Buveh at Sea

Xi'an - Second Day

2007-12-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

XI’AN – Day Two

Terracotta Soldiers – At Last!

The next morning was bright and cold. We got an early start because we had to be at the airport at 4:00 for our 6:00-something flight to Beijing. I bundled up to the hilt, boarded the van and headed out. The first stop of the day was the official reproduction factory for the Terracotta Warriors and Soldiers. The government controls the factory but there are small enterprises that try to mimic the process and then sell their wares for lower prices that the authentic ones. Or so we were told. We drove quite a way to reach the area we were going to visit and then wound our way through tiny old streets past old time houses and other buildings. Finally we came to the factory, which looked from the outside like a newer version of the older buildings nearby. There was a gateway leading into a hard packed earth courtyard. We were so early that we arrived before it opened but our driver got out and knocked on the door to rouse them. It worked and we were invited to come inside. Meanwhile, we were enjoying the sight of w sets of three each life-sized terracotta warrior. The middle one in each set was headless and backless so visitors could go behind them, stand on a platform, and be photographed as a terracotta warrior.

We asked Mei and Ma (the driver) to pose and they did.

Mei and Ma, terracotta warriors 0257

Buveh, terracotta warrior 0259

“You are very strong!” Buveh to terracotta soldier 0261

After the photo op, we went into the factory and a guide explained the process by which the reproductions are made, which is the same way the originals were produced. Molds are used and the very soft, chocolate-brown clay is pressed against the carved out portions of the mold in two pieces, front and back. Then the two parts are fitted together and fired. After firing, the bodies are placed upright with props holding them.

Bodies after first firing; note closed mold on the left 0265

Close-up of soldier’s uniform; nicely ornamented 0266

Half-size versions sit on a drying rack 0267

Guide showing us how the clay is pressed against the mold 0271

Table full of small, smaller and smallest versions; grey one has been completely fired 0272

Close-up of fired replica 0275

Many bodies awaiting their other parts 0273

After viewing the process, we were guided through the shop and into another area where lacquered items are made. They gave a tour of this process, too, but I wasn’t interested and wandered around, taking photos. I just wanted to get to the site of the Terracotta Soldiers. Later I had to delete unnecessary photos when my camera memory ran out and those were among the ones that got the axe.

From there we drove to the expansive grounds where the Terracotta Soldiers were discovered and where the repaired ones now stand in formation in a huge open museum. We had to walk at least ten minutes to get to the place where the buildings were and we had to go through three traditional museums before we were – finally – led to the “terracottas.” No photographs were allowed in the museums but we learned the history of the area and of the emperor whose tomb the warriors guard and about how they were discovered and how the excavation and repair of them are being done. It was very interesting, but I wanted to get to where the terracottas were!

Finally Mei led us from the last museum building out onto the grounds and across to The Museum, Pit 1 area! When we entered I held my breath, waiting to find out if what I’d see would live up to my expectations. It did! The room was vast and yet row upon row of repaired Terracotta Soldiers stood in rank and file along trenches excavated from the earth.

First sight of Terracotta Warriors and Horses 0286

Closer-up of soldiers and three horses 0287

Another view showing how many trenches of them there are 0288

Buveh and Terracotta Soldiers and Horses 0289

Sign explaining the fate of the weapons these particular warriors had held 0290

Buveh and soldiers, again 0291

Mei led us around to the right to travel along the long side of the building and then we could see what had been hidden from our previous vantage point: three long rows of warriors lined up facing the entrance to the (I believe) next pit.

Three long rows of soldiers 0293

View from the right 0294

“Sleeping” soldiers; this is the way all of them had been found – collapsed from weight and time 0296

More sleeping soldiers 0297

Covered areas where more soldiers are being excavated 0298

Buveh and the far set of Terracotta Soldiers 0299

Close-up of them 0301

In a pit at their feet were more, lined up facing the direction of the emperor’s tomb. Obviously, some are awaiting their heads and weapons 0303

Horses and soldiers around a corner from those above 0304

The wide view 0305

After seeing those magnificent statues, my mind was caught up in their grandeur so although we stopped at several of the gift shops in the various museums, I didn’t buy anything, even postcards! N&N made purchases, however. I already had my treasures – memories and photos. I’d wanted to see the Terracotta Soldiers ever since I first learned about them in a book about the Silk Road way back in the mid-1980’s. Something I didn’t realize, however, is that the Silk Road started from Xi’an!!! Of course, I’ve already been to several Silk Road cities, in Uzbekistan: Tashkent, Samarkand, and Bokhara. Now I’ve been to the starting point!

Our next stop was lunch, which was not as good as yesterday’s. Then we took off for the Tomb of Emperor Shihuang'.

After we dragged ourselves away from the soldiers, our next stop was the Tomb of Emperor Shihuang. The grounds were lovely although because of the smog we couldn’t really see to the top of the manmade mountain that was at the back of the site. On the lower level was a memorial monument with elaborately decorated tables topped by lovely potted plants. Traditional structures behind had pictures of events in the life of the emperor.

Some of the photos turned out well.

Landscaping 0306

Stairs led to the next level and eventually all the way to the top of the mountain 0308

Mei was ready to take us to see the murals and then take the stairs to the top of the mountain but we were frozen by then and we still had one more site to visit before going to be at the airport to catch our flight, so we opted to leave. As we made our way to the entrance, we saw reenactors dressed in military uniforms of Emperor Shihuang' s time standing guard with vicious-looking weapons. I paused long enough to take a picture of them and a view of the emperor’s mountain, where his tomb is located, as we made our way to the road and crossed it at great risk to life and limb to reach the van which had parked over there.

Huaquing Pool and Hot Springs

Our next stop had been a place of resort and rest for one of the ancient emperors, who built it especially for his favorite concubine, Lady Li. It had vast grounds and fantastic architecture and landscaping. When we arrived, Mei led us first to the original pool, which had been a hot spring until entrepreneurship set in after the emperor had been defeated in an uprising. Numerous hot spring bath houses had sprung up and the hot spring water diverted to feed those baths. Now it’s just a lovely pool with a beautiful building in one corner.

Huaquing Pool 0313

As we stood admiring it and taking photos, Mei told us about its background and then she led us up into the grounds. Of course there were lots of stairs but the landscaping was well worth the climbs involved.

View from one landing 0316

Inside one of the bath houses was one of the pools used by Lady Lin; it no longer has water in it 0317

A view of several buildings on the grounds 0318

Cool-looking tree with pavilion and building in background 0319

Wider view of the grounds with pavilion on right 0320

Close-up of pavilion with stone seating 0321

Interior pool reached by a bridge 0323

Fantastic walkways, round entry, many levels of stairs 0324

My camera memory had run out so I was prevented from taking many more photos. I went back through the ones in the memory and deleted those obviously blurry or unusable and managed to take a few of the Pool area but really wanted to take many more. Two more things we saw here were of interest. One was a larger-than-life-size white statue of Lady Lin. It was X-rated, however, so after a brief glance, I turned my back on it and sat down on a balustrade while Mei talked about the lives of the Emperor and Lady Lin. Then we went down some steps (surprise!) and over to a fountain with several water spouts. There, for a mere fifty-cents, we could wash our hands and faces in genuine water from the same hot springs as the emperor and his lady had once sported in. Surprisingly, while it was definitely warm, it was not hot and felt good to my cold hands and face. As we exited from the fenced area where the fountain was, we were offered the use of a towel – for a price. We each declined and let our hands air dry in the frozen air. Then we went through a room where other (empty) carved out pools were that Lady Lin had used. Around the walls on the upper level were paintings of the story of the two lovebirds, a tale that Mei called a “Chinese Romeo and Juliet story.” Nikki took issue with that phrase because it wasn’t identical or even parallel to Shakespeare’s R&J, but it was actually a kind of equivalent based on Chinese culture in which the practice of having concubines was common and accepted.

We had loaded our suitcases into the van that morning and the airport was between where we were and where we had stayed in Xi’an, so they were going to personally take us to the airport.

We arrived at the airport in a timely manner and had enough time to sit in a coffee shop and rearrange things in our luggage before going out into the spacious, clean and well-lit waiting area. I left N&N guarding my carry-on while I went in search of a new memory card for my camera. Fortunately I found a 1-gig one for a good price and snatched it up. I was relieved to know that I wouldn’t have to delete pictures in my other two memory cards in order to photograph the great sites we would be seeing in Beijing.

When we arrived at the airport in Beijing, we retrieved Nikki’s suitcase from the carrousel and headed outside the terminal to catch a taxi. We had the name and directions to our hotel written in Chinese (retrieved from the hotel’s website) to show the taxi driver and then sat back and enjoyed the ride through the darkening streets of Beijing. We actually stayed in a 2-bedroom “serviced apartment.” It was fabulous, with hard wood floors, modern furniture, walls at angles in proper fung shui style. It had a huge dining/living room area with a big TV, which we didn’t use but could have, and a big, tiled bathroom and a nice kitchen with wonderful appliances, of which we used only the refrigerator. It cost $108 per night; divided by 3 it wasn’t a bad price to pay for such nice accommodations.

Our tour guide for the next day had left a message with the desk for us to call him when we got in, which I did. I also by request called the tour agent I’d emailed extensively in setting up our tours to let him know we had arrived and would be ready to go the next morning.

Nancy, who had slept on the roll-away bed in the Xi’an hotel, got a bedroom to herself while Nikki and I shared the other room, which had two double beds. We had planned to play a game of Quiddler but were so tired we just hit the sack.

Xi'an - Arrival and First Day

2007-12-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

Xi’an

Night of Arrival

We arrived at the Xi’an airport “as per scheduled” (TSS insider joke) and made our way to the luggage return area by following the signs. Like the Shanghai Pudong Airport, Xi’an airport was clean, large, modern, well-lighted and had excellent signage in Chinese and English. Because we had booked a private 2-day tour in Xi’an, we were to be met by our tour guide and taken to our hotel. As we walked into the area where the luggage carousels were, we saw the roped-off reception greeting area on the far side of the room. Many people were waiting there and those along the rope were holding signs with names on them. Most of the signs were in Chinese, so we hoped none of those were for us – how would we identify them?

We had been informed that our tour guide was named “angle” so we weren’t sure if that was male or female, which added to the challenge. Most of the sign holders were male, wearing black suits. Finally, near the end of the row, nearest where we would pass after picking up our luggage, we saw a young woman wearing a white coat holding a sign with three names in English. Even before we got close enough to see if those were our names, she was smiling widely and waving enthusiastically. Sure enough, when we got closer we saw that our names were on her sign. Briefly we wondered how she knew we were her tourists and then – Duh! – realized that we were the only Westerners coming off the plane and we were three females. I guess we stood out like sore thumbs.

After we retrieved our luggage and passed by an airport official, we approached our guide, who said her Chinese name was Mei (pronounced “May”) and she preferred to be called that. She shook our hands, introduced our driver, a man named Ma, and started talking very fast, non-stop, as she led the way out of the building and across the parking area to where the tour company’s white van was parked. Ma stowed our luggage and we wearily climbed aboard. It was twilight outside and it had been a long day. Nikki and Nancy got into the first row of seats and I sat in the row behind. As we started out of the airport grounds, Mei was still talking. She tried teaching us to say “Excuse me” in Chinese – why, we were not sure – but it was rather difficult with many syllables and since I was sitting behind N&N, I copped out of that exercise. Eventually, Mei started telling us about the area we were passing through and then general history of Xi’an, which has a long and noble place in Chinese history, having been the capital for three (I think) ancient dynasties over a period of several centuries.

When we neared the central part of Xi’an, the traffic was incredible, wall-to-wall for as far as the eye could see and barely moving. As we slowly passed by buildings, I saw rows of tiny shops that reminded me incredibly of Uzbekistan and when I saw a vendor standing outside a shop tending a shashlik cooker, I was suddenly transported in memory back to my time in Uzbekistan in 1996-1998. I saw “mosquitoes,” tiny three-wheeled trucks with little beds (like pick-up truck beds) darting here and there. Cars were using the sidewalk as an additional lane of traffic although there were five lanes going in each direction. It took forever to drive about two kilometers but I was fascinated with all the parallels with Uzbekistan. The next day, Nancy suggested that the strange dream I’d had that night was a result of that déjà vu experience.

Finally we made several tortuous turns and arrived at the hotel that would be ours for two nights. Mei escorted us inside, where we were surprised to see a large decorated Christmas tree surrounded by potted Poinsettias in the center of the lobby. She helped us check into the hotel, escorted us to the elevator and pointed out the ground-floor restaurant where our included breakfast would be served. The bell hop had our luggage on a cart and went with us up to our room. As we walked down the hallway toward our room, we were startled to see a young woman who looked very much like a prostitute coming out of one of the rooms. She was Chinese, had long, black and very disheveled hair and was wearing a white dress that plunged so low in front that it almost didn’t have a top. The skirt of the dress was extremely short. Other than that, we have nothing specific to base our opinion on. She seemed equally startled to see us. Later, when Nikki looked out of our door to see in the bell hop was returning with our towels, she saw the woman going back into the room.

After he had deposited our bags and acquired a third set of towels for us, we had time to look around the room and were disconcerted and astounded to realize that the wall dividing the sleeping area from the bathroom was of glass! The bathroom consisted of three sections: the washing area with a sink, the toilet area and the huge shower area. A glass wall, partially clear and partially lightly frosted, was between the bed area and the wash area; a similar wall divided the wash area from the toilet – the door which formed part of the wall was clear and the part near the toilet was frosted. I think the wall of the shower area was clear but – fortunately – a thick, opaque shower curtain could be drawn across the entire length of the wall for total privacy while showering. Or not, according to preference. We preferred to close it! I never even thought to take a picture of it so I have no proof of my claims and nothing to include on the blog. I did take a picture out the window, however, and include it here.

View from Window 9799

We settled ourselves and started a game of Quiddler but gave out before long and after finishing only up to eight cards, quit and retired for the night. Nancy slept on the roll-away bed brought in to house our third person. Nikki and I each took one of the nice double beds. Except for the sounds of a party going on somewhere outside, we slept well and awoke anxious to get our tour of China underway.

Day One Tours – Saturday 8 December 2007

The next morning, we got up and dressed very warmly because the weather was going to be colder than in Shanghai – which was too cold for me – and went down to the main floor to have breakfast, which was served buffet style. Our choice of utensils was chopsticks but we had come prepared – each of us had temporarily borrowed a fork from the TSS dining room, just in case. We bravely took chopsticks but after we’d selected our food, ended up using the fork for most of it. I don’t remember a lot about what I ate but remember that there was a very green leafy vegetable that was delicious but tricky with chopsticks. I enjoyed the “lemon juice” which was freshly squeezed lemon juice sweetened and warmed. Its being warm was unexpected but it tasted great.

After eating, we went outside and walked two doors down to a 24-hour bank that had ATMs and each withdrew a number of Yuans because we had to pay Mei for our tour in cash. Then we went back to the hotel and there in the lobby and there was Mei, waiting for us. We went outside and hopped into the white van and took off to see the Drum Tower and the Bell Tower. The ride was one of my favorite memories of China because we drove into and through an old, traditional section of Xi’an having narrow, winding streets and buildings almost flush with the street. I only managed to get a few shots of what I saw on the way to and from the two towers but include them below. It is necessary to say here that the pollution was as bad here as it had been in Shanghai and so most of the shots will look cloudy and slightly blurred. That also means my blurriest shots will be really a mess!

The van parked in a tiny slice of space and we four women got out to walk along the street, up a ramp, through a passage way under a building and out onto an open square from which we could see both towers. As we approached the ramp, I took this slightly blurry photo of a street vendor.

Street Vendor and Stand 9803

Walkway through and beneath the building 9806

We were on the upper level of the open area. The Drum Tower was to our right and the Bell Tower to our right. The buildings along one side of the square had traditional red lanterns hanging outside. Red is considered a very luck color in China. The old buildings have the traditional architecture of peaked roof facing the front of the building, eaves that curve up, tiled roofs, and a series of significant animal figures lined up on the outer edges of the eaves. They also have red lanterns hanging from them.

First shot of Drum Tower to our right 9805

First shot of Bell Tower to our left 9807

We were surprised and very upset when we found out that our tour, which was supposed to include “admission tickets to the sites” did not include tickets to these towers. We could go inside, Mei told us, if we paid 40 Yuans. We were so distressed by this situation that she ended up calling her boss but the answer was still no. Then she gave us the choice of which tower to first see closer up. We never really decided but since we could get closer to the Drum Tower, ended up there.

Closer-up of Drum Tower. The two large circles on the first balcony of the tower are drums. 9810

Even closer 9812

It was easier to see it when closer up to it. I was fascinated by the architectural and decorative features that were so typically Chinese.

Upper levels 9813

My attention was momentarily distracted by a kite seller who was roaming around the square and who had let out a whole, long string of kites which sailed upward almost out of sight so of course I had to take a photo of it.

String of Kites 9814

Then I turned my attention back to the Drum Tower and focused on the details.

Animals on the eaves. Each represents a different historical character having certain qualities 9815

Peak decoration – no significance according to Mei, just beautiful 9821

Drums, red lanterns and top of entry stairs 9822

Close-up on Drum 9824

Close-up of Lantern 9826

As we looked about from our vantage point near the Drum Tower, we noticed that the moon was still up and barely visible through the smog. Mei said that it was a Snow Moon and meant it would snow. When we went to the end of the walkway nearest the Bell Tower, a great shot of the moon and the Bell Tower presented itself.

Bell Tower and Snow Moon 9828

Closer-ups of Bell Tower 9830, 9833, 9834

While Mei was explaining about the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower and the history surrounding them, we occasionally heard bells from the Bell Tower boom out. They sounded more like gongs than Western bells. They were not happening regularly so we asked what it meant when a bell was rung and learned that people who visit the tower can make an offering and then can strike the bell to send their requests to the gods.

Other interesting, more modern sights, could be seen from our vantage point including a covered metro stop, nearby buildings

Metro stop 9837

Nearby buildings (with moon) 9827

Then it was time to head back to the van to go to the City Wall so we walked back through the opening in the building toward the ramp and saw the scene going the other way.

View 1 9838

Close-up of commonly-used tricycles parked near the curb 9839

Gated window on building 9840

As we drove away, I tried taking photos through the bus window across the aisle from me. Most didn’t turn out, of course, but one shows a slice of some signs.

Signs through Bus Window 9842

The City Wall

Xi’an had been a walled city for centuries it still stands, separating the original city area from the “new” city, which is actually quite old. The wall is very thick and has tunnel entrances leading to the interior. The entrances are large enough for modern tour buses to pass through so our van had no problem entering the inner courtyard, which now serves as a parking lot for tour vehicles. As soon as we exited the bus, I took a picture of the entrance, looking from the parking lot back to the street we had entered from.

Entrance from parking lot; note the building on top of the wall 9863

Closer-up of entrance with some bus drivers hanging out until their groups return 9864

The opening in the wall that was opposite of the one we entered through, which was placed between the two stairways going up. The arch of the opening was made of bricks in a fan formation. This opening had closed red doors rather than being open as the other one was.

Archway detail 9868

Red doors within the arch and sign above arch 9869

Can you guess? It’s a trash can, designed to fit into its surroundings 9871

Detail of animal figures on eave of wall building 9865

As we started walking toward the stairways leading to the top of the wall, my heart sank. More stairs and a lot of them with no landings! However, they were lovely to look at and flanked by lamp posts with red lanterns suspended from them.

Stairs, lamp posts at top and bottom and Information stand 9873

Steep stairs 9874

I somehow managed to get to the top of the stairs, but only by pausing halfway up to take a picture of the courtyard and the building opposite the one shown above.

View from halfway up 9876

All along the top of the wall on the short sides flanking the two buildings were displayed traditional weapons of war and defense. Some were most unusual from a Western point of view but look plenty vicious.

View of several weapons 9877

When I turned to my left, I saw a great view of the building at right angles.

Building 9878

Behind me was the open square with the parking lot. I gook a picture of the corner of the wall with two entrances visible, one with a closed door and the one at the right which we had driven through.

Open Square 9880

Directly ahead, past the weapons was another outpost on another section of the wall. I was impressed with the architecture, with the walls slanted from top to bottom because they are thicker at the bottom. The outposts are extremely attractive as compared to Western ones, having the traditional Chinese architecture.

Outpost on wall 9881

From our vantage point on the wall, we could look down at a walking entrance to the grounds outside the wall, where there was an attractive person-scale gateway.

Gateway 9882

I was taking pictures while Mei described the wall and its functions, the history of the area and the role the wall had played in the life of the city and its residents. I got some close-ups of the weapons.

Cart-style weapon 9883

Ladder-like weapon on wheels 9893

Catapult-type weapon 9894

Battering ram 9895

Triangle-shaped weapon 9900

Although I was bundled up against the cold, having on thermal underwear, a long-sleeved blouse, a hooded sweatshirt, a buttoned sweater and an insulated jacket with hood, knitted scarf and knit gloves and looked like a butterball, I had my photo taken.

Buveh and the building on the wall 9886

Mei offered to take a picture of all three of us against the big bell nearby. Nancy is so bundled up you can’t see her face but you have to admit she looks much more stylish than I do.

Buveh with N&N at bell 9887

Another shot of the outpost, showing angles and arches of wall entrances 9888

Bell with sun in background 9891

After wandering around on that part of the wall for a while, we started walking toward the building on the far side. On the way, Mei pointed out the markings on the stone walkway. They are Chinese characters telling the name of the company that made the stones, the year they were made, etc.

Markings 9898

A covered chair, formerly used to transport an important person through the streets. Runners held the red bars and ran through the streets with the chair. Note the dragon designs on the eaves.

Covered chair 9901

Close-up of dragon 9903

Close-up of nearby lamp post 9904

Close-up of eaves of nearby building; note animal figures atop it 9906
Then we approached the building we were headed for, which housed an information place.

Sign above entrance to building 9914

Beautiful carved wooden screen inside entrance to the building – note the camel on the far left, behind the screen 9915

After I’d taken the photo, N or N hissed to me, “You’re not supposed to take pictures in here!” So I put away my camera and didn’t get a photo of the large stone dragon-lion in the next room.

We went behind the screen to see a mural that depicted the ages of Xi’an with images representative of its significant accomplishments. The camels (there are more that the one visible below) represent the Silk Route. Xi’an was the beginning point of that famous trail.

Then we were introduced to our “local guide” and escorted into a nearby room hung with photos and displaying a large jade lion-dragon. The guide told us the legend of the lion-dragon and said that this particular carving was very popular with local people, who rubbed it in a certain way to bring various kinds of good luck. First, rub the palms of your hands together, then use both hands to rub the ears, the beard, the feet, the legs and the haunch of the beast. Then gather your hands together to cup the good luck and place your hands in your pockets to keep the luck with you. We each got to rub it but I have to say that when I went to put it in my pockets, I missed and the good luck “fell out.” So, I guess I won’t be rich or any of the other things represented by the various parts of the lion-dragon that I had rubbed.

Once back outside, I took a picture of the scene opposite, which included an ancient building in traditional Chinese architectural style with a large building crane and the superstructure of a new, modern building next to it and with traditional red lanterns on posts at intervals along the wall.

Scene opposite 9918

Close-up of building under construction 9919

We walked over to the part of the wall closest to the construction site. To our right and on the side of the wall opposite the construction site were two guard stations in traditional architectural style. The wall stretched on out of sight, especially in the smog, but the sight of the buildings and the red lanterns on their dragon-motif poles made my heart go pitty-pat. It was exciting to actually be seeing things in person I’d studied and read about and seen photos of for many, many years (the exact number of years shall remain undisclosed). I took a Chinese History and Culture class during my last quarter as an undergraduate, for my teaching minor in History and loved every minute of it.

Two guard towers with lamp poles 9920

To our other side was another guard house which we approached and I took closer-up shots of it.

Other guard house 9922

Then we looked over the ramparts to view the main street. Mei pointed directly down the street and said, “The Drum Tower is right there and usually you can see it easily.” But that day, the view was obscured. I took a picture of where it would be, anyway. Note the traditional tricycle making a right turn.

Looking toward where the Drum Tower would be visible 9924

We went closer to the guard house and I took some detail shots out of admiration for the architecture and decorations.

Close-up of doors 9927

Closer-up of door detail 9928

Porch overhang detail 9930

Close-up of animals on eave 9935

View along length of porch, showing pillars and lanterns in a row 9936

View along length of ramparts 9937

Ramparts and guard house 9938

Two guard houses, one barely visible through the smog 9940

Then we descended the stairs to the open courtyard and I took photos of the long house above the entrance through the wall and another close-up of the entrance itself.

House atop wall 9941

Close-up of entrance 9942

It was my turn to sit next to a window as we journeyed to our next stop, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda so I spent my time, as I listened to Mei tell us about the pagoda and general history of the area, taking photos through the bus window. Some of them actually turned out and are here.

Street scenes:

9945

9946

9948

9950

Bus 9951

9952

9958

9959

9960

9961

Notice anything familiar about the building? Yes, KFC is even in China! 9963

Just after passing the shopping center that included KFC, we had our first glimpse of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, barely visible through the mist.

Can you see it? 9964

More of the shopping center, with traditional Chinese architecture 9965, 9966

After passing the shopping center, we turned left and went past a park area which was made in the lovely, soothing Chinese style. Of course, I took photos of it.

Rock wall 9971

Stairway and landscaping 9972, 9973

More of the park 9974

Main park entrance 9976

A popular place 9977

Finally we came to the grounds of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, which is surrounded by a Chinese-red wall. The first photos show how that color is incorporated into the outer design of the grounds.

Wall 9978

Wall with top of interior building showing 9981

The pillar on the other side of the entrance had a different motif 9991

On the wall next to the entrance was a carved scene 9994

Close-up of scene 9995

I took a direct shot above me of the eave on one outer corner of the roof 9996

The pillar on the other side of the entrance had a different motif 9991

On the wall next to the entrance was a carved scene 9994

Close-up of scene 9995

I took a direct shot above me of the eave on one outer corner of the roof 9996

A shot of the entire entrance 9998

Guards/ticket-takers at the entrance 0001

Carved divider on steps up to the entrance 0003
Mei paid for our tickets and then led us through the entrance into the grounds.

The first thing I saw was a beautiful building in traditional Chinese architectural style framed by green trees.

Building 0005

Beyond the building we got our first glimpse of the pagoda. This shot shows Nancy in the black hat, Nikki bareheaded and Mei in a white coat.

Pagoda and tourists 0007

Close-up of Pagoda through the smog 0008

Buildings along the sides of the courtyard leading to the pagoda 0010

Near the pagoda, on each side of the courtyard, were two small buildings that were shrines to two different Buddhas.

Shrine 0014

Female Buddha statue inside shrine; large drum above 0017

Décor on walls inside shrine 0019

Inside the other shrine, a small male Buddha with large bronze bell above 0020

From here, I’ll let pictures be “worth a thousand words.” Please note the serenity of everything.

Buveh with pagoda behind 0022

Another building on the sidelines; we went inside later 0023

Yet another building 0025

A picturesque tree 0028

Landscaping between above building and corner of pagoda 0029

Carved stair side piece 0030

Lovely setting for the pagoda 0032

Monument with green words in Chinese 0033

Lion-dragon standing guard outside stairs leading to pagoda 0034

Close-up of carving on pedestal holding lion-dragon 0037

Elaborate carvings of dragons dividing stairway leading to pagoda 0038

Lion-dragon on other side of stairway 0041

Close-up of other lion-dragon 0042

View of approach to pagoda 0045

Close-up of carving on wall 0047

Carvings on outside of stair railing 0048

Close-up of dragon head drain water spout 0049

“Mouth” of drain water spout 0040

Close-up of carving on balcony railing 0051

Close-up of dragons on base of monument 0059

Decorative wall surrounding pagoda’s elevated walkway 0046

Close-up of dragon medallion on stair rail 0056

View of pagoda and front building from stairway 0058

Carved stair divider on second level leading to pagoda 0060

Carved wood doors of building fronting the pagoda 0061

Closer-up view of doors 0062

Detail of door carving 0064

Detail of divider on door 0065

Detail of upper portion of door 0066

View of under part of porch roof 0068

Close-up of guardian animals on eave of building 0070

We were not allowed to take photos inside the pagoda itself, but there were wonderful murals, portions of which were of carved wood and other portions which were paintings that described the story of the Buddhist monk who made an eight-year journey from India to China carrying scrolls of Buddhist scriptures with him. All his adventures, perils and conversion activities were portrayed in these murals. In one scene, a flock of geese played an important role but our guide was sometimes hard to understand and I’m not sure what they actually did. However, whatever it was the reason for the pagoda’s name: Big Wild Goose Pagoda. There was a room with a big Buddha statue and many, many small statues all along the top edges of the wall and in niches in the beams of the room.

When we came out of the pagoda, we walked around to the back of it and came to an open square with buildings on all sides. I tried to photograph all the sides.

Buildings on one side (red pillars of pagoda are on left) 0071

Across the courtyard was a beautiful building fronted by a lovely bare tree in front of a larger, leafed tree. In the courtyard were stands selling implements for offerings and two places to make offerings.

Scene described above 0072

Corner scene of square 0073

Close-up of bare tree with hand-pulled wheelbarrow behind 0075

The two offering places were a heavy metal fire holder and a circular stand for lit candles; long incense sticks for the fire and red candles for the holder could be purchased at a table on the left or a small building on the right.

Crowd around vendor at table selling incense sticks and red candles; two offering places visible 0079

Devotees making candle offerings 0080

Another close-up of the bare tree with fire offering place on right 0082

Fire offering place 0084

Making an offering 0086

Building at back of square 0087

Close-up of vendor booth selling incense and candles; note pillar with turtle base 0088

Front of pillar with turtle face showing 0089

Pillar with pagoda behind 0091

Close-up of upper reaches of pagoda 0092

Carved stone planter on grounds 0094

Devotees making candle offerings 0096

People buying incense sticks and red candles at vendor stand 0097

Vendor booth and candle stand 0098

Angles of buildings in corner of square 0099

Entrance to pagoda, up divided stairway and through carved entryway 0100

View of entrance and pagoda rising above 0101

Plaque on wall of pagoda entrance denoting the structure as a National Tourist Attraction with a rating of AAAA 0103

Lovely decorations on gateway 0106

Side of building; note that the peak like this on an American house would likely be at the front of the house, not the side 0109

Mei led us on a tour of the grounds near the pagoda. The landscaping is based on principles of Fung Shui, aimed at harmony, keeping away negative influences and accentuating positive influences. Along the way, we saw:

This Buddha statue on a rock with carefully selected stones in foreground 0113

A grouping of selected rocks in a wooded setting 0114

Even the drains had nicely carved stone enhancements 0115

Proximity of rock grouping to nearby building 0116

A traditional-style pavilion 0117

Close-up of pavilion 0118

Buildings on surrounding square 0120

Close-up of building showing lines and angles 0122

Words on pillar sign 0123

Building with stone lanterns on either side of entrance 0124

Lovely hanging lamp (blurry) 0125

Sign above doorway, lamp behind 0126

Lovely planting of delicately-leaved trees (bamboo?) 0127

Shot of pagoda and fronting building 0128

Fronting building 0131

Elephant statue in courtyard 0132

Buildings, or possibly they were gateways, lead from one section of the grounds to another. It was an attractive way to break up a huge amount of space into enjoyable portions,

Gateway or divider building on one side 0133

Gateway with stone lantern in foreground 0134

Use of bamboo scaffolding in a corner where three buildings came together 0135

Carefully placed stone with appropriate landscaping framing it 0138

Rounded corner on stone wall surrounding a smaller pagoda-like structure 0139

Closer-up of large structure for a sign 0140

Smaller pagoda-shaped building 0141

Another Buddha on a stone foundation nestled among shrubbery 0142

Even without leaves, the bare trees contribute to the serenity and beauty of this spot 0144

Closer-up of bare trees in setting 0145

After passing the above landscaping, we came to an area where many bird cages holding singing birds were hung in trees. The Chinese love song birds and having a caged songbird is a delight for them.

First birdcage I saw 0146

In another landscaped courtyard near the bird cage was a place where wishes or prayers could be posted on a special holder. Hundreds or even thousands of these wish boards were hung on holders there. It was possible to read the writing on them but most were in Chinese so I don’t know what they said. At least one was in English but I didn’t read it. It was possible to buy a board at a nearby vendor booth and write your wish on it, then add it to one of the groups on the board.

Wish/prayer board 0147

Vendor booth with signs showing available products 0151

Near the vendor stand was an impressive ad serene-looking gold Buddha with floral offerings surrounding it.

Gold Buddha 0148

After I took this picture I realized the thing wasn’t a religious object; it was a trash receptacle made to maintain the integrity of its surroundings.

Trash can 0150

Another Buddha was secluded in a nearby area. It was different in that it was apparently carved out of a rock, part of which had been left in place to provide a frame and “cave” for the figure.

Buddha in “cave” 0154

An interesting, well-placed layered rock 0155

Along one of the walkways, walking toward us came four chickens. I managed to get my camera to cooperate only after one of them had walked out of the scene.

Chickens 0157

A very interesting stone figure atop an equally interesting stone in a lovely setting was a curiosity to me. The figure’s clothing looked more Arabian to me than Indian or Chinese.

Different stone figure and interesting rock 0158

Nearby was yet another Buddha in a “cave.” This one was a very fat, smiling Buddha. The setting for the figure was a lovely arrangement of smooth, layered rocks. It was a peaceful and contemplative place.

Fat smiling Buddha 0160

Fat smiling Buveh sitting near the fat smiling Buddha 1063

Nearby was a small hexagonal table and four small stone stools. Near them was another item that I realized was yet another – and different – trashcan although it was shaped like a tiny pagoda. The stools had carved decorations on the sides, two motifs on each stool.

Stone table and stools; trashcan 1062

Close-ups of the sides of the stools 0164, 0165,

Different stone figure and interesting rock 0158

Nearby was yet another Buddha in a “cave.” This one was a very fat, smiling Buddha. The setting for the figure was a lovely arrangement of smooth, layered rocks. It was a peaceful and contemplative place.

Fat smiling Buddha 0160

Fat smiling Buveh sitting near the fat smiling Buddha 1063
Nearby was a small hexagonal table and four small stone stools. Near them was another item that I realized was yet another – and different – trashcan although it was shaped like a tiny pagoda. The stools had carved decorations on the sides, two motifs on each stool.

Stone table and stools; trashcan 1062

After following the walkway the chickens had just been walking on, we came to a sidewalk leading past the buildings on the far side of the grounds. Buddhist monks live and work in the buildings. Most fascinating were all the birdcages of songbirds lined up along both sides of the sidewalk. Each cage had a hook on the top so it could be hung from a tree. I guess they are rotated so each spends some time hanging in the trees and other times sitting on the ground. I asked Mei who took care of the birds and she said the monks did.

Lines of songbird cages 0168

Closer view of buildings behind wall along side of grounds 0170

Angles of roofs 0171

We turned to our right and proceeded along the walkway in the direction of the entrance. To our right was a stone courtyard having carved pillars of various sorts. Some reminded me of headstones in Western cemeteries but apparently these were memorials of a different sort. They were of contrasting shapes and sizes and made pleasant viewing.

Stone memorials 0172

Close up of some of the memorials 0173

A group shot of the memorials 0175

Close-up of one of the oldest ones 0176

Close-up of one of the most interesting ones 1078

The most oriental-looking one with lovely wall railing behind 1080
Close up of some of the memorials 0173

Close-up of stone carving of dragon holding ball 0181

Eave art on nearby gateway 0177

Gateway with beautiful painted decorations and lovely red door 0182

Beautiful eave art and wall on building 0183

Carving on stone 0184

Near this area was a building with a gift shop inside. We flocked inside because we all love to shop in gift shops. There were some wonderful things inside and I bought a few items including one special one I’ll give as a Christmas gift but will remain unspecified here until after it has been given. When we entered, Mei handed each of us a colorful handout showing a chart of Chinese astrological characters and the birth years they are associated with. Nancy and I realized we were both born in the Year of the Rat (we were not especially overjoyed at this news but the shop workers were delighted; when I asked them what the characteristics of the rat were, they answered: wise and clever.) Nikki was born in the year of the Rooster and she was happy with that and bought a book in English that described the characteristics of “Rooster People.”

After I’d looked around a bit but hadn’t bought anything, one of the shop girls invited me to go into the back of the shop. I was a little hesitant, wondering what was going to happen to me but I followed her out of the main room through a room where carpets were sold and behind a screen to a place where there was a table covered with interesting items. She showed me a paper just like the one Mei had given me and explained that it was a gift from the shop. She had me identify the year I was born and that’s when she told me the characteristics of the Rat. Then she selected a stone stamp from the table in front of her and made a stamp of a rat in a special place on the paper and formally presented it to me. Of course I thanked her profusely. Then she led me back to the shop where I began browsing again. Eventually both Nikki and Nancy were led to the back room and came back bearing their special gift with the stamp of their astrological sign on it.

Dumpling Dinner and Ming Dynasty Show

That evening Mei took us to the dinner theatre where we were going to experience a dumpling dinner and Ming Dynasty Show. The building was ornate and huge. The space where the tables were set up was spacious, had red walls and red decorations and a huge stage with red curtains. We were on the second level of three and in the second row of three. Tables were places so we were sitting at right angles to the stage. We were interested and pleased to note that although there were other Westerners there, most of the attendees were Asian. At the table beside ours were two Mexican men. Nikki, who is fluent in Spanish and has lived in Mexico City, identified them from their Spanish “accents” and she had a brief conversation with one of them before the show began.

