Silver Cloud Live ... June 9-19 from the Kimberley!

[jpalbny]

Saturday, June 15th. Vansittart Bay. 

 

Two landings today - the first on the Anjo Peninsula for a short hike. We were in the last group, starting at 9AM, so we had time for a few laps on the deck while we watched the preparations. Seabourne Pursuit was here with us again. 

 

 

A short ride to a wet landing. 

 

 

We didn't linger on the beach. Inland, a salt flat. Dry now, as it's neap tide time. But the ground was a little squishy.

 

 

Lots of cool rock formations. 

 

 

And many fiddler crab claws.

 

 

This is a mangrove seedling. It falls off the parent tree, fully formed, and takes root. It's called viviparous seeding. Cool stuff.

 

 

We soon found the WWII era C-53 crash site. Apparently the plane was flying from Perth to Broome, but missed Broome. The pilots realized the mistake too late, and didn't have enough fuel to get back to Broome, or to get somewhere else. So they did a belly-flop emergency landing on the salt pan, then skidded to a stop in the woods. All survived. 

 

 

 

 

The plane is relatively intact. Many parts were taken for spares.

 

 

The structure of the plane is easy to see. And aluminum is so durable. No rust.

 

 

But the materials are so thin and fragile! Where the wing came in contact with a tree, it crumpled like tissue paper. 

 

 

In the cockpit. All the instruments were reused elsewhere. 

 

 

 

The wings looked like you could just put them back together. 

 

 

 

Next we had a chance to hug the Boab tree. And to hear about the mystery of how it came to Australia. We don't actually know.

 

 

The Pied Butcherbird has a nice pleasant song. But its eating habits aren't very pleasant. 

 

 

We walked back across the salt flats and climbed the dunes back to the beach. I found this hermit crab on the path, and moved him out of harm's way.

 

 

Back at the beach. 

 

 

Red-crested plover. On her nest, right by the zodiac staging area.

 

 

Back to the ship for lunch and some AC!

 

 

 

Edited June 16 by jpalbny

[drron29]

The old DC3 doesn't look too different from 15 years ago when we were there.

 

[jpalbny]

We've been busy! It's already Monday and I'm starting to fall behind here. Anyway, back to Saturday...

 

Saturday June 15th. Afternoon visit to see rock art.

 

Once more into the zodiacs, with sun protection and water at the ready. Not a bad ride to Jar Island. It was toasty ashore though! 

 

 

The moon is in first quarter which means that the tidal variation is at its minimum. Neap tide.

 

 

A short trek to the first site. Dancing figures, some with elaborate tassels and headdresses.

 

 

 

Some kind of ceremonial headgear.

 

 

It was hard to see, but this figure appears to have polydactyly (extra fingers).

 

 

On to the second site where some of the figures are called "clothespin" style because their legs resemble a clothespin. 

 

 

A snake. Luckily that's the only one that we saw.

 

 

More human figures. 

 

 

 

Here we had some art on the ceiling of an overhanging rock. We had to lie in the dentist chair one at a time, to see it! Tristan had to explain it, in detail, to each person. Poor guy!

 

 

Two nice fish, and a crab to the right.

 

 

Now back to the beach.

 

 

And Silver Cloud. 

 

 

Trivia vas challenging today. She used visual clues which were either famous landmarks, album covers, or sports-related logos. We did badly, but still well enough for 3rd.

Edited June 17 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

Saturday June 15th. Dinner in LT.

 

We'd made this reservation before we knew we'd eat there yesterday, but we kept it anyway. MDR service had been so-so and we were happy to have this menu again.

 

 

Chris had the pesto and I had the lasagne

 

 

 

We both had the beef. Cooked as we like it, just barely!

 

 

I splurged on a tasty red.

 

 

Joanna did a fun show after dinner. She sang and told us a bit about her cruising history. Then bed time.

[turtlemichael]

The La Terrazza menu and food looks great to me. Oh, the wine too!

 

Did they tell you the age of the rock paintings ?

Edited June 17 by turtlemichael

[jpalbny]

2 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

The La Terrazza menu and food looks great to me. Oh, the wine too!

 

Did they tell you the age of the rock paintings ?

