Category: Travel

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.

31st October

Coral Princess being owned by an American company, the staff followed American culture particularly for the 31st of October.
It must be me, but I find it a little odd to celebrate the dead. I know it is usually a ‘fun time’ but I still think it odd.

Various areas of the ship were decorated to celebrate the dead and the staff embraced the idea.

The above bar was the Crooners Bar – a favourite of ours for pre-dinner drinks.

At least the spider wasn’t a red back

which is a highly venomous spider that originated in S. Australia.  Whenever I see a red back, it is DEAD in a very short time!

It didn’t matter which bar we visited it was horror night. The above is the Wheelhouse Bar for a night cap after the show.

Crooner’s Bar with little green skeleton man.

The idea of celebrating the dead has been imported to Australia and appears to be a sweet begging process for children.
When I was young I was not encouraged to knock on the door of strangers. That was considered very impolite.

The 31st October during my childhood was Duck Apple Night.

Duck apple

The origin of the game has a number of answers some say it is to do with finding a mate for life, depending on how successful you are with the apples.

I’ve also read that it is to celebrate the end of gathering the harvest and the start of winter.
Whatever the reason, it was always good fun – I suppose health and safety today would ban such unhealthy games of various faces using the same water and attempting to bite in to a common apple.  c’est la vie . . .

To be fair to the American readers the British have a celebration connected with death, but on the 5th November, not the 31st October.
This is when British children create a large bonfire and place the effigy of a man at the top and set fire to the bonfire. The children stand around and watch fire consume the effigy.

Guy Fawkes – the one on the left.

Once again all to do with history, when in 1605 an attempt was made to blow up the Houses of Parliament when the King (James the 1st of England who was also James the 6th of Scotland), and his ministers were inside the building.
The plot failed and the main conspirator, Guy Fawkes, was captured on the 5th November and interrogated until he gave the names of the other plotters.

Later in January 1606 a Bill went through Parliament requiring church ministers to hold a special service of thanksgiving for the failure of the plot annually on 5 November.  This bill remained on the Statute books until 1859.

In 1790 it was reported that children were begging money for the ‘Guy Faux’, and when I was a child it was common for children to ask for a penny for the guy – they would have a dummy that they had created which was destined for the top of a bonfire and the money would buy fireworks – the fireworks represented the gunpowder below the Houses of Parliament.

Penny for the Guy ?
Those who were caught with Guy Fawkes were sentenced to be hanged, drawn, and quartered so parts of their bodies could be sent to different areas of the land as a warning.

Guy Fawkes avoided the hangman by jumping off the hangman’s scaffold which cause him to break his neck- but his body was still drawn & quartered.

Children in 1954, they have a guy and need help with the bonfire.

When I was a child the street in which I lived was nowhere near any open space, so we built our bonfire in the street – we knew where to build it because the scar from last year was still visible.
We could rely on the adults to help because creating the bonfire helped them get rid of old broken furniture and anything else that would burn.

Children at the time couldn’t understand why Bonfire Night was not a holiday . .

“Remember, remember the 5th of November, gunpowder, treason and plot; for there is a reason why gunpowder and treason should ne’er be forgot.”

A look around Darwin

Unlike Brisbane, Darwin City paid for the coaches from the ship to the tourist office in the city centre. The transport ran all day to and from the ship.

Maureen and I asked in the tourist office how to get to the Cyclone Tracy Museum. We were told that we could go by bus and the bus terminal was around the corner and it would leave in thirty minutes. Perfect for us as we wanted to buy a few things from the local shops.

The shopping area was quiet, but pleasant.

We soon found our way to the bus depot and looked around for a seat near the bus stop that we wanted – number 6. The stop that we wanted was not in the shelters shown above but in an unsheltered area, and it was hot.
As we looked around an elderly Aboriginal lady called to Maureen to sit next to her on a park bench seat that was shaded a little by bushes. So, we took the lady’s advice and joined her.
Maureen and the lady chatted about our visits to Darwin and Maureen confirmed that we were from Sydney and she asked if the lady managed to visit Sydney occasionally.
The lady answered -‘Yes Dear, I managed a visit at least once a year when I exhibit my work.’
It turned out that this lady was a famous artist.
As the bus pulled in the lady said to Maureen just wave your pension card and it’ll be free.
We asked if the ride was free even for none locals – follow me said the lady, so we did and as our artist friend boarded and waved her card at the driver we followed suite, as did a group of passengers off the Coral Princess cruise ship who had overheard our conversation with our artistic friend.

