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| Smooth sailing |
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| Fishing near Mindanao |
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| Fishing in small boats |
The sea
conditions on this portion of the world cruise are much more pristine than for
the crossing from San Francisco to Hawaii.
After the day at the Great Barrier Reef, we continue sailing along the
northeast coast of Australia within the islands and reefs until we finally let
our pilot off after we pass Cape Grenville.
The ship travels next through the Torres Strait and the Prince of Wales
Channel, entering the Arafura Sea, a shallow tropical sea and then on to the
Banda Sea with Papua New Guinea islands just off our starboard side. Once in the Banda Sea, the ship sails for the
Selat Manipa Strait. Once through the strait, the ship is in the Moluccas Sea,
which is adjacent to Indonesia. Now we
are crossing the equator again before sailing through the Bangka Passage and
into the Celebes Sea. This sea contains
bio-diverse coral reefs and is teaming with marine life. We do see dolphins. Today we sail between Mindanao and Basilan
Islands which are part of the Philippines.
This is a strait that is used for shipping and is only 5 miles across
and a benefit for the ship’s crew – cell signal! There are many small fishing boats along the
edge of the channel. Once through here,
we will be in the Sulu Sea and then cross into the South China Sea to make our
port tomorrow in Kota Kinabalu.
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| Islands in the Straits |
Lectures
continue with the two professors discussing global climate change, the future
of coral reefs and marine biology of the South China Sea. A new lecturer, Dale Templar, the BBC
producer of the series Human Planet, shows us film clips and tells us how the
camera shots were done, with what type of camera equipment and the challenges
involved in filming these types of series.
Ms. Templar also tells us more details about the individuals highlighted
in this series. This miniseries has been
on the Discovery Channel in the USA. Absolutely
amazing photography! At the end of this
type of lecture, you can buy the book and/or DVD autographed by the presenter.
Matinee
classical concerts continue; the theatre company presents a short play and
reading; afternoon wine tasting seminars and evening themed ballroom dancing are
available to all who wish to participate.
One evening, Danny Elliott, winner of the Australia Variety Entertainer
of the year, played 10 (yes, ten!) different instruments (not all at once) and,
while playing the guitar and piano, also sang beautifully. Andy James, the magician returned for another
show. There is definitely variety on
this ship.
We are
still being diligent about exercise and moderation and so refrain from
participating in many of these activities.
There’s a vast difference in how you function on a long voyage vis-à-vis
a short island-hopping cruise, especially if you intend to fit into your
clothes on the ultimate day aboard. However,
shopping is always tempting….
We have
reached the half way point of our journey.
We have experienced three seasons in a week – summer to fall, south of
the equator and now winter north of the equator (almost spring). It helps to be going westerly around the
world since we gain an hour of sleep each time the clock must be adjusted. We gained two hours this week alone. It’s time to have a celebration to mark our
50% completion with a Friday dinner at The Verandah restaurant onboard. We’ve only eaten there once and enjoyed it
immensely. You pay a bit extra to eat there
because it is quite the luxurious, gourmet experience that last almost 3 hours.
The
traditional Crossing-the-Line Ceremony is held on Friday….since we are already
“Shellbacks” we need not attend this fun-but-mildly-humiliating experience
(care to kiss a dead fish and be bathed in ship garbage?). Also on Friday, there is an interview with
Captain Christopher Wells. He will be
leaving us in Hong Kong for a long holiday and will then join the Queen Mary 2 as
Captain and Master in June. What an
interesting career! He started his
career working for Shell Oil Company in Singapore, manning oil and gas
carriers, making runs between Australia and Japan. From there he worked for some ferry companies
in England before joining Cunard in 1992.
Along the way, he also became a Master Commander and a retired reserve
commander in the Royal Navy. We will
miss his noon navigational talks and leadership of the maritime church service,
and we appreciate the safe, smooth journey so far.
Our port Sunday
is Kota Kinabalu and as my cousin Doug says, “Now you are just making up
names!” Get ready - because the port
names will become nearly impossible to pronounce. This is all new to us! And the time zone adjustments – back two more
hours! Kota Kinabalu is in Malaysia and
on the island of Borneo….remember hearing about head hunters? This is the place!
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