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Viking World Cruise
  • Chuck Cook
  • Glenda Cook

Viking World Cruise

We had the privilege of participating in the innaugural round-the-world cruise for Viking Ocean Cruises onboard the Viking Sun. Read more
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    Downtown Suva, FijiAlbert Park in Downtown SuvaParrot fish in the MarketSharp-looking Guard at the Royal Palace in Suva

    Fiji

    January 25, 2018 in Fiji ⋅ ⛅ 77 °F

    Today in Fiji we learned that there is archaeological evidence of settlement here going back 3,000 years. Linguistic evidence suggests that the earliest settlers here may have come from Taiwan. However, oral tradition and poetry may link these early settlement to Tanzania in east Africa. Back in the days of the whalers, the closest contacts to so-called Western civilization were with Americans. On one occasion, though, the U.S. imposed a heavy fine on the Fijians for burning an American ship. Threatened by war with the U.S., Fiji asked Queen Victoria for help. She consented to pay the fine, and the island nation became a protectorate of Great Britain until it was granted its independence in 1970. The Methodist missionary presence here is still palpable. Suva, the capital city of Fiji, is in many ways just another city of a million inhabitants. Outside of the capital, however, the Fijian culture with its extravagant hospitality is still strong. We traveled around the entire island and especially appreciated some of the smaller towns. Whether in or out of the city the people of Fiji are kind, friendly and beautiful. One is constantly greeted with an enthusiastic “Bulla!”, a word that means “hello,” “all is well,” “relax,” and “welcome”—all at the same time. In the museum we saw an exhibit explaining the ancient custom of cannibalism here. The last Western missionary to be eaten here was the Rev. Thomas Baker in 1867. He had plans to visit a local chieftan, but stood him up at the last minute, visiting a neighboring chieftan instead. To rectify the insult, Baker was captured, cooked and consumed.Read more

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    Approaching New Zealand
    Approaching the Glow Worm CavesThe Lovely Little Town of KawakawaFriedensreich Hundterwasser's ToiletMatriarch

    Bay of Islands

    January 28, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    Today we fell in love with a place we had never heard of. The Bay of Islands is in the north of the northern island of New Zealand. We tendered ashore in the morning to a lovely little village called Waitangi, and took a bus through some of the loveliest green hills we have ever seen. Our destination was a cave owned by a Maori family, where glow worms shine like blue stars on the roof of a subterranean cavern. In the afternoon we strolled through the precious little town of Russell. It’s 19th century buildings are intact, and the people welcomed us as though we were family. We ended the day in the small railroad town of Kawa Kawa. A famous modern architect, Friedensreich Hundterwasswer, left his home in Europe and spent his final years in the small town. As a final gift he designed a fantastic public restroom reminiscent of the work of Antoni Gaudi.Read more

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    Auckland

    January 29, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 70 °F

    We have spent today exploring Auckland, New Zealand. It is Auckland Day, a holiday similar to our July 4. The city was in celebration mode and we were able to see dragon boat races and sailboat races while we joined in the festivities. There is a good reason Auckland is called the city of sails. I have never seen so many sailboats in one place. We visited the Maritime Museum, took a sailboat ride around the bay, visited the Sky Tower and the art museum. The weather was perfect at 79 degrees with a cool breeze blowing on off of the bay. After a walk through a lovely park we ate Mexican at a local restaurant. It was quite different from our La Hacienda back home but tasty in a New Zealand lamb, coriander, pineapple and red slaw taco kind of way. Last night Viking invited local Maori dancers on board for a show. One impressive dance they did was the Haka, a famous war dance known for fierce facial expressions. The rugby team here does this dance before every game. New Zealand is absolutely beautiful and we are thrilled to have 6 more ports in this wonderful country.Read more

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    Auckland Arts and Flowers

    January 30, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 68 °F

    The Sky Tower served as our observation point to get our bearings before setting out on our own exploration of the city of Auckland. We walked to the art museum and saw a lovely painting by Monet, as well as an excellent collection of native and European art. We returned to the ship through the lovely park. Taking our time, we learned about native flora, and leisurely strolled our way back to dinner on the ship.Read more

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    Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty

