Bart Bear's Blog

We are still in lockdown here in Canberra but can get out for a couple of hours for exercise. Today is the first calm, warm, sunny day for ages so we headed out for a walk near the lake. Of course we had to wear masks; it makes the Oldies look like escapees from a bad movie set but I look cute. Lots of people were walking or riding on the paths but everybody was being COVID sensible. The trees are full of blossom at present. That means that small bears have to be careful of bees when we get our climbing exercise. The sqirtey thing in the pictures is the Captain Cook Memorial Jet which commemorates the bicentenary of his first sighting of the Australian coast. I like it because when the wind blows the other way it squirts onto cars going across Commonwealth Avenue bridge. Meanwhile, on those miserable days when the weather was foul, Dad and I built stacks of card model lighthouses. Most of them are of UK lights, but there 4 Aussie ones in there as well. Here's to more days like today.
 

Labels: Canberra, Captain Cook, card models, climbing, lighthouse, trees

The most picturesque island we visited on the way back from Hawaii is Moorea. The name means Island of Yellow Lizards. I have visited another island with a similar name, Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef. Moorea is much bigger and higher than the Australian one. Our ship anchored in Opunohu Bay, the closer of the two large bays to the small harbour at Papetoai. The other large bay is named after my hero, Captain James Cook. The most obvious features you see as the ship arrives are the high, jagged mountain peaks. The island is an extinct volcano and these peaks are the eroded remnants of the lava plugs of the original craters. The harbour is tiny and far too small and shallow for a cruise ship, so the ship's tenders run a shuttle service from ship to shore. There were great views of the ship from the beach where local kids were swimming and fishing. We were greeted by a group of local dancers, all of whom were very glad to welcome this small bear to their island. I was invited to join the next dance, but had to decline because there were crab holes in the dance area and I hate those critters.

Labels: Captain Cook, crabs, cruising, South Pacific, Tahiti

OK, before the purists among you jump and clammer loudly that these are SHIPS, not boats, I admit that is the proper term, but "ships" doesn't alliterate with "Bart's". I absolutely love cruising and these are the ships that I have cruised on so far. "Dro Ki Cakau" was a happy ship. I did three cruises around various parts of Fiji on her. The photo shows her moored among the northern Yasawa islands. She was damaged beyond repair during a cyclone in 2010, and replaced by "Reef Endeavour". I cruised some of the Great Barrier Reef on "Reef Endeavour" in 2005, while she was based in Cairns. The picture shows her at Cooktown. What can I say about "Queen Mary 2"? She is the ultimate cruise liner, a superb mix of classic Cunard luxury and modern technology. I only had 5 days on her in 2011 and hope that we can afford a longer trip sometime in the future. The photo shows her arriving in Fremantle harbour. "Voyager of the Seas" is my favourite ship, so far. Dad was lecturer on her on a New Zealand trip in 2012. Although not as "posh" as the QM2, "Voyager" is a well-run and happy ship with lots of activities, live music of various types, and interesting places to eat. The good news is that we are taking Mum on another "Voyager" cruise for her birthday and Christmas this year. "Celebrity Millenium" was a bit of a let-down because the ship was kept too cold and lots of the passengers got really sick. The ship was OK, but didn't have the excitement of the others. However, the cruise from Hawaii to Sydney via French Polynesia took us to many places the Oldies wanted to see. There is a blank space in the mosaic for my next ship. This will be "Radiance of the Seas", which Dad will be lecturing on in April during a cruise to New Caledonia. I am looking forward to returning to Noumea and investigating a new ship. Love cruising.
You can see many images from these cruises on my blog, just search the ship name in the search window at top left of the page.

Labels: boats, Cairns, Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji, New Zealand, Noumea, Tahiti

As well as the memorial to Captain Cook, there are other memorials at Venus Point. The photo on the left is of the Bounty Stone,remembering the crew of HMS Bounty and their Tahitian wives who left Tahiti after the mutiny in search of a new home safe from discovery. They left Tahiti in 1789 and eventually settled on Pitcairn Island. The faces on the monument are believed to be Pitcairn islanders John Adams and Martha Young. Most of the Pitcairners eventually moved to Norfolk Island and I have met some of their descendents there. How about that? I have been to the spot where they left Tahiti and to the spot where they landed on Norfolk. I've even seen the graves of some that left Pitcairn and died on Norfolk. That's great for a small bear with an interest in history. I have no idea what the anchor in the ring commemorates. If anybody knows I would be glad to hear. I can tell you that it is a fine climbing frame for small bears. The building in the background is a "modernised" version of a Tahitian longhouse. It is in fact a souvenir and craft shop. Mum bought a small model of the lighthouse here. We found that it was full of smelly oil but it was easy to empty and clean out and it is our best souvenir of Venus Point.

