John and Diane's LAST Round the World Adventure

[Folk Singer]

John and Diane,

 

The luncheon sounded great. We have done that before and it is interesting that Luncheon is always a lot Cheaper than the evening.

[Johnny B]

Thursday, February 19, 2015 - Day 45

Albany, Australia

 

Most of our ports are big cities, so when we call at a small town, like Albany, it’s really a treat. We docked a bit out of town, so a shuttle was available to deliver people to the town square, but we decided to skip the gym and walk both ways, probably about a mile each way.

 

Albany is really important historically in Australia. It was the first town to be settled in Western Australia, two years before Perth. We walked down to the bark Amity, a reconstruction of the ship that brought the first settlers from Sydney, and read a great deal about how the European settlement changed the lives of the indigenous people, making them quite dependent on the settlers.

 

To get to the ship, we walked through Anzac Peace Park, opened a few years ago to memorialize the Australian and New Zealand troops which served in WWI and who died at Gallipoli fighting Turkish forces. It’s a well-planned park with information about different aspects of the forces headed to WWI, since many of them sailed from Albany.

 

After we saw as much of the town as possible, we hiked back to the ship for a late lunch, some reading and an afternoon nap. Sailaway was well-attended and it was just beautiful passing the green hills surrounding the town.

 

This evening was great fun, having dinner in the Pinnacle to celebrate the birthday of our friend Aart. There were 14 of us, the maximum that can sit around the big back table, and we laughed and sang happy birthday in both English and Indonesian. If you’ve been around a table on an HAL ship where birthday greetings are in order, you’ve no doubt heard “Bonja Boolia,” - and that’s as close to the correct pronunciation as I can come.

 

After three hours at dinner, it was time for the Aussie Boys, who gave another memorable performance. Their voices are beautiful, their harmonies outstanding, and I don’t know who their choreographer is, but whoever it is deserves a commendation.

 

Now we’re heading into another sea day before arriving at Perth. Another day to recover from walking, walking, walking - probably about five miles. It will be nice to get to our normal schedule and just take it easy.

[Vict0riann]

I had never heard of a "Sommelier's Lunch" before, but I will certainly be on the lookout for one in the future!:)

[Johnny B]

Friday, February 20, 2015 - Day 46

At sea en route to Fremantle (for Perth), Australia

 

I do realize that the point of docking in Fremantle for two days is so that the passengers can spend time in Perth, the capital of Western Australia, but we really do prefer Fremantle. It’s another smallish city, easy to wander around in, and with the casual air of a suburb. On our first trip to Fremantle, in 2008, we took the train to Perth, spent most of the day seeing the sights, and then the best part was returning by boat down the Swan River to Fremantle. It was a beautiful day and it was just wonderful sitting in the bow of the boat, seeing the other boats as well as the lovely homes along the banks, and creating a memory which still sticks in my mind.

 

Although there are lots of Australian activities today, including didgeridoo lessons, aboriginal dance, and aboriginal art, tomorrow all the current entertainers, lecturers, and cultural ambassadors disembark so that we can pick up even more. One of the best things about the ship is that if you don’t like what’s going on, just wait and it will change - just like the weather, which today is warm and sunny with puffy white clouds on the horizon.

 

As we are flying to Bali on our second day in Fremantle (from Perth), we have a few loose ends to tie up before departure. First, we have to collect our passports from the front desk. Then, we have to have Crystal, the Guest Relations Manager, write us an official letter saying that we are re-boarding the ship in Bali on February 26. Then, just before we leave the ship on the 22nd, we have to meet with the Australian customs agents to be sure we’re not taking most of the country’s treasury with us - don’t I wish! Then, upon arrival in Bali, we have to queue up for a visa, which requires the above letter, our passports, and $35.00 US in cash. Then we can pass through immigration, find our tour guide, and have him drive us to our hotel. We’re really looking forward to it, and then taking the opportunity to celebrate John’s birthday on the 23rd. We’ve been to Bali before, but just twice for single days, so this will give us a chance to see the island in more depth.

 

Right now I’m just waiting for Trivia to began and then the rest of the day is completely unplanned - just the way I like it.

[The-Inside-Cabin]

Here are the lyrics to the birthday song

 

Panjang umurnya

Birthday Song

(Bahasa Indonesia)

 

Panjang umurnya

Panjang umurnya

Panjang umurnya

Serta mulia

Serta mulia

Serta mulia

 

Selamat ulang tahun kami ucapkan

Semoga panjang umur kami kan doakan

Selamat sejahtera sehat sentosa

Selamat panjang umur dan bahagia

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[icat2000]

Thank you for the link. I have booked marked it for future.