    January 31, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 72 °F

    We docked today at the beautiful port of Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand. Before reading our ship’s itinerary, I had never heard of this place, but it is truly a land of fantasy. It is the busiest port in New Zealand, and the fastest growing city. About 130,000 people live here now, but more are coming daily. A very nice home will run about 1 million dollars, making it the second most expensive real estate market in this country. The terrain and the lifestyle remind one of the Coast of Monterey Bay in California. Our excursion took us inland to Rotorua (meaning “Second Lake” in the Maori language). This volcanic region provides the rolling hills that make the lovely scenery filmed in The Harry Potter movies, as well as The Lord of the Rings. We saw a demonstration of Maori culture and dance and enjoyed some of the local cuisine. We also marveled at the hot springs, geysers and boiling mud pits around the geological fault that runs near Rotorua. Extinct volcanoes dot the terrain and the green grass growing on them feeds multitudes of sheep. I was surprised to learn that overpopulating possums had become a nuisance, so the resourceful Kiwis have started trapping them and using possum fur to make valuable, lightweight sweaters and blankets. It is warmer, drier and lighter than Merino wool. Looks like there’s a future for North Carolina possums.Read more

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    Bob, a Fellow Passenger on the Viking Sun

    Napier

    February 1, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    Our ship had to bypass Napier today because of strong winds, rough seas, and a very small port. The captain cruised by so that we could take photographs and my new friend Bob and I took advantage of the opportunity.Read more

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    The BeehiveAuthor in the Begonia Cafe

    Wellington

    February 2, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    We had a perfect day in Wellington today, the southernmost capital city in the world. The temperature is about 63°. The Viking Sun has left the tropics for a while, and Glenda couldn’t be happier. We took an inclined railway up to the Wellington Botanical Gardens, where we encountered And unbelievable number of beautiful plants and flowers. There we also encountered the Carter Observatory. I marveled at the beautiful Cooke Telescope. It was built in 1866-67 in York, England. Around the turn of the twentieth century it was shipped to Napier, NZ. Eventually it found its way to Wellington, where it continued to be used at the local university. In 2001 the observatory had planned to renovate the lenses, but found that the optics on this old 19-inch refractor were not worth repairing. A generous local benefactor financed the grinding of brand new lenses, and the telescope is still in use today. Note especially the jeweler-engraved setting circles to set declination and right ascension. As exact as they are, however, the assembly still requires four collimated spotting scopes. Note also that the mechanical, weight-driven clock drive on this apparatus was crafted by a master clock maker. It really is a remarkable and beautiful work of art. I had wanted to see the Magellanic Clouds and Alpha Centauri while we are south of the equator, and the planetarium show helped me to orient myself in these unfamiliar southern skies. Unbelievably beautiful flowers and birds surrounded us as we made our way to the rose garden and lunch at the appropriately named Begonia Cafe. There was a woman there working on a laptop computer the whole time we were in the restaurant. I couldn't help thinking about J. K. Rowling writing the Harry Potter novels in an Edinburgh coffee shop. I like to think that at some point in the future I can read a novel written by a famous New Zealand author, then learn that she wrote it at the Begonia Cafe.

    Our visit to the New Zealand Parliament building revealed next door their state executive office building, known as the beehive. Two architects were just noodling around on a paper napkin one day at lunch and playfully came up with the beehive design. Surprisingly, the idea stuck and now the executive office building is a manifestation of their scribbles on a paper napkin. We returned to the ship just before the rain started and settled in for dinner and for our overnight voyage to Christchurch, where we will tour the Southern Alps and Gandalf country.    Read more

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    Gandalf Country

    February 3, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 50 °F

    Today we went to New Zealand’s Southern Alps, where the Lord of the Rings motion pictures were filmed. The terrain was magnificent. Director Peter Jackson wanted to find a place that corresponded to the description given in Tolkien’s books for the various sites, if such existed. Otherwise he would be forced to use a computer generated model of the fortress. The people of Rohan, the horse people, were said to live in a fortress on a high rock outcropping, surrounded by a broad plain, laced with streams and rivers. He had given up on finding an actual location with all three qualities when on an airline flight over the southern island of New Zealand, he happened to look down and see Mount Sunday west of Christchurch. It had all the necessary features. Eight months of construction preceded three weeks of filming, and the fortress of Edoras became a reality, at least on film. At the site of the fortress in the movie, Glenda Cook and I got to have our first sword fight. On our way to the Southern Alps, we drove through the farmland of the Canterbury Plains. Sheep and cattle graze in pastures sheltered by the mountains. Every part of New Zealand is stunningly beautiful. The community at Mount Somers welcomed us to a delicious lunch in their War Memorial Hall. The people are genuine, honest and warm. This is a special place, and this was a memorable day.Read more