     Darwin Museum & Art Gallery 

Free to go in and visit – fully air-conditioned, with a cafe and a small shop. It is located about a ten-minute bus ride from the city centre and the bus stopped right outside the main door of the museum.

Termite mounds – the termites live off dry grass and the food is stored within the mounds where they have created storage area, living areas and tunnels. As the termite numbers grow so they expand the mound and have been known to be over seven meters tall (twenty-three feet).
I took the photograph and it towered over me.

Giant sponge

Found at a depth of 40 mtrs (130 feet) in the 1990’s and is considered to be about a hundred years old.

The museum is full of interesting sea and plant life, but I have to mention

A large male crocodile called Sweetheart.

I think this picture gives a better idea of how big the crocodile was when it was capture in 1979, but during the capturing procedure the crocodile drowned.
It was renowned for attacking fishing boats and the authorities were concerned that someone would be killed or seriously injured during an attack.
It is thought that the sound of the motor boat may have sounded like another male crocodile.
Sweetheart is 5.1 mtrs long (17 feet) and weighed 780 kgs (1720 pounds) and he lived in Sweet’s Lagoon, which is a long the Finneiss River and was known locally as Sweetheart.
It is thought that at the time of death Sweetheart was about fifty years old.

Below is an unusual pierce of art.

The above is the front of a ‘straw’ car/vehicle – it also had a straw driver.

The rear of the ‘car’

It looked like it had been made of straw/ vegetation, I tried to find more derails on-line but failed. I should have photographed the information details that were in front of the ‘car’.

After we had finished our time in the museum I asked at receptionist for the time of the next bus to the city centre.
It was fifty minutes which was too long to wait, plus we would have to wait at the tourist office for the shuttle bus to the ship.
I asked if she could arrange a taxi to the ship – it’ll be here in a minute I was told, which I took as a perhaps ten-minute wait. I thanked the receptionist and indicated to Maureen to take a seat, at which point a taxi arrived and honked. I do love good service.

During the trip back to the ship we chatted with the driver – at first, I thought he was Aboriginal until he spoke, and I asked where about in India did, he call home. He was from Bombay (Mumbai today).
He and his family had been in Darwin for some years, and he loved the place and earned enough to take his family back to India for holidays and he had also taken them to the UK.

His English was excellent, and he didn’t have any desire to leave Australia unless it was for a holiday.
He dropped us off close to the gangway of our cruise ship for the grand sum of $20 – overall a perfect day out.

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. 

Photo delight

We hired a guide and a mini-bus from the hotel to see various sites of Penang. Our guide spoke English very well and was able to give us the history of the area and many interesting facts.

Above two pics thanks to KI.

Also known as the waterfall gardens due to there being a waterfall in the gardens.

Picture thanks to KI

The gardens are beautiful and relaxing except when one has to deal with the monkeys.
A few years after this trip Maureen & I took a friend from the UK around the gardens and the monkeys had become quite aggressive. Maureen & her friend visited the ‘ladies’ and I was holding both of their handbags because they had been warned of visits, even in the ‘ladies’, by the monkeys.
As they left the ‘ladies’ I was outside waving their handbags around our heads to frighten off the monkeys that were waiting.
The animals gave off a barking sound and would jump towards us before backing away – quite unnerving only having a handbag as a weapon.

Back to our group visit – we were shown around a small zoo – not one of my favorite pastimes because I have never been keen on zoos, even as a child.

Not sure what type of snake, but he didn’t look happy.

nor was the tiger.

Our next place of interest was the Penang Hill Railway.

When I was at sea, I visited Penang Hill in 1963, at that time the carriages looked like this

In 1977 the carriages were up graded and in 2005 they looked like – see below.

In 2010 they were upgraded again

Passing area

Always wanted to be a train driver.

Later we moved on to Fort Cornwallis 

Details of the fort and the entrance below.

Inside the fort . . .

Every bit a soldier . . . .

It was an interesting visit but also it was very hot.

At the end of the tour the cold beer was very welcome at the hotel.