But first we were to experience the delicious and multi-course Dumpling Dinner. Dumplings, as we soon realized, are small foods made of a n outer layer of thin pastry, each filled with something and are cooked by means of steaming in a special bamboo container with a screened bottom. Some of the dumplings had special shapes but most were like little bags with drawn-up tops. We had fifteen different types of dumplings during the dinner (and were bursting full by the end). Fillings included meat, thinly shredded vegetables, fish, shrimp and even a sweet mixture like a dessert. The dumplings in their baskets were brought into the room in tall stacks and then one basket each was quickly served to each table and three types of dumplings were in each basket.

Stack of dumpling baskets awaiting serving (blurry) 0188

Soon after we began eating, the entertainment began. A young woman wearing traditional Ming era clothing sat at a stringed musical instrument and played lovely music as we ate. That lasted about half an hour as dumplings came and went at the tables. The three of us had been practicing our chopstick skills and they came into play as we ate our dumplings.

Entertainer regaling the audience with beautiful music 0190

One basket of dumplings, including fish-shaped ones with green pea eyes that had fish filling 0193

Buveh demonstrating use of chopsticks 0195

Then soup was served. It came to the table in the form of a plate bearing a burner topped by a handled metal soup bowl. After placing it on the table, the waitress lighted a match and applied it to the open interior of the burner and a white substance there burst into flame. Soon the soup in the metal bowl was steaming hot.

Steaming hot soup in metal bowl, heated by flaming burner 0207

The soup ended the meal and then the waitresses and waiters whisked away all the dinner trappings and brought bottles of mineral to the tables. The lights dimmed, music sounded and two actors, a male and a female dressed in traditional royal dress of the Ming dynasty, walked onto the stage in front of the curtains. The male began introducing the program in Chinese with a deep, loud, stylized voice. Then the female repeated the same information (at least I suppose she did) in English. They were the narrators for the program and each time they came onto stage to introduce the next act they took turns speaking in English or Chinese.

The acts were spectacular in all aspects, including costumes, scenery, music, singing and acting. It was colorful, action packed and a treat for the eyes and ears. I tried to take pictures of each act but many were blurry because the actors were in almost constant motion. The best are included here and even some not the best but included to give an idea of the elements of the performance.

Group playing traditional musical instruments 0212

Lovely dancing maidens wearing dresses having extremely long flowing sleeves 0216

Another shot of the same 0217

A different dance, also with long flowing sleeves 0218

A musical group with singers (note the spectacular scenery) 0219

Dancing girls in GREEN dresses 0221

A very dramatic warrior dance performed by males 0224

The mask with glowing eyes (above dancers) that lowered at the beginning of the dance 0225

Dancers getting into it beneath mask 0226

A famous Chinese painting comes to life (dancers are behind a mesh screen) 0228

Dancers in front of mesh screen 0229

Horn playing musicians; note spectacular flower backdrop 0230

A misty dance with maidens in flowing pink dresses 9231

The main dancer arrives 0232

The group together 0234

Twirling 0235

Posed 0236

Comic musicians performing in front of a backdrop of a court scene, as if performing for that audience 0237

Close-up of musicians and backdrop 0239

Musicians playing long horns 0240

Dancers performing for the emperor and empress 0241

Out come the long flowing sleeves 0242

Star performer swishing her sleeves 0244

Another dance act 0245

Swish those sleeves! 0247

The finale begins 0248

Emperor’s courtiers arrive to take a bow 0249

Emperor and empress bow 0250

The entire ensemble 0251

Our tour guide, Mei, met us after the performance and we rode back to our hotel in the tour van with Ma driving. We had planned to play a game of Quiddler before retiring for the night but we were all so tired we just got ready for the night and crashed in our respective beds and slept like logs.

Shanghai - Arrival and First Day

2007-12-28T10:02:00.000-05:00

SHANGHAI

Arrival

The Scholar Ship sailed up the Pearl River into Shanghai on the evening of 6 December 2007 while the entire community was at a Port and Safety Briefing meeting held in the International Lounge. There are windows along the two long sides of the room so we could see the lights along the shore as we moved along. The weather was exceedingly cold so I didn’t go out onto the open deck after the meeting to take pictures. Instead, I went to my cabin to take my first photo of Shanghai – Through My Porthole. Here it is.

First sight of Shanghai – Through My Porthole 9784

The next morning we had to go through the required customs and immigration procedures before we could be allowed to debark the ship. This process required about two hours because everyone had to be cleared before anyone could be allowed to leave. There were the usual few students who were sleeping in and had to be called over the intercom system before they could be routed out to present themselves for clearance. First, all those who had been granted visa status via the Group Visa (which most of us had previously been told would not be possible) had to be cleared. After many of us had been standing in line for at least an hour, all the Group Visa folks were herded into the International Lounge, where they had to sit and wait until all on the visa were assembled, then processing could begin. It was quick and painless once it got under way. However, I gave up and went back to my cabin to wait until most of the crowd had diminished.

Once we were allowed to leave, Nancy, Nikki and I went out to the street nearest the dock, turned left and walked past a few buildings to a branch of the Bank of China. I wanted to exchange my US Dollars for Chinese Yuans, Nikki wanted to cash some traveler’s checques and Nancy wanted to use an ATM. It took some doing and I was the only one who was completely successful but I had to take a number and wait until it was my turn, only to be told I had to go to a different window to make the transaction. It was quite involved and included minute inspection of the money to be sure it wasn’t counterfeit and surrendering my passport so they could make two copies of it for their records. Eventually I had a fist full of 100 Yuan notes, those being the highest denomination made. The exchange rate was about 7.8 Yuans to 1 US$, so I ended up dividing my many Yuans into smaller groups and strategically placing them in various locations. As we left the bank, I had Nikki take a picture of me next to the statue standing guard outside the bank. There was actually one on each side of the steps leading to the entrance.

Buveh and Statue 9790

Then we walked back to the corner of the street and the short lane leading to the dock, waited almost interminably for the light to change while we watched people travel past us on bicycles and mopeds as well as driving cars. Across the street on the corner was a small grocery store where we stocked up on some snacks, bottled water, etc., and then headed back to the ship. I took a few pictures that were very typical of China but ended up deleting them later, the reason for which I will record in due course.

We headed back to the ship to eat lunch and finish packing in preparation for leaving the ship for the next several days as we toured Xi’an and Beijing. We had arranged for a flight from Shanghai to Xi’an (home of the famous Terracotta Warriors and Horses) that was scheduled to leave at 4:00 and we needed to be at the Podong Airport by 2:00. After lunch we went to our respective cabins and got ready then met at the gangway just before 1:00. We had to take our passports with us in order to travel by air. During the entire voyage, our passports had been held by TSS so we had to go through a formality to secure them and leave the ship with them that involved signing a waiver stating that we would be responsible for their safety and timely return to TSS and that if anything happened to them, we would be solely responsible for replacing them.

That morning after I’d left the interminable line waiting to clear customs and immigration, deciding to sign the release for my passport in the meantime. The night before, I had asked someone where the release forms were and was told they were at the Reception Desk, and went there directly. The usually-uncooperative person was on duty. When I told her I wanted to notify them that I would need my passport, she told me I couldn’t have it. I said that I didn’t want it, I wanted to inform her that I would be needing it. As usual when dealing with her, I left in frustration.

The next morning, however, when I went back to Reception, I was relieved to find a different, helpful person on duty who is always positive and helpful. I told her what I needed and she handed me a form which I completed and signed and returned to her. It was good timing because later when I told Nikki and Nancy about it and they went to Reception to sign their forms, the uncooperative person was on duty and refused to hand over the forms. That caused a bottleneck later when we had been cleared to leave the ship and hordes of people were crowded at the Reception Desk trying to get forms, fill them out, get the Purser’s signature on them, etc, and finally actually get the passports. That is the scene I walked into when I went to get my passport. To my amazement, the usually-uncooperative person saw me, pulled out my passport and slid a form toward me that I had to initial indicating that I had received my passport, which I did and then she handed me the passport. I thanked her in a state of shock and made my way out of the horde of humanity still waiting.

It took Nancy almost half an hour to get hers and she claims she had to bribe a student in order to get it sooner than she would have otherwise. Nikki also finally got hers and then we were ready to go. We bumped our suitcases down the two flights of stairs to the Coral Deck where the gangway was set up, only to find that no one was being allowed to leave yet. When they finally opened the doors, we were among the first to present our TSS ID Cards to TSS Security for clearance, pass by several Chinese customs and immigration officials and walk down the gangway. Fortunately it was low tide so the gangway was about a 14-degree ramp rather than full-fledged steps. We rolled our suitcases down the gangway and walked out of the dock area to the street near the bank where we flagged down a taxi, stowed suitcases in the trunk, made sure the driver put down his meter flag and we were off to Pudong Airport!

We got to see more of Shanghai as we drove along the streets leading to the airport, a drive of about one hour. The air there is extremely polluted and all we could see was smog everywhere, blanketing everything in a grey shroud but we could see the shapes of buildings and the basic details of parks, of which there are many. The roads are crammed packed with vehicles, mainly cars but also a fair number of bicycles and mopeds. The driver dropped us off at the right place at the airport and we found our way to the correct ticket counter with only a few wrong turns. The airport was large, spacious, very clean and very quiet. Although there were huge numbers of people, they spoke quietly, moved with grace and composure and produced at atmosphere completely opposite of airports in the US and other countries I’ve been in where everything is frantic and stressful.

The way it was set up, one could smoothly and with plenty of room navigate from one place to another through brightly lit and pleasantly colored areas until arriving at the waiting gates, where we finally saw a room packed with humanity. But there, again, it was very quiet and people were calm and at ease. It was very pleasant. One young woman even moved from her seat, which was beside two empty ones, to make room for the three of us to sit together. People were courteous and pleasant to each other and to us. As we looked around, we realized we were probably the only Westerners in the vast room but no one was rude to us or unpleasant in any way.

All the signs throughout the airport were in both Chinese (Mandarin, I assume) and English, so we had no trouble finding our way around or reading the notices about flight status. When it was time to board our flight – on time! – we walked past airline representatives who checked our tickets and passports, through double glass doors and onto a waiting shuttle bus. When full, the bus zipped around the tarmac of the airport past airplanes from many nations. I commented that it was like taking a world tour. Nikki and I both exclaimed and pointed when we saw an Emirates (from the UAE) aircraft. Finally we arrived at our Shanghai Airways plane. Nancy and I had carry-on luggage; Nikki had checked her (larger) bag. We had to carry them up the metal, covered stairs to the aircraft door but first I had Nikki take a picture of me with the airplane in the background.

Buveh and the Airplane 9798

Everything went smoothly once we were onboard. The three of us had adjoining seats, with Nancy near the window, Nikki on the aisle and me in between. We played a game of Quiddler and got to 8 cards before dinner was served so we put the game away and enjoyed a delicious Chinese meal and interspersed talking and reading the China Daily that was handed out by the efficient cabin attendants. The flight left on time and arrived in Xi’an on time.

Sydney to Shanghai

2007-12-26T15:51:00.002-05:00

At Sea – Sydney to Shanghai

The crossing between Sydney and Shanghai was to have been the longest of the voyage, exceeding by one day the time between Guayaquil and Tahiti, Had it not been for the medical evacuation that took place shortly after leaving Guayaquil that necessitated our backtracking to the nearest point of land, the Galapagos Islands, that is. I think they are equal now, unless the medical evacuation that took place after leaving Sydney will lengthen this trip. I don’t think it will because we have been charging through the water at over 18 knots per hour for much of the way so far. I am writing this as we are expected to arrive in Shanghai after two more days.

But before I write about the evacuation, I’ll say that the first few days out of Sydney were idyllic, with beautiful, sunny skies and warm weather – a welcome respite after the chill of Sydney during our last three days there. The seas were calm and sunsets were beautiful.

Calm water, blue skies 9637

Close-up of calm water 9638

Sunset coming on 9639

Sunset 9647

I’ve written before about a few goals I wanted to achieve while I was in the Southern Hemisphere, including seeing the Southern Cross and touching a koala. Another was seeing water drain counter-clockwise (or, anticlockwise, as the New Zealanders and Aussies say it). I made it a point to observe water draining from my bathroom sink to see if it were true. It was! I was very excited to see water spinning counter-clockwise as it made its way into the drain. After puzzling how to show this phenomenon in this blog, I concluded I needed to take a picture of it, even it if the direction of the water was not easily determined. So one day after washing a batch of dirty socks in my sink (so the water would be darker and hopefully show up), I took the following photos. Can you tell which direction it’s draining in?

Water draining in a counter-clockwise direction 9648

Last of water draining counter-clockwise 9649

Now you’ve seen it for yourself!

A day and a half later, I took this picture of the map that shows on our tv screens. It shows the direction we were heading. After leaving Sydney, we went straight north and then, as shown in the photo, turned dramatically to the left (see the arrow).

Direction of travel 9650

The next day, the sea was flat and as calm as could be.

Flat Pacific 9654

That evening, a group of faculty and academic staff helped celebrate Elisabeth’s birthday with an ice cream cake, a specialty of the kitchen staff. I happened to be sitting next to her at the dinner table so I got some great shots of the event. She is from Spain, which will explain the writing on the cake.

The cake 9655

Elie starting to cut the cake 9660

Then she got distracted with people wanting to take pictures, so I ended up cutting and serving the first half of the cake. Nancy did the last half of it. It was a nice celebration.

MEDICAL EVACUATION

Later that evening, it was announced that one of our passengers was very ill and had to be evacuated. We were heading for the “nearest point of land,” which was Papua, New Guinea, and at about 10:00 PM, we would anchor offshore and the evacuation would take place. The evacuee was a member of the teaching staff who was very popular with colleagues and students. We were all upset that he was so ill and that he had to be evacuated (because we would miss him) so most of us were on the deck to watch the evacuation. It was the first of our several evacuations to take place at night. I did my best to record it on film but it was a challenge, with the ship rocking and the rescue boat rocking. Here it is in pictures and pardon the blurry ones.

Lights on the shore of Papua, New Guinea, with rescue boat coming toward TSS 9663

Tug nearing TSS 9672

Tug coming alongside TSS 9675

Tug close enough to manage the transfer; our evacuee was able to step ashore and walk into the tug 9676

Name of tug 9678

Tug pulling away after transfer of evacuee and accompanier 9679

The tug’s crew was very responsive to the yells and cheers of TSSers; they waved, did little jigs and other gestures of response. When our evacuee boarded the tug, TSSers burst into cheers, applause and yells of goodbye and encouragement. He turned and waved to all of us and then walked inside the tug. Then the tug pulled away and started moving in a direction not in a straight line toward the shore. We were puzzled until suddenly a student yelled, “He’s doing a 360!” Sure enough, TSS blew its horn in signal and then the tug started blowing its horn and turned in a complete circle before heading directly to the shore. We were cheering and applauding and yelling positive reinforcement. It was amazing to see and hear. See for yourself.

Pulling away 9691

Starting the turn, although we didn’t realize it 9692

We thought it was getting ready to head for shore 9693

Maybe it was going to go toward the shore to the left 9694

No, it was doing “a 360”! 9695

Coming abaft (I think that’s the term) 9696

Facing us head on 9697

Turning outward again, having finished its 360 9698

Was it going to do another? 9699

No, it headed off toward shore in a straight line, still blowing its horn with TSSers cheering enthusiastically 9700

And away they go! 9701

Far away now 9702

Just a blip on the horizon 9705

Going, going, gone 9706

We later had word that our evacuee was resting comfortably and getting medical care, and then that he had been transferred to a hospital on Australia’s Gold Coast. Only several days later did we learn that the transfer had taken place in the evacuee’s “own Learjet.” Well, that was an eye-opener. The evacuee, in all the time we had known him, had never given an indication that he was a Learjet owner! You learn something new every day.

Where We Were

About an hour and a half later, I took some pictures of the TV screen that showed the route we had taken to accomplish the medical evacuation. Notice the direction of the arrow.

How we got there 9707

Where we were on the globe 9709

The next morning, I guess we were still passing New Guinea, or some other piece of land. I got some good photos of the mountains in the distance with the lovely calm water in the foreground.

View 1 9714

View 2 9716

View 3 with great clouds over the mountains 9718

Then I got breakfast from the buffet and sat down at a table with Kim, the Shore Excursions person. Suddenly she pointed out to sea and said, “Look at that ship!” I turned and saw a lovely sailing ship with sails billowing in the breeze. Of course I whipped out my camera to take some shots of it but the camera was doing its stubborn act and would not zoom in any closer than what is shown below. The general consensus was that it was a fishing vessel. How they came to that conclusion I do not know, but it was a lovely sight.

Sailing/fishing vessel 9720

A little later in the day, I finally had the opportunity to get my temperature taken. It would be logical to wonder why it was needed. No, I wasn’t feeling ill or feverish. It was a requirement of the government of China that everyone on the vessel had to have their temperature taken one week before docking in China. That information had to be forwarded to the Chinese officials. It also involved each of us filling out a form with our identifying information on it that the health professional could write the temperature reading on and then stamp with a circular red stamp. After the process was complete, we each had to take our form to the ship’s Reception Desk where they gathered them, made sure everyone had complied, and kept them. What was my temperature? I don’t remember because it was recorded in degrees Celsius. However, my point in writing this is to say that while I was in the Medical Center waiting room, I saw on the table a book about international health that had on its cover a colorful collage of photos from around the world. Guess what animal appeared in one picture? A camel! I tell you, camels are everywhere. To prove it, here’s one of the photos I took of it.

Camel at sea 9723

Crew Talent Show

The well-publicized and much looked-forward-to Crew Talent Show occurred the next evening. Rumor had it that it was going to be good and that we would be very surprised by the talents displayed by our many quiet, self-effacing ship’s crew members. Although I don’t necessarily attend all of the events aboard, I decided to show support of the crew by attending this one. It was to be held in the International Lounge and I got there early to get a good seat. Others had the same idea and got there even earlier so I ended up more to the left of center than I would have preferred but in the front row of the second section. Fortunately the seats are tiered, so I had a pretty good view of the stage. The curtains on the stage were closed and the evening’s theme was attached to the area above the curtains.

Show’s theme above stage 9724

Close-up of sign, “A Night to Remember Crew Talent Show” 9726

The evening’s MCs, two TSS females and one male from the crew 9727

The first act was a rock band, Oceanic Crew Band, made up of various crew members including “Ding, the pastry chef,” who could really rock. They did “Smooth” and then The Zephyr Song, which really showed Ding’s great singing voice and finally Stand By Me, which the students particularly liked, swaying with arms in the air and singing along.

