INDEX

THAILAND

Ao Sadet from Silver Cliff's restaurant - east coast of Ko Phangan

INTRODUCTION - WHICH ISLAND OR BEACH?
ADANG
ANG THONG NATIONAL MARINE PARK
BU BU
BULON LAE
CHANG (big Chang eastern Gulf)
Little Ko CHANG, Andaman side
CORAL ISLAND
JUM
KANCHANABURI
KRADAN
KRABI, RAILAY, TON SAI
KHANOM
KHAO LAK
KHAO SOK NATIONAL PARK
KHO KHAO
KUT (KOOD, KUD)
LANTA
LAO LIANG
LIBONG, HAT YAO
LIPE
MAK (MAC, MAAK)
MAYA BAY/THE BEACH/PHI PHI LEY
MUK (MOOK)
NANGYUAN
NGAI (HAI)
KO PANYI/PANYEE
PATTAYA
PHANGAN
PHANGAN PART 2
PHANG NGA BAY
PHAYAM
PHRA THONG
PHUKET
PHI PHI
PHI PHI NEWSPAPER ARTICLE BY TEZZA
RAILAY, TON SAI AND KRABI TOWN
RAYA/RACHA
ROK
SAMET
SAMUI
SIBOYA
SICHON
SIMILAN ISLANDS
SIMILAN ISLANDS LIVE-ABOARD 
SUKORN
SURIN ISLANDS
TARUTAO
TAO
WAI (WHAI)
YAO NOI
YAO YAI



General Thailand Information

SOME TIPS ON NOT DROWNING
WET WEATHER INFORMATION
SNORKELLING IN THAILAND
THAILAND'S NICER BEACHES


INDONESIA:
Approaching Gili Trawangan, Lombok on Perama's direct boat from Bali

BALI
BALI'S BEST BEACHES - incl THE BUKIT PENINSULA
BALI - AMED
BALI - BEDUGUL AND LAKE BRATAN
BALI - CANGGU
BALI - JATILUWIH RICE TERRACES
BALI - JIMBARAN
BALI - NUSA LEMBONGAN
BALI - NUSA PENIDA
BALI - NUSA DUA, TANJUNG BENOA AND GEGER BEACH
EAST BALI - PADANGBAI AND CANDIDASA
BALI - LOVINA
BALI - MEDEWI
BALI - MUNDUK
BALI - PEMUTERAN AND MENJANGAN ISLAND
BALI RICE TERRACES EAST - SIDEMAN
BALI RICE TERRACES CENTRAL - TEGALLALANG
BALI RICE TERRACES WEST - KEBUN VILLAS
BALI RICE TERRACES TIRTAGANGGA + WATER PALACE

BINTAN

LOMBOK - THE NOTH WEST GILI ISLANDS
LOMBOK - THE SOUTH WEST GILI ISLANDS
LOMBOK - THE KUTA LOMBOK AREA

PERAMA SLOWBOAT - FLORES/KOMODO/LOMBOK

SERAYA & KANAWA ISLANDS + LABUANBAJO - FLORES



MALAYSIA
Taking it easy on Tioman Island, Malaysia

GORGEOUS TIOMAN ISLAND
CHERATING BEACH
KAPAS ISLAND
LANGKAWI
LANG TENGAH
PERHENTIAN ISLANDS
REDANG ISLAND
SIBU ISLAND



AUSTRALIA

Cruising down Whitsunday Island

CRUISING TROPICAL ISLANDS ON A BUDGET
BUDGET RESORTING ON THE WHITSUNDAY ISLANDS NTH QLD
SPENDING TIME AT AIRLIE BEACH - NTH QLD
CAPE TRIBULATION - NTH QLD
DUNK ISLAND - NTH QLD
FITZROY ISLAND - CAIRNS -  NTHE QLD
CRUISING THE SOUTH WEST PACIFIC ON LINERS
BYRON BAY - BEACH PARADISE
NOOSA HEADS - MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE

GREEN ISLAND NTH QLD
KIAMA
MAGNETIC ISLAND NTH QLD
TOP END - DARWIN
TOP END - DARWIN BEACHES
TOP END - KAKADU NATIONAL PARK
TOP END - LITCHFIELD NATIONAL PARK
TOP END - NITMILUK (KATHERINE) GORGE and KATHERINE TOWN
TOP END - MANDORAH and WAGAIT BEACH
TOP END - MATARANKA THERMAL POOLS
TOP END - THE TIWI ISLANDS
RED CENTER - ULURU, KATA TJUTA and KINGS CANYON .


