Another Day in Singapore

Yesterday was our second day in Singapore, and it was hard to pick what to do with limited time. We knew that the Singapore Zoo, acclaimed to be one of the world’s most spectacular zoos, was a must-see. So we spent several hours there in the morning and it was well worth it. It is a very large zoo and was designed largely with the help of the adventurous Australian Steve Irwin (the TV personality that died from the stingray barb), so it is primarily an “open-zoo” concept…rather than cages, natural barriers like streams, rock walls and vegetation separate animals from visitors. It was exceptionally well done but we won’t bore you with dozens of photos of animals. You have to be there to experience it.

Next, we took the cable cars from where our ship was docked on two scenic rides, on one side to Mount Faber, a scenic overlook with a great restaurant, and on the other side to Sentosa Island, a resort destination. Sentosa Island currently has several beach resorts and other attractions, and is undergoing huge development in the building of Universal Studios (photo below), several more hotels, and a casino. It will be an amazing place to visit once completed.

A visit to Singapore would not be complete without some shopping, as Singapore is known as a shopper’s paradise. The most famous shopping area is along Orchard Road, but the more colorful ethnic shops are found in the sectors of Little India, Arab Street and Chinatown. The latter we took in yesterday, and with limited time, we did some damage in the 1 million square foot HarbourFront complex before returning to the ship.

Another day now at sea en route to Vietnam.

Essences of Singapore

On Monday, we crossed the Equator at 3 pm en route to Singapore, where we arrived on Tuesday morning. It was HOT. (This is the second Equator crossing on our journey, the first being on March 17 en route to Christmas Island, Kirimati).

Singapore consists of 63 islands, about 272 square miles in total, including mainland Singapore. We docked on the mainland and got an early start to take in the sights. It takes only about 15 minutes to get anywhere on the island by taxi.

We began with a trishaw (bicycle-peddled vehicle) tour of the older sections of Singapore, including Chinatown and Little India. We stopped for visits at the Mariamman Temple, the country’s oldest Hindu temple (at right), and the Asian Civilisations Museum. Next, we took a riverboat tour on the Singapore River. Photos below here show the riverfront at Boat Quay, the skyline of the Downtown Core (business district), and the Fullerton Hotel with the country's mythically iconic "Merlion" (half lion, half fish) fountain in the forefront. We then had lunch at one of the many upscale riverfront restaurants where we disembarked the boat at Clarke Quay.

Singapore is remarkably clean and pleasant, designed with a lot of greenery to give it an open-air feel. There has been incredibly well-planned and massive urban development on the island in the last 10-15 years and it is very modern and trendy.












Our outing ended with a stop at the landmark Raffles Hotel to enjoy its trademark Singapore Sling at the famous Long Bar…


More to see in Singapore on Wednesday.

Menyawaken Island

Sunday morning we sailed through the Karimunjawa Archipelago, part of Indonesia, consisting of 27 beautifully green tropical islands with white sand beaches just off Java’s northern coast. We anchored off Menyawaken Island and tendered ashore. The island, only about 10 acres large, has a laid-back ambience and is home solely to the luxurious and very private Kura Kura Beach Resort.

The resort villas are undergoing renovations, and thus there were no guests staying there. However, the ship was able to arrange for our private use of the island and its facilities for the day. All 120 passengers took advantage of this opportunity to relax on the beach in the shade of coconut trees, swim in the lagoon, and enjoy the refreshing pool. The ship’s staff prepared an incredible barbeque for us ashore with no detail overlooked. The amount of effort to transport not only the food and beverages, but the dishes, glassware, utensils, etc., was quite impressive. It was a very enjoyable day.

Back at sea today, we arrive in Singapore for a two-day stay tomorrow morning.

Majestic Borobudur

Upon arriving in Semarang, Indonesia this morning, about 30 of us headed out for a full-day excursion to Central Java to visit the monumental and stunning temple complex of Borobudur. Built before 800 A.D. over a period of about 80 years, and with more than two million cubic feet of stone, it is renowned as the world’s largest Buddhist monument. The structure comprises six rectangular stories of lava-rock erected in the form of a stepped pyramid.

Three circular terraces and a central “stupa” (mound-like structure containing Buddhist relics) form the summit (picture at the right was taken from top of the summit). With 2,672 relief statues and approximately 600 Buddha statues, it is considered to be an architectural masterpiece.

Borobudur was the spiritual center of Buddhism in Java before being abandoned when the Javanese converted to Islam around the 14th century. Worldwide awareness of its existence was made known in 1814 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, then British ruler of Java, who was advised of its location by the local Indonese. The monumental complex had been concealed for centuries by volcanic ash and vegetation, and painstaking efforts have been made to unearth and restore it. The largest project was undertaken between 1975 and 1982 by the Indonesian government and UNESCO, after which the monument was declared a World Heritage Site.

