July, 2000
Exciting, delightful, terrific, momentous, joyous, adventurous, wonderful, sentimental, tender, luxurious, new, and just great fun (as in fun time) are some of the adjectives needed to cover the events since the last issue of Routon’s Rousing Reports in November. So much and so many. Where to begin.
As you may recall, weddings were in the air. Bill and Lara and Helen and I. And they did take place as scheduled. Lara was a beautiful bride, but I’m the editor and am prejudiced so I say Helen was even prettier. (And I’d say that even if I didn’t have to live with one of them.) Both weddings were lovely and went without a hitch (actually the couples got “hitched” in each case, of course) with theirs being a large church event and ours simple with just immediate family. I won’t comment on Bill and Lara’s honeymoon, but on ours, Helen came down with a bad case of flu about half way through. As I told Mark, Helen’s son, “in sickness and in health”, but so soon?
She did recover and the honeymoon continues. While in Sydney, Australia, (and there is a Sydney in Nova Scotia also — you learn so much in RRR) we shared our sidewalk café table with an English couple. They were about our age, both had been widowed, and then found love again with each other. And we found they felt the same as we — like we were kids again, maybe 17 or so, ready for adventure and life. Both joyous and adventurous. Ready to go…go cruising, that is.
Cruising (and you wondered how I was going to segue into this)! As an experienced world cruiser, let me give you some advice. Never try to fit ten (10) bags plus four carry-ons into a small cabin and then try to unpack! Less next year I guarantee. Of course, it was fun at the hotel the night before when the doorman and staff had loaded our luggage on a four wheel hotel cart (trolley for the English) so that it was completely full and then Mark casually told them, “They’re just here for the night.”
Once we settled into our cabin, the “routine” began. Admittedly when cruising you have to sacrifice house cleaning, bed making, cooking, lawn mowing, pulling weeds, washing windows, cleaning garages, and such. (We did do laundry every week or so just to keep our spirits up.) However, if you put your mind to it and try, you can get used to partying (6 cocktail parties in the first 10 days), fine dining, shows every night (it’s tough), sight seeing, bridge and dancing lessons, sports contests, and, one of the most difficult, lying in the sun and loafing.
By the way, I told you in the last issue that I was going to ask the dance instructor if when he said to pick a lady in the dance class, he meant we could keep her as I did with Helen. He said yes and was so delighted that he held a special commemorative, rumba dance class on January 22nd, the anniversary of the fateful QE2 dance class in 1999. He not only honored us with words but with a bottle of Dom Perignon!!!
If a world cruise is not house cleaning, etc., what is it? It is partying and so on and being pampered at every turn, but more basically, it is people. Seeing people of the world both on board and in their own lands — and seeing their countries, the good, the bad, the beautiful, and the ugly. Sydney, much like an American city and Capetown with even a stronger American flavor; Singapore as modern as tomorrow and squeeky clean but more western than Asian; Bombay (Mumbai) with poverty on one side and the luxurious 19th century Taj Mahal Hotel on the other, are all examples.
What is the best? That is a question that cannot be answered. But Hong Kong continues to be the “Chinese Manhattan”, vibrant and teeming with life. From a tourist view, the return to China has had little effect. The double decker trolleys still grind their way through a maze of people with side streets so narrow and full of vendors that that delivery truck cannot get through, can it? The Star Ferry still plows its way time after time across the harbor between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island dodging the constant flow of boats and barges — and it’s still free for seniors. (An American quarter for others) Victoria Peak still hangs over a city where it’s fascinating to just watch the lights “creep” on as darkness descends. And then to take a seat on the upper deck of bus number 15 as it twists its way down the side of the mountain. The Toby Inn, a “hole in the wall” café, is still on the edge of the fascinating Stanley Market and has the best sweet and sour pork in the world. It’s still so crowded that Helen and I had to share a table — and were the only westerners in the house! (Our table mates did their best to improve our chopstick technique, despite not speaking English. Advice — always order soup and you’ll have a spoon!) Hong Kong is also luxurious. Try “tea” with impeccable service in the beautiful lobby of the Peninsula Hotel, a hotel where guests are fetched in a Rolls Royce from the hotel’s own fleet! And the tailor still has complex outfits with two fittings completed in 2½ days; the shoemaker delivers a pair of shoes made especially for you in two days. The bird market, although moved, is still full of birds of all types and is now on the edge of the flower market bursting with color on every side. Flowers and birds to brighten a tiny, usually very overcrowded apartment. Yes, Hong Kong is color, atmosphere, excitement.
