So to continue from my previous comments about our Sydney, Australia experience, here are some brief comments about the ports of call in eastern Australia and the Ocean Princess.

Safely onboard the Ocean Princess we quickly got into cruise mode and found our way to the pool bar for a sail-away cocktail. With only about 680 passengers we had no problem with lines or crowds and finding our way around the ship was a breeze compared to the average cruise ship with over 3,000 passengers. Our mini-suite was spacious with a king sized bed, sofa, large desk/make up table and the full sized bath even featured a regular sized tub.  The best part however was the full length floor to ceiling glass wall with a slider to the balcony where enjoyed our coffee almost every morning. The vistas were spectacular both night and day and with a port side cabin we almost always had a view of the Aussie shoreline.

A couple of notes about small ship sailing. First, the ship is much more intimate and you’ll definitely see many of the same passengers regularly by the pool, the gym and so on. We actually spent a lot of time getting to know the entertainers who doubled as assistant cruise directors and one of the lecturers and his wife were our tablemates. Also, these ships are capable of accessing much smaller, interesting ports with far less impact on the population. On the negative side, you get to know the ship very quickly and on a long cruise such as this was, we started to get a little bored with the limited venues, activities, and smaller sized shows. Not really a complaint though, just an observation.

So here are some highlights of our ports of call:

Townsville – Our excursion today was a brief tour of the city before heading out to a billabong to enjoy the wildlife. We got up close and personal with a baby crocodile, a variety of snakes, a wombat and then had the opportunity to cuddle a Kuala. After the tour the bus dropped us in town and since it was St. Patrick’s Day we felt obliged to visit two Irish pubs and the local brewery before heading back to the ship. What a way to spend St. Paddy’s Day.

Cairns – Today we boarded a catamaran and headed out to the Great Barrier Reef to do some snorkeling. Unfortunately the sea conditions were a bit rough due to the extended effects of a Cyclone that was wreaking havoc on Vanuatu and snorkeling was quite an effort although I did see a lot of marine life. We were happy to get back to the “Big Boat” and as the Cyclone was headed our way the captain made full speed to give it a wide berth as we steamed north through the Coral Sea.

Darwin – Here at the top of Australia things were really heating up and the humidity took some getting used to for a couple of Nevada desert rats. Our destination today is to check out the jumping crocodiles on the Adelaide River and to get a look at Northern Australia’s “outback”. This is also where I came to the realization that just about everything in Australia is out to bite, sting, scratch or otherwise try to have you for dinner. We enjoyed some great wildlife viewing from the lookout at a nature preserve and learned a lot about how the wet and dry seasons affect the local ecosystem.

Back onboard the Ocean Princess it was time to settle in for a couple of sea days before crossing the equator and landing on Komodo Island in Malaysia. More about our visit to Southeast Asia in my next report.