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| Map of Australia |
Wednesday, 6 Mar 2019 – Our ship docked at
Brisbane at 8:00 AM. We had booked a
4-day overland excursion, “Magical Uluru:
Ayers Rock,” starting today.
Anja, our tour guide to the Blue Mountains a couple of days ago, had
told us that she would also be our tour guide to Uluru. After breakfast, we finished our packing and
met our tour group in Martinis Bar a little before our 9:45 AM meeting time. With our luggage in tow, one of the ship’s
Destination Services staff escorted us off the ship and through customs before
handing us over to our tour guide. Anja promised
to stay with us every step of the tour until we returned to the ship in Cairns.
Although
there were only 15 passengers in the group, plus Anja, we boarded a full-sized
bus, so we had a choice of seats. First,
we embarked on a short city tour to see Brisbane’s highlights enroute to Lone
Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Brisbane is the capital
city of the Australian state of Queensland and is the country's third largest
city. The original settlement began as a
penal colony, and during World War II, served as the South West Pacific
Headquarters for General Douglas MacArthur. It was only after the war that it gained
prominence as an important urban center.
As we traveled alongside the curving banks of the Brisbane River, Anja
pointed out sights such as the Parliament House, the Treasury Building, City
Hall, and the Old Customs House. We
rode past the South Bank Parklands and Cultural Centre. This is adjacent to the location where the
1988 World Expo was held. Today, the
center houses the State's Art Gallery, Performing Arts Complex, and a museum
and library, bearing witness to Brisbane's vibrant cultural community. As we rode through Queenlands Botanic Gardens,
Anja pointed out the many unique plants and trees that are indigenous to the
area. We made a brief stop at Mount
Coot-tha Summit Lookout, where we had excellent views of Brisbane’s skyline
below.
The highlight of our
Brisbane tour was our visit to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the world's
largest koala sanctuary, where one has the opportunity to get close to over 130
free roaming koalas. The sanctuary is
also home to kangaroos, wallabies, sheep dogs and other animals such as the
emu, Tasmanian devil, wombat, dingo and kookaburra.
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| Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary |
We first walked to an
outdoor restaurant, where we enjoyed Australian Barbeque, which in the US would
have been called grilled steaks and chicken.
Afterwards, a park ranger led the tour group on a walking tour of the
sanctuary. Since we didn’t feel up to a
long walk in the heat (especially Sally, who had not slept much the previous
night), we sat in an air-conditioned restaurant with Donna, who uses a
walker. There, we shared a table with
Flora and Phil (also from the ship), who were visiting the sanctuary on their
own. Later, we met the rest of the group
at a koala “petting” area where we took a photo with Sally holding a koala
(because Jesse didn’t want to hold it!).
After leaving the
sanctuary, we continued our city tour until we reached the W Hotel
Brisbane. Although there were three
separate registration counters in the lobby, where we stood in line, the process
was not fast! After that, we took the
elevator to our room on the 12th floor.
When we opened the door at 3:45 PM, the curtains opened automatically to
reveal a breathtaking view of the skyscrapers, river, and bridge below. The room was luxurious. As Sally immediately lay down for a nap, Jesse
played with the TV remote control. A few
minutes later, our luggage was delivered to our room.
We had prearranged for
our good friends, Gail and Jim, to meet us at the hotel at 5:00 PM. We first met them in San Francisco in 2012, a
couple of days prior to our 27-day cruise from San Francisco to Sydney. Although we did not share their dinner table
on the ship (in those days we were still doing assigned seating), we met most
afternoons for tea. Later, during our
28-day cruise around Australia in 2014, we spent an afternoon with them after
they picked us up from the Brisbane cruise port. Then in 2015, we cruised with them again from
London to New York. Of course, between
times, we have kept in touch by e-mail.
Gail and Jim arrived at
the hotel at 5:00 PM and were ushered to our room. They were really impressed with the hotel –
and with the view from our room.
Apparently, the hotel is quite new, because neither of them had ever
heard of it. We had decided it would be easiest to have
dinner at the hotel restaurant together.
The two of us were scheduled for a tour-inclusive dinner at the
restaurant at 6:30 PM, and had already discussed the possibility of Gail and
Jim joining us with Anja and the hotel staff.
Until about 6:15, we four sat in our hotel room, enjoying talking, and
then took the elevator to the restaurant on the 3rd floor.
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| Dinner with Gail & Jim |
The “Three Blue Ducks”
restaurant is very modern. A “glass
wall” had been retracted so that the restaurant was open to the outside air and
an unobstructed view of the Brisbane nightline.
