We docked in Cairns, Australia on November 5 to disembark passengers from the Bali leg of the journey and to take on new passengers for the trip to Fiji. We had the day free until all aboard time at 4, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do. My first stop was the hairdresser where I had made an appointment before leaving home, knowing I would need a trim by then. Instead, I had my hair thinned and chopped off because I was tired off feeling like my head was going to explode from the heat. I walked out looking like a boy - at least from the neck up! Mike describes the cut as “cute”. Second on my list was to get a really good cheeseburger and we found just the place on the waterfront. Purrrrrfect! Now I’m good for another couple of weeks. Aside from that, there really wasn’t much to say about Cairns because it is basically a jumping off point to the Great Barrier Reef. Probably the less said, the better.
After a bumpy day spent sailing through the Coral Sea, we started all over again with the Captain’s Welcome Aboard Cocktail Party and Dinner. It seemed strange to go to dinner and to see hardly anyone we knew. Somehow I don’t feel that I have the energy or the desire to make the effort to socialize all over again, knowing that we will probably never see these people again. I don’t know how the staff do it time and time again. But maybe this is just a case of the post-parting blues.
For me, the trip really began when we docked at Alotau, the capital of Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Within this province, there are more than 600 islands, 160 of them inhabited, and about 276,000 inhabitants speaking about 48 languages! Alotau is a sleepy little town built on the hillsides of the northern shore of the bay, but we were lucky enough to hit it on the weekend of the annual Canoe Festival, so the place was jumping. It was like going to a county fair in the US, complete with rock bands and cotton candy! There was a difference though in that it was also a time to respect their cultural traditions, with tribes and clans coming from all over the island plus some of the neighboring islands to perform their dances in their unique costumes, race their incredibly long dugout canoes, and to party and socialize. The costumes were incredible as you can see from the pictures below:
