We docked in Darwin at 7 AM and were off the ship by 7:30 AM for immigration. Everyone had to remove everything and do a face-to-face inspection, even the crew. After the inspection was done we had to leave our luggage with them and get back on the ship. We will be on the ship until 10 PM, when we board a bus and go to the airport. Our first flight leaves Darwin at 1:55 AM and lands in Singapore. We arrive in Singapore 4 hours and 45 minutes later at 5:10 AM and leave for Seattle at 9:00 AM. We arrive in Seattle 14 hours and 45 minutes later at 8:45 AM. Yes, we do arrive in Seattle 15 minutes before we leave Singapore. From Seattle we fly to Portland arriving at 12:20 where Richard and Joan are picking us up around 1:00 P M Saturday. It will be a long flight for sure.
We went straight to breakfast when we got on and Kim said, “look at you eating at 8:13 AM”. Yes, it was pretty early, for me.
One of the expedition leaders is a professional photographer and he puts together a set of pictures he took and some that guests took. At the end of this blog, I plan to put several of these pictures for your visual entertainment.
But first, a few funny things I heard. Keep in mind, guests have been aboard for at least 2 weeks now and I got in the elevator on deck 4, I asked for deck 7 and another guy asked for deck 5. The guy pushing the buttons says, “deck 5 has no bar on it why would anyone want off there”? I told him that Deck 5 was the pool deck and there is the pool bar, and the restaurant has a bar too. I then asked him if he somehow got on board yesterday, it was a sea day, which got a laugh. Kim came back on board with a joke she had read about 2 guys preparing to open a new store front. They had had enough of people knocking on the door and asking what kind of store is it going to be. Well, this elderly lady knocks on the door and asks what are you selling? He replies, idiots. She says well business must be good, I see you only have 2 left. Today at lunch I saw the captain, so I walked up to him to thank him for a great trip and inviting us to dinner earlier in the trip. Then I added that I was glad his navigator does all the math for the ship, because last night at the Fairwell reception you stated some people have been on almost 5 1/2 weeks. Those he was referring to have been on board for 55 days. 56 days would be 8 weeks. He laughed, but his fellow officers at the table laughed harder.
Enjoy the beautiful pictures, I plan to write one more time next week so I can add some short videos that you will enjoy watching and tell about our long travel day.
Well, 47 people signed on to the hike in the dark to see the Bird of Paradice, I never heard if all 47 got up and went. I heard that they did NOT see any birds. During lunch, the captain moved the ship to the other side of the Island where there was some fantastic snorkeling.
I made the mistake of asking a German lady if she enjoyed snorkeling and about a half hour later, she excused herself because her champagne was getting warn. Basically, there were too many people, a lot of whom were using swim noodles, and bumping into her. She said, “I felt like I was swimming in noodle soup”. When she and her swim mate tried to get away from the crowd, the expedition leaders made them go back and stay in the group. I told her that’s what the feedback button on her Seabourn app was for. The next day at lunch she thanked me for reminding her that feedback was available. She complained and they listened. The next day, they separated the groups by about a half hour each so there would not be as many people in the same place at the same time.
Now, we have 2 sea days before we get to Darwin. Our flight leaves at 2 AM Saturday evening. We will stay aboard the ship until 10 PM Friday night then they have a bus to take us to the Airport, there are others on that flight. It’s hard to believe we will have been onboard 55 nights, it seems more like a couple of weeks.
Here are some pictures of Wayag Island, Indonesia.
Our route from Soloman Islands to Darwin Australia.
I’ll be the first to admit that I use creative editing from time to time, but the statement above is all truth. The boat feels like it’s on dry land and we are surrounded by a 3D movie screen. I have some beautiful pictures, but no pictures can exhibit the absolute beauty of this area.
Yesterday at noon we started loading the Zodiacs. We were called by color groups and we were the 4th of 6 to be loaded. Our wait wasn’t that long. Since it was to be the longest ride of our entire trip, the driver re-stated the safety rules. If someone were to fall overboard, keep your eyes on them, get my attention and follow my commands. He said if he fell overboard the engine would automatically shut off and all we needed to do is laugh at him. It was a long ride for sure.
