Jan 2016 World Cruise live report

Hi Wayne - so you are now in Darwin. Welcome to Australia. I hope you and Freda have a great time here in our country. As I said on Cynthia’s blog, we lived in Darwin in the 1970s until Cyclone Tracy demolished our house (with us in it :eek:) on Christmas Eve 1974. Too late to say (but included for those who are collecting planning ideas for future cruises), there is an interesting and moving interactive Cyclone Tracy exhibit in the Darwin Museum, with recordings of the event. People who experienced it (as we did) are advised to take care in visiting the exhibit in case of triggering painful memories. I must say however it was nothing like as scary as the real experience!

Also this museum has a wonderful collection of Aboriginal art.

If you are having trouble with the link for the Hong Kong article, try to cut and paste this into a browser

http://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/1937138/hong-kong-centre-luxury-cruise-industrys-rapid-asian

Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory.* Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin is the most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, with a population of 129,062.* It acts as the Top End's regional centre.* The city itself is built on a low bluff overlooking the harbour.

On 9 September 1839, HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbour during its surveying of the area.* John Clements Wickham named the region "Port Darwin" in honour of their former shipmate Charles Darwin, who had sailed with them on the ships previous voyage which had ended in October 1836.* The settlement there became the town of Palmerston in 1869, and was renamed Darwin in 1911.* Darwin has been almost entirely rebuilt twice, once due to Japanese air raids during World War II (around 250 died), and again after being devastated by Cyclone Tracy in 1974, the city is one of Australia's most modern capitals.

Darwin has grown from a pioneer outpost and small port into one of Australia's most modern and multicultural cities. Its proximity to Asia makes it an important Australian gateway to countries such as Indonesia and East Timor.

Darwin is recognized as having the most youthful population in all of Australia.*The population is around 70,000 and growing faster than other parts of Australia.***

Darwin has extensive parks and gardens.* The territory museum has excellent displays of the area’s history including a large display of the destruction done by Cyclone Tracy.**

*

The weather is generally warm and sunny from May to September - very hot the rest.

One thing that a lot of visitors to Australia like is their all in pricing.* The price you see is the price you pay and tipping is not expected.

Day 119 S – Apr 30 – Darwin, Australia – 11 am – 7pm

G'day from Down Under - we had another time change last night - this time just a half hour.

As I noted yesterday we are finally back in a country where we can count on just about everyone speaking English – not exactly the same as at home but close enough. Note, I’m not complaining – I don’t except people in Africa and Asia to speak English and since I am not going to learn the 50 or so languages we encounter on this cruise it is wonderful in these countries that we are able to get by as well as we have. Occasionally you will come across cruisers who complain about people in Mexican ports speaking Mexican instead of perfect English as if the whole world should revolve around tourist but we are truly grateful for some of the people we have met on this cruise for the effort they have made to improve their lives by learning additional languages ie English, for if it was not for them we would not have been able to enjoy many of the ports.

We had another nice and slow morning approach to the harbour. For most of the time all you see is a thin strip of beach with a strip of green above it - there is not much in the way of anything outside the city and the area is mostly flat.

The seas were calm overnight and this morning. Today is another mostly sunny day, with highs around 30C (86F) - The humidity is usually low this time of year but today it was around 70%.

We were again reminded multiple times not to take food off the ship but in the end there did not seem to be anyone checking shore side but we have 6 move Australian ports so I'm sure there will be sometime. The CD gives a list of items you can not take - makes it sound like processed*items like boxed cereal could be but not worth risking.

Last time we were here - end of Nov 2011 we took a taxi out to the Northern Territory Museum (taxi $14.50, free admission). The museum has a large section on aboriginal artifacts and artwork as well as sections on wildlife in the territory including a stuffed 5m (16ft) alligator and on the impact of the cyclone. One of the volunteers there was a meteorologist here that day. He spent about 45 minutes giving a detailed tour and commentary on what happened that day. He and his wife hid under a mattress in the hallway of their home. They lost their roof and the ceiling to most rooms except the hallway. You could see he still gets emotional as he talks about some of what happened. From there we took a taxi to the main shopping area downtown - this was at least a kilometer less distance but cost $16.00. We walked back to the ship. At one point there is a lookout over the harbour – there was a man sitting there playing a large didgeridoo. From there an elevator is available to the lower level. On the lower level there are shops, hotel, condos and a small swimming area and a pool with a large wave machine.

