A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM BLUESTONE

We love Christmas in Australia and look forward to being with our families and friends at this time of year.

To those of you we don't get to see, we send our love and best wishes for Christmas and the New Year

 

 

TRIP TO BATAM

We are happy that we have been able to take a short trip back to Indonesia, to the island of Batam.  This time we decided to take a ferry from Malaysia as we have not yet tried this mode of transport.  Many 'fast' ferries depart the Johor Bahru terminal daily and the trip takes about 90 minutes.  Having pre-booked our tickets and having arrived early we were offered seats on the ferry prior to ours which we gladly accepted - figuring we would take our chances at the other end with our also pre-booked driver.  Our 'fast' ferry was cruising along nicely until a loud bang was heard and the engine slowed and the crew (not me) scampered out the rear door to peer over the stern while the captain reversed slowly trying, we think, to disentangle whatever was wrapped around the propeller.  A few minutes later the crew, obviously satisfied, gave the all clear and we were once again on our way.  Fingers crossed, a prayer or two and a quick scan to locate the life jackets and we settled down for the remainder of the cruise.  

Australian presence in the Johor Strait - HMAS Sirius

Of course, our driver was not at the terminal when we arrived but it wasn't too long to wait in the air conditioned building full of shops! (Skipper desperately texting said driver to herald our arrival - "get my wife away from the shops".)  Batam is an industrial island with many international free-trade areas, a good number of expatriate living communities and two international schools.  But oh how we forget - the driving in Indonesia is abysmal, the crew spent a good deal of time with her eyes closed.  It seems nothing has changed in the Indonesian road rules (What, there are RULES!).  Red lights it would seem are still only a suggestion - you don't really have to stop but it gives vehicles on the adjacent road a chance to go and if careful you can merge with them.  And, if you don't want to go with the flow you can always drive in the opposite direction on the wrong side of the road if you want to avoid being delayed.  Aargh.  Motorbikes will fit in any tiny gap between cars and it seems there are no requirements as to the number of passengers one can carry on a motorbike as this is only restricted by the size of the seat.  However, it seems if your son or daughter is small enough to stand on the fuel tank (in front of the rider controlling the bike) then one can put the next smallest child behind the driver and then wife (carrying the newborn in a sling) behind them.  No problem.  Again, aargh!  

We visit a class at the international school

Our hotel - a safer subject, was lovely if not a little tired.  We are shown to a large, clean room with a balcony from which to enjoy the view.  The Crown Vista Hotel sits atop a hill overlooking Nagoya, the main city on Batam.  On a clear day one can see out into the Strait to view the many ships awaiting clearance.   We have discovered when abroad (especially in Asian countries) that it's best to eat the local fare and not to eat from the 'western' menu as on most occasions you will be disappointed.  Yep, still disappointed.  Let's find the local food court.  Our driver was surprised at our request after he had suggested several upmarket western-style restaurants and it did take a while for 'Mister Neil' (aka skipper) to convince him that we would really like to eat at a local food court.  Much better.

Lovely stone carving in the hotel lobby

View from hotel balcony

Nongsa Point Marina Resort sits on a north eastern peninsula of the island and we had heard very good reports from fellow cruisers who had 'cleared out' of Indonesia at Nongsa during the 2010 rally and when we arrived for a look it lived up to everything we were told.  The staff were extremely happy and helpful, the resort facilities looked to be very good and the golf course of a good standard (not that we play the game).  This may be a good place to be based while cruising the Riau islands.  Of course we also had to visit the 'business' end of Batam and located a slipway that may be able to accommodate Bluestone for the usual antifoul and paint.  It seemed at first our driver was given a 'bum steer' with the directions but finally he was informed that trees had obliterated the signage to the slipway and so just before the skipper's patience completely dissolved the determined driver found his way to the shipyard along a very badly eroded dirt road.  But again, happy, eager and helpful personnel (and about 5 resident cats) discussed the possibility of assisting us.  The personnel discussed the...not the cats.  

Nongsa Point Marina

After 3 days it was time to go back to the ferry terminal to board another 'fast' ferry to Singapore and catch up with the skipper's brother and wife who had just completed a cruise from Hong Kong down the Vietnamese coast to Singapore (on a cruise liner that is).  So the next few days were spent lounging by the pool sipping cocktails, exploring Sentosa Island, taking in the Zoo's night safari and generally acting like resort guests.  

