Busan, Korea

 

 

March 15,

South Korea is slightly larger than Indiana with a population of over 50,000,000.

We arrived here at 10:00 a.m on a foggy morning. The pier is in a very large working harbor, one of the busiest Asian ports. We saw some massive ships and freighters of all sizes being built. Today we decided to take a free shuttle into the major part of town and walk through the city. The Busan Bank set up an office on the pier to exchange money, we gave them 40 dollars and they gave us 43,000 Won which made us feel rich. It was about a half an hour into the city with one stop at Yongdusan Park and then to the Phoenix Hotel. We opted to skip the park as we heard it was almost impossible to get a bus back.

Once in the city we made sure we knew where we were so we could find the shuttle bus back. It was a very busy section of the city with trucks, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, carts and lots of people everywhere. We headed for the Gwangbok-ro shopping district, it was a densely packed area and every other store appeared to sell phones. Vendors lined the street selling food, none of which looked appetizing in the least. (Except for the large pan filled with crispy crickets and the bunches of 3-foot long dried squid tentacles that looked tasty.) We spotted McDonalds and Betty wanted to see if the menu was the same as home. It was, but of course once in there we had to eat. The fries were better than at home, Betty said they were probably cooked in duck fat. A couple of Korean kids walked in, one wearing a Cleveland Indian baseball cap, so after I was finished I went to his table and asked if I could take his picture. He asked if I knew Chin Shoo and I said of course. Betty took a picture of the two of us then he had his friend take one. He was thrilled to meet people from Cleveland - go figure. When we left two Korean young men asked if they could take a picture of us. (It’s funny-we are so curious about them, and they are just as curious about us.  The young Asian kids that are learning English love to talk to us.)

We were still looking for a watch battery, Betty finally gave up and bought a new watch for 12,000 Won which is $10.00 US. Now we had to spend the rest of our Won so Betty bought a nice jacket for 15,000 Won. I figured I’d better find some beer before we were totally broke. For some reason all of the bars were on the third floor of the buildings and I was having difficulty climbing stairs. I ended up buying some Korean beer from a shop and took it back to the ship. I’ll eventually update the beer list. With all the Won spent we decided to head back to the shuttle stop since the ship was leaving at 5:30. We had no problem finding it and we were back on board by 4:15. We are glad we got the opportunity to stop here in Korea and wish we had a few more days to explore more of the culture. I found the Koreans to be a happier group of people than the Japanese and just as helpful. (Probably because we didn’t bomb them.) They know more English too. Below is a picture of a traditional Korean send off as we sailed out of the harbor.

After dinner we went to the show, an encore performance by Bayne Bacon which was as good as the first show. Thankfully we have a sea day tomorrow. The ship is sailing various south-easterly courses back across the bay that forms the large natural harbor before altering onto a south-westerly heading in the Korean Strait, heading for Shanghai.

March 16

We enjoyed the day at sea, although the weather was cloudy and rainy. Hoping it stops before we get to Shanghai, China. Betty went to a Scholarship at Sea Lecture by Ambassador Douglas A. Hartwick and caught up on her sleep. In the afternoon we had another Scholarship at Sea lecture by the granddaughter of Harold Lloyd, the classic silent film star. It was very interesting talk about her upbringing by her grandparents. The evening show was a banjo player, Jim Coston. After going to the Banjo Museum in Oklahoma City and attending a performance there by the curator this guy seemed just average. All day we maintained a west-south-westerly course across the China Sea.

Hiroshima, Japan

 

March 14

Hiroshima dates back to 1589 with the building of the Hiroshima Castle, from which it got its name. Whatever one sees and experiences here will certainly be influenced by the events of August 6, 1945 when the first atomic bomb was dropped. At 8:15 a.m. on that fateful day, the name Hiroshima became forever etched in the collective psyche of mankind.

Today it serves as a major auto manufacturing city, the Mazda Motor Company was founded here in 1920 and the headquarters remain here. It was quite interesting to learn that Mazda became the first and only Japanese company to win the LeMans Grand Prix.