GREECE

Cute church - Naxos

GREEK ISLAND HOPPING


TURKEY

Beach, forest-clad medieval ruins and up-valley budget accommodation at Olympos in Turkey
BUDGET CRUISING AND PARAGLIDING THE TURQUOISE COAST
THE NORTH AEGEAN COAST
THE SOUTH AEGEAN COAST



SPAIN

Looking south to Tossa de Mar
INTRODUCTION
BARCELONA
IBIZA
L'HOSPITALET DE L'INFANT
MALLORCA/MAJORCA
MONTSERRAT

PYRENEES
SAN SEBASTIAN
SITGES
TOSSA DE MAR


USA - SOUTH WEST

THE BEACHES

THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY

GRAND CANYON TREKKING

YOSEMITE TREKKING



USA - HAWAII

OAHU'S BEST BEACHES
OAHU - PEARL HARBOR
OAHU - OTHER NEAT PLACES:SOUTH EAST COAST
OAHU - TREKKING THE HONOLULU MOUNTAINS
OAHU WEST - THE KAIELIA TRAIL and adjoining trails

MAUI'S BEST BEACHES
MAUI: THE ROAD TO HANA
MAUI - HALEAKALA VOLCANO
MAUI - THE IAO VALLEY
MAUI BEST DAYTRIP - LANAI ISLAND
MAUI - OTHER NEAT PLACES



USA - NORTH EAST

NYC BEACHES
UPPER AND CENTRAL LONG ISLAND BEACHES
NEW JERSEY BEACHES
MASSACHUSETTS - CAPE COD, NANTUCKET, MARTHAS VINEYARD
NE - THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY
MANHATTAN ISLAND
GOVERNORS ISLAND
ROOSEVELT ISLAND
LAST TREK EVER - MT TAURUS COLD SPRING.
ROAD TRIP - NYC to NIAGARA to WASHINGTON DC to PHILADELPHIA to NYC


SOUTH WEST PACIFIC ISLAND BEACHES

KAIBOLA BEACH - KIRIWINA ISL - PAPUA NEW GUINEA
MYSTERY ISLAND - VANUATU
CHAMPAGE BEACH - VANUATU
YEJELE BEACH - MARE ISLAND - NEW CALEDONIA
ISLE OF PINES - NEW CALEDONIA
NOUMEA BEACHES - NEW CALEDONIA
EASO BEACH - LIFOU ISLAND - NEW CALEDONIA
DRAVUNI ISLAND - FIJI
TOURING THE SOUTH WEST PACIFIC ON LINERS

READERS' TRIP REPORTS
Trip reporter Rachael and Andy on Ko Muk

Read the trip reports or submit your own


THE FORUM

Yon Cassie has a lean and hungry look (image Deco Dermots)

Questions, comments, shoot the bull.


GENERAL

Sammy BinLiner steps out to the hot-tub seminar in The Worry Collective

JUST FOR LARFS - PART 1
JUST FOR LARFS - PART 2: STONES FROM THE JOKER IN THE GLASS HOUSE (1 thru 11)
JUST FOR LARFS - PART 3: THE WORRY COLLECTIVE

ABOUT THIS SITE

THE RANT


LADY TEZZA'S TRAVELLING JAPAN

Sumo grand champion Hakuho.

The basics - Osaka - Kyoto - Hiroshima & Himeji - Takayama - Tokyo - Kyushu - Daytrip to Mt Fuji National Park - Accessing your money - Other helpful stuff

COVID CRUISE CONTINUED

 COVID CRUISE CONTINUED

...For a start the line’s efforts in promoting hygiene, mask-wearing, social distancing etc on board and on official excursions before the situation got out of hand was pretty ordinary, But this was far overshadowed by its pathetic response once COVID hit. True, PRINCESS had cabins set up on deck 9 to isolate the infected, And it worked a charm as their PR bumff claimed on media outfits after the cruise.

Trouble was these measures only took care of the first 10% infected, maybe 100 of 800. PRINCESS severely underestimated the problem and were caught pathetically short.

