be tendered ashore and take buses to the city centre.

The dark building near the ship is Hemingway’s a brewery –
we couldn’t knock the welcome to Cairns. 

I took the above to record the artistical feel of the wharf, the brewery was on my left and the ship cast a shadow behind me. 

Cairns is a pleasant town with buildings that remind one of yesteryear. The last time we visited Cairns was around 1990, and not a lot had changed – wide streets, slow traffic, friendly people and the streets were clean.

As we walked around the town I clicked away with my camera but for some reason only a few registered – the above two are from the internet.

A gentle reminder to us that Cairns was a working port and we had to wait our turn to sail.

                                           Atlantic Infinity – Registered in Majuro 
Majuro is the capital and largest city of the Marshall Islands, which is a coral atoll of sixty-four islands in the Pacific Ocean, one of them being Bikini Atoll of atomic bomb fame.
We sailed soon after for Darwin.
The morning that we arrived I took the above photo – thick fog perhaps – but it was condensation on the lens of my camera as I stood on our balcony for less than thirty seconds.

A dry cloth and we were back to normal.

Our plan for Darwin was to visit the Cyclone Tracy Museum where they had a soundproof room to experience the recorded sound as Cyclone Tracy ‘attacked’ Darwin.

The aftermath of Darwin after the cyclone – picture from National Museum of Australia.

The cyclone wiped out 80% of Darwin, with winds as high as 217 km/hour (135 mph), seventy-one people were killed during the 24th to 26th December 1974, a Christmas never to be forgotten. 

The howl of the wind in the blacked out soundproof room was frightening, what it must have been like for the locals in 1974 I cannot imagine.  

Twisted powerlines during the cyclone – picture from Territorial Generation

Part of the wind damaged power equipment in the museum – I took the above photograph in 2018. 

Nukuʻalofa.

The Royal Palace in Nukuʻalofa, which is the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga. I took the photograph from our balcony as we slowly approached the wharf.

The maps below will give you an idea of the location of Tonga.

The pier as we came alongside. We could see the locals setting up stalls all along the pier.

As we came alongside a small band and a group of singers began singing songs of welcome.

Leaving the ship, we walked past a long row of stalls selling Tongan made items. The Tongans were polite and happy and did not try the hard sell – I don’t think this selling technique is in their nature.

Maureen & I in front of the Palace – the King no longer lives here, but the palace is still used for ceremonial purposes.
The Palace was dedicated in 1867as the royal residence of King George Tupou 1, and it is made from Kauru wood and has only required one major interior renovation, which took place in 2008.

Wherever we went we met happy friendly people, no wonder Tonga is also known as the Friendly Isles. Everyone smiled and wished us good morning or Malo e tau ma’u a pongipongini! which means good morning.

As we walked along the main street we came across a building flying the Union Flag of the UK so we looked closely and saw that it was High Commission of New Zealand, so I can only assume that the British High Commissioner was not in Tonga and the New Zealand High Commissioner was looking after British interests.
To clarify, amongst the members of the Commonwealth members do not send ambassadors to each other but High Commissioners.

Basilica of St Anthony of Padua

Just one of the churches that we saw in Tonga.

Nuku’alofa’s Free Church of Tonga.

The free Wesleyan church of Tonga was founded in 1885. In 1983 it was decided to build a Centennial Free Church of Tonga.
The foundation stone was laid in 1983 by his Majesty Tāufaʻāhau Tupou IV and the new church was opened in 1985.
Unfortunately, in 2018, the church was so badly damaged by Cyclone Gita it was forced to close.
For those who remember, the Tongan King who laid the foundation stone was the son of Queen Sālote Tupou III who attended the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953.
Most British people have a soft spot for Queen Salote because when it rained during the drive to the coronation she refused to cover up. Her attitude was if the people can stand in the rain while watching the parade, I can ride in the rain and wave.

More damage could be seen down the side of the church.

Across from the church we could see The Royal Tombs, which were constructed in 1893, Mala’eKula (Red Ground) is the official name for the resting place King George Tupou 1, the modern father of Tonga. The area is part of the Royal Estate and the reason it is called the Red Ground was to represent the blood of Christ.
Queen Salote is also buried in the Royal Tombs.

We walked around the outside of the Palace and I put my hand through the railings to get the above picture, which also shows our cruise ship.

Maureen and the Coat of Arms for Tonga, which was designed in 1875 with the creation of the constitution.

The three swords represent the three dynasties or lines of the kings of Tonga, namely the Tuʻi Tonga, Tuʻi Haʻatakalaua and the current Tuʻi Kanokupolu). Tonga was united under King Siaosi Tupou I, who then orchestrated the formation of the first formal government and also the coat of arms. The dove with the olive branch symbolises the wish of God’s peace to reign in Tonga forever (the dove and olive branch are taken from the story of Noah and the Great Flood in the Bible).

