Beautiful weather in Singapore to begin our trip. The PSA Container terminal is huge and not easy to find the Voyager amid all the shipping containers and vessels. Ship departed 4 hours late due to late arrivals. Beautiful day at sea today with an Asian buffet. There is a ceremony of Crossing the Line or equator today followed by Crepes tea time. Tonight is Captain's welcome aboard dinner and then tomorrow morning we are off to Borobudur in Indonesia, which we are excited to see.

Thanks for checking in, Susan. Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

Have a great time. Will be following your trip!

Borobudur has been on my bucket list FOREVER I just cannot seem to get there. Susan can check it all out for me.

Captain's dinner was a bonanza. So many great choices it was a tough decision. Appetizers included Caviar, Hudson Valley Foie Gras, and cheese souffle. Entrees included rack of lamb, dover sole, steamed Maine lobster tail, Peking Duck with plum sauce, and prime rib.

Formal optional included women in long gowns, cocktail dresses, slacks and blouses. Men wore dark suits with shirts and ties, sport coats and slacks, but I did not see any men in a tux, only one with a white dinner jacket. There were several couples that went casual. One gentleman had a short sleeve sportshirt and khakis and his wife had slacks and a blouse. So you really can wear most anything but jeans, shorts, t-shirts or flip flops.

Today is Sunday so it is Caviar and Champagne breakfast.If we keep it up we won't fit in our clothes by the end of the first week.

Gotta run to get ready for our 9 hour tour to Borobudur. We get back late as we are arriving late today so may not have time to post until tomorrow.

Have a great cruise! Thanks for the Sea Mail. Looking forward to more!

Yesterday was a long day. Unfortunately, there was a medical emergency and a guest had to be rushed to the hospital, which delayed all tours. We finally left at 10:15 for Borobudur. We had a police escort as the traffic is quite a challenge. We enjoyed our stop en route at an interesting coffee house where we tried local java coffee and tea as well as tapioca and tofu sweets.

After the 2.5 hour drive we arrived at Borobudur where we first had lunch. Then we all were asked to put on batik wraps before beginning the hike up to the temple. The Buddhist temple was built in the 9th century and took 100 years to build. It has 10 levels and 505 Buddhas. Unfortunately some have been stolen or beheaded. We began at the bottom and climbed up to the top. The stairs are quite steep and high. There are close to 1500 panels on the walls and the balustrades, which are quite impressive.

The site was abandoned for years and Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles rediscovered the site in 1814.It was renovated in the early 1900's and totally reconstructed from original materials from 1975 to 1982 when it became designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was quite crowded but our guide indicated that we came at the best time. The week before he said they had over 10,000 visitors per day due to school holidays and said that mid July is worse as this is the European holidays where they have even more visitors.

It threatened to rain all day but we were fortunate that it held off until we made it back to the buses to begin the trek back to Semarang. We stopped en route at a silver factory, where we saw workman hand crafting silver pieces. It poured all the way back and without the police escort it would have been much longer than the close to three hour drive.

While it was a long day, it was well worth the effort.

One more picture to share

Amazing photos, Susan. Thanks!

Yes got to go there it is on my bucket list.

Yes got to go there it is on my bucket list.

Fabulous photographs, Susan! Did the silver factory include a puppet show and an area where you could buy the puppets?

Oh WOW, Susan.

Susan, your pix are awesome! Thanks!

love the matching wraps

Diane,
Actually there were about 200 of us from the ship that all had matching wraps. We were quite a picture.

There were puppets at the silver factory but no show.

We are in Bali today where we are on an 8 hour tour. This is a port where we tender so I better run. Will try and post more later.

Two days in Bali. First day we visited the Bautan Temple which was quite interesting. Wore matching sarongs once again.





Then on to a local village for the traditional Barong Dance.




After lunch visited an interesting wood carver and last stop was the Court of Justice, which had some very ornate paintings of the local justice for crimes.

Great photos, Susan! Keep having fun and please keep reporting!

Second day in Bali we visited a very interesting village of 600 artists, wood carvers, and weavers. Then we visited a palace of one of the former Royal family.



