In the rainforest! Cairns Landing

We landed in Cairns (actually Yorkey's Knob...what does that mean exactly?) and took a great side trip to historic Kuranda.

Kuranda is the ancestral home of the Djabugay people.  Unusual, but the Djabugay people still own these lands which is rather rare.  Very unfortunately, indigenous peoples generally lose their land when the Europeans come....it's been true everywhere.  Despite concerted efforts in Australia, the land repatriation effort begun in the 1970's has still not been ratified.  As a practical matter, this generally does not work and will possibly fail here as well.

Anyway, we hopped off the ship and took a quick coach ride to the rail head of the Kuranda Scenic Railway.  This is quite a treat and should you find yourself here, don't miss the trip.  Authentic older carriages take you on a 90 minute ride to Kuranda with terrific rain forest and waterfall views.

The Scenic railway was built between the years 1887 - 1891 with the goal of linking the rich gold mining regions to the Ocean port.  Torrential rains made most trails impassible and more permanent solution was required.  Many workers lost their lives building this railway and certainly should be considered an impressive engineering achievement.

Again, views are outstanding and well worth the effort.

Kuranda Village is a very cool town that has a "alternative" feel to it. This makes sense as it was considered a haven for hippies back in teh 1970's.  Lots of arts and crafts and good places to eat and drink.  Pat and I had a great BBQ chicken pizza and a couple of VB's (Vistoria Bitters) for lunch there.

The way back down to Smithfield was by Skyrail which is a suspended cable car that takes you on a 7 KM ride over and through the canopy.  This also worth doing but not inexpensive ($55 AUD per person) but still worth the fare.  Built in just one year (after a 13 year environmental impact study) the Skyrail was built with supplies flown in by helicopter.  This minimized the damage to the rainforest.  According to our guide, the protesters of the project actually created more damage when they hiked in each day to voice their opinion  :)

Back on the ship and next stop is Brisbane.  Our plans there are to visit a Koala preserve that allows close contact with the animals....this is something that Pat cannot miss!

That's all for now!

Needs no explanation

Lunch in Kuranda Village

Another view of the falls from the Skyrail

View of the Harbor - Yorkey's Knob

Darwin Heat......wear sunscreen

We landed in Darwin Saturday night right in the middle of a violent thunderstorm.  I discovered later that Darwin records more lighting strikes in a given period than all other locations in Australia.....just another bit of useless trivia that is bound to pay off somewhere down the line. :)

So...like the headline, it's hot.  We were informed by my personal assistant, Google, that it would be 9 degrees warmer on Sunday than it was on Saturday.  Wow!  What an oppressive heat!  We live in South Florida and should be able to handle this but this was absolutely stifling.......

Despite that, we had a great time during our short visit.  As a Pre-requisite to some photos, the obligatory history lesson.

Background

The Aborigines had been in the region for thousands of years and the Dutch had been through the area in the 1600's.  The British first landed in 1839 aboard the HMS Beagle (what a name for a ship..) and named the port after a former crewmate, Charles Darwin (one and the same...).

Mining and tourism are the main industries here continuing to this day.  Darwin was bombed by the Japanese fleet that also bombed Pearl Harbor in 1942 killing 243 residents.  Since then, there has been a military presence here.  US troops were deployed again to Darwin in 2011 and will grow to 2500 marines by 2017.

As noted before, violent weather is common enough in Darwin.  The most notable and tragic example was Cyclone Tracy which struck on Christmas Day, 1974 killing 71 people and leveling 70% of the city.

Sights

During our visit, we took a trip to Crocodylus Park and Zoo to see some genuine Aussie saltwater Crocs.   Man at these things huge.  Pat and I had seen Crocs in Thailand several times but none were anywhere near the size of these monsters. I understand that some we saw were still modest compared to what is seen in the wild.  The largest one that  the park had was over 530KG (1100 lbs) and roughly 15 feet long.  It is not uncommon for the largest in the wild to weigh close to a ton....almost as much as my first car.