All the trams are free now in the city. So long as your in free zone. Personally, as a local I hate it. As we pay for the tram service with our yearly tickets. But for the tourists in great.

[Johnny B]

Saturday, February 21, 2015 - Day 47

Fremantle, Australia

 

It’s great to get two places “for the price of one,” as we’re doing today and tomorrow. Although we’ve docked in Fremantle, just a few blocks from downtown, we are within easy access of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. We’ve been here twice before, in 2008 and 2013, and loved both visits. In that regard, nothing has changed.

 

Perth is easy to reach by train, which costs about $5.00 for an unlimited day ticket and takes only 30 minutes to get there. On previous trips, we’ve just sort of wandered around, so today we decided that we’d have a plan: we took the HOHO bus, a two-hour tour of the city which showed us parts that we’d never seen before. The most spectacular part for us was the enormous botanic garden, which forms a park at one end of the city. Since it was Saturday, there were families everywhere, walking, picnicking, and playing games. I think the next time we’re in Perth, we’ll probably plan to spend at least half a day there.

 

When one passenger asked the driver, “What’s the best place for me to get off the bus?” the response was, “How about the casino?” Since it was an hour between busses, you could lose a heck of a lot of money, but it really looked like a beautiful casino/hotel/theatre complex.

 

One thing that we noticed as we drove around the city was the large number of historical buildings that have been preserved and are currently being used as any number of things. The one phrase that kept recurring in the narration about these buildings was “convict labor.” I guess that’s pretty much who put the city together in the mid to late 1800’s. I guess for many decades Aussies hid their personal convict heritage, but now it’s announced proudly. For example, Susie, of Black Tie, is introduced as of “good convict stock.”

 

After our tour ended, we wandered the pedestrian streets of Perth, where wifi is freely available. You can pretty much sit down anywhere in the middle of the city and fire up your electronic device. We’ve noticed this in every city where we’ve docked in New Zealand and Australia, and it’s something we’d like to see more of at home. Off the main pedestrian street there is an area called “London Lane,” which could have existed in the London of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth I. While in the past there would have been garbage in the street, the buildings and shops all resembled what would have been found at that time in Jolly Olde.

 

By 2:30, it was past time for lunch, so we found a lovely pub-like restaurant with outdoor seating where we shared fish and chips and calimari, along with a beer and a lovely hard cider (one of my favorites). The weather was perfect and it was difficult to finally get up and head back to the ship. After our 30-minute return train ride, you’d think we’d walk right across the parking lot to the ship, but we decided we needed to wander into town to see what was going on.

 

Downtown Fremantle (which the locals call “Freo) is a lively place on a Saturday. People of all ages filled the streets, and the shops were doing a land-office business. It really does remind us of San Luis Obispo, our home town. The area of town that’s called “Cappuccino” because of the number of coffee shops, had dozens of people sitting in outdoor cafes. We continued down to the old Fremantle Market, a closed building which contains booths selling everything from produce to snacks to clothing. As we exited the back of the market, we happened upon a rugby match in the municipal field, so we stuck around and enjoyed part of it. Some local kids helped us to understand it better. We learned that there are 18 players on each team, and although it looks a lot like American football, it’s a whole lot rougher because of the lack of personal protection. It was one of those cool serendipitous events that really make travel fun.

 

Instead of heading to the dining room this evening, we took advantage of the Australian barbecue on deck, and exchanged tales of our days with Jeff, Brad and Gloria. It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.

[localady]

Our favorite memories are also those impromptu meetings with locals during our travels. Those are the moments that stand out in my memories long after the trip. :D

 

Enjoy!

Thanks again for sharing your travels! :cool:

Edited February 21, 2015 by localady

[Folk Singer]

Thank you for sharing with us.

[Johnny B]

Sunday, February 22, 2015 - Day 48

Fremantle (for Perth), Australia - and then Bali

 

If you want an active day, may I suggest ours today? After waking up at about 6:30, we headed upstairs for breakfast and then got ourselves ready for church at the Fremantle Unifying Church downtown. In Australia, many of the “mainstream” churches (Methodist, Presbyterian, etc) have joined to create a new denomination called “Unifying.” They meet in the 1888 stone Methodist church, so we felt right at home. We could see why they had to unify; there were no children in church and I don’t think there were any parishioners younger than 50 or 60. It’s really pretty sad.

 

Afterwards, we headed farther downtown to the pedestrian mall for a bit of a cappuccino break. Then it was off to the grocery store for a case of Diet Coke - such a deal at $15.00 Australian dollars (about $12.00 US) for 24 cans. They’re $2.00 each on board, so this purchase will make our refrigerator happy.

