World cruise
27 March 2018 | Currently in Tailand
Humid and hot
What an amazing cruise we are having! Learning so much from geography to Tai Chi to energy healing. Not to mention all the different cultures we are visiting and witnessing the problems of the world.
Yes, what a life style. Could get used to this. There are 1500 passengers and 600 crew. We don’t have to lift a finger other than to do our own laundry, and even that can be doled out for a small ransom. I have begun to wonder about the daily chores of shopping and cleaning, will I abhor those mundane duties once we return. We are finding that many people enjoy this kind of traveling and have completed many world tours. What comes with a gold cruising status, free laundry and WiFi.
Left Sydney, Australia, and cruised up the eastern coast of Australia to the rebuilt city of Darwin, damaged in a cyclone years ago, and totally destroyed in WW11.
The sea state has been very calm, you hardly know you are at sea. I hope we can continue to say that. And yes we can, now that we have completed the cruise and reflecting back on what a journey it was. Tours of the galley, talking with the crew members from all over the world, a dinner with the captain, bonding with our nightly dinner mates, to learning Tai Chi for two months were the major highlights of life on board. Then there were the excursions at the ports of call where we touched on the the cultures of twenty different counties from Australia to Gibraltar, passing through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea.
Our first stop was Yorkey’s Knob, Australia where we snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. Learning how difficult it is to get to, it will be a place to come back to, for we just touched upon a very small crowded Reef with not many fish and bleached coral. Darwin, Australia, the next stop, and yes named after Charles Darwin, in honor of their former shipmate when the captain of the Beagle sailed into port. Today Darwin is a thriving city with one of the fastest growing economies in Australia after 70% of the city was destroyed in 1974 by cyclone Tracy. Darwin is known worldwide for its saltwater crocodiles, the largest living reptiles which can grow to be 22 feet. Also known as Australia’s gateway to Southeast Asia, a mere 2.5 hours from Indonesia.
Ko Samui, Thailand, lies south of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. It was settled 1500 years ago by coconut farmers, which still provides a major source of income today along with tourism.