Bart Bear's Blog

An island which is like the romantic idea of south sea islands is Mystery Island. This is a small coral cay just off the coast of the large island of Aneityum in Vanuata. Its official name is Inyeug, which means "tiny island" in the native language. Nobody lives on the island, although you can overnight. There is an airstrip, built by the US military during WW2, serving as the airport for Aneityum which has no flat area big enough for an airstrip. When cruise boats call the local natives arrive and set up markets and guided tours. Cays are islands built by sand and seeds blowing onto reef tops and gradually building up low islands like Mystery. The beaches and the interior here are clean white sand, the water is clear and warm, the fish and coral are great and, provided visitors keep to the safe areas away from the reef channels, it is a good place to visit. Ships have to anchor well offshore in deep water, so you travel to the island in the ship's launches, which can be fun when there is a bit of wave action. I enjoyed my day there, particularly as there were no crabs waiting to nip small bears; the crowds had them hiding in their burrows.

Labels: cruising, South Pacific

One of the things that I like about cruising is that you never know what your fresh towels are going to look like when you go back to the cabin (oops... they are called staterooms now) after dinner. The cabin crew are all experts at towel origami. Every ship we have been on has delivered an amazing assortment of towel critters. Here's a few of the ones from our Christmas cruise. The first is a duck, quite pretty looking. Second is a pig. He kept hugging Milky, so I had to dismantle him as soon as the photo was taken. The elephant was fun, he was big and sturdy enough for us to take turns riding (us small critters that is, not the Oldies). Number four was a bit scary. It was a sort of dinosaur and we had just finished watching "Jurassic World: Lost Kingdom" so even a friendly dino was a bit worrying. The crew gave lessons in the art, and I managed to push through the crowd to get this photo of Josh (dance instructor, quiz master, general all-round fun guy) in the process of making a ballerina from 3 hand towels. Last photo is a penguin, alligator, frog and goldfish at the end of the demonstration. I have tried to fold handtowels into something but I can only produce messes.

Labels: cruising, South Pacific

What do small bears do during days at sea? We explore the ship. The Oldies' favourite place on "Radiance of the Seas" is the Schooner Bar. It has big windows, comfortable seats, there is often good live music playing, and the cocktails are the best on the ship (or so they Oldies say). The most interesting thing I found there was a huge Earth globe. Naturally, Milky and I had to try and climb it. It was tough work getting around the overhang, but the brass straps were thick enough to get a grip on. We were sitting up there singing "I'm sitting on top of the World" in our best Al Jolson voices when the barman, Linus, discovered us. He thought were great climbers, cute, and in tune as well. That didn't stop him from taking us down and delivering us back to the Oldies. We had to spend the rest of the time, until the Oldies finished their drinks, watching out the window for flying fish and whales.

Labels: cruising, South Pacific

Most of the South Pacific cruises out of Australia include a stop at Noumea, capital of New Caledonia. Some people rave about this "France in the Pacific", but this small bear has been there 3 times now and won't bother getting off the ship next time. New Caledonia is the source of around 25% of the world's nickel and Noumea is its main port. There are all sorts of industrial plants visible as you sail in, and the ship is normally docked in the industrial port. That means you need a shuttle bus into town. Search "Noumea" on the blog and you will find photos of the city from my previous visits in 2014 and 2015. There is always a tugboat ready to help the ship to dock safely. Mostly, they are not needed as modern cruise ships are extremely maneuverable and can dock themselves, but the tugs are there if something goes wrong. There are dozens of barges and tugs moored around the harbour. One of the beaches on the outskirts of the port is a graveyard for old craft, mostly barges, tugs and small coastal trading vessels. The industrial harbour area looks dirty and messy, in fact Noumea outside the tourist areas looks dirty and messy. Around the city, particularly in the tourist areas, parks and markets, there are many colourful trees and shrubs to provide contrast. 

Labels: cruising, new Caledonia, Noumea

What a Christmas - New Year break I have had. The Oldies took Scruffy, Milkshake and I on a cruise to the islands. The ship was my favourite, Radiance of the Seas. We left Sydney 3 days before Christmas and returned the day after New Year, so it was a party trip. The ship had a Christmas tree of course, but what it had extra was hundreds of balloons decorating the Centrum and public areas. Stars, Santas and snowmen for Christmas and for New Year they had PINK KOALAS and champagne bottles. If you click the photo you can see lots of balloons on the stair and balcony railings. At the end of the parties artificial snow (shaped confetti) and white balloons rained down from the roof. I really liked the idea of the Oldies having to see pink koalas in the bars, it is a great change from pink elephants in my opinion. We visited 6 islands, some of them new to us, and I will put up images later (when Dad gets everything uploaded and sorted). Of course Scruff, Milky and I celebrated appropriately and we wish all my readers all the best for 2019, and following years as well.

Labels: boats, cruising, South Pacific