We arrived at 8:00am, it was a nice sail-in and a beautiful sunrise. We left the ship at around 9:30am and walked to the streetcar station. Luckily we had some assistance from a Japanese woman who got off the streetcar with us and walked us to the Peace Memorial Park. Once in the park we went to the Peace Memorial Museum and toured the two buildings with its three floors. Upon entering they had a video showing the aftermath of the bombing and both Betty and I had tears in our eyes. It was very sad to see the destruction leveled by “Little Boy”, the atomic bomb. After we arrived I had to go to the bathroom so I saw a sign that had a picture of a man and a woman with an up and down arrow, so I figured one was upstairs and one downstairs. Well after going up and down I realized it was the sign for the elevator. I eventually found the restroom and never wet my pants! The museum was very graphic, and very, very sad.  The information we received stated the museum was a must see, but it would ruin the rest of your day.

Above the Peace Memorial Museum and Betty at the Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims

As Betty & I can do a Museum in no time, we told Wayne & Karen, our trivia partners, we would go ahead. They caught up with us some time later and we then visited the Peace Park Memorial, Cenotaph for A-Bomb Victims, the Eternal Flame and then the Atomic Bomb Dome. What a beautiful memorial to the victims.  Betty bought a peace medal from Hiroshima to go with the peace medal from Nagasaki she received from her cousin years ago. We also saw the Children’s Peace Memorial inspired by Sadako Sasaki, a girl who at two years old was exposed to the A-bomb. Ten years later, she entered the Red Cross hospital with radiation related leukemia. Despite the pain from her disease she faithfully folded paper cranes in hope of a cure, it is a symbol of long life. She died 8 months later. Now the park receives nearly 10 million paper cranes made by children throughout the world annually in the name of world peace.

Children’s Peace Memorial

A-Bomb Dome

We also stopped at the Memorial Tower to the Mobilized Students which commemorates the 6300 students who were conscripted to work in munitions factories and killed in the atomic blast. There were doves scattered throughout it’s five levels, at the base is a beautiful Kannon statue, always draped with origami cranes.

We rested for a while as I am still having a hard time breathing. Then we headed to the Hiroshima Castle. We walked by the Hiroshima professional ballpark where the Hiroshima Carp play.(Good thing we didn’t name our ball team the Cleveland Carp.) While walking to the castle we stumbled upon a beautiful Shrine called the Gokoku Shrine. The castle wasn’t easy to find as it was surrounded by a moat filled with ducks-but no alligators. Eventually we found an entrance and took some pictures.

The next stop was supposed to be the Shukkein Gardens but time was getting short and we had a long way back to the ship. Ended up at the Sogo Department store on Aioi-dori Avenue which was near the streetcar back to the port. We looked around the store but things were very expensive. Before heading to the streetcar station we spotted a few stores in the underground shopping area and decided to check them out. Betty bought some well-need gloves, a few cards and a loaf of Cinnamon bread. (We don’t get enough food on the ship!) I bought some Japanese Beer called “ Sapporo”. We then caught the streetcar and headed back to the Kaigan-dori station. We were both exhausted and still had a 20 minute walk from the station to the pier. We got back a half a hour before the ship was leaving. Surprised I walked as much as I did. I would like to add that the streetcar operators were very helpful even though they did not speak English. Also the street was very clean and you could only smoke at designated smoking areas. We usually try to eat somewhere local but didn’t this time as the menus were all in Japanese. I was afraid we’d end up with eel stuffed with bean paste or something equally strange.

As usual we skipped the dining room on port days and headed to the buffet. It isn’t like us not to eat all day and we were hungry. Afterwards we decided skip the evening’s entertainment and go back to the room to prepare for another day in port. I could use a sea day!

On leaving we will sail through the Kanmon Strait, the Seto Naikai pilot will disembark at 3:30 a.m. and we will make a short passage across the Korea Strait, passing Tsushima Island, to the South Korean port of Busan, where we will expect to arrive around mid-morning.

Tokyo, Japan

 

March 12

We arrived in Tokyo at 7am to a chilling temperature of 40 degrees and a beautiful sunrise. The ship docked at the Harumi Pier which is right in the city, and we were greeted by a group of Japanese drummers.

We left the ship around 10am and took a bus around the city for a cost of 200 yen. (Tokyo, unlike most cities, does not have signage in English.  The lady at the information desk in the terminal was kind enough to write out directions in English and in Japanese so we could just show the bus driver.  Although the driver did not speak a word of English, he actually got off the bus and walked us to where we needed to go. The Japanese are extremely polite people, I’ve never been bowed to so many times!) The bus took us through the Ginza district which is very high end shopping, the Sony headquarters, Nishi Shinjuku Skyscrapers, Tokyo Takarazuka Theater, Ginza Brand Street and the Yonchrome Intersection. We were headed to the Tokyo tower but I was having difficulty breathing so we returned to the ship, found some free internet in the Terminal and checked a few things. We got back on board, ate a light dinner, watched a movie and then enjoyed the sail out of Tokyo Bay. It was beautiful, glad we had a balcony to enjoy it and glad it was on our side of the ship.