The delay between this post and the last one is, unfortunately, not because I have been away somewhere interesting. I have been looking after Mum. She had a large greebly  dug out of her foot last week. It looked like a wart on the side of her foot but we couldn't get rid of it. When the doctor cut it out it looked more like a big transparent slug. Yucky!!! She is almost better now.

Labels: astronomy, boats, Captain Cook, climbing, Norfolk Island, Tahiti

When "Celebrity Millenium" docked in Tahiti, the Oldies and I grabbed a taxi and visited a place that is very important to the history of both science and Australia. The place is Venus Point, the most northern point of Tahiti, 10km east of Papeete. The early European explorers anchored their ships offshore here in Matavai Bay. One of them was my hero, James Cook. He set up a camp, Fort Venus, here in 1769 to observe the Transit of Venus. This was important science. At the time astronomers knew the relative distances between planets but had no measurement to give them the actual distances between planets and the Sun. Cook's measurements helped to give the first measurements of our Solar System, and they were surprisingly accurate when compared to today's numbers. Following the Transit he set sail to find and map New Zealand and the east coast of Australia. Of course both of these were known to the native inhabitants, but Cook "put them on the map". There is a small monument on the spot where Cook made the Transit observations. Nearby is a magnificent lighthouse. It was built in 1868 by Thomas Stevenson, the father of Robert Louis Stevenson. Point Venus is a popular picnic and swimming place for the locals, but the beach is black volcanic sand and the sand flies there are the worst in the known Universe (according to Dad who had his legs severely bitten by them). Despite the sand flies, I am completely thrilled to have visited this historic spot and to have to sat where Cook sat to make those vital observations.

Labels: astronomy, Captain Cook, heroes, lighthouse, Tahiti

Way back in 1770 my hero, Captain Cook, was cruising around just offshore of this lighthouse. The lighthouse is the Wollongong Head light, one of the two Wollongong lights. It is the first new lighthouse built in the 20th century in New South Wales, being built in 1936. It was put on Flagstaff Point to guide ships into Wollongong and Port Kembla. Wollongong harbour also has a lighthouse which operated from 1871 to 1974. Neither of the lighthouses were there when Cook passed by in his exploration of the coast in 1770. Near the lighthouse there is a metal plaque in the shape of the set of sails on the mainmast of the "Endeavour". It shows the track of the Endeavour as it tacked back and forth looking for a way to make a safe landing. Of course, Cook did not land but moved further north and landed at Botany Bay. I really like finding out about our history, particularly about my hero.

Labels: Captain Cook, heroes, New South Wales, south coast

Wow, it's hard to believe that I have been writing this blog for 4 whole years! I didn't think that anybody would be all that interested in the doings of a small Aussie bear and his Oldies, but at last count people from 15 different countries were reading my ramblings. Over the four years I have shown you some of my favourite places, like Fiji, Norfolk Island, Hamilton Island, the Great Barrier Reef and lots of places on mainland Australia from the beaches to the central desert. I hope my travels by car, boat, plane and train have been fun to read about, and I hope the Oldies keep us travelling. And of course I haven't been able to resist bragging a bit about the craftwork and models that I help the Oldies with. Thanks for reading my blog; I really do enjoy your emails and occasional comments.

Labels: aircraft, airshow, animals, astronomy, beach, Captain Cook, family, Fiji, fish, Hamilton Is, lighthouse, Norfolk Is, Queensland, Temora, train

Guess what you can clamber around at the Sydney Maritime Museum? A full-sized replica of my number 1 hero's ship. Yes, it's Captain Cook's "Endeavour", complete in every detail. Small bears and their Oldies can spend hours looking around this ship. And when they are finished with that, there is a destroyer and a submarine and a patrol boat and lots of other small boats as well as the exhibits inside the museum. And of course there is the lighthouse. This was the lighthouse from Cape Bowling Green, near Townsville in Queensland. It was in use there from 1874 to 1987. When it was replaced by a new light on a steel tower, it was bought to the museum and fitted out with the gear it had in 1913. The museum also has a fleet of historic boats that range from yachts to a big square-rigger ("James Craig") and you can actually go sailing on them. That's something I will talk the Oldies into one of the times we are in Sydney. Check out the museums website and plan a visit or a cruise http://www.anmm.gov.au

Labels: boats, Captain Cook, heroes, lighthouse, New South Wales, Sydney

This is one of my favourite places on Norfolk Island. It is near the place where Captain Cook first set foot on the Island, and now there is a great lookout platform there where you can sit and watch sea-birds and even whales if you are lucky. Scruffy, Milkshake and I like watching the birds. The white terns nest here and they are always swooping around and making a lot of noise. Sometimes you see them diving down and catching small fish. There a lot of interesting rocks just offshore too. They have names like Elephant Rock, Bird Rock, Cathedral Rock and Green Pool Stone. If you have any sort of imagination you can see why they are called that from the shape of the rocks. Milky was a bit puzzled by the white streaks on the rocks. Scruff and I explained about the birds that roost there and their habit of just pooing where they roost. Milky was not impressed.

