Perusing the South Pacific

We boarded the Royal Caribbean ship, Voyager of the Seas, and headed for Vanuatu. After two days at sea, we were gradually getting to know our way around the ship, and most evenings there was a theme. On the third night it was ‘70s’, however, as we came down to the lounge, we saw ‘pirates’ everywhere (clearly not 70s), and they were having a great time doing a pub crawl.

Apparently, the 'pirates' had come from all over Australia, previously unknown to each other, intrigued by the idea of cruising on this ship. And that night was their main ‘get-together’ as pirates. One of their group sat with us for some time and chatted; turned out he was from the Gold Coast, just down the road from us at Highland Park!

Our first port of call was Mystery Island, a tiny uninhabited paradise only 15.9 hectares in size. It is known for its white sandy beaches and beautiful clear water. Many of our fellow passengers swam, snorkelled or took advantage of local massage whilst we walked, from the wharf to where we had tendered, along the foreshore and through the quirky local markets.

That night we attended Ice Odyssey, a wonderful celebration of dance and acrobatics on the ship’s very own ice-skating rink. Having just watched the ice skating at the Winter Olympics, it was lovely to see those fabulous moves and costumes live.

Our second port of call was the capital of Vanuatu, Port Vila, on the island of Efate, which we cruised into late in 2023. In January that year Vanuatu experienced a major earthquake (7.0 magnitude) which killed fourteen people, followed in March by two category four cyclones. When we cruised in our ship had docked at the wharf and we were ferried across to the city in local boats. There we saw the utter devastation of the city, much of which was still boarded up awaiting repair, or demolition

Then in November 2024 another even bigger earthquake struck (7.3 magnitude) and another fourteen people died. This time in Port Vila at least 10 buildings collapsed, including embassies, and there was a major landslide above the main wharf.

So, on this cruise we couldn’t dock, instead we anchored offshore and tendered to shore in the ship’s tender boats. Then we took a shore excursion. We were picked up in (thankfully) an air-conditioned minibus (one of many) and our driver was a local named Glen who sometimes worked in Townsville. He drove us at great speed up into the hills and dropped us off. We transferred to an open-air jeep that took us the rest of the way up the mountain on unsealed road. Years ago, we did a driving safari across the sand dunes in Abu Dhabi in a 4WD – this trip was reminiscent of that adventure, and equally as disturbing ...

Landslide above the wharf

From the minibus

One of the open-air utes in which we travelled

We finally arrived at the top where half of our group were rigged up for ziplining whilst the rest of us walked through the picturesque jungle to the Skybridge, a marvel of New Zealand engineering and design. Jim was happy to take the 120-metre-long walk across the valley, however Penny remained behind and acted as photographer for many of our fellow passengers. The views from the whole area were breathtaking, and we were able to watch the zipliners as they flew across the jungle expanse with the picturesque Pacific Ocean in the background.

The next morning we docked at Vanuatu’s second largest city, Luganville on the island of Espiritu Santo. Like the day before, the temperature was in the 30s and humidity was around 90%, but we decided to walk into town, about a kilometre. On the dock we were welcomed by a group of local musicians who sang and played 'drums' on what looked like giant sets of pan flutes. Then we walked through about 100 metres of brightly coloured market stalls before we reached the main road.

The Vanuatu earthquake of 2023 had its epicentre on this island and there were still partially collapsed buildings in the main street. We went into a hardware store and also a supermarket, impressed by the size, layout and stock in the stores, then we walked back to the ship. Along the way two police motorcycles, in front and behind a ute, passed us with lights flashing. As we reached the police station a military drill was taking place in honour of a dignitary who had just arrived… presumably in the ute.

And then it was out to sea for another two days, headed back to Brisbane. That evening we saw a fabulous show called The Australian Eagles, a tribute to The Eagles from the 70s and 80s, and the next evening it was Music in Pictures with unforgettable songs and scores from the movies over the years.

But the highlight entertainment this cruise was Brisbane impressionist Jonathan Clark who did 'accurate' impressions of famous singers like Neil Diamond, Michael Bublé, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Elvis Presley. He had us in stitches when he 'did' Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, just to name a few, along with his remarkable impressions of cassette tapes rewinding and running down. A very funny and entertaining man who once had a resident show in Las Vegas.

Jonathan Clark

The Australian Eagles

Main dining room

The Promenade down the centre of the ship

As always, the food was great, the staff were friendly and we played multiple games of Rummy Kub in the ship's library, whenever we could find a free table.

And, as always, we took along our travel mascots, Kiwis Kai and Koura. Our cabin steward, who was proficient in creating 'towel animals', provided a few more to add to the zoo... 

All in all, a great voyage to the South Pacific. We arrived home on Friday 27th, and we fly out next Tuesday to Auckland to cruise, this time, to Samoa and Fiji. Watch this space!

Navigating to North Queensland 3

We were back in Townsville for three nights. Before we left to head north, we realised we would be back in Townsville for the Wallabies-Argentina rugby union test, so we purchased tickets. Luckily, our hotel was only a ten-minute walk from Country Bank Stadium (where the Cowboys rugby league team is based) where we joined 20,000 other fans. Our seats were fantastic, offering us a wonderful view of the game, which we won!

We visited the Maritime Museum of Townsville, one of the best we've seen. The photos, videos and information about the Battle of the Coral Sea were fascinating, as were the display cases about the women of WW2. Jim, of course, was interested in the model ship gallery, and we enjoyed learning about various shipwrecks along the north Queensland coast.

