On the way up to Singapore the ship crosses the equator on a line that more or less cuts Sumatra in half, we are out to sea with no land in sight. It is about 1pm when this happens and it is the signal for an old custom to commence.

The old naval tradition is to initiate those on board who have not crossed the equator, the Pollywogs. King Neptune, Roman god of the water, and his Queen lead a procession along the decks to their thrones.

Pollywogs are subject to all sorts of acts under the gaze and authority of the King.

They then become Shellbacks, loyal servants of Neptune. In the old days it was fairly rugged stuff. Today, on the Coral Princess, it is mostly cream, spaghetti and other goey slippery stuff being thrown around. Some are asked to kiss dead fish. Lots of music and cheering.

Allthego, Homealone and Slobro looked on from a safe distance as selected passengers were subjected to the initiation. They seemed pleased, the lady in red was popular with Slobro. Hopefully, we won’t have to go through this again when we cross back over the equator on the other side of the world because we are now all Shellbacks!

Once the ceremony was over we retired for lunch and then late afternoon trivia demanded our attendance and concentration.

Yesterday we made our first landfall at Komodo Island. Land of the Komodo Dragon and about 1800 people, who it is claimed live in harmony with this interesting reptile. Their houses are raised on stilts, apparently to discourage the Komodos which can grow up to 3 metres long, weigh upwards of 70 plus kgs per and live for 30 years, such is ‘harmony’. It is only in recent years that the people have been stopped from feeding the Komodos. Slobro, thought this was an interesting old trick. The people feed the Komodos and the Komodos don’t feed on the people! More about Komodos later.

We had made our way across the Arafura Sea from Cape York more or less dead west. Sea very calm with a light breeze and clear skies. On reaching Timor-Leste we cruised the southern coastline along past Indonesian Timor and then northwest to reach Komodo Island. The little map shows the spot, a full seven days sailing since leaving Brisbane.

Slobro has been out and about, observing what has been going on. Particularly observant at breakfast time, his asides quite perceptive. He enjoys a yogurt parfait.

We have also had some enjoyable entertainment on board in the evening, some good old time musical favourites from the 50-70s. Also a great show, ‘On the Bayou’ showcasing some New Orleans soul music.

We arrived at the island early in the morning as the sun was rising over the mountains dropping straight into the sea; little slivers of land along the shoreline. An eerie landscape.

The main attraction here is of course the Komodo Dragon. The island and a couple of nearby islands are the only places where they are found. It is a national park and world heritage site. We were here a few years ago and went ashore then and did not see the need to do so again.
Parties go ashore for a 45 minute walk through the bush to a muddy waterhole where some of these guys hang out. They are a formidable predator. Their technique is simple and involves stalking their prey and lying in wait beside the bush tracks. They have a venomous bite and a very acute sense of smell, blood up to 8 km away. So whilst they can run up to 30 km an hour in short bursts, they also just wander around sniffing the air to find the dead prey. They eat any meat and at a sitting can consume 80% of their body weight. Eat once a month and lie around digesting it. They consume the lot: meat, bones, skin, guts leaving nothing. The park provides a ready supply of red deer and boar to amuse them and satisfy hunger.

There are two guides for each group one at the front and one at the back, each have a long fork shaped stick to discourage the Komodo who might take a liking to a walker. Apparently, some years ago one walker who wandered off from a group didn’t return. Slobro was disappointed to not go ashore and have a look but agreed with Allthego’s view that you don’t have to be the fastest runner in these walking groups, just the second slowest. Slobro was not up for the test!

Komodos are not prehistoric critters like the dinosaurs. They are thought to be comparatively ‘modern’ relatives of Australia’s monitor lizards, like goannas, cut off from Australia when sea levels rose after the last ice age ( so I have read). Like other Australian mega fauna they became extinct, but survived on Komodo Island. There are about 4000 on the Indonesian islands in the National Park today. So much for Komodos, Slobro has said stop now!

