Days 51 and 52: Freemantle & Perth, Australia

Monday February 25th, and Tuesday, February 26th, 2013

Our visit to Perth, was one that we have been anticipating since we decided to do this second World Voyage, because it would present an opportunity for us to visit with our friends Berndt and Linda, who we met in 2009 on a HAL cruise to New Zealand and Australia.  Our time with them will be a special memory of this trip, first because they are such wonderful people, and secondly because they gave us the royal treatment here. 

We arrived in the Freemantle area at sea at about 2 pm. and Jonathan announced that our route into the container port would involve us sailing north of the city to avoid the reefs, then a turn south into a channel, then up the Swan River.   Our first impression was the magnificent white sand beach that stretched for miles along the ocean coastline.  There was quite a chop on the water, and we learned later that this breeze is known as the Freemantle Gift - such is the heat in Perth.  We were docked by 4 p.m. and Berndt picked us up on the dot of 6 p.m. to take us to their beautiful home for a gourmet dinner cooked by Linda.  They coincidently had other international guests from Denmark, who joined the party as well.  

I am sure that most of my followers have had the experience of "clicking" with people immediately, and that is what happened when we originally met Berndt and Linda, who were our table mates in 2009.  We just picked up our energetic conversation where we had left off, and it was a sparkling evening that included topics of international significance.  Berndt and Jens, his friend, have been in the shipping business their whole careers, and have lived and travelled all over the world, so there was plenty to talk about among the 3 couples.  Linda outdid herself with a completely "from scratch" meal of crab blinnies, osso bucca, salad, potatoes, homemade bread and mango panna cotta - and of course we drank lots of Australian wine.  Linda used a fantastic application on her iPhone to get a taxi, that allowed us to see exactly where the cab was.  We came back to the ship and fell into bed, to sleep before they picked us up this morning at 9 a.m. for a tour of Perth. 

Perth is the 9th most expensive city in the world, the capital of Western Australia, population 1.8 million, has an unemployment rate of 3.5 % (i.e. none!) and is extremely prosperous due to the mining and other natural resources in the province.  It is the most isolated capital city in the world.  We loved this city though.  It is built at the confluence of 2 rivers, which also have beautiful beaches lining the shores.  The homes here are modern, beautiful, and expensive.  We started out by going to an area along the river with homes that were in the 4+Million range because of their view of the river.  We walked along the boardwalk, and began to appreciate the only downside of this city - the heat.  It was forecast to be 35 C today, and by noon it was oppressive, and this is the fall season here.  Linda says they basically live indoors, because they can't be outside in the heat.  They told us last week it was over 40C and when the wind blew it felt like a hairdryer blowing in your face.  

We drove up to the Botancial Gardens, Kings Park, which is on a high point overlooking the city, where we saw the monument to the Australians killed in the Oct 12th, 2002 Bali bombing, stopped for a very refreshing drink (lime and bitters for me)  a 750 year old Aborigine boab tree, transplanted in 2008 from 3200 km away, as a gift to the city. This sacred tree is thriving in its new home.  We also went into the  Craft Museum, which had some of the highest quality glass and wood art, we have ever seen.   By now we were extremely hot.  The temp inside their car read 47C.  Wow.   Berndt was just a terrific guide, telling us all about the districts we drove through - out to the north shore to another gorgeous beach district for a fantastic lunch.  We headed back along the ocean to see even more expensive homes - honestly we were impressed by the obvious wealth here- to Freemantle.  Berndt says that 50,000 New Zealanders per year are relocating to Perth because of the job prospects.  

Freemantle is a charming "suburb" which has extremely well preserved old buildings that form a village atmosphere of shops and cafes and part of the Notre Dame University who has bought up these historic buildings.  There are 5 universities in this city.  

We reluctantly bid our friends adieu, after extracting a promise that they will visit us in Canada, maybe even in 2014, and promised that we will visit them when they relocate to New Zealand to their retirement home.  How honoured we were to be so wonderfully hosted and to see the city through the eyes of locals.  

Day 50: Albany, Australia

Sunday February 24th, 2013

We didn't know what to expect in this Western Australian city of 30,000 and we were very pleasantly surprised at what a terrific time we had and how interesting this place is.  We took the shuttle into the little town.  First impression was that although it was Sunday and a lot of stores were closed, the town had put on a special little market and welcoming committee for our ship.  There were iVisitor volunteers everywhere and lots of tours to choose from.  We hurtled up the hill to find some free WiFi, and also made arrangements to take a 4 hour tour out to the spectacular coastline we had heard about.  We managed to speak to 2 of our families, but had to rush back to make the 10 a.m. leaving time for the tour.  