As we got to the river’s entrance, we were met, actually surrounded, by War Canoes. There were at least 40 of these canoes, each with 4 painted warriors in them. It was actually kind of scarry. We had to remind ourselves that we were invited guests, but that’s not all that settling considering they are direct descendants of Cannibals’!
As we got closer to the village, we could see a huge crowd of villagers, lots of children. They were all waiting for us. As we got off the zodiacs, they all just parted and made room for us.
When everyone was on shore the ceremonies started. I must confess that it seemed a bit disorganized, and it was hard to know exactly where to look or what we were seeing. There was chanting, drumming, dancing and the center of attraction was the raising of three totem poles. The totems were carved and on top of each of them was a statue of a man with a huge phallic symbol.
When the show was over, I noticed some of us were loading onto the zodiacs. They had told us that whenever we wanted to return to the ship, they would start loading the boats, but they had to be full, and we had to use the buddy system because it was a long way to go. Kim wanted to hang around so, I got on one of the first boats to leave. The drivers had used a tracker app on their phones as we were led into the river. They used this to retrace the channel out to sea. There are two sizes of boats, the small one will hold 8 guests while the larger one held 12. The larger ones have bigger engines and can go faster. The first two boats to leave were small. Once out to sea, 2 larger boats pasted us, then 2 more, when we arrived at the ship a third pair of the larger boats had caught up to us. I commented to my boat mates that it would be just my luck that Kim got back aboard before I did. Well, she was on the boat right behind us. She had stayed in the village for at least half an hour longer than I had. So, I guess the “stupid” question about the ride back to the ship wasn’t so stupid after all, mine was a half hour longer than Kim’s. I’ll leave you with more pictures of the village people.
Thhe Captain consulted me when he found out I had been at sea longer than he had.
On our first of 3 sea days, we were invited to a reception with the officers and all the guests that embarked back in Santiago Chile. There are only 22 of us left.
Not my picture…
That evening we had a thunderstorm, and it lasted all night long. Thunderstorms at sea are very rare. As the Captain said the next day, “it was quite spectacular”.
PNG is the second largest Island in the world and even after 72 hours of continuous sailing, we haven’t even reached the mid-way point.
These glasses were empty an hour earlier.
The next two days were very rainy, but it was still 82-84 degrees, so it was outside weather, just had to stay under cover or in the hot tub, as some did. We actually saw some Spinner Dolphins that day. Also, I did a first ever activity on a cruise ship. I went to the Doctor. Two weeks ago, I scraped my arm, no big deal, it didn’t even need a Band-Aid. The next day at one of the stops I got a bit of a bug near my left knee. Both of these spots got infected, no picture, you’re welcome. So, that morning, Kim decided I needed to be looked at and off we go. It has always struck me funny that the Doctors’ office is always on the lowest deck and up in the bow. The most common ailment on a cruise ship is sea sickness, the area of the ship that you don’t want to be in if you are seasick is the bow, because it has the most movement of anywhere on board. The doctor poked and prodded, then said he was going to put me on an oral antibiotic regimen and I was to clean and dress both spots twice a day. Then the question that stumped me, “Do you have enough plasters to do that?” Before I could say what, Kim said no, we don’t. So, he got into a cabinet and pulled out a handful of Band-Aids. Afterword. I had to ask Kim how she knew that a plaster was a Band-Aid and she told me she watches a lot of British TV.
The days were filled with many lectures, and we learned fascinating stuff about the part of the world we are in. Did you know we are in the heart of Cannibalism and head shrinkers?