Oceanic Crew Band 9733

Ding, on right, getting into it 9734

Audience with arms in air on Stand By Me 9737

Another singing performance was of a different sort, with our Navigation Officer – who usually speaks to us from the bridge at Noon every day to let us know the sea, weather, wind, barometric and other navigational information including how far we’ve traveled from the last port of call and what the nearest point of land is and at what distance in his Filippino-accented English. He always starts his Noon announcement with, “Good afternoon, Ladies and Gentlemen.” However, we had never seen him. So, when he walked onto stage, we didn’t have a clue. Then he spoke, “Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.” We all went into fits of hysterical laughter because we immediately identified the voice. Then everyone was clapping and cheering. But when he began singing, first Hello Dolly and then Love Song, we were blown away. He sounded EXACTLY like Frank Sanatra – with no Filippino accent! It was amazing and enthusiastically received. All the photos I took of him turned out hopelessly blurry, unfortunately.

Then came the Singing Waiters. We see these good men every day wearing their bright yellow shirts and they are always quiet, courteous and efficient. They can whisk away our use plates, glasses and cutlery without us even noticing it has happened. Fairly often, however, they make off with things we still want to use or food we are intending to eat! When they appeared on stage wearing identical brightly colored tropical print shirts, they were loudly cheered and applauded. At the end of their performance, a student yelled, “Wear those shirts everyday!” which also received applause. They sang about three songs but since they’re not listed on the printed program I saved, I can’t remember what they were although they were well done.

The Singing Waiters 9746

Then came the performance that left me so stunned I didn’t take any more pictures until the finale numbers. After the Singing Waiters was “Copacabana,” staring my male cabin steward, who was named, “and the cabin stewards.” It was musical and most of the performers were singing the theme song as the action took place on the stage. The most hilarious moment was when the white-attired waiter was shot and fell to the floor flat on his back and lay there motionless while emergency workers tried to revive him. However, the shocking part of the event was that my cabin steward played the part of the female vamp who brought about the rivalry that led to the mis-directed shot that killed the waiter. He was dressed in a short gold lame skirt, with a long, long champagne blonde wig beneath which his face could barely be seen but it was made up expertly and he looked, well I have to say it, absolutely beautiful. He had a gold lame shawl around his shoulders and gold lame boots (NOT high heel, fortunately) on his feet. He danced and pranced and strutted all around the stage. Nikki was sitting next to me and since her cabin is two down from mine, also has him for her cabin steward. We were both in a state of shock over this shocking performance. However, most of the audience liked it and I certainly enjoyed the other aspects of it, including the three slender males wearing black-leotards and tights and wings, yes wings. They represented the fact that the waiter had died. Actually, the wings on two of them were white angel wings while the third one was yellow butterfly wings. Amazing.

After that were several other musical numbers including a really cute rendition of “In the Navy” in which all the dancers wore white navy-type tops having blue cord trim. As Nikki said, “WHERE did they get those costumes?”

The finale was “We Are the World,” a great number featuring the Oceanic Crew Band and all those who had participated in the program along with a few who had not. They actually did represent the world, having come from about 35 different countries. They did a marching routine as they sang and at one point, as they marched past a certain place at the back of the stage, they picked up a small flag representing one of the countries of the world. Then, making another circuit, they picked up another flag, so each was holding two. The audience really got into this song, singing along and finally standing and clapping in time. Following that was a prolonged standing ovation.

“We Are The World,” grand finale 9748

Another view 9751

Finally they were all gathered at the front of the stage 9754

Enthusiastic audience clapping and singing along 9757

Sydney, Australia - Day Seven

2007-12-26T15:16:00.004-05:00

AUSTRALIA – Day 7: Saturday 24 November 2007

KOALA PARK

On TSS’s last day in Sydney, Nikki and I went to the Koala Park. This was not a simple feat but was well worth it. She had found out about the Koala Park in a guide book but although I had the opportunity to glance through the various guides held in the LRC and visit several online events sites, I did not see it mentioned anywhere else. I agreed to go with her because it offered the opportunity to touch a Koala!

Nikki had gone on a half-day Around Sydney tour on our first day in port and had learned that in the state of New South Wales, where Sydney is located, it is illegal to hold a koala. One may touch a koala but not hold it. In other Australian states, holding koalas is permitted, however. There is an excellent zoo in Sydney that has koalas but visitors cannot get close to them. It would also be possible to feed kangaroos at the Koala Park, which actually had native and unique birds and animals found in Australia. It is more a preserve than a zoo and for this reason they can offer special opportunities for guests.

Getting there involved walking from TSS to Circular Quay to catch a train because the park was at quite a distance from the center of town. When we got to the central area of The Rocks and were passing the bus stop on Argyll Street, we noticed a large crowd of people at the Abraham Mott Hall, a kind of community center near the bus shelter. At first we wondered what was going on; then as we drew closer and saw campaign posters mounted in various places on the sidewalk, we remembered that today was Australia’s national election day and the prime ministership was being voted on (basically the equivalent to a US Presidential Election). Campaigners were trying to sway voters going inside the grounds to vote in the building but were not allowed inside the fenced area. Voters were coming and going.

Voters and campaigners at the Abraham Mott Hall on Australia’s National Election Day 9356

We continued walking down Argyll Street and came to the old and historic Garrison Church. I’d passed it any number of times but had never even taken a photo of it let alone gone inside to see it. We decided it was worth seeing so we approached it and I started taking pictures.

The Garrison Church 9360

Sign at the church, explaining its significance 9363

On the gate post was a bronze plaque placed in honor of a former faithful worshipper 9365

We walked past the gate posts and along the sidewalk toward the open church doors. On the left just before the entrance was a life size cutout figure of a woman wearing Garrison Church-era clothing.

Cutout figure of woman 9367

Then we approached the open doors. Since no services were going on, we walked inside.

Arched entry to church 9368

The high, arched windows along both sides of the length of the building were of stained glass; note that the top frame on the right side is open. I never knew that stained glass windows could open.

Stained glass window 9370

Row of windows and arched beams to my left, with morning sun shining in 9371

Arched beams and windows to my right, with ribbed ceiling architecture visible 9372

We asked at the ticket booth how to get to our destination. It should have been fairly straightforward but, wouldn’t you know, because it was a Saturday, track maintenance was taking place on the line we needed to travel. This meant we had to take the train to a certain station, then ride on a railroad-provided bus to another station further down the line. When we finally arrived at our designated station, we would have to catch a bus to our final destination. We bought our tickets, used them in the barricades to enter the station, and this time took an escalator up to the platforms – I had discovered an up escalator upon my last arrival and was determined to use it rather than climb all those stairs again. On the platform while waiting for the train to arrive, I took a picture of the building on the opposite side from Circular Quay because of its nice architecture, clock and colonnaded entrance.

Building (notice the tennis ball-shaped and decorated dome in foreground) 9374

We boarded the train when it arrived and headed off. However, two stations before the one we had been told would be the one where we would have to take the bus, it was announced that the station we were at would be the last one and we would have to get off and take the bus. There were signs everywhere in the station directing us to the buses but once outside on the sidewalk, it was anyone’s guess where we needed to go. We finally figured it out when we saw hordes of people boarding a bus partway up the block. We got on and managed to get seats. Eventually people stopped boarding the bus and it drove away from the station. On the plus side, the driver was the best I’d experienced to that time and was also the only woman driver, which says a lot. It had to go very slowly, as it drove through heavy Saturday morning traffic (everyone mobbing to the polls?).

When we finally got to the train station, a light rain was falling. We left the bus and – you guessed it – climbed a huge number of stairs to get to the pedestrian bridge over the train tracks, then down the slippery, wet metal stairs on the other side. There were no benches to sit on, no shelters except for a canvas awning over a small rectangle of lawn. All of us stood under the awning since it was raining and we were packed in tightly. The train that was supposed to be coming was late, of course. When it arrived, we were instructed to stand back and let all passengers disembark before anyone boarded. Well, those passengers just kept coming and coming and coming. I have no idea how so many people could have fit into that train. When they had thinned out, I took a quick run through the group and into the train. We sat on the upper level in order to see everything we passed, but the seats faced the reverse of the way we traveled, so it was not awfully special. Also, we were covering the same territory I’d seen on my way to the temple.

It was already after 10:00, the time we’d hoped to already be at the Koala Park and here we were, just beginning the second leg of the train trip. Then the train, when it finally got going, went v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. By the time we finally got to our stop at the Pennant Hills station, it was inching toward 11:00. Then we ended up exiting the train station on the wrong side and wandered around a bit looking for the bus stop for the bus we were supposed to take, finally asking someone working in a convenience store where we could catch the bus to the Koala Park. It was on the other side of the train station so we had to go back into the station and – once again – climb a long and a short flight of steps, cross over the tracks and go down stairs on the other side.

Once there, however, it was obvious where the bus stop was. The street to our left ended several yards to our left in a large cul-de-sac, the use of which soon became apparent. Directly across the street from us were several bus shelters with benches and bus stop signs. Several buses went past the Koala Park so we settled down, standing because the benches were wet, to wait for a bus. When one came several minutes later, it was flashing three different name and number signs, all of them the numbers of the buses that went past the Koala Park. It turned out that on Saturdays, the routes were combined so it would take us longer to get to the park than usual because it would also stop at all the stops for the three lines.

We got inside and sat facing forward, thankfully, and watched the Pennant Hills area go by as we waited for our stop. Of course, we didn’t know where that would be so the driver said he would let us know. However, he was thinking about something else when we passed the stop and it wasn’t until about 100 meters down the road that he remembered, pulled over and let us out. So we trudged back the necessary distance to get to the place where we needed to cross the street to the park. It was across a major road with no traffic signal so we had to wait for a break in traffic in order to cross. Fortunately, the break came fairly soon and we finally entered the grounds outside the park. To prove we finally made it, we took pictures of each other at the entrance. By the way, it was a cold day so I was wearing several layers of clothing including a long-sleeve blouse, hooded sweat jacket and heavy sweater. I looked even more a butterball than usual. But I was warm! And the hood helped keep off the rain.

Buveh at entrance to Koala Park 9377

We bought our tickets and a small bag of kangaroo food at the entrance and went through the turnstile and – finally – into the park. It was 11:00. The Koala Feeding would be at 11:30. We had left TSS at 8:00. We started following the paths to see the various animals in their enclosures. The first unique animals we saw were wallabies. We eventually found out that wallabies, wallaroos and kangaroos are all kangaroos but differ from each other in size.

First unique Australian animal, a wallaby! 9378

A Swamp Wallaby, to be exact, according to this sign 9381

A kind of unique bird; I never saw the sign for it 9382

A penguin feeding was in progress when we reached the Little Penguin enclosure.

Baby Little penguin, an Antarctica variety; in honor of my daughter and her family, the Littles 9395

Sign about Little Penguins 9396

Two more Little Penguins 9398

Further along a winding path, we came across a darling and interesting little creature that was resting its soft-looking “toes” on a PCV pipe closed at the ends and with holes like a flute.\\ the

The Echidna 9402

Sign about the Echidna 9404

Further along the way we came to the Australian Animal Hospital but it was all boarded up and looked deserted. I have to say at this point that the condition of the many of the buildings used by humans was not good (except for the bathrooms, which were fine and clean) but everything for the animals was in wonderful and new-looking shape.

Animal Hospital 9406

The next unique animal we saw was the dingo. I was surprised that they were white animals. I always thought of them as being grey, like wolves, but these were definitely white. They also didn’t hold still, so I did my best to get a shot of one.

Dingo 9408

There were some lovely and exceedingly fragrant flowers on bushes throughout the grounds. We recognized the smell as being the same as at the Garrison Church. The aroma on the shrubs outside it was so strong that it penetrated inside the thick stone walls of the church.

Fragrant white flowers 9411

The next enclosure held wombats. The only one I could see, barely, was inside this cave-like enclosure, fast asleep. Look with concentration and you can see its little head.

Common wombat 9413

Sign for common wombat 9415

After passing the wombat enclosure we came to a cul-de-sac with an enclosed round-about feature in the center. A sign posted nearby proclaimed the area as a “Koala Feeding Area”! However, no matter how hard we looked in the nearby trees, we could not see any koalas, feeding or otherwise.

Koala Feeding Area sign 9417

Disappointed, we headed in a different direction and found ourselves in the bird area. All the birds were behind wire barriers so it was hard to get a clear shot of them but they were beautiful and most of them were ones I’d never heard of. All of them were kinds I’d never seen before.

Beautiful bird 9420

Uniquely-colored peacock 9425

White cockatoo, which turned its back on me 9430

Black cockatoo, a very blurry photo but I doubt I’ll ever seen another 9433

Then we came to a very interesting large round-about place with this sign nearby, reminding us that the Koala Feeding would take place at approximately 11:45. We decided to go over to the round-about area and wait for the show.

Sign 9435

In the roundabout, which was covered, were many eucalyptus trees and in some of them were (duh-DUH-duh-duh!) Koalas, sleeping.

Largest koala (I thought it was very fat but was surprised to find out during the presentation that it was a mother koala holding a BABY koala. Can you see it? There were also several other koalas, sleeping soundly.

Mother and baby koala 9439

A young koala 9440

Back of mother koala 9443

Buveh with koala in background 9446

Small, cuddly koala (slightly blurry) 9448

Koalas sleep about 22 hours a day and, being nocturnal, are awake at night, long enough to eat some delicious eucalyptus leaves, and then go back to sleep. They don’t drink any water because the leaves they eat contain enough water for them to be healthy. Only in times of extreme drought will koalas need to drink water. Each area of Australia has its own unique koalas which differ in size and color from the others.

Then came the part of the program we were all waiting for, petting a koala. We all stood in line and took our turn stroking the chosen koala. The woman doing the demonstration gently pulled the koala from his branch, which awakened him, then placed him on the railing around the koala roundabout. As we got to the koala, we could pause for photo ops. I went first and Nikki had my camera. When she snapped the best photo, the male standing next to her bumped her arm and it turned out blurry but I’m including it because although I’m blurry, the koala isn’t, particularly.

Buveh and koala (blurry) 9450

Buveh and koala 9452

Then I took photos of Nikki with the koala; they were better because no one bumped me and also because the koala was facing forward. I was jealous but survived. Then I took pictures of the koala, who got tired of being petted by so many people and started traveling around the railing, so most of the pictures were blurry but I’m including the best.

Koala and guide 9462

Cute koala 9464

Our koala, back in his tree 9472

Another koala decided to climb down from his perch, 9473, 9474

After the show had ended and we’d taken some more photos, we headed for another bird area. I really wanted to see the famous rainbow lorikeets and they were next. It was hard taking their pictures through the protective wiring of two types but I did my best. Notice their rainbow colors.

Rainbow lorikeet with red bird in background; how many colors does it have? 9481

Blurry close-up showing its colors better 9484

Beautiful pink and white cockatoo 9488

Cockatoo displaying its beautiful head feathers 9489

Kookaburra (I learned the song about them in 3rd grade!) 9501

Sign about the kookaburra 9503

I think this is a wallaroo; a nice, clear shot for a change! 9504

Finally we approached the kangaroo area. There was a big sign just outside it that told about the various kinds of Macropods of New South Wales. The area was enclosed by a wood fence and entered by a gate that was not locked. We walked in and there we were, with the kangaroos! That’s when I pulled out the white bag of kangaroo food we’d bought at the entrance and started feeding the little darlings.

Macropods sign 9507

Buveh feeding kangaroos 9508, 5911, 5916

Nikki feeding kangaroo 9524

The wonderful thing about the kangaroos was that they were very gentle and non-aggressive when they were eating out of our hands. They didn’t push or shove each other or us; they put their dainty little front paws on our hands but the touch was very light and although they have long claws, they didn’t scratch us or use them defensively. One of them was determined that no other kangaroo would eat while s/he was and so covered the food remaining in our hands while it chewed the first bite and kept doing that until all the food had been eaten. The food looked and felt like Cheerios with a light honey coating. The animals loved them. We tried to let each of the kangaroos eat some but there was a lot of food and so we shared it with other people who had come into the enclosure to see the kangaroos. They had fun feeding the kangaroos and taking pictures of each other doing it. Seeing their delight added to the fun of the experience.

Two ‘roos, eager to eat 9526

In an enclosed area within the kangaroo compound were huge-sized models of three animals unique to Australia:

Wombat 9528

Something else 9529

Emu (I think) 9531

As we circled around the back side of the kangaroo compound, we came upon enclosures for large birds.

Ducks? 9532

Cassowary 9534, 9535, 9539

Emu 9546

Another kangaroo, seen just before we exited through the gate we’d come it by 9547

We came to another koala area and saw more of them, sleeping, of course.

Sleeping koala 9553, 9554

Interesting bird, strutting along the sidewalk 9555

Snoozing wombat 9558

By then, it was getting close to time to catch the bus back to the train station. We went back near the entrance and washed our hands thoroughly, then got something to eat at the gift shop and sat outside on circular picnic tables to eat. Fortunately, it had stopped raining and drizzling shortly after we arrived so we were dry as we ate outdoors. I had an “Aussie pie” which was shaped like a pot pie but there was only meat inside it. I ordered it because I wanted to eat something unique to Australia and that was it. I didn’t inquire as to what kind of meat was inside it, however! Then we briefly browsed the gift shop but didn’t buy anything and then walked out to the road and sat at the bus shelter, wondering when the bus would come along.

After some time it came and we boarded it for the ride back to the train station. I sat next to the window so I could take pictures. Most were blurry but some of the better ones are below.

Median strip 9560

Lovely tall trees 9561

Roundabout (I think) 9563

Train station 9569

Station sign at train station, both on the pole and on the bench 9470

Park at underpass, with bench outside and cool-looking tree 9477

Another view of the underpass landscaping 9578

Narrow stairway leading up between two buildings (ignore graffiti) 9579

Old building with funny “For Lease” sign and sign on wall 9581

House styles were different here than elsewhere. Some of them:

Interesting house 9583

Another house 9585

Apartment building 9588

House with nice landscaping 9590

Strathfield Station, taken during a stop 9593

The rest of the trip was a reverse of the one going, with having to take a bus between two of the stations because of maintenance on the lines. We took the train to Circular Quay and then started walking back through The Rocks to Miller’s Point. When we got to the Garrison Church again, a wedding was getting underway. How could we tell? See the photos below.

Bride on sidewalk outside churchyard; why is a man holding the train? 9595

Escape vehicle? 9598

Then we crossed the street and I decided that since TSS would be leaving in about two hours, I needed to take pictures of some of the things I really liked about the Miller’s Point area.

The drinking fountain I admired every time I’d passed it 9599

Wrought iron fence railing on residential building 9601

Wrought iron balcony railing on same building 9602

Nice fencing and porch end piece 9603

More, different railing 9604

Nice balcony 9606

We walked the rest of the way to the street where we turned right to head down the hill to TSS. We were cutting it close because our ETL (Embarkation Time Limit) was 4:00 PM and it was about fifteen minutes before 4:00. I took some photos as we made our way down the hill to the dock.

