Posted by email and NOT edited.
Australia is big and bold. It feels like the last frontier. The landscape changes every hour and the weather every minute. You drive from rainforest to desert in a flash. It is stark white sun one moment and gray and blustery the next. The moss seems greener, the coastlines sandier and the marshes marshier. The diversity enthralls me. The change invigorates me. My vocab here is annoying me. The waterfalls have been amazing. Unlike any I've seen and I've seen my share. Like any great waterfall, the rivers here tumble over plunging cliffs hungry to freefall; but they are different. Instead of splashing down in a violent pool, the water disappears into rock. This is no shit. We found a waterfall where you can walk right up to the base and stand on dry rocks. There is no river, basin, or pool to be seen. The water just disappears. It's like one of those desktop, garden-store, plug-in perpetual waterfalls but at a scale of thousands.
We scooted through Grampians National Park taking in a few of these waterfalls on our way to the Great Ocean Road. The Great Ocean Road is the world's largest war memorial, a tribute to, and built by WWI veterans. The views are unparalleled. Big blue waves transforming into white foam and they crash against the cliff walls. There are massive sandstone pillars entrenched in the surf. Unlike the waterfalls we saw at Grampians, here on the coast, the water does not disappear -- the land does. The greatest feature here are the ten sandstone pillars known as the twelve Apostles. There is also London Bridge, the Arch, the Grotto and Lord Ard (which was a big natural arch). We also stood on the most southern (and windiest) portion of mainland Australia where Australia's oldest lighthouse still stands and an old geezer named Pat tells tales of ships lost at sea.
The Great Ocean road runs along Australia's south coast for upwards of 100 miles. The road hugs the steep sandstone cliffs on the coast most of the way but at times it meanders inland through tall-timbered forest. The second day of our drive we found a tiny town called Gellibrand (pronounced Jelly Brand) in one of these forests with a nice campervan park. They had heaps of rain the previous few days and the camper park was pretty soaked. The Diplomat was worried the camper would get stuck as I pulled into our spot but I reassured her that I know how not to get stuck: "I've driven on 4 continents, Babe, I know how not to get stuck." She looked doubtful so I added: "And I've never gotten stuck where I needed a tow." The grass was wet and muddy and it got a little dicey pulling in but I did what any experienced driver would do: I gunned it forward. Yeah, there were a few deep trenches left behind but we were in place. It rained most of the night. In the morning we packed up, the Diplomat surveyed the muddy trenches more often than I told her that I know how not to get stuck. I got behind the wheel as she looked on. Popped it in gear, gave it some gas, bam, I was out of the spot quicker than the Diplomat could say tourmaline. I had won her over. Ten minutes later we were stuck on the side of the road in mud and I'm putting Heather in Wendy-the-newpaper-delivery-woman car to go get help. Yeah, as we were cruising back to the coast I pulled onto the grassy shoulder to take a picture and immediately saw trouble. The camper was sinking in the mud. Ahead was some gravel so I put the pedal down hard (as any experienced driver would do) but I saw a broken bottle in the tire's path, so I turned to miss it but by then it was too late. We had sunk to half our tire's depth. The Diplomat screamed. I told her…well you know the deal…I know how to not get stuck. "But we're stuck," she argued. "Not yet," I said. "I'm going to back her on out of here Right out of danger. You step back and watch, my dear." You can guess what happened. Jack shit. Sunk to the gunnels. Further efforts made it worse. I kicked up mud from East Timor to Tasmania trying to get us out. The Diplomat stood by the road watching. She was horrified. Her mouth hung open. It was as if our vacation was coming to a sudden end. It was as if I was sinking in quicksand and there was no saving me. But there was hope: Wendy the newspaper delivery woman. Wendy answered our hail and took Heather into town, to the local diner, where Paul was serving coffee to Cindy, where Paul thought Mark the pothole and timberfall service guy might be able to help. Meanwhile, I'm standing by the camper scratchin' my ass trying to figure out how this happened when I see a big, white, worktruck chugging down the road with none other than the Diplomat riding shotgun. She brought in the cavalry. She was my heroin. In no time Mark pulled us out and we were up and running. By the way, a pull does not count as a tow. My claim still stands. I've never been pulled out of mud.