Most of the group was already seated at a long table. After some discussion, Anja convinced the
head waiter that it would be fine if we sat at a table for four with our
friends, while they purchased their meals separately. Great minds must think alike, because we all
ordered the “fish of the day.” The
inclusive dinner also included a salad, side dishes, and crème Brulé for dessert. We shared the side dishes with Jim and Gail. Then, the dessert servings were so large that
we gave one of them to Gail and Jim to share!
We enjoyed conversation until 9:30 PM, when Gail and Jim decided it was
time for them to start their 1-hour drive to their night’s destination. Although Sally was asleep by 10:00 PM, Jesse
was up for another hour searching for the charger cable for his camera.
Thursday, 7 Mar 2019 – We awoke to our alarm at 3:00 AM and made it to the
lobby for our 4:15 AM meeting time.
Then we checked out of the hotel; picked up our breakfast boxes; and
boarded our bus for the Brisbane airport.
Our flights were with Virgin Australian Airlines. Anja checked us all in at the airport; then
we stood in line to check our luggage.
After going through security, we sat and waited for our 6:00 AM, 1-hour-and-10-minute
flight back to Sydney. It was only then
that we realized that we were not seated together. Sally was not very happy. However, our tour group was seated in the
same section of the plane; Jesse was
assigned to a window seat, and Sally was assigned to an aisle seat two rows behind
him. Once we boarded, Jesse noticed that
Bryan, who was traveling alone, was sitting in the middle seat next to
him. Bryan graciously agreed to exchange
seats with Sally, which made Sally very happy!
Upon arrival at Sydney,
we set our watches back one hour. While
waiting for our 4-hour flight to Ayers Rock, Sally noticed a JB Hi Fi camera
store located near the women’s restroom.
Thus, Jesse was able to purchase a new camera charger cable for $19.95
AUD, or about $15.00 USD. Again, we were
not seated together. This time, Anja
took care of rearranging our seats - which, again, made Sally happy.
Our 9:55 AM flight
departed about 10 or 15 minutes late; however, this time, we were served orange
juice and blueberry muffins. During the
flight, Sally tried napping (unsuccessfully), while Jesse tried reading some of
the “Game of Thrones” book that he brought along. When the plane landed, we had to descend
stairs from the plane to the tarmac, and were immediately attacked by
flies. As we rushed into the terminal, we
fanned the swarming flies from our faces.
One of our suitcases was the last one to be loaded on the conveyor belt,
so after attaching the hotel room tags that had been given to us, we were the
last passengers to load the tour bus (with a 16-person capacity). The only seats left were in the front next to
the driver, which turned out to be the most preferred seats. A couple of the other passengers assured us
that we would be rotating the front seats from then on!
The drive to “Longitude 131°”
(the resort where we would be staying) was about a half-hour drive. Although the driver narrated the drive, the
microphone was not working; therefore, we were the only passengers able to hear
him. Upon arrival, we were led to the
Dune House, where we were served champagne, given a brief overview of the
facilities and the schedule, and completed our registration. The Dune House included a well-stocked
self-service open bar for the guests, although the Australian Ginger Beer that
Jesse liked was not available. Then we
were individually escorted to our luxury tents.
The accommodations met all the requirements of a luxury hotel room;
however, the roof was made of canvas, which apparently classified the sleeping
place as a “tent.” The controls to
remotely open and close the window shades were easily accessed from the bed, as
well as the light controls. A large
balcony or patio could be accessed through sliding doors. From our window, we could view Ayers
Rock. The tent was stocked with
complementary snacks, soft drinks, and alcoholic beverages, as well complementary
head nets. The only thing missing was a
TV! (Poor Jesse!) Our luggage had already been delivered to our
tent.
For lunch, we returned to
the Dune House, where we sat with Ted & JoAnne from California. They are both widowed and met online 2.5
years ago; they are not married. After
lunch we returned to our tent and Sally, who was feeling sleep-deprived,
immediately lay down for a 1-hour nap, while Jesse placed the camera on charge
and did a little reading.
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| Uluru (Ayers Rock) |
After donning our head
nets, we met our tour group in the Dune House at 4:45 PM. The head nets really worked well, except
occasionally a fly might manage to get inside the net! These flies here don’t bite like some flies
and are considered to be “clean,” but are still extremely annoying. As with most species, only the females annoy
us. The females seek out humans because
they are starving for protein, which they need to make eggs. The sweat on our bodies and the moisture around
our eyes, noses, and mouths are an excellent source of the needed protein. These flies seem to especially like our eyes;
if they have the opportunity, they have been known to crawl under the eyelids!