Street scene with TSS smokestack rising above dock building 9608

Closer view of wall and stairway across the street; Nikki walking on 9609

Home again, home again, jiggety jig. We got there before the deadline and Nikki rushed to take advantage of the money exchange agents who were aboard, waiting to change Australian and US dollars – and possibly other currency – into Chinese Yuans. She had some traveler’s checks she wanted to exchange. I had only a $20 bill and some loose change. Finally I decided that I needed to have some money to use when I arrived in China, so I exchanged it and received a 100 Yuan bill in return. Better than nothing.

A few hours later we set sail for Shanghai, our next-to-last stop. Of course, I had to take pictures of the departure, first Through My Porthole and then from the deck. Here they are.

Sydney – Through My Porthole 9610

Goodbye Sydney Opera House, in the twilight, receding into the distance 9612
Goodbye Sydney Harbor 9614

Goodbye Sydney Harbor Bridge 9615

An outdoor music concert was taking place under a white tent. Hundreds of people were gathered for it and lots of boats in the harbor were anchored offshore, listening. We heard the music loud and clear as we made our way past it. It was a reminder of how well sound travels over water.

Goodbye music concert in progress 9616

Goodbye Sydney skyline 9618

Goodbye Sydney Opera House in the sunset 9620

Goodbye Royal Botanic Gardens 9622

Goodbye wharf area 9626

Goodbye open harbor 9627

Goodbye side of Sydney 9633

Goodbye opposite shore 9635

Goodbye, Sydney, Australia!

Sydney Australia - Days Four through Six

2007-12-26T12:04:00.001-05:00

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – Days 4, 5 and 6: Wednesday through Friday, 21-23 November 2007

DAY 4 – INTERNET CAFE

Feeling a desperate need to catch up on my blog entries, I decided to spend as many of my remaining days in Sydney as necessary sitting in Internet Cafes, doing what needed to be done. Accordingly, on the morning of Day 3, I set out alone from TSS with the intention of going to an Internet Café listed in the Lonely Planet guide. The only way I knew to get there was to take the train, so I walked to Circular Quay and caught one going to the Museum stop, which was very near the location of the Internet Café. When I got off the train, I took the wrong exit and that is how I ended up across the street from the church and was able to take pictures of it (see the blog entry for Day 1). After taking the photos, I walked back toward the station to get my bearings. I was across the street from it now so I took a picture of it because it is so old fashioned and great looking.

Museum Train Station 9296

Eventually I found my way to the café, which charged only $2/hour, the same as I had paid at the great Internet Café I’d used in Auckland. I spent most of the day there, taking time out only long enough to go get something to eat for lunch. However, at the end of the afternoon, the computer seemed to do something strange to my blog and I decided that the next day I would seek out another place to make sure the work I’d done was there and was okay and then to continue my updates. I took the train back to Circular Quay, where I took the photo below of the lovely landscaping.

Lovely landscaping at circular Quay 9298

I walked back to the ship for dinner and worked more on my blog preparation – getting photos into the right folders on my flash drive and modifying the html portion of my draft blogs in order to save time – and money – the next day when I would go back, this time to a different Internet Café.

DAY 5 – INTERNET CAFÉ, AGAIN

The next day, I again took the bus downtown. I went back to Global Gossip and used an expensive $3/hour computer to upload lots of photos to my blog but when I left to go to lunch, I decided to try to find another Internet Café after lunch, one that would be less expensive to do the same thing. After consuming lunch, I started walking around the streets in the central area, looking for an Internet Café. I saw a few and went inside to inquire the prices but they were as expensive as Global Gossip.

Then, after crossing a street, I saw on the street corner six – count ‘em, six – young adult male LDS missionaries! They were talking to people to see if anyone was interested in learning more about the church. I went up to one who wasn’t busy, said, “Hello, Elder,” and held out my hand to shake his. I talked to him for a few minutes and was introduced to two others, the remainder being in conversation with pedestrians. I asked if they could recommend a good internet café and they told me about one and gave me directions. They said, “In fact, we’re going there ourselves soon.” LDS missionaries are supposed to spend their time teaching the Gospel but once a week they are allowed to email their families. I thanked them and left so they could continue with their work.

I started walking toward an Internet Café that was closer, planning to try the one they suggested if it didn’t pan out. It didn’t, so I continued around a block, keeping my eyes open, and finally came to the one they had recommended so I went it. It was huge, very modern and very updated. There was no one to help, no reception desk, only machines to put money into and set up or add time to an account. I set up an account and added time, then went up an escalator (yes, the place was that big!) to a huge room with rows and rows and rows of computers and two rows of Internet ports for personal laptops. I sat down at one and tried to get started, but it would not recognize my flash drive. Since that’s where all of the photos were that I wanted to upload to my blog, it wasn’t much help. So I tried a few others and none would recognize that flash drive! I was feeling exceedingly frustrated and decided to try one more. As I moved around, I saw all the missionaries seated at computers adjacent to each other. We waved to and acknowledged each other and I went on my way.

The final computer didn’t work but I’d put quite a bit of money ($5 maybe) on my account and didn’t want to just waste it so I decided to do some email and some job searching. It was then that I came across the ad for a Librarian position at a new university in Saudi Arabia. It was amazing how closely the job description fit the kinds of things I’d done at UAEU. I sent the ad to my email account, since I couldn’t download it to my flash drive, and looked for others but nothing else appealed. I was determined to apply for that job. Eventually I’d used up most of my account time and left. After that discouraging experience, I went back to Global Gossip, bought more time at the expensive computers and proceeded to upload a lot of photos to my blog, but ran out of time before I’d finished all of them. I left and headed back to the George Street bus stop to catch the bus back to Miller’s Point in The Rocks. From there I walked back “home” to TSS. Actually, it’s amazing how much it feels like home.

DAY 6 - CELEBRATION OPENING THE CHRISTMAS SEASON

The next morning I went to a different Internet Café and spent all day, with only a short lunch break, working on the blog. I returned to the ship for dinner and in talking to other TSSers about the Christmas Tree Lighting event that was going to take place in town that night, I decided to go and Nancy wanted to go, too. The others couldn’t make up their minds, so we just headed out. We took a bus from Argyll Street to Martin Place, a kind of 2-block pedestrian mall that made a nice gathering place.

A massive Christmas Tree was located mid-way along the first block, all decorated and waiting to be lighted. On the other block was a large stage with a program in progress, obviously aimed at entertaining the children of Sydney because of the costumed characters performing. The back of the stage faced the tree; in front of the stage was an exceedingly large audience of parents and young children, thoroughly enjoying the performance. We saw two young women standing nearby and asked about the celebration and learned that it marked the beginning of the Christmas season

The tree, with clock tower on the left 9303

Different view, showing the nice, large, tree decorations 9305

The clocktower building was of sandstone and had lovely grillwork on the semi-circular windows (fanlights?) 9307

The building also had wonderful arches and an arched arcade 9310

A man dressed in a festive outfit was standing near the tree, allowing people to take photos of him, either alone or with others. I thought he might represent Father Christmas, their equivalent of Santa Claus, but the sign he held said, “King Frosty.” We asked someone nearby to take our photo with KF. Here it is.

Nancy, King Frosty and Buveh 9302

View onto the next block where the stage was set up. The white tent was where performers waited and the covered area is over the stage itself. The people seen are part of the crowd 9312

We walked over to the performance area and watched the program for a bit, until a policeman asked us not to lean against the barricade, causing us to move along. We circled the audience and walked back to the area where the tree was. Miraculously there was a bench with two spaces on it so we sat down, facing the back of the stage with the tree behind us.

View of the back of the stage area 9312

Crowd watching stage from its back 9308

We sat talking about various things, a man who was sitting on the other end of the bench started talking to us about the tree lighting. He was American but was living in Sydney “for a year.” After a while, a group of middle-school aged students wearing Santa hats went onstage and began singing. We heard Jingle Bells and then a couple of songs I didn’t recognize. Then, the lovely strains of Silent Night were being sung by the singers and the audience! I was blown away. Had that happened in the US at a public event, lawsuits would be unending. In Australia, however, it is apparently acceptable to be openly Christian.

Meanwhile, the man we’d been talking to had gotten up and walked around but then came back to us and said, “You’ll want to get up and move closer to the tree to see the lighting. There’s a tree in back of you.” We turned and saw that, indeed, a very leafy tree was between us and the Christmas tree. We got up and walked to a nice open space near the tree. The night had just become dark. Suddenly we heard from the crowd near the stage a multitude of voices chanting, “Five, four, three, two, ONE!” At exactly that moment the tree burst into lights and fireworks began shooting from the roof of a building on our left.

The tree bursts into lights, fireworks begin from roof of building on the right 9314

It was an incredible and magical moment. We ooed and awed along with everyone else, thoroughly enjoying the huge tree with its lights and the lovely fireworks bursting into sight above the city. I later learned that some TSSers had been in The Rocks area, sitting at café tables outside the Lord Nelson brewery/hotel when they suddenly saw fireworks shooting skyward from the direction of the town center.

Green fireworks; small blue and green lights on tree 9318

Red and green fireworks, large purple lights on tree 9319

A dazzling display of red fireworks 9320

Ice shot with clock tower on left 9323

Green lights, green fireworks!!! 9325

Lighting up the whole sky 9328

Crowd entranced by fireworks, set against the arched windows of building 9329

Best shot of tower, tree and fireworks 9331

When the fireworks ended, we joined our applause with that of the rest of the crowd, then began wending our way back toward the bus stop. I paused along the way to take photos of things that caught my fancy.

Arched windows on building to left of tree 9342

Tree from opposite side, with star decorations on lamp post 9344

Interesting door on building on right of tree 9345

Lovely grillwork above nice door on corner building 9347

The evening was lovely and the area was very nice – clean and well lit. People were strolling around and there was no frantic pushing or shoving or unruly gangs of teens about. We felt perfectly safe. We crossed George Street, the main bus street and turned right to find the bus stop. There was a bus shelter there with a bench where we sat, talking, and waited for a bus to come that would take us to Miller’s Point on Argyll Street in The Rocks. From there it was about a five minute walk back to the ship. It had been a lovely evening and I was beginning to feel a bit Christmassy.

Sydney, Australia - Day Three

2007-11-22T21:18:00.000-05:00

AUSTRALIA – Day 3: Tour of Opera House; Attending the Temple

Tour of Sydney Opera House

Day 3 dawned bright and clear, perfect for touring the Sydney Opera House (of Finding Nemo fame and other honors) and attending the Sydney, Australia Temple. Nikki and I planned to leave early for our 9:00 AM tour in order to take the longer, scenic route to and around Circular Quay to reach the Opera House. Following the tour, we would part ways. I would take a train from the station included as an opening in the row of shops at the closed part of the quay, to start me on my journey to the temple and Nikki would return to the ship to finish packing her bags before catching a bus to Canberra, where she would visit a friend for three days.

After breakfast, we left the ship at 7:30 and took the walk. Soon we came to the side of the Quay directly across from the Opera House. When we got to an advantageous viewpoint, we stopped to take pictures of each other with the other’s camera (i.e., photos of me taken by Nikki with my camera and visa versa). Naturally, the Opera House had to be in the background.

Buveh and Sydney Opera House 9236

Then we basically turned around and took pictures of ourselves and the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Buveh and the Sydney Harbor Bridge 9237

There were lovely views across the Quay to more residential areas of Sydney.

Lovely view 9238

Bridge with ferry passing in front 9239

View of downtown skyline across quay 9240

Then we walked around the rest of Circular Quay until we came close to the Opera House, where I started taking pictures galore because of its interesting and unusual architecture. Especially its characteristic “shells.”

Shells 9242

Different view of shells 9243

We walked under the arcade past the Opera House shops, which included gift shops (naturally), a bar, a snack bar, a music store, etc. When we reached the tour starting point, I went back to the snack bar and bought a bottle of water. Then we sat at a café table near the starting point so I could drink it and we could rest a bit before starting the tour. A man and woman were sitting at the table, too. We began talking and to our surprise, they were from Hilton Head, South Carolina! When I said I was from Columbia, SC, we all laughed. Imagine coming halfway around the world to visit a famous spot and the first people we meet are from the same place you are! When I said that my daughter had just moved to Beaufort, the woman said, “Right in our back yard!”
Soon the tour guide came. She was a woman about my age and first told us that any bags larger than A4 size (A4 is the standard size paper used here, as compared to letter sized used in the US; it is slightly longer and narrower than letter size) had to check them. Well, my bag is quite a bit bigger than that. I actually use it for an airline carryon bag, which it is perfect for, but had to use it as a purse while in New Zealand and Sydney because it was the only bag I had large enough to put any purchases in so I wouldn’t have to carry them in my hands). Nikki’s bags were larger, too, so we obediently went to the check room to turn them over. Then we went back, to find that the guide had already starter her spiel! Not a good start, but after that, everything was great.

The Opera House was designed by Jorn Utzon, whose preliminary design won a competition over 234 entries. Work on it began in 1959. Utzon was the one who envisioned the roof “shells” that are the distinct and characteristic feature of the Opera House. Because of the unique design, many of the construction and structural challenges had never been attempted before and coping with them required creativity and time. Eventually the cost became so great that first an appeal fund raised $900,000 and a state-run lottery brought in the additional funds needed to cover the cost of the building. Finally, after 14 years of work and problems, the Sydney Opera House opened in 1979 at a final cost of $102 million. It is likely the busiest performing arts center in the world.

The famous roof shells sit on a base that is made up of several parts, including shops and cafes that face outward with glass walls overlooking Circular Quay and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. Inside the lower portion are several venues for the performing arts, including the The Playhouse, with seating for almost 400, a concert hall and the Opera Theatre, which has black walls and ceiling so as to not distract patrons from the performance. There are numerous levels and numerous venues within the huge structure. During our tour, we were not allowed to take photos in any of the venues, only in the outside public areas. The woods used and the manner of their appearance is amazing.

A shot of the outer wall of the Opera Theatre, showing the lovely wood and unique design 9244

A view in another area inside the structure; the wood is artistically arranged 9245

The reception area outside the Opera Theatre has glass walls that lean outward, offering a magnificent view of Sydney Harbor, Circular Quay, the Sydney Bridge and the far side of Sydney. The architect insisted that the view had to be preserved.

Scenic views through the glass walls of the reception area 9246

View just back from the glass walls, showing the stairs leading up to that level 9247

The concrete wall components were individually cast of concrete onsite as construction took place; each is individual and made to fit in one specific location. 9249

View of the base of one of the shells, seen through the glass wall near the Opera Theatre 9250

View of one of the shells and part of the harbor from the same location 9251

View of the upsweep of one of the shells, showing the patterning of the small ceramic tiles on its surface 9253

After touring all the venues, we went to the central ticketing location. The wood used on the walls was absolutely stunning 9254

Another view of the individually cast and sized concrete ribs 9255

The main window, looking outward 9256

The stairs going down, used to get outside (or inside, if you are out); Sydneysiders LOVE stairs 9257

Closer-up of ceramic tiles, especially cast and uniquely sized for one specific place to fit. The tiles have a special coating that resists rain and mold. There is never a need to clean the Opera House’s shells because nothing will adhere to them.

Tiles on shell 9259

Stairs leading up to one of the venues; note the wood 9260

One final view of the wood and how it was used 9261

Attending the Temple

After the tour, Nikki and I went downstairs and stopped in the gift shop for a bit and then left and went to a snack bar on the lower level to claim our free orange juice using a small portion of our tour ticket. We sat at a café table and enjoyed our juice and then got up and started walking back along the Circular Quay. When we got to the entrance to the train station (the train ran on overhead tracks; we could see the waiting platform on the upper level and trains coming and going), we parted ways. I went to buy a train ticket to Epping and Nikki headed back to the ship to pack and leave for a 3-hour bus trip to Canberra.

Once I had my ticket, I put it through the barriers at the entrance. It popped out partway along the structure and when I pulled it up, the entrance doors opened and I walked through into the station. I asked an employee how I could reach the correct train platform and was directed up some stairs – of course. I walked up, up, up, turned and walked up, up, up again. At the top was the platform and, fortunately, some benches. I lowered myself onto one of them that was within sight of the TV screen monitor showing which train would be next, which stations it would stop at and in how many minutes it would depart. I needed the train that went to Town Hall and it was due in just a few minutes.

When the train came, I got aboard and was surprised to see that there were three levels of seating, the one on which I’d entered, one down stairs and another upstairs. I sat on that level since the Town Hall stop was either first or second. It only took a few minutes to reach the Town Hall station. I exited the train and the next train I had to catch left from the track across a walkway from where I was. There was a longer wait for that train but when it came, I again sat on the entry level and watched Sydney pass by as the train traveled toward Epping. I didn’t take any photos because I had my back to the window and was looking out the window on the other side of the train.

The Epping Station was larger than those we’d stopped at along the way, almost as large as the Circular Quay station. I got out and went to the information booth to inquire where I needed to go to catch the bus to Pennant Hills. She made a phone call, wrote down a bus number and a street number and pointed across a street to my left. I walked over the station’s pedestrian bridge and found myself on the other side of the street. I didn’t see any bus stop shelters on the street so I started walking up and down and finally realized there were quite a few bus stops, each indicated by a bench for waiting and a pole having a rather small bright yellow sign with a number and a name on it. I walked almost the entire length of the block looking for the bus number I’d been given but didn’t see it.

Finally I walked back to the one that said Pennant Hills and sat on the bench. Eventually a bus drew up to the next sign and stopped. I walked over and asked the driver where the Pennant Hills bus stop was and he pointed to the one I’d been sitting at. He said that the routes had changed recently and now that bus was the one going to Pennant Hills. I thanked him and went back to the stop to look at the timetable. Apparently I’d just missed the bus and the next one wouldn’t be along for about half an hour. Grrr! There were many small cafes along the street and I walked up and down looking at them since it was lunch time. I finally bought a hot dog of some sort from one of them and took it back to the stop and ate it while sitting on the bench. When I looked at the hot dog after I’d bitten into it, I almost panicked. It was partly black, partly pink and partly green but I was so hungry I ate the whole thing anyway, thinking that maybe because I was trying to do a good thing by going to the Temple, I’d be blessed not to get sick from it. And I didn’t, thankfully!

Eventually the bus I was waiting for arrived and I verified with the drive that it would get me near the temple. I showed him a picture of it and the address. He said, yes, he could drop me off near it. I paid the fee and sat down. The town was mildly interesting and the bus route went through mainly residential areas once we’d left the street where the bus stop was. I did notice, however, that there were frequently very small bright yellow signs with our bus number on it on telephone or light poles everywhere the driver needed to turn on the new route. Finally we got to a spot – at the bottom of a hill, of course – where the bus stopped and the driver told me this is where I needed to exit. He told me to walk to the traffic light (at the TOP of the hill!) and turn right. I got out and walked a few yards to a traffic signal and waited to cross the street (vehicles drive on the left there and in order to get on the side of the street I needed to be on to turn right, I needed to cross.