We wanted to use the HOHO bus which has a stop near the pier but the double-decker bus is not accessible.

We had been warned before doing our last cruise here that the heat could be brutal but I found it very nice both here and the cities we visited in Queensland.

At the terminal there were lots of taxis and vendors set up inside.* In the area of the port there has been some land fill done in the past few years with new buildings including hotels added. The port area has recently been leased to China for the next 99 years - the US Navy uses the port sometimes so now have to deal with China for its use.

For today Freda and I had planned to just look around town and go to another museum. She was feeling a bit off and there was an opening on a tour to*the Territory Wildlife Park - with 17 of us the tour cost $62US or $80AU. The tour was with Ethical Adventures and our excellent driver/guide was Rob. He normally spends part of the year down south and the winter up here - we were his first tour of the winter season and the first time he has done a ship group - most of his tours are all day or more and ship passengers tend to be in a hurry with their limited time. The drive out to the park was just under an hour. Besides being an area to see many of the wildlife, the park does conservation work and breeding.

You can walk around the park but it is faster and easier in the heat to use the tram to get from exhibit to exhibit. The property is very large and the exhibits well spread out. Between the exhibits there are some wild animals - I saw a few birds including Ibis and 1 wallaby. All the animals are from the Northern Territory so there were no Koala, Platypus, Wombat or Cassowary.

The 1st area I went to was the Aquarium area that contained many tanks of various sizes - the biggest draw there was the swordfish followed by the many colourerful tropical fish and coral. Next was a replica freshwater pond where a guide was feeding some fish including Freshwater Whipray, Common Archer Fish and Barramundi. The Archer fish spit a stream of water about a meter (3ft) at the guide knocking food out of her hand - this imitates spitting water at insects on overhanging branches knocking them off.

Next was a bird show - somewhat similar to the one we saw in Bali, but only local birds species used here. There was an Emu, a hawk that cracked open a plastic emu egg using a rock held in its beak, 2 varieties of owl, a crane, a kite, and osprey - several mice and fish gave their lives for our entertainment.

Next up was the Nocturnal House - all the cases had very dim light tricking the animals into night time behaviour.* Interesting to see them but not good for photo taking - no flash allowed.

From there, next up was the Woodland park - this was an enclosed are with some wallaby and kangaroo - not very many but they are used to humans and you could get up close and touch them - can make a nice souvenir photo.

The next area contained 1 large aviary and several small ones. Lots of very interesting, colourful birds - I loved the blue kingfisher.

The last exhibit had 3 dingoes in it - if you did not know about them, you would think it was just 3 common pet dogs. We only had a bit over 4 hours so it was a bit rushed (the park was open 9 - 5) and I did not get to the large Goose Lagoon or Billabong areas.

On the way we had seen many termite mounds - on the way back we stopped at a field that had a couple dozen in the 2 -3m (6 -10ft) high range - our driver/guide got out and gave us a good lesson on them as well as a good photo op. We passed lots of trucks pulling 3 full size trailers - only allowed on certain roads - used mainly for transporting cattle from the massive ranches here. In some places trucks will pull 4 trailers. A big issue in the Northern Territory is wild fires - they are becoming more common killing increasing number of animals and making it harder for young trees to replace those that died in earlier fires thus allowing other plant life to move in.

We had a bit of spare time so he took us to the East Point area of Darwin. This area is on a slight bluff along the coast and offers great views of downtown - the waterfront homes here are in the $10 million plus range.

One comparison to home - with the Cdn and AUD almost at par, gas prices were not off to much either - gas here was 1.08/L - last time I was home it was just under a dollar but likely more now. In parts of Australia that are really remote it is well over $2/L.