Part of the Women in WW2 exhibition

Model Ship Gallery

Battle of the Coral Sea exhibition

We also called in to the Museum of Tropical Queensland, planning to spend an hour.  Instead, we spent three! The James Cameron Challenging the Deep exhibition is a comprehensive exhibit of videos and artefacts from the work of Cameron, explorer and film maker, about deep ocean science, technology and exploration. Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed... Cameron was responsible for movies like Aliens (1986), The Abyss (1989), Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009). He has fostered a passion for underwater diving since his school days and aside from his Hollywood blockbusters also produces underwater documentaries.

The regular exhibitions at the museum include a fascinating look at the journey of HMS Pandora which left the UK in 1790 to sail to the south Pacific and bring back the 'pirate' crew of the Bounty. She was unfortunately sunk on the Great Barrier Reef in 1791, and as a result Australians have been instrumental in locating the wreck and retrieving her various artefacts.

The wonderful interactive rainforest exhibition

And of course, there had to be prehistoric animals. Above is a life-sized replica of the Kronosaurus, an extinct marine reptile 9-10 metres in length, that lived in Australia during the Cretaceous 100-120 MYA. 

Great 'kids' entertainment...

On to Magnetic Island by car ferry from Townsville. We stayed at the Peppers Blue on Blue Resort in Nelly Bay where we had booked a studio hotel room. However, upon arriving we were directed to a three-bedroom apartment (bigger than our own) right on the marina, with its own plunge pool! Not bad.

Our balcony

We spent a couple of days driving around the island, walking, eating, drinking and basically relaxing, ready for our next drive. And, fortunately, Penny discovered a Vinnies Op Shop, one of few shops on the island, and was able to buy some brand-new swimmers as she had inadvertently left hers at home. The resort pool was enormous, and absolutely divine!

A curlew at our dinner table at the Arcadia Village Hotel

West Point, the western most 'village' on the island where we had a picnic lunch 

'Spot' the rock wallaby

Nelly Bay and the wharf for the ferries and car ferries

They are everywhere and are almost tame

Nelly Bay Heads

We left the beauty of Magnetic Island, took the car ferry back to Townsville and drove south to Bowen where we stayed a couple of nights and then continued on to Airlie Beach, a resort town from which passengers are ferried to the various islands including Hamilton, Daydream and Hayman.

Some of the 360-degree views from the Flagstaff Hill Lookout

On only two occasions during winter, the tide is low enough to allow people to make the 30-minute walk from the mainland to North Head Island and visit one of Queensland's oldest lighthouses.

One of two 'big mangoes' in Bowen

Beautiful 'Water Tank Art' in Bowen

Our motel's resident Peacock 

Sunset from our room's balcony

On the Esplanade at Airlie Beach where we wandered through the lovely Saturday morning markets

At the famous Airlie Beach Hotel, watching South Africa beat NZ in the rugby union, and the Penrith Panthers beat NZ Warriors in the NRL. Not a good night for NZ, and the Kiwis at the next table weren't happy...

On to Rockhampton for a couple of nights where we enjoyed dinner at the modern Rockhampton Leagues Club. Next morning we drove out to Yeppoon where, in 1980, the Iwasaki Resort was being developed on 9,000 hectares owned by a Japanese company. However, not everyone was happy about the Japanese ownership and on 29 November of that year, the incomplete resort was bombed. Forty-five years later the site remains unfinished.

However, Yeppoon is now a lovely beachside town with lots of hotels, apartments and restaurants. To the south is the picturesque Emu Park, yet another charming beachside town. We stopped in at a headland to find 'The Singing Ship', a structure that was built to commemorate Captain James Cook who, in 1770, discovered and named Keppel Bay. The nautical looking structure actually 'sings' due to the breeze passing through several metal pipes.

Mount Morgan, 38kms south-west of Rockhampton, found fame from 1882 as one of the world's most successful mines. During its 99 years in operation, the mine produced 225 tons of gold, 50 tons of silver and 360,000 tons of copper. What remains is a charming historic town with a wonderful museum.

Views from the Frank Golding Lookout

Mount Morgan's main street

Inside the Mount Morgan Museum

Interestingly, over 300 dinosaur footprints have been found in the vicinity of the mine, as well as a plesiosaur (swimming reptile) fossil, all from some 190 million years ago.

We continued south to Bundaberg where we spent a couple of nights. We enjoyed wandering through the Bundaberg Botanic Gardens which boasts over 10,000 trees and shrubs in different collections including both Chinese and Japanese Gardens. In the centre of the gardens are two enormous lakes that are home to 114 species of birds, as well as turtles, eels and water dragons.

The Australian Sugarcane Railway train being readied for school holidays - pity we couldn't go for a ride!

Beautiful wisteria gardens

Also in the gardens are the Hinkler Hall of Aviation, a museum dedicated to Bundaberg local Bert Hinkler, and his former home which was deconstructed in England, then transported to Australia and reconstructed by the Bundaberg Rotary Club.

Hinkler Hall of Aviation

We then drove out to the coast and through the seaside resorts of Bargara, Coral Cove and Elliott Heads, enjoying a lovely lunch at the Bargara Golf Club.

Tomorrow we leave Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast where we have spent a couple of days, and then finally home. By the time we reach Benowa we will have driven 5,600kms! Our journey has been wonderful; interesting, insightful, educational and filled with beauty and discovery!