Once across the street to where a huge shopping center was and started puffing and panting my way uphill, grateful for a bit of shade from tall flowering trees along the way. At the top of the hill was a major road that crossed the one I was on and formed a T intersection. I turned right and the shopping center was still on my right. I soon realized that it was the shopping center the missionaries had told me about that was “right across the street” from the temple. Then I came to a bus stop with a sheltered bench and realized that the former bus route had probably stopped there. No longer, alas! By this time it was about 1:10 PM and since a temple session started at 1:00, I knew I’d missed it and since it is not possible to join in a session late, knew I’d have to wait for the 3:00 session.

However, I could not see the temple anywhere! I decided to just keep walking and if all else failed I could wait at the nearby bus stop or go back to the one across the street from the one I’d just used. Soon, to my great relief, I saw a long white spire with a statue of the Angel Moroni on top and knew that I was on the right track. My next challenge was crossing the extremely busy street having 2-lanes in both directions with a median strip in the center and no traffic signal anywhere close. I waited patiently and finally caught a gap in traffic both ways and crossed the street.

There was no way to approach the temple from the front. The only access was from the side, so I walked down an intersecting street a few yards and entered the beautifully landscaped temple grounds. Since I had plenty of time, I started taking photos.

First photo, from an angle, showing temple’s name 9263

Then I walked outside the grounds and around to the front of the temple to photograph the sign that faced the street. The grounds were somewhat close to the road so I couldn’t get back far enough to take a shot of the entire temple

Temple with sign in foreground 9264

View showing Angel Moroni statue atop the spire 9265.

House of the Lord; Holiness to the Lord sign on temple 9268

Cornerstone 9275

Apparently, as at many other LDS temples, Christmas lights are strung on the grounds at Christmas time and lighted at night. Usually a manger scene is placed on the grounds as well and sometimes choirs sing or pageants are held. I realized that this temple was getting ready to do that when I saw lights strung all across the vibrantly green shrubbery and on the lawn near beds of beautiful flowers. I took pictures to prove it!

Lights on the shrubbery 9270

Lights on lawn near petunia beds 9271

Then I put the camera away and walked to the entrance and went into the cool, beautiful, quiet temple. A discrete sign on the reception desk requested that cameras be checked so I dug out mine and did that. After I’d shown my documentation, I was directed inside and pointed in the direction I needed to go. Some very lovely and welcoming women showed me to a comfortable place where I could wait the hour and a half until the next session started but cautioned me that on a weekday there was a possibility that there might not be enough people at 3:00 for a session but there were other services I could participate in and I told them I’d be happy to do whatever. As it turned out, there were enough people at 3:00 and so I enjoyed a spiritually uplifting and refreshing session.

Because there were fewer people than capacity, however, the session was somewhat shorter and I was finished in time to get a slightly earlier bus than I’d anticipated. After thanking everyone who’d been so helpful and chatting briefly with the workers, I went to the Reception Desk and retrieved my camera and went back out into the bright sunlight and the noisy, fast-paced world. The time in the temple had been a nice respite.

Crossing the street this time was a two-stage process because traffic was into the rush hour mode. Finally, and with the help of a kind driver in a left-turn lane who waited to allow me to cross in front of her car rather than move up in line, I made it to the other side of the street. I wanted to get a photo of the entire temple but cars kept getting in the way and the sun was behind the temple (temples always face east). Here is the best one.

Sydney, Australia Temple 9283

I started retracing the steps I’d taken from the bus stop. I’d realized that the name of one of the nearby shopping center’s anchor stores was Coles, I took a photo of it for Cole, my choo-choo loving grandson.

Coles 9277

I passed Coles and the shopping center parking lot on my left and then made a left turn at the corner and started slowly making my way down the steep hill I’d climbed up earlier. I crossed the little intersecting street at its light and walked a bit more, trying to find where the bus stop was that the driver had vaguely gestured to when I was getting off the bus earlier. Soon I saw a bright yellow sign with the bus number on it. I doubled checked the paper timetable I’d gotten on the bus and saw that one was due. So, either I’d just missed it or it would come very soon. I waited, wondering, and glanced across the street. There was a wonderful, tall, tall tree that I had to photograph.

Tall, tall tree 9286

Top of tree, with pine cones (I think) 9287

Very soon, the bus came and I got on and bought a ticket to Epping Station. We retraced our former route exactly because as well as recognizing places we passed, I saw the tiny bright yellow signs with the bus number on it affixed to various poles along the way. The last stop was at the station and I knew exactly where to go. I walked to the pedestrian walkway over the street and into the station, using my return (round-trip) ticket to get through the barricade. When I got to the platform, I saw on the monitor that the train to Town Hall (and many other stops) would be there in two minutes. Sure enough, it did and I boarded it. When I got off at Town Hall station, I went to the platform for the train to Circular Quay and only had a short wait. Soon I was back at the quay. I descended the seemingly innumerable stairs and used my ticket to go out through the barriers. This time it kept the ticket but the barriers sprung open and I walked through.

From there, I walked outside onto the quay itself, turned left and headed back, through The Rocks, to TSS, arriving in time for dinner.

It had been an informative, pleasant, spiritual and refreshing day.

Sydney, Australia - Day Two

2007-11-22T21:17:00.001-05:00

AUSTRALIA – Day 2

On the next morning, Monday, I had a few goals in mind: go to the Opera House and book a tour for two for Tuesday morning, go to the Royal Botanic Gardens and book two places on the Aboriginal Heritage tour for two for Friday, locate the Conservatorium of Music on the Botanic Garden grounds and find out exactly where the What Makes a Balinese Gamelan Tock? event scheduled for that evening would be held, and visit the State Library of New South Wales (New South Wales or NSW is the name of the province or state of Australia which Sydney is part of).
I headed off TSS, no easy feat since it required going through not only TSS security but also a gauntlet of Australian security and customs officers. I first presented my official TSS card to our own security people at the entrance to the gangway for them to swipe through their card reader, which caused my photo to appear on the “Out” side of their computer screen. Then I descended the gangway, and walked through a maze of security barriers to a cargo warehouse about ten yards away where more customs people were set up in three areas. There was a screening station like those at airports, with a conveyor belt/scanning station where incoming folks had to have their bags examined; individual agriculture inspectors who examined by hand bags and luggage of outgoing folks to be sure they did not containing any forbidden items, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, seeds or wood products; and a high desk where we had to submit our TSS cards upon reentry.

Then I walked through the rest of the otherwise-empty warehouse and out the opposite door into the fresh air but not into freedom. I had to turn left because security barriers had been set up straight ahead and continuing most of the length of the warehouse, going left. I walked along inside the barriers until they ended then angled right heading toward the gates to the berth where two more Australian security persons were on guard. We greeted each other and one of them opened the gate for me. I asked them the best way to get to Circular Quay (quay is pronounced “key”). They told me to turn right outside the gate and go uphill (naturally, since I hate hills) along the street until it curved to the left then follow that street, Argyle Street, until I got to the Quay.

I puffed and panted up the hill and in a coy maneuver, paused a few times to take photos of the lovely architecture of the apartment buildings on the opposite side of the street.

Building with arched windows and doorways on first level and balconies on second level, with navigation control tower behind it 9097

Lovely railing on balcony 9099

Great balcony with plants, nice pillar design, red roof and arched entry below. The green railing is along the street fronting the buildings, since they are above the level of the road I was on.

The balcony 9100

Next to the building in the above photo is a street, then a cool building, The Palisade, and then another street. The building is on its own block. I had to take a photo of it.

The Palisade 9101

I turned left since the road ahead curved left and found myself facing another neat-looking building so of course I photographed it. Note the railing to the right of the building. The road in front of it, Windmill Road, is a bridge and the railing guards a steep drop to a freeway below. Up where I was is a lovely, old residential and commercial area; below is a raging snarl of traffic.

I continued until I arrived at Argyll Street, which I needed to cross. There was little traffic but I took a photo of the one thing that I constantly had to be reminded of while I was in Australia (and in New Zealand, as well), that traffic flows in reverse direction to that in the US. Before crossing the street, one must LOOK RIGHT because that is the direction in which the traffic nearest you is coming. Almost all the streets in Sydney have “Look Right” painted on the road near the curb where you wait to cross.

Look Right 9105

I kept walking along Argyll Street as it slanted downward, gradually at first and then steeply as Sydney Harbor drew closer (I knew this would mean a steep uphill climb to get back to TSS). This area is known as The Rocks and is the oldest part of Sydney. As I walked along, I noticed a wonderful grill covering a basement-level window alongside the sidewalk. Of course I had to take a photo of it.

Sidewalk window grill 9107

Just a couple of short blocks down (literally) the street, I could see the harbor, called Circular Quay, in its park-like setting.

First view of Circular Quay 9108

When I got closer, there was the Sydney Opera House on the opposite side of the Quay. The railing along the Quay was great so I had to photograph it, too.

Opera House 9110

Quay railing 9113

Close-up of seal on railing 9109

Seahorse symbol on railing corner near ferry jetty 9116

Landscape in park-like setting 9114

I circled around Circular Quay to a point diagonal to where I first arrived at the Quay and from there I had a great view of the Harbor Bridge.

Sydney Harbor Bridge 9119

Close-up of bridge towers with Circular Quay lamppost in foreground 9120

To my left and straight ahead was the Opera House with its distinctive roof structures. The building had recently been named a World Heritage Site and Sydneysiders are justly proud of that.

Sydney Opera House 9122

I headed directly there, quite a little walk but very nicely bricked and when I arrived there, I found myself at a row of shops that were in an arcade beneath the Opera House. I walked along, trying to follow signs to get to the ticket counter. I ended up at the point where the tours actually start, however, and had to take an escalator up to the main level, walk quite a distance to a huge flight of stairs (Sydney is packed with stairs, lots of them, all going up (not down!) and gasp my way to the top. There, I was faced with, among other things, two different ticket counters. From where I stood, I couldn’t see that either of them clearly indicated that they sold tour tickets, as opposed to tickets for the various productions held at the Opera House. One was closer and on my left; the other was to the right and much further back. People were in line at the left-hand one so I went to the one on the right but of course it was not the right one; the gracious ticket seller kindly directed me to the other counter.

There a handsome young man with a long ponytail who joked with me as I bought two tour tickets for the next day’s 9:00 AM tour and confirmed that I knew where to meet for the beginning of the tour. Then I went down the long flight of stairs and retraced my steps to the escalator, went down to the tour start point, turned left under the covered arcade of shops until I reached the beautiful bricked walkway between the Opera House and the Circular Quay shopping arcade. I enjoyed the sight of the ferries moored at various points around the quay, the blue sky overhead, and the view of the Bridge to my right as I walked to the half-way point along the row of shops on my left. There was a gap between the modern buildings housing the shops to accommodate a very old, well-worn set of (you guessed it!) steep stone steps rising to the level of the street beyond. McQuarie Street is named after a former governor of Australia, as is McQuarie University located in Sydney, which is one of the academic sponsors of The Scholar Ship, the one that will award grades to TSS students.

I less-than-enthusiastically began ascending the stairs but stopped about mid-way up to take a photo of an interesting work of art attached to the side of the building to my right – and also to give myself a chance to catch my breath and gear up for the next set of steps. Judge for yourself to see if you can tell what it is.

Work of art on wall 9124

At the top of the stairs was a sidewalk bordering McQuarie Street and directly across the street was the Royal Botanic Gardens. A pedestrian crossing was nearby and when traffic slowed I crossed. After entering through the gate, I paused to take a picture of the directional sign there. It took me a while, and viewing several similar signs, to realize that the direction of the board was the direction in which the named place was to be found; they do not use arrow-pointed signs. Just inside the gate was a sign saying something like, “This park is for public enjoyment. Please walk on the grass, picnic on the grass, hug a tree. But please do not (there followed several things that were not allowed).” I was very impressed that walking on the grass was not only not forbidden but actually encouraged. In fact there were huge stretches of grass that had interesting small gardens across an expanse of grass but no paths leading to them. One just walked across the grass to get to them. It was wonderful!

I was looking for a sign that said, “Tour Tickets” or something similar but there was no mention of it, so I turned to the right and started walking along the winding, blacktopped path. As I walked along, admiring the beautiful grounds, I passed some interesting stone artifacts strewn about on the lawn to my right.

Interesting artifacts 9128

I was sure they were Aboriginal items (how I knew is uncertain) and this whetted my interest even further in experiencing the Aboriginal Heritage tour offered on Fridays, which had been billed online at http://www.whats-on-in-sydney.com.au/whatson.asp?id=2992# as:

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Aboriginal Heritage Tours of Royal Botanic Gardens
Where: 2 pm Fridays. Depart Gardens Shop. $25 per person.
When: From Monday, 1 January 2007 to Monday, 31 December 2007
What: Led by an Aboriginal guide, uncover the Royal Botanic Gardens’ rich Aboriginal heritage, experience traditional music, dance and artefacts, and taste some bush foods.
Contact: Royal Botanic Gardens on 9231 8134
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Sounds great, doesn’t it? The only contact info was a phone number but I had no way to call from TSS so I was going in person to arrange for Nancy and I to take the tour. As I walked along I saw a wonderful looking tree on the grounds to my right and of course had to take a picture of it.

Tree 9131

I continued strolling and passed the herb garden, built up on a rock wall across the grass on my right. It smelled just like the herb garden at Riverbanks Zoo and Botanical Garden in Columbia, SC, - and probably almost every other herb garden anywhere. I kept following signposts and finally ended up meandering along a path to my left from the main path. There were cloth banners mounted on posts along the walkway. This kind of banner was frequently used in Sydney, as future photos will show. Here is the one seen along this path. (Domain is a green area of Sydney that abuts the Gardens.)

Cloth banner 9132

Not too far down the path was the Gift Shop, which had a sign outside indicating that free tours started from that point every hour and also that trackless train tours were available from there for $10. I mounted the 2 or 3 wooden steps (I actually don’t mind very, very short flights of steps!) and entered the shop. There I learned that the tour I was interested in was sponsored by the Education Department. When I asked where it was, the shop clerk offered to give me the phone number for it. When I told her that I lived aboard a ship and couldn’t call from it, she very kindly made the call herself. That is the good news. The bad news is that the Education Department was short-staffed that week and it was unlikely that the tour would be offered. I was heart-broken. They offered the palliative that I could call back on Thursday to see if anything had changed. Then the clerk wrote down the phone number for me and told me about the free tours. I thanked her and, after buying a desperately-needed bottle of spring water, left the shop to begin guzzling the wet stuff. It had been a long, hot walk up stairs and through the garden since leaving the Opera House.

I wandered back up the path the way I’d come, turned right and passed the herb garden again and continued until I came to a fork in the path and turned left. I wanted to go to the Conservatorium of Music on the edge of the Gardens to inquire about the musical program being offered that night that some of us TSSers wanted to attend. Sure enough, I soon came to it and was immediately taken with the unique and attractive large plants in the landscaping next to the older of the two buildings of the Conservatorium. Naturally I had to photograph them.

Group of plants 9136
Close-up of one plant 9137

The newer building had a glass wall with glass entry doors that stood open. I walked inside and saw a guard, whom I asked about the program that night. He seemed not to know what I was talking about. Finally I pulled out a printout of the advertisement I’d found online and showed it to him. It read:

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WHAT MAKES BALINESE GAMELAN TOCK?
Where: Music Workshop, Sydney Conservatorium of MusicMacquarie Street, Sydney
When: Monday, 19 November 2007
What: If you?ve ever fallen under the spell of gamelan in Bali or here in Sydney and the shimmering sound of all that bronze has led you to wonder... how is this extraordinary music put together? what makes it pulsate the way it does? how do they play so quickly? and who leads, anyway? then join us for an evening of musical and cultural insights in...
WHAT MAKES BALINESE GAMELAN TOCK?
FREE LECTURE RECITAL
presented by Gary Watsonand Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinarwith guest dancers
Commences 7pm
Drinks on sale at the bar from 6pm
Free admission/ no bookings or reservations
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar gratefully acknowledges Sydney Conservatorium of Music for the use of its gamelan gong semaradana for this recital.

Contact: Gary Watson on 02 9698 1756

Balinese gong kebyar gamelan orchestra
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar (Tirta Sinar Gamelan Club) perform both traditional and modern, sacred and secular Balinese musical forms including the prevalent gong kebyar and gamelan gong, as well as gamelan palegongan, semar pagulingan and balaganjur.
The group formed in October 1992 when the Australian Museum in Sydney acquired a new gamelan gong kebyar, commissioned & built at the Gabeleran foundry in Gianyar (Peliatan village), Bali. Since its foundation, SG Tirta Sinar has met on a weekly basis for large & small group practice sessions, firstly at the Australian Museum (1992 - 1997) where it was housed on permanent display, and now at the University of Sydney's Department of Music faculty.
The founding leader & director of SG Tirta Sinar is Gary Watson (a Masters graduate in music from the University of Sydney) who made regular vists to Bali to study with his teacher, the late celebrated gamelan composer & performer Bapak I Wayan Gandra of Peliatan village. This tuition has helped maintain the authenticity of music learned & performed by the group here in Sydney.
SG Tirta Sinar is available for professional engagement at public, private & corporate functions.Gary may also be booked as a teacher & facilitator for hands-on gamelan workshops at the Old Darlington School with school groups (recommended for Year 7 to 12 students of Music, Indonesian & Asian Studies).
The group rehearses every Wednesday at the Old Darlington School, University of Sydney. Prospective members are always welcome to attend.
Please go to Contact page to email Gary for further information.
Sekaa Gong Tirta Sinar wishes to thank The Australian Museum, Sydney, for the use of its gamelan gong kebyar for rehearsals & performances.
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When he read it, he said, “Oh, yes. It will be in the Music Workshop. It is directly beneath us. You go down the escalator,” he pointed to my left and I saw a set of escalators. “At the bottom, turn right and go completely around. It will be on your left.” I asked if the doors I’d just came through would be open in the evening and he said yes. I thanked him and walked outside.

Outside again, I noticed that there were a few small circular café tables with chairs in the covered area near the doors. I sat in one to finish the water in the bottle I’d bought at the Gardens gift shop and by purchasing which, according to the label, I’d contributed to the Gardens. After resting a bit, I started out again, this time walking out to the sidewalk near the street but divided from it by a nice planted area and turned left, heading for the State Library of New South Wales. It was only about two blocks away but to get to it, I found myself passing even more of the Gardens, which stretched out seemingly forever on my left. It was enclosed by a lovely wrought-iron fence.

Fence and gate pillar 9143

Close-up of gate pillar 9144

Further along was another entrance with a different king of fence, gate and pillars.

Other entrance 9146

Close-up of finial on pillar 9144

Beautiful gate, closed; notice dome-shaped decoration on top 9151

Meanwhile, along the sidewalk was some nice landscaping and even a fountain.

Fountain 9153

Finally I came to the street across which was the library. The street itself curved and plunged downhill with a nice view of the skyline and trees in the distance. I later realized the street was named after Shakespeare, an appropriate name for a street on which the state library fronts.