Upon Leaving Tokyo we set various courses west-south-westerly along the Japanese coast on our way to Hiroshima. While we were in Tokyo our internet service was blocked and as we sail down the coast of Japan it will blocked when we are within a certain range. Also the regulation for entering Japan is a pain in the butt. In Hiroshima we will be required to carry our passports and have a face to face with immigrations when we get back on the ship. Apparently they don’t care who gets into their city, just who tries to leave. Whatever, we just go with the flow. Overall it was a nice visit and a very clean city with nice people. I was shocked to find that there isn’t much English spoken compared to other countries. The children are now required to take four years of English in elementary school and another four years in middle school so that will be changing. However, neither of us can speak Japanese!

Woke up this morning at 4am as the ship sailed thru a very windy area with big waves. The winds peaked at 55 knots, the wind was forced thru our balcony door. A coupe of cabins had the balcony doors blown off the tracks. It remained rough and very cold all day.  They had bouillon service on the open decks, but we never went outside. We did trivia with our usual mediocre result. I was still having a hard time breathing so I rested all day. Betty went to a talk by a former American ambassador which she said was rather boring. (I will be sure to bring toothpicks to prop my eyes open for his next talk.) After dinner we skipped the show as it was the Pacific Princess dancers, instead returning to our cabin to watch a movie, The Dilemma.

At midnight tonight we boarded our Seto Naikai Pilot to guide us through the inland waterways on the final part of our passage to Hiroshima. Then one hour after sunrise, we will board a second pilot to assist us with the arrival into Hiroshima.

IWO JIMA and a couple sea days

March 9

Since our departure from Guam yesterday, the Princess has maintained a northerly course across the Philippine Sea, leaving the chain of Marianas Islands.

Our good friends Dave and Karin sent the answer to the question I posted on the blog, what is the difference between an ocean and a sea? Thanks for the information, we will pass on the info aboard ship.

In terms of geography, a sea is part of the ocean partially enclosed by land

Many people use the terms "ocean" and "sea" interchangeably when speaking about the ocean, but there is a difference between the two terms when speaking of geography (the study of the Earth's surface).

Seas are smaller than oceans and are usually located where the land and ocean meet. Typically, seas are partially enclosed by land.

A sea is a smaller body of water, often/usually a part of an ocean, like the South China Sea, which is an "arm" of the Pacific Ocean, or the Bering Sea, also an "arm" of the Pacific, or the Caribbean Sea, an "arm" of the Atlantic Ocean.

We had a port talk on Tokyo, it looks scary to get around but we will be there for 12 hours so if we get lost we should be able to find our way back in time. Twelve million people live in the city, with the suburbs that swells close to 40 million. There is no signage in English used on the transportation system, and most people do not speak English. The port is located right in the city so it appears we will be able to walk pretty easily. The temperature should be between 45 and 60 although it was snowing there a couple of days ago.

We had our last talk with Art Lowe, the Oakland A’s manager that the film Money Ball is about. Actually it is really about Billy Bean the General Manager. Art Lowe had no input regarding the movie and is upset with the portrayal of him and the situation. Billy Bean sounds like a real A-hole, and the truth is the Money Ball system was not started by him but the previous GM. Art Lowe comes across as a genuine person and a true leader and cared for his players. Bill Bean did not. Of course a few parts were not true but that is Hollywood enhancing the movie to sell it to the public.

We are still going to trivia and just doing average. This morning everyone on the ship had to get their temperature taken to comply with Japanese rules, also we had to have our picture taken for an ID card we will need to carry in India and Dubai. I was surprised that Princess did not charge us.

The after-dinner show was another magician, Jonathan Neal & Liane. He was the average but it passed the time. At night we are getting more sports, getting to see Tiger golfing, and seeing highlights of College basketball, even some spring training. Also a lot on Peyton Manning, looks like he is headed to Miami from what I see.

March 10, Iwo Jima

The skies this morning were very cloudy and temperature has dropped to the lower 70’s. This morning we received more forms to fill out for Japan. Plus we will be fingerprinted and photographed once ashore after we have a face to passport viewing by Japanese officials. We have no internet because it is being blocked by the Japanese in order for us to comply with the Japanese Radio Communications Regulations. You would have thought we lost the war. I wonder what our government imposes on them.