Our next stop was Melbourne to catch a ferry to Tasmania. I enjoyed sharing with everyone I saw that I too was from Melbourne. Melbourne FLORIDA…hahaha! It was so funny. The ferry to Taz was an 11 hour trip. We learned that you are not allowed to bring any fruits, vegetables, or crossbows into Tasmania.
Next stop, Tasmania. Only one week left to go...
Greg and the Diplomat
Scooter...
Sledding...
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Travel
23 November 2010
15 November 2010
Day 46 - Victoria, Australia
Posted by email.
We left Kangaroo Island in rain and it kept up, on and off, for two days. We found a nice campground in Victor Harbor, a popular tourist spot near Adelaide. About a quarter mile offshore in the middle of the harbor is Granite Island accessible by a timber bridge. The island is about a mile around, and you can get there either by walking or riding the horse-drawn tram over the narrow bridge. The island is known for penguins and seals, but we saw neither; we were told that the penguins feed during the day so that explained their absence but the seals were no shows and we never heard why. The rain let up to give us time to hike around the windswept island and we saw a variety of birds, notching a 'brown falcon' to our list (currently we've identified 55 bird species including one I thought was an otter). We spent the better part of the day trying to track our personal belonging as they are being shipped from Vienna to DC. We learned that our goods haven't even left Vienna after six weeks. With our return to the States in a few weeks we are concerned our stuff won't be there so we were emailing, printing, and scanning document at an office supply store.
We followed Victor Harbor along the coast, taking a tiny ferry into Coorang National Park, a coastal marsh with salt pans and more rain. We made the mistake of venturing from the camper into the marsh to photographic a pink lake (probably caused by the salt) and got bogged down in soft mud that was like dog poo. I spent the afternoon cleaning our shoes. The sun opened up once or twice during the day and we got some pictures of an echidna, kangaroo, a masked lapwing and some emus. As we arrived in Kingston, a small coastal town, we got a few minutes of internet at the Big Lobster, called that because of the big lobster in the parking lot. It was a sleepy town with a nice beach and dozens of magpies and seagulls that dive-bombed me during a morning jog.
Our third stop was in Australia's World Heritage site, a place called Naracoorte Caves National Park. The deal here is the huge network of caves beneath the ground that over time have formed sinkholes acting as pitfalls for animals. For the last couple of hundred thousand years animals have fallen into the holes, and stacked up on one another. This, in turn, has allowed smart people with free time and shovels to form a timeline of Australia's fauna. Fifty thousand years ago there was a hefty extinction in the area as many species suddenly died out. Scientists don't know why it happened, and as sad as extinction is, I'm happy there are no more 1000 pound iguanas to eat me nor freakish kangaroo-koala-bear-half-breeds jumping around and freaking me out. A highlight of the visit to Naracoorte was an evening walk to the 'bat cave' to watch 30,000 bats come out at dusk to feed on the millions of mosquitoes. I was not entirely confident that the bats would not crash into my head, after all it was dark out and there were 30,000 of them. I chose to hide behind a fence, hood pulled up and hat snugged down tight. The Diplomat on the other hand enjoyed floating her head in the stream of bats.
To know exactly where we are, refer to the map below shaped from sun dried tomatoes and rice.
The sun is out again and the forecast is promising. We're heading into the mountains now, then the Great Ocean Road later in the week.
Greg and the Diplomat
11 November 2010
Day 40 - Kangaroo Island, Australia
Posted by email.
Change of style. Change of pace. Change of seasons. We left our cruise ship and flew from Hong Kong to Adelaide, Australia via Kuala Lumpur. We landed in Adelaide to find the skies smogless, the roads scooterless, and the weather a welcome 65 degrees and sunny. We picked up our camper, an Apollo Euro 2 berth (which is nothing more than a Ford Transport converted into a fully-loaded (albeit compact) motorhome) and headed for the vineyards. We've got it all: kitchen with 3-burner gas stove, microwave, fridge, shower, toilet, 19" flat screen TV player with DVD (which we are yet to use) and best-of-all rear-mounted park-assist video camera with color monitor on the dash.