Lee, our guide, had a small bus with about 20 of us.  He was an excellent guide, with some ecological background and filled our heads with data which was so interesting.    The first thing we saw was  a reproduction of the British explorer, Flinder's, ship which landed here in 1836 - so pleased to have discovered what most people believe is the largest natural harbour in the world.  There was high hope for a long time that Albany would be a great centre, but Perth eventually won out.  Albany's biggest industry until 1978 was whaling, and thankfully the people all agreed to shut that venture down, even though it caused a lot of contention at the time.  They now have a whaling museum which helped replace the money from whaling.  

On our way out of town we pulled over, first for "roo" sightings. About 20 kangaroos, who are a big nuisance to farmers, were grazing in a field and when we clapped our hands and they stood up and gazed at us.  

We also learned that this is one of the most bio-diverse areas in the world, because of the poor soil, and the types of plants that are here from the time it split from Antarctica when it was part of Gondwana, the original mother continent.   We saw "black boys" a spear like plant that grows 1 cm a year, but had about 8 different uses for the Aboriginals, and learned about fire being as natural here as rain and sun, and how now they do controlled burns of the wild areas to help regenerate the flora.  

We also stopped at the entrance of one of the most famous walks in the world - called the Bibbulman (the tribe name) walk, an Aboriginal walk of 1000 km from Albany to Perth, which has 40 stations along it,  with basic shelter for walkers.  It takes 6 weeks to do the trek, but apparently it is splendid scenery.  

Then we came to the main attraction - Torndirrup National Park.  This is the area that when attached to Antarctica - about 1 billion years ago- had a mountain range higher than the Himalayas, formed from tectonic activity.  Over the next millions of years, - about 100 million ago, Australia separated, and since that time, the sea has worn those mountains down to a nub of granite that reminds me of Peggy's Cove in Nova Scotia.  This magnificent area has, we are told, the biggest surf in the world, and it pounds in here, around a natural granite bridge with a hole in it.  The surf can come up to the parking lot which is about 150 feet behind where we stood.  We were told to stay on the path as there had been several lives lost from people getting up on the rocks and plunging to their deaths.  

Albany has some of the finest beaches in Australia, and the real danger surfers come to this spot, being towed out in the HUGE surf.  However after this, Lee told us about his close encounter with a Great White Shark.  He and his "mate", were surfing 3 years ago, and he had just come into the beach when he saw a grand splash around his friend, who was still out and he knew immediately what it was.  A wave came along and his friend managed to get onto his board, after 2 attempts and into shore, but he was badly injured.  Luckily it was a national holiday and there were other people to help Lee, who says he couldn't have managed on his own.  The shark narrowly missed his friend's artery, and they got him to the hospital - but it took an hour for the helicopter to get there because there was no cell reception.   He said there have been 5 shark deaths this year, and for some reason not known, these Great White attacks are becoming more frequent.  He took us to another family beach in the afternoon where a local school teacher was attacked and badly injured last year. 

Then we went to the Windmill Farm.  This was also very impressive. Built in 2000 for $43 million - these 18 windmills, which are a German design and the largest in the southern hemisphere, produce 80% of all the energy of Albany.  They are also looking into wave generation of energy like we learned about in Northern Ireland, because of that large heavy surf.   By now it was raining heavily and so we couldn't get out to look at the whole farm.

Off we went to lunch, on the other side of town, where our planned picnic on another beach was spoiled by the rain. We ate in the bus, then finally ventured out for home made cake and passion fruit from Lee's own yard. 

Final stop was the ANZAC (Australian, New Zealand Army Corps) war memorial.  In 1915, 30,000 men from all over Australia and New Zealand (and some women),including boys as young as 14, who lied about their age and were recruited for the 1st World War, and who had foolishly bought into the idea that this was to be a glorious adventure, set off in 30 ships for what would be the slaughter of the Battle of Galipoli.  They landed in Egypt for a few months of training, then 8,000 were killed, 12,000 seriously wounded, and the rest made it home.  This galvanized this area, who had only just become a nation 14 years earlier.  Next year is the centennial of that leave taking from this harbour.  We all remarked that tragically there is still war in the areas in which these boys and men lost their lives.  

