DOWN UNDER Trip

I never thought I would be outracing a storm on the open sea on a vacation, yet it happened in March 2024.

Living in the Pacific Northwest is unlike living in a hot or humid climate. Although the summers can get quite warm, they are not like the weather in the tropics. I have never tolerated heat well, and humidity makes me feel horrible. I grew up in the Midwest with extreme heat, humidity, and cold, and I was glad to leave that climate many years ago. Our weather here is moderate and what many would call cool.

We decided on a land tour of Australia followed by a seven-day Fiji Island cruise and planned the trip when the temperatures in Australia and Fiji were supposed to be moderate. They were not.

#Sydney was quite warm and crowded. We had people on our connecting flight from Los Angeles flying to Sydney to see Taylor Swift. Thanks to Taylor's overbooked concert, we were bumped up to the #HyattSydney, which was amazing! The hotel was well-appointed, had wonderful food, and had excellent staff! We could tell that the local Australians were feeling the heat, too.

#Cairns in the north was hotter than Sydney and way more humid. I took a photo on my weather app in Cairns showing the temperature at 89° F, but the humidity gave a feeling of 103°F. We took the cable car to #Kuranda, and I perspired immensely after exiting the car for our fifteen-minute hike uphill to the town. I was soaking wet from my scalp to my toes. My husband, who tolerates the heat better than I do, kept glancing in amazement at how hot I was and how soaked in sweat. It didn't help that I had a huge blister on my foot, worsened by the Teva sandals the heat required me to wear. My Fitbit was logging 8000 minimum steps per day, but usually more.

The next day, we took an excursion on a larger boat to the Great Barrier Reef from Cairns. I get seasick. So why would I want to get on a boat, YOU ASK? I don't get sick when wearing a scopolamine patch behind my ear. Although that medicine cautions not to drink liquor, I found that I can tolerate small amounts when wearing one. People said the sea would be calm, but I didn't trust them, so I put my patch on four hours before the boat ride along with my swimsuit for snorkeling at the Reef.

Forty minutes after leaving the marina and halfway there, the sea waves began rolling. The crew had sealegs and walked around handing out vomit bags. Uh-huh. Calm seas and snorkeling at one of the World's Seven Natural Wonders. People did snorkel; we did not. We decided on the glass-bottomed boat, and while we saw a few fish, the sea's turbulence didn't make for good viewing. Thank God for my patch. I did not get sick or even queasy.

I've always considered myself a Child of the Wind. I've written several poems about my experiences on Vocal. Everywhere I go, the wind seems to follow me. It certainly did follow me out to sea here. Unfortunately, it was simply too hot and humid to explore Cairns further.

#Melbourne, typically a cooler city in the south, was 95 °F, and Taylor Swift had followed us. Fortunately, we booked an all-day road trip on The Ocean Road, so we were not in any of those crowds. It was spectacular! We enjoyed eating and watching the Matildas soccer team enjoy their win at the Royal Melbourne Hotel on the hottest day of the year. It used to be a police station and jail, so the decor was quite interesting, with some features still intact. No air conditioning, unfortunately. The crowd's excitement and great food made up for the excessive heat. It made me forget it was 95° F. It was packed in celebration, and the crowd was loud and rowdy! We returned the next night with no crowds and delicious pizza.

**

After a four-hour flight, we arrived in #Fiji and found the heat in Nadi intolerable. We tried to stay in the air conditioning, but there were times we couldn't. I was soaking wet every day unless in the A/C. We walked everywhere like the locals.

The tiny catamaran we joined was a huge surprise (my error)—there was no internet (all right) and no television (also all right). Because of the smaller size, it felt crowded, which made things less enjoyable and comfortable. Our last "cruise" was on a luxury catamaran to the Galapagos (more remote than Fiji). My impulse booking wasn't based on research. At least the little research I had done helped pick our cabin, so we weren't in the one by the generator.

The Galapagos boat was the Celebrity Exploration luxury catamaran they use in the Galapagos Islands. That boat had ten cabins, a deck with a bar, and a top deck with a sundeck and hot tub. The cabins were large and comfortable with a television. The minute I boarded it, I asked the purser if I needed to wear my ear patch for sea sickness. He looked at me with huge eyes and said, yes, put it on immediately; it would be very rough. It was! I was thrown across our cabin once, and my husband caught me before I hit the side wall. A very rugged trip with extremely rough seas, but well worth it.

