24 November 2007 - Noumea, New Caledonia

24th November 2007 - Noumea, New Caledonia

Arrived in Noumea early in the morning following an Australian theme night party. Some of us dressed up - thanks to having found a pound shop in Cairns, but there was limited scope for anything other than Bruce and Sheila, the outback bush rangers or the painted 'Abo' with associated croc/didgeridoo. Still, it was fun (picture attached).

Noumea was pretty much as we expected, having previously visited French colonies, and far nicer than portrayed in the guides. Spacious and fairly modern, the city extended over a large area on an protruding peninsular in the south east of New Caledonia, one of the few places we 'discovered' and let go to the French.

We spent the morning on a hiking tour on Mount Koghis which lies just behind Noumea and travelled up there on a small bus to about 1,000 metres. On the way we passed the 'industrial suburbs' which are, in fact neat, modern and tidy and dominated by a large nickel plant, the mainstay of the local economy. Inevitably, there was some pollution; there must be if 30% of the world's nickel comes from one small island, but only when the plant is processing. Beyond the suburbs was the hill station where the 'well healed' have their weekend houses. As in India and Malaysia they aim high to get away from the stifling heat. More interesting was the contrast in style of the properties. Each with multi car garages or car ports, most were semi or full prefabs, but in a multitude of styles ranging from Mediterranean to Balinese to Swiss Chalet to 'modernista'. We soon ran out of residential zones and were up in the nature area which was a mixture of semi wild and eco-developed. The latter comprised a series of tree walks at three levels - up to 18m high - for the kids. We took off on the paths and met a number of runners and weekend strollers including indigenous Kanaks, a largely Melanesian people who make up around half the population (most of the remainder being Europeans or descendents including French Civil Servants on 2 to 4 year contracts).

Our walk took us for about a couple of miles over fairly rough terrain which was, in parts, extremely exhilarating with good, if hazy views over the city some 15 kms distant. We enjoyed the walk which was fine given the early morning time and the height; it might otherwise have been sweaty. We did a full circle and returned to our bus, but not before having a couple of pics taken in the rain forest. Interestingly, the walk took us out of the rain forest and into the savannah for a part where eucalyptus replaced the forest trees which were similar to, but different species from, those we saw in Daintree.

We returned to the ship and had lunch before going out into the town. Like Cairns, we were moored about 5 mins from the centre, but unlike Cairns all the shops were closed for two and a half hours for Saturday lunch, many not to open in the afternoon. We soon learned that Noumea is very expensive and had originally planned to eat lunch out. However, with Salad Nicoise running at 12 euros for a single course we gave that idea a miss. We hit town after the shops re-opened to find that things we expected to be expensive - M's art supplies - were a reasonable price, but things we expected to be cheap - Christmas and birthday cards - were incredibly expensive, more so than at home.

After shopping we took the tourist walk through town, which no-one else seemed to be doing. There was a brilliant bright red tree in Coconut Square - which M says originates in Madagascar - which required a pic and as part of the original Mairie (town hall) several incredibly tall palm trees. Although we took a pic of this, the one included was taken towards the end of our city tour to include some of the paradoxes of Noumea. Essentially, very French - including Paris prices in the up-market boutiques - there were elements of the city that seemed to be from a different culture. Walking along one street towards the square we saw a huge advert for Coca Cola with a classic art deco building across the street which framed the high palms of the old Mairie next to which was a high rise. Apart from the writing in French which can be just read, this scene could have been taken straight from Miami Beach. Two blocks to the south, all was Chinese for half a block as we came closest to NC pound shops!

Returning to the ship, we had a demo of local singing and dancing from a Kanak troupe on the dockside (note the quality of the cruise terminal building in the photo). This was truly impressive and we took videos of what seemed to be the real thing; NC is not particularly big on tourism as it's too far from anywhere really. However, there is considerable scope in this regard - if they can get prices down. It's significantly more expensive than Oz and although as sophisticated in some respects, not populous enough to have the full range of facilities. However, unlike Oz the ATMs worked with our cards, as you'd expect of French banks. There were also plenty of recognisable stores for those in the know, such as Casino, Carrefour, M Bricolage etc. Our parting pic gives a good shot of part of Noumea with a resort island showing the tourist potential. A very enjoyable place and not one most Brits are ever likely to visit.
And as for the sunsets in this part of the world; our picture speaks a thousand words. So beautiful we took about a dozen overall.