 

We've been OK with the F&B offerings, though service has been spotty at times. I do miss the more extensive pasta menu. Was looking forward to the pansotti with walnut sauce but halfway there will have to do.

 

We're at the Captain's table tonight so hopefully they will send the A team. I've had too many empty glasses this trip. Some of the waitstaff seem very good at looking around but not seeing.

 

They said that the paintings are impossible to date precisely. The people currently living there did not paint them, and therefore don't know the history of the paintings. Lots of guesses out there.

[turtlemichael]

51 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

We've been OK with the F&B offerings, though service has been spotty at times. I do miss the more extensive pasta menu. Was looking forward to the pansotti with walnut sauce but halfway there will have to do.

 

We're at the Captain's table tonight so hopefully they will send the A team. I've had too many empty glasses this trip. Some of the waitstaff seem very good at looking around but not seeing.

Unless they are drastically short of staff the poor service in the restaurants seems to be a supervision and management issue to me. Not good.

[WesW]

JP, the cloud had a huge turnover of crew on May 24 while we were in Singapore.  

 

However, now service should be seamless and timely.  Suggest speaking to Frederick the Restaurant Manager, or Rafa while dining in La Terraza.  Also, recommend letting Aditya the Head Sommelier know drink service is spotty.

 

Have enjoyed y'alls posts and snaps, safe travels home.

[highplanesdrifters]

4 hours ago, turtlemichael said:

The La Terrazza menu and food looks great to me. Oh, the wine too!

 

Did they tell you the age of the rock paintings ?

 

If I may jump in...

 

We were told last year that the cave paintings have a minimum age of at least12,000 years old, some 16,000. They are dated based on fossilized wasps nests on top of them. A painting under the nest must be at least as old as the nest.

 

[Fletcher]

We burned some OBC on a Tignanello aboard the Wind last month.  A very quaffable little number not flattered by the food.  I can also recommend the Vega Sicilia for around $180 - I always fancied tasting this legendary Spanish wine and OBC enabled me to do so. It was gorgeous though probably not worth it in real money.

[Gourmet Gal]

9 hours ago, jpalbny said:

We're at the Captain's table tonight so hopefully they will send the A team. I've had too many empty glasses this trip. Some of the waitstaff seem very good at looking around but not seeing.

 

5 hours ago, Fletcher said:

We burned some OBC on a Tignanello aboard the Wind last month

Reminds me of an incident on Spirit last month on formal night. In the MDR a couple at the next table ordered a bottle of Tignanello and it was almost 35 minutes before it showed up.  They were fuming and asking repeatedly where it was.  Meanwhile we were sitting with empty entree plates for 20 minutes and we finally got up and left actually skipping dessert which my husband never misses on a cruise.  

[RachelG]

Looks like the pasta choices are much reduced.  I bought extra sunscreen yesterday!

[drron29]

When we did our Kimberly cruise on an Australian ship one of the Expedition staff had worked with the Bradshaw foundation which is a well recognised authority on Aboriginal art. There is much more to dating than the wasp nest methods. It has been established that the people who produced the original Gwion Gwion art or Bradshaw art as it was known must have arrived between 55000-70000 years ago.

Just a couple of articles on australian rock art for those interested in the subject.

https://depositsmag.com/2017/02/14/the-bradshaw-foundation-rock-art/

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwion_Gwion_rock_paintings

 

And the best site for viewing a lot of rock art.

https://www.bradshawfoundation.com/australia/gallery/index.php

 

There is a more recent form of rock art known as Wandjina Art which has been dated as no more than 4000 years old and a totally different style to Gwion gwion.

https://japingkaaboriginalart.com/articles/wandjina/

[daddyo]

JP and Chris, I enjoy following you on all of your adventures. You two wring every waking minute out your trips!

[jpalbny]

On 6/18/2024 at 3:28 AM, Gourmet Gal said:

 

Reminds me of an incident on Spirit last month on formal night. In the MDR a couple at the next table ordered a bottle of Tignanello and it was almost 35 minutes before it showed up.  They were fuming and asking repeatedly where it was.  Meanwhile we were sitting with empty entree plates for 20 minutes and we finally got up and left actually skipping dessert which my husband never misses on a cruise.  

