Sunday, March 18, 2001 - Kaviang, PNG and beyond
Up and packed in the morning, with time for breakfast and goodbyes. I even received an Unterwasser Yidden T-shirt from the guys! A couple of the Aussies (Michael, Geoff and Leon) were flying back to Port Moresby and on to Melbourne - the rest were staying for another week. Alan and Hannah dropped us off at the airport - Alan offered the three of us discounts if we come back - I think I could be persuaded to go!

We had a direct flight to Port Moresby and we checked our big bags through to Cairns. When we got to Port Moresby we had about six hours before our connection, so we caught a cab to PNG Arts, a place that Gary had been telling us about. Holy cow! It is a HUGE warehouse full of native artwork, masks, boats, carvings. It is amazing - and cheap! The thing that really costs is shipping, so I bought a ton of stuff that will arrive via container ship in about 3-6 months.

We went back to the airport and went through security only to discover that there were no shops open in the waiting area on the other side, and the security people wouldn't let us go back out to get anything to eat or drink. I went to the Air Niugini executive lounge and asked if we could get some water to drink and she refused because we weren't executive club members. Finally I went and asked the woman at security if she could go get us some cokes and gave her money. She agreed and while we were waiting for her to return, the Air Niugini lounge attendant appeared with a large bottle of water and three glasses, put it down and walked back into the lounge without a word. Pretty soon the security guard came back with three cokes as well.

As we waited, I heard my name being paged. Security agreed to let me go down to customer service and I found a message from Richard. I finally found a working phone, but since it was about 2:00 in the morning in Philly and the phone kept losing the connection, I said I would call when I got to Cairns.

We had an uneventful flight, and after I was lectured by customs for not declaring my little PNG wood carvings and peanuts that I had brought from the states - oops - we made it back to the Colonial Club Hotel. We checked in, got our luggage to our rooms and went to the more casual hotel restaurant for dinner. I had the buffet with lots of tasty salads, soups, antipastos, and the guys had lamb. We ordered a bottle of (bad) sparkling wine, and didn't finish much of it, so we called it a night pretty early.

Monday, March 19, 2001 - Cairns, Gold Coast, Australia
I woke early and went down for breakfast. I met Mark and Gary in the lobby around 9:00 for our Rainforest Tour. The tour bus picked us up and we joined another dozen tourists for a two hour drive up the Gold Coast. We stopped for tea and snacks at a little restaurant near a river and then boarded a tour boat to go look for crocodiles. Unfortunately we didn't see any - not even a log that looked like one - so we reboarded to bus on the other side of the rive and continued up the coast. We stopped at one rainforest area and walked the paths along the river for a while. A little further up the road we went through a larger rainforest section. We saw mangrove swamps, umbrella palms, tiny little crabs, and a surprise appearance from a Forest Dragon, a small iguana-like creature that was hanging on a branch.

We stopped at a resort at the north end of the Gold Coast for lunch - a so-so buffet affair. Afterwards we changed into our swimsuits and enjoyed the refreshing swimming pool for a while before the long drive back to Cairns.

We got back to the hotel in the early evening, and I went for another dip in the pool before dinner. We decided to go back to the upscale restaurant in the hotel again for dinner. Again, it was very good and Mark picked out a really nice Australian Chardonnay that we all enjoyed.

Tuesday, March 20, 2001 - Cairns, Gold Coast, Australia
I had my first leisurely day of my vacation! The guys were going white water rafting, but I had decided to pass on it. I had a nice breakfast overlooking the pool, and then took the hotel bus into town to do some shopping. I walked (and walked and walked) and found some nice things for gifts. I also bought a couple of small paintings in the aboriginal style that I will get framed.

I found a seafood restaurant called Pesci near the marina and made reservations for dinner, and went back to the hotel around 1:00. I had made an appointment for a massage later in the afternoon, so I had a bite to eat near the pool - fried seafood platter - and read for a while. I left word for the guys to meet at the restaurant in town at 7:30.

At 3:30 I had my massage - a half hour back and shoulders treatment. It was really nice. She managed to find the small knots in my shoulders where I always seem to store my stress, and worked to get them rubbed out - ouch! But it felt so good afterwards.