The island of Iwo Jima is officially known as Io-to. It is located 750 miles from Tokyo. The US occupied Iwo Jima until 1968, when it was returned to Japan. Why I don’t know, something I need to research when I get home. The U.S. Navy still has a 1,639 acre communication facility on the island. The U.S. Navy’s Carrier Air Wing Five uses the base for field carrier landing practice. The island is only 8 square miles with Mount Suribachi as the most prominent feature. Mount Suribachi is where the Japanese dug their tunnels and bunkers for the battle.  No civilians live on the island, and it is closed to tourists.  U.S. and Japanese vets do visit the island, there is a memorial on the beach honoring the soldiers from both countries who died in the battle.

We arrived at Iwo Jima at 11:00, it did not look like what I thought it would. We sailed around the island for 2 hours and we were lucky as it could be seen from our balcony. There are still shipwrecks from the war that can be seen in the water. At 11:45 a memorial service was held on the upper decks. They laid a wreath in the water in front of the beach head where the troops landed. All the veterans on board (including me) were seated in a special section and we were honored by the ship and all the cruise members. It was a touching ceremony and brought a tear to my eyes thinking of the troops that fought here. It felt good to be honored. Prior to arriving they were several sightings of whales breaching, but we didn’t see them. We left at 1:00 and again sailing north through the Philippine Sea to our next port in Tokyo, Japan.

We had a port talk this afternoon on Hiroshima, Japan. Almost destroyed by the first Atomic Bomb at the end of WWII, this city has risen like a phoenix from from the ashes and now offers vast green spaces and much interesting pre and post war historical places for visitors to learn and enjoy.

Tonight’s show is a evening of music and laughter with the one and only Bayne Bacon. Who else would name their child Bayne Bacon? He started out by saying it was his real name, who could make that up. Well to my surprise this turned out to be the best show of the cruise so far. Everything he did he did very good from playing the piano and guitar and stand up comedy. He is going to perform again and I will not miss it. He said he always likes to leave his audience with a tidbit, which was “No matter how wealthy you are, the size of your funeral will depend on the weather!”

Tonight we sail across the Philippine Sea toward the mainland of Japan.

March 11

The Philippine Sea was very active overnight and we both slept very good. Anytime I sleep 7 hours straight is a good night. Walking was a little difficult this morning. The swells are big with large space in between each one causing the ship to come out of one and crash into the next. There will be some people seasick today. During the day we passed various islands of the Nanpo Shoto(3 Groups of Islands), first being the Kazan Retto, the second the Ogasawara islands and the Shoto islands.  Nothing scheduled for the morning, but this afternoon we have a talk by our naturalist on “The Air Above us”. Then we will have a port talk on Busan, South Korea. It is known as the fifth busiest sea port in the world.

Tonight’s show is a encore Magical Showtime with Jonathan Neal & Liane and they change the show times so we might catch the end of the first show if not no big deal.

The sea continued to be rough all day and into the night and we also had some rain on and off. We are scheduled to arrive at the Harumi Pier Terminal at 7:00. The sail in should be very interesting starting around 6am. As the pier is only 5 miles from the city center of Tokyo. Then we will do all the screening to get set loss among 12,000,000 million people. Half of the museums are closed on Monday’s, but there will more than enough to do. Betty and I will probably walk in circles all day.

Guam----American Micronesia

 

 

March 8                             LAND AHOY!!!!

Guam is an American possession so the currency here is the US Dollar and they use US postage. It is our last USA port, so we will mail the last of the postcards we have to our grandkids.

The native language is Chamorro and hello is Hafa Adai. (Aren’t you glad you know that!)

As we sailed in this morning we could see the Agat invasion beaches from our balcony, where the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and the 77th Army Division landed. From the port side we could see the Asan invasion beaches where the 3rd Marine Division stormed ashore on July 21,1944. As we entered Apra harbor we sailed by the cliff-lined Orote Peninsula. This was the site of the highly prized Japanese airfield and scene of intense combat as US forces executed a pincer movement from either side to capture the site. The bitter struggle for Guam was over by August 10th and resulted in over 18,000 Japanese killed and almost 8,000 US troops killed and wounded. You may not know, but the Japanese took the island of Guam from the Americans the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. After the battle, the Apra Harbor was expanded to support Guam’s role as a major staging area for the continued advance toward Japan. Today Apra Harbor is one of the largest US Naval bases outside the continental USA. There also is a Seabee base nearby at Camp Covington.

