Category: Australia

Broome, a pleasant place to visit

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Wednesday, April 23, was our day to visit Broome, Western Australia. It appears to be the place where the Red Centre of Australia meets the Indian Ocean. The red soil was quite evident around the port. the Port of Broome is not cruise ship friendly. Firstly, high tides are essential to provide access to the harbour and there was less than two metres of water beneath the keel as we entered and exited. Our berth was nearly a kilometre from shore at the end of a long pier. No foot traffic was permitted along the pier and only a few busses at a time could be loaded at the berth. Tours required some time to get on their way. Ours was 30 minutes late departing. No complaints, we really had nothing else requiring urgent attention.

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Once we were on our way we saw considerable green atop the red soil. Homes along our route seemed quite modern and well treed and the vegetation was quite consistent to our first stop, the Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park. The park also had a number of birds, lizards and dingos on the property but mostly, it was a retirement home for crocodiles that acquired bad reputations in their original habitats. It was a bit hurried but we got back on schedule after initial delays and we saw all we needed during the brief visit. We returned to our rather cramped 25 passenger bus to continue our tour.

Our driver provided a bit of narration as he retraced much of our earlier journey before taking a new path to Cable Beach, so named for the communications cable to Indonesia that came ashore here. As we stepped down from the bus we first saw a grassy park overlooking the bay. The beach itself became more and more visible as we walked across the lawn. A rocky area gave way to DSCF3399 ide crescent of sand stretching around the bay to Gantheaume Point which we would later visit. The tide was lower than when we arrived at 4 AM and the water’s edge was some distance from the sun bathers.

Our third stop was along the main street in Broome where we visited a display documenting the pearling industry of Broome’s past. Pearl luggers by the hundreds frequented Broome throughout the 19th century and a considerable portion of the 20th century. When I first heard of pearling on Australia’s west coast my thoughts turned immediately to pearls of the spherical variety. However, it was the oyster’s pearly shell upon which this industry was built. It was both fascinating and saddening to hear and see how small statured Chinese were stuffed into diving suits made for much larger Europeans. It was a rugged environment that frequently took lives.

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Our fourth stop was a quick trip to Gantheaume Point which was just visible from Cable Beach. By this time the sun was hot and there was no shade. It was only a five minute walk to the rocky point. We passed a lovely residence, the light keepers I presume, and a light house tower. I would not like to be responsible to change the bulb atop the tower. There were two eagle’s nests on different levels, one of which was definitely occupied. A young eaglet could be seen sitting on the rail. It seems probably that a climb near the nest would attract momma eagle. The red soil gave way to sedimentary rock etched by wind and water. When the tide is out it is said to be possible to see dinosaur footprints in the rock, all we could see were likenesses in a concrete pad. We retreated, gratefully, to the coolness of our coach.

Our driver was in communication with coordinators at the berth and took us on a couple of short side tours while we awaited our turn to transfer back to the ship. The first was a modern housing subdivision. Most homes appeared to have metal roofs and, we were told, metal frames. We saw one with a brick exterior. Although major storms have been rare in Broome all construction must be able to withstand force 3 cyclones. From the subdivision we approached the port and detoured to a public boat launching site to wait the last few moments before our turn to get onto the pier.

Once back at the port it still took another ten minutes in the blazing sun to mount the steep gangway and get back into the comfort of the air conditioned ship.

Darwin, Northern Territory

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Today is Easter Monday and we are visiting Darwin. The weather today is hot and humid with brilliant sunshine. We have a simple tour planned today to get some appreciation of this northern city. It is very green with large trees, colourful flowers and various types of grass. It is the northernmost stop we will make. Some of the place names here reflect the early Dutch influence. 

Darwin is a city with a long history except in its physical appearance. It was bombed heavily during 1942 and utterly destroyed by an enormous tropical cyclone that hit the city twice, both coming ashore and returning. It is believed that there are only about a dozen buildings that pre-date Cyclone Tracy. All buildings are now constructed to a standard dictated by the forces in a class 5 storm. There is a lot of solar power generated here and it is the law that all homes must use solar power to generate hot water.

