ATW Day 45 - Watch Out for Dragons!

Today, Tuesday, we are anchored off of Komodo, Indonesia, home of the Komodo Dragons.  More on that later.  After a sea day on Sunday, we were in Kupang, West Timor, Indonesia.  It was our first time at that port.  After looking over the offered excursions, we opted to just go into the city itself.  So we waited on line for the shuttle bus.

In the city of Kupang (and I use the term city loosely), we walked around for somewhat less than an hour before taking the bus back to the ship.  Not much to see or do there other than watching some fishermen, a man swimming in the not so appealing (or should I say filthy) water, and a mounted porcupine fish.

After that, we wondered if we should have done an excursion.  But we talked to a couple who did one and they told us that it was not very good.  So, in conclusion, I would say that Kupang should not be on your bucket list of places to visit!

Later in the day on the ship we did get another rainbow to add to our collection.

Now, let's talk about the shower on our veranda.  There is a drain hole over the railing that floods part of the veranda whenever it rains hard, which has been often on this cruise.  I mentioned it to the GM, Evan, and they spent a couple of days trying to figure out where the water that drains through there comes from.  It is a unique feature of our veranda - none other like it on the ship!  While we were out yesterday, they inserted a probe in the hole and decided that they could plug it up.  So, in the afternoon, that's what they did.

We were hoping for a good shower to test it out, but all we got was a few sprinkles (enough for the aforementioned rainbow) and a nice sunset.  

Now we are sitting on the veranda (hoping for that good rain storm) watching the tenders go back and forth to the island.  We have opted not to go on excursion since we've done it once and it's therefore checked off of our bucket list.  Due to local restrictions, you can't go ashore unless on an organized tour.

With our high powered binoculars, I was able to spot a Komodo Dragon sunning herself on the beach!

And now, Dear Reader, if you will allow me, I'd like to muse a bit about the Around The World experience.  As you know, we have done many Oceania cruises but this is the first "full" ATW that we have done.  We did the last 54 days of their first around the world cruise 11 years ago and came away from that with reservations about doing the full one.  At the time, they used a smaller ship and then there was the attitude of the ATW guests towards what they called seggies - those who came on for just a segment of the cruise.  When they announced that the 2026 ATW would be aboard Vista and that there was a 120 day option offered, we decided to do it.  After about a week on board, I had the feeling that the dynamics among the guests was definitely different from what we were used to.  There are 197 day people, 180 day people, then the lowly 120 day people and, of course, the lowliest seggies.  We have heard that some "full" ATW folks complained to the GM that us 120 day people should not have been given the same amenities (the ATW vest, the ATW cap, and the ATW tote bag) as they received.  How petty is that!  Well, after a while I decided to overlook that stuff and enjoy the cruise.  Then, a couple of evenings ago, we had dinner with the GM Evan, his lovely wife Samantha, and 3 other people - a couple and a solo traveler who were "full" ATWs.  To get right to the point, some of the comments that they made were truly disturbing to us.  The solo traveler, who is a first time Oceania guest, complained that he didn't like the seggies because he didn't like them asking him the typical questions that guests ask each other!  Huh?  And then he suggested to Evan that there be a dinner for just the 197 day people.  I guess the rest of us don't deserve it.  The other couple said that the future ATWs should be on the smaller ship so that they would have it exclusively for ATW people - none of the seggie riffraff!  And they also suggested that the entire crew stay on for the full 6 months.  That would be a real stretch for much of the crew.  So, Linda and I came away from that dinner with the agreement that there will be no more ATWs for us!  We'll just enjoy Oceania as we always have.

So there's my somewhat lengthy muse.  Thanks for reading it.  Next time, I might throw in my musing about old age.

Tomorrow, we return to Bali.  The ship will be there overnight and we decided to do an overnight stay, on our own, at a resort not far from the port.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

ATW Day 42 Au Revoir Australia

Today, Saturday, we are in Darwin, Australia.  Before I catch up on the past 3 days, I have to show you the incredible rainbow during this morning's sail in.  It was definitely the best of the many good rainbows we've had.

Now, back to the past.  We had 2 sea days after we left Cairns.  The first of those 2 days took us around the northern tip of Australia and through the Torres Strait.

The second day was fairly quiet except for the good rain storms we sailed through.  That has been typical on this part of the cruise.

I can't resist going back to this morning's sunrise and rainbow!

We docked in Darwin at noon and Linda and I went off to have our last barramundi fish and chips.

After that, we walked up and up to Bicentennial Park.

After that, we walked into the CBD to pick up a couple of provisions.  A walk back to the ship ended our day just in time  - the afternoon rain storm hit shortly after we got back.  Tonight, we are in Port until 11:00 pm.  Weather permitting we'll have time for another walk before a sea day that will bring us to Kupang West Timor, Indonesia.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

ATW Day 39 - Catching Up!

It's been a while, hasn't it?  Let's go back to our day at sea after we left Sydney.  At the Captain's Welcome Reception, Captain Manzi told us that it might be a problem getting into Mooloolaba.  It's a tender port and the conditions of wind and swell did not look favorable.  Sure enough, as I was on my morning walk, the announcement was made that we could not have safe tendering there.  We were quite sad as we sailed away.

At least we had yet another good sunset.

Sunday Linda had another bingo win!

And guess what - another great sunset with Venus even making an appearance.

Monday, we were in Airlie Beach, Australia.  It was a tender port but no problem getting in!

After the tender ride to Shute Harbor, it was a shuttle bus ride to Airlie Beach where we stopped to talk to the kids.

You may have noticed that there was no one in the water in the beach photo.  That's because it is stinger season as the sign warned.

And they have a nice, safe man-made lagoon for swimming.

Our plan was to do a good walk along the waterfront, but Linda was hungry so we had to stop for lunch first!  We found a good restaurant in town.  The coral trout fish and chips and the barramundi ceviche were very good.

Then it was time for our walk.

It was then time to take the tender back to the ship.  That's the Assistant Cruise Director, Robbie, in the photo.

Tuesday, we were in Townsville.  We decided to take the ferry to Magnetic Island.  After a shuttle bus ride into town, we took a nice walk along the waterfront to the ferry terminal.

The 20 minute ferry ride was a good one - not too rough.

You might be asking, "Why is it called Magnetic Island?"  Apparently Captain Cook named it that because he thought that the Island was interfering with his ship's compass.  The first thing we did when we got there was to find a path that led to a point where there were supposed to be rock wallabys.   Sure enough, they were there.

We then went for a long walk, once again along the waterfront.

We did have to make a stop for a snack before turning around and heading back.

Along our walk, we heard and saw many interesting birds.  We've found that to be very common in Australia.

And lastly, today, Wednesday, we were in Cairns.  This was the fourth time that we've been here.  The weather was lousy so we had no big plans.  In the morning, we went out for a walk in the drizzle.  We went a short way before Linda had had enough so she turned back while I continued on.

Along the way, I saw a guy bring in a net with prawns.

It turned out to be a good walk even with the off and on drizzle.

And there were, of course, birds!

After I returned to the ship, Linda decided that she would brave the drizzle and we went to a restaurant which was about a 5 minute walk from the cruise terminal.  Linda even enjoyed an Australian beer! (NOT)

After lunch we were able to walk a bit. before returning to the ship.

As I write this we are sailing away from Cairns on our way to Darwin our last port in Australia.  It will take 2 sea days to get there.  After Darwin, we'll be heading up to Indonesia.

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry