Pursuit 28 May to 22 June

[frantic36]

I am going to keep things short as I have been kept busy enjoying myself on the cruise.

 

The Shangri La In Sydney is a reasonable hotel in a good location. Though would not be my first choice as it is looking dated and lots of hills to climb. There was confusion re luggage as we received a letter from Seattle Seabourn a week before saying we could take 2 x 23kg checked but Seabourn Australia initially said only 1 x 23Kg though I got an email saying otherwise just prior to departure which I printed off to show. In the end it didn't matter and we put our bags out the night before and got them collected. Seabourn put on 2 charter flights one left at 8am and the other at 10am. We were on the 10am and in Business because we have a Signature Suite but it looked like those in economy had an empty middle seat. Be prepared for a long bus ride from the airport to the port as traffic is bad. The buses were air conditioned.

 

Our suite is lovely and we are enjoying using the spa. If it is windy or raining, which it has for a couple of days the outdoor cushions are placed in a large wicker basket outside on the balcony. We asked our stewardess to place the Indian capsules for the coffee maker with others we prefer and she has made sure of this each day. 

 

Our Papua itinerary was changed a few days before to Alatua and Conflict Islands. The included excursion in our first stop was to a Cultural Village Dance and presentation which we enjoyed but people on earlier buses said it was a bit disorganised when they arrived. 

 

Conflict Island included excursions were glass bottom boat trip, going to a turtle sanctuary and snorkelling nearby, going to a pontoon and snorkelling from there. There was an outer reef trip which was paid for and a 3.5 hour picnic to a private beach also extra cost. We chose the private beach as it allowed us the chance to snorkel, kayak and do stand up paddle board (which we didn't do). It was great as there was a good distance between each group. The included cheese, crackers, nuts, olives and fruit were good and the sparkly wine was fine. It felt special in such a gorgeous place. There were two big rugs which we placed over the paddle boards as a tablecloth and a couple of tree stumps that made good seats.

 

 

 

On our way to 4 Indonesian Islands now and we are enjoying catching up with friends. We are having a small cocktail party in our suite pre-dinner tonight. Lots of interesting lectures about wildlife, geology and some WW2 history from the previous region of PNG.

 

 

 

[nancygp]

Julie,

 

Have a great time and thanks for sharing your trip.

 

nancy

[galeforce9]

Julie, Can’t wait to read along.  Thanks for spending the time posting. 

[kej1]

@frantic36 so glad you are aboard and already enjoying our room!  Have a great trip and I’ll be following along when you have time to post!

[frantic36]

Amazing day in Agats today but heading out for pre-dinnner drinks so will post tomorrow including photos.

[frantic36]

Even though a sea day yesterday it was one of those days. Catching up with emails, an hour in the gym, checked out a friends normal suite as our current suite is an abnormal splurge. Sommeliers lunch, a quick nap, Chef's galley tour, a short break before getting ready for Seabourn Club Party which we attended because a friend got most sailed days then dinner with Captain Ertan. He is had 10 year expedition experience with Silversea before being moving to Venture and Pursuit. A very convivial dining companion. 

 

Enough excuses I will follow up with a recap of Agats as promised.

[frantic36]

Agat is in the Asmat region of West Papua, Indonesia. We visited one village but all the villages surrounding were invited to attend. It was a long day starting at 12MD when the 21 zodiacs went in convoy for almost an hour ride as the tidal depth meant Pursuit had to park a distance out. We had a short window between 12 - 4pm to access the village due to tides. It was hot and humid so make sure if you do this bring lots of water and maybe a cooling neck tie.

 

We had a short wait at the river entrance before escorted down where we were met by multiple Agat men in canoes greeting us as warriors would. Their ability to paddle while standing upright the whole time was amazing. There was many hundreds surrounding us which was a little intimidating at first.

 

[frantic36]

The next challenge we face was getting ashore as even though it was high tide the river bank was muddy though the villagers had put boards and palm leaves down to help. 

 

A doctor and nurse also came with equipment which thankfully no-one needed.

 

The villages performed a ceremony showing how on returning from a expedition to fight the men were greeted by women, children and elders with twigs to beat out any evil spirits that might also have returned with them and then totems are erected to celebrate.

 

[frantic36]

The whole event took over an hour from greeting by the canoists to the ceremony ashore and then at the end there were products for sale. Some looked very interesting but because we had to go through border security in Darwin we opted not to buy. I did have about a reasonable amount of Indo Rupiah from a previous Bali trip so I donated that to the expedition leader so he could give it to the chiefs to be used by the whole village. Due to the remoteness they cannot take anything but Rupiah but Seabourn could exchange other currency to Rupiah at the village.

