Loves' 2023 World Cruise

  February 21 and 22, 2023 Our ship made a stop in the Bay at Airlie Beach, a small town in the northern part of Australia.    Airlie Beach harbor is the launch point for resorts on the Whitsunday Islands.   We took a bus tour about 25 miles to another small town that didn’t have much going for it other than sugar refineries.   Sugar cane is a huge economic driver for the region and we saw fields about as far as one can see of early growth sugar cane (they harvested last in November).   Vera saw a wallaby in a field as our bus sped by…the only other highlight of our visit to Airlie Beach on a rainy day.   Our ship had anchored offshore, so the return trip in the tender during a little squall was pretty choppy.    We sailed overnight to Cairns and docked there in the morning. Cairns is regarded as the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef which stretches northward about 1400 miles.   It is the largest continuous coral reef system on Earth.   We learned that the reef has lost about 50% of it

  February 19, 2023 Our ship anchored in the beautiful bay of Mooloolaba (have fun saying that) and we tendered to shore.   We admired the beautiful beaches but are past enjoying time in the sun and surf. So, we took a bus to Montville, a quaint town in the mountains that is designed to extract money from tourists who want to escape the coastal heat. The drive was beautiful though lush, green mountains. The cute small town has lots of shops and cafes.   Our only purchase was a coffee for Rich…Vera, taking a sip, said “that’ll make your knees black!” (an expression from her Dad).   They love their dark, dark roast.   On our way back to the ship we stopped at the Cloud winery and sampled their wares.  We liked the Shiraz, so we bought a bottle (to help the local economy--smile).   Mooloolaba where our ship is anchored, is just north of Brisbane, capital of the State of Queensland and in what the Aussies call the Sunshine Coast. It reminded us of Florida coast towns with its expensive hom

  February 16, 17 2023 Sydney, capital of the Australian state of New South Wales, is a most impressive city.     It has a population of about 5.2 million people and, because of the all the waterways and parks encompasses a huge area.   Greater Sydney extends more than 40 miles westward from the coast.   The center city skyline is most impressive with many modern glass, steel and concrete buildings rising above the harbor.   They also preserve buildings that are more than hundred years old so one can see many old historic buildings sandwiched between 90 story glass and steel structures.     Our first day we took a bus tour around the city and got a pretty good perspective—neighborhoods, beautiful beaches, architecture.   The second day we took a 70-mile trip to the Blue Mountains west of the downtown center.   The Blue Mountains reminded us of the mountains in Virginia along the Blue Ridge Parkway.   The highest elevation is about 3,500 feet, about the same as the Allegheny mountains.

February 15, 2023  We docked in Eden, half way between Melbourne and Sydney.    During the hundred years after 1830 Eden was one of Australia’s main whaling locations.   Whales migrating to Antartica regularly visited the bay here.   We learned that the whalers actually partnered with killer whales (orcas) to kill other whale species (humpback, sperm, blue and others).   Orcas love to chow down on the tongues and lips of other whales, real delicacies.   So the orcas in a pack would herd other whales toward shore and then the whalers would harpoon them.   After the orcas dined on tongue and lips,   the whalers would claim the blubber which was boiled down to produce whale oil, very much in demand at the time.     We visited Old Tom’s museum.   Old Tom was a huge killer whale who was well known by the whalers for many years.   Because whales' life span is about the same as humans,   orcas and whalers would get to know each another.   Whalers could distinguish the orcas by their fins

  February 13, 2023 Our ship anchored in Geelong, Victoria, the second largest city in Victoria—one of the six states of Australia.   The largest city and capital of Victoria is Melbourne, about 60 miles away.   We took a bus tour from Geelong to Melbourne.     Melbourne has a population of about 4 million people, about the same as Houston.   Whereas the population of Houston is spread over a large geographic area, the population of Melbourne is very concentrated.   It is an interesting city with a combination of old sandstone structures dating back to the mid 1800’s and modern glass and steel buildings.   They pride themselves in having a vast public transportation system.   There are electric trams/streetcars traversing all over and under the city and ridership is free!!   Also, the rail system connects with all of the suburbs around Melbourne. Our bus drove along a long beach area past a huge amusement park, then drove on streets that comprise their Grand Prix racetrack.   The race