Labels: birds, Captain Cook, Norfolk Island

Here we are near the spot where my no.1 hero, Captain Cook, came ashore when he discovered Norfolk Island way back in 1774. He actually landed on the rocky beach in Duncombe Bay behind us. That is not really a good place to land because you then have a steep cliff to climb before you are onto the island. Back then the island was totally covered with trees and scrub and Cookie was interested in the big Norfolk pine trees. He thought they would make great masts for sailing ships. None of the island was clear and grassy, like lots of it is today. One of the problems of being a small bear (or cow, if you are Milkshake) is that you have to climb to read the signs. Between us, Scruffy and I can read most of the words, Scruff can even read and spell restaurant (I still can't). Of course, if it is windy you have a job staying balanced on the sign for long enough to read it, but this time it was nice and calm. There is a tall stone memorial marker on this site. Us littlies had a job getting up to read the plaque so we had to get Dad to read it for us. This was my second trip out to Captain Cook's landing site and the road out there has improved tremendously. Back in 2005 it was a slippery, narrow dirt track, but now it is a proper tarred road. It's a pity that my hero couldn't come back now and see how the island has changed. I think he would approve.

Labels: Captain Cook, heroes, Norfolk Island

Mid-winter mornings in Canberra, cold and foggy, always gets me remembering the warm and sunny places that I have been to. Fiji is probably my favourite because you get there in a big aeroplane and spend lots of the time on boats. Absolute favourite is cruising the islands with Captain Cook. Different places and people every day and fun most every night. Scruffy and I get to go to some of the parties and we always try to dress the part. Here we are, all ready to go to the Captain's Welcome dinner on our second cruise, draped in the special shell necklaces that are given to you when you board. Of course us bears can get ready quickly, but then we have to wait for the Oldies. I sometimes think that if there wasn't food involved we would have to wait forever for Dad.

Labels: Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

This is where we came ashore for our first bus trip on Taveuni in Fiji. You can see my boat, Captain Cook's "Reef Escape" anchored offshore. Some of our fellow-passengers are coming across the beach from the landing boat to the bus. I am sitting in the bus window keeping out of the way while Mum videos things. I love these island beaches with big palm trees an flowering bushes. The local kids like the trees too. You can see where they have put a swing rope on one of these palms. Dad wouldn't let me try it because it swung out over the water and Mum won't let me take any chance of getting wet. I really enjoyed my trips to Fiji and maybe when the troubles there have settled down I will go back again someday.

Labels: boats, Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

One of the fun things on a Captain Cook Fiji cruise is the way that we get from the ship to the shore when we are going for a side trip to somewhere interesting. These two little boats take us. The bigger one is a glass-bottomed "see-through" boat that also takes us out over the reefs so we can see corals and fish. The little one takes snorkellers as well. Here they are lining up to come onto the lift at the stern of "Reef Escape". The lift is a fun thing as it lifts the boats right up out of the water so that we can get onto them without having to jump or get wet, then it lowers them back down into the water. I like to sit on the railings at the back and watch this happen. Mum doesn't like me doing it because she thinks I will fall in. It was a calm day when this photo was taken, but sometimes it gets rough enough to make for a really exciting ride. The only excitement this day was that the boats had been painted the day before and some of us stuck to almost-dry paint. Some of the Oldies got really cranky about that but I thought it was funny.

Labels: boats, Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

This little lighthouse is on Grassy Hill, a high hill near the entrance to Cooktown harbour. It usually looks dirty like this because it gets coated by red dust from the road. It has been marking the entrance to Cooktown since 1885. It is a bit different to most lighthouses because it has a timber frame and corrugated iron walls. The Barrier Reef is close to shore here and there are lots of reefs close in to the shore. My hero, Captain Cook, hit one way back in 1770. He had to beach his boat, the "Endeavour" on the bank of the river and that's how Cooktown and the Endeavour River got their names. There is a rock monument near the lighthouse that commemorates Cook's trips up Grassy Hill to try and see a way through the reefs. Half-way up the hill there is a statue of a kangaroo, at the spot where kangaroos first got their European name. The story is that Cook saw this strange critter and asked the local aboriginals what it was. They said "kangaroo". Cook didn't know that that meant "What did you say?" in the local language so he called the critter kangaroo. No wonder kangaroos get stroppy sometimes.