While many social things between North Americans and Australians and New Zealanders are common, hand gestures like the reverse peace sign (when your palm is facing you) can seem harmless to anyone in North America, but in countries like Australia and New Zealand it is offensive.

In talking to the locals here “Ow ya goin'” is a common greeting and the term 'mate' is used when talking to someone that you don't know their name.

One little piece of trivia I came across recently is that Greece and Australia are the only 2 countries to participate in each Olympic since 1896.

Today’s thought for the day - “Traveling is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of all that familiar comfort of home and friends. You are constantly off balance. Nothing is yours except the essential things – air, sleep, dreams, the sea, the sky – all things tending towards the eternal or what we imagine of it.” – Cesare Pavese

Gas today at the station was 120.9. Don't quite understand why it has jumped so much this past week in price.

Today we are sailing almost straight east through the Arafura Sea.

Well another wonderful month here on board the Insignia has slipped into history.* We are looking forward to May as we cover a large area heading south and then east exploring the wonderful “land down under”.

Today was hot despite being mostly cloudy with a few short showers thrown in - we had some partial rainbows just before sunset.* The seas are a bit rough but not affecting the ship too much.

To get the month started off on a safe note - we had another muster drill today - only about 10 days to the next one. Due to the high wind we did not have to go out on the open deck.

At the Captain's noon update he announced a change to our itinerary - We were to be in Newcastle on May 8 with a sea day before that.* Now we will be in Brisbane on May 7 from 10 - 7 and have a sea day on the 8th.* This change is caused by some bright people thinking that by blocking the port entrance to Newcastle with kayaks protesting the use of fossil fuels things will change - They fail to realize we will still be sailing and now there is 600 less people in their city for the day spending $ - I'm, sure the local tour companies are impressed.*

We are now at the two-third mark of this voyage - everyone on the tour yesterday is on the full voyage - we were all laughing and enjoying reliving some of our experiences so far.* Our guide could not believe what we were doing but none of us have any regrets.* It was mentioned that 2 passengers that were to be on the full voyage had cancelled before leaving Miami - will now be able to join in Sydney as the health issue has improved - great for them.*

Tonight was 1 of the best shows yet - Scott Willams, the Laugh Doctor, 1 of Australia's better known corporate performers did a very funny show on the power of laughter.

At dinner as often happens on long cruises the talk got around to grandchildren.* One tablemate said she overheard her 6 year old grandson tell a friend that his grandparents lived at the airport, and when we want her to visit we just go and get her and then when we’re done having her visit, we take her back to the airport.

Today’s happy thoughts for the day - Happiness is not an absence of problems, but the ability to deal with them - unknown

Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be. - Abraham Lincoln

Great description again!

Gas prices jumped here as well.:(

Gas today at the station was 120.9. Don't quite understand why it has jumped so much this past week in price.

Ah... Australian fuel prices are one of the wonders of the modern world.:confused:

No one knows how the price works!

Have fun in Brisbane tomorrow!

Today we have rounded Cape York, made a sharp turn and are heading mainly southward into the Coral Sea. Several times in the afternoon we could see the mainland or islands - many with lighthouses - the captain in his noon update announcement noted the water at that time was only 15m (50ft) deep.

Today we have a cloud/sun mix - more cloud than sun.* The forecast was for a 65% chance of rain - it is also quite windy.* We were to have another 'Country Fair' activity at 11 this morning but as it takes a lot of time to set up, with the chance of rain and the wind it was decided to postpone until our next sea day. It turned out to be a pretty nice day on deck - around 30C (85F) and the breeze made it very comfortable.

Tomorrow we will be in Cooktown, our 2nd of 7 Australian ports.*

While down in the doctor’s office we could overhear a nurse talking to an elderly female patient.* The nurse placed a stethoscope on the slightly deaf patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," she instructed. "Yes, they used to be," sighed the patient.