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| Uluru Climbing Area |
Raul and Marilyn took
their turn in the front seats this time.
Michael was our driver and guide for the afternoon’s Mala Walk and
Kantju Gorge tour. He talked as he drove
us to the entrance of Uluru-Kata Tjuta
National Park. As we drove around Uluru, Michael pointed
out various details of the huge rock. Our first stop was at the entrance to the
“climbing” area. Michael pointed out the
chain handrails far up on the rock that had been installed to assist climbers. Climbing the rock has always been considered
disrespectful to the Mala people, but the climbers did it anyway. However, climbing is now highly discouraged in
accordance with the wishes of the native people and will be totally banned starting
in October, 2019. There have been 37
deaths due directly to the climb and over 100 other associated deaths due to
heart attacks, etc., which also disturb the natives.
The
original sediments that formed Uluru and its sister, Kata Tjuta, were horizontal layers of sand and gravel,
known as the “bedding planes,” which were welded together as rock over millions
of years. The rock is incredibly hard. Later, a mountain-building event, known as
Alice Springs Orogeny, created great folds in the earth that pushed down and folded
the rocks that became today’s Uluru and Kat Tjuta. The deformation flipped the sediments on
their side so the originally horizontal layers of sand and gravel, known as the
'bedding planes', are now vertical. It’s
interesting that one side of Uluru is about 50 million years older than the
other. (The Mala people have their own
beliefs about the creation of Uluru and Kata Tjuta, and consider our geological
explanation just a “story.”)
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| Uluru at Twilight |
Then our bus continued on
and parked near the entrance of the Mala Walk.
As we walked along the path, we made brief stops at several points of
interest, while Michael described the sites and their history and legends in
detail. We were allowed to take photos,
except in the “sensitive” areas where they are prohibited by the Mala
people. (Those areas looked like other
areas to us, but apparently those sites have special, ritual meanings to them.) Eventually, we reached the twilight viewing
area at Kantju Gorge. This was the
perfect location to capture the changing lights reflected over the famed rock’s
many faces, as the sun slipped below the vast desert horizon. There, the tour staff served us drinks and
canapés as Uluru revealed its glorious colors.
Amazingly, as the sun went down, the birds started to chirp and the
flies all but disappeared.
Afterwards,
we took a short walk back to our tour bus, which lucky for us, one of the tour
staff had moved closer to our current location.
On the trip back to Longitude 131°, Mark and Odene (from Los Angeles)
took their turn in the front seats, as Michael continued his talk. It was about 7:00 PM when we got back. Some of the passengers stayed in the Dune
House for dinner, but we went back to our tent to clean up a little first.
At
dinner, we sat with Raul and Marilyn.
They are originally from the Philippines, but live in the Washington,
DC, area. They both spoke very softly,
especially Marilyn, so it was very difficult (sometimes impossible) for Sally
to hear them. From them, we learned that
passengers can invite family and friends to visit them on board while the ship
is in port. Marilyn’s sister had come
aboard in Miami. (They started this
cruise before we did.) Of course, this
must all be arranged in advance, with applicable paperwork. They had also taken a Crystal Cruise above
northern Canada, which we had seen advertised.
They have been married for 48 years.
We got back to our tent at 9:30 PM and were in bed by 10:30 PM.
Friday, 8 Mar 2019 – At 5:30 AM we received a wakeup call. At breakfast in the Dune House, we sat with
Russ and Denise from California. They
met at Virginia Tech and have been married for 28 years. They both retired from the computer field and
were obviously the youngest members of our tour group.
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| Kata Tjuta |
At 6:45 AM, we met back
at the Dune House for our morning tour.
Our tour guide was Caroline.
After she boarded the driver’s seat, Jesse led the group in a chorus of
Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” Our
first stop was a photo opportunity for Kata Tjuta at sunrise to admire the
mystical red domes from afar. Sally
stayed on the bus, saving her strength, while Jesse made the short walk to the
observation platform. There was also a
camera crew visiting the site for a travel magazine.
Next, we climbed out of
our bus and began a walk through rock-walled Walpa Gorge, while Caroline shared
expert commentary detailing the region’s natural history. She told us that we would be returning on the
same route, so if anyone was unable to complete the walk, they could stop at
any time. The walk started out on a level,
sandy path, which soon became a slope on a rocky surface, with stones, large
and small, making each step potentially dangerous. We stepped carefully, watching our feet to
avoid falling or twisting an ankle. Although
we made it much of the way up that first slope, probably about halfway through
the entire walk, Jesse suggested that we stop at that point and return to the
base of the hill. There, we stopped on a
large wooden bench to rest. Mark soon
joined us; he was having trouble with an ankle.