Lastly, just in case we don't get to another internet cafe before we cross the Pacific Ocean, Happy Birthday Popsy on 12th December - have a great day love M and D XX

19 November 2007 - Great Barrier Reef

19th November 2007 - Cairns, Australia - Great Barrier Reef

Another early start, but this time we had to get to the reef terminal under our own steam; but we did have enough time for a quick brecky before departing at 8.00am for the reef. We went with an outfit called Sea Star in a very fast boat for 40, but there were only 12 of us aboard which made it ever so roomy. On the way out, around 8.30, we passed the van Gogh on the way in to Cairns from Darwin and M videoed them, just as they videoed us! At about 9.15 we arrived at Michaelmas Cay a small sandy island in the middle reef containing a bird sanctuary and limited island access (piccy attached) Sea Star are one of only 3 companies with a commercial permit to visit this island and we had 2.5 hrs looking at the coral and fishes. M took a tour with the Sea Star team whilst D did his own thing with an underwater camera purchased on the boat. Unfortunately, no pics from this source, but M did a shot of D. Lunch on board before we set off again, comprising the usual prwns and salad with bbq chicken wing and veggie lasagne.
Hastings Reef on the outer reef was our next port of call. This was hard coral as opposed to soft coral and a fair amount was barren unfortunately. There were no landing points on this reef and we did all of our snorkelling from the back of the craft which we only pictured on our return - but it had a full width above water line platform and 2 stels for sea access. Others did their SCUBA dives. M was again feeling unwell and didn't go in for the second session but contented herself with half an hour in the glass bottom boat which appears to be left on the reef. D, meanwhile, continued his new role as underwater photographer. We were on this reef to about 3.30pm when we had our afternoon cake and tea before our return. (They'd hate this, but the Aussies are so like the Brits). We arrived back about 4.45 after a very speedy and rough crossing, being buffeted all the way.
We took a shot or two of Cairns on the way in and one of van Gogh in the berth next to the Reef Terminal. Sorry the underwater shots await development.
We walked back to van Gogh and back on board to finish the evening with an Abbo evening with associated pics.
Finally, happy birthday to Trena and Jack.

18 November 2007 - Cape Tribulation and Daintree Nat Park

18th November 2007 - Cairns, Australia - Cape Tribulation and Daintree National Park

Sunday morning we were picked up at 7.45 for our trip to Daintree in a 4WD Toyota run by Billy Tea Tours, an excellent company. After collecting other punters we headed north to Daintree village where we had coffee/tea and biscuits before doing a boat ride down the river. This was very interesting and we saw a fair cross-section of wildlife were told, given that it was wet and at the start of the wet season. Saw three crocs, including a basking baby on a sandbank (poor picture but a fair one of the middle croc) and large tree python (too fay for the camera) a beautiful kingfisher and various assorted birds and other animals before arriving at the Daintree cable ferry where we were collected by the 4WD again. We continued north, past endless sugar cane fields and eventually arrived at a National Park walkway where we went looking for Cassowary to no avail. We did see many interesting plants and bids and a small beast like a gecko, the name of which we cannot remember. Still, it can be seen in the pic with M. The weather had turned by this time and we were getting the fag edge of cyclone Guba; windy but especially wet.
We went for lunch at Lync-Haven Retreat and M took a turn for the worst and even refused wine and a steak and, effectively gave up the trip and was given a motel room to lie down in until our return. We pressed on further into the Daintree passing the tea plantataions and continued to Cape Tribulation where the road turned to pressed grit. We finally arrived at Emmagen Creek where D took a swim as the heaven's opened, wiping out the Billy Tea session with tropical fruits and bush cake. However, being in the water this was no hassle for D who earlier had taken a pic of the creek with a strange looking Loch Ness look-alike in view.
We returned and called in to Cape Trib Beach. Beautiful and rather wild in the storm (see shot) but not available for swimming as the start of the wet is also the start of the box jelly fish season.
We returned and picked up M who was a little better and returned to Cairns for a quiet evening after a long day. Curry at Mother India this evening.