Later another guest that was waiting ahead of us got his turn with the nurse.* He mentioned to us while waiting that he was having a follow-up for an earlier visit.* We could hear him tell the nurse that he was having trouble with one of his medications. "Which one?" she asked. "The patch, the doctor told me to put on a new one every 6 hours and now I'm running out of places to put it!"* The nurse had him quickly undress and discovered what I’m sure she suddenly feared she would see. Yes, the man had over 50 patches on his body!* The nurse seemed momentarily speechless but remembering she represented ‘O’s high level of service gently pointed out where the instructions include removal of the old patch before applying a new one.

Today’s thought for the day - Dream as if you'll live forever.....Live as if you'll die tomorrow.* – James Dean

I hope you don't need patches. :D

I would love to see Cooktown, a small outpost in the wild Australian north. It seems that you are on the inside passage through the reefs. We did this in reverse and found it fascinating. Amazing how Cook got through it without the help of lighthouses and reef markers.

Cooktown is a small town in the state of Queensland.* Cooktown is located about 2,000km (1,200mi) north of Brisbane and 328km (204mi) north of Cairns, by road.* There are no unrestricted roads north of here.* The 2011 census showed Cooktown had a population of 2,339.

Cooktown is at the mouth of the Endeavour River, on Cape York Peninsula where James Cook beached his ship, the Endeavour, for repairs in 1770. He spent 7 weeks here.* Both the town and Mount Cook 431m (1,415ft) which rises up behind the town were named after him.

Cooktown is one of the few large towns in the Cape York Peninsula and was founded on 25 October 1873 as a supply port for the goldfields along the Palmer River.* It was called 'Cook's Town' until 1 June 1874.

In 1872 gold was discovered.* This started a gold rush and in 1874 a new township was established at the site of the present town, on in the Palmer River, southwest of Cooktown.* Following the collapse of the gold rush the town was hit by a major cyclone in 1907 and then a major fire in 1917 so many historic building were lost.

During WWII most locals including the aboriginals were removed due to fear of Japanese attacks and town became a base for Australian and US troops.

Around 4,000 people spread around the greater region use it as a service center. Visitors enjoy the delightful tropical environment, the historical connections, and use it as an access point to the Great Barrier Reef, the Lakefield National Park, and for fishing.

Estuarine (saltwater) crocodiles inhabit this region so great care must be taken when and where one goes swimming.

The average high temperature in 28c (82f) here in May and we are moving from the wet to dry season.

Many of the ports we have been to have been large cities, but as we move down the east coast of Australia towards Sydney we will be stopping in comparatively small towns, like Cooktown, it’s going to be a different experience.

This morning we had a very scenic cruise along the coast - much of the coast is low hills with many sand dunes - there are some higher mountains along with islands that vary from small low isalnds not more tahn a few meters in hieght to larger mountainous type - 1 looked just like Tabletop Mountain in Capetown.* Many of the isalnds had lighthouses. There was no sign of life other than a couple small boats and 1 bird that followed us for awhile.*

The weather was a mix of sun and cloud, some sea swell but nothing to affet the ship too much and with temps reaching 29C (84F).

As I ws making my notes the captian came on at 11:30 and annocunced that we would be skipping Cooktown - the reason was unsafe tender conditions.* Although it would have been a bit of a bumpy ride into town, the wind was expected to increase significantly in the afternoon making the return tenders unsafe.*

As a repalcement we will continue to cruise along the coast and arrive in Cairns at 5:30 this afternoon and spend the night there instead of arriving at 8am tomorrow.

At the noon update the captain said the water depth was 15m (50ft) and we were 2 nautical miles off the coast with winds at 25 knots.

I will post here what was planned for anyone coming here in the future -

With our late arrival today we were too late to join most of the local independent tours.* These are mostly on the water to the Great Barrier Reef or fishing.* The reef here is only about 5 nautical miles off-shore.* There are also Aboriginal life and history based tours.* Oceania did offer a wheelchair allowed tour here that included the James Cook Museum plus the botanical garden (est 1878).