We love Australia. We visited Australia for our honeymoon in 1999 and we're happy to be back. The people are friendly. The landscape is unspoiled. The air is fresh. Did you know they call Burger King "Hungry Jack's"? The only downside is the US dollar has crashed and everything is twice as expensive as the US. For reference: CDs $30 US, beers $15 US per six pack, Lonely Planet Australia Guide Book $50 US. Thankfully we're in a camper and we can insulate ourselves from many costs, but some are unavoidable, such as our ferry to Kangaroo Island which set us back a mortgage payment.
Our first stop was the wine region north of Adelaide. Penfold's is a favorite vineyard of ours and we sampled a few shiraz, cabernet sauvignon and a gewürztraminer. We also got lucky and they had a $250/bottle shiraz open. Nice to sample but it was $240 above our price range.
Our first real destination was Kangaroo Island, famous for its lack of people and abundance of wildlife including kangaroo, wallabies, seals, penguins and 243 bird species of which we've identified 36 in the Diplomat's $45 bird book. To get to the island we loaded our camper on the 1-hour ferry and found Kangaroo to be better than expected. The beaches are outright incredible, wildlife is everywhere and there are NO PEOPLE, a welcome change from our crowded cruise ship visiting crowded cities in crowded Asia.
So…three days gone in Australia and we're loving it.
Greg and the Diplomat
05 November 2010
Day 34
Posted by email.
Vietnam is alive with mopeds. Vietnam is where mopeds go to die. Speeding, weaving, buzzing mopeds. Rusty, old, wobbly, rickety, mopeds. One passenger the norm. Two no problem. Three riders, yes. Family of four also. Overloaded. Stacks of rebar. Check. Whicker baskets, groceries, toilets, four cases of beer. Check, check, check, check. A ten foot tall flower arrangement balanced on the handlebars. Negative, the arrangement was only eight feet tall. They are on the road, on the sidewalk and some drive straight into shops. To cross the street on foot you walk into traffic, keep a steady pace, and let the mopeds flow around you.
The money was fun. At 20,000 dongs to the dollar we were instant billionaires. Beers were 40,000 and an antique carved Buddha 58 Trillion.
We visited Ho Chi Minh City (which everyone calls Saigon) and Da Nang. Saigon was sunny, hot and humid. We walked the city, past the sidewalk lemonade bars that seat you on plastic footstools. Old ladies sold soup from dented pots, coffee from tin cans and whole coconuts served whole with a straw. We were accosted by entrepreneurs selling everything from cheap sunglasses to limes. The overhead electrical lines were more knotted than the cluster of wires behind my home entertainment center. In Da Nang there was a monsoon. We didn't visit the city but went to the ancient My Son temple deep in the Vietnamese jungle and then the world heritage village of Hoi An. We enjoyed the contrast between the frenzy of Saigon and the rural scenery near Da Nang.
Next stop: Australia.
Greg and the Diplomat
04 November 2010
Day 32
Posted by Email.
Our ship advised us that Singapore was basically at the equator and it would be hot as hell. The Singapore immigration official gave us a landing card which stated drug traffickers are sentenced to immediate death. Five minutes into town, we found notices that you'd get caned for spitting gum on the street. Thousand dollar fines for eating or drinking on the subway and you get jailed for smoking on the street. I didn't have drugs or gum but I was worried. Maybe they'd mistake gallons of sweat dripping from my face for flying gum. Worse yet, maybe they'd see my sweat as the nerves of a drug-trafficker. I have a way of finding trouble. I expected trouble. All I got from Singapore was a sunburn (which is legal), heartburn (also legal) and a cheap green earring that I call now my Cheap Singapore Earring.
