Forgap & Rumor, Singapore-Sydney, Feb. 2-20, 2018--LIVE!

[forgap]

We left Komodo at about 1:30 for a beautiful sail away through the lush green volcanic islands while dining in a very civilized manner in Compass Rose. At this point, I am so stuffed that I can honestly say that most of the dining options are not that appealing. All I want is a salad from room service, my bathrobe, and a movie. Now to convince my husband!

 

If you do this trip to Komodo, make sure you bring cash with you. Obviously the guides depend on tips but there is also a market set up with T-shirts, trinkets, and carved dragons to buy. The community is very small and there is no industry other than tourism. The villagers can’t even hunt on the land or fish in the bay because of the island’s protected status. Our guide wanted to take us snorkeling but we felt our time was too tight.

 

We had a glorious (to swipe Ray Solitaire’s favorite word!) sunset on the veranda on the back of the ship. I’m not sure why more people haven’t found it. Temperatures were in the 70’s with a gentle breeze and calm waters.

 

 

 

 

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[Mr Rumor]

Linda, Jennifer, Jackie and Rachel, I'm glad you enjoyed the Bagus post. As a former crew member myself, I have seen up close the dedication of the crew and the sacrifices they make to work at sea thousands of miles away from their loved ones. So my occasional crew member post is my little way of honoring those who go above and beyond, even in the face of their own struggles at times, to make our cruise experiences so memorable.

 

Thanks Peggy and Got2Cruise for your nice comments about our words and pics. I guess you can tell that Jennifer and I are having big fun being your live bloggers. Tina, also glad to have you following along.

 

I'm beginning this post on the Pool Deck as we start the third of seven sea days (we'll have two more after Darwin tomorrow). Hard to believe we're almost at the halfway point of our 18-night cruise. It has been a wonderful cruise thus far, as our reports attest!

 

It's a good moment to dispense several Random Notes.

 

As I listened to the five-member Regent Signature Orchestra back the guest harmonica duo Adrian and Evelyn in their second performance in the Constellation Theater last night, I was dazzled. The band is superb! Saxophonist Sasha Goncharov's solo on "Wonderful World" was especially stunning. Sasha, from Ukraine, will be headlining his own show later in the cruise and CD Ray predicts "he'll storm the theater!" The other members of the orchestra are musical director Alexis Soto Jr. (bass, USA), James Franklin Caltrider (drums, United States), Aliaksei Kazak (piano, Belarus) and Yauheni Ryshkevich (guitar, Belarus).

 

I found another fish dish that compares in my opinion with Regent's superb Miso Glazed Bass: Sette Mari's Merluzzo in Crostata Con Caponata Alla Siciliana--Sicilian Style crusted Cod with Caponata. It was a gorgeous hunk of moist snow-white cod, very mild to the taste and smartly accompanied by the tangy caponata. I think I could eat it every night for a week, but I can only eat it twice in a row at Settle Mari due to the restaurant's menu rotation every third day.

 

Getting online is such a pleasure compared to the bad old days (read: as recently as a couple of years ago) thanks to the much higher bandwidth and the redesign of the ship's sign-on. Because I bookmark the sign-on page and have saved my e-mail and password I can be online in several clicks, and in as little as 13 seconds (I timed myself).

 

Good bets for today include the Hugh Neighbour enrichment lecture "Intro to Oz for non-Aussies, with Darwin and the N. Territory," the Italian Buffet Lunch and the Beatles Dance Party at 9:30 in Horizon Lounge.

 

Now it's off to the Horizon Lounge for a face to face immigration inspection with the two Australia immigration officials who boarded in Bali. Not a bad gig for them!

 

Rich

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Edited February 10, 2018 by Mr Rumor

[forgap]

PS to Rich’s post....he gave me a very good tapa talk tip when uploading pictures. Look for the WiFi relay boxes on the ceiling in the halls and public spaces and get close with your device. For me, 50% of the time I can upload pictures while sitting in bed. When I get an error code, I just move to the door of our cabin (713) and pictures upload very easily.

 

Also, if the internet is non responsive, just log out and log back in and that takes care of the problem. As Rich said, the internet is not as speedy as at home, but fast enough considering we are in the middle of the ocean!

[rallydave]

Another trick to improve the internet I learned a few years ago is to put something like a trash can in the doorway to keep the door ajar any reception improves greatly.