The tender ride was expected to be about 30 minutes. There would be a short shuttle ride (500 yards or so) to town for those with difficulty walking.* Freda was to stay on the ship as she can't do tenders and I was going to just wander around town and see the sites while taking in the garden, museum and whatever else looked interesting. The Botanic Gardens (62ha) are open all day, everyday with the bonus of having no admission fee. Maps are available at the Visitor Information Centre.

We were told that around the town there are 6 monuments dedicated to Captain Cook.* One is outside Bicentennial Park, another on Grassy Hill, not sure about all the rest.

One option I read about is for those with some spare time is a nice hike to take along the Bicentennial Heritage Trail.* Cooktown is the northern end of the trail, the longest trail of its type in the world. The southern end of the trail is at Healesville, just north-east of Melbourne, Victoria, 5,330km (3,312mi) away.* While we plan on getting back to Australia again, this will not be on our list.

Today’s quote is in commemoration of National Teachers Day - The object of teaching is to enable those taught to get along without a teacher. - Elbert Hubbard

A group of marine archaeology specialists think they have found Captain Cook's ship off the coast of Rhode Island, in a group of several ships scuttled in the late 1700s to foil the French navy's incursion into Newport Harbor. Good story, if true.

Sorry for the diversion but of at least tangential interest For the Australia connection 😀

Cairns is a regional city in the far north of Queensland, founded 1876. Cairns is located on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula on a coastal strip between the Coral Sea and the Great Dividing Range. The northern part of the city is located on Trinity Bay and the city centre is located on Trinity Inlet. Some of the city's suburbs are located on flood plains. By road it is about 2,700km (1,678mi) from Sydney. It is a popular travel destination for foreign tourists because of its tropical climate. It serves as a starting point for people wanting to visit the Great Barrier Reef and far north Queensland.

To the north of the city are a lot of great beaches. The beaches in the city are not as great but are still usable most of the time. The city has a large public pool with areas of various depths right along the waterfront esplanade. This is needed here in Cairns and other north east cities due to Jellyfish. The season for these nasty stingers is Nov to May.

Tour boats to the GBR start from the same area as the cruise ship docks. (Only smaller cruise ships get to actually dock instead of using tenders).

For those that have had enough of being on the water, there is the Daintree Rainforest.* There are a lot of tour options here including the Kuranda Skyrail and Scenic Train, wildlife parks, cruise or white water raft on the Daintree River.* Both the rainforest and GBR are UNESCO World Heritage-listed – a rare 2 UNESCO sites as neighbours. .

The average high temperature in May is 28C (82F).

Following my afternoon update yesterday, we continued to cruise along the coast before docking a bit later than expected but the ship was cleared just after 6pm for those that wanted to go ashore. We did not, but looking at the attendance at diner, trivia and the evening show it seems a lot of people decided to do some shopping or bar hoping which they may not get a chance to do today if on long tours.

The cancellation of Cooktown worked out very well for one passenger - with the extra time in the afternoon, an extra game of Bingo was added - a passenger won over $2,200 with 57 balls drawn to make a full card.

This port is another example of how it is very important to check the itinerary on a regular basis if doing private tours. Based on the original schedule put out a year and a half before sailing we were scheduled to be here 8 - 8 but somewhere along the line our departure time got moved up to 6pm. Anybody planning private tours and does not realize the change could be in trouble - most trips to the GBR come back between 5:30 and 6 unless chartered. Oceania only sends out notices when a port of call has been changed - time changes of a couple hours or so are changed on the itinerary listing but you have to keep looking at it - someone on our roll call before leaving Miami found 25 time changes compared to the original.

Being on a small cruise ship we are able to dock in port. In the terminal there were security people that had excellent maps available.

We were here early Dec 2011 and then came back for 3 days around New Years as part of our post cruise drive vacation. Spending New Year’s Eve on the beach was certainly something very different than we will ever experience in the cold of Toronto. On the cruise day we took the local bus to the Botanical Garden. When we came back our activities included a ride out to the GBR and a trip that took in the Rainforest and all it has to offer and the other day we did the Skyrail and scenic train - a great time!

