Tomorrow, Melbourne...

The morning after we left Sydney, the ship was somewhat quiet when we belatedly went up for breakfast. Most people do really enjoy Sydney, whether it is their first visit or have been here before. As I mentioned, it is a friendly and safe city. We were a bit disappointed with the rainy first day and somewhat coolish at times the second day but it was great. We, like most people overdid it in Sydney. People just want to "be off the boat", we left at 9 and got back at 8, tired but happy.

We have only two more ports in Australia, Melbourne and then Fremantle, [the port for Perth on the west coast]. After Australia, we are not in what I call 'conventional countries' for quite some time. Up until now, our time ashore has been in places that most people feel very comfortable in. After Perth, our next port is Bali. Now the name Bali sounds exotic, warm and exciting etc. Yes it is all that. It is also, however, in Indonesia, the land that is home to over 200,000,000 Muslims. That frightens some people but Muslims have lived peacefully with other religions for centuries.

Bali is a vacation playground to Australians, it affords cheap and quick packages to paradise. That is why so many Aussies died in the Bali Bombing of 2002. That is the also the reason that Australia has such strict security in it's ports and airports. Australia has had troops in Iraq from the beginning and is on the terrorists hit list. Even on the ferries we were riding on there are notices about unattended luggage. One pertinent sign was "If you hear something, tell somebody". The cruise ships in port have banners hanging on their sides warning boats to keep away.

After Bali we head up into Brunei, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, India, Oman, Egypt, Turkey, Russia and the Ukraine. It will not be until we hit Greece almost two months from now, that we will be in a country that we will NOT be the visible minority. The customs and practices in these countries can be in stark contrast to what most passengers on the ship are used to.

Yesterday and basically since leaving the USA in early January, eating ashore has not been a problem, neither has been the use of the toilets on shore. We have not encountered beggars, obnoxious peddlers, purse snatchers or pickpockets. This is about to end. Welcome to the world of FOREIGN travel!

Also the users of wines will have difficulty getting a decent wine at a fair price. Goodbye to five litres for 13 NZ dollars!

We are also heading to the land of fake Rolex watches, and fake just about everything else. Last time we were in Bali a Rolex was five dollars. I remember that our friends Andy and Merle were with us on Oriana. We tendered in and were met with hordes of hawkers at the dock. Merle and Fellette, once back on board did not want to face the people that were in your face at the market stalls. Only the stalwart went ashore AGAIN!

CHANGE lN SUBJECT:

Tomorrow in Melbourne we are to be met by friends Rod and Lyn Lindroth.


Lyn is a descendant of a "First Fleeter", which is what Australians call the very first thousand or so "convicts" that were sentenced to "transportation" to Australia. That ancestor's name was Ann Forbes.

Below is an excerpt of the writing I did about Anne Forbes while in Australia last October/November, with Rod and Lyn. I find the history of Australia fascinating, I hope you do too.

"Free transportation from England to Australia..."

England, in 1787, was not a good place to be if you were poor. A young girl called Ann Forbes was poor and living in England. She was found guilty of stealing cloth worth 20 shillings. [She was originally sentenced to death but that was changed to "seven years transportation".] That meant being put on a "hulk" in the River Thames. As these "hulks" filled up, the prisoners were transferred to "prison ships" to be transported to a very remote recently discovered part of the world that we now call Australia.

And so, a 19 year old girl was sent to the ends of the earth, and another pesky person was swept from English society. The "First Fleet" as it is called had three Man-of-War as escorts and about 12 prison ships. The voyage took months, under harsh conditions as you can imagine. They landed in/near Botany Bay but then moved north a bit to a place called Port Jackson, [now Sydney].

Ann Forbes survived. She did more than survive, she married, three times actually, and had many children.

Lyn has a massive book listing the ancestors and lineage of all of Ann's 24,000 known relatives. [Ann and her descendants were very prolific.] The book is called "Transported to Paradise" a genealogy of Ann Forbes. It weighs about five pounds.

Little did that 19 year old cloth-thief from England ever think that her name would live on...

[The foregoing is correct to the best of my knowledge, some details are likely wrong. I am relying on my memory of bits and pieces that I have picked up over the years, plus a little help from Google.]

The picture below shows Rod (who, with his wife Lyn, will be meeting us in Melbourne tomorrow) and Keith. Keith is an Aussie friend I have known since 1960. Keith and wife Jenny were going to visit with us tomorrow but their daughter Tracy has a medical involvement that presented problems to Keith. Keith got in touch with Rod and it was supposed to be a surprise that Rod and Lyn were to meet us. Unfortunately they were not aware of what Doug can do when his cell phone works. We will miss seeing you Keith and Jenny.