DAY 48---DARWIN, AUSTRALIA

 

        When we opened the drapes at 7am we were already docked at Darwin on the north coast of Australia.  There is a monsoon rain here this morning.  Hopefully it will stop before I go on my tour at 9:15.  Rebecca has opted not to go because of the weather.  It is 76 degrees this morning due to the rain.

Historical/Background Info:

        After a day of cruising the Arafura Sea, we cruising into the Timor Sea last night and arrived at Darwin at noon today.  Darwin sits right in the middle of the northern coast of Australia and is the capital city of the Northern Territory.  Darwin was originally a pioneer outpost.  Back in 1839 the HMS Beagle sailed into Darwin harbor while surveying the area.  Although Charles Darwin was not on board the Beagle this trip, it was named in his honor.

        The Northern Territory is sparsely populated and Darwin is its largest city with a population of over 147,000.  It is the smallest, wettest, and most northernly of the Australian capital cities.  It has been almost completely rebuilt four times; once due to Japanese air raids during WWII, and three times due to cyclones (they call hurricanes cyclones when the form over the South Pacific and Indian Ocean).  The last cyclone “Tracy” in 1974 killed 71 and destroyed over 70% of the town’s buildings.  Mining, (gold, zinc, bauxite, and magnesium) along with tourism are its economic drivers.  There is also offshore oil and gas exploration in the nearby Timor Sea.

LAST NIGHT

Again, especially this post, I recommend you click on the photos to enlarge them.

We had our big "Diamond Dinner" last night in Compass Rose.  This is the Captain's table in the center of the dining room that was ours for this special occasion.  We assigned the seating arrangements for our invited guests.

                                  The table was decorated with diamonds in the center.

Prior to going in for dinner we had a cocktail with Marcia in Mariner Lounge.

Our guests from L to R:  Annie (Head Housekeeper), Paul (Cruise Director), Janina (Cruise Consultant), Massimo (General Manager), us, Ivan (Staff Captain), Marcia, Nino (Food & Beverage Director), and Kushal (Internet Manager).  It was a great group of friends.

Arthur, Head Sommelier, introducing the wines.  Here is has our champagne--Veuve Cliequot.  Nino selected the three wines served from the connoisseur (pay extra) list and was complimentary for our dinner.

                                                                     Our menu cover

Inside was the menu that we had selected.  The unusual item was the hot appetizer, mamaliga.  Romanian polenta & cheese dish.  It was a new dish for most and everyone enjoyed it.

                     This was a super Tuscan red blend.  Italian red, of course.  Very nice!

                                                                   Ali was our waiter

                                          Ivan, the staff captain, between Rebecca and Marcia.

R to L:  Massimo, Janina, Paul

The white wine was a French wine which we did not care for so asked Arthur for our La Crema chardonnay.

                       Tanner, the assistant cruise director, showed up to congratulate us.

Jason, the Compass Rose maitre'd.

                      Amuse Bouche (starter) was this fole gras parfait with a citrus gel.

                                          This is a Mykonos (Greek) salad with shrimp.

This is the mamaliga with a white cheese in the bottom.  Not sure what the cheese was but very stringy.

After this we had a peach sorbet that is not pictured.

Our main course was a half baked lobster with crab stuffing, 4 ounce tenderloin filet, twice baked potato, and green beans with sauteed onions and bacon.

         Chef John is presenting our "Diamond Cake".  It was a flourless chocolate cake.

                                 Our cake was served with a marzipan rose on the plate.

Not planned originally by Nino but he had Arthur bring out this nice Dow port wine.  Very nice sweet dessert like wine.  Loved it!

                                 Bagus, assistant waiter on left, with Ali, our waiter on right.

                                        Benji, one of the head waiters joined us for this photo.

We made it to the show late and it was packed so was leaving but Isadora, the beverage manager, saw us and led us to some seats in the balcony.

This production cast show was not one of their normal shows.  They made the show up on their own.  The normal shows are learned in Miami before coming to the ships.