Here in Australia restaurant and other service staffs are paid a good wage. This is reflected in the price but tipping is not expected and taxes are included in the price. At many bars/restaurants you pay in advance at an order window and then get your drink/meal.* One thing we learned from our previous time in Australia is the big difference in toppings used for hamburgers.* An Aussie hamburger ordered "with the lot" would include – beetroot, pineapple, fried egg, bacon, grilled onion, cheese, tomato, lettuce.* It was rare to get a burger without a big slice of beetroot included, just like a tomato slice in North America.

We got off the ship around 10 this morning and headed to a large local mall - I needed a repair to my glasses and we both got a haircut. We bought a few more bottles of wine - prices very good but other spirits are very expensive. Then we wandered around a bit before heading to the waterfront. One thing we saw that was new from our previous visits is a new aquarium building is just underway at Florence and Abbott Rd. not far from the waterfront. We walked much of the esplanade. There is a lot there for everyone; benches, exercise equipment, free gas BBQ, kids play area, picnic areas, lots of trees, a WW1 memorial, a large lagoon with fresh water swimming, bars and restaurants. The area is on the migratory bird route - the best time so see many types in Oct - Nov. Today I saw a few types of wading birds and some other common ones but no cockatoo like I had on previous trip.

It was low tide and a muddy bottom was exposed for a fair way out. The only beach was at the end furthest from the ship but swimming is still not safe due to jellyfish. The lady that cut my hair said a friend had been swimming in 1 area nearby for 15 years without a problem but got stung recently in the thigh and spent 10 days in the hospital and is still in a lot of pain.

We came back to the ship just before 3 - there was only 1 vendor set up in the terminal but there was also a booth offering free samples of the lovely fruits grown in the area.

As we walked along the boardwalk today we passed a family group when one of them shouted, "Look at that dead bird!"* A teenager looked up at the sky and said, "Where?"

Today’s thought for the day - “A smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks.”

An Aussie hamburger ordered "with the lot" would include – beetroot, pineapple, fried egg, bacon, grilled onion, cheese, tomato, lettuce.* It was rare to get a burger without a big slice of beetroot included, just like a tomato slice in North America.

I have never embraced our Aussie love of pineapple on hamburgers - but beetroot (pickled beet) is yummy.

Wayne, I am in touch with the tour operator your group used to organize a private excursion for 2017. In your report, you mentioned you provided: "our names as registered with Oceania and our cabin numbers." Hendrik is also requesting passport nationality and passport number. Was this information also provided to him? Thanks.

Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland.* Adjacent to the central section of the Great Barrier Reef, it is in the dry tropics region of Queensland. Townsville is Australia's largest urban centre north of the Sunshine Coast, with a 2014 population estimate of 178,649. Considered the unofficial capital of North Queensland, Townsville hosts a significant number of governmental, community and major business administrative offices for the northern half of the state.

Townsville lies approximately 1,350km (840mi) north of Brisbane, and 350km (220mi) south of Cairns.* It lies on the shores of Cleveland Bay, protected to some degree from the predominantly south-east weather.* Cleveland Bay is mostly shallow inshore, with several large beaches and continually shifting sand bars.* Magnetic Island lies 8km (5mi) offshore, to the north of the city centre.* The Ross River flows through the city.

Popular attractions include "The Strand", a long tropical beach and garden strip; Riverway, a riverfront parkland attraction located on the banks of Ross River; Reef HQ, a large tropical aquarium holding many of the Great Barrier Reef's native flora and fauna; the Museum of Tropical Queensland, built around a display of relics from the sunken British warship HMS Pandora; The Townsville Sports Reserve; and Magnetic Island, a large neighbouring island, the vast majority of which is national park.

While the average temperature here is similar to the past 2 ports, it is drier here. Like most of North Queensland, Townsville is susceptible to tropical cyclones.* They usually occur between December and April, forming mainly out in the Coral Sea, and usually tracking west to the coast.

Today is Cinco de Mayo a Mexican holiday that for many has just become a reason to party and drink, is really a celebration of the unlikely victory of the under manned and equipped Mexican army over the French army at Puebla on May 5, 1862.* No celebrating in town or on the ship.