Then on to a resort for refreshments and a traditional Balinese dance show





The ship had planned an outdoor Balinese dance performance that had to be moved to the theater due to torrential rains.

Fortunately the weather has been quite nice. The rain has held off until the evenings so we can enjoy our tours during the day. We had an early morning tour on Komodo. This is a port that you must tender and have a guided tour with a Park Ranger as it is a National Park and World Heritage site. There are 1400 villagers that live at the edge of the sea and live off fishing as they are not permitted to use anything from the National Park or farm. We saw three dragons at the watering hole



and several others when at the end of the tour very close to the beach where the tenders docks







At the conclusion of our tour we ran the gauntlet of local villagers selling wooden minatures of dragons, t shirts and some freshwater pearls. Had to bargain so my son could bring home some gifts for his coworkers.

Just returned to the ship as the rain began to fall. Fortunately, it ceased as we sailed out of the bay as the sail away was beautiful. The surroundings reminded me of the beauty of French Polynesia.

Thanks for the stories

Susan: Love your reports and photos. I just hope the weather here improves for you - it's been one of our coldest summers and we've had lots of heavy rain. Lee

Lee,
We were in Darwin yesterday and the weather was quite nice while we were ashore. Today we are at Thursday Island and the sun is shining upon us. However, we have been keeping track and it appears from here on out we are destined to hit rain. We hope that it is not too severe when we arrive on Wednesday in Cairns as we are so looking forward to the Great Barrier Reef. All along the route the guides have said what a wet year it has been so far. Thanks for thinking of us.

Thought I would mention that the tour company that handled all the Indonesia ports was good. The buses were fairly new, had good air conditioning and comfortable seats. The guides spoke fairly good English and were quite knowledgeable.

You can catch them "Live" in Cairns on this webcam....

http://www.cairnsinfo.com/webcam.php

I'll keep everything crossed for good weather.

David: No wonder I couldn't find them! They're not there until Wednesday! Silly me!

Lee,
Today we were on Thursday Island. As you know it is so small I doubt there would be a webcam. The weather was beautiful but a bit warm. Wednesday we will be in Cairns from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Love your reporting Susan, keep having fun and hoping for good weather the whole way

While Darwin is a very modern and clean city I am not sure I will be moving here anytime soon. It is home to 8 of the world's most deadliest snakes, deadly tarantula's, world's largest crocodiles, large termite hills similar to Africa, and cyclones. The city was destroyed by a cyclone and had to be totally rebuilt. Our guide indicated that the buidings are made of steel and concrete and can handle a Category 4 cyclone, which almost hit recently.

We took the ship's tour to the jumping crocodiles. It was very interesting and quite a show.





We have been enjoying the themed afternoon teas. Strawberry, cupcake, waffle and Viennese so far but I am hoping for a chocolate tea time as that is always my favorite.

Our visit to Thursday Island was brief but interesting. This is the farthest northern Australian city (hence the sign on the bar indicating it is the top Australian bar).
The joke is that the XXXX is because the locals did not know how to spell beer.





The sail away out of the islands was beautiful as has been the case most evenings. The weather has continued to remain beautiful during the day, although quite hot. It has rained a number of the evenings.

I have just checked the Cairns cam, and it is not focused on Trinity Wharf today. Every other time I have looked it has been on the wharf and the town and gave a great view of the ships.
Most unusual.