The last World War II Japanese soldier to surrender was Sergeant Yokoi and he did it here in 1972. He is known as the Robinson Crusoe of Guam.

We passed immigration and were off the ship at 9:15. Once I was on shore, I stopped to think about my father being here 70 years earlier and how different it must have been. Thanks to all the World War II veterans that served our country, if you see one make sure you thank them for their service to our country.

We were greeted by local Chamorro people with music and dance, and we all got beads. See Betty getting Lei’d below.

We boarded the  shuttle bus to the town of Tumon, traveling thru the small capital city of Hagatana. We drove by the War in the Pacific Park where the Marine landed to take back the island from the Japanese.

When we got to Tumon, we discovered it was filled with Japanese, mostly young kids, shopping and spending money like it was water. Guam is a very big Japanese vacation location during their winters.  There were many very high end stores such as Prada and Coach, etc. We walked thru them just to be in air conditioning.  Luckily there were ABC stores just like in Hawaii that were affordable. We also noticed that porn was a big thing here, from magazines to other unmentionables.  We were also looking for a bank as we were told it was better to buy Yen here than in Japan. After walking over 2 miles to the bank they didn’t sell yen at that branch, so we gave up and will just buy them on the ship. On the way we spotted a Route 66 Pub so we headed there and they were closed.  A young couple took our picture in front of the sign and told us to come back tonight but we will be on our way to Iwo Jima.

After striking out twice we gave up and went to the Hard Rock Café for lunch. The Chamorro Burger was excellent and the beer was great. I had San Migel from the Philippines and then some other beers that will be added to the list. Of course I bought a Tee shirt but only because it was for the Feed the World Foundation. We also purchased a few postcards since we had a few stamps left and mailed them off. Those will be the last we send so please enjoy.

Overall we were disappointed in Guam, just not enough time to explore the island, with no real bus system and very expensive cabs. Not enough time to rent a car as no agency near the port. And of course it was very hot and humid. We saw one sign that said 98 degrees. I had a hard time walking and breathing. A lot of people that explored a lot more than we did were also disappointed.

We got back to the ship after 4pm, because we had to wait for 2 buses before we got on. We let some crew on the first bus because they were late getting back. Most of them just made it on time and thanked us. Hard to believe but some passengers only think of themselves and push their way onto the bus. They would be the first to complain when their server didn’t show up in the dining room to serve them their meals.

We sailed away a little after 5pm, we have 3 days at sea but the second day we will be cruising around Iwo Jima Island. The Island is Japanese owned and is considered sacred to them. As usual on port days we skipped the dining room and ate very little at the buffet before going to the evening show which was The Hilarious Comedy of Tim Walkoe, it was a very good show.

The Last 5 Straight Days at Sea.

March 3       Day 1

Throughout today we will be setting a north-easterly course across the Coral Sea towards the many small islands at the eastern end of Papua new Guinea.

It is getting hotter as we are getting close to the Equator again. We’re presently at 13 degrees latitude and 1633 miles from Guam. It is still pleasant on the balcony in the afternoon after the sun is overhead. Since we are headed north we get the morning sun. This afternoon we had another talk by Art Lowe on his stages in baseball, what It’s like to play, coach, manage and scout.

Back to the Dining Room for dinner tonight, then to the show. The entertainment was Annette Wardell a opera star who came on stage and said she wasn’t going to sing opera, then proceeded to sing opera. We actually saw her before on a previous cruise but we didn’t realize it or we would not have gone.

Tonight we will turn north and and transit the Jomard Entrance  between Bramble Haven and the Louisiade Archipelago, which will mark our exit from the Coral Sea and our entry into the Solomon Sea.

March 4      Day 2

This morning we are at 9 degrees latitude, the temperature is 90 degrees and water temperature is 96 degrees. Won’t spend much time on the balcony today! We are crossing the Solomon Sea today heading towards the Vitiaz Strait which we will transit this evening and sail between Fortification Point and Umboi Island. This will mark our exit from the Solomon Sea and our entry in to the Bismark Sea.

We had a Scholarship at Sea lecture titled “Denizens of the Ocean” by the ship’s naturalist.  Everything we always wanted to know about whales and giant squid.  So much for eating calamari.

