A group of us were out taking pictures of the sunset I took this photo from the very front of bow. The very lit up area is floor 8 and is the Observatory Lounge and bar, it's one of the places we play cards and get drinks. Next level is the bridge on floor 7. Then the front of floor 6 are some fancy cabins. Then front of floor 5 were I'm at is the Main Theater with many of the open areas inside as well as outside.
Koror, Palau - 3 Days
This resort the PALAU Pacific Resort was were our boat parked just off shore for 3 days. We could pay a fee and use the resorts beaches which were great for snorkeling and swimming and the pools and many other facilities. One of the boat couples stayed at the cabanas over the water for a night. This is the Resort Beach where we did a lot of snorkeling.
We snorkeled off the beach and I pulled a couple pictures off my GoPro video. The coral was amazing and many different types of fish. The giant clam was only about forty feet from shore and it was about 15 inches wide but there were some twice that size farther out.
The Cabana Rooms over the water.
This is a Story Board, the island is known for Scuba Diving and these Story Boards. They are hand carved on the island and I bought this small one about 14 inches by 8 inches, I also have a good story of the purchase. In the next picture you can see our ship and the our yellow tender lifeboat at the resort dock.
On Sunday (day 2 on island) many of the passengers including myself took advantage of the resort visit. And they had a special Sunday brunch that I also really enjoyed including Prime rib and all you could drink local beer on tap and rum punch. Since our ship was only a 15 minute tender ride away many of us spent most of Sunday there.
I went to the History Museum to learn about the island and to get a license plate for my collection. The museum was nice and I bought an old rusty license plate. This island was once much like YAP, but is now is more modern with modern roads, hotels, dive shops and modern stores. Just another tropical island (not like YAP anymore).
I'm not sure what fruit this is but this tree is loaded. I'm touching someones coconuts, very short palm tree variety.
I was able to get 2 of the most prized and difficult auto tags in the world. The island country of YAP is the rarest with only about 4000 residence and Koror is a very tough one as well. I went to many local shop owners on each island until I found someone willing to get one for me. The one from YAP was on a car in the woods behind her house and her husband got it and brought it to me. Similar story with the other. Now the other photo is fellow passenger Chris eating bat soup. Yes it is something some of our passengers had on there bucket list. They are fruit bats and the bats are boney but the broth is tasty (They Say).
Bitung, Indonesia - 3 Days
When arriving to Bitong, Indonesia we were greeted by the warrior dancers and music. We were also welcomed bymany of the local government as well as half of the island it seems. Many of the smaller ports do this in the South Asia sea it seems. We are only the 3rd ship to stop here this year they say.
We bicycled down to a fishing village that was full of working boats and some house boats. Volcano in background.
The fishing boats come in many shapes. There were at lot of trucks delivering ice to the fishing boats.
A fishing boat with its little work boats.
A typical residential street in Indonesia. Many areas are not this welloff.
The Christian church's are a wide variety of styles and havevery ornate designs.
The island of Bitong is Mostly Christian but they do have about a 35% muslim population and Indonesia does allow beer and local wines. This was hidden on a small bunch of back streets we were bicycling through . The families are so surprised to see us on these back streetsand the kids run out to say hello.
Everyone loves HAPPY TOS does thepackaging look familiar And the real thing Coca Cola
We found this restaurant and bar named BOSHE that had good food and Karaoke. We went there a few times and got to know the owners. The lady is the owner and Victor is a passenger on our ship. The sang some Lionel Richie songs. A few of the local guys were great singers.
We were there for a while so I had to make sure the beer was good (and it was). The pretty server
These local blue van taxis are all over the city and they are the local bus system. The fare is 7000 ruppas (US 50 cents) you flag it down and tell them where you want to get off and there is one on the main roads about every 2 minutes. The kids use them to get to and from school. I rode one with a bunch of kids while I was going to the Grocery store. The kids are always asking our names and where we are from. They never heard of Florida, but know USA and America.
I smaller version of the Eiffel Tower in the middle of town. This is one the the many WW2 Japanese tunnels that are carved into the mountain sides. When the Japanese Army took many of the Indonesian Islands, they enslaved the locals and forced them to build tunnels, fortifications and roads.
This is the beach at the National Park. This island is full of Volcanos and the beach is made of volcanic sand, rocks and boulders. The water is blue and very clear. They also took us on a boat trip through the lagoon in the park.
This is the National Park lagoon with the swimming area and buildings to rest and toenter the water from.
In the parks lagoons the water was like clear glass and full of a large variety of coral and colorful fish. No we did not bring swimsuits a big mistake we found out when we got there. We did not see the tiny monkeys the park is famous for but the water and other wildlife was great.
This is a iPhone picture from above the water and the bottom is about 10 feet from the surface. that's how clear this water is.
This is VIV and she is from New Zealand and she is something else. We hired a taxi to take us to the National Park that is on the other side of the volcano quite a distance from our port. She refuses to wear shoes and even walks through the jungle here barefoot. She is the mother of six and she says a "KIWI" is a person from New Zealand not a fruit. I said look at the Police car and she jump on it for a photo. There are a bunch of Aussies and NZs (or Kiwis) on the ship.