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    Boulders at Moeraki
    PalmerstonFleurAbandoned Boat at Fleur's Seafood Restaurant, Moeraki, NZDunedin Railway StationLone Piper

    Dunedin

    February 4, 2018 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 52 °F

    At 7 am we sailed into a corridor of breathtaking green mountains towering above us on both sides of the ship. Sprinkled upon them were a goodly share of New Zealand’s 30 million sheep, grazing peacefully. Unlike Christchurch and the rest of English New Zealand, Dunedin was settled by Scots. Our bus took us from Port Chalmers through Dunedin, all the way to Moeraki. We stopped for lunch at Fleur’s, a seafood restaurant in a corrugated tin shed that serves some of the best seafood in the world. Years ago the owner, whose name is actually Fleur (like Michaelangelo, she needs no last name), survived cancer, moved to New Zealand, and decided to start her life over again. There is much more to her story. We’ll tell it to you when we see you. Let’s just say that the meal was memorable. After lunch we went down to the beach that surrounds Fleur’s to see the Moeraki Boulders. Some are the size of an ottoman, some as big as a car. These mudstone nodules formed in this volcanic soil during prehistoric eruptions. When the level of the sea changed, some of these huge stone spheres rolled out onto the beach as the ground holding them was eroded by the sea. When we left the beach we had time for a quick drive through Dunedin (the original Gallic name of Edinburgh) and a stop at its lovely Victorian train station. Since the destruction of many of Christchurch’s Victorian buildings in the earthquake seven years ago, Dunedin boasts the highest concentration of Victorian buildings in the world. We returned to the ship, and as we prepared to sail away, a young girl, maybe thirteen years old, appeared on the dock in full Scottish regalia. She started playing the bagpipes as the dock workers slipped the hawsers from the cleats. As we sailed away she started playing Amazing Grace. We could barely hear her final notes, but as she finished, she saluted our ship, executed a right-face, and marched back to the gate of the port area and back into town. We have fallen in love with New Zealand. There is nowhere in the world where the terrain is more beautiful, nor the residents as welcoming or sensible. We will do our best to return to this wonderful place. Until we do, we will carry this amazing country and these delightful people in our hearts.Read more

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    Super Bowl

    Super Bowl Sunday

    February 5, 2018, Tasman Sea ⋅ 🌙 48 °F

    Here is super bowl on the Viking Sun. Beer, nachos, chili, wings, hot dogs, burgers,fries, onion rings and loads of desserts. Because of the storm, the roof of the pool deck is closed and the game is on the big screen. I don’t care about the game but the chili was great. Today we are in a storm in the Tasman Sea on our way to Australia. High waves and winds are making for an interesting day at sea. Coffee pots went flying in the breakfast area when one wave hit us straight on. The world is gray and rainy and the wind is whistling outside. Thank God for handrails. Barf bags are scattered on tables around the ship just in case they are needed. Winds are between 50 and 80 knots. It is Monday here so the super bowl will be broadcast starting at noon here.Read more

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    Vineyards Near Brisbane

    Melbourne

    February 8, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    Our first day in Australia started with a drive through Melbourne on our way to a wildlife sanctuary. Glenda fell in love with the furry little koalas. They eat very low energy eucalyptus leaves, so their normal habit is to sleep 18-22 hours per day. Only a God who has a wonderful sense of humor could have made their faces, probably after a second glass of Chardonnay. There were also wallabys, echidnas, kangaroos and my favorite, the platypus. It’s the only mammal in the world that lays an egg. Next we took a train ride on a little narrow gauge coal fired steam engine known as Puffin’ Billy. The small railway was devised as a depression-era scheme to provide jobs. It also had the effect of uniting several of the very remote towns in the mountains around Melbourne. Its other claim to fame is that it inspired a composer to create a piece of music also called “Puffin’ Billy”, which was chosen in 1955 to be the theme song of the CBS children’s show “Captain Kangaroo.” Finally we went to the Yarra Valley, known for making some of the finest Australian wines. We had a wine-tasting, followed by a gourmet meal, complete with appropriate wine-pairings, at the Rochford Vineyards. As the cultural capital of Australia, it is easy to see why this “veddy, veddy British” city of Melbourne is repeatedly voted as the most livable city in the world.Read more