Mark and his wife, Odene, live in Los Angeles, although Mark was born in
Montreal. After his father suffered a
bad fall in the snow, the first thing he told his wife after waking up from a
coma was “We’re moving to California.” And
they moved! Mark is a retired health
care lawyer. He and Odene have been
married for 25 years. After a few minutes,
we made our way back to level ground, while Mark waited for Odene to
return. We sat under a “roofed” area and
waited for the rest of the group. Bryan
was the first one back. Bryan is from
Ft. Meyers, Florida, and likes to hike.
After everyone had made it back, we re-boarded
the tour bus and rode to the Cultural Centre where we spent 45 minutes browsing
the informative, interactive displays that provide insight into the spiritual
and cultural meanings of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. We watched most of a short film. Although we had expected it to be about the
culture of the native people, it was specifically about meetings set up to
return control of Uluru to the natives – and not very interesting. However,
two or three souvenir shops and restaurants were found at the center. We made some small purchases. No photos were allowed of either the interior
or the exterior of the center. We then re-boarded the
bus for our 30-minute drive back to Longitude 131°, arriving at 11:30 AM. As we were leaving the bus, Jesse led the
group in another chorus of “Sweet Caroline.”
Since we had about a half
hour before lunch was to be served, the two of us decided to try out the
swimming pool. Beside the pool, towels
were provided, as well as a refrigerator with water, soft drinks, and alcoholic
beverages. Although the water was unheated
and felt very cold at first (because the outside temperature falls at night), once
we got in, it was fine. Since the pool
was kidney-shaped, swimming laps was difficult, let alone the back stroke. We both kept running into the sides! We swam for about 30 minutes, and then went
to lunch, where we sat with Anja, Ted, and Donna. Although the table was set for four, the
waiter added another chair and place setting to seat the five of us. After lunch, we returned to our tent. There, Jesse sat an alarm to make sure that
we wouldn’t be late for our evening excursion; then Sally napped for two hours,
and Jesse for one.
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| Anja's Uluru Tour Group |
At 5:45 PM, the bus took us out again to see the
famous Uluru sunset. This time, our tour
guides were Eric and Sam. (There were two
buses, but the tour guides worked together.)
We drove back to the park, and then walked to the twilight viewing area,
where we could take in the sunset over Uluru.
We were told that this was the perfect location to capture the changing
lights reflected over the famed rock’s many faces, as the sun slipped below the
vast desert horizon. This place was not
as close to the rock as on the previous evening. The tour staff served us drinks and canapés. And,
again, most people stood, but Sally had her folding stool that Jesse always
carries over his shoulder for her. Mark
complained to the staff that no seats were available; however, at that point,
nothing could be done. Anja wanted us to
take a group photo there; however, Ann and Donna, and others, had decided to
stay at the entrance under the shade, where wooden benches (with backs) were
available. So Anja asked everyone to go
back down the hill to take the group photo.
Needless to say, after the photo, we decided to join Ann and Donna in
the shade! (The site chosen to view the
sunset could have been much better!)
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| Field of Light |
Our next stop was the
“Field of Light,“ Bruce Munro’s internationally acclaimed art phenomenon. First, we were escorted to the entrance of
the field and given instructions. He
said the walk should take no more than 10 minutes. Those wishing to take a shorter walk should
only take the right turns; those wishing to take the longer walk should always
take the left turns. As we wandered through
the installation, it appeared to bloom and sway as darkness descended over
Australia’s spiritual heartland. The
solar-powered exhibition lights up the outback in a spectacular fashion, with
over 50,000 lights. The exhibition was
scheduled to close a couple of years ago, but the date keeps getting
extended. Our departure from the
installation was delayed by a few minutes, because a couple of the people from
the other tour bus got lost in the field.
Our
bus then returned us to Longitude 131° for a starlight dinner at Table 131° among
the dunes. While listening to the
mesmerizing night sounds of the desert, we feasted on four delicious courses
matched with the finest Australian wines. (However, Sally remarked that it was too dark
to see our food!) We sat at a table with
Jennie from Albuquerque, Russ & Denise, Mark & Odene, and Linda from
Seattle. During dinner, we shared some
interesting stories and jokes. After
dinner, Longitude’s resident astronomer treated us to tales of the southerly
constellations. He used a laser to point
out the various constellations. After
the presentation, we were escorted on the short walk back to our tents. A few of the guests joined Donna with her
walker on a multi-passenger golf cart that took her back to her tent. Sally complained to Jesse that more of us should
have been driven back; it was almost 10:30 PM as we walked through the darkness
beside Anja, who used the flashlight from her cell phone to light the way. Since Anja, had never seen the inside of one
of the tents, we invited her in to see ours.
