DAY ONE

Ted was already up and having his morning coffee at 7:15 a.m. when a “Code Alpha” was announced that woke me. Code Alpha is an efficient way of communicating that a passenger or crew member needs immediate medical assistance, and is accompanied by a location to which the medical team needs to go. This morning it was a cabin on our deck. Hopefully all’s well.

Breakfast this morning featured a New York bagel station. The bagels were great, but the 3 huge bowls of “spreads” were decidedly odd – and mostly untouched: chicken cream cheese mayo, smoked salmon mousse, and egg mayo.

Fortunately, I had no trouble finding traditional cream cheese, as well as lox, cucumber, and tomato slices, at the station that features European-style breakfast foods (cold meats, cheeses, and vegetables).

Because I was up and organized early (for me), I was able to take in the 9:30 a.m. lecture by Professor Julian Dowdeswell on “Plate Tectonics and the Shaping of Southeast Asia”. It was really interesting to learn how research vessels “explore” the sea floor, specifically the UK, Norwegian, South African, and German research vessels on which the professor worked. Researchers use multi-beam echo-sounding (Swath-bathymetry), core sampling, and acoustic stratigraphy – all to seismically 3-D map the sea floor. It was really interesting to hear about the tools used by research vessels; some of these incredibly expensive items – like submarines and remotely operated vehicles – are used on Viking’s expedition ships, which are research vessels as much as they are cruise ships.

What’s fascinating about attending multiple lecturers’ series on this trip, is that they overlap in ways that really create a complete picture. As an example, learning today about mapping the sea floor ties into verifying the existence of “land bridges” in glacial and pre-glacial times, which ties into the migration of animals and people between continents. Today’s talk about discovering new land masses (islands/reefs) also led into a discussion of land (and sea – using the 200 mile limit) ownership, a concept that was so foreign to indigenous peoples.

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For me, a highlight of this cruise segment’s lecture series has been the talks by astronomer Charley Lineweaver, a Professor at Australian National University’s Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics in Canberra. His lecture style is reflected in his sartorial style: business suit, dress shirt, and Crocs on his feet.

His lectures blend science with a good dose of humour to make it easier for those uncomfortable with the science to take a breath and laugh. As he talked about the impact on scientists of other scientists’ new information, we realized that they, too, must have needed to breathe and laugh every once in a while.

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We were all challenged to realize that “we” are not the centre of the universe. We are simply the centre of “our” observable universe.

At lunch, the World Café featured a cupcake station. We didn’t partake, because honestly the icing-heaviness of cupcakes doesn’t appeal to me – except visually – but Ted did get pictures of the gorgeous display.

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This afternoon we got all the confirmation paperwork for our September river cruise, so I spent a couple of hours choosing excursions, while Ted worked on securing flights for our “pre-extension”: a 2 day stopover in Toronto to visit our eldest son.

We’re meeting the most interesting people on this cruise. There are doctors, lawyers, dentists, professors, scientists, accountants, journalists, artists, authors, and lots of educators, just to mention a few interesting careers. I had a lovely chat before dinner with Christine Rosenbloom, author of Food & Fitness After 50: Eat Well, Move Well, Be Well. Honestly, who better to get to know at this stage in our lives than a nutritionist and gerontologist?

We enjoyed dinner and conversation with friends from our 21/22 World Cruise before heading to the theatre to be entertained by New Zealand comedian/vocalist Chris Powley.

Then, since we knew we had another sea day coming, we headed for an hour with guitarist Alan Jenkins in the Explorers Lounge. We so enjoy the fact that after his last set of the night, when almost everyone has left and the bar team are closing up, Alan is willing to just sit with us and talk about music and life. Ted and I really miss our house concert series and the opportunity to interact with musicians (Episode 116 Just Milton Folks), so Alan is helping to rekindle wonderful memories.

DAY TWO

I had a lovely start to the day with one of Mamsen’s signature waffles. One of my favourite servers, Rati, is getting so excited to reach Bali, her home, that her smile is even bigger than usual, and her energy aura absolutely vibrating. Not only will she be able to get off the ship on our first day in Bali, but on day two she’ll be able to bring her parents on board to show them where she lives and works. We’re consistently impressed by how proud the crew are to show off their workplace; that speaks well for Viking, we think.