We take in the spectacular Laser Light Show on Sentosa Island

Building to the finale of the Laser Light Show

Here we also manage to (in the words of the skipper) "get another ...'ern' in".  We have had a photo taken at the Northern-most Point of Mainland Australia, the Southern-most Point of Mainland Asia, the Northern and Southern-most points of the United Kingdom and NOW the Southern Most Point of Continental Asia and sailed past many other 'erns', the Southern, Eastern and Northern most points of Australian mainland (sorry Tassie).. 

Aunty Jane braving the bridge to the Southern-most point of Continental Asia

You cannot swan around resorts forever I suppose so after a few days back in the marina at Danga Bay where our neighbours extract their engine (in preparation for the new installation) and joining them for a delightful early Christmas dinner, we exchange suitcase contents for the trip back to Oz to see the family.

The main boom becomes the engine lift

Farewell for a few weeks Kuala Lumpur

You Can't Rush Things

Now, I know you will all be so interested to hear that we have converted our 240 volt fridge and freezer to 12 volt.  Well, maybe some of you.  Let's see, after our lovely 9 weeks swanning around UK and Europe (and I could write more blogs on that trip if I tried as there is lots more to tell but for now you will have to cope with the domestics) we came back to a very dirty boat......

...which we are happy to report has now been scrubbed.

and the daunting task of fridge and freezer conversion, which we had been putting off for some time - about 6 years I think, but you cannot rush things.  So out came the tools again.  Argh! 

Because you need EVERY tool out just in case.

We called 'Mr Wang, the Fridge Man' who came recommended by a few of the other occupants of the marina and out he came to see what we had ("because we have all the parts you will need") and then gave us a quote which we quickly negotiated to a satisfactory end.  He told us that all would be well and it would only take a couple of days.  

Four days later after much head shaking and exchanges in Chinese (we assume) our good-natured workmen wiggled, pushed, pulled, prodded, groaned and sweated their way around behind the units ("because we cannot remove the cupboards and benches") and with a huge amount of blood, sweat and grunting on the part of the skipper, the new units were finally installed.  However, NOW they need to be gassed and checked and thereby went another couple of days while the remaining workman waited (very patiently) for hours on end while the fridge and freezer hummed along chilling nicely.  Do they not have another job to go to?  Apparently, not but he has his lunch with him so he's happy.  

So, the result, a happy skipper and crew who now have a LOT more room in the cooler compartments and won't have to go through the complicated start/stop/start-up routine of the old units and can just let the fridge and freezer do their job quietly chilling the beer and champagne  ...... and the food.

With the units finally installed, it came to our notice that the paint inside both units was a bit worse for wear.  Oh dear, nooooooo!  Yep, out came the paints too but what a great result.  We do have wait a week for the paint to cure but, hey, YOU CAN'T RUSH THINGS.  

Freezer ''before'

Fridge 'before'

Nice....'after'

'after'

SS GREAT BRITAIN

So, what we understand from this wonderful exhibition ss the SS Great Britain was launched in 1843 in Bristol to serve her first 30 years as a passenger vessel.  At this time she was the biggest ship in the world.  Her designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel, opted to fit a screw propellor instead of the usual paddle wheels and this proved to be a great success.  In 1857 a structure was fitted so the prop could be raised or lowered depending on whether she was going to sail (as she was also fitted with sails) or use her enormous steam engine, and raising the prop out of the water would thus create less drag.  The option of an engine plus sails meant that the ship could travel to a timetable making a journey from Liverpool to Melbourne, Australia in around 60 days every time.  She sailed around the world 32 times.

In 1881 her new owners removed her engine and converted her totally to sail.  She was then used as a supply ship and during WW1 used to supply British warships with coal and later was a floating storage hulk.  In 1933 her working career came to an end and in 1937 she was scuttled in Sparrow Cove, Falkland Islands where she sat rotting until Ewan Corlett, a naval architect, decided to salvage her and bring her back to Bristol in 1970.  This was done by refloating her and hauling what was left of the ship back on a huge floating pontoon. 

Now she sits in the dry dock that she was originally built in.  Her hull is extremely vulnerable to corrosion being iron and so a humidity-controlled environment has been built below water level to prevent further deterioration.  From the dock-level it looks like the ship is floating but if you look closer you notice that the hull is protected by glass sheets with only an inch of water floating on top.  From there up she has been protected by anti-corrosion paint and totally restored.

Going below water level her hull has rotted through in a few places but amazingly the majority is in good condition. 

Of course you enter the exhibition through the Gift Shop (as you do everywhere else in UK) and walk through the doors back in time as the dock has been set up to re-create the 1843 era.  From here you enter the ship and can choose audio-tours – given either by a First Class or Steerage Class passenger, the Ship’s cat or Engineer and spend the next 4 hours getting lost in ship life in1843. 

