So, January 19, 21 and 22, we cruised the Great Barrier Reef. That means sea days with commentary. I am sure the commentary is interesting, but, for me, it just means days to work between Bridge lessons and Duplicate Play. I stopped recording my dinner companions, too, which is a bit of a pity because the dinners are getting to be more and more fun, as I repeat with people I like, and some of my group, who have adopted me. The entertainment on the 19th was The Broadway Boys, only they were different Broadway boys from the ones on the Zuiderdam in 2023. HAL just puts these groups together and they are usually fun and entertaining. On the 20th, it was the Orange Party and I looked in but it didn’t really appeal. On the 21st, however, they had an entertainer I don’t want you to miss, if he comes to your ship. His name is Bradley McCaw and he’s an up and coming Aussie. He plays the piano, sings and races around the whole auditorium at top speed. Not only that, he manages to get us old farts up dancing in the aisles. Remember that name and trust me, while he warms up. It’s well worth it.
January 22nd was our DV shore excursion in Darwin. We had two buses full, one for each host. I don’t know about the other bus, but Deb, the guide on ours, was just fantastic. It’s the off season there. The locals, who have gone off on Christmas holidays, are not all back yet, and it’s the supposedly rainy season. We were lucky. It didn’t, and Deb had plenty of wonderful things to say about life in Darwin. It almost makes one want to pick up stakes and go live there. That’s until one remembers how very remote it is. Mind you, that might be a good thing.
We visited the local gardens, which featured a fascinating tree, complete with fake snake, and some bat watching. Then we went to MAGNT, the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territories, which was very well done and eye-opening. The best part of the tour, by far, was lunch at Wharf One. It started with a delicious appetizer, which I could have sworn was ceviche and turned out to be crocodile. I just googled “Crocodile Ceviche” and there is such a thing, so that’s what it was.
Then we learned all about their local fish, Barramundi, otherwise known as Asian Sea Bass, from their local fish farmer, and how to cook it, from the restaurant’s Chef. It was positively delicious. We loved it and the lunch experience, getting to know each other better. I got to know a wonderful Hungarian family with a three year-old.
Back on board, Annie Gong was on the World Stage. I had seen her before, on the 2015 and 2016 HAL world cruises. She’s pretty impressive. Her English has improved a lot, as well as her stage presence. You had to see her dancing with Gage, the Cruise Director, still playing the accordion. Thanks to modern technology, her accordion is now a one-(wo)man-band.
We had two more days at sea before Komodo Island. I gave my talk on Hong Kong on one of them, for those who would be going on, or who just might be interested. Most of the 28 guests staying on to, and past Hong Kong came, and had lots of questions. You know me. I am passionate about Hong Kong and assured them I would make myself available to help personalize their experience. Bradley McCaw was back on stage and we were back dancing in the aisles. I gave Komodo Island a miss, because I had seen the dragons twice before. It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did. It poured down relentlessly, making the tendering operation and its disembarkation at the stone stepped-pier perfectly nasty. There were a lot of wheelchairs pressed into use that day and hundreds of people soaked to the skin on the muddy paths, and in line waiting to tender back. I wrote the previous installment to this in the comfort of my cabin and saw Annie Gong again on the World Stage.
I gave Lembar, Lombok a pass, too, while I worked on my Mumbai tour for November. Cruising for me is sometimes just like home, only it moves around and feeds me effortlessly. I don’t stress when I miss a port. I’d be stressing if my work wasn’t getting done. Now that the Internet aboard is good, I just go along wth business as usual and pick and choose what I do ashore. I had big plans for Bali, where I had hired an old HAL Dining Room Steward, with a tour business, to take a few of us around and out to dinner.
We met Made Seneng, and his wife Dewi right where the ship docked in Denpasar, at the very civilized hour of 9:00am. The nine of us had just piled into Made’s van when the skies opened. It came down in buckets, soon turning the highway into a wading pool, with rivers in the monsoon ditches on either side. It was bad enough for us, but you had to pity the motorcyclists, in their poly ponchos, whizzing through six inches of water, beside us. They were getting somewhere faster than we were, but it looked like a pretty unpleasant, high-risk operation to me.
The rain slowed down long enough for us to stop at a 1000-year old temple, where we donned our sarongs and explored a bit.