Tonight we are dining at a special dinner hosted by Jonathan, the Captain, for Lisa Evans who turns 99 today.  We met this marvellous woman last year on our cruise and we were all so delighted to find her once again on the ship.  She is beautiful, interesting, and travels all alone all over the world.  What an honour to celebrate her birthday with her tonight.

Tomorrow we will be in Freemantle - Perth,  where we will be met by our friends Berndt and Linda, who we met on another cruise.  They are bringing us to their home for dinner, then taking us on a tour of their city the following day.  We are so looking forward to seeing them again, and to getting an inside tour of their city.  Stay tuned!

Days 48 and 49: At Sea in the South Australia Bite

Friday February 22 and Saturday February 23, 2013

We have enjoyed some real rolling seas which increased today (Saturday) and will be with us all the way to Albany tomorrow. We like the roll of the sea, but lots of people are wearing wrist bands, or taking sea sickness medication.

Friday was a formal night with the theme of Medieval Times. The poor dining room stewards were dressed in full English armour costumes consisting of plastic headdresses and chain mail made of metal thread. They were dying of the heat. The place was decked out in black and red, and since it was a Captain's dinner there were only 3 of us at the table, but we had a very interesting conversation, followed by another fantastic show. Two violinists - a young man and woman - he originally from Hungary, and she from Italy, who are now an item personally as well as professionally. They were unbelievably energetic, fun and extremely talented. For those who don't usually appreciate violin, they really put a twist on things. The night before there was a 24 year old British pianist who was also sensational. We cannot believe how fortunate we are to be entertained so richly each evening.

When I retired I gave myself a year to start to regain my health, after years of over work, not eating properly and virtually no exercise. I am very proud of myself, as I have lost a lot of weight this year, and one of the promises I made to myself, once I recovered from my January illnesses was that I would work out in the gym. I mean how easy can it be to wake up, walk up stairs, get breakfast, and walk to the bow of the ship to the gym, with classes and instructors and equipment. I have been going to yoga classes, have a personal trainer, and this morning I did my first every spinning class!! I am the oldest in the class, and I feel such a sense of accomplishment that I made it through the class. Our instructor is my trainer too (Kristina) and she is a tough, but terrific instructor. One of the other guests was new to this and today was her 20th class and she high -fived me at the end of the class and told me how proud she was of me. She assured me that if I kept it up I would soon be having fun. Hard to imagine that just yet, as my legs were like jelly as I walked down to our cabin, but I am sure feeling pretty great after a few weeks of exercise, although tonight I can barely walk from the spinning class.

The other highlight of our day is that Barry met a gentleman a few days ago, who sat next to him in a lecture and he called today to invite us to meet him for lunch. John Stutterheim is a hero. He was a child prisoner of war, in a Japanese labour camp on the island of Borneo in the 2nd world war. He has just published a book on the 3 years he was interred there. He said that few people know that the Japanese had children in labour camps and he needed to tell the story. He enthralled us over lunch with stories of how he survived and how his younger brother, mother and father did as well. His mother who was 37 when they were freed was tortured. There were 3 children in her room ages 6, 5 and 4. John was able to hide a diary which contained his memories and drawings of the details which are all used in the book. I urge all those interested in the men, women and children who suffered so greatly to obtain a copy of this book. He is a retired physician who lives now in Tacoma Washington.

The name of his book is " Diary of Prisoner 17326" published by Fordham University Press at the Bronx. ISBN 978-0-8232-3150-8. Paperback edition came out in Dec 2012 at $25 from Amazon.

We ended our day with an Irish comedian who got off to a slow start, but finished strong and had us all laughing. The seas are really swelling tonight so "rock a bye baby". We hope to call our children tomorrow when we land in Albany as our internet connection has been pretty pathetic since all the new people got on - limited bandwidth. We are missing them greatly and need to have some talk time. We also gained another 2 hours since we left Tasmania, so we are even more challenged to find times that work for them and us, and where we have connectivity.

Day 47: Kangaroo Island, Australia

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Today was everything that yesterday wasn't.  Surprisingly.  We booked a last minute HAL tour for Seal Bay Discovery.  This was a tender port and there was quite a swell on the sea as we made our way over to Kingscote.  

