Sunburnt Suburbia

Stretching out our vacation

Our last day of vacation, back in Brisbane, continued the relaxed feel of the cruise. We had to rise at 6:15am to allow sufficient time for a large breakfast, and disembark. We were off the ship and taking the ferry up the Brisbane by 8:15am.

We got to the Queensland Museum at 9:30am to spend the morning there. This museum presented well different aspects of Queensland, including some reconstructed skeletons of dinosaurs dominating the gallery space. One gallery included a display covering the 2011 floods in Queensland - a good idea, as it shows visitors how history continues.

The museum also had a small display telling the story of three Australians who won Victoria Cross medals in WW1. I found one letter very moving.

One VC winner was Private Patrick Bugden, decorated for a series of heroic acts, one of which included rescue of a captured corporal Alex Thomson. Thomson wrote a letter describing the episode. He tells how he got separated from his unit and captured by three German soldiers. One of the young soldiers was about to execute him by pistol to the head, but an older soldier talked the young man down. Moments later Private Bugden attacked, shooting the older soldier and bayoneting the other two, to rescue Corporal Thomson. This episode shows clearly how in war 'there are no good guys'.

Our day moved onto a pleasant café lunch and a wander through GOMA to view some contemporary art - as always some works engaged and some irritated. We did some present shopping and then headed off early to the airport for our return to Melbourne. Flight delays meant this journey took over 6 hours, but we got home feeling particularly relaxed after a memorable holiday.

Cruise fantastique - day seven

Our last sea day and last cruise day passed in a similar relaxed pace to the day before. We rose late, breakfasted and strolled around the top-most deck. At 11 am we enjoyed a salsa class, learning a short routine that we might remember.

Learning to dance together pushes our relationship. We learn dance steps at different rates, and have different levels of mental stamina. Future consideration of dance lessons as an activity to perform together remains an open issue. Immediately after the salsa lessons I went off the play pool volley ball. Though a swimming pool with its own wave crossing to and fro does not make for long rallies, it does act as an equaliser of abilities and leaves plenty of opportunity for fun. After the volley ball Susan came up for a swim, and that led into a late lunch.

The ship's crew organise plenty of activities while the ship is at sea, with the action of the ship turning shore-based sports like volley ball, table tennis and putting into games of random fun. 

Our afternoon passed with a siesta and quiet reading in our cabin. We had to pack our bags early and that consumed some more afternoon. A final promenade and our final dinner led into one of the musical highlights of the tour.

Each of the musical acts performed in one long concert, mixing up artists across the different bands and groups. This led to some excellent performances - I particularly liked Junie and Junes performing with Hit Machine - the two women and two men singers achieved marvellous harmonies together. That was an act we could have listened to all evening.

I found out that on some occasions, my voice can carry to cause me some slight embarrassment. I was pointing out to Susan a woman passenger, an attractive blonde in her mid twenties, and wondered whether she realised that her appearance was clichéd and TV synthetic. Susan noticed that she heard me.

Cruise fantastique - day six

Thursday was the first day of our 2-day voyage back to Brisbane. The ship can actually cover the distance in about 1 ½ days, but P & O leave some slack for weather delays. Our days at sea go at a slow pace. We sleep in to late, and by the time we have breakfasted and taken a stroll around deck 14, we have reached mid-morning.

Today we went to the library for some quiet so Susan could finish her German homework, and I sorted out photos. We then took in a swim before lunch, and had a late lunch in the Promenade Restaurant. The staff here always sat couples and singles at bigger tables with strangers, encouraging them to mix with other passengers.

We then had an afternoon rest, reading and listen to our audio book. At 4pm I went to the whiskey tasting. I learnt a bit more about Scotch whiskeys, and got a guided taste tour of 4 whiskeys I had drunk before. By this time we had to prepare for the cocktail evening and our special dinner.

At about 7 pm we went to listen to Junie and the Junes in one of the bars. These were two talented young women performing covers from the last 60 years. They sang harmonies well, and chose songs that suited their voices and acoustic guitars.

Next we watched the Motown Tribute show, which the 10-person show troupe performed for almost an hour. They did a great job too, and put us in a good mood for our special dinner in the 'Salt Grill by Luke Mangan.'

There were three levels of eatery on the ship. The buffet café we only frequented for breakfast, as it's atmosphere was too industrial for our comfort. The main restaurant was silver service at all times of the day, which we got used to for our evening meal. It provided excellent food, sometimes memorable food, every evening we ate there. The Salt Grill by Luke Mangan required an extra $40 per person, but the food quality went up to top notch. The flavours and style of this restaurant was the best we have experienced.

Cruise fantastique - day five

After Lifou the Pacific Dawn sailed overnight to Port Vila, Vanuatu. We docked at about 9 am, and our relaxed start took us on shore about about 10 am.