Roxanne took this picture about 2 years ago but worth posting. I've seen families of 4 on a motorcycle in Indonesia multiple times and 3 on a bike is quite common. Babies and toddlers are on the front and no helmets. I've seen people carrying goats or 10 foot bamboo poles, on motor bikes as well.
Roxanne hired a guide and driver (father and son) to take us on an all day adventure. And it was. We passed many volcanos, lakes, through villages and jungles on winding narrow roads with hairpin turns.
We had a guide to the ancient cemetery and she told us the history.
This ancient Indonesian Cemetery dates back a thousand years. Its was very well maintained.
Ancient Carved Grave vault. She took us behind the walls toa cinnamon tree cutting us a piece of its bark.
The jungle roads were very lush and beautiful, but narrow. Most traffic is scooters and motorcycles. When trucks came at us I held my breath.
We were traveling through a tiny village and I was shocked to see this elaborately dressed wedding party coming out of a tiny church and we passed as she was walking out. The houses step right out into the narrow street.We could have never timed it better.
Our Guide and his son took us to may places but the market sounded tame, but it was crazy wild. Warning the pictures further below may be too much for some . This market was one of the biggest I've ever seen. The Walmart of the volcano village. We were the only westerners for miles. There was a major road running across the island but we were an hour away from it.
The market was very busy with trucks unloading right from the fields. Here's a truck full of fresh Pineapples.
Warning! This next picture maybe more than you bargained for.
At this enormous market many miles from the ship and port we saw food that was not on western menus. The first are cooked fruit bats, then agiant snake and then fresh and cooked rats on a stick like corndogs. These are mountain rats with long fur they don't eat the common house rats our guide said.
I asked the smoked fish guy if I could take his picture with his fish and he smiled and said something (?) but nodded yes. He was wearing a LA fishing competition hat and a Boss Lady shirt. I'm sure he's never heard of California but wears the hat and shirt proudly.
Our guide asked us if we wanted to see a waterfall so we walk about 5 stories down to the bottom of this void and wesaw a nice waterfall.
Crossing the Equator in the Indonesian Sea
We crossed the equator and this is a big deal ceremony if it happens on the ocean. Once you've done it your a "Shellback" and you're supposedly changed forever. About half of the passengers had not so we had to perform the ritual. That is to KISS THE FISH and jump in the pool and swim to the other side. The officer is showing us how to kiss the fish. Some of the officers are Scandinavian and some are Greek I think. They also join in the fun. The rest of the ship cheers us on and another reason to drink I think.
My Second Cabin - Day 33 to Day 44
This is my second cabin and it's much larger than most with a living room and balcony. I'm loving the views from the large windows. You realize how vast the Ocean really is. This is the way to live.
I have not used the balcony that much, but I gives a spectacular view of the Ocean and port stops.
The outdoor breakfast spot and my typical breakfast including smoke salmon.
Sorong, Indonesia - 3 Days
On our second day here our rented boat captain and his 2 young sons gave us a ride to Doom Island and waited an hour and a half and then took us back to the big island. Roxanne had walked into this primitive boat dock (very third world) and scored a cheap boat ride to DOOM ISLAND. The fare for all three of us was 100,000 ruppas ($6.25) and we gave him an extra 100,000 ruppas tip when we got back.
Our trip to DOOM Island on the short longboat with our bikes. The trip was a mile or two.
We arrived on DOOM Island unloaded the bikes and enjoyed the ride. No Cars only a few motorbikes. These were the bike taxis used by the locals. Not a tourist island and they see very few white people here. The island kids were very curious and wanted to high five us and ask us were we came from.
This island was small, mostly bicycles and feet were the main transportation. It had nice paved walkways. A boy of about 10 years old, followed us around the small island and Roxanne called him my shadow. She bought him an ice cream cone near the end of the visit. The people would wave smile and say hello.
Mom and her two baby goats were hanging out in this Doomvillage graveyard, and her kids were having a good time.
The next day VIV (from NZ) talked to a local boat owner and negotiated him and his wife to take 10 of us to go snorkeling on a quite beach. It was a hour long trip past many small islands and when we got here it was great. None of us expected the place to be this awesome. This is the boat we came to the island on. It had a very low roof but outside seating as well.
It looked like a movie set. The beach had white clean sand and the water was crystalclear and full of coral and fish galore.
We spent about 4 hours on the island, towards the end of our visit, an old man who lived on the island came over and pointed at a coconut. He wanted to know if we wanted some. We said yes. With his bare feet and a machete he climbed way up the tree and cut down about 15 coconuts. He then cut 10 open, one for each of us to drink. It was so fresh and a little sweet and completely full of water.
We snorkeled for a couple hours, nice coral reefs and colorful fish. The person swimming is not me, I took the photo.
The old guy who cut down the coconuts came outto the beach and waved us farewell. What a Great Day!