This small island (90 miles by 40 miles) has 4000 inhabitants.  Although close to mainland Australia, it was isolated for 8000 years, and only birds crossed the channel.  In the early 1800s  - 3 explorers made their way here (Flinders (English), a French one whose name escapes me, and Pendleton (American) ).  The latter man is responsible for the tragic almost total destruction of  the Australian Sea Lion, which they project will be extinct in about 30 years.  He slaughtered 100,000 seals on this island and had so many pelts and so much blubber that he had to build another ship to get it all home.  We went to the largest colony on the island, - where 1000 of these lovely creatures remain, because there is a reef about a nautical mile offshore that prevented Pendleton from taking them all.  

Our bus driver was extremely witty, and a very informative guide.  The island now has tourism as its main industry, followed by agriculture (wheat, barley, flax, rapeseed) honey, and 47 vineyards, sheep and cattle.  The land is surprisingly barren, and parched, with large tracts of land cleared for crops, and the rest covered in scrubby bushes and eucalyptus trees.  And of course the name of the island comes from the large population of kangaroos.  There is a large inland salt water sea on the island, that we passed by and a saltwater lake.  There is only 1 stoplight on the island.  In 2007 lightening struck a forest of eucalyptus and caused a huge fire that spread and burned for 3 1/2 weeks.  We saw all the dead trees from one area, but it has regenerated, as the driver told us these trees love fires and grow back very quickly.  The main road was in good repair, but you could see that much of the road infrastructure here is a dirt or gravel path.  The climate is temperate, and it never snows, or gets too cold. 

Our driver stopped to point out some large kangaroos, which at 8 am. were just either lying down by the side of the road to nap, or headed for the trees to sleep for the day.  It was difficult to see them, because they looked like bushes if they weren't moving.  

There are a few nice homes, but everything else  is extremely modest, and there are quite a few old limestone structures from the early settlers.  Our driver has lived here his whole life (63 years) and was the son of one of the 172 Returning Soldier families who were settled here after World War 2.  This is quite a story.  The Australian government divided land so each family had 1200 acres, and established them in communal homes for 2 years, while they all cleared the land, then devised a process whereby once they were profitable, they began to pay back the land value.  Today there is only 1 man living of the original 172.  Some of the farms have been bought up by the larger farmers on the land.  

For those who don't know, my interest in seals goes back to the 1970's when I graduated from the University of  Guelph, and worked at the College of Biological Science.  Eventually I wound up working for the Dean, who had research students and grants for work on Pinnepedia (seals).  I actually wrote some books for him on the topic, that are published, and while my detailed memory of their biology has faded, they hold a sentimental place in my heart.   We arrived at Seal Bay, which is a National Park where a park ranger, took us to the beach right beside the seals.  These seals are distinct from other Sea Lions, as the mature males have a golden mane of hair that makes them look like a lion when they are swimming.  This population is used to humans, and just laid around the beach completely unperturbed at our presence.  

Each adult goes out to sea to feed for 3 days at a time, often swimming about 250 miles to do so.  They can dive for up to 12 minutes for a large male, and about 8 for a female.  We saw an exhausted seal arrive back on the beach.  When the female returns she calls out to her pups who come up to feed.  They have the longest gestational period of any seal - 17 months which is one reason their population is so endangered, as having 1 pup, with 30 % mortality doesn't give them much chance to repopulate to safer levels.   These seals are implanted with micro chips as soon as the mother goes out to feed, and they are well monitored by the park biologists.  Their natural predator here is the great white shark.  So those surfing waves  weren't so appealing.  Ten days after giving birth to her pup, the female goes into heat and gets pregnant right away.  Some life.

The setting is beautiful, a large harbour on a very fine sand beach with dunes rising up behind.  The seals have carved small paths in the dunes, when they travel up there to get shelter or give birth.  

Our next stop was to the Eucalyptus refinery - the only one left , where they make eucalyptus oil, soaps, and lotions, tea tree oil and emu oil, and honey.  All of the honey is harvested from the Ligurian bees, which were originally established from 12 Italian hives.  This industry is thriving, with over 12,000 hives now.  The most important thing is that this is the only species of bee on the island, and it is disease free, unlike many bee populations around the world that are dying and endangered from a mite.  Kangaroo Island is involved in helping save bee populations around the world as they make Queen bees from their hives and ship them by post around the world in little wooden matchbook size cartons, with enough food to feed her for a week.    I had the feeling that this may foretell the future, when small seemingly inconsequential and remote places on earth may play an important role as the planet gets sicker from all our abuses.  

