Melanesian Cruise: Every Living Thing (Darwin, Australia 2.27.26)

There is so much to see in Darwin, Australia!  There are tours to see jumping crocodiles, to see remnants of the Japanese attempted invasion in 1941 and 1942, to tour the busy harbor, and to visit collections of Australia's wild animals.  We decided to spend February 27, 2026, at Darwin's Territory Wildlife Park, an hour outside the city.

The Wildlife Park is huge, with acres and acres of tropical wetlands and savannah, filled with birds, amphibians, and mammals.  Since Australia has been separated from other continents for millions of years, many animals found in Australia are unique to that continent.  We had only two hours to browse, so we skipped the animal shows and hurried from one animal enclosure to another.

There were large groups of birds in this wetland.

We visited an aquarium, with the fish and sea mammals that live in the waters near Darwin.

We saw emus, which are native to Australia, and wild dogs, known as "dingos" in Australia. The Wildlife Park also included water buffalo and other large animals.

Melanesian Cruise: Palm Sugar and Tiny Hominids (Kapang, Indonesia, 2.24.26)

Our cruise visited one gorgeous tropical island after another.  On February 24, 2026, we stopped at the Indonesian city of Kapang, on West Timor.  Too late, I realized that 30 minutes away, past the border and on the other side of the island, was a country I hadn't visited--East Timor, which declared independence from Indonesia several years ago.  "I could have gotten a visa and taken that very bus," I mourned to David, pointing to a lumbering old bus heading for East Timor.  The alternative is not that bad--another trip to Indonesia!

 

Beautiful local women in native dress met our ship at the pier.  Our tour guide then took us to see the highlights of Kapang, including a drive-by of monuments and government buildings, stops at two interesting museums, and a visit to a shop making palm sugar.

Indonesia is known for its beautiful fabric.  The first museum showed examples of the different types of Indonesian fabric, showed how the fabrics were made, and included models from different areas around West Timor, wearing their distinctive dress.  Indonesia is comprised of thousands of islands, large and tiny, on which hundreds of different cultures reside, each with separate languages, dress, and customs.  

The next museum documented the history of Kupang and West Timor, from their earliest inhabitants, homo floresiensis, to the battles of World War II.  Newly discovered homo floresiensis is a new branch of the homo sapiens family.

Our cruise visits many World War II battlefields, where the Australian and American soldiers fought the Japanese in the South Pacific.  West Timor was captured by the Japanese early in the war, but Australian guerilla fighters remained in its jungles until the end of the war in 1945.  The Japanese were headed for Australia, after successfully capturing Singapore in 1941, and Australian soldiers defended their homeland and the islands surrounding it with fury.

The Indonesian countryside is covered with palm trees--coconut palms, palms for palm oil, and many other varieties.  At the palm sugar demonstration, a guide cut open a palm fruit.

A woman cooked the palm fruits into a thick, sticky syrup.

The syrup was poured into round molds and dried.  The result was a grainy sugar, much like the brown sugar I use for cooking.

Melanesian Cruise: Walking with Dragons (Komodo, Indonesia 2.23.26)

Komodo dragons are huge lizards, weighing several hundred pounds apiece.  They seemed very tame when we visited them on February 23, 2026 at Indonesia's Komodo National Park.  Our guide kept us a healthy distance away from the dragons, though, since the poison they spit can be fatal.

The guides who led us through the jungle where the komodo dragons live also pointed out the tropical fruits and herbs that grow in that lush, wet place.

Soon we were back on the beach and ready to walk down the long pier to our ship.

Melanesian Cruise: Monkey Jungle (Ubud, Bali 2.20.26)

Ubud, Bali, is one of my favorite places.  It is the artistic capital of Bali, with hundreds of artists selling carved masks and statues, gold and silver jewelry, batik fabrics, paintings, and more.  We visited Ubud on February 20 and 21, 2026, as we prepared to join our 21-day "Melanesian Marvels" cruise on Oceania cruise line.  

Our ship left from Bali, Indonesia, cruised along the north coast of Australia, past exotic spots like Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, veered east to Fiji, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia, and finally returned to Sydney..

Dave chose an elegant hotel in Ubud which looked out on a rice field and could not be reached directly by car.  Our taxi dropped us off at a parking lot on the edge of Ubud, and the hotel's scooter drivers delivered Dave, me, and our bags along narrow, dirt paths to the hotel door.

The hotel had many "extras," such as fountains, statues, bouquets of fresh tropical flowers, and half-hidden porches on which to lounge.

The hotel's collection of scooters was parked outside the front door of the hotel.

Our room had not only a king-size bed and elegant Indonesian art, but its private balcony, looking out on the rice field.

The hotel chef served meals that were both delicious and beautiful.

One of our bags missed the connection from Sydney to Bali, so we shopped for clothes.

We also visited Ubud's Monkey Jungle, where herds of tame monkeys wander along the statue-lined pathways with the tourists.  We were told to hang onto our cell phones, hats, and bags, since these were favorite items for the monkeys to pilfer.  

We watched the dancing at the open air stage in Monkey Jungle, including our second lion dance of the week! 

Wandering the streets of Ubud was also great entertainment, as we passed not only artists' studios, but tattoo shops and burger restaurants.  Ubud has some of everything!