She was very impressed! Anja was
staying at an alternate location, not quite as nice.
For
this last night, we had been encouraged to sleep outside under the stars. The lounge on our balcony had been made up
with a sleeping bag. There was a gas
fire going and a tray with two carafes of wine, one carafe of Bailey’s Irish Cream,
and a small container of popcorn. However,
we were too exhausted for any of that nonsense; therefore, we put out the fire,
closed the blinds, took showers, drank the Bailey’s, and went to sleep in our
comfortable, indoor, king-sized bed!
Saturday, 9 Mar 2019 – As far as we know,
Jeannie was the only one who slept outside.
Although we were sure that Bryan would since he is such an outdoorsman, he
told us he hadn’t slept outside since he stopped drinking! We had scheduled a 5:30 AM wakeup call and
made it to breakfast at 6:00 AM. We sat
at a table with Jennie and Bryan, although Bryan was soon finished and left the
table. We had the buffet breakfast again
rather than waiting for an order.
Afterwards, we went back to our tent and finished getting ready. After we had our luggage ready for pickup by
the 7:15 AM deadline, we returned to the Dune House to check out.
At 7:45 AM we left
Longitude 131° for the 10-minute drive to the airport. Anja checked us all in at the airport; then
we stood in line to check our luggage. Although
we were seated separately again, Anja had our seats changed. This time we were on Qantas Airlines. After going through security, we sat and
waited for our 9:45 AM flight to Alice Springs.
Anja had arranged transportation (disability) carts for us, Donna, and
Ann. So we were first to board the
plane. [After seeing how Sally was
dragging herself (being exhausted) back to our tent at 10:30 PM the previous
evening, Anja apparently had decided that she might need some extra help. Donna was using a walker; she definitely needed
the cart, but Sally probably not yet!]
Anyway, the flight this
time was only 30 minutes. Even at that,
the flight attendants did serve us bottled water. We were told to wait until last to leave the
plane; however, after descending the stairs from the plane, this cart had room
for only three passengers; therefore, Jesse walked to the terminal, which
turned out to be quite a long walk. Inside,
we sat near a TV and waited for about an hour for our next flight. Again, at 10:55 AM, we were the first to
board the plane. This time, the cart was
larger, so that all four of us rode to the plane, which again was quite a
distance. We sat on the very last row of
the plane with no window and next to the restroom, which was fine with us. A young woman then boarded, sitting in the
window seat. However, before we took
off, she was offered a better seat, which turned out to be in the business
class! We were supposed to be served a
meal on this flight, but the flight attendants were 20 meals short, so those in
the back of the plane got snacks and beverages.
Jesse drank a beer with his snack.
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| Meeting Our Ship in Cairns |
The flight to Cairns was
about 2 hours and 10 minutes, but we set our watches forward by 30 minutes, so that
we arrived in Cairns at 1:55 PM. After
picking up our luggage, we said our goodbyes to Anja, and boarded the bus to
the ship. Anja would be flying back to
Sydney shortly, and did not have enough time to accompany us all the way to the
ship. Jesse snapped photos as we rode
through Cairns, and the driver pointed out a few of the sights. At about 2:40 PM we re-boarded the ship, but
were told that we needed to return to the cruise terminal at 3:00 PM to process
through immigration. This gave us just
enough time to change into cooler and more comfortable clothes because it was
very hot outside. Jesse stood in line
for immigration for about 20 minutes, while Sally waited first on a ledge, and
then in a chair provided by the ship.
Afterward, Sally napped for an hour or more. By then Jesse realized that he had picked up
Jeannie’s cold!
At dinner on the ship
again, we sat with Henry and Pamela. We
had thought they were from California, near Marie and Ken, but it turns out
that they are from Vancouver. Remarkably,
they had also just returned from Ayers Rock; they had taken a private tour,
leaving the ship in Sydney and returning like we did in Cairns, although they had
spent the night in Cairns. We compared
cost, and theirs was a little less, but not by much. They had to purchase all of their own meals,
which turned out to be quite expensive. Being
too tired for dancing, we retired for the night at 10:35 PM.