Singapore was fun. Similar in many ways to Hong Kong: colorful, energetic, modern, Singapore had a more western feel. The demographic was more mixed with a wider range of Asians in the gene-pool plus a large Indian contingent. (Do I need to say that blue-eyed westerners were rare?) We did not book a tour in Singapore but instead wandered around the streets on our own. I immediately loaded up on a much-needed Big Gulp at the 7 Eleven (I've missed Big Gulps the last 4 years) and the Diplomat went straight for the shops stocking up on jewelry, t-shirts and toothpaste (Colgate to be precise, we had been using some crappy Japanese stuff that tasted like skin cream, hell, it might have been skin cream for all I know…)
Our first point of interest was to be Little India and it was so damn India-looking that we're thinking of counting it as if we visited actually visited India. For one there were lots of Indians there. There were Indian shops and ladies in traditional Indian dress, and there was Indian music blaring in the streets. The Diplomat wanted a Henna tattoo and I wanted some good Indian food but I somehow found myself consoling a 2-year-old Indian girl who was about to get her ears pierced and decided to demonstrate how easy it was. They shot the earring, I squealed as if attacked by a monkey, and the little girl looked at me, cried, and refused to get her ear pierced.
I did get some good Indian food which burned my mouth so bad I felt it in my ass. By the time we found the waterfront I forgot the pain in my ear because of the massive holes in my intestines. A second Big Gulp went a long way in curing me and I was able to enjoy a boat race we happened upon. The boats were twenty man canoes with drummers up front keeping cadence. We strolled through a park, then past a mall with some crazy architecture on our way to the world famous Raffles hotel. The guide book says Mr. Raffles was some hotshot who founded the city a long time ago. All I know of his legacy is the most expensive beer I've ever seen: 16 bucks. That has to be a record. We skipped the beer as I searched for a 7 Eleven and noticed city workers setting up Christmas decorations. Christmas in Singapore. Who knew. A little early for decorations I think but still a few months behind Walmart.
Thumbs up for Singapore but watch out for the Indian food.
Next: Vietnam.
Greg and the Diplomat
01 November 2010
Day 30 - Monkey Attack
Posted by Email
Borneo. My only prior knowledge of Borneo comes from Cliff Claven during an episode of Cheers.
Cliff Clavin: The original rites of passage started with the jungle tribes down there in Borneo.
Norm Peterson: Yeah?
Cliff Clavin: When the young jungle tribal lad was on the brink of puberty, they'd bring him forward and take out this large sharpened clam shell...
Sam Malone: Oh, no, no, no don't tell me...
Cliff Clavin: ...they would fill it with dip, pass it around with the hors d'oeuvres...
Sam Malone: Oh.
Cliff Clavin: ...then they'd take these two big jagged rocks in there...
Norm Peterson: Cliffy, Cliff, Cliff...
Cliff Clavin: ...and bang them together to call in the tribes out of the hills, you know. Then the witch doctor stepped up with this long sharpened bamboo staff...
Sam Malone: Oh, here it comes.
Cliff Clavin: ...and shoved it into the ground, hung a flag on it and they danced around it, pretty much, until they dropped, really.
Sam Malone: Oh, wait... When do they circumcize the kid?
Cliff Clavin: What do you mean circumsize? There are no Jews in Borneo, you moolyak.
Well, after visiting Borneo the last few days I have a better understanding of the island beyond the rites of passage and lack of Jews. Borneo is the third largest island in the world (behind Greenland and Papa New Guinea). It lies slightly north of the equator and is lush and tropical, as you would expect. I was surprised to learn the island is made up of three countries: Malaysia (as in the tag on your shirt which says hand wash made in Malaysia, Indonesia (as in the tag on your shirt which says hand wash made in Indonesia) and Brunei (as in WTF is a Brunei?). Our visit included the costal village of Kota Kinabula in Malaysia and Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei.
Kota Kinabula. We had no idea what to expect from this Malaysian fishing village so we booked a tour offered by the ship which included a boat ride, a few hours on a remote beach, and a rainforest hike in a national park. We generally stay away from the ship run guided tours: too many people, lots of waiting around, getting on and off the bus too much, seeing the best stuff go by out our window. This tour sounded different. Boat ride. Beach. Hike. The short summary sounded challenging: difficult hike over uneven terrain. We knew it would be hot, really hot, but there was also the opportunity to see monkeys, snakes, birds, and other rainforest critters. The Diplomat was quick to book the tour. I told her to stop right there. There was an important detail in the description that caused concern.
