Brisbane Day 11 & 12 – at sea and Rabaul
Rabaul is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about 600 kilometers to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province until it was destroyed in 1994 by falling ash from a volcanic eruption in its harbor. During the eruption, ash was sent thousands of meters into the air, and the subsequent rain of ash caused 80% of the buildings in Rabaul to collapse. After the eruption the capital was moved to Kokopo, about 20 kilometers away. Rabaul is continually threatened by volcanic activity, because it is on the edge of the Rabaul caldera, a flooded caldera of a large pyroclastic shield.
From: Wikipedia
Day 11 – At Sea
I didn’t post anything about today because not much happened. We swam, drank, visited with fellow passengers and lazed about the cabin. It was a typical sea day. You’ve done the big stuff… now what? Seriously, there’s plenty to do on the ship, from shopping to lectures to games and dance lessons, but there also plenty of nothing to do as well, if that’s your choice. I finished off another novel and moved onto my last applique square. I think I might save that for the plane ride, though, as it’s going to be a long one.
By the time dinner came around, my brain was oozing from my ear (in a good way of course). I wish I remembered more about dinner, but we polished off a bottle of wine with the Dining room Captain and Maître D and I remember very little. It was a very good bottle of wine, though, and the limoncello that followed was very tasty.
Day 12 – Rabaul
As you might have guessed, I had a bit of a head this morning. We didn’t have an excursion until 9:45, so there was no real rush to get much done. We had a nice breakfast in the Main Dining Room and then wandered over to the Future Cruise Desk to start talking about our next cruise. This one will either being or end in Spain and is slated for early next year. We’ll see if any ships cooperate with us.
We headed back to the cabin to help the captain dock the ship because that’s what you do. We started to get ready for our excursion, thinking all was well. Silly, silly tourists. The authorities in Rabaul weren’t so sure they were going to let us off and they spent an hour dancing around with paperwork. Meanwhile, we could see the tour vans lined up and the local chorale group continued to sing their hearts out until they used up all their material It was hot, muggy and no one looked very happy.
Meanwhile, we sat in the Explorer’s Lounge and I so rocked the trivia contest. I got one of the twenty questions wrong, but it was weird. They were all US-based questions and there’s only a handful of us on board. I had hesitated playing before thinking it was going to be all Australian-based questions. I joined forces with a Canadian couple and we had fun.
Finally we got the thumbs up and the rush was on. They took out several groups at a time. Although I thought the Volcano excursion would have been staggered, we all went at once, all 24 vans. They broke us into four groups to keep us from overwhelming each spot and we headed out.
I will never say anything bad about Stockton roads again. In many cases, the road, which had been destroyed back in 1994 by the volcano had not been repaired yet. All their strengths and energies went into rebuilding the capital a few miles up the road, leaving much of the island as it was after the eruption.
We banged and bumped our way to the first stop – a hot springs lake and steam vents. They actually use the lake to cook food in. It was actually that hot. There were vendors there and TBG found a pareau he couldn’t resist. Then it was back on the bus for another bumpy ride. This time was to a nearby Tolai village. They had a nice set up for tourists, including many vendors, very clean restrooms (that was a surprise) and a nice shade structure for those of us not accustomed to so much sun. There was a Japanese gun there, and a Japanese tunnel, dug by POWs, that you could explore. It was too small for TBG to even get into comfortable, so he took photos instead.
Afterwards, we headed to what was left of the Rabaul airport to view a Japanese plane that had been buried in ash and then excavated. Local children came out to sing for us and of course, there were the venders. By now, my enthusiasm meter had peaked and I was running out of steam quickly. I headed back to the van and ran into another cruiser who was fairly done in. Like me, he was dealing with a cane and mobility issues (his were much worse than mine), so we sort of looked out for one another for the rest of the trip. Stanley was lovely and very funny.
Finally, we headed up the slopes of Mt. Tovanumbatir, one of eight active vents in the Rabaul Caldera to the Volcanolagical (their spelling) Observatory. From there, we could see Simpson Harbor, which had been shut down after the volcano due to floating boulders in the water. It took them nearly eight months to clear it. The devastation to this small island was pretty jaw dropping.
Thankfully, after that, it was a very short ride back to the ship and a/c. Yes, I don’t do the heat as well as I used to, that’s for certain. We had some lunch, napped showered, not necessarily in that order, and relaxed. The curfew for the ship was five p.m. and they weren’t joking. I’m not sure why some people wanted to stay ashore. We are in a warehouse district. There’s really nothing here to see or do.
Oh well, it was off to dinner and what a lovely dinner it was. I started with some pork pot stickers, followed with a lovely lamb and rice soup and then some roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. TBG had the pot stickers, followed with a chilled mango and strawberry soup, and the lobster thermador. To our delight, there were Drambuie soufflés for dessert. Princess excelled at soufflés and they didn’t disappoint. They were absolutely delicious. :D
We waddled back to the cabin and tucked ourselves in for a nice rest. Surprisingly, I didn’t dream about volcanos, but the dreams I had were pretty awful. I’m glad I don’t really remember them. Hopefully, you all rested better!
