Komodo Dragons and Pink Beaches, Slawi Bay, Komodo, Indonesia 3/19/26 Day 75

Komodo Island National Park, Flores, Indonesia 

We werent dragon our feet today in the sweltering heat as we saw a dozen Komodo dragon lizards on our trek thru the tropical jungle. About four thousand dragons roam freely on the protected island.

Forked tongue to smell and taste; they can smell blood 5 miles away

Dragon drool contain 50 strains of bacteria and venom loaded with anticoagulantsbfurvthem to bite their prey with their 60 highly serated iron tipped teeth

Island rule:  giantism and dwarfism adaptive evolution.

We cooled off at Pink Beach formed from the sea turtles biting off bits of red coral. The snorkeling was the cherry on top of the dragon drool. 

Top End Darwin, Northern Territory 3/16/26 Day 71

Going to the hot and humid tropics at the top end of Australia is going to one of the most most isolated places Down Under, but fascinating nonetheless

We began our Darwin experience by visiting the near by info center showcasing two of Darwin's historical legacies, the  Royal Flying Doctors Service who provide medical care to the territory's outback every 2 seconds  and the Japanese bombing of Darwin Harbor information pavilion that both featured virtual reality headsets and hologram presentations to make history come alive.  While I've heard about the well known bombing of Pearl Harbor, the bombing of Darwin which caused more deaths and destruction by the same air fleet was new to me, as it is to many.

A short distance away was the WW 2 secret oil tunnels that were revealed fifty years after they were built a an incredible cost, but never used

We then took the Darwin free bus to the Museum and  Art Gallery of the Northern Territory to see Aboriginal art and natural history, including the giant cathedral termite mounds and crocodiles.

Great Barrier Reef gateway, Cairns QLD 3/12 Day 68

GBR Flynn Reef outer ribbon  reef snorkeling Reef Unlimited adventure

Ginormous. Size of Japan. Only organism visible from space. A quarter of all marine species --1600--on the planet. live on the GBR, Great Barrier Reef. 

Going to town in Townsville, Queensland 3/11/26 Day 67

Magnetic Island, a national park. On the Forts Trail we saw 4 koalas and 5 wallabies in the wild!  30K steps great day!

The Strand Promenade 

Boomerang Reunion with mates in Sydney, NSW, Australia 3/7-8 Days 63-64

Segment change over and mate reunion.  My beloved mate of almost 36 years, Hilary, joined me so did my dear mate of 44 years, Ian Rosenbaum and his wife Debritu.  We had met 44 years ago on the Manley Sydney harbour ferry where where he was leading a HaBonim Zionist youth group outing and I had noticed the Jewish apparel and struck up a conversation.  We became fast friends which included an overland odyssey road trip through the outback with Rabbi Arthur Bielfeld who visited me on his round the world sabbatical. We drove out to Adelaide and along the gorgeous coast to Melbourne and back over a week.  This was our third cruise overnight visit to Ian and Debritu's home in St Ives on the North Shore.  We marveled how their boys, Yoni and Ben, had matured into fine young mensches from energetic boys.

Ian and Debritu picked up Hilary from her long flight to SYD from DEN via LA and IAH (long story and even longer flight!) and then Gabe and I and whisked us to their home via a scenic detour to Lane Cove National Park complete with Kookaburras and flying foxes.  After a rest, we made a sacred memorial pilgrimage to the eastern suburbs of Double Bay to Bondi Beach to pay tribute to the 15 souls lost in the Chanuka massacre whose ripples shocked the Australian Jewish and and non Jewish community alike into vigilance and resilience, upset our Chanuka cruise in the Mediterranean, and increased security protocols throughout our Jewish heritage world cruise visits.

Bondi Beach Chanukah massacre memorial.

Matilda Bee 10 yrs old

We went to a suburb evening performance at the Sydney Opera House to see a contemporary adaptation of  Puccini's "Turnabout" which takes place in China where we will be for Passover.

After the performance Ian and Ben "Jubered" us back to their place while we visited the famous Luna Park that Ben idolized as a child.

                         

NSW Art Gallery and the new Modem Art addition.  The Art Gallery has two art museum buildings in the Domain in Sydney on Gadigal Country. These have been given Sydney Aboriginal language names: Naala Nura, meaning 'seeing Country', and Naala Badu, meaning 'seeing waters'.  We enjoyed the indigenous art to see Australia and its stunning waters in a new way.

We meandered to the Botanic Gardens complete with the Jurassic Fern pavilion and then to the Macquarie scenic harbor walk.  

We then toured the historic NSW public library and gallery and completed our tour with the Archibald fountain in Hyde Park with a peak at the outside of the secured Great Synagogue.

Farewell to my mate, Ian, and Gabe and hello Hilary as our cruise continues heading north to the tropics of Australia's Deep North and Far End!