Not recommended for people over 40 years of age.
I had to say, Sorry, sweets, guess I have to run this one alone. I suggested she sign up for either the walking tour of the outdoor market or a bus ride to the fishing village. No age guidelines at all.
She rubbed her chin. "Not recommended for people over 40," she said. "It's not forbidden. I can do it."
"Your call, babe. If they ask for ID I'm not lying for you."
She ate a well-rounded breakfast, did twenty minutes of stretching before we left the ship and I saw her pack the Advil, fill two water bottles, and snug her shoes real tight. From the boat ride to the beach and then the hike she was off and running, staying at the very front of the group. I could hardly keep up. I was stopping to photograph the prehistoric foliage, the towering palm and gum trees, the mangrove swamp. I was snapping photos of the beaches, the ocean and the islands scattered all around. I felt I needed to so I could show the Diplomat what as out there afterwards. I didn't want her to miss it all.
I caught a few glimpses as she plowed forward, constantly trying to prove herself. I caught up with her briefly and told her not to worry about it, if she got overheated or needed to rest with any of the other 40 year olds, I'd stay with her. Let's enjoy it, I told her. She said she was fine.
I didn't see her again until we finished the hike. I felt a little bad that she missed so many tropical wonders at the expense of proving herself. I borrowed her camera to have a look at what she got and I saw pictures of snakes and bats and massive lizards. There were photos of termite mounds and an army of ants ten thousand strong.
Where did you see all this stuff? I asked her. I saw only trees.
"The guide," she told. "He was up at the front pointing out everything. He was a real source of tropical knowledge."
Kota Kinabula was a nice find. We followed our hike and beach visits with a stroll through the outdoor market and a walk past the fishing docks. We had to take cover during rainstorm that fell fast and hard. But in all it was a wonderful stop.
Bandar Seri Begawan was our second port of call. My rudimentary Malay translates this town to Port of Respected Ruler. It was a fascinating place. The country of Brunei is not only governed by a man with a really long name (Sultan, Kebawah Duli Yang Maha Mulia Paduka Seri Baginda Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu'izzaddin Waddaulah Ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar 'Ali Saifuddien Sa'adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Negara Brunei Darussalam) but it also has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world (thanks to offshore oil and natural gas). There is no income tax. Everyone has free health care and education. There are many benefits to being Brunei however the country is flawed beyond repair. There is simply no alcohol. It's illegal.
We only had a few hours at this port so we spent most of our time at the oldest water village in the world, Kampong Air. The water village has hundreds of simple wooden homes built on stilts over the shallow water and marshes. They are linked by miles of narrow docks. The only way to get there is a short water taxis from the more modern side of the town. We spent an hour or two exploring the various "neighborhoods" of Kampong. The people were friendly and we learned that most of the people get incentives (such as free utilities) to live there in order to keep the historic site alive. After the water village we stopped at a local market. The Diplomat walked every single aisle in the market and I photographed monkeys stealing from the trash bins and taking their prized-finds into an overgrown cemetery. My plan was to fill up my camera memory card with monkey pictures so that when we compared photos back on the ship the Diplomat would show me her pictures of dried fish and spices (something we've seen enough of) and I would show her my pictures and make a snotty remark such as I don't need a guide to find the wildlife. Well, as my luck will have it, the Diplomat arrived at the monkey cemetery about the time I had ventured in myself. I had been reluctant to go into the cemetery for many reasons, rabies being a best case scenario and becoming infected with a never before known virus that liquefies your bones and turns you soft tissue into concrete, but as I crept into the cemetery, Canon T2i in hand, I noticed the monkeys were frightened and fled. This was disappointing. While it was fortunate they weren't lacerating me with their nascent and human-destroying simian diseases, I wanted some decent photos, preferably an action shot. I did notice one big monkey who didn't see me. I know this because he was coming towards me while all the others were fleeing. I was primed to get the nature shot of my life, I had my shutter speed at the appropriate range, my f-stop in place when Mr. Monkey Who Didn't See Me quite literally attacked. I had my camera right on him and got one good picture when suddenly he screeched and jumped onto an overhanging branch (which under his weight fell to within 1 foot of my head). I got a brief glimpse of his open mouth and sharp teeth a foot from my face. I screamed as if I was being castrated after spilling hot coffee on my lap. This was by far the scariest moment of my life. I cowered and ran, nearly falling down the stone stairs. I do not know how I got away.