The rest of us were banished to our cabins and told to isolate there. No meds given apart from a bag of RAT tests (i think they had anti-virals but were saving these for serious cases). Luckily THE LADY tested positive a day later than me which allowed her to shop a packet of cold and 'flu tabs in Auckland.

‘Isolate’ is the key word, because after a few 'phone calls from the medical center, no-one seemed interested in us – we saw about 1 crew member each day (I suspect there was a similar COVID outbreak among the crew at the same time, and Princess decided to limit crew exposure to us in order to leave enough crew for the following trip) no-one would answer 'phone calls to room service or guest services and no-one gave updates over the p.a. I thought the latter broken until on the last day it gave a burst of disembarkation info – wrong in its timing of course – we actually left the ship 4 hours later than the info suggested.

The only reason we were fed was because LADY T had pre-cruise uploaded the cruise ap which allowed us to order from room service – but every meal was delivered at least 2 hours after ordering (our record was 5 hours late ). This ap was a blessing because it allowed LADY T to communicate and swap war stories with other isolationers who were having a similar or worse time than us. It also allowed the lucky few who had got the special deck 9 cabins and treatment to lord it over us and the usual PRINCESS apologists free reign (“EXAGGERATION - YOU GOT THE 'FLU….” - “DUNNO WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU - IMAGINATION!" 

At last we left the ship at abt. 1430, walked 500m to Circular Quay station, caught a train to Sutherland where LADETTE TEZZA was waiting to drive us the final hour to out south coast home.

We have used this ship before -  on our last pre-Covid cruise - details up page a short distance .

...........................

EARLY DECEMBER ‘22 – OVATION OF THE SEAS TO NEW ZEALAND.

This was only a fortnight after the PRINCESS MAJESTIC disaster.  How come we exposed ourselves to more risk so soon? Thing is this was another replacement for an earlier  cancelled COVID trip and was a case of use it or lose it. Plus OVATION was a new experience – we have never been on a ship this big. And we bounced back well after COVID and thought if we are very careful we can avoid reinfection.

So as much as possible we avoided confined crowds (didn't use the lifts once which was pretty good seeing our cabin was on deck 7, gym on 16, buffet on 14  and some popular public places we used a lot on 3/4/5), scrubbed up frequently and well, and social-distanced when possible. The crew was good - always masked. But the patrons varied - many seemed to think COVID was over instead of half into a new wave or that their 3 injections assured non-infection (our 3 didn't). 

The ship is a  ripper - its extra size means public places are very spacious and there is extra room for things like dodgem cars and a big arm with a gondola on the end which boosted patrons high above the ship. The service was very good as was the food. I thought entertainment up to scratch in this era of scarcer ship- board entertainers due to Covid.

Not everything was perfect. Getting off the ship and into waiting buses (buses needed because ship berthed in working port area a few km from city center) at  Auckland was a time-consuming effort: so much so, I gave up. Hard to tell who was at fault although I personally think it was Princess' shore-agent's neglect or inexperience. Similarly, the line to get off in Sydney (no buses involved) was an 800m, 3 hour nightmare. Once again apportioning lbame is difficult - some said it was the cruise terminal whose fancy gangplanks malfunctioned, others the ship who should have had a backup organized, still others border farce who maybe were late as usual and have form when it comes to screw-ups. Who knows? But here Princess can be criticised in not having enough security people police the disembarkment  line - people were pushing-in frequently leading to frayed tempers. 

GREEN ISLAND

VISITED AUGUST 2022 

Green Island off Cairns is a fully vegetated coral cay – apparently the only one in Australia (although I have seen way better in the nearby western Pacific). Fully vegetated coral cays result from an atoll attacked by storm waves filling or part-filling its lagoon with sand and coral chunks which are then heaped up by wind and wave action. Vegetation is the result of seeds dropped by birds, washed onshore by waves, blown by storm winds – given long enough a secondary rainforest results. I’ve never seen a full blown rainforest on a coral cay.

Appears roughly circular....

....but ain't.  The island is more a squashed egg shape – the short axis is abt 350M vs - the longer 550m. The lagoon inside the atoll drop-offs is considerably larger – the closest drop-off to the beach is 600m, the furthest abt 5km.

BTW those light building in the far background are in Cairns, abt. 28km SW.