Upon boarding, we were told to unpack our suitcases and ONLY KEEP what we would use on the seven-day cruise so our luggage could return to shore. This was a HUGE surprise to everyone.

We were cruising with "regular cruisers," several of which were strange characters. Apparently, they expect lots of food, snacks, and liquor (especially if it's all-inclusive!). One person was sick with a horrible cough and sat in the passenger side of the tiny (air-conditioned) galley, coughing (ugh) after spending two days in her cabin. Another passenger was usually in an alcoholic stupor unless snorkeling (she was snockered when she boarded); one couple grabbed all the food, claiming the seat closest to where the First Mate placed the main dish. We found much of it rude and inconsiderate, especially when many continued side conversations, such as talking over the Captain during his itinerary briefings.

The crew were lovely, wonderful Fijians, whom we appreciated and truly enjoyed. There were only two crew members for this boat, but in my opinion, they needed three due to the amount of work involved. It was the first time our male Captain and the recently promoted female First Mate crewed together, and they worked hard! She had to prep and cook all the food and clean the cabins. She followed the recipes in her small galley, which she delivered beautifully plated. Everything was delicious.

The water was warm enough for snorkeling, but the seas were rougher some days. We have a video of some reef sharks with tiny fish swimming right in front of their noses. I wanted to be bold and swim with them when the Captain said they were OK, but my husband just sat there, staring at me and shaking his head no. I obliged him and his desire to keep me safe. In fact, no one swam with the "timid" sharks that followed our boat.

Some of the coral was beautiful, and some looked brown and dead. It was disturbing that the crew threw leftover food overboard. The fish don't typically eat it, and I heard it sticks to the coral and kills it.

**

We visited Survivor Island (video below - my husband pretended to be searching for the Idol). The Captain explained how the production team has a large barge with their equipment. The Survivor contestant challenges are held in one area while their camps are in another. Mark Burnett, the producer, pays a lot to Fiji, and they have a plane landing strip as well as quarters on another island. We were told the boat captains are not paid - they volunteer. Come on, #Survivor and #MarkBurnett, pay the Fiji boat captains! It is all about good video and the rough seas be damned; DRIVE ON, Captain, through the storm!

We saw Cast Away Island from the Tom Hanks movie with the HELP ME sign written in coconuts on the beach. (Headline photo)

There are so many stars at night that we typically can't see at home due to cloudy nights and city light pollution; the Milky Way was arcing above us, and we found the Southern Cross (below is my Vocal published poem about that).

**

One day, I was sitting on deck with the Captain, looking at the horizon. "Captain, it appears to be raining over there on the horizon. See the rain coming down from the clouds?" He disagreed and thought it was a mist.

I live in rain country. I know rain in the distance. I went to our cabin to cool off from the heat, and soon, my husband came in and said, "The plan has changed."

The plan had been to go see Cloudbreak and watch the surfers. Look at the link below about Cloudbreak, a famous surfing spot.

Didn't I warn him of the storm? I sure did!!

We now needed to get out of that area before the seas became a roiling mass of huge waves with us in them. Our Captain was now trying to outrun the storm with ME, the Child of the Wind, onboard.

The Wind had also followed me to Fiji.

You will understand why I was not excited if you have read my other I Am A Child of the Wind stories in the Vocal Poets Community (not a series; they stand independently). I decided to use my iPhone and video the waves our small catamaran was charging through. If only the Captain had listened to his newly self-appointed Weather Watch Girl (me), we could have moved on much earlier and more efficiently!

We outraced the storm, and they apologized for changing the plan. Unfortunately, we never saw Cloudbreak.

My hot and sometimes windy-stormy trip to Fiji was completed a few days later. Of course, a three-hour delay was out of Los Angeles to our home airport. I could not wait for our cool Pacific Northwest weather.

One of my Wind poems is below (there are 6, including this Fiji one).

I hope you enjoy this tale of Down Under with Fiji. I had nightmares for many nights after this trip - watch for a follow-up story about that.

Warning: You may not want to go on a trip I booked unless you like wind (just kidding).

Copyright © 4/12024 by Andrea O. Corwin