17 November 2007 Cairns, Australia - Arrival and Kuranda Visit

16/17th November 2007 - Cairns, Australia - Arrival and Kuranda Visit

Arrived just after 9.00am after flying overnight from Darwin. Had nightmares trying to get
cash out of Aussie ATMs (so did Americans - what's the problem Oz, it doesn't happen
elsewhere). We went straight to town and spent the morning in an excellent Info agency who
booked us into a good-value hotel and arranged three enjoyable day trips for us. Went to
the hotel at noon for a snooze and then for a shop, but finished up pleading with a bank to
let us have some money against M's credit card. They said initially that she would need a
second ID to authorise this and that the ship Cruise card was not an approved, acceptable
source despite the first ID being her passport which contained, of course, not only her
photo but also the Australian Immigration Authority stamp approving her entry into Oz the
previous day. Where do they dream up these rules? and what's the point any national issuing
authority despatching passports and official ID cards if they're insufficient proof of ID.
We don't get it! Still, it put us in our place as we had been sniffy about most of our aged
fellow passengers still using travellers cheques and cash. But it wasn't funny being
potentially stuck three days before the boat's arrival with no means of getting cash from a
hole in the wall despite having both debit and credit cards with us!
Friday night we went out for Enchiladas at Montezuma's. A bit strange, but all the better
for that.
Saturday morning we were collected at the hotel at 10.00 - after a breakfast of soft eggs -
and bussed to the sky rail station for Kuranda. This comprises a 7.5km gondola ride in 6
seat Pommas. It's strange sitting in a Pomma with no snow around and being whisked over
rain forest instead of snowy pines. There were 2 intermediate stations, Red Peak where we
had a walk around and a ranger talk on the flora and fauna (redwoods as big as those in
California) and a second stop with views over the Barron Falls - which we were to see later
from the train.
Arriving at Kuranda about 1.10 we took a long walk along the river, then the jungle walk and
finally the creek walk to arrive at the bat sanctuary. We had seen bats in Darwin at
Lichfield but there were more in Kuranda. There were also options of a Koala place and
Butterfly farm etc but Kuranda had become a little too commercialised for our tastes. We
ambled down the main street and had a pint at the pub by the train station before taking the
tourist train back to Cairns. This took 1.5hrs and was most spectacular, going through 15
or 16 tunnels and round two or three 180 degree switchbacks. As well as Barron Falls - our
second siting - we got views of falls on a number of tributary rivers.
Had a fairly quiet evening and ended up at Montzumas again, but Chilli, tacos and refried
beans this time. The explanation is that all ethnic food on the boat, whether it be Indian,
Thai, Malaysian, Indonesian etc has been so totally bland we needed something with a bit of
bite.

15 November 2007 Darwin, Australia

15th November 2007 - Darwin, Australia

Arrived Darwin around 10.00 am, a smallish but expanding town miles from anywhere in Northern Territory, but our gateway to Oz as we decided to jump ship here for a few extra days in Cairns.
First, though, we took a tour to Lichfield Park which, at about 100kms south, was significantly closer than the larger and better known Kakadu. It wasn't to be disappointing although the drive to the edge of the park took over an hour and a half. We saw the Uranium mining town of Rum Jungle on the way and a few wallabies before arriving at a bush station for lunch - Barra for D steak for M with wine!
We then started our tour proper. Lichfield is in scrub bush territory with much eucalyptus growth on a sandstone table land which absorbs trillions of gallons of water in the wet season which is then slowly released. Hence, there is always water in Lichfield and its tourism attraction lies with a number of spectacular waterfalls and billabongs where this is flushed out from the plateau. At the first of these we were given a half hour to swim and D managed to reach the falls (photo attached). The second was more impressive in some ways as it lay Niagra like in a deep gorge so was better for spectacular pics. We finished the tour with a visit to enormous termite mounds which come in two varieties: tombstone and cathedral. Check their size with the pic of M.
Back to Darwin where this town of 40k gave us a two mile rush hour traffic jam (opposite direction thankfully) as the thundery winds brought down an overhead power cable on the southbound Stewart Highway. Totally paradoxical and, we were assured, an exceptional happening.
We jumped ship and had an excellent buffet meal at the Jetty restaurant before heading to the airport for our flight to Brisbane and Cairns.

12 November 2007 Bali, Indonesia

Monday 12th November 2007 - Bali, Indonesia

I think we were surprised to learn that Bali was not typically Indonesian but an unusual island with a mixture of Hindi and indigenous culture as others can probably tell you. The most salient feature of this unusual combination is in the architecture of the island which is characterised by compound housing residences for the extended family, but with distinct buildings within the 'gated community' for different functions. It's literally the case that there are separate buildings for the main parlour/lounge, for bedrooms, for the kitchen and, in each house, for worship as a minimum.

We left the boat by tender at a resort village to an extremely friendly reception organised by the ships agents, but also to unbelievable levels of hassle by local sales people, of which more later.