As most people had these audio-tour gadgets, the exhibition was very quiet which enabled the soft noises that emanated along the tour to make the exhibition very realistic.  Mannequins were set up in cabins and the galley to represent crew, passengers, the Captain having a discussion with the First Mate, a doctor attending a crew member, a barber and even a baby being delivered.  Every now and then a cat could be heard meowing and being chased by the cook and the wind and sea can be heard softly lashing the hull.

The audio-tour information has been taken from diaries kept by various parties sailing in the ship over her many years of service and so has allowed authentic reconstruction.

Your entry tickets allow re-entry for one year so if you miss anything the first time a return visit is easy and free.  After 4 hours at the exhibition, the poor skipper was dragged kicking and screaming into the shop for the crew to buy herself a few trinkets.  He did however, buy her a cat - no - not a real one, but 'Sinbad' now sits proudly in his new home.

MALAYSIA TO ENGLAND & WALES (No. 1 of UK Visit)

Skipper takes it easy for a minute or two

It's good to be back in KL and we find another very comfortable hotel in Chinatown where we have close access to the stalls and markets. We revisited the spectacular Petronas towers and this time also strolled around the Aquarium (note: Don't visit the Aquarium at the weekend – aargh children everywhere!). However the Aquarium itself is worth the visit. On our second day in KL the skipper unfortunately picked up a slight stomach bug and so we made sure we had plenty of rest prior to our flight to London which meant not straying too far from the hotel and taking things a bit easy.

In the Aquarium

Thankfully, IN the Aquarium

We are pleased to say Air Asia again gave us a smooth flight and although the airline food reputation has somehow wormed it's way into this airline, we landed fairly well rested and 50 minutes ahead of schedule. When you are young staying awake for 24 hours is easy – not so now although having daylight for those 24 hours helped slightly and we soon caught up with the time change. Landing in Stansted airport gave us the opportunity to view the lovely English countryside on our approach as the airport is quite remote and England from the air, to our delight, looked like an enormous patchwork quilt in various shades of green.

After landing we took the driver-less train to the terminal, collected our bags and slipped through the formalities without a hitch (the crew now also has her British citizenship so both of us were in the 'short' queue). We did however, unfortunately have a very miserable, stern, short-tempered bus driver who we are convinced hated his job from the greeting we got. Oh dear, Welcome to England. One other young passenger overheard the crew's comments and assured us that “we are not all like that here”.


 

LONDON

The term 'Old London Town' is absolutely justified and walking around this city is like walking back in time. The rows of buildings, double decker buses and old cabs add loads of character to a busy, modern metropolis brimming with tourists at this time of year. Our hotel is small but clean and a cooked breakfast is available each morning. (There goes the gym workout). Of course we follow all the other tourists and visit the popular sights – Buckingham Palace, Royal Horse Guards, London Bridge, Big Ben, Hyde Park, Museums, HARRODS (the crew is keen to go back there), Paddington Station, Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the list goes on. 

After three days of walking London town we give our blistered feet a rest and hire a car to meet up with the Skipper's parents in Wales for a week's tour. We are not used to wearing shoes and socks and the skipper has enormous blisters on both feet and the crew is going to lose a toenail. 

We spied this little fox with his eye on something in the garden in Hyde Park

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace

You are allowed to ride your horse through Hyde Park

WALES

Wales is just beautiful and we seemed to have stepped through a time-warp back into the 1800's and sometimes as far back as the middle ages. There are many castle ruins and towns are still alive and well within castle boundary walls. The weather was mostly kind to us and we are happy to say we even got to shake out the shorts! One waitress told us to “make the most of it, it won't last” but it actually did – the entire day! Our accommodation has been varied and 98% of the time very good – mostly farm or village B&Bs and we were fortunate enough to have the 'Bridal Suite' at one place – very posh – spa bath, brass bed and a view of the sheep up the side of the hill – very romantic. I said 'very romantic' skipper, are you awake? Oh well.  Below is Carnarvon Castle.

Looking into the village within the castle walls

A drive through the Snowdonia region delighted us with soft rolling hills and lakes dotted throughout the valleys and tiny villages with very narrow streets – only wide enough for one car – but they do have passing points which consist of a bit of road gouged out of the hedges that line the roads just big enough to pull into to let another car pass. Navigating was a bit of a challenge as the Welsh town names are something else. They seem to lack a few vowels and approaching road signs and then trying to compare names on the map before the driver got caught up in the roundabout became the bane of the crew's day. We did see a couple of roundabouts twice – didn't we just pass that? 

