Editor’s Note: Cruises that go terribly or tragically wrong are always in the news, starting with the Titanic. But what about the many, many cruises that are sheer joy? Last year retired French professor Jeffry Foster went on a world voyage. We are presenting his diary in several parts. Here’s Part 3:
World Voyage Part 3
by Jeffrey Foster
SIXTEEN
Saturday, February 17_the Whitsunday Islands (74 of them, I believe), Australia
We docked a good way from land and tenders had to take passengers to the shore. I, on the other hand, booked the excursion to The Great Barrier Reef located off the coast of northeast Australia. We boarded a catamaran which took over two hours to get to Hardy Reef. The sea was not pleasant and I was seasick ; mine was mild compared to many. I suppose this was my own fault because I did have a patch, didn’t put it on last night because I thought that I wouldn’t need it. Our departure was from Shute Harbor and we passed Hamilton Island and Hook Island to get there. I did not go snorkeling, but did go on the glass bottom boat ; the ride was far too short a time to appreciate much. The way to appreciate this area is to do the snorkeling. The crew on the catamaran were very helpful to those of us not enjoying that part of the trip. The return trip was much better because they gave us cold compresses for our neck, head and wrist as well as ice chips. The Great Barrier Reef stretches for more than 1,200 miles down the coast from North Queensland. The state capital is Brisbane which is over one thousand miles from Cairns. The state symbol is the koala… Tonight I am too tired to have to deal with dinner in the dining room, so I’ll go up to Kings Court and I shall forego the entertainment of a jazz singer or the movie »The Way ».
Sunday, February 19 Yorkeys Knob/ (Cairns), North Queensland
The ship could not dock in Cairns, so we were docked by Yorkeys Knob and had to take a tender from the ship to land. It took about 25 minutes and the sea was a bit choppy. When we landed, we boarded a bus which took us to the 7.5 km(4.7 mile)Skyrail Rainforest Cableway. We were six to a cable car and passed Barron Falls. The aerial view was beautiful with the rainforest below us. We went up to the Kuranda Village in the middle of the rainforest where we visited the butterfly sanctuary. It was lots of fun, but not always easy to take photos because the butterflies move continuously and rarely stopped. From there we took the bus back towards the ship. We stopped by a lookout area to see Cairns from above and then went by some sugar cane fields. The return trip to the ship was another experience because the waves were so high that they went over the top of the tender and poured water all over the driver who had the window above his head open. Not only that, the window in the front of the tender which opens to drop an anchor was leaking, so every time a wave came over the top of the tender, water came in. I think the rubber seal around the door was not closed properly. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The tenders that came back late afternoon had major difficulties and many got seasick. This evening I decided on the movie « P.S. I Love You. »
Monday, February 20
The coastline of Queensland is about 4,600 miles long from south of the state capital Brisbane to the tip of Cape York Peninsula. It’s strange that this country has so many different times zones; there is only a half an hour difference from Fremantle to Adelaide for example.I never realized that Australia is about the size of the United States… Today I treated myself to a massage and a haircut. Since there are so many ports of call, the lecture series seems to have been of less interest to me. They have people discussing the history of Cunard Lines and a self made millionnaire who retired at age 35. I spent some time with the needlework group today. Tonight I attended the first part of the entertainment that had the Cunard Singers and Dancers and enjoyed it. I left because seeing the juggler again was of no interest to me. So back to my room for a quiet evening.
Tuesday, February 21
After attempting laundry yesterday and this morning, I am beginning to think it is a futile effort. It didn’t matter when I went, there were people in a line, or as they say here in a queue. There was a most enjoyable classical matinee this afternoon. It featured Neil Gerogeson(piano) and Tristan Horne(cello). They performed works by Mendelssohn, Da Falla, Chopin and Schumann. I look forward to their other performances. Spent the afternoon with the needlework group working on my new project. Tonight Lorraine Brown gave a fine program of mostly jazz and some motown .
SEVENTEEN
Wednesday, February 22 : Darwin, Australia
There was some difficult navigating after leaving the Barrier Reef to get to Darwin.We had a special pilot who knows the reefs and can manipulate this ship because there wasn’t many feet between the bottom of the ship and the ocean floor is several areas and some islands were close. We moved very slowly until we passed these areas..This is the first port in which we have arrived that I have not had a morning tour. Many left the ship for their tours and it seems strange to find the ship so quiet with fewer passengers. The ship arrived at an early hour in the capital city of the Northern Territory located on the Timor Sea. The Timor Sea is a part of the Indian Ocean. Since it is close the the equator, it has a tropical climate. Australia is very fortunate because of all the minerals found here. In this area it is gold and uranium. This city has been unfortunate in its history. It was destroyed by the Japanese during WWII and then in 1974 Cyclone Tracy once again devastated the city. I took the afternoon tour and since this is the rainy season, no suprise that there was rain. So when we got to the Botanical Gardens, I just snapped a photo from the bus. We went by the Parliament which is a strange looking building and to its right is another government building. I took only one photo of the wharf area. There are locks in the marina due to the seven meter tides. It seems that no one goes swimming at these beaches because not only are there stingers(jellyfish) but crocodiles. The crocs have been known to cross roads and land in swimming pools, so people always need to look carefully before entering the pool. There are some jellyfish whose poison is deadly. Australia is a lovely country with exceptionally beautiful flora and fauna ; but it also has some of the deadliest critters. Oh well, I guess nothing is perfect. Tonight an Australian soprano named Emily Garth sang two arias (her French not good) and songs from musicals.