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    Sea Day Lectures

    February 9, 2018, Bass Strait ⋅ 🌙 64 °F

    Today is a sea day. We are skirting around the southeast coast of Australia cruising from Melbourne to Sydney. Seas are very calm, and Captain Atle Knutsen has slowed the Viking Sun down to around ten knots. Everything is very smooth today. I attended a lecture this morning by a university professor on the current economics of Australia and New Zealand and their relationship to Asia and the Pacific. This afternoon I will go to another lecture on Australian use of nuclear energy, both for military uses and for the production of power. It seems that Australia has been very resistant to the use of nuclear energy for any purpose. They are very much in favor of ecological awareness and responsibility. The Australian people see global warming as a real threat. Yet, their over-dependence on coal for power production places Australia among the worst environmental polluters in this part of the world. It seems that there are no easy answers. Glenda has gone to a cooking class. Meanwhile, I am re-reading The Lord of the Rings. We love sea days!Read more

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    Leaving Sydney

    Sydney and Carmen

    February 10, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 72 °F

    We spent the day in Sydney, Australia wandering around this beautiful harbor city. We spent our morning in the historical area founded by convicts. Stealing a handkerchief or a loaf of bread in England meant a sentence of 7 years in the penal colony of Australia. Practically, that sentence was for life because there was no way to buy your passage back to England. Essentially, England was simply attempting to export its surplus of poor people. By hard work and the Grace of God Australia became a success. Settlers came to see that in many ways relatively classless Australia was better than England. Certainly the weather was more comfortable. Tonight we go to see Carmen at the Sydney opera house.

    As soon as Carmen died (we knew she would) we got up from our seats to leave Sydney Opera House and we were surprised to find that it was raining kangaroos and koalas. The forecast had a ten percent chance of rain, but there was thunder and lightning and a south-of-the-equatorial downpour. We were all in our glad rags, so all of us Wikings waited in the opera house for some break in the rain. But soon it looked as though Carmen would get resurrected before the rain slacked off. We and our shipmates were the only people remaining in the building, and a few tired Australian security guards looked as though they wanted to get home to their supper of krumpets or whatever these people down under eat. They quietly started pulling these velvet ropes across the exits, so we figured we better brave the deluge and get out. Our ship had relocated to the west edge of the Circular Quay, so we had about a half a mile to walk through a downpour. Thor’s hammer was kicking up a fuss, and buckets of the South Pacific soaked us down to our underwear for about a twenty-minute walk-run back to the ship. At some point in our hurried journey, about the time I felt little rivulets running down my legs, the situation got silly and we started giggling like a couple of fools. We finally saw the international passenger terminal ahead. Safety at last! As we walked quickly toward a young security guard he wanted to see our security pass. I dug it out of a drenched sport coat from a pocket filled with rainwater and he said, “Romantic! Just like Fred Astaire.” I said that “romantic“ was not exactly the word I had in mind. But he let us in and we came back onto the ship. Without even going back to the stateroom, we sloshed up to Mamsen’s and got a bowl of hot pea soup, a hunk of delicious brown bread, and a little glass of sherry. Now my heart is warm, my soul has been enriched by the wonderful music of Bizet, my girl is laughing, and I’m going to bed. Amen.    Read more

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    Leaving Sydney Harbor
    Bridge at Sydney

    Finishing Up in Sydney

    February 12, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F

    Today we finish in Sydney and then sail to Brisbane. We spent the day on an urban adventure in downtown Sydney. As we started out before 8 am, we stopped at a place called Georgie Boy’s Coffee for breakfast. The charming and articulate Chinese kid who took our order noticed my camera and asked, “Is that a Canon 70-300mm f/4.5 lens?” I answered, “Yes, would you like to take a look at it?” I handed him my camera. He took it confidently, turned off the auto focus, turned off the auto exposure, set the camera on manual, manually focused the lens, held up the camera and took the best picture of me that I have seen on this world cruise. Later I handed him that camera again and asked, “Would you take a picture of my wife and me?” He answered, “Sure. How do you want it?” I told him, “You’re the photographer—however you want to do it.” By that time I had the 50mm f/1.2 lens on. Without missing a beat he took the camera, backed out just beyond the opening of the front door, manually set the camera and snapped 3 perfectly framed, perfectly exposed photographs.