David,
Sorry you could not get a view of the Voyager. We were the only cruise ship in port. This is the port used often to access the Great Barrier Reef, which is the world’s largest reef system with over 2,900 reefs and 900 islands. We began seeing the reef after leaving Thursday Island. The ship offered an 8 ½ hour trip to the reef. It was about a 10 minute walk to the pier where the air conditioned large catamaran left for the Marine World Pontoon, which is out in the water moored adjacent to the reef. It is an hour and a half sail during which time the staff offered tours that would be available once we arrived at the pontoon. These included a complimentary glass bottom boat ride, a complimentary submersible boat ride, complimentary unguided snorkeling, guided snorkeling with a marine biologist for $35, a one tank certified dive for $60, a two tank certified dive for $90, a 5 minute helicopter ride over the reef for $79 or a 10 minute ride for $129. These included equipment, but it was recommended that you rent a full length lycra suit to avoid being bitten by a jelly fish, which can be abundant in these waters. We opted for the certified scuba. There were a number of dive sites, one right from the pontoon, although we opted for the two boat dives. While there was plenty of coral, the visibility was not great as the day was quite overcast and we saw fish but not in large schools as we had thought. We returned to the pontoon to have lunch and then enjoyed the fish feeding. After the feeding we snorkeled directly off the pontoon and saw more vibrant and a wider variety of coral as well as some larger schools of fish. We also followed a beautiful sea turtle for about 20 minutes before the weather changed and we were faced with heavy current, waves, and rain as we swam back to the pontoon. On the return there was a snack on the catamaran as we sailed back during a torrential rainstorm back to Cairns. A photographer had taken pictures of guests throughout the day which many purchased. Everyone I spoke with said this had been the highlight of the trip for them despite the intermittent storms. Sorry no pictures but we did not take a camera as we did not have anywhere to store it safely as we had thought there would be other non-Regent guests on the tour. In the end Regent controlled the entire tour and we could have taken our camera as we know it would have been safe. Upon our return we scampered back to the ship as the rain had begun once again and the Captain had asked that we be back earlier for departure.

Next stop Townsville. While the port is very industrial, the town is very quaint and the shoreside park called the Strand is very pretty. We took the tour that went to Castle Hill, which offered a great view of the town and surrounding area. Then we drove out into the countryside to the Billabong wildlife sanctuary where we saw a number of local animals.

First we visited the koalas that one could hold if they wished.



Next up was the wombat. He was very docile and let anyone sit next to him that wished and have a picture taken.



The ranger was excellent in the information he shared and anyone that wanted could have a picture taken with a crocodile, lizard, or python.
This was a three year old croc that decided he was tired of being held and decided to try and snap at me. Fortunately, the ranger jumped in and grabbed him.



We were free to wander among the kangaroos and this was a mother with a joey(baby) in the pouch and another youngster closeby.



No tour would be complete without a crocodile.





When we arrived back for dinner, Compass Rose featured Kangaroo and Barramundi as destination dishes. We enjoyed the Barramundi that is a favorite of the crocs but have not quite acquired a taste for kangaroo.

Gotta run as it is chocoholic tea today, and I cannot miss any opportunity that features chocolate.

WOW! really enjoyed the trip through your eyes Thanks so much

Just had some time to look at this thread and thank you Susan for all the reporting and great shots. This is a great itinerary and your posts bought back some great memories for Ken and me.

Susan, aren't wombats surprisingly cute??? We were treated to a baby one wrapped in a blanket to hold at a wildlife sanctuary in Hobart and I still cant get over how cute he was!
--------------
Helen

Helen,

This was my first experience seeing a wombat and I agree they are adorable. This was a baby that was rescued from its mother's pouch when the mother was killed in an accident. The sanctuary nursed the baby and now it is thriving at the sanctuary although will never be able to be released to the wild.

Last night we had crocodile fritters for dinner. It was rather fishy and I can't say it is a favorite. It has been interesting to try Australian destination dishes.

The ship has a new show called Cirque du Voyager that features 4 aerialists as well as a specialty team of Alexander and Hanna that have some very impressive and intricate routines. We really enjoyed their first show and hope there will be a second before we disembark.

Off to the Australia zoo that Steve Erwin and his wife started.

Ngaire,
Have enjoyed the ZODIAC posts too. The pictures are awesome and reminds me of the great time that we had on the Hanseatic.
Susan

Susan: You're braver than I am - I have never even heard of crocodile fritters, let alone tasted them! Hope you enjoy the Australia Zoo - it is very commercialised these days though! I was disappointed with their crocodile show. I still prefer Taronga Zoo but I'm probably biassed.

It's pouring here today - hope it improves for you.

Lee

Lee,
The sun is shining brightly. Thanks for the info on the zoo. We are supposed to stop at the most photographed pub in the world en route. We have been so lucky with the weather. Every day the forecast has predicted 60 percent chance of rain, but fortunately most of that rain has been in the evening. Unfortunately the worst day was when we we are the Great Barrier Reef off Cairns but that didn't dampen our enjoyment.
Susan