 

Then the fun really began. After lunch, it was time to finish packing for our little overland trip to Bali. We had to make sure we had the meds, the toiletries, nice enough clothes for the restaurants in our hotel (we saw a notice that there are certain dress codes), and so on. We were finally done so we headed out, pulling our little flowery suitcase along (we bought it in Hawaii when an old one broke), up and over the bridge across the railroad tracks and down about a quarter mile to the station for the train into Perth. Thank heaven for wheels on suitcases - we remember when there weren’t any.

 

Once we arrived in Perth, the adventure was to find a taxi. The lady at the Fremantle tourist office told us to “just go out in front of the station and there will be a line of taxis.” I don’t know what “front” she meant, but we didn’t see one. After marching here and there (in 85 degree heat), we finally decided to ask for directions. The lady in the Western Australia Museum not only told us where to find a taxi, but she called to order one for us! These Aussies are great folks.

 

Now we’re at the airport waiting for our flight to board. It’s John’s birthday tomorrow, so we decided several months ago that it would be great fun to celebrate it in Bali at a five-star resort, in this case, The Mulia, a fairly new resort on a long, beautiful beach in Nusa Dua. We’ve been to Bali on cruises twice, but only for one day, so this will be an opportunity to see more of the island. John posted a brief note about sitting at the airport waiting for our flight, and one of our friends said that they kept calling our name at the 3:00 emergency drill, even though another friend told them that we were on an overland. Oh well.

[LadyLion_AP]

Thanks for sharing. I'm subscribed, as this is my dream!!!...although at least 15 years down the road. [emoji4] I see I have a lot of catching up to do.

[Folk Singer]

John,

 

Have a wonderful Birthday and thank you both for sharing.

 

Don

[MMDown Under]

Wishing John a happy birthday and a wonderful side trip to Bali for you both.

 

The Uniting Church in Australia was created when three existing churches - Congregational Union, Methodist and Presbyterian - united in June, 1977. It is the third largest Christian Church in Australia. In the Methodist Church, all churches joined when the majority of churches voted to join. In the Presbyterian Church, voting was on an individual church basis, so some Presbyterian Churches remain Presbyterian.

[Johnny B]

Monday, February 23, 2015 - Day - who cares?

Nusa Dua, Bali

 

When we told people we were spending four days in Bali to celebrate John’s birthday, they’d ask, “Where are you staying?” We’d answer, “The Mulia, in Nusa Dua,” and eyebrows would be raised along with a comment like, “That’s great.” We wondered why there was attention like that until we arrived. Now we’ve spent time (not overnight) at the Grand Hyatt Kauai and thought it was heaven on earth; this place is like the Grand Hyatt on steroids. As John said in his Facebook post, there’s more marble here than at the Vatican. There are probably more employees than guests, and every time you turn around someone wants to know what they can do for you.

 

Now for our room. It is a.m.a.z.i.n.g! It’s about 900 square feet, which is larger than our first apartment, has a huge balcony overlooking the pools and the ocean, and is furnished with those beautiful, large upholstered chairs and sofa that you see in Pottery Barn ads. The closet and the entry hall are each about the size of our stateroom’s bathroom, and the bathroom - oh my, the bathroom! It’s 30’ x 10’ with a floor to ceiling window overlooking the grounds. The free-standing tub is large enough for our 6’8” friend Burt to soak in, the glassed-in shower is about 6 x 6, and the toilet compartment! It’s like nothing you’ve ever experienced. As soon as you open the opaque glass door, the toilet seat rises, and when you sit down, you find that the seat is warmed. When you stand up again, the toilet flushes itself, but not with the noise you find in public restrooms; it’s very quiet and tasteful, in keeping with the whole place. That’s not all, however. There is a panel of buttons to the left of the commode which allow you to. . . . how should I say this . . . . wash your nether regions and then push another button to dry them. As I said, it’s like nothing I’ve ever experienced.

 

If I thought Sunday was busy, Monday put it to shame. Although we didn’t get to the hotel until 11:00 and to bed until midnight, my cell phone alarm clock woke us at 5:30, and I’m still not sure why. Then it was hard to go back to sleep. We caught up on John’s dozens of birthday wishes on Facebook, showered, and were among the first at breakfast at about 7:15. The breakfast is another thing that’s hard to believe. The room in which it’s served is roughly the size of a football field, and since there are guests here from all over the world, there are sections serving an incredible variety of food. There were areas serving food from China, India, Indonesia, and one of the largest displays of sushi I’ve ever seen. There’s also a pancake/waffle bar and an omelette bar, with sides of bacon, sausage, potatoes . . . you know all those things.