Yes, the Diplomat, she saw it all.
But she does not have any pictures of monkeys on her camera.
Singapore next.
Greg and the Diplomat
28 October 2010
Day 26
Posted by email.
We are at sea again. We are aboard the Costa Classica. There was a two day delay boarding the ship in Hong Kong as the ship was being repaired due to the collision last week. Per Costa's email of the accident, there was damage to the Deck 5 superstructure which was repaired in Shanghai. Well, we've since seen pictures of the damage and it is not the superstructure that was damaged but the starboard hull, a 50 foot gash was cut in the hull about 30 feet above the water exposing about 10 cabins to the air. I do not know how they could have repaired it in four days. Fortunately, it's well above the waterline. We haven't been able to see the damage because conveniently the ship was berthed with the starboard side to sea as we boarded. I'm sort of pissed at Costa for saying "superstructure" when from what I've seen it definitely the hull. I've requested a meeting with the ship's safety officer to discuss the matter. I'll let you know how that turns out.
Hong Kong was a lot of fun. In case you were unaware, Hong Kong is on a peninsula but most of it is made up of islands connected by tunnels, bridges and ferries. Much of Hong Kong is uninhabited because of the mountainous jungle-like terrain. The areas that are inhabited are over-inhabited. Hong Kong is packed. But it's organized. It's busy, modern, clean and safe. The food is good but I'm only talking about the Noodle soup because that's all we ate it was so damn good. English is widely spoken and the signs are all in Cantonese and English, Cantonese being less useful to us. Our first two days we stayed at the "Central Park Hotel" on "Hollywood Road". Strange. Our exploration of the city began with the busiest areas first, the huge shopping district on Kowloon, the antique market in Central, and the Avenue of the Stars where there is a statue of Bruce Lee and the Diplomat put her hands on Jackie Chan's handprints. We rode a funicular railway to the top of Hong Kong Island for a spectacular view and we took a bus to the far side of the Hong Kong Island (about 30 minutes) to visit a seaside market. The drive was fun as we were able to see just how lush the area is. We had one advantage while in Hong Kong. We were fortunate to get a few pointers during a visit with Jen Frisinger, a high school friend who has lived here for 15 years.
We were supposed to board our ship last Saturday but because of the ship repairs Costa put us up in a hotel. Costa has not impressed us with their handling of the delay. They don’t give a lot of information; we wait in too many lines. But the biggest and dumbest move they made was when we showed up at the pier to find out where our hotel was and Costa put us on a bus to the airport to the "meeting point" where we would "learn more". The meeting point was at the airport 45 minutes away and when we arrived Costa gave a small piece of paper which said our hotel was next to the ship terminal, where we just were! So we had to get on a different bus, ride through too much traffic and go back where we started. Three hours of lost time. I have many other gripes with Costa, and I'll probably settle down once we get to Borneo tomorrow, but for now we are at sea with nothing to do which means I'm going to be a pain in their ass until we get to our first port of call. Hey, it's something to do to pass the time.