 

Remember your suite is enclosed in metal which makes it difficult for the signal to get into your suite.

 

 

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[Mr Rumor]

Former U.S. diplomat/navy officer Hugh Neighbour draws a good crowd for his talks for a good reason: He’s good!

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

Laughing at the Vegemite. Think that you should try it - once:evilsmile:. You probably know that England has their own version of this odd product. Did either of you buy a carved dragon? We thought that the children selling them were so cute that we bought two.

 

As mentioned previously, it is good hear that internet connectivity is better on the Voyager than it was years ago when you had to move around the ship to get a good signal. We had excellent connectivity in our suite on the Mariner in the Amazon. I'll obviously be taking advantage of the internet next month when we are onboard. There are always places in the world where the signal is more challenging than in other places and you likely are in one of them.

 

What are your plans for Darwin? Assume that no one is doing the zoo because it sounds rather boring (it definitely isn't - if you are into interacting with animals as we are).

 

Enjoy your sea days!

[forgap]

TC2- our jumping crocodile excursion was cancelled due to high water and the weather will probably be rainy tomorrow in Darwin. We signed up for territory wildlife park....is this better or worse than the Crocodylus Park?

[Travelcat2]

TC2- our jumping crocodile excursion was cancelled due to high water and the weather will probably be rainy tomorrow in Darwin. We signed up for territory wildlife park....is this better or worse than the Crocodylus Park?

 

You guys are so fortunate to have cooler weather. Not familiar with Crocodylus Park but, IMO, almost anywhere that you go and can see indigenous animals is wonderful. Looking forward to photos and commentary!

[Gilly]

< Laughing at the Vegemite. Think that you should try it - once . You probably know that England has their own version of this odd product. >

 

If you do try Vegemite (or Marmite when in the UK) don't slather it on like you might do with jam or marmalade, but smear the thinnest layer on a slice of buttered toast or similar. It's rather strong in flavour and too much at once could put you off for life. It's a rich, savoury spread and many of us were brought up on "boiled egg and marmite soldiers" for tea - a good antidote to all the sweet flavours which are so commonplace in children's food these days. It's also good as a thin layer when making cheese on toast ;p

 

Darwin proved rather easily explorable using the local buses, which (when we were there at least) had helpful drivers who were able to assist us in getting to Nightcliffe Market - good fun and an antidote to being herded for once ;)

[flossie009]

forgap & rumor, Thank you so much for the excellent blog and stunning photos. It brings back great memories of a similar itinerary that we took on Regent Voyager over the festive season of 2016/2017.

We went to the Territory Wildlife Park in Darwin. It is good zoo but unfortunately the day we visited we had continuous torrential rain - warm rain but still put a real dampener on the excursion :(

 

On the subject of Vegemite/Marmite, we love this salty spread (perhaps because it is a by-product of the brewing industry). as Gilly says, it needs to be used sparingly. This article may be of interest.

As Marmite has such a strong taste it tends to split individuals into those who love marmite and those who hate marmite. The term has therefore been extended to describe people whose personalities and public pronouncements are divisive i.e. he/she is like Marmite.

[forgap]

Thank you, Flossie. As rain is expected tomorrow, we have gone back and forth as to whether to turn in our tickets or not. I think we’ll wait til the morning but at this point taking the shuttle to town is sounding better and better.

[forgap]

Wonderful 6pm performance by the Australian Mimosa Duo playing jazz classics backed by the fabulous Regent band.

Now off to the Beatles dance party!

 

 

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[Mr Rumor]

It was Fab Four an hour aboard the Voyager tonight!

 

We can work it out on the dance floor. . .

 

I saw them dancing there! (It’s Jennifer and Georges!)

 

Ginny twists and shouts—with a little help from her friends!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[RachelG]

Good news that the WiFi connectivity has improved. We are in 711, so close to where forgap is now. I have in the past spent many hours sitting in the halls of ships trying to get work done online. Being able to sit and do it in my cabin is always a treat.

[Mr Rumor]

A cruising first for us last night:

 

 

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[forgap]

We are approaching Darwin, Australia, our 7th continent! We decided to skip the excursion to the territory wildlife park and take the shuttle to town instead. We’ll take in the museum, shop, and hope we don’t get wet as rain is predicted. So far, it’s cloudy with patches of blue.

 

 

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[Mr Rumor]

G’day, Darwin!