All the town's taxis gathered at the dock to tout for business from passengers. As we walked out, one in a crowd of taxi drivers managed to capture our attention, and negotiated a day's hire at about 40% the rate on the schedule of rates sign. I didn't haggle. I don't like haggling with street vendors and taxi drivers in developing nations. I know their lives are harder than mine, so I don't need to drive a hard bargain. 

He took us to the Cascade Falls park. A local tribe owns the falls and surrounding land, and charge a high price for access. However they do use much of the income to maintain the park and path to the falls in excellent condition.

We had fun on the walk up to the base of the falls, with the last 100 m requiring a scramble through a series of pools stepping down from the base pool below the falls. In the tropical climate walking through the pools gave relief from the humidity. 

The final 100 m scrabble up to the base of the falls could never exist as a managed space in Australia. If falls like the Cascade Falls were easily accessible to the public in Australia, that area would be fenced off from access, as the threat of litigation to the land owners (probably a State government) would be too high.

After a snack, our driver Colwyn took us to Hideaway Island for some snorkelling around a coral reef from a beach of dead coral. Being in the Port Vila harbour the coral itself was mostly subdued colours and low in density, though some brightly coloured stands did exist. The fish though exceeded Lifou in diversity, and possibly in number. We were getting to recognise some of the more common species, and had time to get an inkling of their behaviour.

Our day tour of Port Vila finished with a walk around the town centre. Though the town centre of Port Vila is much smaller than Noumea, it is much more vibrant. The place feels like things are on the go. In contrast, Noumea feels like France sucks the blood out of the place. The holiday resort feel lingers around the town, as two island resorts sit visible from the main market. 

The locals do have concerns about the level of Chinese investment in the country, but I suspect that the Ni-Vanuatu people also do not have the attitudes necessary for an efficient commercial culture. That though appears on the change with the younger generation.

The ship left Port Vila in the late afternoon, providing a wonderful experience of watching a tropical paradise receed from a comfortable deck lounge with tropical drink in hand. 

This evening's dress theme was, surprise surprise, island costume. Susan had bought a floral headband to go with her Zhosa dress, and looked lovely. However the sunset looked lovely too. 

Cruise fantastique - day four

Day four of our cruise had a relaxed start while the ship anchored offshore from the village of Easo, on Lifou island. Lifou is one of the Loyalty Islands, part of New Caledonia but geographically separate from the main island. The crew ran a shuttle service of ship's tenders to ferry passengers onto the jetty 800m southwest of Easo - a little adventure in itself.

For those on foot, Lifou offered a beach with white sand and palm trees, a tiny market of locally produced souvenirs, a walk to the chapel on the point, and a coral-filled bay good for snorkelling.

We walked up to the point for some wonderful views over the bay and a few photos.

We then walked down to the snorkelling bay and enjoyed an amazing diversity on fish among the coral. The coral itself was mostly brown, though there was the occasional bright blue stand. The number and diversity of fish provided real delight. I really didn't expect such splendour of fish.

We swam for a while and then rested for a snack. We returned to the ship in mid-afternoon, and enjoyed our late afternoon wandering the ship listening to different live acts.

The quality of the live acts onboard also exceeded our expectations. Each group of performers had a specific niche and filled it well. They all performed covers, or pleasant jazz, which is what people want on a ship. I enjoyed listening to all the acts, giving each about ½ an hour before some other activity attracted.

This evening had a pirate dress theme, so lots of passengers joined in and the ship's show troupe presented a pirate pantomime. The show troupe too were great.

Cruise fantastique - day three

Today's cruising again packed the day full of indolence, well at least the morning. We passed the morning on the Lido deck reading and listening to audio books. That deck gets crowded, and so seats in the shade were rare. These seats increased in value once the rain started.

At 12:15pm we did a basic Salsa lesson and has some fun with that. The ship docked at Noumea on time at 3pm. The clichéd welcome of Melanesian dancers turned up - all a bit embarrassing I think. However the scene inside the docking terminal was chaotic, reminding me of the dockside scenes in old movies.

Noumea has about the same population as Geelong, but looks particularly run down. The city centre contains only a collection of cheap, rough buildings. Outside the town hall there was a Kannak independence gathering. Given that it looks like New Caledonia suffers from poor government, and a lack of investment, that an independence movement exists should not come as a surprise.

We resisted the many over priced tours on offer, got a free map and started walking towards the beaches. We wanted to view the museums, but the ship arrived too late for that. Our walk did leave an impression. Noumea reminded me more of Auckland than any Australian city, but with many more apartments and a more frayed at the edges.

After about 2 hours walking we got to Anse Vata, a recommended beach, by which time the wind had risen to an uncomfortable speed, the clouds closed in and rain hinted. As night fell we caught the public bus back to the centre of the city, did some supermarket shopping for snacks, and returned to the ship.

We were surprised at how expensive goods were in Noumea. A bar of chocolate that in an Australian supermarket sells for AU$4, in a supermarket in Noumea sold for AU$8. I saw a pizza billboard ad quoting equivalent of AU$26 for a single medium pizza. However one lesson learnt about the currency exchange business was that P&O provided the best exchange rates, not the Noumea banks.