It was surprising to me how little Crocs need to eat to maintain their size and strength.  The park ranger was feeding the Crocs small pieces of chicken and explained that a full size Croc only needs about 1 full chicken per week to survive.  Too much food stresses the liver.  During 200 million years of evolution, Crocs have developed a very efficient metabolism.

Crocs can move very quickly over short distances....up to 25M per second.  As our guide says, walking near any open body of water, it's a good idea to stay 15 - 20 meters away from the water line.  If one of these snags you, it's all over.

This is a really nice location and a great park that included other types of zoo animals besides Crocs.  They had a particularly nice enclosure for Meercats and the Lions were terrific.

What a monster and waiting for feeding time.

A full family of Meercats.  They make an interesting "chittering" sound

This Ostrich was bout 8 feet tall.  This would not fit on my barbeque!

Note the size difference between male and female.  These breeding pairs must often be separated as the male may eat the female.  Note the size of the Male....this is about 50% of the weight the largest grow in the wild.

Later in the day, we went to the Northern Territory museum showcasing Aboriginal Art.  Great displays and exhibits, especially those on the painting style utilizing many small, multicolored dots to create a picture.  Very creative.

After a brief (and hot...did I say this?) walk through downtown, we made our way back to the ship and the promise of air conditioning.....

Off to sea for the next few days and our next stop in Cairns.  That's all for now!

Singapore Lives up to the Hype

Pat and I have spent the last few days in Singapore.  What a wonderful place.....very friendly people, very diverse population, many attractions and very beautiful scenery.

Singapore is an interesting place with an interesting history.  Without the usual history lesson, Singapore has roots in European and Muslim cultures for roughly 2000 years.  The more recent era began with the Portuguese landing at Malacca in 1509.  It was a Portuguese colony until the Dutch came in during the 1700's and finally the British with the arrival of Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 who founded the colony.  If the Raffles name sounds familiar, you may remember it....many hotels, hospitals and other landmarks are named for him both in Singapore and other countries like Cambodia

Sir Raffles saw the potential of the port and worked towards developing this region.  It continued as British colony until the Japanese occupied the region from 1942-1945 after which it returned to British rule.  In the 1960's with the economy in shambles, Singapore embarked on a very successful modernization program which resulted in the best, per-capita, income of any Asian country outside Japan.

And what a job they have done!  This is one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen, It is a model for multi-cultural harmony with Muslim, Hindu and Christian religions existing in relative piece.

Seriously, I counted two (2) cigarette butts!  I learned that you can get a ticket if you flick a butt on the street and it shows...it is tremendously clean here.  We typically take a boat ride to get an overview in cities that offer it.  We took a quick boat trip here and I did not see one piece of floating debris in the water.  Stark contrast to Thailand and Italy where I would be uncomfortable sticking my hand over the gunwale to touch water.

We saw very few animals in the street....no stray dogs and very few as pets.  During the two days on land, Pat and I only counted 7 dogs which is roughly twice the population of the Glenn household.....wonder where all the dogs are?  No jokes about seeing the food section of this blog....we were assured that this is not the case in Singapore.  Not sure I entirely believe this, however.

On to the sights.  The Gardens by the Bay are and absolute must see.  Trip Advisor rates them the number one attraction in Singapore and I would agree.  Make sure to take the OBCB Skyway in the Supertrees area.  Do the Cloud Forest and Flower Dome as well.  Wonderful vision by the designers that showcase the beauty of the indigenous plants.

The only downer (if there is one) is the food and drink.  We found most places expensive and Wine and spirits off the charts expensive.  One particular restaurant insisted in charging us for the moist towelettes placed on the table.  I rarely flame any business during our travels but this one will get a bruising review.

All in all, a terrific visit to a wonderful region.  It takes a while to get here but absolutely worth the trip.

We were headed to Bali next but Celebrity has decided to cancel that part of the trip due to security concerns.  This is near the anniversary of the bombing of a night club that killed many tourists.  This allows us an extra day in Singapore and Darwin.  Next port of call is now Darwin.  This is a long sail and will take about 5 days.  See you soon.

