Cruisin'- Part I

Sun Princess Itinerary April 16-May 3, 2011

Periodically I like to mix up my traveling with a cruise. I look for an itinerary that visits places I want to go but haven't been and that are complex and expensive other ways. This equation has worked well for us in the past for the Alaskan Inside Passage, around Patagonia and Cape Horn, and the Panama Canal. Around Australia from Sydney counter-clockwise to Perth also qualifies. It is also nice to settle into a berth for the duration (17 days in this case), and for me a bit of "forced relaxation" is a good thing.
Cruises aren't for everyone. The time for shore excursions is limited so you have to make the most of it. It is by definition superficial, but you can glimpse the essence of a place, and decide the places to which you want to return, and how you might spend your time. There is the whole cruise environment to deal with, the food, the entertainment, the mirth, and the socializing. At some point, you have to exercise some self-control lest you disembark giddy and twice your initial weight. But enough of the disclaimers: Let's set sail!

It was a dark and stormy evening when we left Sydney Harbour, and it was quite beautiful. After one day at sea, Brisbane was the first stop. With 1.9 million people, it is the major city in the state of Queensland, and perched alongside a serpiginous Brisbane River. They experienced some severe flooding earlier this year, but seemed to have recovered nicely.
It was raining on and off, sometimes quite heavily. After shopping for a few provisions, we explored the city on foot
and then boarded a "hop on/hop off bus", but because of the weather we stayed on for the whole loop. We also took a brief ride on the River Cat, the public water taxi. It seemed like a very nice place and worthy of a longer stay.
After a day at sea, we stopped further north at Townsville, a surprisingly large port in upper Queensland. It is near the beginning of the Great Barrier Reef and the rainforest. We decided to take a day trip inland to see the latter.
A very powerful Cyclone Yasi hit the area hard just two-and-a-half months ago, and on the ridges you could see many trees snapped in two by the 300 Km/hr winds.

Fortunately there was no direct loss of life as a result. We had lunch at a solar powered eco-lodge in a quiet place called Hidden Valley, saw some birds and wallabies, and on the way back stopped at a small waterfall picnic spot. One of the nice things about being on a longer cruise is you have an opportunity to mingle with some of the staff like Sarah, one of the ebullient dancers.
We had to tender by small boat back to the Sun Princess and I caught this sunset over Magnetic Island (named by Captain Cook).

Another day at sea, then we stopped at Port Douglas, north of Cairns. This is where we took a catamaran tour to the outer Great Barrier Reef. Sorry, no pics because there wasn't much to see above surface and I do not have an undersea camera. They had a large pontoon platform set up from which one could snorkel, scuba dive, take a glass bottom boat, and eat lunch. The water was a bit cloudy due to recent rain and wind, but you can spend hours looking at the huge varieties of coral and other sea flora and fauna. It will definitely be a highlight of the whole trip.

Port Douglas

So far, the path up the Queensland Coast has been over well-trodden tourist area, but not too many get to go around Cape York, the northernmost tip of the continent, and through the Torres Strait. It is a wild tropical area, difficult to get to, and sparsely inhabited.

Sunset Around Cape York

The many islands of the Strait are home to indigenous Australians quite distinct from the Aborigines. Their culture is more like Papua-New Guinea and Melanesia, as the islands stretch like stepping-stones a scant 120 miles across the water. The sea was quite glassy and calm when we came into Darwin on Easter Sunday, and the light was brilliant, the sea a stunning blue, and the soil mostly red.

Darwin
We expected a dusty frontier town but found a very pleasant modern town instead. Modern Darwin has been shaped by two major events in the 20th century. During WWII, Darwin was bombed multiple times by the Japanese, and the first attack was the same group that bombed Pearl Harbor earlier. Most Americans may not be aware, but three paces we stopped in northern Australia (Port Douglas, Darwin, and Broome) were all attacked by Japanese, with more bombs than at Pearl Harbor. Darwin suffered even more devastation from Cyclone Tracy on Christmas Eve and Day in 1974, which killed 66 and destroyed an amazing 95% of the homes in town. Like the phoenix, the town has been resurrected as a modern and more structurally sound city.
There a few awesome-sounding National Parks within a few hours from town, but not time to visit today. Darwin does have an excellent Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territories.

Termite Mound at Darwin Museum

There is a moving permanent exhibit on Cyclone Tracy, and an impressive display of Aboriginal art, and q 5.1 meter 780 kg. stuffed saltwater crocodile named Sweetheart.

Sweetheart

(We just missed the AC/DC exhibit.)

Decorated Chocolate Eggs on Board

Side bar: As it was Western Easter AND Greek Easter, we went by the Greek Orthodox church (there seem to be many more Greeks in Australia than New Zealand for some reason). It was pretty quiet, but I thought back to The Best Greek Easter ever 2010, the beginning of this blog. Anzac Day was the next day (April 26th), one year since we first arrived in New Zealand. So, lots of anniversaries to reflect upon. (Anzac Day is a Veterans'/Remembrance Day very important in Australia, marked with ceremonies on the ship)

Anzac Memorial Shipboard

Anzac Biscuits

Once you’re gone a year, it no longer is a vacation, it's just like you are gone. I've gotten a bit of feedback lately "the exotic travelogue is fine, but enough already. When are you coming home"? Trust me, it will be fairly soon: June 16 to LAX to be precise.

BROOME and the Kimberley Coast.
An extra bonus on this cruise was a late afternoon cruising Kimberley Coast, a very rugged, harsh, and isolated region on the north coast of the continent, noted for steep red cliffs, ravines and waterfalls, and Aboriginal land and rock art.

The Kimberley Coast

Our ship was able to go deeply into York Sound, almost surrounded by land, and enjoy the sunset.

The Kimberley Coast

A bit further west is the port of Broome, a boom and bust town founded by the pearl traders. They days of Japanese and Aboriginal divers risking their lives is thankfully over, but many pearl shops remain. It is now trying to develop into a resort site, but it is awfully hot and an awfully long way from anywhere else. There is the beautiful long sandy Cable Beach, so named because the undersea telegraph cable from Java connecting Australia to the rest of the world came ashore here in 1872.

Cable Beach

Pattern in the Sand from a crab

A popular tourist activity is to ride in a camel train along Cable Beach, ideally at sunset. Many camels were brought to Australia in the 19th century for transportation across the Outback, and they are found both wild and domesticated here. (I took a photo, not a ride).
I wasn't going to leave Australia without encountering some real live crocs. Mission accomplished at Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park.











The town also has a small museum,

pearling exhibits, a very nice brew pub Matso's, and an open-air cinema.

 So far, the cruise of Australia has been great. Now we set sail across the Timor Sea to Bali. (to be continued....)