Ted and Dave were our hosts on the city drive. Ted was from one of the local indigenous peoples and Dave was from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. In addition to our human hosts we were greeted by an abundance of dragon flies, quite large dragon flies. None would be still for a photo sitting, sorry. We did see one medium sized python relaxing in a tree. Again, it was out of site before I could get the camera to the ready.

 

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With the temperatures in the 30°C range now the pools have become well used. The main pools are fully exposed to the tropical sun so we tend to use a third which offers two benefits. It is covered but still outside, and it is adult only, not that there are very many children on board. For Gail there is a third advantage. It is quite near the ice cream shop.

Next stop, Broome!

Return to Port Douglas

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The Dawn Princess arrived and anchored in Port Douglas’ outer harbour early on Friday morning. As with all of the east coast ports, we find that our coverage in 2007 was more extensive than any tours offered so we spent a little time ashore just walking and identifying features of the town we recalled.

Port Douglas is a small town. It is one of the more popular vacation spots for Australians and a jumping off point for fishing, visiting the Great Barrier Reef and rain forest visits. It also boasts a Four Mile beach. The crocks, sharks and box jellyfish are less advertised. The tendering chores were shared between the Dawn’s launches and a couple of larger, more comfortable catamarans from the marina. Silverseas Tours seems to have the greatest share of the marine tour market here.

We had a leisurely breakfast then boarded one of the more comfortable vessels for our short trip ashore. The marina is full of pleasure craft most of which are available for charter and a bit earlier was the boarding point for tours to the reef. Between the docks and the parking lot are an array of shops targeting tourists. There were a number of motor coaches offering tours of the area or shuttle services to the business district of Port Douglas. A few hours earlier it was the boarding point for land tours.

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Based partially on memory and a small map, we walked out of the marina heading for the town. We saw nothing really familiar during the first few minutes of our walk.  As we walked toward the city centre there was a sense of familiarity. There is essentially one main street and it is possible to walk a loop from the marina through town back to the marina in less than 45 minutes which includes window shopping. Being Good Friday, some shops were not open and signs in restaurants apologized because they could not sell alcoholic beverages unless they accompanied a meal. So, unless one had some compelling desire to sample Port Douglas fare, why bother when the ship and its restaurants were available.

The weather in Port Douglas was mostly overcast with rain early in the day. We experienced no rain while ashore but the boats making the run to the reef apparently passed through a squall line that included torrential rain and a bit of hail. I can only imagine that was the big black cloud we could see to our east. 

Sydney…Brisbane…and…

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After a night of Tasman Sea hospitality the calm of Sydney Harbour was quite welcome. Conditions did not abate as our Captain had predicted. I imagine it was more wishful thinking than scientific prediction. We did have following seas rather than the earlier swells on the forward quarter. At least the stabilizers had a fighting chance.

As expected, all 1900 of us left the ship and by 0900 the crew were busy doing what ever they mean by “sanitization.” I suspect Australian health authorities encouraged the procedure and Princess were not inclined to test them since they do have the authority to quarantine the whole ship in the event of a serious outbreak. I fully support the concept of a healthy shipboard environment but I feel a letter to Princess executive coming on. There are always a number of passengers with chronic health conditions or mobility limitations who should probably have been given better treatment. Dumping these folk off to spend 7 hours at a shopping centre is, to say the least, insensitive. The cruise line gave each of us a $20 credit suggesting it was to offset meal costs while displaced. If they really believe that the shoreside value of 7 hours of on board food service is $20 they really need to go ashore more often.

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There was a bright side for us. While visiting the Information kiosk at Darling Harbour we met another couple from the ship, Eva and Arthur. We travelled with them by ferry to Circular Quay and enjoyed their company for a walk through the Rocks and the markets then for a lunch stop. I must confess I was envious. As Australian seniors they were able to purchase a transit day pass for $2.50 whereas we had the privilege of paying $6.00 per trip or about $25.00 for a similar day pass. After lunch Eva and Arthur headed for the Maritime Museum and we for the Queen Victoria Building.  While at Circular Quay we saw this bird sitting on a chair back eating the sugar from a package. He was being photographed from every possible angle. I really doubt that he could have been frightened away.

