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Kiriwina Island

Fortunately by the time we reached Kiriwina we were cleared to land in PNG - the Kiriwina people no doubt benefiting from money not spent in Rabaul. Not a lot of us had Kina, as many passengers had expected to change currency in Rabaul. So lots of locals wanted to exchange currency.

The western shore, near the main town, Losuia, is too shallow for a cruise ship to safely navigate so this landing, near a small village at the northern tip, is the setting for staged tourist entertainment and sales.  I was reminded that even in Sydney tourists are introduced to Aboriginal Australia with professional entertainers providing didgeridoo performances.  This would not be the last time we would see 'traditional' dancing on this trip.

 

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Dancing for the tourists
 

 

Interestingly, to me at least, Queen Elizabeth does not drop anchor. She holds station precisely using global positioning and her electric motors. The two stern Azipods can be turned in any direction and combined with the bow thrusters she sits perfectly still, without turning or drifting to the tide; currents; or the wind. The only concession to a high wind is a slight heel (tilt) to port or starboard.

 

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The ship didn't swing to the tide and had no moorings or anchors
 

In the afternoon Wendy and I had a practice snorkel and enjoyed it. The coral was dead and white crumble off the beach but there were some colourful fish.

 

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Travel

Malta

 

 

Almost everyone in Australia knows someone who hailed directly from Malta or is the child of Maltese parents. There are about a quarter as many Maltese Australians as there are Maltese Maltese so it is an interesting place to visit; where almost every cab driver or waiter announces that he or she has relatives in Sydney or Melbourne.

Read more: Malta

Fiction, Recollections & News

Love in the time of Coronavirus

 

 

 

 

Gabriel García Márquez's novel Love in the Time of Cholera lies abandoned on my bookshelf.  I lost patience with his mysticism - or maybe it was One Hundred Years of Solitude that drove me bananas?  Yet like Albert Camus' The Plague it's a title that seems fit for the times.  In some ways writing anything just now feels like a similar undertaking.

My next travel diary on this website was to have been about the wonders of Cruising - expanding on my photo diary of our recent trip to Papua New Guinea.

 


Cruising to PNG - click on the image to see more

 

Somehow that project now seems a little like advocating passing time with that entertaining game: Russian Roulette. A trip on Corona Cruise Lines perhaps?

In the meantime I've been drawn into several Facebook discussions about the 1918-20 Spanish Influenza pandemic.

After a little consideration I've concluded that it's a bad time to be a National or State leader as they will soon be forced to make the unenviable choice between the Scylla and Charybdis that I end this essay with.

On a brighter note, I've discovered that the economy can be expected to bounce back invigorated. We have all heard of the Roaring Twenties

So the cruise industry, can take heart, because the most remarkable thing about Spanish Influenza pandemic was just how quickly people got over it after it passed.

Read more: Love in the time of Coronavirus

Opinions and Philosophy

How does electricity work?

 

 

 

The electrically literate may find this somewhat simplified article redundant; or possibly amusing. They should check out Wikipedia for any gaps in their knowledge.

But I hope this will help those for whom Wikipedia is a bit too complicated and/or detailed.


All cartoons from The New Yorker - 1925 to 2004

Read more: How does electricity work?

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