Despite the fascinating day spent at Borobudur, John and our fellow travel companions have not stopped talking about the police escort we had for our tour bus to and from the site (about a hundred miles each way). The captain wanted to be sure that we made it back to the ship on time and arranged for it. With very dense and at times fast-moving head-on traffic on narrow roads, our fearless police escort cut through it like Moses parting the seas. We made our own lane with sirens and flashing lights through the traffic lanes, sometimes on the divider line and sometimes on the wrong side of the road. It was an amazing way to travel. Needless to say, we made it back to the ship four hours ahead of schedule. When does anyone ever speak of a bus trip being so much FUN??

A Day in Bali

On Thursday morning, we docked at Benoa Port, near the southern tip of Bali, Indonesia. Along with another couple from Britain, we decided to see the interior of the island. We had a driver take us several hours north, pointing out many places of interest along the way. Our ultimate destination was an elephant safari park located in Taro, where they have about 30 rescued Sumatran elephants.


Although the park was a little bit touristy, it was in a very natural and well-maintained setting, and we had a lovely day. After getting acquainted with our chosen elephant, we took an hour ride through the lush trails upon his back, and ended the trip with a wade in the elephant pool.

Heading back to the port, we took a different route and stopped at a local wood carving shop and one of the many temples on the island. The day ended with a spectacular barbeque aboard the ship’s deck, entertained by some local Balinese dancers.

Another day at sea now before we get to Semarang, Indonesia.

In Search of the Komodo Dragon

On Wednesday morning, we arrived at Komodo Island, the volcanic island of the giant lizards, that lies 320 miles east of Bali. Komodo is home to a small community of some 500 people who make their living primarily from fishing. The island’s centerpiece is Komodo National Park, where one can find some 1,300 dragons in the wild as a tangible legacy to the Jurassic Era.

The fearsome Komodo dragon is the world’s largest living lizard and can take very large prey: wild pigs, deer, water buffalo (and yes, humans!). They are not as large as T-Rex by any means, but they are ancestors of the goanna family dating back more than 100 million years, and manage to rule the island. Just last month a fisherman was killed and eaten by several dragons, and the month before a park ranger was mauled by one that managed to get into his hut. Other attacks took the lives of an eight-year-old boy and a Swiss tourist several years ago.

So we decided to venture out in search of the Komodo dragon (crazy? Yes!). Only 12 people were allowed out with the rangers at a time; with 3 rangers that made the ratio of stupid tourists (bait) to rangers 4:1. We were a bit disturbed to see the rangers armed only with pointed sticks as we approached the path through the reserve...

We knew in advance that the creatures were not caged in or penned in by any means.

We meandered on the path with all defensive guards up and came across several dragons in the wild. Fortunately, since the dragons hunt and eat their prey in the early morning, these were already satisfied and didn’t charge us. They seemed to be basking in the sun and digesting whatever prey that had already found. The islanders used to feed the dragons in years past to preserve the species (and themselves), but they no longer do. These dragons now all survive in the wild.

We were happy to come to the end of the trail and be picked up by boat to get back to the ship. “Check the box, we’ve done that,” and now we don’t ever have to come back.

The voyage leaving Komodo Island past the many islands of Indonesia was quite picturesque, (as the following pictures show) and a relaxing end to a very odd day. Tomorrow we are in the bit more civilized Bali...

Saying Goodbye to Australia

On Saturday, we came upon Thursday Island in Australia, one of only 17 inhabited islands out of 100 islands in the Torres Strait. The Torres Strait is a channel located between Cape York on the mainland of Australia and the southern coast of Papua, New Guinea. “T.I.”, as Thursday Island is known, was settled in 1877 and has a population of about 3,500; the majority are native islanders, with a mix of Malay, Polynesian, Chinese and Japanese.

The ship anchored in the lee of Black Rock, and we decided not to go ashore, but rather to enjoy the view of the surrounding islands from the vantage point of our balcony. There was not a heck of a lot we missed seeing on Thursday Island other than some shops, an old fortress, and an historic cemetery. And there were no water sports offered as the channel is loaded with alligators! Nevertheless, we had a relaxing afternoon taking in the last beautiful sights of Australia, and we are now at sea for three days headed to our next destination: Komodo Island, Indonesia.

Cairns, Australia and the Great Barrier Reef...WOW

We arrived in Cairns (pronounced “Cans”) on Thursday morning, not really knowing what to expect, other than that we had scheduled an excursion to the Great Barrier Reef. We discovered that this is definitely a place to come back to.