I still had a few little gifts left to get, so I went back into town to finish my shopping, and met Mark and Gary at the restaurant. They were already there, having finished their rafting trip by early afternoon, and coming to town to do some shopping as well. They had ordered the foie gras appetizer and we all nibbled on that. Mark and I both had the mixed seafood grill (excellent) and Gary had salmon tartar. After dinner we walked along the waterfront for a while, and then caught a cab back to the hotel.

Wednesday, March 21, 2001 - Cairns, Australia and Singapore
We all met for breakfast in the morning and checked out for our next leg - back to Singapore. We did some shopping at the airport - Mark and I each bought some wine - I bought a little bottle of dessert wine. The flight to Singapore was painless - although long, six hours. We got into Singapore in the late afternoon, collected our bags and took cabs to the hotel, The Oriental. I had stayed there three years ago when coming through Singapore after diving in Malaysia, and it is really a nice place. We checked in and all had a little rest before dinner.

Mark and Gary had come through Singapore a few years ago after diving in Indonesia. They had eaten at a Chinese restaurant called Li Bai and they have both raved about it, so we went there. It was really excellent - we had Peking Duck, a shrimp dish and a noodle dish that were all marvelous. We headed back to the hotel, had a quick night cap in the bar and turned in.

Thursday, March 22, 2001 - Singapore and beyond
We met for breakfast downstairs - very nice buffet with both Asian and Western choices. We checked out and stored our bags and started walking over toward Chinatown, and were soon sweating from the heat. We window-shopped in a couple of high-tech stereo and camera stores, and browsed in the little shops in Chinatown. I bought a large carved wooden fan, and Mark and I both bought some lovely Chinese scroll paintings.

We stopped at a huge Japanese shopping mall and found a small Chinese restaurant for lunch. I had some rather lousy lemon grass chicken, but at least the place was air-conditioned. Mark and Gary did some gift shopping and we all lost ourselves for at least an hour in the biggest book store I have ever seen. HUGE, with several different languages represented.

We caught a cab to the Raffles hotel and had a drink on the patio - no Singapore Slings, however. Our hotel is only a few blocks from there, so we walked back and wandered through the shopping mall attached to the back of the Oriental. Mark practices Tai Chi and other oriental martial arts and we found a store that sold all sorts of equipment. Gary and I left him drooling over some huge swords and went back to the hotel around 4:00.

Our flight was at 11:40 p.m., but we were unable to stay in our hotel rooms because they were sold out. They did, however, give us access to their pool, spa and locker rooms, so we grabbed our swimsuits and changes of clothes and went up to the pool on the roof. It was so refreshing to take a dip after a hot day. Mark showed up a while later with a long cardboard box - he had bought a sword, and was really tickled about it. We stayed up there and had dinner on the terrace overlooking the lights of Singapore and a distant thunderstorm.

We headed back to the airport and checked in for our penultimate flight. We were not next to the galley this time - good - and we left on time for our flight to Amsterdam. We all took sleeping pills and konked out.

Friday, March 23, 2001 - Amsterdam and beyond
We woke up and they fed us breakfast. We landed in Amsterdam and again got out to stretch our legs for a while. The next leg of the flight felt the longest, even though it was shorter than the one from Singapore. We all read restlessly and tried to sleep for a while, but it was tough. We landed in Newark, collected our bags (including Mark's sword) and found our limo driver - same guy that took us to Newark three weeks earlier!

We got back to Philly around 4:00. I said goodbye to Gary and Mark and lugged everything back to my condo. The cat was ecstatic to see me, wanting to sit on me and drool at all times. I unpacked and relaxed - it was nice to stop moving for once!

Epilogue
Gary called a couple of weeks after we got back. He had received an offer from Alan Raabe, captain of the Febrina - in exchange for use of the photos that Gary took in PNG, Alan will let Gary have a free week on the boat - next year and every year after if he provides the photos for Alan to use in his marketing efforts. Gary said that Alan also offered a discounted fare for both me and Mark as well. Gary said, "But it's not the 20 percent discount he offered you at the airport." Long pause for effect. "It's a 77% discount." Wow! So...we're booked on the MV Febrina for a week starting April 27, 2002! I can hear us now, "He's touching me! Are we there yet?!"