Sailing between Australia and New Guinea, 9 March 2017

Today we sailed past Cape York, which is the northernmost point of Australia, crossed the Torres Strait and entered the Gulf of Carpentaria. We were sailing above the continental shelf that lies between Australia and New Guinea, the now sunken land bridge that once joined the two islands. The ship came within 70 nautical miles of the southern coast of Papua New Guinea, but unfortunately I could not see it, despite our slow speed in this region because of the shallow waters.

I have now been privileged to meet quite a number of passengers and to chat with them about all manner of things, from travel experiences and books to economic and environmental issues. Most of the passengers are from Britain or Australia, including of course Aussies from different migrant backgrounds (including from Britain), and from different parts of Australia. Today I had very interesting long chats with avery well travelled Indian-South African gentleman as well as with a couple from rural Tasmania and several lovely people who sit at my table for the evening meal each night. People are so friendly and courteous, it is a real pleasure to get to know them.

This morning I walked around and explored the very top deck of the ship whilst the crew were having practice drills on the deck we all normally walk around. I also photographed some of the artwork around the ship, as I went off to a movie in a theatre as large as the biggest one at our local cinema. This theatre also serves as a lecture theatre and planetarium. The movie - ‘A Little Chaos’, starring Kate Winslet and Alan Rickman - was about creating a garden at King Louis XIV’s palace at Versailles and was simply delightful!