We next took a coach tour to a wood carving family compound followed by a painting family compound. Fine, in their own right, but we were very much a captive audience in a string of villages which stretched for about 10 kms comprising much the same. Any doubts about tourism having taken over were dispelled with all prices, and we mean all prices, being quoted in US dollars. Possibly one thinks of geese and golden eggs which is sad because Bali is truly beautiful and friendly but spoiled by seriously aggressive hawkers.

We continued to a spectacular volcanic complex known as Mount Batur and Lake Batur. This was an uphill drive for at least 15kms to a height of 1700 m to the rim of a caldera (lip of a blown up volcano for the uninitiated). The centre comprised a large volcanic lake and the rim, about 5 km in diameter included the new volcano - a secondary fissure - and other higher residual peaks on the rim. Anyone with 'A' level geography would recognise this as a 'text book' example. Fascinating, but not at all active, unlike our Red Sea Yemeni experience, but nevertheless interesting.

After a tolerably OK local lunch (all too bland for us - to cope with geriatric European digestive systems) we drove back down from the rim to an indigenous local village where much of the building material comprised worked bamboo - and this bamboo was up to 10 m high, even to the roof tiles being sliced and shaped bamboo. Preserved as a tourist phenomenon, each house/compound had to be licensed for a given number of family members as elsewhere.

Finally, we returned via a very fine Chinese temple with three courtyards where we were obliged to wear sarongs out of religious respect. David looked a little like a rotund David Beckham and Mandi just looked rotund (no fags for 2 months!). We passed black volcanic sand beaches - a bit grotty - before arriving at the port - good yellow saund, but more sales hassle - after a largely successful day.

With the benefit of hindsight, we wished we'd done the day ourselves, although our tour guide was really excellent.

9 November 2007 Singapore

Friday 9th November 2007 - Singapore

We arrived at Singapore early in the morning and waited for most folk to be processed through customs before alighting at the ultra-modern Cruise Terminal at about 10.00am. We had walk off facilities and no steps (like airports used to be) and were deposited in a building with turn-key facilities including tourist information, ATMs/money changers, shopping centre, bus station, underground station and aerial cableway. Nowhere in the UK could compete; and not just at the harbour side.

We took advice and first went by metro to Chinatown. The Singapore MRT is state-of-the-art and probably the best and most efficient underground in the world. All announcements are in English, trains run on time and station platforms are like Stanstead airport where doors on the tube align with doors on the platform; and, of course, waiting times are displayed on illuminated boards. Furthermore, there's no litter, either on tubes, stations or the streets. Standard tickets are electronic cards with a 1 dollar deposit, returned on completion of the journey, and all tickets are 'flash at the terminal'. Eat your heart out London Underground.

Unfortunately, shops don't open in Singapore until 11.00am because they run their clocks on what amounts to a permanent summer time. Also, the Chinatown area is clearly at its best when the night market is on. Nevertheless, we saw many original buildings including a re-furbished Buddhist centre and assorted market stalls. Streets tend to be dedicated here and we went along Sago Street, also known as Death Street. Apparently, the indigenous Chinese (indigenous from about the 1830s onwards) consider it bad luck to die at home as this passes on bad luck to the remaining household. Therefore, they go to specialist houses to die; a practice only abandoned 40 years ago. Unsurprisingly the Death Houses turned into Funeral Parlours!! Next was a food street where all properties fronted hawker food stalls; again too early to eat. We found ourselves eventually on South Bridge Street and decided to walk the 6 or 7 blocks to the Singapore river.

On the way, we passed many neat and standardised tourist information boards which at Hokien street advised us that the building of Singapore was largely done by Chinese women who were never able to afford to return to their families in China. Effectively, indentured labour, they had specific head gear to distinguish building labourers from dock labourers and the whole operation was done manually. We saw some of their old buildings in China square and a number of areas have been preserved, but there is a real dash for modernisation in this city. We then reached Elgin Bridge and without quite planning it found ourselves at Raffles Landing Site and statue (the English guy who founded Sinpapore in 1819 or so). We took a cruise for an hour on the river, both to Marina Bay and upstream too. There are a number of preserved isolated areas where original buildings have been preserved, particularly in the Colonial district and largely featuring public buildings, but the rest of the stretch is ultra modern with a skyline the likes of which we have never seen before. There are higher skyscrapers in New York, but not such a concentration as there are in Singapore.