Shakespeare Street, note edge of statue at far right 9154

Statue of guess who? 9155

Then I crossed the street to enter the State Library of New South Wales.

Library 9139

Inside the library was a large entry room. On one wall was an engraved statement about books.

Engraving 9157

An elegant clock was on the wall above the two doorways leading to the main room 9159

I didn’t go into the main room but instead, traversed a long flight of stairs (alas!) to the display area on the floor above. One of the items on display was a metal replica of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.

Replica 9161

After a whirlwind tour of the display area, my feet were ready to give out, so I went out to McQuarie Street and turned right. I started walking and didn’t stop until I’d arrived at the stone steps, descended them, turned left and started around Circular Quay on my way back to TSS. At the bottom of the circle of the quay were some Aboriginal musicians playing music and entertaining the visitors.

Aboriginal musicians 9164

From there, I made my way along the quay until I was directly across from the stone steps, turned left and started back up Argyll Street, heading back to the ship. And I do mean up, since the first part of the way was sharply uphill. After that I walked through a tunnel carved out of solid rock called Argyll Cut, then onto level ground for a few blocks until I arrived at Kent Street. Since I have a brother named Kent, I took a picture of the street sign in his honor.

Kent Street sign 9166

Across Kent Street from where I stood was a (get this!) brewery hotel. I’m still not clear on how that can be, but I took a picture of it because on the front were the words, “Sydney’s Oldest Hotel.” I’d walked past it several times. There were outdoor café tables and chairs outside in on the Argyll Street. I walked past it again, to the end of the block, then turned right but just before I did, I took this shot across the street to the waters of the harbor.

Scene across the street 9171

I turned right and walked along a very short street, with one building on the right and a drop to the freeway on the left, which I photographed.

What I saw to my left 9172

I walked to the end of the short street, circled to my left and started down the parallel street, which sloped downward. From the top of the slope I could see TSS’s smoke stack and satellite ball rising above the harbor guard station at the bottom of the street. I felt like I was coming home.

TSS from top of hill 8174
As it turned out, five of us ended up going to the Gamelan performance that night. Originally, Nancy, Nikki and were going to go but when we went to dinner in the Coral Dining Room that evening, Lynn and Elisabeth showed up, dressed to go to town, announcing that they wanted to go with us, so we became a group of five.

They decided to leave at 6:30. I thought this would be cutting it tight since the performance was to be at 7:00 but went along with it. I quickly became very glad I’d gone there earlier in the day and knew exactly where it was, how to get there and where to go once inside the building. I ended up practically running and Nikki was keeping up but the other three were lagging behind. Nancy later confessed that she had thought it started at 7:30 and couldn’t figure out my hurry until we arrived and I practically dove down the escalator. Just as we reached the room, the door attendant hurried us inside and closed the door behind us. It was 7:05. We found seats in the theatre-style audience area which faced a lovely flat wooden floor.

The gamelan, which I originally thought was a musical instrument from Bali, is actually a complete orchestra of Balinese instruments. The instruments were set up on the floor when we arrived but no one was with them. I was immediately enticed by the shapes, sizes and types of musical instruments and by the beautiful backdrop.

Balinese Gamelan 9177

Close-up of gongs 9178

The performers seated at the instruments 9179

Particularly interesting, once the event began, was the lecture presentation by the director of the gamelan, Gary Watson. He explained the history of the gamelan, the types of instruments and how each one is played. Demonstrations of various rhythms or melodies were played on each instrument. Using an example song, he had the part played by each instrument demonstrated, then two played together, then three and so on until everyone played together to create the complete song. It was informative and delightful. A special treat was two young dancing girls performing traditional Balinese dances during three of the numbers played by the group. The girls wore traditional Balinese costumes including headdresses. It was hard to get an unblurry picture of the dancers because of their movements. But I’ve included several to give an idea of some of their dance movements.

Dancers with part of the gamelan 9180

Dance movements 9184

More movements 9186

After the first dance, we had more explanations and more music by the gamelan.

Players on right demonstrating their part of a song 9190

The entire gamelan playing 9191

Dancers performing again 9199

Dancers performing Bird of Paradise dance 9205

Birds of Paradise flourishing their wings, action shot 9208

Birds swishing through the air, action shot 9209

Birds displaying tail feathers/wings 9210

One final swish 9211

Gamelan playing 9214

Performers bowing at end of performance 9215

Dancers waiting to bow 9220

After the performance, we went down onto the floor to see the instruments close up. I took pictures of each kind of instrument.

Gongs 9223

Xylophone-type instruments with ornate woodwork 9224

Solo kettle 9225

Row of kettles 9226

Umbrella from backdrop 9228

Backdrop curtain 9229 Nancy said it is made of layers, with each color a different layer 9229

After the performance ended we went outside and wanted to take pictures of all of us under the large, long Conservatorium of Music sign. It was dark by then and a bright light was shining on the wall, so getting a good shot was a challenge. While we were making our attempts, two female Malaysian university students came out from the performance and offered to take a picture of all of us together. Then they walked a ways with us, talking about TSS and about their studies in Australia. Although they are from the part of the world where Bali is, they had never learned to play in a gamelan. We suggested that they take advantage of the gamelan classes offered at the Conservatorium. I said, then when you go home, you can say, “I went to Australia and I learned to play in a gamelan.” They cracked up. The best photo:

Buveh, Lynn, Nikki, Nancy, Elisabeth (at least “Conservatorium” showed up) 9234

The walk back was much more leisurely than the almost-dead run getting to the performance. Once on the quay, we lingered, seeing the Bridge and the Opera House and the city skyline by night. They were all lovely with the lights. I was going to take pictures of all of it but suddenly my camera gave the “batteries exhausted” message and so that was that. Eventually, after some of the group had bought ice cream cones from Baskin Robins (yes, BR), we wended our way back to TSS.

Sydney, Australia - Day One

2007-11-22T21:15:00.000-05:00

Arrival in Sydney

The Scholar Ship entered into the harbor of Sydney Australia at about 6:30 AM. I got up about that time, looked Through My Porthole and saw land, and got myself ready and out on the top deck as quickly as I could. It was quite a sight. Here are photos:

Through My Porthole First Sight of Sydney 8900

Entering the harbor 8903

First sight of Sydney 8905

First sight of Sydney Bridge 8907

Close-up of downtown Sydney 8909

Lovely scenery along waterfront 8912

Picturesque view of bridge 8914

Nice view of skyline 8915

First view of Sydney Opera House !!! 8916

A tug comes out to help TSS into her berth 8919

View of opera house and bridge together 8920

One of TSS’s captains (in white) overseeing attachment of tug to TSS 8922

Line handlers attaching tug to TSS 8923

Sydney Opera House with old fort on tiny island in front of it, edge of bridge at right 8929

Along the shore 8930

Closer-up of old fort with lighthouse on top 8932

Skyline with Sydney Sky Tower 8937

Getting closer to the bridge 8939

Getting closer to the opera house 8940

Close-up of Opera House 8942

View along shore 8945

Top of bridge, where Bridge Climbers go 8948

Nearly under the bridge 8949

Buveh with Opera House in background at far left 8953

Buveh with Bridge in background (when this was taken, I lost my place at the rail)8954

Underside of bridge as TSS goes under it 8957

Closing in on Darling Harbor, where TSS will dock 8958

End of bridge just after we passed under it 8960

Ex-warehouses in Darling Harbor (now shops, a live theatre, restaurants, etc.) 8962

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Zeroing in on Berth 3, where TSS will dock; note harbor navigations tower in background 8963

Sydney skyline with ex-warehouses in foreground 8966

View on other side of harbor 8967

TSS starting to turn toward berth 8972

TSS heading straight toward berth 8974

View of bridge from TSS’s berth 8975

Tug starts pushing TSS against berth 8984

Close-up of tug Watagan, with operator visible through center window 8987

Once TSS had docked, representatives of Australia’s Immigration and Customs services came aboard. We had been forewarned during a meeting the night before that we would be required to fill out customs forms and that we would have to declare any thing deriving from animals or plants. Everyone would be required to meet in the International Lounge at 7:45 on the morning of arrival to complete the forms and hand them over to the officials.

Therefore, at about 7:00, as soon as the excitement of docking had ended, everyone headed for the Lido Deck breakfast bar and ate breakfast then gathered in the International Lounge, where the officials were set up at a long table on the stage. At the foot of the state was a table holding TSS’s Passport Box with everyone’s passports in them. In order to enter Australia, almost everyone (except Australian and New Zealand passport holders) had to have a visa. TSS was required to report the visa numbers for every single student and staffer to Australian Immigration right after we left New Zealand.

Each person was handed an entry card and a departure card. Once they were filled out, we stood in line to pick up our passports, with visa inside, then joined the line waiting to see a customs official. When it was my turn, I handed the passport and the forms to the official, who handed back the departure one, set aside the arrival one, looked through my passport for a space in which to stamp the Australian entry stamp, applied the stamp and handed the passport to a TSS official, who put it back into the Passport Box. That was it! One thing I had to declare was that I had been near or touched farm animals within the last 30 days (those sheep in New Zealand!!!). However, I didn’t get questioned about it.

Nikki got called back because she declared that she had a food product that she planned to take ashore. It was a sealed package of Ecuadorian coffee she bought as a gift for her friend in Canberra, Australia, whom she will be visiting for 3 days while TSS is in port here. Australia is – as New Zealand also is – strict about what kinds of plant and animal products they allow into the country because any foreign pest could devastate their plant or animal populations.

Attending Church

Since it was Sunday morning, I wanted to attend church and had already plotted out on a Sydney map how to get there from the dock. The meetings were to begin at 10:00 and I hoped that Customs and Immigration would finish clearing everyone and release us to go ashore in enough time for me to find the church. As it turned out, it was about 9:15 when we were able to go. Nikki was going to head for the Art Museum of New South Wales (NSW is the name of the county or province of Australia where Sydney is), which was in Hyde Park on the lower edge of which (and across the street) was the church. As soon as we could, we exited the ship and went through the warehouse where Customs and Immigration was set up. Once outside of there, we walked out into dazzling sunlight and straight ahead was a solid rock wall.

Solid rock wall 8988

Then we turned left and headed for the exit gate. Two officials were there to let us out and, when asked, gave us directions to get to Liverpool Street. That’s where the church was.

After we'd exited through the gates, I turned around and snapped a photo of the sign and gate at the entrance, in case I'd need to remember it later, to identify how to get back to the ship.

Entrance to TSS's berth 8990

It was quite a walk, the last stretch. Market Street, leading to the side of Hyde Park was quite steep. At the top, with the park directly across the street, we crossed to the park and parted ways, Nikki going straight into the park toward the museum, and I turning right to walk straight down the street to the intersection of Liverpool Street. Part-way down, I saw a sidewalk going through the park at an angle that would lead me in a more direct route to the church, so I took it and saved quite a bit of walking time. At the end of the park and in mid-block was a traffic light where I crossed then turned left and soon came to 185 Liverpool Street and it was almost 10:15.. It was a modern business building with a sign on the door saying that the chapel was on Level 2. I entered, went to a lift (elevator) and went up. When I got off, immediately to my left were double doors, closed, with a small sign on one, “Chapel.” I went over and cautiously opened the door. Two young missionaries were standing just inside and smiled in greeting. I found a place to sit quietly since the meeting had already started.

I enjoyed all three meetings and it was wonderful to be with so many other church members and someone gave me specific directions for getting to the temple in Carlingsford, where I planned to go on Tuesday.

Afterwards, at 1:00, I spend quite some time talking to some of the women and then left. I guess I was thrown off by the fact that the church was in an office building but, whatever the reason, I forgot to take a picture of it. Another day, however, I ended back in the same place and took the following photos:

Lower right-hand portion of large building, where church is located (to the right of and above the Newsagency) 9294

Doors to enter the church

Signs on door, so I knew I was in the right place

Close-up of one sign

ANZAC Memorial

I decided to walk through Hyde Park and enjoy the beautiful scenery so I crossed the street and realized that straight ahead of me was a large stone building whose architecture reminded me of a temple. When I got closer, I realized it was the ANZAC Memorial. I think ANZAC means Australia and New Zealand Army Corps. It was built as a memorial to soldiers who had died in World War I.

ANZAC Memorial 8996

Flower bed near memorial 8997

Interesting sign on steps leading up to memorial 8999

Sign at entrance to memorial 9001

Through the entrance was a marble floor with a circular opening in the center that was surrounded by a lovely low carved marble wall..

Marble wall 9003

Stained glass window on opposite wall 9005

On the floor below, visible from the wall-surrounded opening, was a startling monument featuring a supine figure in death, stretched across a sword. My assumption is that it represents death in war. It was quite startling because of its initial resemblance to a crucifix. It was mounted on a plinth but from above, it looked like a geometric pillar.

Figure 9006

The marble interior was circular with semi-circular niches at intervals around the exterior. Each niche had words carved in it, naming the battles and campaigns ANZAC troops had participated in. It was hard to photograph them so that the words are readable but I’ll include one as an example.

Wording on niche 9011

Inlaid marble flooring design on floor of each niche 9012

Visible through the open doors directly opposite were three flags waving in the breeze 9015

To my right as I entered was an opening with an eternal flame lighted within. Above the opening was a carved piece with the years 1914-1918.

Décor above eternal flame space 9017

Eternal flame with flags 9018

Close-up of flags and flame 9020

Close-up of metal door, partially closed 9025

Above each niche was a carved scene depicting various aspects of war. Like the words, they were hard to photograph so that the figures show up so I altered the colors so they will show up better although it gives a wrong impression of the color, which is pale white, like death. I’ll include one as an example.

Nurse aiding wounded soldiers 9027

View through doorway opposite, showing tree-lined walkway 9029

Bronze sign embedded in the doorway of the memorial 9037

Glass-enclosed wreath (stained glass windows opposite reflected on glass front) 9038

Close-up of plaque below wreath case 9040

The wreath was through a doorway and against the wall a few steps lower than the main floor. To either side, were steps leading down. When I went down, I was on the same level as the statue and photographed it from that angle. Entrance to the area was blocked by a velvet rope (as was the eternal flame space) but on the floor was an inlaid marble reminder.

Statue 9042

Reminder 9044

When I turned around, I saw I was at an exit point. Just outside were some informational banners.

Banner on right, “The Story” 9045
Banner on left, “Capital Works Program” 9046

To the right of the right banner was the entrance to a display area that included memorabilia from all wars since World War I. I took photos of some that struck me for various reasons.

Desert Storm shirt (US) 9049

Camels in Australia! 9051, 9054

Kangaroo sign 9055

Painting mounted on one wall 9057

Memorial poster 9059

US-Australian ties 9060

Gunner, Warning Dog 9061

Story of Gunner 9062

Indigenous veterans’ benefits poster 9064

Brass sign on lower level outer wall 9065

Back out on the grounds of the memorial, I saw that a long reflection pond and then the walkway bordered by tall trees were also part of the memorial. There were two lamps on either side of the pond.

Close-up of lantern 9067

An ibis (I think it’s an ibis) was on the grounds between two of the trees 9070

The reflecting pond 9073
Hyde Park

I walked alongside the pond and down the tree-lined walkway then entered the general Hyde Park area. Immediately I saw a tree with great-looking trunk.

Trunk of a cool-looking tree 9074

A ways further along was a very interesting stone structure. I have no idea what it was or it significance, if any, but took a picture anyway.

Structure 9078

It’s getting close to Christmas and since Australians do not celebrate the US Thanksgiving at the end of November, they get right down to Christmas in November!

Christmas tree in Hyde Park 9080

As I looked around near the Christmas tree, I saw other wonderful park-like features and I photographed those that most impressed me.

Close-up of landscaping around Christmas tree 9083

Close-up of large tree 9082

On the far edge of the park is St. Mary’s Cathedral 9086

A fountain that shoots out a circular spray from the topmost level 9087

Side view of fountain 9091

Turtle fountain in moat surrounding large fountain 9092

Trees with wonderful branching 9089

View of Sky Tower, in silhouette, taken near side entrance to Hyde Park 9093
Back to the Ship

I left the park and crossed the street to Market Street, to retrace my steps back to TSS. A couple of blocks down was David Jones department store. It had huge display windows in front but instead of being filled with mannequins modeling the latest clothing styles, they were filled with fabulous and elaborate depictions of scenes from the ballet, The Nutcracker, featuring marionettes that moved. The sets were as elaborate (or possibly moreso) than those of any stage set. There were five scenes in all and posters explaining each scene hung near each window. Selections of music from The Nutcracker were playing at each window. It was delightful. I stopped and looked at each one but didn’t think to take pictures. Nikki took one; maybe I’ll ask her for a copy of it to include here.

From there, I walked all the way back to Sussex Street, which leads directly to TSS’s berth. Coming from this direction, I could see that the front of one building actually curved around the corner of an intersecting street. It was architecturally interesting so I photographed it.

Interesting building 9096

New Zealand - Days Six and Seven

2007-11-22T21:08:00.000-05:00

Day 6: Monday 12 October 2007

Nikki and I headed out early Monday morning. We needed to do a few things first and then were heading to the Sky Tower, highest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, located partway between the dock and Scotia Place where the church is and about two blocks east of Queen Street. After that we would part ways with Nikki going to the Aquarium/Antarctica Exhibit and me going to purchase periodicals for the LRC. I had finally managed to catch up with TSS’s “money person” and get cash in the form of US Dollars with which to make the purchases.

First we went to the post office so Nikki could mail a box of summer-weight clothing she no longer needed since we are headed into cooler and then cold weather and to make room for all of the souvenirs she has been and will be buying. Then we stopped at a money exchange place where I changed the US Dollars into NZ Dollars. Then we headed up Queen Street to Borders bookstore to pick up some free booklets of Maori expressions that I’d found there during my visit on Saturday. Then we went back down Queen Street to the street the Sky Tower is on, turned left and walked the couple of blocks – UPHILL! – to our destination.

I forgot to take a picture of the Sky Tower but it is slender and circular. We went inside a building next to the tower and were directed to the basement, which held the ticket booth. We showed our TSS ID cards and were given a significant discount on the admission price. We chose to go only as far as the Observation Deck and not pay the extra $3 to go the additional nine stories to the very top of the tower. It was a good thing we didn’t because when I first got onto the deck, which is completely enclosed with glass walls, I had the sensation of falling (is that called vertigo?). I stayed away from the perimeter on the solid wood floor two steps above the outer walkway, which included windows allowing a view downward. I never did look through them and chose not to walk on any of them.

For a while I just walked around, looking at the panoramic view from ten feet away form the glass walls. Eventually, however, I realized that I could get up close to the walls and place my camera against them to take pictures without the falling sensation. Then I went most of the way around the outer deck taking photos. Some of the best shots are below.