                                                                   It was a great show.  

        We really enjoyed the once in a lifetime, special evening to celebrate our having sailed for over 1000 nights on Regent ships.  In fact we had been on 21 Regent cruises with 11 being on Mariner, the ship we are on now.  Three of the cruises were Grand Cruises and four were World Cruises.

TODAY

Long gangway today.  I took this at 8:30 and it was just light rain then.  But Rebecca decided not to go on the tour today.  There was a group of our friends who knew I flew the B-52 we were to see at the air museum and wanted to be on my bus so I could give them a good tour of the plane.

This is the 3rd time I have been on this tour.

                                                                  Our bus was nice.

Our first stop was at this museum with old vehicles of all types.  They did not have the lights turned on most of our time there and my photos are not that good.  They finally turned them on about the time we were to leave.

                                                               Lights turned on now.

        Next stop was at the Darwin Aviation Museum.  It is a very good museum with lots of aircraft of my era.  I say era as it has been 50 years since I was in the Air Force and flew the B-52. I was in the Air Force from August 1970 to January 1977.  Darwin is very proud to have one of only three B-52's in museums outside of the US.  There is one in Seoul, South Korea, and the other in England.

        In February 1972 President Nixon ordered 98 of this G model B-52 to Guam to fly combat missions in Southeast Asia (South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia).  There were already 54 B-52D models in Thailand and another 55 D models on Guam already.  So there there 207 B-52's being used in the war.  During the 409 days I was on Guam I flew 78 combat missions.  The missions were from 12 to 16 hours long depending on where our targets were.  They kept us on Guam for a couple months after the peace treaty was signed as a "big stick" in case they violated it.  In December of 1972 we bombed Hanoi and Haiphong for 12 days which brought the North Vietnamese back to the table to negotiate a peace treaty.  This was to end the war finally and our POW's were finally released.  During this bombing campaign 15 B-52's were shot down.

                            Everyone on the tour today was amazed at the size of the airplane.

They had to remove the tail to get it in the museum.  Then they reattached it.

                          This is a Huey Cobra gunship used in Vietnam.  My cousin flew it there.

                                              This is a F-111 fighter/bomber also of my era.

Last museum was this one.  It describes the massive Japanese bombing of Darwin in February of 1942.

It also had free wifi.  So I connected and downloaded 17 photos in less that 2 minutes.  Wish the ship had as fast as this was.

It was 1:30 when I got back on the ship and was hungry so up to La Veranda I went for this sandwich (actually I just ate the ham and cheese).  I also had a pasta.

I had to buy this t-shirt at the aviation museum.  They gave me a discount since I had flown the B-52 in their museum.

        So I departed the ship again at 3pm to take the shuttle bus to the mall downtown.  I was looking for some hand sanitizer, glasses cleaners, and drugs.  Did not take me long to get them.  They required a prescription for a couple drugs but I did manage to get Rebecca some Nasonex.  I was back on the ship 35 minutes later.

        Many of the crew was getting the free mall's internet.  Just 3 here but more outside.  They have to pay something to use the ship's internet.

        Seems I am sort of a celebrity here in Darwin.  I have my Vietnam veteran's t-shirt on today.  When I was boarding the shuttle to return from the mall the Assie guy helping people on and off the bus thanked me for my service.  I told him I had flown their museum B-52 in combat in Vietnam.  He and the driver were very impressed.  He called to the helpers back at the terminal and told them.  When I got off the bus back at the terminal the lady helping folks off the bus asked for a photo of me.  She even took a selfie of the both of us together.  Then the bus driver hopped out and wanted a photo with me too.  They are very proud of that B-52 being here in Darwin.

        Here is tonight's menu in Compass Rose.  We will be having the pan fried veal liver & onion.  Their idea of onions with is is red onions so we shall request sauteed yellow onions.

        Forget the show as it is the comedian again.  No one liked his first show so doubt many show up for this one.

        We will be sailing again at 9pm and will have two seas days prior to reaching Bali, Indonesia.