April 5 - South Western Pacific

 Apr 5 Easter Sunday

We arrived at anchor at Mystery Island just off the shores of Vanuatu.

My watch somehow got one hour behind, so we missed breakfast.  Fortunately, I realized in time to get to our tour.  This is an anchor port, and it took a while to get on the tender and over to the island. 

  

 

We joined a tour and took a very small boat on a short ride to the main island, Vanuatu.  We needed to remove our shoes, socks, and roll up our pants to wade out to get on the boat.  I failed to read the instructions prior to the tour, warning of this.

Once on the mainland of Vanuatu, we received a demonstration of the tree of life, the coconut tree, and all it can be used for. Every part of the tree of life is used:  the roots, the leaves, the bark, every bit of it. Basket weaving to make hats, a carry bag, a fan, a sleeping mat, a roof covering, and a stretcher for the young son.  A true lifesaver if one is marooned on a desert island.

   

Next was a demonstration of fire walking.  First, they lit a fire over rocks, and once the rocks were good and hot, the chief walked on the very hot rocks three times with no damage to their bare feet.  A very brave man.  

  

 

 

Finally, a time to take photos with the indigenous people, including their 6-year-old son.

To wind up our tour, we took the ride back, feet wet, then tendered back to the ship for a late lunch. 

The reason it is called Mystery Island is that during the Second World War, a runway was created.  Its location is not visible from the water.  The enemy never knew where the airplanes were coming from, creating the mystery.

 

Apr 5 Easter Monday

This is the 90^th day of our voyage, making it the halfway point.  Our stop is the French overseas territory of New Caledonia at the city of Noumea, on the main island of Grande Terre.  The island is roughly 250 miles long by about 35 miles wide on average, the size of New Jersey.  The massive coral reef forms the largest lagoon in the world and is a UNESCO site, with turquoise, clear water.

We docked right in the middle of town, just steps from the shops.

Because of Easter Monday, many of the shops were closed, but the indoor handicraft market right out front was open.

 

We had an 11am tour, so we walked around town, including a lovely, shady park, where we sat and were serenaded by the many birds.  All the signs were in French only, so we are not sure what the monuments were.

    

The forecast is no rain, but my senses say I will not trust it.  After a one-hour walk around town, we arrived for our tour: a Treetop Canopy Adventure.  We were told to hang about a few minutes then we were told the weather at the forest is heavy rain, so the tour is canceled.   We returned to the ship for an early lunch, and true to form, a heavy shower came through.  We settled in for a quiet afternoon.  

Apr 7 and 8 Seadays

On Wednesday evening, the matradee matched us up with dinner guests with the same last name, Lloyd.  As we chatted, we found we have much in common.  The husband, Dennis, was born in England, was an airline pilot for most of his career, and has been just about everywhere in the world.  This created a good conversation.  He now lives with his wife in Australia, more good conversation.  He then told a story about buying a double bass aboard for his son, and how he was able to store it on the flight deck for the long flight home.  Apparently, three of his children play double bass, as I do in the symphony back in Kansas.  Another great dinner and fascinating conversation.

 

April 9

We finally arrived in Australia, a large island country of only 26 million people, of which almost 50% were born abroad.  We sailed into the harbor at dawn [5.45am], and we braved the early call to witness the sail-in, especially the view of the Sydney Opera House, and we were not disappointed.

  

We took a tour of the city, which meant going through passport control and customs.  Luckily, this only took about 20 minutes, and off we went on a luxury coach.  Our guide gave us some facts and history.  The Aboriginals inhabited Australia for 600 million years before explorers started inhabiting this smallest continent, as the locals call it.  Sidney enjoys a Mediterranean climate, and it is said to be the driest continent in the world.

  

We stopped at a harbor overlook, Macquaries Point.  The view from this angle is very impressive, and several Ibis birds with very long beaks enjoy it as well.

   

We stopped at an overlook of the harbor entrance, which locals call “the gap.”  This gap is the place where many, many ships went down, either the winds blew them into the rocks, or they mis-calculated the depth and hit the rocks by themselves.

Our final stop was the famous Bondi Beach, just one of over 100 beaches in Sydney, but the most famous.

  

We returned to the ship for lunch.

Today is the end of the segment.  Six hundred guests left the ship, and another 500 are expected, with 600 guests staying on for the long haul.  

I went back to downtown [the CBD] on the free shuttle and walked around the King Street Wharf, just to get a different feel of this lovely City.  This area is mostly a business district, but I enjoyed the warm sunny day with no time obligations [except getting back before the ship left].  Merry stayed back at the ship.  Apparently, I missed the big shopping area nearby.  Probably just as well.

In the evening, we ate at the buffet for a change.  The ship was scheduled to depart at 8pm, and we wanted to enjoy the sailout.  At 7:50, we went out on the top deck and got just about the last space along the rail on the starboard [right] side to enjoy the sailout.  This is the second time we have had this experience, and we have never forgotten the first time; this time was even better.  The sight of the city all lit up is breathtaking, and when the opera house came into view, it stole the show.  We also got the chance to see the Southern Cross, the southern hemisphere's equivalent of our North Star.  Magnificent.  A wonderful end to a very enjoyable, but too short, day.

 

Apr 10 Seaday

 

Apr 11

We are traveling counterclockwise around Australia, up the east coast.  We left New South Wales, where Sydney is located, and our next stop is scheduled to be the anchor port of Mooloolaba [moo-loo-la-ba] in the state of Queensland.  This is the closest place to Brisbane. 

At the last minute, the captain announced the sea conditions at the dock were very rough, making tendering ashore unsafe, so the visit was terminated.  We continued the journey towards Whitsunday Island and rescheduled the seaday activities at short notice. In the meantime, we spent some time watching the successful re-entry of the Artimus II space capsule, returning from the moon.  Quite exciting and brings back memories of many moons ago, 1969, the landing on the moon.

Check back next week for more blogging