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There are quite a few team members on board who hail from Bali and Indonesia, our next two stops. Viking does their best to accommodate staff shore leaves to match home countries, going beyond the regular leave rotation. That and free crew wifi are two of the things we consistently hear crew members talk about, beyond just good wages, that make Viking a desirable employer.

This morning’s lecture by George “are you ready for a wild time?” Sranko was all about Komodo dragons.

George began his lecture by asking who on earth would intentionally go looking for giant venomous lizards that can grow 3 metres/10ft long, weigh 140kg/300 lbs, with teeth made for ripping and tearing, that can run faster than a greyhound … AND swim! Then, recognizing his audience, he began his lecture to educate us about these incredible beasts.

We learned that the Komodo’s forked tongue is a bilateral sensory mechanism. When the dragon’s tongue slithers out it picks up both taste and scent. When retracted, the 2 tines of the “fork” are inserted into the dragon’s Jacobsen’s vomeronasal organ, which identifies the taste and smell.

Komodo dragons will eat anything, including younger dragons. The young ones are actually the better hunters, but the older bigger dragons can smell blood or carrion from a mile away and will take the prey – or eat the dragon that doesn’t get out of the way! Their brains are single-minded: EAT! … and they can ingest an entire wild pig, complete with bones and hooves, in under 20 minutes. George commented that their table manners leave a lot to be desired.

In a packed theatre, I wasn’t sitting where I could take good pictures of George’s screens, but one of the ones that demonstrated his lecturing style really well was his “Dragon’s Manual for Hunting”

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Why are Komodos so big? There is a theory called the “Island Rule”: for species that colonize isolated islands, small ones tend to get bigger, and large ones smaller. We don’t actually know with Komodos whether they are a dwarf, or a giant.

George also talked about the history of humans in Indonesia. On Java, near Semarang, there is now evidence that homo erectus still existed 110,000 years ago, concurrent with homo sapiens. The remains of much shorter “hobbit-like” humans (homo floresiensus) who still existed as few as 50,000 years ago were also recently found on Flores Island. Thinking about that Island Rule, they may have been an offshoot of homo erectus who grew smaller. Evidence now exists that around 150,000 years ago there were as many as 5 different human species coexisting on earth. On that theme, George showed us photos of the “evolution stairs” in the Moesgaard Museum Design Studio in Højbjerg, Denmark that really make me want to visit it.

It’s sad that today was George’s last lecture. He leaves us with his biggest piece of advice: fall in love with this planet.

Since we’re headed for several port days in a row, it was laundry day. Completing that chore deserved a classic German lunch from the pool grill: currywurst mit pommes rot/weiss, aka bratwurst with curry ketchup, with a side of crispy fries with both curry ketchup (red) and mayonnaise (white) – accompanied, naturally, with Prosecco, since the ship doesn’t stock Sekt.

It was a bit of the ridiculous to the sublime to go from doing the laundry to attending a SEVEN MILLION DOLLAR jewellery show, featuring passengers modelling the collection that was brought on board specifically for this world cruise. Jewellery shows are not something we associate with Viking, and I’m not sure I’m a fan of sales presentations, but this was made fun by the way that each “model” was introduced by our Cruise Director with a “stage name”, passions and indulgences, hobbies, etc. Each model wrote their own introduction, which gave some insight into each person’s sense of humour.

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We had dinner plans with friends at 6:00 p.m., but upstairs in the Wintergarden a wine and cheese event was scheduled from 6 until 9. Honestly, there are just so many options when it comes to food and drink – and the chefs and bar staff really do take it up a notch for a world cruise.

Ted and I captured a few photos of the set-up, which was another impressive one.

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We were having such a good time talking over dinner that we never did make it back to the wine and cheese, but we did make it to the terrific performance by Australian flamenco guitarist Nathan Sinclair, and a set by “our” boys in the band.

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Tomorrow we reach Rinca Island, part of Komodo National Park, as we begin three straight port days.