Cloud Forest Walkway

SuperTrees with the OBCB Skybridge connecting the trees.

Pat standing in front of the waterfall in the Cloud Forest Dome

Poor Selfie but we are working on it.  Cloud dome with the waterfalls

Wood Sculpture Dragon at the Gardens by the Bay

Our Next Adventure

Pat and I are off on our next trip tomorrow.  We begin in San Francisco with a quick overnight to see my parents, Embarcadero, Golden Gate and dinner at Tadich's Grill.  My dad has been bragging about this place for years.....


Next, we fly to Singapore for a couple of days of sightseeing before starting a cruise to Bali, Indonesia and several ports in Australia that we have never been to like Darwin, Cairns and Brisbane. The cruise ends in Sydney after which we hop a flight for our next leg.

Finally, we have a week in New Zealand where we will tour the North Island....again.  This time we are touring wine country and some place called "hot tub" beach where you dig a hole in the sand which then fills up with hot water.....sounds a little edgy to me but was suggested by my brother in law (well known for "edgy").



More to come!

Caribbean Tour 2015

We are on our way to our first trip during my retirement.  Yup, I know I have said this before.  For newer visitors to our blog, Pat and I decided to take time off (retirement attempt #1 in 2010) and travel.  We went to all corners of the earth, rode elephants, fed alligators and discovered a few other places off the beaten track. It was very rewarding but I was fooling myself with the notion of full retirement.  Probably the same scenario here.  I approach this time with five more years under my belt, however, and many great experiences and accomplishments to consider as we travel and decide what to do next.

So, our first trip is to a few places we have been before and a few we haven’t.  Objective.... to disconnect and recapture a different pace of life than we have had during the last 5 years.

Grand Cayman:The dolphin swim was amazing.  Pat and I took a short ride from the port to the Dolphin facility.  There, we were given brief instructions on how to do a couple of activities with the dolphins.  The first is where you hold on two fins and the Dolphins will tow you around (at high speed) while on their back. The second is where you ride a boogie board and the Dolphin pushes you (at very high speed) towards the Dolphin trainer.  Yes, the activities were run by skilled trainers.  It is amazing how powerful these animals are.  When you see what they can do in the water up close you can see they love what they do and you can’t come away without being impressed with their intelligence. 

This was a great experience……no pictures were allowed so none are shown here but well worth the visit if you are ever here.

Cartagena was just beautiful.  I had always pictured Cartagena as more mountainous based on the emerald mines that are all over the country.  This is true as you get farther south but Cartagena is flat as a pancake and settled around two bays, the inner and outer bay.  Settled in the 1500’s Columbia was a Spanish colony until they declared their independence on November 11^th 1811.  

Pat and I took a tour starting with a boat ride through the inner Cartagena bay to the historical city center (Walled City).  Most of the city seen in the attached photos are of the colonial architecture period.  The City was not fortified when Sir Francis Drake took the city.  The walls came later.  

Costa Rica:  On the schedule is one of our favorite activities....ziplining.  Pat and I have been several times to different parts of the world and really enjoy the trees, view and the thrill of gliding along the cable.  We took our canopy tour in Eastern Costa Rica at a local rainforest preserve.  The guides were very friendly, well trained and all spoke English fluently.  Here is a video of Pat taking off on her run.

Belize: Our activity today was snorkeling off the barrier reef.  Belize is home to the worlds second largest barrier reef (After Australia) with hundreds of small islands off shore.  We took a boat ride from the ship about 10 miles off shore to a private island where we had a two hour tour and a bit of beach time.  The guides were, again, great and English is spoken fluently by all.  In fact, Belize is the only central american country where English is the native language.