We were on our way back to the main island, and we saw a lot of these fishing boats in the distance, so she asked the boat guy to drive up near one. He said they load supplies during the day then find a good spot. Then sleep during the day and fish at night.
Darwin, Australia - 2 Days
We arrived in Darwin and saw a very modern and prosperous beautiful city. Darwin was named after Charles Darwin. The town is an Important sea port on the very Northern Territory. This is the northern gateway to the Outback. Darwin was the only Australian city bombed in an attack by the Japanese during WW2. The city was completely destroyed in 1974 by a huge hurricane/typoon. The city was completely rebuilt.
The town of Darwin is loaded with parks. In a park near the port they had this outdoor movie theater called the Deck Chair Theater, It is open at night and has bar food and drinks. They were showing "GREASE" the night we were docked overnight but, we went elsewhere. I thought is was a cool idea though.
As soon as we got to Darwin I set out on the bike to explore and the city is very bike friendly
We were out bike riding a few miles up the coast north of the city and we saw about a hundred Wallabies in the wild. They are shy and it's hard to get real close. They freeze and stare at you then they bolt. This was taken from a distance he was in the shade.
We are being looked over by the heard of wallabies. They look friendly but theyreally are a bunch of chickens.
Here in Australia, Woolworths nicknamed "Woolies" is the big grocery chain and Coles is the next. We went to both. There was a run on Coke Zero (it was hard to find in Indonesia). The restaurants on board supply free beer and soft drinks with lunch and dinner, But this is the first time this ship has been here and there still learning. We do have refrigerators in our rooms. Some even have personal ice makers in their cabins.
Nice white Tesla, Right? No this is a Chinese BYD. I stopped by a few car dealerships to look at cars and this Chinese company makes nice looking cars that look very familiar. Their BYD trucks look like Ford F150s but a little smaller. We hired an Uber and the guy was driving a brand new gasoline Chinese SUV. Quality and price seemed great.
They still see a Suzuki Jimmy (Samuri) here. And An Australian Ford F150 It's smaller than a US version but mean looking andmany have the outback snorkel.
Burger King is called HUNGRY JACK's here and I was having a craving for American fast food. The Whopper was Great
A day before arriving in Cairns we entered the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef which is the largest reef in the world and is about the size of Italy. We all we stunned at the water color as it was light bluem and the depth was only 80 ft in the straight and we had to bring a Australian naval pilot about for four or five hours to steer the ship through this narrow passage. There were many small islands on both sides of us at times that day. I still had my balcony at that time. The water was calm that day, the next day we had5 ft white caps before arriving .
My typical breakfast on the outside back terrace with a nice view.
Cairns, Australia - 3 Days
On the corner of some major streets in town, they have these corner hotels that look like Australias past, but much of Cairns is new and modern. Most of the old style hotels have a large overhang and outdoor drinking and eating.
The are Australia currency is made of a form of plastic and very colorful and you can see through the middle strip that's clear. Payphones are spread around town.
Turtles are very popular And so is a VEGEMITE Sandwich
This ia an outback cruising home on wheels notice engine snorkel for harsh environments.
Two of the anchor stores in the mall were the Kmart and the Target. Kmart was nice with good prices and very busy many people were Christmas Shopping. Target was mostly clothes and overpriced and quiet.
One of the old hotels surrounded by modern buildings.
I got to go and see the Koalas on my last day before biking to the Botanical gardens. They are so cute and I was able to get about six feet away from the three that were there. The sleep between 20 to 22 hours a day. They are very restricted on letting people hold them but I was very lucky at least one was awake to see him moving. he even went over to wake another one up while I was there. Picture on right.
Parked just down the wharf is a yacht formerly owned by the CEO of Microsoft before he passed away. Now owned by another lucky person.
Great Barrier Reef boat tour took us on a 45 minute ride out to the UNESCO GREEN ISLAND and it was awesome. It is surrounded by reefs and white sand beaches. The island has a tropical rain forest in the center. We saw the big Green sea turtles before we even go off the boat. We spent 5 hours on the island before returning to Cairns.
Map of Green Island
Green Island main guest entry point. Very nice facilities including a small upscale hotel.
The water was amazing, best snorkeling I've ever seen. The girl on the left could almost touch that sea turtle in front of her. I took this from the bridge just after getting of the boat.
The beach on Green Island is spectacular.
The crocodile experience on Greene Island had a nice gift shop with interesting displays.
Cairns (pronounced CANS) has a very nice Botanic Gardens with many walking and bicycling trails. I could also call Santa.
At the Cairns Botanical Gardens they had so many trees, plants and flowers I've never seen and here's a few.
I was bicycling In the Botanical Gardens and as I was leaving I saw what I thought was a 1957 Chevy. When I got closer I realized it was way too small to be. It turned out to be a Holden Custom looking similar to its American cousin but much smaller with right hand drive of course. I saw very few older cars here.
Both Cairns and Darwin had free swimming pools with Lifeguards and restaurants. Both towns were wonderful places to live it seems.
I love the Australians bluntness and sense of humor. People were so nice and friendly. I'm sad and saying Good bye to Australia or G'day!