As you can see the streets are extremely narrow.  Our last night in Wales was spent at the seaside town of Mumbles where we believe the skipper's father has some ancestral heritage. The local post office and library were ever so accommodating in tracing back the names of streets so we could take a drive around to have a look at what may have once been the family home. Sometimes a hit-and-miss operation with many streets having been mentioned in the history and names that are very similar but not quite right – however, many a laugh was had with the 4 of us in the car navigating through the narrow streets sometimes reversing to allow oncoming cars to pass. 

A gorgeous Welsh village.

As our Wales visit came to an end we were welcomed at the home of the skipper's uncle and aunty where we said farewell to his parents and after a delightful afternoon tea we made our way to Wilton Farm (a B&B) and a self-contained unit for a few days.

One of our delightful farmhouse accommodations - 9:30pm and the sun is still just peeking over the roof.

ENGLAND (No. 2 of UK Visit)

So from our few days on Wilton Farm we drove into the English countryside to Bath a city steeped in Roman history.  

The crew is very impressed with the Roman Baths and indeed with the delightful streets of Bath and with the numbers of visitors here we decide to ‘Park and Ride’ – a carpark about 10 minutes out of town where the double-decker buses pick you up and drop you back for only 3 GBP as carparking is very hard to find and expensive.  The Roman Baths are amazing and still being excavated.  Hot water at a temperature of 460°C rises here at the rate of 1,170,000 litres every day and has been doing so for thousands of years.  Lead pipe that the Romans fashioned is still embedded into the stonework of the floor to carry the water to various pools.  

After Bath we visit Bristol and the SS Great Britain exhibition – without doubt one of the very best exhibitions we have ever seen.  Keep a watch for a separate page on the blog for this.   We are also able to visit some cousins -  this a highlight for the crew as she has not met this cousin before.  We are welcomed and instantly feel at home and enjoy their company and that of the puppies they are fostering, their own dogs, cats, geese and horses and take pleasure in home grown vegetables and fruit.  YUM. We discover this cousin also enjoys sailing and so we spend time recounting our trip up the east coast of Australia and through Indonesia for them.  We are chauffeured around the coastal towns of Margate, Ramsgate, Deal and Dover to enjoy the marinas and different styles of houses and buildings.  In one hotel at lunch time as we were enjoying our drinks awaiting lunch a funny little man wandered in the door near where we sat and rabbited on about nothing much, rolling our eyes we turned to try to ignore the rantings and after he departed we discovered he had pinched the pint of beer from a lady at a nearby table and scarpered.  Cheeky bugger!

Pubs get the summer treatment of flower baskets

The south of England is just lovely and again we were both in awe of the lovely cottages and properties we saw while driving around.   The villages are just as picturesque as in Wales and a little further north the Lake District is reminiscent of quaint alpine villages seen in travel brochures.  Again, we encounter very good and varied accommodation and enjoy strolling through cobbled streets past houses, paddocks and around churches in the long twilight of the English summer.  The crew also has the chance to visit the family's old homes and the church where her parents were married. 

An evening stroll around the village

From the south we travel to Northampton to visit the Spencer family home Althorp House.  If we don't do this one daughter will not be happy with us as she is a big Princess Diana fan.  So off we go, walking around the grounds – the crew venturing inside the family home – the skipper strolling outside and finally we both walked through the  gardens to the small island where Diana is laid to rest.  How lovely, the surrounds are so serene and pretty.  A few ducks waddle up to us quacking quietly as we sit and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere.  Apparently Diana and her brother moved to Althorp after their father inherited the title and property from his predecessor while they were still children although they were both born at Park House in Sandringham.  Of course, her brother is now the current (9^th) Earl Spencer and so lives on the property with his new wife. 

Althorp house

Princess Diana's peaceful resting place

Now it's on up to Manchester and Liverpool to visit the Beatles old stomping grounds.  I have to tell you Liverpool and Manchester are not the most beautiful areas in England  but we did encounter very friendly people many of whom have a story to tell about someone they know in Australia.  We also visit Oldham where the Skipper was born (yep, he’s a POM if you didn’t know) on our way to Scotland via Blackpool and the glorious Lake District. 