We also have nightly briefings nightly. We discuss where we have been and what is coming up in the next few days. Our next stop is a village that is believed to be the most remote primative village in the world. Then we move up above the equator, where the sun will again set in the west, and visit some of the most beautiful tropical places I have ever seen. At these briefings, you quickly learn that there actually are stupid questions. The upcoming stop requires a 50-minute zodiac ride up a river, well, that’s what we were told, then the recap slide said it was a one hour ride, yep, someone asked which is it, 50 minutes or an hour? We are on island time, 50 minutes, one hour, the same thing. Count on being on the zodiac for about an hour and a half and then you won’t be disappointed. We were told it would take all 22 zodiacs to get everyone ashore and we have to travel in a convoy because the water is very shallow and we will follow local guides, so some will have to wait in the boats while other boats are loading. Yep, someone asked what do we do while we wait in the boat? Followed by, will the ride back to the ship be as long as the ride there? And then, how long will we be in the village? And from another, what’s the total time we will be off the ship? At some point the expedition leader said, “I didn’t realize I would be doing stand up comedy tonight”. Of course the bathroom question came up, no bathroom facilities available.
Changing subjects and speakers, we learned a little about where we will be in a few days. At one stop if you are very adventurous, we will leave the ship at 5 AM and travel through the jungle on foot on very difficult uneven trails to get the chance to see the real “birds of paridice”. They do a dance ritual at dawn that is fantastic to witness. Followed by some photos. Sure enough, as if on que came the question about will we be guaranteed to see birds? And, is the trail on level ground? These people are killing me.
On another Island we will again go snorkeling. When we got on, they issued us all snorkel gear. Someone asked if we should bring our snorkel gear. Another guy said he would like to go snorkeling but does not want to get wet.
Now, do you understand that there really are stupid questions.
Today we stopped at Alotau, PNG. Everyone took a bus tour. The bus we rode was the prison bus, they used every bus on the Island, literally. We learned that 90% of the people of PNG are unemployed. Looking around, you would not ever guess that. The city was clean, the housing was modest. Our guide said that everyone was a gardener, fisherman, hunter or gatherer of fruits. That is what everyone lives on.
Even the children danced in their costumes
After some time at the local market, we went to a village where we were treated to ceremonial dances, clay pot cooking, coconut husking and shredding.
This gut even started a fire with 2 sticks. I tried that a lot when I was a kid, but he actually made it look easy, way better than they do on Survivor.
A young family, both Mom and Dad had red teeth. I noticed that several of the dancers had red teeth, and our guide told us about Betel Nuts. Betel nut, also known as areca nut, is the seed of the areca palm tree. It’s a common ingredient in betel quid, a stimulant chewed in many parts of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. However, betel nut chewing is associated with significant health risks, including increased cancer rates and cardiovascular diseases.
Kim tried to sneek this little guy out in her back pack.
Okay, so we took too many pictures of the children…..
Over all, it was an enjoyable day, but very hot and humid.
The following day we were at Conflict Island, so named by the discoverer while on a ship name the Conflict. We are now in what is called The Coral triangle. T is called this because thr best snorkeling and diving in the world is right under us.
Kim went snorkeling in the morning and saw Nemo! She also saw the giant clams that you probably thought were only found in cartoons.
She came back to the ship for lunch, then we both went back to the Island to do some swimming, yep, that’s me. Another beautiful day.
As I said, this crowd is more lively, and again, all I was doing is listening. We were docked at Alotau and when it was time to leave, we had to back out. As I mentioned, it’s a poor country. I kind of assume a lot of sewage gets dumped straight into the Ocean in places like this. I was up on deck 9 watching the sail away and there were 3 women in a hot tub close to me. As the ship churned up the water, there was the unmistakable smell of sewage, well at least I thought it was (unmistakable, that is). One of the women asked what that smell was and her friend said “oh that, it’s the exhaust from the ship burning fuel. It will go away once we turn around and start going forward”. Well, to my amazement, she was absolutely correct, once we were out of the port and going forward, the smell went away. Wow!
And then, while sitting at the pool, a couple walk out and he says to her “tonight, the sun will go down over here.” I look, get my phone out pull up the compass app and sure enough he just pointed to the East. “We are in the Southern Hemisphere now, everything is opposite”, he told her. It reminded me of the time we were in Key West, standing at the southerly most point of land waiting with about a hundred others to see the sunset. A guy says “this is the only place in America that you can see the sun set in the Ocean”. Wow, didn’t I tell you that these trips were educational?
Now, we have 3 straight days at sea, so I will be listening for more wise educators.