Cozumel: We have been here before during our last Caribbean Cruise in 2011 and it continues to be one of our favorites.  Cozumel is an island off shore of Playa Del Carmen.  Mayan Mexico is our favorite area.  It's safe, the people are wonderful and the weather terrific.  We spent a short time visiting a Mayan site on the island.  Not many exist on the island with the most famous like Coba, Tulum and Chitzen Itza on the main land but it was worth the trip.  We then took a ride around the eastern side of the island which is deliberately undeveloped and spent some time at the beach.  

Overall, we had a great trip.  We relaxed and I unwound from a challenging career at AutoNation.  More trips coming soon, we haven't decided which trips we want to take exactly but Cozumel, New Zealand and China are definitely on the list.

So long for now!

Bangkok dangerous.....again!

I hate to use a bad joke twice but it really applies now.  We arrived in Bangkok righting the middle of antigovernment protests.  The issue is repeated around the world.  The people want a different government because they feel the current one is corrupt.  More specifically, rice farmers have been receiving government subsidies for years. This year, for some reason, the farmers have not received their money.  Subsidies, it appears, are the lever that the opposition is using to try unseating the current government.  Subsidies were used to keep the farmers voting pro-government.  Now that they have misfired on this, the middle class is protesting and using this as the reason.

So, as we have been advised by the hotel, we are trying to stay away from protest crowds and keep a low profile.  You can see the traffic havoc that these crowds have caused.  I should also note how organized they protesters are...the pup tents are neatly organized and food lines are orderly.

We have been here before and really enjoy the city.  The people are very friendly and welcoming.  Shopping is a national pastime and a medal sport for my sister in law.  Pat can shop but is more of an enabler than a competitive shopper.

Speaking of shopping, Pat and I went to the floating market.  This is where you ride a boat past all of these little shops right on the water.  Should you show any interest, the captain will pull the boat up to the siding...the shop keep has a gaff hook used to pull the boat in and then you dicker for anything you have an interest in.  These folks are great negotiators...we need them in the car business.

Later to one of our favorites, the Golden Buddha.  This is a Buddha made entirely of gold....5 tons of it, in fact.  This is a beautifully kept temple right in the center of the city.  

Palace where the Golden Buddha resides

Today, we are heading for the Erawan falls and the famous Bridge on the river Kwai. Our driver, Noppadon who we have used in the past always knows where to take us...

That's all for now!

Phenomenal Phnom Penh

Yesterday was a grueling road trip from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh...and I do mean grueling.  Sam, our driver, explained that the overland trip was typically 4 hours but, due to road construction along most of the route, our trip was extended to 7.5 hours of bumpy, dusty roads.  Interesting to note that both Japenese and Chinese contractors were building the roads.  There was a noticeable difference in quality...let's say that the Chinese need to work on their product a bit more.

We saw plenty of interesting sights, though....most interesting are the way scooters are used here.  The most popular form of transportation is a 125cc scooter with a rack on the back.  What the Cambodians can load on these bikes is amazing.  Here are the records for several categories...

Most people....a family of 5 were loaded of the scooter.  Only the driver had a helmet.

Most livestock........4 pigs going to market ( cringe....)

Largest appliance.....a refrigerator (3/4 size) strapped to the back. 

Overall winner.....14 twin mattresses!

After arriving at Phnom Penh, we spent a couple of days at the grand palace and Wat Phnom.

While in Phnom Penh, we visited the National Museum the first day as the Grand Palace was closed.  

The museum was definitely worth the tour.  There were many statues representing both the Hindu and Buddhist roots of the country.  One interesting observation was that many of the artifact cards stated "provenance unknown."  According to our reading, much of Cambodian history is underground and has been excavated during conflict times and without good documentation of the archeological findings.

February 14th.....Valentine's day is also a big holiday in Cambodia.  It also seems to be a day of Prayer for Buddhist's.  Wat Phnom sits on a small hill near the center of town.  The day we visited, it was overrun with families praying together....I have never seen so much incense in my life!

We have really enjoyed our time in Cambodia...on to an interesting visit in Thailand where anti-government protests have been ongoing for the last three months.  More to come!