 

 

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[labonnevie]

"If you do this trip to Komodo, make sure you bring cash with you."

 

Enjoying your posts as we will be in Komodo and Bali soon on the RSSC Navigator.

For Komodo, what currency do you need?

Also was there any opportunity to snorkle at Pink Beach?

Thanks again for your posts!

[Travelcat2]

"If you do this trip to Komodo, make sure you bring cash with you."

 

Enjoying your posts as we will be in Komodo and Bali soon on the RSSC Navigator.

For Komodo, what currency do you need?

Also was there any opportunity to snorkle at Pink Beach?

Thanks again for your posts!

 

Although this may not be the same in every stall, the children selling the carved dragons wanted dollars (U.S.). I can't imagine that there would be snorkeling at Pink Beach. If there was, it would likely be a Regent excursion (but I could be wrong - we were there four years ago).

[forgap]

"If you do this trip to Komodo, make sure you bring cash with you."

 

Enjoying your posts as we will be in Komodo and Bali soon on the RSSC Navigator.

For Komodo, what currency do you need?

Also was there any opportunity to snorkle at Pink Beach?

Thanks again for your posts!

All the stands took dollars and made change in dollars. Our naturalist guide wanted to take us snorkeling. He said we had plenty of time but I didn’t want to risk it. Regent only tours the dragons so you would have to make private arrangements.

[forgap]

Our day in Darwin remained mostly overcast with some blue sky, temps in the 80’s and very high humidity. We took the shuttle to town and hopped a cab to the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory. There were several Regent busses already there doing a speed viewing of the very interesting exhibits. We are very glad we did it on our own as they had an extensive collection of Aboriginal art.

 

The art focuses on the dream world and rituals to bring rain that will replenish the natural resources. The museum had a beautiful film with interviews with the artists and some aerial footage of the landscape that was eerily like the paintings themselves.

 

Landscape:

 

Painting:

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One of the artists:

 

The museum also had a very interesting exhibit of the flora and fauna of the region, including Sweetheart, an enormous crocodile that was captured after it attacked boats and dinghies and generally terrorized the community. It was apparently easier to capture than to haul on shore!

 

 

 

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Edited February 11, 2018 by forgap

[forgap]

Sorry, a little upload glitch! This is the painting that looks like the aerial photo of the landscape.

 

And this is Sweetheart!

 

 

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[Travelcat2]

Beautiful artwork.

[Mr Rumor]

As Jennifer indicated, we really lucked out with the weather today in Darwin. Although very humid, there was nary a drop of rain and it was overcast for the entire duration of our three-hour-plus excursion, Highlights of Darwin’s Historical Past. “If the sun were out, we’d be baking!” Kathy, our spunky, chatty guide exclaimed.

 

Our first stop was at the Northern Territory Museum and Art Museum, where, in the “tjungunutja: From Having Come Together” Aboriginal art exhibit, we promptly ran into Jennifer and Georges. Jennifer did a great job reporting on this terrific exhibit. I’ll just add Ginny’s comment as she took the art in: “I’m in heaven!”

 

Then it was a short drive to the Fannie Bay Gaol Museum, where I came upon this interesting piece of hardware:

 

Any idea what its purpose was?

 

The answer: To operate the gallows’ trap door:

 

Only six people were hanged at H.M. Gaol Labour Prison during the 93 years of its existence (1883-1976). If anything, the prison had a bit of a reputation as a “loose” place where, according to Kathy, inmates were allowed to leave during the day to fish, or even run over to the pub!

 

Then it was to the George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens. The tour description only mentioned a brief photo stop, but, since we had some time to burn, Kathy treated us to a 40-minute walking tour on the condition that we wouldn’t tell anyone (oops). When we came upon this photo op, Kathy announced, “If this doesn’t say tropical Australia, I don’t know what does”:

 

On the way out of the gardens we had another chance to photograph the “python” in the huge tamarind tree:

 

It was only after someone remarked that the python hadn’t moved in 40 minutes, that Kathy confessed “that it hadn’t moved in many years because it’s not real!” Our first dose of Aussie humor!

 

Rich

 

 

 

 

 

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[Gilly]

I'm envious of the museum/gallery visit as it was closed when we were there. Thanks for sharing (more!) fine photos to tempt us back! I'm sure you made the right decision re excursion choice.