    We walked the 1.5 miles from the Circular Quay (pronounced “kee.” I don’t know why. Ask the Scots.) to Paddy’s Market. This huge emporium is smack in the middle of China town. The Chinese have been for centuries the merchants of Asia. We shouldn’t be surprised that the top 2 floors are an upscale mall. However, the bottom floor is a hodgepodge of a thousand little stalls and booths that resemble a middle eastern suq. We bought some Christmas presents, and I got Glenda Cook an Australian opal pendant. I charted out a path to the Art Museum of New South Wales. Quickly leaving the shops and traffic, we walked most of the way to the art museum through Hyde Park. This heavily treed greenway serves as the communal front yard for the Sydney dwellers who live in apartments. It contains the Australia-New Zealand War Memorial, and skirts the close of St. Mary’s Cathedral. We slipped in just in time to see the elaborate recessional and to hear a magnificent postlude played on an organ that rattled the stained glass windows. Our first stop in the gallery was to allow Glenda to pay homage to Monet. A temporary exhibition of some of Rembrandt’s paintings was on loan from the Rijkmuseum in Amsterdam, which we visited in 2015.

    The art gallery grounds adjoin the Royal Arboretum, so we were able to continue our track through the city in beautiful, green public parks without having to dodge traffic. Getting a bit hungry by 2 pm, we noticed a little creperie named “Four Frogs.” Sure enough, the owners were four in number and all French. (I hope I’m not insulting anyone by pointing out that a common British slang term for a Frenchman is “frog.”) I washed down a ham and Swiss cheese crepe with a glass of Cabernet, and Glenda had a Galette, a savory French salad atop a toasty buckwheat crepe. We took the shuttle boat back to the Viking Sun in time to relax with chocolate chip cookies and espresso. Tonight we will have dinner at the Chef’s Table onboard the ship as we begin our voyage to Brisbane. On the menu tonight is five-course dinner of Australian haute cuisine with appropriate wine pairings made by the sommelier onboard. What a wonderful world we are discovering!

    I’m subjecting our stateroom stewardess Pei Syu Yeng and our waitress Yang Yang to cruel and unusual punishment as I try to recover my Chinese language skills. It was interesting at the Sydney Opera House: translations of the French libretto were projected in English and Chinese. I was a bit relieved to be able to recognize at least some of the Chinese characters that I learned as a young GI in the Vietnam War. There was a coffee this morning for veterans. Onboard we have Porter Hallyburton, the longest-held American POW in Vietnam. Today is the 43rd anniversary of his release from captivity. We also have a retired Navy admiral among our shipmates, a WW2 survivor of the Battle of the Bulge, plus all the rest of us assorted grunts, swabbies, jarheads and zoomies.    Read more

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    Brisbane

    February 13, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 90 °F

    Today was a wonderful day in Brisbane. After a tour of the city we headed out to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Kangaroos and emus roam freely and koalas were everywhere . The temperature was 96 degrees with 99% humidity and a cloud free day. The weather reminded us of NC in August. One of Glenda’s dreams came true today when she got to pet a Koala. They smell so good because they only eat eucalyptus leaves. They sleep 20 hours a day and are prone to pee on you when you hold them. But really think about it. They have lots to do in 4 hours every day. Koalas have a very strong union and a koala may only work for 20 minutes three days a week. We also got to see a Tasmanian devil and a variety of birds and reptiles. I spent time trying to get a photo of a duckbill platypus. They swim so fast in very dark waters that photos are difficult. I saw a mosquito almost an inch long. Most of the spiders, insects and snakes in Australia are venomous. Some can kill a man. Yet surprisingly, the bees here do not have stingers. After the time at the animal sanctuary we headed out to two vista points for photos of Brisbane.