Our last spot was Pennington Bay - a spectacular deserted beach of turquoise waters crashing against the limestone cliffs.  

What impressed me was how industrious the people on this remote island are, - so many different small businesses, and even an art show in the town, and yet it is not a place that I would want to call home, as it surely must be tough and require a hardiness of character.  There are no amenities here - at all - we saw a restaurant and a craft centre, a motel, and a general store - that's it folks.   Like the Falkland Islands, where we visited last year, there are lots of loners who would find this gorgeous landscape ideal, but for those of us wanting a bit more we would get cabin fever pretty quickly.   Still we felt very fortunate to have spent a few hours here on this lovely unspoiled island.

Day 46: Adelaide Australia

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I will say up front that this day was a disappointment for both of us.  We should have booked a tour of the Barossa Valley, which is the renowned wine growing and making area in Australia.  Instead, as everyone's plans  for the day morphed, we found ourselves without a plan - never a good idea, especially in a big city.  

Our ship had been rocking and rolling quite a bit yesterday, as the seas had some big swells.  We arrived to calmer waters at 10 a.m. up the Torrens River to the industrial container port, where we took a shuttle bus for 45 minutes.  The drive through Port Adelaide caught us by surprise, as we had heard that people thought Adelaide so beautiful.  What we saw was a depressed area of unattractive tract housing, parched lawns, and vacant commercial space.  Once we reached Adelaide proper, the architecture changed greatly, and the Victorian buildings were much more attractive.  The bus dropped us at The Rundle Street Mall - the largest mall in Australia.  It's not really a mall, just a street open only to pedestrians with little alleys going off to all the shops - over 700 in all.  

We spent an hour walking to the Visitors Centre, then back where we had come from to a Travel Agent, hoping to get on a Barossa wine tour, only to be disappointed that they were sold out.  The hop on hop off bus, had no commentary, and so it didn't appeal, and Barry had no appetite for shopping.  So he went back to the ship and I stayed, as I had a few things I was looking for.  After another hour or so, I bumped into my friends, Karen and Leslie, which we all deemed to be miraculous given the size of this shopping area.

We had some fun, in a beauty product place, where we all had things we needed, and then we decided to head back to the ship.   Whenever we are in a big port till late at night, the ship throws a big party in the Lido with musical entertainment.  We didn't feel like lining up for the buffet barbecue, so we ate in the dining room, then went to the Lido and had a great evening with friends, music and a glass of wine. 

What did I learn?  It was 40 degrees F last week, which explains the parched look of the parks; Everyone has solar panels on their roofs; the people are extremely welcoming, and never leave things to chance when you are visiting a large city… at least have a plan. 

 

Day 45: At Sea

Tuesday, February 19th, 2013

The big event of our day today, was our attendance at a Murder Mystery Dinner in The Pinnacle Restaurant. These events are sold our on day 1 of the cruise and we had booked 1 this time, as we did enjoy the 2 we attended last year. But one is enough. Bruce Scudder our Cruise Director writes the scripts, and plays a prominent role. The theme was Amsterdale High School Reunion. The murder took place in the kitchen just as we started the evening. We met all the cast of characters at the pre-dinner cocktail party, and our foursome also came in character. We were : Paige Turner (me) who is writing her latest book "As the Ship Turns", my husband Cal Culator, who makes sure I "turn" a profit on my books, Isabella Ringing (Karen), and Helen Wheels (Leslie). About 65 people attend plus the cast, and the entire evening is fun - as the script is extremely well done. In fact we think it is the only comedy aboard that treats us like we are adults, instead of the PG Rated comedians at the shows.

The meal was Beef Carpaccio, Cream of Mushroom Soup, Lobster Salad, and Beef Filet and Shrimp, and Death by Chocolate, plus champagne, white wine, red wine and port. No wonder it's fun. I want to underline that in spite of the variety, the portion sizes are small and perfect - except when it comes to the wines!

On to Adelaide.

Day 44: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia

Monday February 18th, 2013

In the early 1600s Abel Tasman, a Dutch explorer re-discovered Tasmania which put to rest the stories of an undiscovered continent called Australasia.  This must have been quite a voyage, given the ships of the days. This city is Australia's second oldest city, after Sydney. There once was  a very large penal colony, south of Hobart and all of the old elegant homes and cottages we saw here were built by the convicts.  We arrived about 7 am., and disembarked at 9:30.  