 

Yes, service is definitely not seamless. The number of waitstaff seems similar to the past, but they seem to spend lots of time milling about their stations, and not much time paying attention to what's going on at the tables. We didn't go hungry, but there were some waitstaff who we desperately tried to avoid...

[jpalbny]

Sunday June 16th. Hunter River region. 

 

A mercifully late start this morning, 9AM, for our zodiac exploration of the Hunter River region. Those taking the helicopter tours to the falls were starting as early as 6:25! We slept in until 7AM, and had an actual breakfast in LT, before dousing ourselves in sunscreen for the excursion.

 

 

A stinkwood tree, so named because it stinks quite badly when burned. There is a more descriptive local name for it... Still, I thought it looked beautiful against the stark rocky landscape. 

 

 

We stopped by "Ice Cream Beach" to see if the resident crocodile was there, but no luck. He's supposedly a 4-meter large male. The beach got its name because another cruise line used to stop there and set up an ice cream station for their guests. Once they discovered the crocodile, that practice obviously came to a swift halt!

 

 

Further along, "Indian Head" marks the river entrance. We didn't think that it looked much like an Indian head, but someone did at one time.

 

 

I liked this balanced rock

 

 

And we're off, hunting crocodiles!

 

 

 

We saw more colorful red rocks, and the green mangrove trees contrasted nicely. 

 

 

An apple mangrove, with countless pneumatophores protruding from the ground around it. These "snorkels" allow the roots to get oxygen when the ground is flooded. Mangroves are impressive in their adaptations to their harsh environment. 

 

 

Further along, a smaller craft from True North expeditions. They have their own helicopter! 

 

 

We turned off the river into a side branch and kept exploring. The scenery is amazing. 

 

 

Here's a giant mudskipper, partially out of the water.

 

 

And some very brightly colored fiddler crabs.

 

 

But this is who we were here to see! This big guy was keeping a close eye on us, but he didn't seem too bothered by all the people taking pictures. 

 

 

In fact, he smiled at us! We were warned not to smile back...

 

 

Not too close, and we didn't feel unsafe as he was pretty chill. We were quite toasty though, and in fact all the photo and video work with my phone caused it to overheat! Time to move again and get some breeze. 

 

 

Luckily my phone cooled down in time for another great crocodile sighting. 

 

 

Nicely posed with a backdrop of mangroves. 

 

 

This one got a little wary of us. When his head came up, we headed out.

 

 

Back to the ship for lunch!

Edited June 19 by jpalbny

[jpalbny]

A few videos from Hunter River. 

 

As we set out, there were some jumping tuna near our zodiac. 

 

 

Our first crocodile sighting was actually this little guy in the water. He was enjoying the surf.

 

 

Some little mudskippers were hopping about on the muddy riverbanks. They move very quickly! 

 

 

A fiddler crab, strutting his stuff.

 

 

All for the moment. We're in the Observation Lounge now... Wednesday morning 9AM, and sadly waiting for our dark blue tags to be called. We'll be taken to the Mangrove Hotel to kill some time before our 2:30PM flight to Perth. The adventure continues! 

[Gourmet Gal]

Time flies!

[jpalbny]

Well, disembarkation is also turning into a cluster. There is a P&O ship here next to us and they are disgorging 2000 passengers. This has commandered all.of the available busses so we're sitting here on board, waiting. 

 

It's good to still be here, except that one of our friends from Brisbane is flying in today to embark. We're hoping to see her at the hotel...if we ever get there!

[jpalbny]

Sunday June 16th. Afternoon trip to Lambarni Island for rock art.

 

There was a second set of zodiac cruises this afternoon, at high tide, for those who wanted more time on the river, or a different look at the river. We went with the second option for something different. 

 

Off we went, for a 15-minute zodiac ride at full speed. A wet landing on the beach. Then a quick few steps to a cave, where there was art on the ceiling of an overhanging rock. A nice show for two!

 

 

The Wandjina were powerful creation spirits who also controlled the weather. This was a young one who was still learning his trade.

 

 

They have eyes and a nose, but no mouth. Their voice would be too powerful, were they to speak.

 

 

On the beach, some nice rocks with an osprey nest.

 

 

We soon saw the birds, circling overhead. This one had a morsel of food for their chick. 