 

 

Some young boys showed off their tree climbing and jumping skills.

 

 

As I mentioned the ground was muddy and the "mud room" back on the ship came in handy as this stuff was very sticky.

 

 

It was an amazing experience and for all it's challenges I'm glad I didn't miss it.

[kej1]

Sounds like a great trip.  That stop is on our iten for next year when we do The Kimberly and then Indonesia, some additional PNG and end in Fiji.  Hope you are enjoying the suite.  Do you have Nolly and Maneil as attendents?  They were ours on the second half.

[frantic36]

18 hours ago, kej1 said:

Sounds like a great trip.  That stop is on our iten for next year when we do The Kimberly and then Indonesia, some additional PNG and end in Fiji.  Hope you are enjoying the suite.  Do you have Nolly and Maneil as attendents?  They were ours on the second half.

Nolly and Reniel are our attendants and have been lovely. Nolly will be disembarking in Darwin. Loving the suite but have been checking other suites out as won't be able to do this for every other expedition cruise.

[frantic36]

6 June Misool, Indonesia

 

We are in the pristine waters of Rajat Ampat which is a highly regarded dive spot. The area here is full of limestone karsts so reminds me of Halong Bay in Vietnam. We did a zodiac trip in the morning driving around the various karst formations. In the afternoon it was snorkelling of a beach. I opted out of this as it was very cloudy and I wasn't convinced visibility would be good. A friend who went was happy as the sun came out briefly and he went to a different area from the initial landing site and so some good coral and fish.

 

zodiac trip with interesting eroded rocks. I see a rhinoceros though others saw a rabbit.

 

 

Blue Heron sunning itself

 

In some of the karsts were caves and in some have been found indigenous paintings going back 30 - 50,000 years. These ones intrigued me as to whether there were paintings inside?

 

 

We came across a fisherman who had caught bait fish and one big red snapper.

 

There is also Misool Resort. It doesn't look luxurious but you come here for the experience.

 

If I can get some photos from my friend's snorkel I will post them later.

Edited June 7 by frantic36

[2SailingNomads]

Looks like an amazing trip Julie!

 

Ed

[kej1]

Amazing photos and looks like a great time!  Please give our best to Maneil and Nolly from Kim and Charles. We had Maneil from Papeete to Guam and Nolly from Honaria to Guam.  We thought they were both terrific and we miss being on board!

[FlaviaOfTheMonth]

Was there any SCUBA diving available at this stop?

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, kej1 said:

Amazing photos and looks like a great time!  Please give our best to Maneil and Nolly from Kim and Charles. We had Maneil from Papeete to Guam and Nolly from Honaria to Guam.  We thought they were both terrific and we miss being on board!

 

I just read your message to Nolly and she was very touched and said how lovely you and your husband were. She is as bubbly as ever and still singing at times while cleaning 🙂. We are very lucky to have them looking after us.

[frantic36]

57 minutes ago, FlaviaOfTheMonth said:

Was there any SCUBA diving available at this stop?

 

I will have to check which places allowed it but I have vague recollection it was discussed. No submarine was allowed by Indonesian authorities at this time though Seabourn are hoping to get permission in the future maybe if they take some authorities on a dive so they know how responsible and careful the dive team are?

[frantic36]

Wayag, Indonesia

 

It was very hot this day so we opted to not do the morning zodiac. Friends later confirmed it was hot though some enjoyed seeing Batfish, a shark (small) and a turtle. 

 

Because I am not a strong swimmer my husband and I opted to do the off the beach swimming and snorkelling as opposed to the pontoon snorkelling as it was for more advanced snorkellers. I know the pontoon was a a richer experience with more coral and bigger fish like Wrasse etc but the beach was paradise to me.

 

I didn't have to swim to far to swim over some colourful coral and fish. Okay they were smaller but there was still an abundance. Neon fish, mini Black & white, ones with a big white dot, starfish and a mini orange a chocolate brown flatworm that undulated his way past me. When he landed on the coral he looked like a leaf but when swimming looked like a spanish dancer. I have poor underwater photos as I don't have a waterproof cover for my iPhone (any suggestions welcome) but I will post what I can.

 

Getting to the beach was tricky due to the narrow channel

 

 

This coral doesn't look great but further out there was more brain coral, branch coral and those huge flat topped ones I can't remember the names of. The coral was mainly orange, white, brown and yellow but we also saw some bluish and greenish.

 

There were quite a few crew getting a well deserved break on Paradise beach for a couple of hours as well.

 

Kristie from destinations and I did some jungle trekking to get photos of this mangrove monitor lizard.

 

 

And so ends another day in paradise.