Overall we were impressed with the vibrancy of this capital of Tasmania, which seems much more modern than the Tasmanian port we visited a few years ago.  There are lots of eco-tourist packages that leave from here for those wishing to see the wildlife of this island.  The harbour has many bays, and low hills with homes built on the surprisingly dry landscape.  They have obviously had a drought here as well, and most of the hills are bare, and where there are trees, they are small evergreens.

I am not sure what drove the early wealth of this city, but on our walk around the old part of the town, called Battery Point, the homes were evidence of much seafaring wealth, probably whaling and sealing, and ship building in the 1800s.  The cottages of this area are spread across one of those hills , and are all well maintained, very British in their architecture, with roses climbing all over them.  It is here that that rascal, Errol Flynn, was born.  We missed his house as there was no big sign, but Leslie who was on a hop on hop off bus drove past us, waving for us to look at it, but we didn't even see her.  The commercial part of this older area is called Salamanca and all the old stone warehouses are now upscale art galleries, wine bars, shops and restaurants.  They must enjoy enough tourism to proper as there were no vacancies at all.

The weather was 85F - and we walked for about 2.5 hours, plus a brief stop for a coffee.  We went up hill and down dale, hats blowing off heads in the stiff breezes.  Jonathan and Karen went back to the ship after our coffee, and Barry and I puttered in a book store, where he got a best seller about Tasmania, called "The Fatal Shore", and we visited some of the galleries.  The art work here was world class, and very expensive.  We were going to go up to the Town Hall where we were told there was a free tour, but the thought of climbing the steep hill in the noon heat, changed our mind.  

We went back to the ship, past the ugly brown building at the shore where there is an unusual wind turbine atop.  Jonathan told us a funny story he heard from the pilot this morning.  When they first installed it, someone phoned and said  " it's turning very fast".. the answer - " no worries the brakes will kick in soon".. followed by another call …"it's going even faster" -- followed by reports that the blades had launched off their posts and people were seen ducking the flying shrapnel!!!    I imagine from the look of the denuded hills that they must get some pretty stiff breezes here.  We also saw a small Sea Shepherd craft with an outrigger that apparently launches from here chasing Japanese whalers and was rammed by one last year.  I think her name is the Brigitt Bardo.  None of us could imagine going to sea in this small boat in these waters especially when we learned that many of her crew have never sailed before. We welcomed the air conditioned comfort of the ship and look forward to the sail away at 4.  

Tonight at dinner, Jonathan and I were talking about the penal colony and he told me that at the height of its use it housed 158,000 men, women and children prisoners.  The youngest prisoner was a 9 year old boy.  England's prisons were overcrowded during the early and mid 1800's and so even young children who had stolen a toy, were shipped off here.  There was an even worse prison on the east coast.  I guess Tasmania was England's equivalent of Russia's gulag in Siberia.  Shameful.   At the evening show, Dave, the bridge instructor told us he and Karen, his wife went to Port Arthur where there was a recent fire.  He said it was mile after mile of black forest and all that remained of people's homes were the chimneys.  Apparently there is only one road from this area to Hobart, and the fire began while guests from another cruise line were on an excursion there and they were renting boats to get them back to the ship.   This drives home for me the key points of the book I am currently engrossed in - Jeremy Rifkin's - Third Industrial Revolution.  He is one of the key international leaders of the master plans for transforming our major cities, especially in Europe, where they are leading the initiative, to a 5 pillar platform which will change the way we generate, sell, and distribute energy, and in the process take us away from the non-renewable energy supplies we depend on today.  I can honestly say this book is riveting and inspirational, and I am proud to say that IBM has been in the forefront of working with Jeremy since about 2003 and much of what he stands for must have shaped the IBM Smarter Planet strategy.  Thinkers like Jeremy also recognize that if we don't address climate change the future of our planet and of humans is at risk.  When you travel around the world as we are doing, seeing first hand the climate change, you cannot ignore its importance.  I saw Jeremy Rifkin interviewed just before we came on the ship and I am so glad I ordered his book and I am going to recommend this book to everyone I know.  

Onward to Adelaide after a sea day, where the seas will be rocking and rolling so we were told.