Just before it started to pour again, we got back into the van and finished our trip to Ubud and the Monkey Forest. Sure enough, the rain stopped for us again and we were able to visit my relatives in peace. There were hundreds of monkeys to see up close

and this pair, intent on making more:

We had a quick lunch at a suckling pig restaurant, where they were out of the delicious skin, but managed to serve us something different and fascinating anyway. We were in a hurry because of all the time lost in traffic, and the need to get in another meal before all-aboard at 9:30pm. Some of us were more stressed than others. I trusted Made, but no one else had that experience.
Our shopping stop was curtailed, too, resulting in the purchase of a top that could only be described as a minimizer. I’ll be leaving that on board. Surely one of my stewards has a wife who can fit into it, as it does me no favors. I don’t mind. I like to support the local economy, and, traveling in carry-on, I expect to buy and leave along the way, like the threadbare nightshirt, which will stay in HK, and doubtless be cut into rags.
We had four wusses, who wanted to be dropped off at the ship for dinner, for the food, the local show onboard, and not to have to worry about the time. The seven of us, including Made and Devi, continued on to one of the times of our lives. Made took us to Jimbaran Beach, where the sun sets, and the beach is lined with restaurants, to take advantage of it. We ate at a place called the Sea Side Café at a table right on the beach, with the setting sun:

The temperature was perfect, the beer was cold, the food was outstanding, the mariachis serenaded. They were off-key and they would not shut up ‘til they were paid, but that just made it more fun. There was a huge Muslim family party at the restaurant beside us and I later heard from my room stewards that they were at one of the restaurants farther down the beach. We were truly having our fun the way the locals do. Huge thanks to Made for sharing and for serving us our food in the manner to which we have become accustomed on the ship.

We were supposed to stop in Tanjung Priok, the port for Jakarta, but relentless 65-mile-an-hour winds made it impossible and not even safe to stay in the area. The thousand Indonesian family members of the crew, waiting on shore, were disappointed, as were the crew waiting to see them. The captain was practically in tears, when he announced it, and the passengers choked up hearing the announcement. You couldn’t help it. We all get very attached to our always cheerful, hard working stewards. One of mine was lucky. His family had elected to come to Bali, but the other missed his wife, baby, parents and all. You can bet they cried, too. The ship had planned to welcome them aboard, with a party in the Lido, and all. So sad.
But we sailed on. The crew show happened the very next day, but I missed it, not to disappoint my Bridge partner and buddies. That’s a great group, too. I don’t know how my partner put up with me, but we’re still friends and hoping to cruise together again. Syan, the balloon entertainer, entertained again and I spent three nights in the piano bar with Gabe and Megan, who are terrific.

And this came in from my friend Prat Parekh. I am late in passing it on:
We would like to invite various states such as Vermont, Maine, and Massachusetts in the east or Washington, Oregon, and California in the west to join Canada and become our 11th+ province.
The benefits of joining Canada include:
• Life expectancy will go up from a world ranking of 48th (USA) to 20th (Canada).
• Education will get better from 31st (USA) to 19th (Canada).
• Math scores will improve from 34th (USA) to 9th (Canada).
• Robberies will go down from 98 per 100,000 population to 62.
• Traffic accident deaths will drop from 12.7 per 100,000 to 5.3.
• You will spend half as much on health care and get better outcomes.
• Poverty in Canada is 1/3 the rate in the USA.
• Although Canada has fewer millionaires, we more fairly distribute wealth (better income equality).
• The minimum wage in Canada is double that in USA.
• and most important you will be happier (Canada ranked 15th, USA 23rd in happiness).
• (We couldn’t find a politeness index, but thank you for reading this)