Across the harbor 8857

Industrial area with bridge in the background 8860

Over the tops of skyscrapers to islands in the harbor and volcano beyond 8862

Across the city 8863

Park with green trees and residential area beyond (note sky diving cable on far left, going from top to bottom of the photo) 8864

Hill beyond city center 8866

TSS barely visible beyond building to the right of ANZ tower 8869

Nearby skyscraper 8871

View of town center with giant Santa figure on Whitcoull’s bookstore 8872

While I was sitting on a bench talking to Nikki, suddenly a sky diver went past, going down from the top of the Sky Tower. He was stretched out flat like Superman and had a huge grin on his face. I held up my camera and tried to get it to turn on and focus so I could take a picture of it but it is the slowest camera on earth and he was out of sight before I could get a shot. A few minutes later another diver, a female looking scared stiff went past, stiff as a board and completely upright. I barely managed to get the camera to take a shot before she was out of sight.

Skydiver going down, down, down 8873

Target for Sky Tower skydivers, way down below 8876

Buveh inside Sky Tower (no flash, so I had to bleach it out to get me to show up) 8868

When we had seen enough, including the exhibits that included hands-on maneuvering of livecam scenes to zoom in or out on various areas of the city, we took the glass elevator to the basement. Once back out on the street, Nikki went to catch the special shuttle for the aquarium and I walked downhill back to Queen Street to Whitcoull’s to start buying newspapers and magazines for the LRC. When I had spent nearly all the allotted money, I headed back to TSS for lunch. After lunch I went all the way back up Queen Street to Borders to spend the last bit of money and ended up overspending, on a single item. A copy of Foreign Affairs, air freighted, cost NZ$39.99.

Finally, I headed back down Queen Street to the Internet Café I’d worked in on Saturday and spent until dinner time, uploading photos to my various blog postings. I ended up taking all of them offline because Blogger puts all uploaded photos at the top of the blog, where they have to be manually moved to their correct location and cannot be cut and pasted. I was there for several hours and only got through about half of the entries because uploading was rather slow (5 photos at a time) and because moving them took so much time. Then I rushed back to TSS to be there by 7:00 to meet Nikki and Nancy for dinner out, to celebrate our last full night in Auckland.

We went to a restaurant just across the street from our dock. I had asparagus salad and “chips” (French fries), both of which were delicious. The one strange thing about the salad was that it was served with a poached egg on top! Because the yolk was runny I didn’t eat it, just pushed it to one side. I like poached eggs, if the yolk is solid. The next night at dinner on TSS as we were preparing to sail, the menu included “Kiwi (i.e. NZ) hamburgers. Can you guess? It was a hamburger patty topped by a poached egg! Fortunately the yolks were solid so I tried one and to my utter amazement, it was absolutely delicious! I guess those Kiwis (and New Zealanders call themselves) know what they’re about by topping everything with poached eggs.

After dinner we headed directly back to the ship.

Last Day in Auckland: Tuesday 13 November 2007

My plan for this day was to spend the entire day at the Internet Café, trying to upload all of the photos to all remaining blog entries but I didn’t get away as soon as I’d hoped (7:00) so I didn’t arrive there until about 9:00. I worked until lunchtime, went back to TSS for lunch, stopped in my room to do a few computer things and save them to my flash drive to take back to the Internet Café, then went there and spent until nearly time to board TSS for departure. The designated time to be aboard was 8:00 PM and I left the Internet Café at about ten before sever.

I wanted to go to a souvenir shop and get a particular item for a gift for a particular grandson and to try to spend my remaining New Zealand dollars. Only souvenir shops were open since most retail establishments close by 5:00 or 5:30. I went in the one closest to the IC but things were supremely expensive; glanced in another but it was all really touristy stuff and finally crossed the street and found one I liked. There I managed to literally spend all my money. I don’t even have a souvenir New Zealand coin left to add to my collection!

Then I hurried down the last block of Queen Street to Quay Street, crossed to the harbor side and entered TSS’s dock, for the last time going past the NZ Customs folks to whom I had to show my TSS ID card and open purse and bags for inspection. We were forbidden by NZ law to take off of or bring onto the ship any agricultural products of any kind (fruit, veges, flowers, seeds, plants, opened bottled water, etc.), then walked down the length of the dock one last time, showed my ID to yet another NZ Customs official, mounted the TSS gangway and entered our screening area, going through an airport-type entry and handed my ID to the TSS security person, who scanned it through the system, waited for my (horrible) photo to show on the computer screen while he checked the accompanying data to be sure I was still authorized to board the ship. Then I walked three steps to the hand sanitizer dispenser (recommended by the National Institutes of Health and sanitized by hands. The entry/exit point was on Coral Deck, so I then walked straight into the dining room and went through the buffet line to get my dinner that included the previously-mentioned Kiwi hamburger.

Later, TSS got underway. We had been warned about rough seas and I took a few photos Through My Porthole. Weary after seven days pounding the pavements of Auckland, I was reading and relaxing in my cabin when I got a phone call asking me to come to the Reception Desk on Aloha Deck to be briefed by the Head of Housekeeping on preparing the LRC for rough weather. I have no idea where Grete was or why she was not the one summoned. However, I went, listened and then headed for the LRC, where I spent about an hour moving reserve books to secure shelves, DVD cases into cabinets with doors, placing the staff computer components on the floor, taping down the mousse of the other computers and placing anything else that could sail off a counter or table either onto the floor or into a cabinet with doors.

After that, I finally got to go to my room, wavering and wobbling as the ship hit the open seas and began pitching and rolling. It was a fairly rough night but not as bad as the two that followed. It wasn’t until the third day at sea that the waters grew calmer and more people emerged from their cabins, where they had been confined because of seasickness. Fortunately, although a felt a bit queasy at times during the worst of it, I was able to work, eat and keep up with my usual routine.

New Zealand - Days Four and Five: 10-11 November 2007

2007-11-22T21:03:00.016-05:00

Since my primary goal for the next day, Sunday, was attending services at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints nearest the port, I wanted to be prepared. I looked on the Church’s website (www.lds.org) and found the addresses and meeting times of all the LDS churches in Auckland.

Then I went online to the Britomart website (Britomart is the public transportation system. A new, clean and spacious central Britomart Transport Center for Auckland and is less than a block from where TSS docked). I was able to do an address search that pinpointed the buses and routes to the church’s addresses.

Fortunately, the church nearest TSS's dock was directly up Queen Street, which is at right angles to Quay Street, where the dock is. I went to the Britomart station on Queen Street and asked which bus to take, what time it left, how much it cost and how long it would take to get to the stop nearest the corner of Queen Street and Scotia Place, the little side street off Queen where the church is located. The service started at 9:00 and I was told that the 8:30 run of Bus 042 would take me to within a block of that spot and on time, for fifty cents.

Reconnisance

It sounded good but I wanted to be sure the church was actually there - hadn't moved to a new location recently or whatever - so on Saturday morning I headed out on foot to find it for myself. It’s a good thing I did because I found out that three blocks from Scotia place, Queen Street was blocked off for road construction, so the bus would not actually take me to within a block of Scotia Place. I would have to get off about three blocks away and walk directly uphill at about a 45-degree angle to get to the desired location.

As I toiled up the hill on Saturday, I passed by a Borders bookstore and made a mental note to stop there on the way back to see if they had CDs of Maori music and current mystery fiction by female New Zealand writers. I also passed by Meyers Park and saw that a street fair with booths of handicrafts and flea market items was going on. I decided I would stop there, too, on the way downhill.

Finally I reached Scotia Place and saw that, indeed, the church was there, right on the corner with Queen Street. I walked up to the door and read the posted meeting times. They did indeed start at 9:00 as stated on the Church’s website. Content that it was there, I turned around and headed back toward Meyers Park.

The Street Fair and Borders Bookstore

Meyers Park was lower than street level so I had to walk down some very lovely stairs that were rounded and winding with only a few steps on each level, so they were easy to traverse. The route I took led me directly to two flea market-type booths.

I happen to love sorting through miscellaneous odd items and was delighted to find two paperback novels for NZ$1 each; an old small wooden die (half of a pair of dice) for Crowns andAnchors, a game long popular in NZ, also $1, and a lovely silver filigree bracelet for $5.

Pleased with my purchases, I continued on, viewing the specialty clothing, jewelry and artwork in the other booths until I came to another flea market booth. There I bought a special item that will be a gift so I will say no more about it.

[Note added seven months after the fact: the gift was a beautiful handpainted azuela tile (blue and white - see my Lisbon, Portugal, postings to learn more about azuelas) that had originally been used in a building somewhere in Auckland. It was a gift for my son and daughter-in-law, who collect lovely tiles.]

After viewing all the booths, I went back to the street, turned left and walked to Borders, where I bought two books by New Zealand writers and, after listening to selecftions from five different CDs, a recording of Maori music.

The Internet Cafe!

I continued wending my way downhill. About a block and a half from the dock, I saw a signboard with a sign for an Internet Café for $2 an hour (the best price I’d seen prior to that was $3). The arrow on the sign pointed down an alley.

I hesitated going down there but when I saw that it was fully paved and other businesses were there, I decided to at least see what it was like. When I got to the open doorway with stairs (!) leading up, I again hesitated, but the stairway and walls were very clean and well-lit so I proceeded up the steps.

At the top, on the left was an absolutely spotless, spacious beauty parlor with wonderful wide and high windows. Directly ahead of me on the wall was a sign with arrows. The left arrow pointed to the beauty shop and the right arrow pointed to the Internet Cafe.

I turned right then entered the room where the Internet Café was. It, too had the same kind of windows but all faced buildings so the light was not as bright as in the beauty parlor. However, it was clean and respectable looking.

A young Chinese man was sitting at the counter and the room was filled with neatly placed computers. I asked if he had a computer with a USB port and he assigned me to Computer #10.

I didn’t need a password, didn’t need to pay in advance, just go to the computer and start working. He walked to the computer station with me and pointed out the USB port, which was on a cable lying near the mouse.

The computer desks and chairs were all of the same type – large, well designed black desks having nice smooth working surfaces with a nice distance on each side from the person at the next desk. The chairs were incredible! Upholstered, high backed chairs with arm rests. The Internet was fast and smooth.

I plugged in my flash disk, brought up Blogger, entered this Buveh At Sea blog and set to work to see if it would allow me to upload photos. It did!!! I was so amazed I couldn’t believe it.

I had so many photos to upload that I only made a dent in the time I had at my disposal, about three hours. Then I had to get to Britomart, the information center and back to the ship in time for dinner.

A Visit to the Auckland Skydome Observatory

I walked all the way down Queen Street to Quay Street, turned left and went to the city's Information Centre to inquire about that evening’s show at the Skydome Observatory.

One of the two things I wanted to see in New Zealand was the Southern Cross, the constellation in the night sky that enables one to determine South (the direction).

I knew I had no chance of distinguishing it without expert help, so had decided that going to the show at the observatory was the most likely way to find out what I wanted to know.

Nikki and Nancy were interested in going, too, so I inquired about the time and cost of the show and what bus to take to get there. The helpful person in the center called the observatory and found out the details: show at 8:00, cost $14 for adults. She made reservations for our party of three and we were set.

Then I went to Britomart to ask what bus to catch to get to the observatory on time. Once again, they seemed unaware of the changed locations of bus stops because that evening when we walked to the bus stop, there was a big sign saying that the bus stop location had changed to number X (don’t remember the number, but it meant nothing to us anyway).

Getting to the Observatory

Back at the ship, I ate dinner then met up with Nikki and Nancy and we headed out to catch the bus. Fortunately we were there well ahead of the departure time because we spent about twenty minutes traversing a distance of two blocks (all around a city block) until we happened to be crossing a street and saw our bus pulling up to a stop across the street. We ran for it and made it!

The ride was interesting as it passed through the business area and a residential area of Auckland. We got off near the observatory, which is located on the grounds of One Tree Hill, so named because from the time NZ was first settled, there had been a single tree on the top of the hill until recently, when a Maori protester cut it down. The grounds were lovely and we admired them as we walked through them on the way to the Skydome.

At the Skydome entrance, Nikki took pictures of us, which I’ll try to get a copy of to place here. Then we went inside to buy our tickets. Nancy, the bargain hunter, flourished her TSS card and asked if we could get an educator’s discount on the price; they said yes, $2 off. Then we pulled out the $2 off coupons out of a local free tourist book we had brought with us and asked if we could use those, too, and they said yes, so we paid $10 each for tickets that usually cost NZ$14.

The Skydome Observatory

The show wouldn’t start for about twenty minutes so we looked at the displays in the small exhibition area, perused the gift shop and used the “porcelain facility,” as one of my library school professors used to call it.

Then the resident astronomer came into the exhibition area and announced that it was time to go into the observatory. Several other people were there, too, and we all filed into the auditorium and took the seats of our choice. The seats were large and comfortable and leaned back so we could gaze at the dome overhead.

The astronomer was quite entertaining, with an easy, bantering presentation style. He talked about the spring night sky (November is spring in NZ) , with Jupiter as the brightest spot in the heavens, then darkened the room, turned on the projector and pointed out Jupiter and certain constellations – such as Scorpio, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen in the northern hemisphere.

Then he got to what, for me, was the crux of the matter – the Southern Cross. However, that is not its real name, which is Crux. He claimed that if we wanted to look up the Southern Cross in the encyclopedia, we wouldn’t find it under that name, only under Crux.

Using the Southern cross to determine South is a much more complicated process to determining North using the Northern Star, however. I’m not sure I have the process right, but will try to view it from the ship once we’re underway and see if I can spot it.

Finding the Southern Cross (Crux)

First you have to locate the two brightest stars in the western sky; they are one above the other. Then you look to your left until you come to a group of four stars that form Crux.

Using the long arm of the cross as a pointer, follow a direct line to a bright star a distance away. Then find the midpoint between the end of Crux and the bright star and follow it directly down and – Voila! – you’ve identified South.

He then tested us by saying that now he would show us all the stars visible in the night sky, not just the most prominent ones. He added the other stars to the prominent ones displayed on the dome above us while he talked about some other things.

Then he asked us to find Crux again and determine where south was. Most of the audience - including the three of us - couldn't do it. He finally had to show us because I, at least, was hopelessly lost. Nikki and Nancy later confessed that they hadn't been able to find it, either.

After that show finished, he led us out through the exhibition area and into a smaller room with a projection screen. We sat on chairs facing the screen and he stood behind a presentation counter.

Lots of other people also filed into the room; they were going to be attending the next show in the observatory but would see this presentation with us. It was a slide show about Mars and the Mars Rover and included the most recent shots the Rover had sent to Earth!

Seeing the Southern Cross (Crux)!

Finally, he herded all of us outside into the dark courtyard on the hillside at the back of the observatory where some telescopes were set up for us to view Jupiter.

I was only interested in seeing the Southern Cross with my own eyes, not looking through a telescope, so I gazed at the sky and realized that Crux was not visible from where we were because the observatory building was in the way. So I went inside the building with the goal of going out front to see if I could find the Southern Cross.

There in the exhibition area was the astronomer, who had left assistants to help folks look through the telescopes outside. I asked him about locating Crux and he offered to go outside with me and show me where it was.

We had to walk to the far end of the parking area to get a good view because a huge tree blocked Crux from sight when we stood at the observatory entrance.

He pointed out the two bright stars and three stars of Crux (the fourth one was blocked by the tree and all were very low on the horizon anyway), the spot where the other bright star would be if we could see it through the tree, the halfway point and then straight down, which was where South was.

I thanked him and then went back inside the observatory to get Nikki and Nancy and show them.

We spent some time in the gift shop first and I bought a postcard of the Southern Cross. Then we went outside and I tried to show them the Southern Cross, I think I had it right, but they felt unsure and weren't confident they had it.

Aftermath

After that, we headed across the grounds out to the street, which we crossed, and walked to the bus stop. We had about a 20 minute wait and it was a bit chilly with a cold breeze but we had fun talking about the stars and how we would go out on deck when we got back to the ship and try to find the Southern Cross.

Finally the bus came and it dropped us off where we had originally caught the first one and we walked back to TSS from there.

We were telling others aboard about our great experience at the observatory and how we wanted to see the star from the deck. One of the faculty women rushed out of the room to find the Staff Captain, Captain Socrates (a Greek, could you guess?) to ask him if he would help us find it.

He told her that unfortunately, Crux was blocked from view by city buildings so we couldn’t see it from the deck while we were docked but he would be happy to show it to us once we were at sea.

(As I write this, it is our first night back at sea but there are heavy swells and we are not allowed to go onto the open decks, so the best we can hope for is better weather tomorrow night. We’ll only be in transit four days to Australia, so if we don’t see it while at sea hopefully we can see it while docked in Australia.

At any rate, I want to go to the Sydney Observatory and see if I can definitely learn to identify the Southern Cross!

Day 5: Sunday 11 November 2007

Having made sure of the location of the church and which bus would take me as near as possible to it, I set out at about 8:25 to catch the 8:35 bus at Britomart, half a block from the dock. Bus 045 arrived on time and I asked the driver to let me out at the last stop on Queen Street, which he did.

I then walked, slowly and panting, up the steep slope to Scotia Place. Just before I crossed Queen Street to the church, I paused to take pictures of it - and to catch my breath. Then I crossed the street and walked to the church door.

View of church from southwest corner; the slender silver steeple is hard to see. 8854

Closer view of church with the steeple more visible. 8855

Friendly New Zealand Welcome

People were already arriving and everyone greeted me, shook my hand and welcomed me. I’d entered the side door on the lower level (the church is on a hill; the other side where the parking lot is located is uphill), so once inside, I was directed upstairs to the chapel.

Just outside the chapel, a friendly lady greeted me, chatted and then invited me inside. I took a seat next to the wall. As the chapel began to fill up, a Samoan family sat on the row directly in front of me, spilling over onto my row so that a teenage girl and a boy about 8 years old were sitting next to me. We shared a hymnbook during the meeting.

Later, after the meetings, I talked with a woman who was a teacher trainer at a local high school. She was looking for a new job and was very interested in TSS. I encouraged her to look at the TSS website and consider applying for a job; she told me of a NZ website (www.pinz.co.nz) that listed education-related jobs.

As I left the chapel, went downstairs and out the door, many people said good-bye, shook my hand, and wished me well.

The Ride Back and the Rest of the Day
Back outside, I walked to the corner, turned left and headed for the bus stop a block and a half downhill on Queen Street. I arrived just two minutes before the free bus came.

The free bus makes a circuit of key city locations on a regular schedule. I hadn't ridden it before because it hadn't been going where and when I needed it until now.

On the way, the bus passed Meyers Park, where the street market had been held the day before, and I saw deserted grounds and a large banner on the park’s main building advertising that the fair would be on Friday and Saturday. It was refreshing to realize that there are still places in the world where events like that are not held on Sunday.

I got back to the ship in time for lunch, ate in the dining room and then went to my cabin and worked on updating my blog. I planned to spend a lot of Monday in the Internet Café I'd found, uploading photos to already posted text. I hadn't been able to do it with TSS's Internet service and I had hundreds of photos to upload!