After the cruise, we walked though the Colonial district, taking in City Hall etc and the Singapore Cricket Club and past St Andrews Cathedral, looking rather incongruous in this largely Buddhist republic. We then headed for Raffles Hotel, the rather iconic destination where one is supposed to purchase a gin sling in the long bar. Unfortunately, this has been re-sited to a peripheral local (to keep tourists away from guests) and at 28 dollars a throw including tax and service (£9.30 where you are) the gin sling is not a value-for-money purchase. The hotel though is a splendid building but very much cashes in on snob value. Instead we headed for the Swiss hotel to post our blog. This, too, was expensive - £3.30 for 15 minutes - and illustrates that at the top end of the market Singapore is not cheap. OK for laptops though!

We headed through an unbelievable underground shopping centre come link walkway - there are endless, super-modern, air-conditioned shopping malls in the centre - and sought out the underground to Little India for a bit more 'ethnic' Singapore. This day was Diwali and all the celebrations were in full swing but we took the best part of an hour out over a couple of beers at Tekka market on the edge of the area. There appears to be excellent racial tolerance in Singapore, but areas are still tightly demarcated with one side of the market distinctly Chinese and the other Indian. We walked the streets of Little India for about an hour, noting the usual stalls, Hindu temples etc and garland shops, doing a brisk trade for the holiday. Again, although not as clean as downtown, there was little or no litter about even in the market. Apparently, it is a serious offence to litter and also to fail to flush toilets. Locals make a packet selling tee-shirts with at least nine or ten pseudo street signs saying what you cannot do in Singapore. The high quality environment comes at quite a price on civil liberties, but, as we say in the north, 'you don't get ought for nought'. We were left overall with a most impressive impression of the place and would have liked more time here.

We dashed on the tube back to the Cruise terminal to find ourselves confounded with 2,500 passengers departing on another Cruise ship. Total chaos - it even happens in Singapore - and we finally put to sea 40 minutes late.

7 November 2007 Penang, Malaysia

Wednesday 7th November - Penang, Malaysia

We arrived in Penang the day after out Phuket visit. First, we went to Khoo Kongsi Chinese Clan House in Georgetown where the details and history were explained to us. This gave us the first insight into the multi-cultural aspects of Malaysia, where Malays, Chinese, Indians and others seemingly continue to live side by side in harmony. This building was thoroughly impressive, even in the pouring rain! We then motored to a hotel for lunch; our second spicy meal in 2 days - quite hot this one with additional optional chillies - where most folk took advantage of the bland European option.

We continued by coach to Batu Ferringhi, the main beach area for Penang, past all the 5 star hotels, developed for the most part in style and good order. Not a place for the package tourist but, nevertheless, not particularly expensive. Quite flash 3 bed villas can be had for M$1 million - about £150k. We then passed the Mutiara hotel where David stayed when working in Penang 15 years ago. It has been acquired as an Inter-Continental, much to his disapproval, and is closed for 2 years for renovation. Rather disappointing given the build-up he gave it (best hotel I've ever stayed in) as he was hoping to take some photos for Lucy who was serenaded nightly by a Chines violinist in the ground floor restaurant where we ate.

Next to the butterfly farm which D thinks is probably amongst the best in the world but M was completely unmoved. Lots of photos of butterflies and assorted animals (not attached) and an excellent museum/shop at the end with many Asian genuine artefacts from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. We then returned by the coast road, around Georgetown to the highlight of Penang (or so the blurb says), the Kek Lok Si Buddhist temple, built in a number of different architectural styles - and still ongoing. This is approached by a very steep walk up 500 or so steps past a street market and a pond of hundreds of turtles. The final climb is assisted by a sort of ski-resort funicular built by the Italians. We took the obligatory snaps at the top, including one of Georgetown. On our return we haggled for 3 tee shirts and took the coach back to the pier.

We wandered back into town and accidentally came across little India (Lubakh Pasar) and all the preparations for Diwali (next day), a really interesting experience, but also learned that many of the Indian immigrants from yesteryear were/are also Moslem. However, that wasn't going to get in the way of what may be becoming a bit of a secular 'Christmas' for those originating in the sub-continent. On to the flash Department store for paints and arty supplies and 'Giant' (slogan - the store where Malaysians shop) for other supplies. We came back at dusk and took a night-time photo of the old clock tower and Downing Street, Penang.

Finally, a very happy birthday for Sunday 11 November for James. Have a wonderful 11th birthday son - with lots of love.