Thursday, February 23
This morning I attended a lecture called “Ocean Waves…from Cat’s Paw to Perfect Storm.” Dennhy Whitford is an oceanographer, meteorologist and retired US Navy Captain. He explained the various types of waves and how energy is being harnessed for power particularly in Europe. The problem is that there was too much information given too rapidly to retain much of it. The cello and piano recital was an enjoyable program dedicated to Brahms. This evening I decided to see the film « The Tree Of Life » starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn. I don’t even know why Sean Penn was in the film. At least half the audience left within the first half hour of the film. To me, the best part of the film was its music.
Friday, February 24 : Bali, Indonesia
Last evening, upon arriving in our rooms we found and « Important Travel Advisory » which basically told us the The British Foreign Office and the American Bureau of Consular Affairs all issue « travel advice » when going to Indonesia. Bali presents a special problem for me since one of my students was one of those killed when Al Quaeda bombed the night club in Bali several years ago. And honestly his memory was frequently in my thoughts today. Fortunately, we did not go anywhere near where that incident occured.
If you look at a map of Bali, it looks like it’s in the shape of a chicken that had laid an egg.
Bali is one of the smallest of Indonesia’ s 17,000 islands located between Java to the west and Lombok to the east. It is one of 33 provinces with its capital city of Denpasar. As far as religion is concerned, it differs from the rest of Indonesia. Most of Indonesia is Muslim, while the vast majority of Bali is Hindu. The people believe that there are spirits in everything, some are good, others are bad. The combination of black and white or red and white placed together have to do with black/red for the bad spirits and the white for the good spirits. People place « offerings » outside their home or business to keep out the spirits. They also bring them to the temples. I was told that Bali means offerings. These offerings are made by hand. The temples have three levels:lowest for the spirits, the middle for the people, the top for the supreme being. People generally wear some white when going to a temple. The scarf around a man’s head can be any color depending upon his job. However if he is going to a temple, it must be white and the scarf bound around his head signifies that he is keeping his thoughts together and focusing on his worship. Bali is renowned for its highly developed arts(traditional dance, sculpture and painting). The tour I took dealt with these.
The ship is too large to dock in the port of Tanah Ampoh, so we took tenders, a short ride of less than ten minutes to the shore. There were Balinese women dancing while the men performed on traditional instruments. We then boarded a bus and drove through Balinese villages, lush green tropical trees and rice paddies. I believe the guide told us that when the rice is ready to harvest, the top is orange and the rice is cut from the top,leaving the rest which is good fertilizer. We went to Kemenuh to visit the Bali Budaya wood carving studio where woods such as teak, mahogany or ebony are sculptured into statues or masks. From there we went to the Peliatan Village to view work of the local artists. There are many styles, traditional, modern, but what interested me the most was those painted on fabric. Then we lunched at Laka Léké in Ubud where they served several dishes of chicken, fish, vegetables. Their chicken curry was mild and tasty, but the best I ever had was when I taught at Colgate University and the person in charge of the retreat would invite me for a special dinner. What I found interesting was on the can of Schwepps, in the USA, one might find a kosher symbol, but here it had a special symbol for halal. It was then to Tri Pusaki Cakti Arts Foundation in the village of Batuan where young children are trained in traditional Balinese dance. A local Balinese Gamelan orchestra played while the children, first the young girls and then the young boys demonstrated various steps while their teachers corrected their positions. Finally we went to the village of Tiingan which is famour for the fabrication of Balinese instruments. Unfortunately it was a holiday so we could not watch them make the instruments. It was then back to the dock and the tender to the ship. I was exhausted, so after dinner, it was to my room to relax for the evening after a most fascinating day.
PART ONE IS HERE.
PART TWO IS HERE.
Jeff Foster is a professor emeritus who served as chair of the French Department at the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC. He has been a volunteer at the Spoleto Festival USA and has been the house manager of the Chamber Music Series for about thirty years. He loves to travel and goes to France every year.