2023 World Cruise

We are thrilled to be to Komodo Island today. We have had 6 sea days after missing Darwin, so most people are eager to get off the ship and see something new. As always we had quite a wait in the queue area before being called to tender on to the island to begin our tour. We had a short tender ride, then we were met by the friendly staff at the  Komodo National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Our tour include 3 casually dressed rangers (no uniforms) with us, with their trusty "sticks" and soda or water as well. I am told this is  a must-visit destination for a typical international explorer! So off we go on our 90 minute jungle trek. Yes, there is a path, which is muddy at times. It is extremely hot and humid. But the challenge was well worth it. We observed lovely flora and fauna along with the lush jungle, even tasting wildly grown lemon basil. We did see a young, 4-year-old, Komodo Dragon right on the path but it didn't stay long. We also saw some wild pigs, but I...

Today we had a cooking experience - Barramundi Master Class - Barramundi is a n Aborigine word meaning "large-scaled river fish," barramundi is native to Australia and is internationally renowned for its deliciousness and versatility. However, our port was canceled...

Today our excursion is taking us to the Rainforestation National Park. Our t our begins with a scenic drive to the Kuranda Range. Once on the plateau, you'll travel through lush rainforest and past fern gullies to Rainforestation National Park. The park is s et on 100 acres in the midst of Australia's World Heritage Rainforest.    It was just about noon when we arrived so our first stop was lunch. We savored the flavors of Tropical North Queensland with an Aussie-style BBQ lunch served in the Outback Restaurant. It was really quite good for a buffet lunch at a venue like this.  After lunch it was off to see some wildlife. It was a small enclosure but the few animals did seem to have a nice space. We saw koalas, a crocodiles, Tasmanian Devils, wallaby's, Kangaroos, and wombats. June had her photo taken with a Koala inside the gift store area. I felt a little sorry for the animals, they looked bored or tired.  Then, it's off to the Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience, winn...

Airlie Beach is a coastal locality in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Airlie Beach had a population of 1,208 people. We had a coach tour to see sites, with just 2 stops. It sounded like a good way to see the small area of Airlie Beach and surrounding areas. It ended up being a little challenging. Once the large catamaran tender, that held 1K passengers, was almost full we headed toward shore. It became darker and darker with a huge downpour upon arrival. Anything not covered by a poncho or raincoat was soaked to the skin for the remainder of the day. The good news is it was not cold! Boarding our coach it was disappointing to find that the windows were so fogged up inside we could not see out. The poor driver was challenged having to wipe down his window constantly while driving. I felt bad for him, such a nice guy. On most of our tours the driver is also the tour guide. He did pass around paper towels to wipe down the windows so we had a brief minut...

At sea today but wanted to share a few of the things that we experienced. Believe me, we missed a lot of what was happening. Somewhere they were handing out Mardi Gras beads, masked were made in the arts and craft event, and special drinks were mixed at the bar. We enjoyed the show and the after party at the Explorer's Lounge. Here are a few photos. 

Tangalooma Island Resort on Moreton Island is our port today. Moreton Island is the 3rd largest sand island in the world it is 37km long and 10km wide. The island is wedge shaped located just 40km from Brisbane. The island consists almost entirely of sand with the exception being an small area of sandstone and  rhyolite at Cape Moreton, which has built up over the last 400,000 years.  So here we are. We found out last night that our tandem parasailing event has been cancelled. I am disappointed. There aren't any other excursions that we are interested in. Most are water sports. At any rate, after the somewhat treacherous process of getting on the tender, we made it to the island. The water was quite choppy, boarding also ceased for a time in order to insure safety. It was much calmer when we arrived in port.  We have full use of the resort today. Of course that really means the pools and beaches. Anything else has a charge. Friend Mina came along with us as her roomm...

We booked a tour separate from the ship some time ago. We were set to tour the Sydney  Opera house tour and have an inclusive meal.  We arrived in Sydney as scheduled. We had to once again muster for this next segment of the tour. We did that, which only took a few minutes to check in. I'm not sure if I mentioned this before but the process now is much different than in the past. First we are to watch the presentation on TV, which is about 5-7 minutes. Then you simply go to your muster station and check in that you have watched. Incidentally, the TV "knows" if you watched or not!!! Anyway, after that we got off the ship about 9:30a. We walked around Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). I had been here before with John so it was familiar to me. I found my postcards and stamps and we browsed a few shops. I passed the Opal shop where John and I bought Deb a ring. Nice memories.  We got to the Opera House in plenty of time. The construction I saw in 2019 is now complet...