 

At 9:15, as instructed, we called home so that our daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter could tell John happy birthday, even though it was only Sunday there. Since we’ve discovered world-wide calling through Facetime, it has made our calls home even more frequent. No more paying $8/minute on the ship for ship-to-shore calls.

 

At 10:00, Komang came to collect us. If you’ve been on the Amsterdam, you probably know Presty, the Assistant Dining Room Manager. Komang is his elder brother, and they really look alike. When we asked Presty how we’d recognize his brother, he said, “He’s taller than me, has darker skin than me, and looks like me - except he’s better looking.” That described him to a “T” but I’m not sure about the better looking.

 

A note about male names in Bali. If you’ve read “Eat, Pray, Love” you’ve read this, but I still think it’s interesting. Male children are named by their birth order. The first is Wayan, the second is Mate (pronounced mah-tee), the third is Komang, and the fourth is Ketut. If there are more than four, they begin again with Wayan. Each male also has a middle name, and they may choose to go by that, which is why Presty is not called Ketut. An interesting system.

 

Our tour yesterday began at 10:00 and ended back at the hotel at 7:00 - nine great hours to visit all kinds of things. One of the most memorable was the temple at Tirta Empul, where there is a spring of holy water. People come from all over Bali to bathe in it, drink it, and take it home to others. Unlike most of Indonesia, most of Bali is Hindu, so wherever we went, we saw ceremonies being performed and there were temples everywhere. Komang said that every Hindu family has a small temple at home, and every Hindu community has a larger public temple. They pray three times a day and Komang keeps an offering of fresh flowers on his dashboard as a mark of his religion.

 

Although the temples were wonderful, a weird and wonderful place we went to was a coffee plantation which produces Luwak coffee. If you’ve just eaten, you may want to skip this part. There are little civits called luwaks who particularly like red coffee cherries (the color of the coffee when picked). They are fed them, and the berries ferment in their stomach, exit intact (yes, exit) and are them cleaned and processed into luwak coffee. It’s the most expensive coffee in the world - but why, I can’t imagine. We took a pass on that sample.

 

One of our stops was at a spot that you’ve probably seen in photos. It’s the rice paddies and terraces in a particular spot that make some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. There’s a small gift-shop oriented town across the road, but the terraces are just spectacular.

 

After one more temple whose name I can’t remember, we headed back to Nusa Dua and The Mulia (which I found out means the greatest). We had to change our birthday dinner reservation from 7:00 to 8:00, but dinner was lovely. Even before dinner, two hotel employees delivered a birthday “cake” to John - but it was a delicious strawberry mousse in the form of a cake.

 

So, with all that going on, that’s why I’m writing this on Tuesday morning. I’ll try to be more prompt later today.

 

P. S. Thanks for the correct name of the Uniting Church.

[cccole]

Your descriptions of life in Bali are great. We spent a week there and just loved it. Besides the ocean and natural beauty of the island I really enjoyed the markets. Tonights episode of "The Bachelor" is in Bali and I can't wait to see the scenery. Thanks for taking the time on John's BD to include us!!! Cherie

[regnig]

A belated Happy Birthday to John. What a wonderful place to celebrate it and I'm green with envy.

 

Also, thank you so much for taking time to do your daily posts for our pleasure.

[Folk Singer]

thank you for all the updates each day.

[Johnny B]

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Bali, Indonesia

 

First of all, John wants me to pass along thanks for the birthday greetings. He had a great b’day and doesn’t even feel a year older.

 

Now, to continue about Bali. BTW, did I mention the swim-up bar? Oh, wait, there are two of them and we took full advantage of one of them today after we came back from our wonderful eight hours of sightseeing. More of that later.

 

We began the morning when Komang drove us to the Taman Ayun Temple in central Bali. The most wonderful thing about it was that the temple buildings were spread around a large grassy area, making it the most peaceful temple we’d seen thus far. We wandered around, happy that there wasn’t a tour bus in sight, and just soaked in the quiet.

 

Next we headed to Ulun Danu Temple on Beratan Lake in northern Bali. Although there were a lot of people there, it was just wonderful seeing the temple buildings right on the edge of the lake. There were plenty of them, and I think we wandered around all of them. On the way out, we walked through a park area, but we skipped the building that allowed people to be photographed with a small owl, a huge bat, or a variety of snakes. No thank you!

 

Then it was time for lunch, but instead of eating a “tourist bus buffet,” we sat in the back room, overlooking some beautiful rice terraces, and ordered a simple Nasi Goreng (fried rice) - and the ever-present Bintang beer. It was a lovely break and the food was great.

