Loading...
Start a new Travel Blog! Blogabond Home Maps People Photos My Stuff

edoyle

59 Blog Entries
2 Trips
371 Photos

Trips:

World Cruise
World Cruise

Shorthand link:

http://blogabond.com/edoyle




Bali

Ubud, Indonesia

5th and 6th at sea.Excellent lectures by Dr.Michael Boll on American Mid-East policy and Russia.Tue will be on North Korea.

Welcome to Bali

We anchored in Padang Bay and tendered in.The day was overcast so most of us took an umbrella from the ship.(This is the rainy season) My tour was called "Colors of Bali".Our first visit was to an 11th century temple,quite interesting.We had to cover our legs,even if wearing pants,though not our arms,surprisingly,so we were given sarongs to wear.The men donned them reluctantly and most of them looked quite amusing with them on.


Obligatory sarongs in temple

We then saw a Balinese folk tale performed on an open stage.We were all given a sheet with the explanation in our language of choice,otherwise no one could have followed what was going on.A tiger entered early on and the two men in the remarkably elaborate costume were magnificent.They cavorted around,opened and closed the wooden mouth noisily and lay down to sleep.I don't know how all the actors managed in the heat and humidity,even though the heat was abated by the grey skies.


Balinese performance

We learned that there are 13,700 islands in Indonesia.The Dutch came in 1908 and an uprising evicted them in 1942.Then the Japanese invaded and we saw many bunkers from their occupation.
After the war the monarchy was dissolved and Indonesia became independent.
East Bali is mostly Hindu while West Bali is Muslim
People live in small communities with a central meeting house.All know each other so crime is practically non-existent.
The caste system is prevalent but slowly dying out.The people are generally poor.Those who could afford air conditioning prefer to do without it.They believe that nature is healthier.
We had a lovely buffet lunch in a well known restaurant,then want to a silver manufacturer where we saw lovely filigree work.Our last stop was to see wood carvings,some very large and elaborate,some very small and delicate.They use ebony,mahogany,sandalwood,silkwood and others.
At each coach stop we were surrounded by men and women selling cloth and carvings.I did not buy a thing.


Ceiling in House of Justice

View from old house of justice


Rice field.Brownish is ready for gathering

permalink written by  edoyle on March 8, 2011 from Ubud, Indonesia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
tagged Bali
Send a Compliment

Top of the continent

Darwin, Australia

A small town,destroyed twice by cyclones,the last one being Tracy in 1974.It has been rebuilt with much stricter laws.
The pop.is 30,000 in the city,110,000 including the suburbs.
I took the historic Darwin tour.We visited the Northern Territory gaol museum in Fannie Bay,a good way to keep us on the straight and narrow!


Gaol

We visited the Botanical Gardens which were lovely.I always enjoy seeing plants and trees in beautiful settings.The palm trees were beaten down from the recent storm,and many flowering bushes looked bedraggled.The day was overcast and it had rained getting on the bus but the rain stopped and everything smelled so fresh,even the drooping flowers seemed to perk up.


upended trees

Path in Botanical Gardens


waterlogged bush

Our last stop was the Art Museum where we saw lovely examples of aboriginal art.Each tribe has its own design,rather like Scottish tartan.We also saw a film of the damage done by cyclone Tracy,and there was a sound proof booth where a few people could go in to hear what the cyclone sounded like.The worst noise was not just the wind but metal hitting the ground and other metal at 200 mph.
We saw a stuffed crocodile called "Sweetheart" which had taken bites out of a metal boat.It was finally captured years later but drowned as it was being pulled into the boat.
Now two days at sea and then Bali.

permalink written by  edoyle on March 4, 2011 from Darwin, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Thursday island

Cooktown, Australia

Mon.march 1st at sea.Sky overcast and it rained most of the day.
Anchored off Thursday Island this morning,tendered in.
The island is 1.4 sq.Miles,3000 population.It is one of 136 islands in the Torres Strait and is the administrative headquarters for all the islands.It is known as TI to the inhabitants.
There was only one tour choice lasting 45 mins.The first group had a big tour bus.My group had a small bus with excellent air conditioning and a driver guide.We were driven up to a fort used in case of a Japanese attack in WW11.there was also a small museum up there.
There is a Tue.Wed.Thurs.and Fri Island but no Mon.Sat.or Sun.Island.Our guide told us the Thursday island was discovered on a Fri.and Fri.island discovered on Thurs.but when the area was being mapped some higher-up in the Admiralty switched the names to keep the sequence,hardly the cartographer,I imagine.
There are 6 churches and we were pointed out the C.of E. cathedral,a small lovely wooden building.
Ships come from Cairns twice a week with provisions and prices are 30% higher than on the mainland.
The weather was oppressively hot and humid so I didn't linger after the tour but took the tender back to the ship.
We have one day at sea and then Darwin.

permalink written by  edoyle on March 2, 2011 from Cooktown, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Cairns

Cairns, Australia

Docked in Cairns this morning.My tour on a train and army duck was cancelled because of mud on the tracks so I took a panoramic tour of the city.It has grown tremendously in recent years.All beaches are north and south of the city with lovely little resorts.
We visited the botanical gardens where we saw all types of ferns.We saw many orchids and red ginger and meleleuca.
Oug guide was the most talkative we've had so far,but very well informed.
Mosquitos were a problem in the gardens.

permalink written by  edoyle on February 28, 2011 from Cairns, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Brisbane