We also had a port talk on Guam-American Micronesia. This island was inhabited 4000 years ago by the indigenous Chamorros people. It, along with Saipan, was a key battle ground during WWII. My father served in Guam while in the US Marine Corp during the war. In the next 10 years the island will be 40% military. It is ironic that the most tourist that visit this island are Japanese.

Today in trivia, we needed our grandson Brandon, the question was what is the common fraction used in Pi? No one on our team knew and we guessed 1/3, which was wrong. Brandon knows everything there is to know about Pi!

Tonight’s show was a Latin and Spanish Guitarist “Vincenzo”. We looked forward to the show but we were disappointed as it was like guitar karaoke.  It was strange listening to an Italian that grew up in Australia playing Spanish music.

During the night we will pass the Island of Manus and alter to a northerly heading across the East Caroline Basin.

March 5                               Day 3 Mid Point

 

  Special Thanks to our friends Bill & Shirley

for  the early Saint Patrick’s Day gift!

 

Today we will continue to maintain a northerly course across the Pacific Ocean towards Guam. We are scheduled to cross the equator at 5:00 tomorrow March 6th. Not much going on today, only one lecture this afternoon by the Naturalist on Explorers of the South Pacific.

I asked a question at dinner last night and no one could answer it. Maybe someone out there knows. What is the difference between a Ocean and a Sea?  Even the Naturalist was stumped! I would Google it but internet is too slow. I thought I was going to get some free minutes, but have been told that since this was my first Princess cruise I have to book another one before I am eligible. 

Saw quite a few cargo ships and tankers this morning, more in a short period than any other time. The ocean, or is it a sea, is a vast area that we almost never see anything.

Betty went to the “Onboard Outlet Sale” Where else could have they had it? She bought me a couple Princess shirts for $10.00. I like both of them and price was good, which explains why half the men onboard are wearing them.

It was very pleasant on the balcony this afternoon, we are at 3 degrees, still warm and slightly muggy.  We spotted a whale,  thought it was a log as it was on the surface for a long time, but then we saw the spray from the blow hole. It was swimming in the opposite direction and we only saw it for a couple of minute but it made our day. When you spend enough days at sea even the tiny flying fish excite you.

Tonight’s show is a encore performance of International Violin Showman Martin Lass. We missed the first show so thought we would give it a try. Usually we try to get a seat in the back in case the performance is really bad.  Unfortunately this time we were trapped and had to sit through another mediocre performance.  There is a reason these people are playing on cruise ships.  Sadly they all bring stacks of CD’s to sell, I wonder how many people actually buy them.

March 6                Day 4

We crossed the equator this morning at approximately 5am. I was up but didn’t feel the bump in the ocean. Apparently Princess is cutting back and not celebrating the crossing for the people that just boarded the ship in Sydney. Also cutting back on lectures as we only have one scheduled talk today. Last night we had some sports on TV and I see that Ohio State won a piece of the Big Ten Title. Also saw the news about LeBron James choking and losing the last 2 games.

It rained hard this morning and  continued to rain until around 4pm. The seas are a little rough, but as Betty always says not rough enough. We hope it is not raining when we get to Guam. We watched the movie “Money Ball” again since one of our speakers, Art Lowe,  was the manager of the Oakland A’s. His next talk will be about the movie, we are anxious to see what he has to say about it.  He looks and acts nothing like they portray him.

Today the crew had another drill, this time they had to find  suspicious packages anywhere on the ship. If a passenger found one in their cabin they would win a prize. Betty looked everywhere but all she found was dust. We thought of making our own suspicious package until the captain came over the speaker and said there would be serious consequences for anyone making fake bombs.

Dinner tonight actually was very good, we had Tex-Mex beef wraps. They do Mexican food pretty good on this ship, I think they have a Mexican stow-away in the kitchen.

We skipped the encore performance of karaoke guitar this evening and watched some more reruns on the TV. What we would give for a DVD player and a DVD library.

 

March 7            Finally Day 5!

Today marks the start of the second half of our cruise. Things will improve as the ports will be more interesting. Less sea days too. Today we will continue our passage north toward the island of Guam, passing over the Mariana Trench. This is the deepest place on earth, where the Pacific Tectonic Plate is sub-ducted under the Mariana Tectonic Plate. At the bottom of the trench, the water above exerts a pressure of 15750 psi, more than 1000 times the standard atmospheric pressure at sea level.