Sometimes the shore time is made memorable by friends. The rose gardens of Wellington with the Bells, a fun filled day in Sydney with the Lees, an evening never to forget in Honolulu with the Pardees, the Kirstes in Los Angeles followed by a party where we saw many of you and then on to San Francisco where the Bencalas made sure we got to the ship on time. To pick just one is difficult, a honeymoon dance to the Hawaiian Wedding Song on the Garden Terrace of the Halekulani Hotel sticks in the heart, but the animal park outside of Sydney with many of the animals running loose — such a delight! Helen fed everything from her first wallaby (cousin to the kangeroo), to an emu who punched a hole in her feed bag to the deer who ended her day by taking and eating bag and all. My “big kid” was also the first in line to bottle feed the lambs and kids and then to milk the goat and cow — and I have the pictures! A real fun day.
And then exotic and fascinating places like Bangkok, Bombay (now called Mumbai), and Morocco. In Bangkok, the klongs (canals) where the people live on, over, and in the water, colorful temples, and the jeweled and gold leafed buildings of the Grand Palace were wondrous to Helen — a whole new world. And the wonder was made new again for me by her enthusiasm. Bangkok was overnight courtesy of API (see sidebar), and our hotel was the Oriental. Rated by many as the best hotel in the entire world. This in itself was an experience. More staff to serve you than guests to serve, a spacious room with a king sized bed (after weeks in a small cabin), and breakfast on the terrace overlooking the traffic clogged Chao Praya river that bisects the city. And then Bombay, the “ghat” or outside “hand laundry” where the clothes are washed in dirty water and pounded on the cement ledge. The ten foot square squatters’ shacks are built on the sidewalks and fastened to a factory wall. The ox carts — and the heavily laden carts moved with human power are everywhere. In contrast, the luxury of the 19th century Taj Mahal Hotel where we watched the world go by and enjoyed the fresh potato chips (crisps) so much the mater de presented us with a box full to take with us. Then the horse drawn carriage back to the ship. Contrasts and joys and thanks be to God that you are the ones at the Taj Mahal Hotel.
API was our host again in Morocco. Agidir was the port. This is a city completely destroyed by an earthquake in 1962 and rebuilt partly with US help, for which they are still thankful. But our goal was inland, first to see the goats that climb trees (yes, they do) then the thousand year old walled city of Taroudant where the camel trains from the Sahara passed for centuries. The crenellated walls with the five gates, the narrow and winding streets and paths, the souk with its spice markets and carpets, horse drawn taxis, colorful buildings and little shops, people attired in traditional Berber clothing — everything is there but the camels themselves. A brief step into another world, a world that is changing but exists today much as it has for centuries, this is an experience to remember. (And I also learned you have to be very careful when giving instructions to a barber who speaks no English! My hair will, however, grow out again.)
So many places that are so different. Papua New Guinea is a country where the people all wave and smile, but all of the houses are protected by fences topped with razor wire. Why? Because the people are much like children with no understanding of property ownership so if they like, they take. It’s a tribal country where cannibalism is not that far back in history, a country where tribes gather for “sing songs” (each tribe doing its own chanting and dancing) to hopefully replace warfare, where the tribal structure means the little country has over 800 languages and dialects, a country where “global” has no meaning and one, I fear, that may never catch up. On the other hand, not far away is Kota Kinabalu on the island of Borneo, an island shared by three countries with Kota Kinabalu being part of Malaysia. This is a country starting to move — and the train we rode moved every way. It was billed as “the last train on Borneo” and that may be just as well. But the country is building, the people are being educated, and hope for tourism and other job producing industry is strong. So close and yet such a contrast with their neighbors in Papua New Guinea.