SCOTLAND (No. 3 of UK Visit)

We both fell in love with Scotland and again we encounter glorious scenery especially up in the highlands where any Scotsman will tell you that there is nothing there, but really there are spectacular rugged mountains which one can imagine snow-capped in winter but now are covered in the most glorious mauve heather.  We take the opportunity whenever we can to drive through the moors dodging sheep and horses that have had the right of way for hundreds of years.  Our hosts in B&Bs are very friendly and treat us as one of the family.  We stay in quaint and sometimes grand accommodation depending on who inherited what in the way of estates. 

A rather grand B&B - we think this one was inherited

On one of our back-road treks we stumbled upon a place called 'Birkhall' and while taken aback by the presence of a 'Bobby' on the gate we continued to wrack our brains as to who may reside there.  Once we drove past Balmoral Castle (where the Queen is in residence for summer) we discovered that 'Birkhall' is Charles and Camilla's summer house, once occupied by the Queen Mother.  Explains the policeman.

We are both keen on taking the roads-less-travelled and a good percentage of our time is spent exploring tiny winding tracks (they call them roads) over mountains and past paddocks and through glorious villages that most of the Brits and Scots themselves would never have seen.  

And a castle pops up here and there

Afternoon tea in Scotland

There's that glorious heather again

The Scottish are very friendly people and have the most wonderful accents and a good sense of humour.  Australians are heartily welcomed amid wisecracks about the cricket and the Scottish version of 'g'day mate' said with their beautiful accents.  Although they do try to offload a Fosters or two we decline – YUK – why do they think we send it over there?  We are fortunate to catch up with a fellow cruiser who had sailed with the rally from Darwin through Indonesia and Malaysia and on to the Mediterranean to finally return to Troon in Scotland.  Iain and his friends entertain, feed and provide a bed for us for a night of Scottish hospitality – just great, thanks so much. 

Inverness Castle, now government offices

While in Edinburgh we treat ourselves to a night at the Castle to watch the 2011 Military Tattoo and what a wonderful experience that was.  Just fabulous.  The TV does not do the night justice and we are so glad we rugged up and bought a blanket and climbed the steep stairs to really goods seats to enjoy the entertainment.

Opening the Tattoo

 

A spectacular finish

On arrival however, we were a tad worried as the hotel we had booked 4 months earlier told us that we were double booked but would be accommodated in the hotel 'flat'.  Hmmm – the flat was not fit for squirrels let alone guests and a frustrating afternoon's debate ensued but finally we found alternative accommodation - and a refund - and the following days made up for all the fuss.  Strange though, the alternate accommodation we found was hosted by a lovely Indian lady with a very strong Scottish accent.  Weird looking at a Sri Lankan/Indian-looking lady and hearing her speak with a Scottish accent.  Hope I didn’t stare for too long. 

Loch Ness and up through the beautiful Scottish sailing grounds around the islands off the mainland are again breathtakingly beautiful and of course we had to drive to the Mull of Kintyre (yes we had Paul McCartney playing while we shivered and sipped red wine from the bottle overlooking the Mull watching the sunset and the mist rolling in from the sea....) corny we know, but it just had to happen.  Finally we reached northern-most tip of mainland Scotland (Dunnett Head) to see the Orkney Isles in the distance.

The top end of Loch Ness

All too soon we have to leave the Scottish summer (just like Winter in Melbourne really) to wind our way back into the lush green English countryside.  

The pretty coastal town of Lynmouth

Lynmouth

Anne Hathaway's house (wife of Shakespeare)

A back road somewhere in England !

For your viewing pleasure - The Amazing Falkirk Wheel.

The Falkirk Wheel is a rotating boat lift located in Scotland.  The wheel has an overall diameter of 35 metres (115 ft) and consists of two opposing arms which extend 15 metres beyond the central axle and take the shape of a Celtic-inspired axe.  Two sets of these axe-shaped arms are attached about 25 metres (82 ft) apart to a 3.5 metres (11 ft) diameter axle. Two diametrically-opposed water-filled buckets or gondolas each with a capacity of 80,000 imperial gallons (364,000 litres) are fitted between the ends of the arms.

These gondolas always weigh the same whether or not they are carrying their combined capacity of 600 tonnes of floating canal barges as, according to Archimedes principle: floating objects displace their own weight in water, so when the boat enters, the amount of water leaving the gondola weighs exactly the same as the boat. This keeps the wheel balanced and so, despite its enormous mass, it rotates through 180° in five and a half minutes while using very little power. It takes just 22.5 kilowatts (30.2 hp) to power the electric motors which consume, in four minutes, roughly the same amount of energy as boiling eight kettles of water.

The wheel is the only rotating boat lift of its kind in the world - press the arrow below to see it in action.