From: Wikipedia
Day 11 – At Sea
I didn’t post anything about today because not much happened. We swam, drank, visited with fellow passengers and lazed about the cabin. It was a typical sea day. You’ve done the big stuff… now what? Seriously, there’s plenty to do on the ship, from shopping to lectures to games and dance lessons, but there also plenty of nothing to do as well, if that’s your choice. I finished off another novel and moved onto my last applique square. I think I might save that for the plane ride, though, as it’s going to be a long one.
By the time dinner came around, my brain was oozing from my ear (in a good way of course). I wish I remembered more about dinner, but we polished off a bottle of wine with the Dining room Captain and Maître D and I remember very little. It was a very good bottle of wine, though, and the limoncello that followed was very tasty.
Day 12 – Rabaul
As you might have guessed, I had a bit of a head this morning. We didn’t have an excursion until 9:45, so there was no real rush to get much done. We had a nice breakfast in the Main Dining Room and then wandered over to the Future Cruise Desk to start talking about our next cruise. This one will either being or end in Spain and is slated for early next year. We’ll see if any ships cooperate with us.
We headed back to the cabin to help the captain dock the ship because that’s what you do. We started to get ready for our excursion, thinking all was well. Silly, silly tourists. The authorities in Rabaul weren’t so sure they were going to let us off and they spent an hour dancing around with paperwork. Meanwhile, we could see the tour vans lined up and the local chorale group continued to sing their hearts out until they used up all their material It was hot, muggy and no one looked very happy.
Meanwhile, we sat in the Explorer’s Lounge and I so rocked the trivia contest. I got one of the twenty questions wrong, but it was weird. They were all US-based questions and there’s only a handful of us on board. I had hesitated playing before thinking it was going to be all Australian-based questions. I joined forces with a Canadian couple and we had fun.
Finally we got the thumbs up and the rush was on. They took out several groups at a time. Although I thought the Volcano excursion would have been staggered, we all went at once, all 24 vans. They broke us into four groups to keep us from overwhelming each spot and we headed out.
I will never say anything bad about Stockton roads again. In many cases, the road, which had been destroyed back in 1994 by the volcano had not been repaired yet. All their strengths and energies went into rebuilding the capital a few miles up the road, leaving much of the island as it was after the eruption.
We banged and bumped our way to the first stop – a hot springs lake and steam vents. They actually use the lake to cook food in. It was actually that hot. There were vendors there and TBG found a pareau he couldn’t resist. Then it was back on the bus for another bumpy ride. This time was to a nearby Tolai village. They had a nice set up for tourists, including many vendors, very clean restrooms (that was a surprise) and a nice shade structure for those of us not accustomed to so much sun. There was a Japanese gun there, and a Japanese tunnel, dug by POWs, that you could explore. It was too small for TBG to even get into comfortable, so he took photos instead.
Afterwards, we headed to what was left of the Rabaul airport to view a Japanese plane that had been buried in ash and then excavated. Local children came out to sing for us and of course, there were the venders. By now, my enthusiasm meter had peaked and I was running out of steam quickly. I headed back to the van and ran into another cruiser who was fairly done in. Like me, he was dealing with a cane and mobility issues (his were much worse than mine), so we sort of looked out for one another for the rest of the trip. Stanley was lovely and very funny.
Finally, we headed up the slopes of Mt. Tovanumbatir, one of eight active vents in the Rabaul Caldera to the Volcanolagical (their spelling) Observatory. From there, we could see Simpson Harbor, which had been shut down after the volcano due to floating boulders in the water. It took them nearly eight months to clear it. The devastation to this small island was pretty jaw dropping.
Thankfully, after that, it was a very short ride back to the ship and a/c. Yes, I don’t do the heat as well as I used to, that’s for certain. We had some lunch, napped showered, not necessarily in that order, and relaxed. The curfew for the ship was five p.m. and they weren’t joking. I’m not sure why some people wanted to stay ashore. We are in a warehouse district. There’s really nothing here to see or do.
Oh well, it was off to dinner and what a lovely dinner it was. I started with some pork pot stickers, followed with a lovely lamb and rice soup and then some roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. TBG had the pot stickers, followed with a chilled mango and strawberry soup, and the lobster thermador. To our delight, there were Drambuie soufflés for dessert. Princess excelled at soufflés and they didn’t disappoint. They were absolutely delicious. :D
We waddled back to the cabin and tucked ourselves in for a nice rest. Surprisingly, I didn’t dream about volcanos, but the dreams I had were pretty awful. I’m glad I don’t really remember them. Hopefully, you all rested better!