Woke up to a partly cloudy sky but no rain. The ocean is choppy today, the ship’s stabilizers work well at keeping the ride fairly smooth.

Today we had one lecture given by Ann the naturalist titled “Captain Cook-Where No Man has gone before”. It was very interesting. It is hard for me to believe he did all they claim he did. Quite amazing.

During the night we will continue north and should arrive in Guam at approximately 8am. We then have to have a USA face to passport inspection and should be ashore shortly thereafter.

Cairns, Australia-Great Barrier Reef

March 2,

We arrived at our last stop in the great country of Australia, the city of Cairns (pronounced Cannes, go figure). We arrived on time at 7am and we were off the ship at 7:45 with enough time to find the Big Cat Green Island Cruise Terminal. After checking in, I realized I left my wallet containing credit cards, ship boarding card and driver’s license at the counter. Luckily when I went back it was still there. It was just another senior moment. We boarded the Big Cat Reef Rocket and left at 9:00 arriving on Green Island at 9:45.

On our way to the island, the skies were threatening, it rained off and on to the west. Once we arrived the skies cleared, we were lucky as this is the rainy season. The only problem this rain caused was when it rains the fresh water makes the salt water turn green and cloudy.  We had an hour to walk around the island, through the National Park and on the beach prior to getting on the semi-submersible boat. We were seated below the water level so we could get a diver’s view of the coral reef. The whole area is pretty shallow. Once out in the water, fish were everywhere. The coral was unbelievable, the giant clams were huge, the sea cucumbers were disgusting. Cucumbers serve a purpose, they are the vacuum cleaners of the sea floor. (Sea Cucumbers are a delicacy in Japan, yum!) Once we got to a area where they fed the fish the number of fish doubled. It was totally amazing, a real Wow factor. The Great Barrier Reef should be on everyone's bucket list. Scuba diving or snorkeling out in the ocean off a boat or platform would be amazing, but then you have to deal with the bad fish or snakes or the Marine Stinger and Jelly Fish.

I took a movie picture of part of the tour. As seen in the pictures the Green water really shows up. This doesn’t do it justice as the fish were very brightly colored.  We also couldn’t catch the many varieties of fish that were swimming by, from the very small to the very large.

Once we returned to the dock we transferred to a glass bottom boat which wasn’t as good, not quite as exciting as the submersible. We only booked a half day on the island, which was enough since it was hot and the sun was out in full force.  The ride back on the Reef Rocket was cool and relaxing, maybe the XXXX Gold beer helped. It was only $4.50 and as soon as the word got out they sold a lot of it.

Once back in the city of Cairns we walked along the The Esplanade through the the marina and along the lagoon, the tide was out so the lagoon was a mud field. We headed into town looking for the Rattle and Hum Bar. I found it on the internet and they offered $5.00 pizza’s. We stumbled upon it but saw no indication of the $5.00 pizza’s so we ordered a large pepperoni pizza for $17.00. I had to go to the bar to buy our drinks, I ordered a Fat Yak beer and Betty had a peach ice tea. I was talking to the bar tender about which beers were good, and about Foster’s. He said you might find Fosters in Sydney but not in Cairns as Australians don’t drink it. They sell it in the USA and England but they think it is crap beer. I asked him how he afforded drinking at the prices they charge, he said drinking is what they do. The beer and ice tea cost $11.50 Australian dollars which is close to $13.00 US.  He came over to the table and asked if I wanted Fat Yak beer mat and of course I said yes, it will go nice in the bar I am supposed to build. When I finished my pint, I went to the bar and the bar tender was pouring me a Beez-Neez and said it was on the house. I made a friend for life, I told him if he comes to Cleveland to look me up and the beer was on me. It  is amazing what a 50 cent tip will get you here!  Apparently tipping is not expected, their wages make up for it.

We  left the bar with $30 Australian so we looked for something to spend it on. After walking for a couple hours through some heavy rain showers we never found anything, so we gave up and turned in the money and got $25.00 back.

Both of us needed showers badly as it was a very hot and humid day. I sat on the balcony first, had another beer and smoked a cigar as no one in their right mind was sitting outside. Today was one of the highlights of our trip, Betty really wanted to see the reef. We both love Australia and New Zealand.

We departed here at 6pm and retraced our way through Trinity Outlet before setting a north easterly course across the Coral Sea. We are now headed to Guam. Thankfully this is our last 5 days at sea stretch.