Brisbane, Australia to Sandekan, Borneo

In Brisbane we headed to the town of Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast where we found an amazingly vast beach with wonderful sand, loads of high rise buildings, and scantily clad meter maids who handed out parking meter tokens to tourists.  The weather was grey and a bit rainy.

The rain got in the way of our plans for Cairns where we had hoped to rent a car and drive along the coast, up into the rain forest, and around the town.  Two roads were closed due to flooding and the other road out of town was closed due to a serious accident.


We were stuck in a not so great place where you can't go into the ocean water due to crocodiles and killer jelly fish . . . ergo the very large and elaborate salt water pool on the edge of the ocean.

Next was a short stop, 4 hours, on Thursday Island, at the most northern tip of Australia.

Not too much there except more crocodiles and a very cute dog.











We weren't expecting much in Darwin and were pleasantly surprised.  It's definitely out in the boonies or "the bush" as they say in Australia, but we had a fun time at a huge wildlife park with our Swiss/British friends, Chris and Marjorie, and even had time to explore the small "city" and find a fabulous (itty-bitty) dress shop.

 A beautiful nature park walkway through Goose Lagoon.  The water was within 2 inches of overflowing it!

 We were greeted at the pier in Bali by singers, dancers, and musicians -quite the colorful show.




We could tell that rain was on the way.  Luckily it didn't arrive until hours later while we were having lunch, but did it pour.  We have never seen such a downpour, not ever.

Everywhere we've gone there have been coca cola stands.  The Balinese version was very creative.

 
Lots of street vendors, you could find yourself surrounded, and everything was "one dalla."

The highlight of the day was visiting one
of the home compounds.  The one we saw belonged to people who were not at all well off.  There was a charge of "two dalla."  This is their kitchen.  And, below are their fighting cocks.








Everywhere, and we mean everywhere, people are making offerings, which consist of beautiful flowers and rice.  They are on the ground, at small shrines, on ledges, everywhere you look.

In one of the major towns, Ubud, we were taken to the "market."  It was just after the downpour and we walked through the chaos and puddles, having been allowed 20 minutes to look around.


We stopped to visit a temple where this woman was preparing offerings and charging "one dolla" to have her picture taken with you.

What an amazing face - I couldn't take my eyes off of her.

After a brief stop at the Government House, we headed back to the ship.

We've decided we have to go back to Bali and really see and absorb this magnificent place.

We signed up for a Silversea excursion in Sandakan, Borneo, which took us up the Kinabatangan River in a longboat with 10 passengers, many of which are our friends on board.  The excursion began at the water village of Buli Sim Sim.

The river was muddy, well traveled, and surrounded by tropical jungle, with small waterways (which we did not explore, unfortunately) leading off on all sides.

We passed several small shoreline villages, accessible only by boat.  One village had a school.  Another had a floating outhouse!

Our final river destination was a jungle resort where we were allowed all of 20 minutes to have something to drink, a fried banana, and use the bathroom.  Some people were smart and headed into the jungle on the elevated wooden paths.  They got to see monkeys.

Back in Buli Sim Sim the tide had gone out, and as described, we got to see all of the trash that people throw into the river.  Evidently the advent of plastic has created quite a problem.





This sign was in our van.

Across the street, on dry land, the "guys" were having an afternoon get-together at the local pagoda.