    A quick comment about the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. A Brisbane couple began it on their own property in 1927 to care for two injured koalas, named Jack and Jill, that could not survive in the wild. Over time other wild Australian animals such as kangaroos and wallabies were brought to the rescue sanctuary. In WW2 some US servicemen suffering from “shell shock,” what we call PTSD, were allowed to come to Lone Pine as part of their therapy. They were allowed to pet the koalas and to care for the other animals. The result was that the animals proved to be almost miraculous in helping these combat veterans to overcome their trauma and to resume normal, productive lives. While the sanctuary’s practice of allowing frequent human contact with these rescued wild animals remains controversial, the owners of Lone Pine feel that on the whole their policy is beneficial.

    Tonight we set sail for Whitsunday Island in Australia.    Read more

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    Friends With the Pastry Chef

    February 15, 2018, Coral Sea ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    As we are sailing up the Sunshine Coast, we are developing a relationship with Chef Mathur, an Indian who is the Executive Pastry Chef for Viking Ocean Cruises. We offered some information about graduate programs in information technology for the Chef's son. Since then room service has brought us cream-filled doughnuts, Danish pastry, and other delights, compliments of Chef Mathur. We will both weigh much more at the end of this cruise.

    We just got news about Cyclone Gita that damaged Tonga severely in the last few days. Winds of 125 mph flattened the parliament building. About 40% of the homes were either damaged or destroyed. Our prayers are with those lovely people we visited last month. May we use all the means at our disposal to help them to recover from this disaster.    Read more

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    Hamilton Island

    February 15, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 81 °F

    We spent today on Hamilton Island, the commercial center of the Whitsunday Island group, an archipelago of about 70 islands in the Great Barrier Reef. Until 2003 the island was owned by Australian yachtsman Keith Williams. He was the third owner to go bankrupt trying to develop the property. He sold it to fellow yachtsman Bob Oatley, who saw potential in its development. Of Oatley it is said, “He bought coffee plantations when everyone was drinking tea, and he bought vineyards when everyone was drinking beer.” Oatley was the entrepreneur who started Rosemont Wines. He developed the company into a multi-billion dollar enterprise, then sold it to the company that brews Foster’s beer. Similarly, he created the ground floor of Australia’s coffee industry, and now Aussies drink more coffee than tea. Oatley became, on and off, the wealthiest man in Australia and one of the wealthiest in the world. Though he died three years ago, Oatley’s estate still owns the whole island and the dozen or so five-star hotels that operate here. These hotels are the only ones in the world that have repeatedly earned a perfect score in all five of the categories by which Condé Nast Traveler rates resorts. The water is a lovely aquamarine color. Like Bald Head Island, transportation is by golf cart, except for official vehicles. Some of our shipmates swam on the lovely beach that rivals ours on the Grand Strand. We had a delightful time touring the island and wandering through the local IGA grocery store. We can certainly see why so many folks from Australia and Asia consider the Whitsunday Islands as a dream destination.Read more

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    Great Barrier Reef SCUBA

    February 16, 2018 in Australia ⋅ 🌙 79 °F

    The Australian port of Cairns was our jumping-off point for the Great Barrier Reef. I just had one of the most memorable experiences of my life. I went SCUBA diving in the reef. I have never been diving before so I signed up for the rookie SCUBA diving class aboard the Sunseeker. I was a wee bit nervous, but very quickly my instructor Iris put me at ease. She was patient and kind, and for much of the 30-minute swim she even held my hand. It was like flying under the sea. We saw giant clams, iridescent fish, a deep indigo-colored starfish, and a hundred other wonders too beautiful to describe. At one point a dark cloud covered us. I looked up and saw a densely opaque school of a million finger-length, metallic silver fish above us blocking the sun. We swam slightly upward, and, very gradually and gently, the fish made way for us as we ascended through the school. In a moment I was completely surrounded on all sides, and above and below, by sparkling flecks of silver as far as I could see. While I was doing this Glenda was on a guided snorkeling adventure with her instructor, a young lady named Taylor. Before that, Glenda and I went snorkeling together and found other wonderful views. I was not able to take photos under the water, but I was so absorbed by the kaleidoscopic wonders under the sea that a camera would have been a distraction. So go to Google and find the most colorful photos of all of the most beautiful aquatic life you can imagine, exaggerate the colors tenfold, put it in 3-D, illuminate it with shimmering light, and you may have some idea of what I saw today. It was magnificent—literally beyond words. Today is one of those rare days one remembers forever—a genuinely spiritual moment.Read more

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    Milo Backus

    February 17, 2018, Coral Sea

    There is an elderly man on our cruise who is wheelchair bound and can only move two steps to get from the wheelchair to a regular chair. He is traveling with his young caregiver Norma. Norma is with him 24 hours a day. His family is not on this trip so these two unlikely companions are off on a world cruise. It would be easy for Norma to leave him parked in his room or in the atrium while she explored the ship or a port for a few hours but she does not. A few days out of Miami, I found them at the shore excursions desk. She was going over each port and the excursions offered at each. He said he wanted to see the pyramids but was afraid he could not go. Norma said they could make it work and they booked an overnight land excursion to Cairo. He said he used to be a scuba diver and loved the water so they booked boat trips. He and Norma have been on both of our snorkeling trips. Yesterday they were on our Great Barrier Reef excursion. She was going to take an hour to learn to scuba dive when he told her to do it but before she did, she made sure he had lunch and then, by golly, she got him in swim trunks and a life jacket and with the help of some of the ship’s crew they got him to the diving platform and he got to sit on the platform in the water and watch folks snorkel. Then she got him out and secured in a place where he could watch all the action before she had her 1 hour adventure. After that he was back in the water with her. At night, he is dressed for dinner and they eat in the restaurant. You can find them all over the ship looking at the world go by. She also sends daily photos to his family of their adventures.

    The cynic would say that she found a way to get a free world cruise but the beautiful reality is that she is giving 141 days of her life so that he can have a wonderful adventure at age 94. May God bless them both as they continue on with their adventure of a lifetime.    Read more

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    Thursday Island

    February 18, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 88 °F

    Thursday Island, in the Whitsunday Island group, was the only part of the Australian homeland to see action in World War II. Now it is a lovely, sleepy town, most of whose inhabitants work for the Australian government. They come here seasonally, and are rotated as needed. The native inhabitants put on a folkloric dance. Glenda was surprised at the extremely high prices in the small grocery store here. There is a museum in the basement of the fort. The woman at the counter told us the amount for the entry fee. However, we didn't have any Australian currency with us. Then she said, "Oh, come on in anyhow." How accommodating! It was really a very good museum, showing the fort's usage from colonial to modern times.Read more

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    Cooking Classes in the Arafura Sea

    February 19, 2018, Arafura Sea

    After my buddy Mike and I went SCUBA diving yesterday he had a chance to snorkel with a small underwater camera. Here are some of the shots he got. We also learned today that there is a cyclone, what we would call a hurricane, following us up the east coast of Australia. A Carnival Cruise ship sailing between Tasmania and Australia was so buffeted that 27 passengers were injured. The storm was so severe in Cairns, where we were yesterday, that all swimming, snorkeling, and diving in the Great Barrier Reef has been discontinued for at least 5 days. On a day at sea Chef Mathur led us in a cooking class. He showed us how he made his Valentines Day dessert, Raspberry Coeur d’Amour on Chocolate Plougastel. It’s a sea day as we are sailing in perfect weather and calm seas from Thursday Island to Darwin. Pastry Chef Mathur heard that I always have chocolate cream filled doughnuts instead of a birthday cake. He said, “I know it’s not your birthday, but I’m experimenting with a new doughnut recipe. I will send some to your room.” Room service just brought these little beauties. Good thing I spent an hour early this morning at the gym.Read more

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    Mexican Mutiny

    February 20, 2018, Arafura Sea ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F

    Well, glory hallelujah in a taco shell! All this lovely French cooking has been wonderful, but a few of the passengers got a wee bit weary of food whose names they cannot pronounce, so just yesterday they asked Viking for some good old Mexican food like we have on every other street corner in ‘Murka. I imagine the conversation went something like this:

    Viking Boss says, “Let’s give them a Mexican meal.”

    Chef says, “Oh, we have served ceviche several weeks ago.”

    Viking Boss says, “No, I mean tacos, enchiladas, chile rellenos, burritos. The good stuff. You’re French, but you live in California now, so you can pull it off.”