Brisbane, Australia

Fri.Feb.25th Lovely city.The CBD is in a loop of the Brisbane river and was completely flooded.Everything has been cleaned but there are still signs of mud around.A lovely boardwalk was partially washed away and the river is very muddy.This is a laid back city.
Our guide told us that in Sydney you are asked how much money you have,in Melbourne what school you went to,in Adelaide what church you belong to but in Brisbane an arm is placed around you and someone says "let me buy you a beer".I loved that.
A dam was built after the '74 flood and people thought they were safe but there was so much rain that the dam had to be opened.The premier of Queensland scored many points for her handling of the situation.She set up buses in 4 points and asked people to put on wellingtons and bring cleaning supplies and had them brought to where they were needed.
The city was clean in record time.The guide also told of hordes of young men going into houses and just cleaning without introduction.Those who couldn't physically work went up and down streets supplying drinking water and water to wash with.She mentioned a town,I think it was Toowoomba,where the cars tumbled head over heels in the torrent.
Rockhampton was spared the worst of the flood.
We had a ride on a paddlewheeler,Kookabarra Queen,and saw some lovely houses along the river.The 1st mate gave a running commentary and played the accordion,mostly WW1 tunes.

permalink written by  edoyle on February 27, 2011 from Brisbane, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Townsville

Townsville, Australia

Sun.27th Took the shuttle into town,10 mins.There is a market every Sunday and I walked around.Homemade baked goods,clothes and trinkets.Heat and humidity almost unbearable.Took the shuttle back to the ship.
The main campus of the University of Brisbane is here.

permalink written by  edoyle on February 27, 2011 from Townsville, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Yesterday at sea.I won at a special Captain's bingo the previous evening and the prize was a tour of the back of the ship.We saw the laundry and where all the provisions are,the machinery to keep everything running smoothly.
I had not been watching the TV in my cabin so was shocked to learn of the earthquake in Christchurch.We had seen the scaffolding around the beautiful cathedral with its tall spire and now it was destroyed. so much devastation.Although the "quake was lower on the Richter scale than last September's it did more damage.It was said to be an aftershock and apparently these shocks had been occurring since Sept.but were under the Mountain until this one.

permalink written by  edoyle on February 23, 2011 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Sydney

Sydney, Australia

Been to Sydney twice before,visited the opera House and the shops so this time I was determined to see some wildlife and went to Featherdale Wildlife Park and had my fill.
Small kangaroos and wallabies,koalas by the dozen,cassowaries,cockatoos and other birds.Saw a huge crocodile basking in the sun AND I saw a Tasmanian devil,ugly creature
especially when he opens his mouth.
This was a most enjoyable,leisurely excursion.

Cockatoo in Featherdale Wildlife park

Native birds
{
{94738|right}}

I have to get my photos reduced to get them on the computer and the expert here often reduces the wrong ones.This has happened to others,so you'll just have to excuse strange pictures or just wait until I get home

permalink written by  edoyle on February 23, 2011 from Sydney, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Still Fr.Polynesia

Papeete, French Polynesia

[!--RETRO--> Arrived in Papeete,capital of Tahiti,the largest island in French Polynesia.It is a self-governing Fr.region.I took a tour called "In Paul Gauguin's Footsteps"We visited the Gauguin museum,4 buildings in a square where one walks in the open to each one.All the original art is locked away because of the heat and humidity,we saw replicas.We also saw the House he built himself and in which he lived for many years,in the museum.It was a small 2-storey wooden shack.He lived downstairs and he had a studio upstairs which equalled the entire downstairs.
Local dancers performed onboard that night.

Polynesian dancers on board Voyager

permalink written by  edoyle on February 20, 2011 from Papeete, French Polynesia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment

Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia

Docked in Melbourne.Lovely city,considered the cultural centre of Australia.The river Yarra
runs through it,dividing it into north and south banks.The old part of the city has wrought
iron balconies,reminiscent of New Orleans.Ships carried iron ballast and sold it cheaply when loaded with provisions to return to England.
Went up Eureka Tower,88 storeys,good view of the city.Windows all around much like the Dominion Tower in Toronto which is taller.
We remained docked for two days and I went on a safari to see kangaroos and koalas in the wild.A group of kangaroos is called a mob and we couldn't get close enough to the first mob to see much even with binoculars.We did get closer to the second mob and saw a joey feeding from outside the pouch while a younger joey was inside.Apparently when the mother mates she can put conception on hold if conditions are not right,or having conceived she can put development on hold.When a joey is born he finds his way to the pouch and latches on to a teat and that is his to come back to until his mother thinks he is too big when she tightens a muscle so he can't even get his head in.While she is still nursing she can have another joey and that teat will have richer milk,so she is supplying 2 kinds of milk at the same time.This is so amazing.
We had lunch in a tent and were entertained by an aborigine playing a didgeridoo.It is rather like an alphorn.After lunch we were unable to see any koalas

Aborigine playing a didgeridoo

permalink written by  edoyle on February 20, 2011 from Melbourne, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise
Send a Compliment
Viewing 31 - 40 of 59 Entries
first | previous | next | last



author feed
 author kml

Heading South?

Online Spanish lessons with a live personal tutor FairTutor can hook you up with Online Spanish lessons with a live personal tutor. It's pretty sweet! Online Spanish lessons with a live personal tutor www.fairtutor.com
Navigate
Home
Find Blogs
Find People
Find Places
Find Photos
Browse Tags
Make Maps
Write a Blog Entry
search
Login

go
create a new account



   

Blogabond v2.40.58.80 © 2024 Expat Software Consulting Services about : press : rss : privacy
View as Map View as Satellite Imagery View as Map with Satellite Imagery Show/Hide Info Labels Zoom Out Zoom In Zoom Out Zoom In
find city: