Dharmaniṣṭhuya.
In Kannada, a Dravidic language spoken by forty-four million people in India, the relief of the downhill slope. The sensation an exhausted walker has when they come to a downward stretch of the path.
— Gómez-Jurado, Juan. White King: A Novel (Antonia Scott Book 3) (p. 241). St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
We got on the Celebrity Solstice cruise ship in Singapore. She is 17 years old, which is apparently quite old in cruise ship terms. We thought she was quite nice. We had a roomy cabin with couch and balcony. The guests tend to skew to the older and retired population. It’s primarily Aussies and Kiwis, with a splattering of other nationalities. There is obesity in all shapes and sizes, and a variety of walkers, canes, wheelchairs, and walking sticks. Many of the men wear T-shirts that humble-brag exotic places they’ve been prior to this cruise.
I don’t know if the word above is real or not, but I thought it captured our spirit rather well. Interestingly, we spent almost no time investigating the countries and cities that we’d be stopping in. We went into this cruise primarily as a mode of transportation.
I am happy to report that we have enjoyed all of our stops.
Benoa, Bali
We got to Bali on their New Year’s Day, which was lucky timing. The day before was Nyepi—the Balinese Day of Silence. It’s a major holiday for Balinese Hindus, where everything shuts down for 24 hours from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the next day. People spend the day in silence, fasting, and reflecting, and there are some serious rules: no lights, no work, no entertainment, no travel—and for some, not even talking or eating. The whole island goes quiet, and even tourists have to stay in. Apparently, the cities are completely still—like a ghost town, but in a peaceful kind of way.
We booked a private tour to Ubud because we heard it was the center of arts and culture, with spectacular rice fields. This was a bit of a disappointment. Ubud is a major tourist site, and the traffic is ridiculously snarled. Our drive took us to batik and silver shops first, so we didn’t even get time to go to the UNESCO rice fields. We did have a delicious lunch, and got to the sacred monkey forest.
It’s also customary in Bali to put a temple in one’s home. The richer you are, the more ornate the temple is, making it difficult to distinguish between actual temples and private homes.
Darwin, Australia
We realized after joining this cruise, that we’d spent almost no time planning our time in Australia. We did stop several times, and really enjoyed it. Our first top was Darwin, a city that has been wiped out by typhoons three times.
It was also extensively bombed by the Japanese during WWII. We weren’t able to make it to the Royal Flying Doctor Service Museum, even though we’d watched an Aussie TV show about it.
We did, however sign up for the “Jumping Crocodile” excursion. First stop was the Fogg Dam. There has been a lot of rain and flooding recently, but we were able to drive out on the dam. Saw Spoonbills, Stork, Plover, and Egrets.
We then proceeded to the Adelaide River for the jumping crocs. Turns out crocs have some muscles that will immediately shut off bleeding when they loose a limb. “Stumpy,” one of the crocs only had one limb left. He was nearly 70 years old. We also saw a bunch of “Whispering Kites,” that came by for a feed from the tour operators.
Port Douglas
We signed up for the “Reef Sprinter,” a boat with three 300 HP outboards. It whisked us out to one of the islands for snorkeling. Turns out, 2 years ago Port Douglas was drenched with 2 years of rain in a single week. This fresh water filled the bay and killed much of the coral. You’ll see it generally brownish (dead). It takes about 7 years to recover, and it has already started. It also is regenerating with species of coral that can handle warmer water.
With the help of the Pixel camera editing app, I was able to “fix” some of the photos, but they’re not universally great.
Airlie Beach
We didn’t have any excursions lined up for Airlie Beach, preferring to just hang out. It reminded both of us a bit of Bayfield, as it is a hub for sailboats. It’s main product is tourism, with beautiful beaches and parks.
Celebrity Solstice
Besides seeing ourselves when we’re 10 years older, we had a fine time on the ship. The seas were relatively tame, and the cruise line goes out of its way with activities. We did a class on making ceviche, a number of trivia sessions, and saw a few shows. The food was adequate, although way too much. The shows were a little to “Las Vegassy” for our taste, but one singer, Lisa, was excellent.
We also attended several lecture series: Donna the Aussie astronomer, Mike the futurist, and Molly the naturalist. I saw the Southern Cross.
I had hoped for more sunsets, but clouds got in our ways.
All in all, it was a good passage. We’ve enjoyed Australia more than we’d imagined, and think it would be fun to rent a camper van for a few months. As the Aussies like to say, “Australia is a really big country.”
Good to hear from you again!