 

The most moving part of the day wasn’t planned. As we drove along the road, Komang saw the attire of the people walking and said that there was a funeral. Soon we looked over and saw a huge fire, where someone was being cremated. Apparently the deceased is placed on the ground and covered by a large piece of metal - probably to save the feelings of the onlookers. Then, using a gas canister, fuel is fed to a large fire which burns for 1-2 hours, until the body is completely burned. He told us that when that point has been reached, a large basket of fruit and flowers is placed on the remains for several days, and the cremated body is left there. It seems rather harsh to us, but it is Hindu custom. I think most of us are familiar with cremations next to the River Ganges in India, but we didn’t realize how the ceremony was held in Bali.

 

Our last temple of the day was the one I’d put on everyone’s “must see” list in Bali. It was the Tanah Lot temple, and the reason you should see it is that it is built on a rock outcropping in the ocean, about a hundred yards offshore and surrounded by crashing waves. Komang said that during some times of the year the water recedes and people can walk to the “island,” but it sure wasn’t that way today. The location is just so dramatic that everyone should see it, especially at sunset, when it is even better. The other interesting event from this visit was when I unknowingly walked a little too close to an eight-foot white python. Now I know it’s not poisonous, but it was quite a shock to my system and I jumped clear - just before taking a photo.

 

We finally arrived back at the hotel at about 5:00, after eight hours of fascinating touring around Bali. We have seen so much in the last two days, but it’s time to enjoy the hotel, and we started upon our return. We put on swimsuits and headed down to the Ocean Pool, which is about the size of two Olympic pools, but only 1.1 meters deep. We soaked up a little sun for a while, lying on well-padded lounges which sat in about four inches of water, and then swam - or walked, really, over to the swim-up bar for some beverages.

 

Because we had been given a coupon for two drinks at the Sky Bar upon our arrival, we then headed upstairs to its location atop the Soleil restaurant. It was furnished with those lovely “Pottery Barn” upholstered chairs and sofas, and in addition to our free “daily specials,” we had some hors d’oeuvres which became dinner. We stayed there until some really black clouds came over and the lightning began. That was long enough, and it was now time to return to our lovely and luxurious room.

[bcnvcanada]

Thanks for taking the time to post updates. We really are enjoying

your journey. A belated birthday wish to your husband John. It

sounds like the birthday was very special. Enjoy your time in Bali, and

we are looking forward to your adventures.

[cccole]

p.s. "The Bachelor" group was staying at The Mulia. Absolutely beautiful.

[Johnny B]

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Nusa Dua, Bali

 

After seeing some amazing sights in Bali for the last two days, we decided that today was a “sea day,” to be spent only at our lovely resort. We intended to use the opportunity to have a sleep-in, but my phone decided it was time for the alarm to go off at 6:30, so that was it - no more sleep. That HAS been fixed.

 

After showers and breakfast, what was there to do but head for the pool. We found some lovely lounges in the sun, again four inches deep in the water, and we hung out, getting in the meter-deep water when the sun got too hot. That worked well for about an hour and a half, but then it was time for a walk down the beach.

 

As we left the grounds of the Mulia, we discovered a whole new area of public beaches with little cafes and, to my pleasure, a small massage area where I can get a massage for about $16.00. My intention was to take advantage of that offer today, but I think it’s going to have to be tomorrow morning.

 

When it was time for lunch, we decided to use the swim-up bar, where John had nasi goreng (again) and I had one of the best club sandwiches ever! Of course we were full enough afterwards that a nap was in order. By the time that was over, it was nearly 4:00 and that’s when the decision to postpone the massage came in. We fiddled with choosing photos for about an hour, did some leisurely reading, and finally decided we’d better get something to eat. We didn’t want anything heavy after that lunch, so we ended up up in the Skybar again, sitting on the rooftop, overlooking the dark ocean and appreciating the starry sky.

 

It has been an incredibly relaxing day, one that we needed after our two mad days of touring, even though we loved our tours and were so impressed by Bali. Tomorrow it will be one more temple, lunch with friends at the Intercontinental Hotel in Jimbaran, and then back to our home away from home on the m/s Amsterdam.

[shrimp56]

Today's report relaxed me, even as I contemplate Chicago winters. Thank you for the wonderful descriptions that made this possible :)

[Sir PMP]

is the hotel name Mulia or Melia?

[cccole]

There are Melia hotels in Bali but John and Diane refer to the 5* Mulia several times. It is among the beautiful hotel/resorts in Indonesia. Cherie

[Folk Singer]

John and Diane,

 

Thank you for posting and taking us along on your cruise.