We also stopped here after our New Year’s stay in Cairns back in Jan 2012.* We toured around a bit.* The main place we saw was the Reef HQ saltwater aquarium which is billed as the world's largest coral reef aquarium – it was nice but compared to many of the others we have seen around the world, not that special.* It also serves as a rehabilitation hospital.* We also toured the lovely botanic garden and part of the Strand as well as the Museum of Tropical Queensland.* We went by car up to top of Castle Hill which is a perfect place for a panoramic overview of the city and its surroundings.

There are regular wheelchair accessible ferries over to Magnetic Island but the HOHO bus there is not accessible and the National Park is not good for wheelchairs so we decided to pass on going over there.

Another great weather day - mostly sunny, high of 29c (84f) with a bit of a breeze along the waterfront area.

Our original port time was 8 - 4 but that got changed to 9:30 to 5:30 - we ended up a bit early and were cleared to go ashore by 9am.* We are docked in the Ross River - where it enters the bay it is wide enough for Insignia to dock but it narrows soon after.*

The local tourist reps were available in the small terminal.* There were shuttles available today into the city centre - about a 10 minute ride - Some of the shuttles were w/c accesible and others not so we had to wait for the right one but there was not a great time between them.*

The downtown area is not very big - a mix of offices, shops and restaurants.

We decided to head down to the waterfront Strand area.* The walkway getting to there and there were all very good for pushing a wheelchair but some stores had a step up to get in.* The Strand included a marina, garden areas, War Memorials, sculptures, exercise areas, sports fields, 2 areas in the sea that were netted off to keep out jellyfish (I went in up to my knees - very warm water), picnic areas, a fresh water lagoon, and some restaurants.

The beach area is nice but not great - the sand was a bit course.* I saw 1 colourful Lorikeet, several Ibis and a variety of other birds.

Today we stopped by an outdoor patio bar for a beverage.* They allowed smoking and there was a gentleman there that had an ashtray with a large number of butts in it.* He also has 2 empty pint glasses and a third glass was quickly being emptied.* Another person, one of those with helpful advice whether asked for or not, tells him “By drinking and smoking as much as you do, you’re killing yourself slowly.”* The smoker looks up, nods and replied, “That’s fine, I’m not in any hurry.”

Today’s thought for the day - “If you want trust, trust others. If you want respect, respect others. If you want help, help others. If you want love and peace in your life, give them away. If you want great friends, be one. That’s how it works.” - Dan Zadra

As we continue to sail south through the Coral Sea, today was another pretty good day to be at sea. It was mostly cloudy and a bit cooler that it has been. The breeze was nice as long as you were not doing anything with a lot of loose papers.

The big event of the morning was the "County Fair" that had been postponed from a few days ago. Each dept had some kind of game/contest for tickets that were good for prize draws at the end. In keeping with the fair theme they offered beer during the time and at lunch at 2 for 1 prices.

The big event of the afternoon was moving the usual afternoon tea from deck 10 down to the main lounge. The fact that everyone had already had 2 meals today did not stop people from trying the wonderful selections - a lot of extra wonderful items were offered beyond the normal tea time and the room was packed.

The Happy Hour bar was very busy today. The crowd reminded me of the Paul Simon song "FIFTY WAYS TO LOSE YOUR LIVER". After having a good time there another song popped to mind; the Commodores "ONCE, TWICE, THREE TIMES TO THE BATHROOM".

Today’s thought for the day - "Resolve to be tender to the Young, compassionate with the Aged and tolerant with the Weak and the Wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these." - Dr Robert Goddard (1882-1940)

I have fond memories of the country fair, was a lot of fun.

re our private tour in Komodo Island - in looking over my emails I did not see anything about supplying passport info. I do recall doing that for other tours in Asia. I checked with the person on our roll call that did the tour arranging and she said that we did not provide that info.

Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, and the 3rd most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of 2.3 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred on Brisbane, encompasses a population of more than 3.4 million. The Brisbane central business district stands on the original European settlement and is situated inside a bend of the Brisbane River, about 15km (9mi) from its mouth at Moreton Bay.

During World War II, Brisbane played a central role in the Allied campaign and served as the South West Pacific headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur.

Brisbane is well known for its distinct Queenslander architecture which forms much of the city's built heritage. Brisbane is hilly but parts of the city have been devastated in the past by floods, most notably in 1974 and 2011. The city is a popular tourist destination, serving as a gateway for visitors to the state of Queensland, particularly to the Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast, popular resort towns immediately south and north of Brisbane, respectively.

The Brisbane central business district lies in a curve of the Brisbane river. The CBD covers 2.2sq km (0.8sq mi) and is easily walk-able. Central streets are named after members of the British royal family. Queen Street is Brisbane's traditional main street. Streets named after female members (Adelaide, Alice, Ann, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Margaret, Mary) run parallel to Queen Street and Queen Street Mall (named in honour of Queen Victoria) and at right angles to streets named after male members (Albert, Edward, George, William).

As we head further south, the average high temperature is dropping. Here the average in May is 24C (76F).

We also spent a few days here on our drive vacation in Jan 2012 so we have explored much of the central area of the city.

Today was the most perfect weather day of this voyage - temp around 28C (82F), mostly sunny with some puffy clouds, slight breeze and NO humidity - loved it.

With this being a late reservation for docking by Oceania, we do not have a good berth position. We were docked in the industrial area as the better port berth (Hamilton) was previously booked.* Near where we were docked is a lot of lumber shipping and cars.

There is no real port terminal for passengers here.* Oceania managed to put together 4 excursions with only the few days notice.* We hoped to go into town but the shuttle was not wheelchair friendly so I went alone.* With this being Saturday, traffic was light and the ride was about 35 minutes right to the central business district (CBD) area along the river at Eagle St. Pier - an excellent location to start exploring from.* The drive in was mostly past open fields, small businesses, and typical residential areas.

I first went along the river to the Botanical gardens. When we were last here it was still recovering from the 2011 flood.* The gardens are mostly trees and shrubs with only a small area for annual flowers.* There are a few statues and several ponds with many beautiful pink waterlilies.* The conditions of the ponds were much better than last time.* The ponds had lots of birds around them - the signs said don't feed the ducks, so people were sitting around feeding the Ibis.* The park and waterfront have excellent paved paths - easy to push a wheelchair - the only downside is the park and parts of the city are a bit hilly adding a bit of a challenge for wheelchairs.* Besides the birds, I saw a few Iguana - I had to act as local expert and explain what they were to other tourist.* I got to play peek-a-boo with a possum.* I was checking out the twisting root system of a banyan tree when I noticed something moving between the hanging roots.* At first it was hard to figure out what kind of animal it was but after a bit I did not move too much and it came out to pose for photos.

In the park there are markers showing the high water marks for the floods of 1974 and 2011 - a large part of the park was underwater along with much of the CBD along the river - our bus driver said the area we were dropped off had about 4 feet of water.*

After about 90 minutes in the park as I went to leave I noticed a sign for free garden tours at 11am and 1pm - it was near 1 and I was tempted but decided to go check out the historic area. Lots of varied old architecture in this area. The very large old Treasury building has been turned into a hotel/casino while the exterior remains the same. From there I went along the Queen Street mall - a closed off street full of shops - it was quite busy. There were a few people doing acts looking for donations - lady was singing, a band was getting ready to go after her and a magician was just finishing his act as I came by. A little more exploring and then back to the shuttle stop.

There is a free city loop bus serving the CBD but it does not run on weekends and holidays.

Today as I walked around town I heard the following through the fence - Mother Superior talking to a group of nuns and said to them, "I must tell you something. We have a case of gonorrhea in the convent."* "Thank goodness," I heard an elderly nun reply back. "I'm so tired of Chardonnay!"

Today’s thought of the day - "If you want to have a great time you will and if you want to have a bad time you will." - Captain Glenn Edvardsen