 

[frantic36]

Gam, Indonesia 8 June

 

We had the option for an early morning difficult jungle trek to look for the bird of paradise in the mountains. Since it wake-up was for 4am we chose not to go but some did. I am not sure yet whether the saw the bird?

 

I was planning to do the snorkel later in the afternoon but for two reasons I opted out. One reason was they couldn't do snorkelling from the beach and second my husband became unwell fo a few hours and I wasn't prepared to leave him alone. His symptoms only lasted 4 hours but that was enough to kill of any afternoon plans. Some people did another hike to an inland lake and others snorkelled of a zodiac pontoon and were happy.

 

A sea day for the next two days before our arrival in Darwin.

Edited June 9 by frantic36

[lincslady]

I have just been watching a report from Silver Cloud, anchored near you, with fabulous pictures of the waterfalls - I imagine you are doing the same expeditions.  Look forward to hearing about your adventures - but if you are short of time to post, anyone can have a look at jp's posts from Cloud  at the same spot.

[frantic36]

1 hour ago, lincslady said:

I have just been watching a report from Silver Cloud, anchored near you, with fabulous pictures of the waterfalls - I imagine you are doing the same expeditions.  Look forward to hearing about your adventures - but if you are short of time to post, anyone can have a look at jp's posts from Cloud  at the same spot.

 

I am planning to do a catch up.

The two days in Darwin were interesting and difficult which I will explain later. Then I felt run down but today was a good relaxing time. Over the next few days I will do catch ups as we have been to this part of the world last year on a small expedition cruise and so will be taking sea days to enjoy our suite. At the moment I am enjoying the gorgeous weather and calm seas but need a late afternoon nap 🙂.

 

Julie

[lincslady]

Julie - I hope you didn't mind me mentioning jp's posts, but having met you years ago I know you are a generous spirited person, and I would guess always willing to share.  I hope you are getting back up to speed, and  you are in the best possible place to just relax, of course.

[highplanesdrifters]

Thanks for taking us along and all the great information!  We slip into the Signature in September.

 

Would you consider commenting a bit more on excursions, included vs. Revenue.

 

Hope your energy returns so you can enjoy your remaining days to the fullest.

Edited June 15 by highplanesdrifters

[frantic36]

I think you will love the Signature @highplanesdrifters. Our friends who have visited all think it is the nicest suite. Because it is in the aft not the bow you don't have to worry about the lights from your suite causing a hindrance to the bridge so no problem to sit outside on your large balcony at night. We have used the spa frequently and it is very warm. We actually ask the suite host to not fill it all the way say we can top up with some cool water.

[frantic36]

11 June, Darwin.

 

We arrived at 7am and had to prepare for a face to face with immigration after 8am as we were coming from International waters. It was quite painless as each deck was called, you had to show your passport and yellow customs form but we had nothing to declare so easy. We were then able to reboard the ship.

 

As we had been in Darwin a few times we were just going to catch up on maintenance matters such as a manicure & pedicure, hair trim for my husband etc. An American friend booked herself in for multiple spa treatments and she loved her half day of indulgence. I had hoped to visit the RFDS Museum like @jpalbny did but ran out of time just wandering around.

 

I will talk about some of the tours others did in a seperate section.

 

That evening a few of us went to dinner at Hanuman which is one of Darwin's top restaurant serving fusion Asian. It was partly because of wanting to enjoy something different and partly because of the upcoming Bio-security check due on Pursuit on the 12th.

 

12th June, Darwin

Because we had come from overseas Australian regulators wanted to check the whole ship was clean coming into Darwin. So the ship had been having to clean everything and food was going to be thrown out so our supplies were getting low. Romaine lettuce etc was hard to find. It was rather embarrassing as an Australian. I know we try to keep our country safe but I have never seen it as extreme as this. All passengers had to pack all the belongings apart from anything in the safe and put their luggage out the night before whether in transit or not. We then had to collect our luggage the next morning and go through Customs again with our luggage. Another hard part was that after Customs we handed our luggage over to border staff where it was put in security and we couldn't return to the ship.

 

For in transit guests there was all day tours put on or people could just spend the day in Darwin. I had booked a private plane tour to Kakadu National Park.

 

The earliest passengers were allowed back on the ship was 3.30pm and embarking guests it was after 4pm. Thankfully Seabourn  passed with flying colours. I did remark to one embarking passenger who complained about the 4pm check-in that as per @jpalbny's blog Silver Cloud embarking guests didn't get on until after 7.30pm. So something for people to be aware of on cruises coming into Darwin on expedition ships.

 

Tomorrow's entry will be about some of the Darwin tours and our Kakadu flight. Now it is time to get ready for inner.