Cruise fantastique - day two

After an uncertain start, our first full cruising day finished with a series of highlights. After trying the café on deck 12 for lunch, Susan went off to the art auction for a couple of hours while I did blog entries and sorted photos. Upon her return we had a swim and then got dressed up for the first of two 'special occasion' nights. At 7 pm we went to one of the bars to hear the piano band, and after another good dinner in the restaurant we went to the dance show.

The quality of the dance show exceeded my expectations. The show went for about 40 minutes, and was a collation of many different dance styles. Given that the dancers had trained in contemporary jazz and ballet, they handled some of the more exotic styles well.

We finished the evening watching the circus performers do aerial acts on hoop, trapeze, and with silks and nets. The two women from Columbia and Spain looked good, but the two men from Australia generated an uncomfortable feeling from their performance.

At present I have mixed thinking about cruise ships. It appears P & O have carefully manipulated many things to tempt you into spending as much money as possible. For example making it impossible to obtain information about the port stops pushes me towards the expensive shore excursions. However that said, the ship has plenty of space so we can always find somewhere comfortable to sit outside our cabin. The ship also offers lots of activities that have no cost, so there is no reason to get bored.

Cruise fantastique - day one

Today we took the City Cat ferry to the cruise wharf. I enjoyed the leisurely travel down river, and it gave us a great first look at our ship. We boarded the Pacific Dawn and our cruise got off to a good start. I think that we will have a challenge connecting to people, as 2500 crew and passengers make the ship a floating town.

The facilities on the ship are impressive and comfortable. Our cabin feels a good size, and the ship has plenty of locations to relax. However the cost of all the drinks will add up over the cruise. Like the Insight bus tour, if not worse, the ship provides a thousand opportunities to spend more money. Resisting them provides a prick that undermines the pleasure.

Still even our first evening aboard gives experiences that dance into the memory. Crusing past the Moreton sand island and watching the sun set over the Glasshouse Mountains both flitter in. 

Brisbane sight seeing

Looking for another contract gives Susan and I an opportunity to take a holiday, so last Saturday we booked a 7-day cruise leaving from Brisbane. We flew up early so we could pass some time in Brisbane. 

Our day's touring around Brisbane passed well. After crossing the river on the new footbridge that brings to mind a mass of square-rigged sailing ships, we walked to GOMA. Leisurely consumption of one exhibition, that of Yayoi Kusama, lifted our souls. 

Her creative power and discipline led me to the understanding that great art comprises 5% inspiration and 95% perseverance. For all her artistic life she had limited herself to a few stylistic forms and mediums, and then pushed them until she created her own voice. I particularly enjoyed Dots Obsession. To me there was little meaning, but I wondered at the imaginative discipline. 

The end of her exhibition had a public participation installation - the Obliteration Room - in which people were invited to stick multi-coloured dots over the completely white room. To achieve this, we were given a sheet of sticky dots in assorted colours. With so many coloured dots over everything, the room had started to become a complete hallucination of formless colour. 

Susan had a wonderful thinking outside the circle moment. She reclaimed the white, angular space by collecting all the sticky sheets left over to make a square on the wall. Though the underlying colours peeked through, her square made an impact. 

For lunch we enjoyed the GOMA café, a simple, elegant place providing good food. To sate Susan's nostalgia, we walked down to the man-made lagoons on South Bank through a great city park. In 2002 we had a great day at the lagoons with the Stratford family, and Susan wanted to see the place again. We finished our afternoon in the Queensland Art Gallery, looking at pictures and enjoying coffee in the company of lizards.  

We finished our evening with a swim in the apartment block pool, and went back to our apartment pleased with an excellent day's sightseeing. Our vacation skills have improved markedly over the years - we should do vacations more often now we are so good at them. 

Lost opportunity for some fun

Today Callum told about how his house mates Kaarin and Moses had found this family blog. They had done a Google search on 'callum stringer monash dancesport' looking for embarrasing information to post on his Facebook page. Google put a family blog entry on its 1st page, and so they stumbled onto a treasure trove of information they could use to tease Callum. 

Their plan was to research things from Callum's past that he had not told them, and then drop the items into conversations at appropriate moments. Each time it occurred Callum would be a bit surprised, not sure whether he had told them about that part of his past. After a few occurrences he would be spooked. 

Moses's inability to keep a secret laid waste their plan. He mentioned the term 'sunburnt suburbia' and Callum twigged. In the following conversation, Moses and Kaarin pointed out that our family blog is boring. True - anyone but Susan and I would find our journal boring. Callum said that I am creating a family journal for our own reading. They responded 'on the internet exposed to the world', to which he responded 'nothing on the internet gets lost'. 

Pity about the lost opportunity to tease Callum though, I would have enjoyed that story had it gone out as planned.