The three stars symbolise the main island groups of Tonga, which are Tongatapu, Vavaʻu and Haʻapai. The Crown symbolises the ruling monarchy, the King of Tonga. The text on the scroll at the bottom reads Ko e ʻOtua mo Tonga ko hoku Tofiʻa in the Tongan language: ‘God and Tonga are my inheritance’.
Information taken from the internet.

We had walked all around the Palace and had hoped that we could walk along the waterfront area back to our starting point.
Unfortunately,the Palace grounds extended into the water so we had to retrace our steps, which was not far but it was a hot day.

It had been over thirty years since my last visit to Tonga and the only item that was ‘new’ for me was the wharf where our cruise ship berthed. The older but smaller pier remains could be seen. In town there were a few newer buildings but overall it was much the same as I remembered.

A couple of years ago I wrote about the history of Tonga and how they became Christian. If this is of interest the link below will take you to that blog.

Tonga- the The Friendly Is.

If you have read the above older blog link, I never saw any old freighters just waiting and waiting, and the image of ‘Lord Jim’ did not appear, Tonga had moved on.

AWBF

Australian Wooden Boat Festival.

This boat festival is held every two years (except during Covid) in Hobart, Tasmania and this year it was held from the 10th to the 13th February. Our cruise ship arrived in Hobart of the morning of the 14th February and I was hoping to see various older sailing vessels leaving port on the 14th because the festival had ended.

This did not happen but I managed to see certain vessels in port.

The approach to Hobart from our cabin.

 

The navy is in port – as we slowly approached our berth. 

 

It was a short walk from the ship to the boat harbour – on the left side of the picture you can see crew members repairing some of the gear.

It was difficult to photograph various ships because of the position of the sun – it was so bright that I could not see the target so it was a touch of point and click and hope for the best.

I recognised the ‘James Craig‘ having seen her in Sydney.

James Craig is a barque, launched in 1874 having been built by Bartram, Haswell & Co., of Sunderland, England.

Her history – originally named Clan Macleod for Thomas Dunlop & Sons of Glasgow. The company was one of the three companies that merged to create the British shipping company called Clan Line. 

Clan Macleod was sold in 1887 to the Fa. Russell & Co. Glasgow
In 1900 she was sold again to Mr J J Craig of Auckland and renamed  James  Craig and she sailed under the New Zealand flag.
In 1911 she was stripped and used as a copra hulk in New Guinea, later in 1918 she was refitted and traded as a sailing ship until the early 1920’s.
Later again she was a coal hulk in Recherche Bay Tasmania, and in 1932 was beached and abandoned after breaking her moorings during a storm.
It was not until 1972 when volunteers from Sydney Heritage Fleet re-floated her and had her towed to Sydney in 1981.

In 1985 Maureen & I moved from Melbourne to Sydney and that was the first time we saw the ‘James Craig‘ and wonder if she would ever be restored to be a sailing ship again. 
In 1997 the volunteers had completed their work and she was re-launched and rigged as a barque.

James Craig when she was a hulk in Tasmania – photo taken by Alan Edenborough about 1970.

A more modest sailing vessel – she is the ‘One and all’.
One and All is a South Australian vessel launched in 1985. The objective of One and All is to provide young South Australians the opportunity for self-discovery and self-development, and to experience adventure while learning.

Just to show how close our cruise ship berthed to the sailing vessels the bow of the Celebrity Eclipse can be seen.   
If you are interested in a short video of the James Craig click on the link below, the video is about five minutes.  

James Craig

The show must go on

We watched several shows while cruising with Celebrity Eclipse.

The above was an acrobat show with music and dancing.

Fish, I think.

and a dragon – but couldn’t see the link but that didn’t matter it was entertaining.

The acrobat/dancers were very fit and skillful.

Another evening it was a Rock show

                                               It was loud and fast.

The black circle is a lift that one of the acrobats used to exit the stage via summersaults – as he made his dive the stage opened. It was quite an exit.

Another night it was a female singer that sang famous songs and sounded like the original artist. She had a very powerful voice. I checked her on Youtube and it appears that she has been in many shows and is well known. I should get out more.

                   Check her out Debra Krizak

Not a very good photo of her, but I was a long way away. She sang virtually non-stop for 45 minutes.

Her act was – There’s a lady on Stage . . 

She was only on the ship for one night and left in Hobart to fly back to Sydney. I think she joined in Adelaide.

The dancers come acrobats were very good as were the singers and dancer during the rock program, in all cases they were backed by a live orchestra.  

We missed seeing the next singer 

Chantelle Delaney

We did see Jeff Green an Australian comedian.

Unfortunately we missed Andrew Lee who is a Mentalist & a Magician. He won the Britain’s Got Talent in 2018.

Andrew Lee