    Boy howdy! Did he ever pull it off! With only one day to prepare, tonight for supper chef served us nachos, chicken burritos, chicken tortilla soup, salsa verde, guacamole, chiles rellenos, several different kinds of cheese and pepper sauces, and shrimp tacos with red pepper sauce. And it was all fabulous! We even had real Mexican flan and churros for dessert. We got in line at 6 pm when the serving line opened to the sound of norteño Mexican music. There were about 60 people in line. It’s now 7:20 pm and the line hasn’t diminished. I think we have a winner here. Viking Boss told Glenda that they are thinking they may do this again. These folks at Viking really are the consummate hosts. They listen to us passengers and they do their absolute best to give us what we want. They even passed out margaritas to the folks waiting in line! Viking is really a class act.

    I wonder how you say “Olé” in Norwegian.    Read more

  • Viking World Cruise

    Darwin City

    February 21, 2018 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 79 °F

    We spent the morning in Darwin, the northernmost town in Australia. Named for Charles Darwin, who studied the local animal life on a voyage here, Darwin was our last English speaking port for a while. The temperature here today was in the 90’s, it was as humid as a Columbus County picnic, and the UV index was in the low teens. It’s hot here, children. Darwin has been rebuilt 4 times because of cyclone damage, most recently after Cyclone Tracy leveled the town in 1974. The Northern Territory is interesting. According to Bill Bryson, the NT has never ratified the federal constitution of Australia. It is a territory, not a state like Victoria or Queensland. NT sends observers, not delegates, to the national capital in Canberra. Federal Australian police must obtain permission from the NT government to pursue an investigation here. Sometimes permission is given; sometimes it isn’t. Add to all of this the fact that outside of Darwin there is nothing but a desert full of lethal creepie crawlies between here and the center of the continent, and you can see why Darwin and the NT still have something of the character of America’s wild, wild West. Except for the people, everything in Australia is trying hard to kill you. The local territorial police may choose to enforce Australian federal law, but they are free not to. In small towns local custom is the law. In the outback you can find folks who contend that the NT is not, technically and legally, part of the nation of Australia. There is the most complete outdoor store I’ve ever seen here—even bigger than the one in Alaska’s Tongass National Park. But you need such a store here. Once you get outside of town you’re on your own for about 800 miles to Alice Springs. You get the idea. Still, we found the people here to be very kind. They are quite nice and very helpful to visitors. One does not last long in this harsh environment without depending upon one’s “mates” for mutual aid. Quite traditional, they are no-nonsense, practical, conservative Anglicans who believe in God and in helping one’s neighbor. Just don’t cross ‘em. They are kind, but they are also very tough and independent.Read more

  • Viking World Cruise

    Admiral John Lippiett

    February 22, 2018, Arafura Sea

    Today we cruise from Darwin, Australia to Komodo, Indonesia. One of the guest lecturers onboard is retired British Rear Admiral John Lipiett. He impresses me as a man who is highly experienced and absolutely brilliant. He gave an analysis of the activity of the Chinese Navy in the South China Sea. He also told us about the restoration of the Mary Rose, an English vessel that sank in the sixteenth century. He and his wife made a presentation about his service in the Falkland Islands when he was a young officer. On a few occasions during the trip he would host a coffee for veterans onboard.

    One of the photos shows our next-door neighbor, Bill Mellor. He is a retired Australian one-star general who specialized in helicopter operations.

    Glenda writes: Oh what a blessing I just had. Chuck wanted a cookie so I scooted up to the world cafe to get a cookie from the coffee area. The chef was giving a party for the crew. They were dressed in their regular clothes instead of uniforms and music was playing. Thank you Viking for letting the crew know that they are a vital and important part of this world cruise. Viking not only makes the guests feel special but it also lets the crew know they are appreciated. And by the way, I also got fabulous cookies for Chuck. I would post a picture but they are already gone. It’s a sea day today with a few lectures and a port talk to keep us busy. Tomorrow we are in Komodo, Indonesia to see the Komodo Dragons. If we have any open wounds or small cuts, we have to tell the guide and stay close to him/her because the Komodo dragons have a keen sense of smell and will come after the blood. I am staying close to the guide anyway just to be safe. Sunset last night was lovely.    Read more

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