Labels: Barrier Reef, Captain Cook, lighthouse, Queensland

Pearls are pretty things. Mum likes them a lot. It takes a lot of effort on the part of the people who farm them, and I guess a bit of effort from the oyster as well. Actually, Mum and the pearl farmers do pretty well from the process but the poor old oyster gets a rough deal. Here we are at the harvesting shed of Fiji Pearls farm in Savusavu bay. A series of oysters have been opened on the table to show how the colours of the shells can be different. You get different coloured pearls by using little bits of the shell as the "seed" when you start a pearl growing inside an oyster. The seed is inserted inside the gonads of the oyster; I don't quite understand that or why Dad winces every time it is mentioned. You can see a clean pearl on the green bag, and one waiting to be taken out of the oyster on the right. Scruff and I were fascinated by the way that the guy opening the oysters never sliced his fingers. And yes, it stinks inside the harvesting shed.

Labels: Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

You don't ride in Fiji buses if you worry about the weather. There are no windows, so while the bus is moving the breeze can keep the passengers cool. Provided it is not raining that is. Mind you, the rain that gets around the roll-down canvas screens keeps you cool too, and wet as well. Anyhow, it was not raining the day we set off to the 180th longitude line on Taveuni. Dad took these pictures of Mum, Scruffy and I as we were loading from the little boats onto the bus. Mum and I like the front seat if we can get it because that way you can see out the side and ahead as well. Mind you, on some of the roads we travelled on I wasn't game to look ahead. This bus had no coconuts in the storage bins like the one I showed you earlier, because we were going back onto "Reef Escape" for lunch. The driver wouldn't let me have a go, but the scenery was terrific.

Labels: Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

This has to be one of the best spots for small bears. A thick bamboo pole above the reach of crabs, a beautiful island and crystal-clear water, and in the background our very own boat just waiting for us to come back on board and head for somewhere else just as interesting. The island is Manava Cay, the boat is "Reef Escape" and the Oldies are in the water. I could spend a long time doing this, just cruising around from island to island, soaking up the scenery and watching the antics of the people who share the boat with us. I just have to convince the Oldies to go somewhere special on their holidays and to take Scruffy and I along with them. Now where do I talk them into going next year??

Labels: Captain Cook, crabs, cruising, Fiji

There are some songs that warble on about little grass shacks on islands. Usually they go on about how great it would be to be there with the person of their dreams. Well, here's a real little grass shack on a beautiful tiny island. I was there but the only people there with me were Scruffy, the Oldies and a boatload of "Reef Escape" passengers. No sign at all of my dreambear. The island is Manava Cay and the shack is where the Fijians who own the island stay when they come across from the mainland on fishing trips. Scruff and I spent some time on this great bamboo rail. I think it was there to dry fishing nets on but it made a great spot for small bears to see everything that was happening on the island (not much actually). It was also safe from crabs. Manava Cay looks very pretty but Dad found out that it has hidden dangers when he walked across the grass in bare feet. The grass is full of big, sharp bindieyes (that's a very tough type of prickle for those of you who don't speak Australian). The hut is actually fairly impressive. It is kept clean inside and lets the air through but not the rain and it stays together even in the big storms like the one we had the day before. I really do love islands, despite those pesky crabs.

Labels: Captain Cook, crabs, cruising, Fiji

No matter how hard we try Scruffy and I can never manage to go swimming. You see, we have this mother who believes that small bears get all soggy and yucky if they get wet, so she grabs us every time we head for the water. This water is at Manava Cay in Fiji. It is some of the clearest water we have ever seen. The day Captain Cook took us there was really hot, all the people on the cruise were swimming and, most importantly, the Oldies were nowhere in sight. Scruff and I made a break for the beach. No luck. Our eagle-eyed Mum had us by the legs just as we were about to make our first splash. And to add insult to injury, she took a photo to remind us just how close we came.

Labels: Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji

The weather in Fiji isn't always fine and sunny. We had some really wild days during our last cruise there, with rain and rough seas. Now you would think that wet and wavy days would keep passengers penned up on the ship, wouldn't you? Not the sort of people that go with my friend Captain Cook. They are in it for every shore trip planned and don't care too much about getting wet and tossed around. Just look at this lot coming back to the ship in one of the "beach buggies". The waves are smacking into the front of the boat and spray is going right over the lot of them. Some people in the front of the boat have their umbrellas up in the vain hope that this will keep them a bit drier. Of course the Oldies went on that shore trip and came back absolutely soaked. Scruffy and I stayed on the ship, warm and dry, and watched the fun.

Labels: Captain Cook, cruising, Fiji