Our excursion was a catamaran trip 70 miles offshore to the Great Barrier Reef, where we docked at a floating outpost in the middle of the Coral Sea to explore the territory. We first took a glass bottom boat to see the reef from above, and then a semi-submarine vehicle to see the view below through the glass. The scenery was phenomenal and we thought THAT was exciting. But then, we hired a private diver to take us snorkeling through and over the reef. Words CANNOT EXPLAIN the beauty that we saw…colorful, and vibrantly alive, coral and fish as far as the eyes could see. It was just the two of us with the guide, so he was able to point out the various fish (sometimes very big fish (2-3 feet long, but they were bright and colorful, so we weren’t afraid) and point out all the different types of coral. He would also dive below the surface when we came upon giant clams (and we mean GIANT, like 5 to 7 feet in circumference) and insert his hand into their mouths and we would see them close. But our biggest delight was coming face to face with two giant sea turtles (5-6 feet in length) who let us get very up close. NO SNORKELING EXPERIENCE could ever compare to the Great Barrier Reef. (Note: as of our return to civilization in June, we have finally developed our underwater camera and updated this post with actual pictures of this excursion). You will see the turtle at left; the giant clam is below right, and the diver approaching it below left.
The Reef supports a diversity of life, including many vulnerable and endangered species (detail provided for our friends at the Riverhead Foundation which supports the marine life on Long Island)…

30 species of whales, dolphins and porpoises, including the dwarf minke whale, Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin and the humpback whale. Large populations of dugongs also live there.

6 species of sea turtles, including the green sea turtle, leatherback sea turtle, hawksbill turtle, loggerhead sea turtle, flatback turtle, and the olive ridley.

125 species of shark, stingray and skates (and we got in the water??)

5,000 species of mollusks, including the GIANT CLAMS that we saw

49 species of pipefish and 9 species of seahorse

215 species of birds (with 2 million birds using the Reef to breed)

2,195 known plant species

More than 1,500 species of fish

And much, much more.

Anyway, John hasn’t stopped talking about this experience with others on the boat and he is like an excited child in describing what he saw. His repeated phrase all day has been “Nobody should be allowed to have this much fun!” THAT says it all.

Ashore on Hayman Island

This morning (Wednesday, 4/15) we awoke to the views of a beautiful island resort on Hayman Island, Australia, nestled between Queensland’s northeastern coast and the magnificent Great Barrier Reef. Surrounded by the picturesque waterways of the Whitsunday Passage, Hayman Island is the most northerly of the 74 Whitsunday Islands. Captain Cook, who sailed into the area on Whitsunday in June 1770, named this passage. The American writer, filmmaker and big-game fisherman Zane Grey was an early visitor, and planted the island’s first coconut palm. In Summer 1936, Grey began filming the romantic comedy, White Death on Hayman.

Enough history. The resort, recognized as one of the world’s finest resorts, is the single occupant of the island. There are majestic palms, lush tropical plants and exotic blooms everywhere. There are walking trails through the exotic bushland, which covers most of the island and many colorful (and very vocal) birds everywhere.

We spent the day relaxing on the beach and by the pool, and then returned to the ship to set sail for Cairns, Australia, where we arrive tomorrow to spend the day sailing the Great Barrier Reef.

Easter Greetings from the Koalas and Kangaroos

So, we didn’t have to do without our Easter basket even though we were away from home on Sunday. This picture was taken of goodies sent to our suite by the Captain, along with a bottle of champagne. We were at sea for the day.

On Monday morning, we arrived in Brisbane, Australia. Brisbane is Australia’s third largest city and the capital of Queensland. The center of Brisbane occupies a peninsula bounded on the sea on one side and the Brisbane River on the other. The river meanders through the city, and gardens, parklands and flowering trees border its avenues.

It was a very rainy and extremely humid day. Although John ventured out with some friends to explore the koala sanctuary, Joanna decided to enjoy the sanctuary of the ship’s spa instead. John is pictured here holding his newfound (and very wet) friend, Axel. He learned that koalas are a protected species in Australia, as they are often killed by traffic due to the expanding population and building. He also got to meet some kangaroos and other wildlife. So who do you think had the better day?

A Wonderful Weekend in Sydney

Well, we arrived in Sydney late Friday, April 10 (Good Friday), about a ½ day late due to tumultuous crossing of the Tasman Sea. But our worries were soon forgotten (“no worries, Mate”…as they say in Australia) as we sailed into the harbour, under the famous Harbour Bridge, and toward the amazing and beautiful Sydney Opera House. “Awesome” doesn’t begin to describe the beautiful sights.

We docked just across from the Opera House and were greeted by our friends Ian and Cathy Rae from New York. Ian (an Aussie himself) and Cathy come to Australia every year and timed their visit to coincide with ours. It was great to see familiar faces from back home. We went to the famous Doyles Restaurant on the water for dinner and to catch up.

On Saturday morning, Ian’s cousin, Cleo, and her husband Michael (who have frequently visited our home in the Hamptons) took us on a four-hour private tour of the city and surrounding suburbs. Of course, we could not see everything, as Sydney spreads over some 670 square miles, but there were vistas of the Sydney Opera House and harbour from everywhere. We stopped at the home where Ian grew up, and spoke to its current owners. We also stopped by Michael and Cleo’s house, and spent the afternoon having lunch and walking around the harbour and The Rocks, Sydney’s oldest section which is now a beautiful marketplace. Our stay in Sydney was capped with an extraordinary evening at the Sydney Opera House to see the the Australian Ballet’s performance of “Firebird and Other Legends.” The Captain hosted this black-tie evening for those thirty of us who are taking the full 92-day Grand Pacific Voyage. We witnessed an exquisite performance and it was a magical evening under the roof of an iconic structure.