AT SEA (day 57)

BALI, (BENOA), INDONESIA

EARLY IN THE MORNING THE SECOND DAY THT WE WERE IN BALI A TANKER TIED UP  STARBOARD AND SPENT THE DAY FUELING THE SHIP

LATE AFTERNOON THAT SAME DAY ON THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE SHIP A FLEET OF ABOUT 100 SMALL BOATS FILLED WITH PEOPLE SINGING AND WAVING FLAGS, SOME WHITE FLAG AND OTHERS RED AND WHITE WITH A PICTURE OF AN ARM WITH THE HAND CLENCHED INTO A FIST .

QUITE A SIGHT!

THE BOAT IN THE FOREGROUND IS ONE OF MANY POLICE BOATS THAT KEPT THE FLEET  FAR ENOUGH AWAY... FROM THE SILVER WHISPER AND THE TANKER

COME TO FIND OUT THAT APPARENTLY THE LOCALS WERE DEMONSTRATING AGAINST THE POLITICIANS WHO ARE PLANNING A REVITALIZATION OF THE PORT AND THE SURROUNDING AREAS. 

THE BOAT IN THE PICTURE BELOW WAS CARRYING A BAND AND THE ORGANIZERS OF THE DEMONSTRATION

From what I understand currently the Balinese people are dealing with a population that is increasing exponentially as well as increased tourism which is an important part of their economy. Their current infrastructure as well as their focus on their cultural/religious heritage are at odds with the changes necessary to make the island a "safer" more comfortable place to be.

AT SEA (day 56)

More pics from Bali...

BALANESE DANCER

Interesting, the POLYNESIAN DANCERS gracefully used their arms and hips, while they smiled and sang. The BALINESE DANCERS sway their hips the focus, however, is on their arms, head and facial expressions.  

THE BEACH

This is a public beach where the locals swim. It is a small area that you could only get to by walking down a narrow survey stairway tough a mountain.

Pictured below

FISHERMEN

AT SEA AGAIN TOMORROW, more Bali pictures...

BALI, (BENOA), INDONESIA (DAY 55)

    VIEW OF THE INSIDE OF THE TEMPLE

 STATUE AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE ULUATU TEMPLE

ULUWATU TEMPLE

Although we walked through the temple you are not allowed to take pictures inside.

Interesting is that the temples are composed of many alters where the people pray and leave offerings for the gods.

TYPICAL OFFERING PLUS THE BURNING OF AN INCENSE STICK 

MONKEY FORREST SURROUNDS ULUATU TEMPLE VISITORS ARE TOLD NOT TO FEED THE MONKEYS AND TO HIDE YOUR SUNGLASSES AND HATS FOR THEY WILL GRAB THEM AND RUN

Today we hired a Taxi and got to see more of Bali, which is included in these pics. 

At sea tomorrow more Bali pics.

BALI (BENOA), INDONESIA (DAY 54)

What sets Bali apart  from other nearby tropical destinations is Balinese tradition. I was really impressed with how dedicated the villagers are to celebrating it. The island is basically Hindu but, our guide was careful to point out that the Muslims, Christians, & Hindu's all co exist peacefully in Bali. There are hundreds of temples, dances, and rituals linked to the ancient Hindu faith that are being practiced obviously as a part of their daily routine. The children learn Balinese and Malaysian in school and English is taught as their 1st foreign language.

THERE ANE 4 MILLION PEOPLE IN BALI  (Bali is the size of Delaware) AND THERE ARE 

3.1 MILLION VEHICLES.

Children can get their license to operate a motor scooter at 16 which they do and the roads are like being in a video game with scooters weaving in & out of traffic. Very scary!

SMALL TERRACED FAMILY FARMS DOT THE LANDSCAPE. RICE IS GROWN ONLY TO BE EATEN ON THE ISLAND, NOT TO BE EXPORTED. 

THE FIELDS ARE ALL CULTIVATED BY HAND.

TEMPLE BY THE SEA (18th century)

Not opened to the public.

ENTRANCE TO TAMANEAU TEMPLE

(SAID TO BE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL TEMPLE IN BALI.