The rain was intermittent as we walked along George Street but we were prepared with umbrella and outer wear. The Queen Victoria Building was very busy so we soon retreated to the streets. We found a shop with an adequate supply of souvenirs. So with that done we walked to the Opera House to take another look. There was much construction at the base of the Opera House stairs and once again no lack of people. I wonder how many photos are actually taken of the Opera House or of tourists with the Opera House as a background.

After departing Sydney we once again felt the Tasman Sea; not as rough as pre Sydney but still 3.5 metre seas. The further north we sailed the better the seas became and we gradually felt temperatures rise. Some blue sky was evident during the day at sea and by the time we sailed into the Brisbane River skies were bright and sunny. By the time the Dawn Princess made fast at Hamilton DSCF3182 ruise terminal in the Brisbane River we could really feel the temperatures rise. The morning weather report warned of the possibility of showers and there was some cloud to the west.

With breakfast concluded we headed for the gangway to disembark. We had been advised that an expected shuttle bus service would not be operating. For those of us visiting without the benefit of “official” tours, taxis or the River Cat ferries would be the choices. We had always planned to use Brisbane’s River Cat service. A dozen or so of these 15 or 20 metre long catamarans traverse the Brisbane river all day and night. Our shipboard cruise director announced, just before we let the ship, that we could purchase a $7.50 day pass, however, my research indicated that day passes were no longer offered. I was correct and the cruise director’s information turned out to be more than three years out of date. Shame, shame!

We enjoyed a leisurely day in Brisbane. We rode the City Cat to it’s eastern terminus at the University of Queensland then back to the city. Since our last visit here in 2007 there have been two floods on the river and the boat docks all appear new having been replaced presumably by insurance money. A walk up about 50 steps brought us from the City Cat terminal to the foot of Brisbane’s Queen Street mall, a pedestrian space covering perhaps a dozen city blocks. Shops were busy as was the mall and as lunch time was upon us we stopped for a bite to eat. 

We continued through the streets of Brisbane to the City Botanical Garden. Again we could see evidence that floods had done some damage to low lying areas near the water. The mangroves along the edge of the river seemed less dense than we remembered them and we could see where many of the trees had been cut and removed. From the garden we continued across the river using the Goodwill Pedestrian and cycle bridge to the South Bank Parklands. This is a park and recreation area that has been created along the river and appears to draw locals and visitors in large numbers. It is serviced by the City Cat which we again used to return us to Hamilton and the IMG 0811cruise terminal by mid afternoon.

Having had none of the predicted rain in Brisbane we now have a great, warm, sunny day sailing up the coast. Since we are now sailing inside the Great Barrier Reef we benefit from its protection and the sea is very quiet. Instead of waves and deep swells we see nothing but ripples to the horizon.

We have discovered one musical group on board that plays danceable music in the Wheelhouse Bar so that is where we hang out in the evening when we are not at a show or visiting some other entertainer. On this ship most of the entertainers seem to be drawn from Australia, not unexpectedly. This means we have not seen them before but it also means that at least part of their act targets Australians more than those of us from other parts of the world. The stage shows include some we have seen before but others we have not. There are also some speakers on board who appear to offer interesting subject material. We got some insights on the Great Barrier Reef from today’s speaker, a 38 year veteran of piloting ships through the reef.

There are more photos on line for Sydney and Brisbane. Internet conditions have been surprisingly good compared to those experience in some other regions. As a consequence photo uploads can be made quite quickly and reliably. I have not been doing any culling or editing yet but they should all have captions of some sort.

Our next stop will be Port Douglas on Good Friday. We expect this to be rather quiet since it is a small  town and it is a holiday.