And then, places that are different but more like home. Auckland where “America’s Cup” racing is a passion. Christchurch, also in New Zealand, looking like a bit of old England with punting on the Avon. Like most Americans, Helen thought a punt was something in a game of American football, but she loved gently gliding through the gardens and between more ducks than you could count. (Punting can be described as the English equivalent of the gondolas of Venice.) Hamilton Island on the Great Barrier Reef where bad weather wiped out our snorkeling plans but enabled us to find a little place that had the best crème brulee I have ever eaten — a perfect 10 — soft and ever so slightly warm with luscious fruit on the side. (You knew I’d get back to food soon, right?) And speaking of desserts, there was Brisbane where API took us to a mountain top retreat for lunch and someone in our group (not me, but close) had five desserts! Yes, even Brisbane was memorable this time.
South Africa was both familiar and not. Capetown was wonderful. The cable car ride to the top of Table Mountain is not to be missed. The view from above the clouds — literally — was spectacular and the cable cars are worth the trip anyway. The floor rotates like a revolving restaurant, one full turn as you go up and one on the way down. We shopped, we listened to a choir singing hymns in a different language but with the same melodies, we enjoyed street musicians and danced on the sidewalk (yes, we did), and we had a very special luncheon at a winery courtesy, again, of API. Yes, Capetown is special. And before Capetown there was Port Elizabeth, commonly called PE. With a rental car four of us headed for the Addo Elephant Park. A ranger took us into the park in a special Land Rover and within minutes we were surrounded by more than 50 elephants. Big mamas, little babies, “teenagers”, three “jogging” elephants overtaking and passing a Toyota taxi on the road (the cab already had three passengers and there wasn’t room for three more) and one big bull elephant facing us in the middle of that road. Per the ranger, the bull was in an amorous mood. Could it mistake a Land Rover for a girl elephant? Taking no chances, we reversed our course until he lost interest. Whew!
In addition to people and places, a world cruise also gives you opportunities to do new things, to learn new skills. We not only learned to play bridge but tested our marriage by playing as partners — so far so good. And snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef (we finally did get to go at Cairns) and in Mauritius. It was a totally new experience for Helen and she loved it as much as I do. (And three weeks earlier I learned she was terrified of water! She not only went snorkeling on her 6th time in the water but now can swim. It took lots of courage and I am very proud of her.) And something else you ladies can learn on a cruise. Helen can now show you how to go from shower to walking out the door, gorgeous and formally dressed in 35 minutes! (For those of you without time for a cruise, I’m trying to get Helen to do a video. So far, no luck.)
Yes, we did have a great time. As I have mentioned to many, it was so great we are going around again in 2001. Sadly, not on the QE2. We will very much miss our many friends on board and some ashore in places we will miss not being on the “Queen”. However, starting on this year’s world cruise, the QE2 went to two seatings for dinner in our, the Mauretania, dining room. This means for 102 days you lose the lovely late afternoon or you eat late and lose most of the night time activities. Many ships do have two seatings but I find it unacceptable for 102 days. So, reluctantly, we have transferred our booking to the Seabourn Sun, previously the Royal Viking Sun, She is about half the size in passenger count which is fine. Like all ships, she is slower than the Queen which for us is great since it means more time at sea. We’re eagerly looking forward to it. (And have already bought BIGGER suitcases.)
However, in the meantime — that means this year — we plan to spend September in Tibet and China and cruise on the Rotterdam from Athens to Ft. Lauderdale in November and December. (With Issue 4 of RRR in between if I possibly can.) At the time I write this, summer is up for grabs but mail will be forwarded and email works most anytime so let us hear from you — we are always delighted to get a letter, an email note, or even a telephone call.
Until next time, may a loving God walk with us and with each of you. Amen.
Helen and Jerry