Because of the extra time in Hong Kong, we were able to travel to two more islands: Peng Chao and Lantau. Peng Chao is the "most Chinese" of the Hong Kong Islands and we only ended up there because we were planning on going to Lantau Island but we didn't want to wait an hour for the ferry so we just hopped on the next available boat. We had never heard of Peng Chao but during the 30 minutes ferry ride we scoured our guide book and learned that it offered a nice one-hour hike. The hike was fantastic, a well maintained trail to the highest point on the island with a wide view. Interestingly they had firefighting brooms along the way which we tested on the mosquitoes. Who knew you could fight mosquitoes with firefighting equipment? Lantau Island was next and our goal. We wanted to see the Big Buddha, purportedly the largest Buddha in the world. We were not disappointed. The Buddha is on the top of Lantau and comparable to the Statue of Liberty in scale. We strolled around the Buddha for an hour as the Diplomat shopped. We also ate a slice of surprisingly good pizza. The elevation of the Buddha was a welcome relief from the heat and humidity around Hong Kong. The Diplomat is a great shopper and can sniff out a deal anywhere even from the butt of the enlightened one. She bought an amber necklace in Buddha's arse that she says is really nice. Then we rode a long cable car back to the bottom. It is the first cable car that I have ridden that goes over the ocean and takes a 90 degree turn.
On to Borneo.
Greg and the Diplomat
20 October 2010
Day 19
Posted by email which means many errors.
We landed in Hong Kong! Had quite an adventure between Taiwan and Hong Kong. A freighter went down in the Taiwan Strait and our ship was the first to respond to the SOS. We spent 11 hours on-site assisting the Taiwan Coast Guard rescuing survivors from the sea. Conditions were pretty bad, rain, 15 foot seas, and 65 mph wind. We've been told that there were 22 crew who abandoned their ship. Eighteen have been found, 17 alive. Three were rescued by our crew who pulled the survivors from the sea during the night. Our ship crew lifted the survivors almost 25 feet from the ocean. We've been told cruise ships are not designed to pull people out of the water and they had some trouble pulling the survivors up so high with just a life ring and rope. Our captain was able to tilt our ship lower on that side and hold it there so that the rescuers were closer to the water. It was amazing how much the ship could tip. A lot of stuff spilled over on the ship, tragically much of the ship's liquor. I've posted videos at my youtube channel. In many of the videos all you see is black dot for the survivor. They were covered in oil.
Some videos of the rescue: http://www.youtube.com/user/misterhausfrau
So, yes, we're in Hong Kong now and from what I can tell it's not far from the next stop for Megi. We're scheduled to leave Hong Kong on a second cruise on Saturday. Hopefully we'll get out of here before she hits.
Oh, just realized I didn't post any pictures from Taiwan. We really enjoyed Taiwan during our two days there. We visited a huge night market, a Yehliu National Park on the coast, and a temple. Good luck sorting out which photos are where…
Greg and the Diplomat
07 October 2010
Day 6 - Beijing
Posted by Email
We have 10 minutes before we can board our Royal Caribbean ship, Legend of the Seas and our 2 week cruise through north Asia. This blog post is going to have to be fast. We flew from Dubai to Beijing on Monday. I sat next to the most disgusting human being on the planet, Mr. Spitter. He spit on the floor, in his cup, in his dinner, on the seat. I switched seats for most of the flight but I still couldn't eat any food. Never sit in seat 24F on any Emirates flight. Beijing was fun. We visited the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall over two days. We took car taxis, bike taxis, and three wheel motorcycle taxis encased in tin foil. The food is spicy and the beers are bigger than Austria, if that's possible, and taste great. Our local driver, Mr. Ping, was as good as gold, briefing us on all a tourist needs to know: what to see, what to do, and most importantly…how not to get ripped off. We failed once bargaining but since I've learned the sport of Chinese haggling: run away! If they catch you, whatever price they say is as low as they will go.
Enjoy the pictures. I'm outahere.
Greg and the Dip
Great White goes after shark cage...
I took this short video of a great white shark while cage diving in South Africa...
At an ostrich farm in South Africa...
Oct. Virtual Book Tour
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Oct 1 Author Interview - The Tween Whisperer Blog
Oct 5 Author Interview - Kidzworld
Oct 7 & 8 Review and Author Interview - 5 Minutes for Books
Oct 11 Guest Blogger - Young Adult (& Kids!) Books Central
Oct 14 Review and Author Interview
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