During the day there is a never ending cross crossing of boats between the islands, some appear to be ferries going back and forth, others small local fishing boats and some small tourist boats. All against the backdrop of the brooding mountains and inky blue water. Quite spectacular wild country.

We sailed for Singapore late in the day past numerous islands and bays out into the Java Sea.

We have now passed by our first major landmark on the journey. About 9pm last night we commenced the passage through Torres Strait and around the top of Cape York. We slowly worked our way past the group of islands that were once part of the land bridge to Papua New Guinea. Thursday, Prince of Wales and Horn Island probably the best known.

Tucked into the neck of Cape York is the small island that Capt Cook landed on and where he raised the Union Jack, taking possession for England of the great land mass up the east coast of which he had sailed. He named it Possession Island. Back then, the locals had a dim view of those events. Their descendants continue to harbour them today.

As the ship has sailed north from Brisbane the weather has warmed up and become more humid. Winter has been swapped for summer! We now head across the Arafura Sea towards Timor-Leste and then Komodo Island in Indonesia.

Shipboard life has been fairly uneventful. Allthego has found the days quite relaxing, interspersed with some onboard intellectual pursuits, involving a daily lecture dealing with Australian maritime history. Coastline mapping, ship wrecks and the WWII naval defence of the country. Some interesting stuff, not sure to make it to all nine. Slobro, has not attended, a little dry for him.

Homealone, is engrossed in Kindle books and has found a daily craft group. Then there is food to fill the day out before evening entertainment and bed.
The sea has been very calm, hardly a ripple. The coastline has been shrouded in low cloud, out to sea it has been sunny with some high puffs of cloud.
Making our way up Cape York past Cooktown the ship came closer inshore. The channel is much easier seen with markers here and there, islands and reefs become more numerous. Late in the afternoon yesterday we passed by Cape Direction and Cape Weymouth on which is Chilli Beach and Restoration Island offshore.

We had camped on Chilli beach in our van back in 2020 (we had escaped in the middle of COVID) on a trip up Cape York. Looks different from the sea side! Restoration Island was named by William Bligh when he landed there in the whale boat on his way to Batavia, after being cast adrift by the Bounty mutineers. He and his crew were ‘restored’ by eating the plentiful oysters found there. Also, named for the anniversary of the Restoration of King Charles II to the English throne on the day he landed.

Further along we passed Haggerstone and Hicks Islands. Not long afterwards the sun sank in a glowing sky.

It was time for dinner and the Elvis movie on the big screen out on the deck.

‘Off to see the world’ is a song from one of the ‘My Little Pony’ movies by some Swedish chaps and has nothing to do with what we are going to do over the next 110 days. It just has a catchy name, a bit like ‘Off to see the Wizard of Oz’. We will be back in sunny Brisbane in mid September.

The Coral Princess is leaving Brisbane and will be taking us up the Queensland coast, through the Torres Strait to Komodo Island, where those big lizzards live, in that string of islands running down from Bali towards PNG. Then, Singapore and across the Indian Ocean to Dubai via Colombo in Sri Lanka.

So,things will be a little quiet on the blog for the next ten days or so until we hit Singapore. The ship is one of the smallest in the Princess fleet, accomodating up to 2,000 guests. It set off on this passage from Auckland, picked up in Sydney and today us in Brisbane. So, it seems it will be mostly New Zealanders and Aussies aboard.

We are sharing our cabin on this journey with another guest, three to the room and it could be a little squeezy. Slobro has joined us to provide special insights on where we go and who we come across. He, may slow us down a bit in some of the onboard activities and shore excursions. This cannot be helped.

The drive out to the port went smoothly and the boarding process all good. Only about 400 Brisbanites to board so it went quite smoothly and quickly. Thankfully, we had passed our RAT tests and had all the paperwork in order.

It is a pleasant afternoon, sunny with some cloud. Low cloud out to the west on the horizon, so we may get a good sunset going past the Glasshouse Mountains. All good for the sail away at 5pm.