 

 

 

And lunch was served. 

 

 

The other parent had an even bigger meal.

 

 

 

But we left them alone for now.

 

 

There was a cave to explore, right near the beach. 

 

 

On the other side, lots of mangroves. The balls of sand are leftover from the crabs. Apparently they chew through the sand and extract any organic materials, then spit it out when they're finished. 

 

 

A whelk, clinging to a mangrove leaf. Craving salt? Or escaping predators? 

 

 

Beautiful weathered sandstone. 

 

 

Back out to the beach. 

 

 

And back home. The return journey was directly into the wind, so we zigzagged to avoid getting a soaking. So it took about 35 minutes. So pleasant out here on the water!

 

[jpalbny]

Sunday, June 16th. Evening on board. 

 

We walked the deck and enjoyed the beautiful sunset colors. The rocks were aglow, like the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Such pretty colors! Now time for recap and briefing, before dinner.

 

We went to the MDR and luckily, had an attentive waiter. The menu.

 

 

Chris started with the warm duck pancakes and I had the Singapore noodles.

 

 

 

We got a Châteauneuf-du-Pape from the wine list to go with our mains.

 

 

 

Chris had the beef tenderloin and I had the lemongrass pork. The wine went well with both.

 

 

 

Crème brûlée and banana turon for dessert.

 

 

 

We skipped disco night in favor of sleeping. Another early start tomorrow. 

[Host Jazzbeau]

On 6/16/2024 at 11:56 PM, jpalbny said:

Saturday June 15th. Dinner in LT.

...

I splurged on a tasty red.

 

 

Coincidentally I got an email flyer from a local wine store today featuring the 2020 Antinori Tignanello @ $184.99.  I'll wait and hope Endeavour has an even-better aged vintage for less!

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

 

Coincidentally I got an email flyer from a local wine store today featuring the 2020 Antinori Tignanello @ $184.99.  I'll wait and hope Endeavour has an even-better aged vintage for less!

 

Wow! The 2018 was $135 on board. Quite the bargain I guess.

[Host Jazzbeau]

22 minutes ago, jpalbny said:

 

Wow! The 2018 was $135 on board. Quite the bargain I guess.

Indeed.  Too bad I didn't find out earlier, or you could have bought more!

[jpalbny]

Monday, June 17th. Freshwater Cove and Montgomery Reef. 

 

Today we had another rock art site to visit, at Freshwater Cove. And it would be a bit of a hike, so we wanted to start early, before it got too hot. We were up by 5AM and got to see a beautiful sunrise! 

 

 

Back to our usual routine of coffee in the Panorama, then we hopped on board a zodiac at 6:30. This is how we vacation! Silver Cloud was aglow in the morning light. But it was still pretty warm, despite the early hour.

 

 

We had a wet beach landing after a very short zodiac ride, then changed into sneakers for the hike. First, we met the original owners of this land and they welcomed us with a ceremony where we all got little dabs of ochre on our faces. We also heard a few of their dreamtime stories.

 

We set off at a fair clip, climbing a slow and steady incline. Not hard going but occasional sketchy footing. A rest stop.

 

 

We continued on and the terrain got a little rougher. Some rocks to climb over, and one passage called "dessert pass" which was hard to pass through after all of the desserts we'd eaten!

 

The guide stopped to call out to his ancestors, and let them know that he was bringing guests to the cave. Then we climbed down a rocky ramp to the site.

 

There were some good pictures of humans, fish and other marine life, cyclones, and even a map of Montgomery Reef! Pictures were allowed, but we were asked not to post them to social media given that this is a living site belonging to the inhabitants. 

 

So instead, here's a nice spider who was also visiting the site!

 

 

Afterwards, a nice scramble back to the beach, with good views to be had. Just watch that footing! 

 

 

 

We could also see the High Cliffy Islands off in the distance, where we'd be going this afternoon. 

 

 

As we returned to the beach there was a smoke ceremony for us, to cleanse away any spirits that we might have picked up at the site. So we headed back to the ship, happy with the chance for a proper hike and for the original owners who shared their heritage with us.

 

 

And since it was still early, we went to LT for a proper breakfast! 

Edited June 19 by jpalbny