When entering an Australian port, we are reminded each time that no food, plants, animals, meats, etc. may be brought ashore (they call it a quarantine). To ensure that this law is not broken a professsionally trained sniffing beagle dog, affectionately known as the beagle brigade, checks each disembarking passenger's bags and there is a big fine for offenders. The sign reads: "we find, We fine."

We finally saw some kangaroos when we visited the Billabong Sanctuary, also crocodiles, koala bears, cassowary birds which have one big middle toe with which they can kick and kill you. We learned that koalas sleep 23 out of 24 hours a day because they are continuosly stoned from eating the eucalyptus leaves that they thrive on.

This area of Queensland was badly damaged by cyclone Yasi and they are still recovering. The damage was mostly flooding and major tree uprooting. The Billabong animal Sanctuary was badly damaged and was closed to the public until mid-April, but they opened it for us for a few hours. A lot of the animal cages were still destroyed by high winds and falling trees.

This segment from Sydney to Beijing is a long one -- 25 days -- a we will travel over 8,000 Miles.

We sailed through the Great Barrier Reefs for a day with a special local reef pilot onboard who gave us a running commentary of the reefs. There is a very narrow designated shipping channel that navigates through the reefs. It is very shallow and dangerous to wander outside the shipping channel. The maximum ship draft allowed is 12.6 meters. Our ship draws about 7 meters.

We go to lectures daily and continue to learn. Today it was about U.S. policy towards middle eastern nations.

written by  rcodel on March 4, 2011 from Darwin, Australia
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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Today we were awakened by the clanging noises made by the engineers who were trying to repair the cable of our lifeboat which broke in Darwin. As we looked out from our balcony we saw a little home-made dugout canoe-like boat with outriggers carrying two men and a big fish in a basket. They were holding their hands up as if they wanted something ($???). When asked, they responded that they wanted soap. No problem. We threw them some soap, some shampoo and also some fruit, which they loved. If they didn't catch something they just dove into the water to retrieve it.

After a short tender ride to shore, we were basically attacked by Bali people offering us rides in their cars, selling watches, sunglasses, necklaces, pulling on our shirt. They are so poor.

We finally chose someone to be our driver after inspecting his car for safety and told him where we wanted to go -- to Ubud and the rice fields. Also, a stop at a batik processing store and a silver factory.

Our next port is Sandakan, Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. The captain has told us that The Entrance to the harbor in Sandakan is very shallow and can only be navigated by us at high tide. At low tide the clearance under our ship is a little under one meter, which is too close for Comfort. At high tide it's two meters. Based on the latest tide information we have to leave Bali two hours early and travel at full Speed for two days. We'll let you know in Sandakan if we made it since everything is dependant on wind and sea conditions for ther next two days.

written by  rcodel on March 6, 2011 from Ubud, Indonesia
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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We currently have the Platters on board for our entertainment. They have already had one show and it was excellent. Many fond memories of our younger life. One of them is an original and the rest are great. Last night in the lounge there was an impromptu performance by a few of them individually as passengers prodded them on. Tons of fun.

written by  rcodel on March 10, 2011 from Sandakan, Malaysia
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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Manila is just a big city. People are very friendly and smile a lot even though they are very poor. They really like Americans especially since we liberated them from the Japanese at the end of World War II. The American military left behind a lot of jeeps which the Filipinos really liked. They converted them into vehicles that carry a lot of people by extending the rear. They continue to handmake these vehicles and they are now the main form of transportation. They are called "jeepnies".

Wehn we returned from sightseeing in Manila we learned of the terrible 8.9 earthquake in Japan and the tsunami which followed it. Fortunately we are safe. The Philippines was under a tsunami warning. However, since we are on the western side of the island it was highly unlikely that we would be affected.

It is really amazing how many natural disasters we have come close to experiencing on this cruise. The earthquake in Christchurch, cyclone Yasi in Queensland as well as the floods there and now the earthquake in Japan not far from us. Now our next worry is a nuclear reactor blowing up since in several days we will be in Seoul, Korea, just west of Japan.

written by  rcodel on March 11, 2011 from Manila, Philippines
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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We were welcomed to Taiwan with a fireboat salute. In the evening we were treated to a performance by local entertainers. It was a traditional, local dragon dance.

What a privilege the following day to visit the renowned National Museum which houses about 700,000 items, many dating back over 4,000 years and stolen from China when Chiang Kai-Shek took the collection following his armies' defeat at the hands of Mao Tse Tung. The most impressive items were a bronze pot with Chinese writing inside, about 3,000 years old from the bronze age which came after the stone age, and an ivory ball which had about 12 balls within it, all hand-carved out of one piece of ivory. Each ball could be individually moved. You could see through each ball. Dick had been to Taipei about 15 times in the past negotiating and implementing a joint venture with a Taiwanese company, but he never had time to really sightsee. However, he had seen the National Museum and thought it important for Alida to see it.

National Museum

We visited the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial and the War Memorial where the guards were changing.

changing of the guard

Also, we visited a skyscraper called the 101 building because it has 101 floors. It was the tallest building in the world for about 5 years until the Burg Dubai surpassed it about 2 years ago.

101 building

We are now on our way to Seoul. We have been advised that it should not be a problem for us with the nuclear situation in Japan. Japan is far away from Seoul and the prevailing winds tend to be west to east.

written by  rcodel on March 15, 2011 from Taipei, Taiwan
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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We went to the National Museum which houses some of Korea's treasures but pales into insignificance when compared to the one in Taiwan. The 10-Story pagoda made of marble was one of the highlights.

10 story pagoda

After a typical Korean lunch in a local restaurant, we went to the Royal Palace where we happened to arrive in time for the changing of the guards.

changing of the guard

When a baby is born in Korea, it is already one year old since its age is calculated from conception rather than birth. As a result, we'll bet there aren't any abortions in Korea.

At the port we noticed that there were 1,000's of new cars ready for export. We are looking forward to Beijing where we have a complimentary overnight at the Shangri-la China World Hotel.

written by  rcodel on March 18, 2011 from Seoul, South Korea
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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dragon head building

On the two hour drive from Tianjin to Beijing we saw an incredible amount of construction going on with Tower cranes everywhere. The highways are new and large with many more under construction in preparation for future traffic. China is adding automobiles at the rate of 16 million a year. To obtain a new car you have to be on a waiting list since there is so much demand. Of course there are no used cars.

Our hotel was located in the new part of Beijing surrounded by new buildings. It was a magnificent hotel.

view from hotel

We went to Tianenman Square.

Tianenman square

Tianenman square

Also to the Forbidden City.

Forbidden city

Forbidden city

new tour guide

And to the Great Wall.

great wall

We also saw some of the 2008 Olympic venues.

bird's nest

water cube

written by  rcodel on March 20, 2011 from Tianjin, China
from the travel blog: World Cruise - 2011
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