I need to ask you to stay tuned, the internet is acting up, to be continued tomorrow...

AT SEA (day 53)

All caught up with pics. Appreciating the calm seas at the moment.

Tomorrow we have an 8.5 hour tour booked I imagine that we will be docking in Bali very early in the AM. There will be lots to see...

AT SEA (day 52)

THE CITY OF DARWIN

LOOKS VERY METROPOLITAN

STONE WALLS BUILT TO WITHSTAND TIDES DURING CYCLONES

The marina, boat club, is built to protect the boats that are docked there with locks to control the water levels during storms.

Just as  we have codes to protect structures from hurricanes, Darwin has codes to protect structures from cyclones. All buildings are reinforced.

THE NEXT TWO PICTURES SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES

GARDENS GOLF LINKS DARWIN

400 LB CROCK IN THE BILLABONG SANCTUARY BEING FED

All for today, on our way to BENOA, BALI, INDONESIA...
Another day at sea tomorrow...

DARWIN AUSTRALIA (day 51)

Australia's "top end", the northern most point off the Northern Hemisphere. Surrounded on three sides by the  turquoise waters of the Timor Sea. Warm and dry in the winter and hot and steamy in the summer. Today it was 95 degrees and 95% humidity. It seems that between the many disastrous cyclones, beginning in the 1800's and the 60 Japanese bombing raids during WWII Darwin has always had to fight for survival. Old Darwin has been replaced by new contemporary structures that are built to withstand cyclone force winds. Today it is a relaxed and casual place that thrives as an administrative and commercial center of Australia.

We passed on the sightseeing today, time to take a break from being tourists, and played 9 holes of golf at the Sky City Gardens Park, Golf links instead. It was HOT! Somehow the heat did not matter. We needed to play at something...you know that we are not the greatest golfers but, we really enjoyed the game today.

I am having a problem uploading the pictures from today at this time. We will be at sea tomorrow and I will upload the pictures then.

AT SEA (day 50)

Crossing the GULF OF CARPENTINE  headed for DARWIN, AUSTRALIA'S northern most point.

EACH TIME THT WE ENTER A HARBOR A PIOLET FROM THET PORT COMES ON BOART TO NAVIGATE THE  SHIPS TRANSIT AND DOCKING PROCESS.

THIS IS ONE OF THE PIOLET BOATS.  

When we entered the GREAT BARRIER REEF a pilot came on board for 4 days and navigated our route up the coast.

I have pictures of the Pilot getting off the ship which can be a treacherous process, according to the seas, since he uses a rope ladder to climb up the side or the ship and get on board. I would have liked to upload the rest of the pictures but the internet connection is not cooperating?

Looking forward to DARWIN tomorrow morning...

THURSDAY ISLAND (day 49)

Thursday Island or TI is all of 1 &1/2 miles all together. It is one of the inner islands of the TORRES STRAIGHT which is a passage through the GREAT BARRIER REEF. We have been navigating along the REEf for the last three days, following Captin Bleigh's route after the Mutiny on the Bounty set him and eighteen of his men adrift in a long boat, with minimal provisions. All the while he was navigating the 3700 miles back to Temor he claimed and named these islands for Britain.

TI is laid back and extremely hot and humid and there is not much happening. We were on the island about 3 hrs. during which time we spent time in the Green Hill Fort. There were some pretty interesting artifacts in the fort, especially considering that it was built in 1890. The only parts of the fort that are visible above ground are the 4 gun turrets the rest of the fort was dug by hand and consists underground tunnels, which we visited. The interesting thing is that it was originally built to protect TI from the Russians, which was not necessary & never happened. The fort, however, was in a strategic position during both WW's I & II.

APPROACHING THURSDAY ISLAND AT 6:30 AM

TI WAS KNOWN FOR IT'S PEARLING INDUSTRY. JAPANESE DIVERS WORE THESE DIVE SUITS IN ORDER TO HARVEST THE PEARL  SHELLS USED TO MAKE PEARL BUTTONS. WHEN PLASTIC WAS INVENTED IN THE 1970'S PEARL BUTTONS BECAME OBSOLETE. 

ENTRANCE TO TI HARBOR FROM TORRES STRAIGHT. (where the guns from the fort are pointed) THE SIVER WHISPER WAS ANCHOREDAT THE ENTRANCE AND WE WERE TRANSPORTED TO TI BY LAUNCH.

At sea tomorrow, stay tuned...

DAY AT SEA (day 48)

ALL I HAVE IN THE WAY OF PICS FROM GREEN ISLE YESTERDAY IS THIS PICTURE OF THE SIGN THAT GREETS YOU AT THE END OF THE PIER WHEN YOU ENTER THE ISLE.

Unfortunately I do not have an underwater camera and that is where we spent most of our time there. I know that you can use your imagination to see the beauty of the reef.

THE SEAS THIS MORNING AS WE NAVIGATE THROUGH THE GREAT BARRIER REEF FROM CAIRNS TO THURSDAY ISLE, AUSTRALIA 

OUR CAPTIN ANGELO CORSAIR INDICATED THAT WE ARE HAVING A "GLORIOUS CROSSING"

A PLANT IN THE HELICONIA FAMILY IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS IN TOWNSVILLE

CANNONBALL TREE, IN THE BOTANICAL GARDENS TOWNSVILLE, FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Tomorrow Thursday Island...

Please if you have any questions or comments let me know...

CARINS AUSTRALIA (day 47)

I was unable to finish yesterday nice the connection was not good? I am not going to post any pics today in that I am still having a problem with my google connection.

We went by catamaran to Green Island this morning. It is about a 50 min trip. Although the temperature was steaming it was a perfect day for snorkeling on the GREAT BARRIER REEF!
The island itself lush with foliage an it is a National Park.

We suited up in lycra to protect us from jelly fish and the sun, grabbed our gear and took a small craft out to the reef. The water was a clear blue green and as warm as the air. The snorkeling was actually like being in an aquarium that didn't end. The beautiful corals and fish are indescribable. The amazing thing is that everywhere I looked there was something else to see.

Today was very special...

Hopefully I can get some pics posted tomorrow.

CARINS AUSTRALIA (day 46)

Tourism is the lifeblood of CARINS. A great place for snorkeling & Scuba diving on the GREAT BARIER REEF, which we will do tomorrow. The town itself is surrounded by mountains and I know that many of you will not know what I am talking about but, it reminded me of  Ellenville ad Monticello in the Catskill mts. 60 yrs. ago. (for those of you who do not know the Catskills are a mountain range upstate NY) The people are warming friendly. The heat today was worse than mid summer in Fl., you would not this that was possible, but it was.

Today we visited Tjapukal, and the Flecker Botanical Gardens. Tjapukal is a site where we learned about the cultural heritage of the Rainforest Tribe of the indigenous people. Interesting there are 500 Aboriginal  Tribes in Australia and from what they said There has been fighting within the different clans of the tribes but the tribes have never fought against one and other. They did, however, have a lot of altercations with the British. The walk through the gardens was wonderful, it would have been better if it was not so hot. We had a short introduction to some wonderful tropical plant species that we do not have at home.

RAINFORREST ABORIGINAL MALE

Unfortunately there is a problem uploading the pics from today!? I will try to finish today tomorrow.

TOWNSVILLE, AUSTRALIA  (Day 45)

Townsville is a city o the northeastern coast of Australia, in the state of Queensland. It was 95 degrees in the shade today but, where we come from it was just another day...

Actually  today was a great day. Townsville, anyway what we saw of it, was small town clean and neat. The drive through reminded me of a movie set. Very pretty.

The best part was our visit to the BILLABONG SANCTUARY.

I got to cuddle a Koala, pet a Wombat, and handle a snake and a Croc. The best part was the Kangaroos that were all around and did not mind interacting with us!

JAKE GREETED US "HELLO"

MEET RAY CHARLES KOALA

JEREMY AND HIS WOMBAT

SKINNY THE BLACK HEADED PYTHON

HAVE A CROC

A DINGO (wild dog)

KANGAROO (they were all around)

WOODY & FRIEND

MORE TOMORROW