Directly off the boat you hit the town square which has a lot of tourist outlets designed, as one fellow guest said, to separate you from your money. But pay attention: it is here that the fast food outlet which sells a heap of reasonably priced stuff around lunchtime is located. This area is nicely sheltered from any stiff trade winds.

Fancy alcohol? The pool bar to the left of the square can do this. Prices reasonable for a touristy joint although bottom-budget cheapskates like me may be outraged.

The resort is to the right of the square. It looks older than Fitzroy Island’s resort (it was opened 1994) and certainly room prices are higher – for a way less appealing island IMHO

The main swimming/beach area is well sign-posted from the square. A short stroll, it is on the lee side of the island although my visit saw the SE TRADES strong enough to keep things cool. One correspondent I've read suggests no lifesavers: they were present my visit: maybe it is a seasonal thing. Not that there is any surf. Sand is reasonably nice, the water fairly clear and snorkeling off the beach okay although there was evidence of coral bleaching. The coral and fish were better near the pier but not mind-blowing. Didn’t see any turtles and apparently this is a good spot for them. I didn’t snorkel long. At nearly 77 I’ve seen plenty of coral and marine critters. Done that – not doing a lot more.

CAVEAT:
A - Dunno what the snorkeling and swimming are like off the beach in low tide. Photos I have seen indicate a lot of the lagoon bottom is exposed. Fortunately it seemed high tide my whole visit. I seem to remember the normal 2 tides a day thingo varies inside the outer reef.
And of course the height of low tide (and high) varies throughout the month and year.
B - Beaches wax and wane with the weather – the current Google Earth image shows more sand/less rock than at my visit. Maybe the weather was more benign preceding Google’s shot. I can’t promise the situation when you visit.

WALK AROUND THE ISLAND 

Photos give the impression the beach is continuous around the island. True of some cays but not Green Island. 

For a start there are a hundred+ meters of artificial bank-erosion protection in the pier area – fortunately walking tracks a short distance inland allow you to continue your circumnavigation. 

Where the bank protection ends near the north corner is a wide strip of sheltered nice sand but signs suggested no swimming – didn’t stop this dude from launching his near-pier snorkeling excursion.

This wide strip of sand continues around the island corner to become the main beach about 50m wide.

After about 250m it gives way to a rocky section*: easily traversed but not with bare feet. 

Main beach in background.

The rest of the circumnavigation alternates between sandy and rocky sections: the latter often with narrow strips of sand behind. All was more exposed to the SE Trades which were brisk early – later in the day they reached gale-force. At least it was sunny early – later it clouded over and we got a few light showers.

THE ISLAND INTERIOR

The town square and circumnavigation took up less than 3 of my 7 hours. That left the island interior which GREAT ADVENTURES has tried to jazz up with 2 main walkways ("ECO" WALKS) along which are INTERPRETIVE PANELS every 50m or so on which are a lot of facts and timelines about the island's history, flora, fauna and geology.

I find this sort of stuff interesting but the island is small, the tracks short and I knocked them over in 45 minutes. That left over 3 hours until the ferry. So I headed for the pool....,

THE POOL

The pool is pretty sweet. Adjacent the town square, it is an irregular 40mX25m and pretty sheltered from the wind. There was enough sun lounges on this not so great day, but more benign conditions may see some pressure. Judging by the few swimmers’ reactions the water was pretty chilly. Something I was not prepared to confirm – I spent my youth surfing 7/52 in cold southern waters (cold at least in winter) back in the day when we couldn’t afford wet-suites: any of you thinks I’m going to brave chilly pool water to make my trip-report more personal has another think coming.

I didn't mind spending time here - at least until it started to rain. 

SUM UP

I wasn't whelmed with Green Island -but then I've never been on a coral cay which offers more than a few hours diversion.

But others think it the duck's guts, judging by the gushing user reviews online. To get full value from the place:

1- spend up on the extras like paid snorkelling, scuba, glass bottomed boat, paragliding, the giant croc show, the big a la carte restaurant lunch etc. Note my GREEN ISLAND TRANSFER as run by GREAT ADVENTURES was a basic there-and-back transfer with 7 hours self-discovery on the island (trip was abt 50mins each way (28km) from/to Cairns marina) at $92**. The same outfit runs more expensive tours which include some of the above. Well worth checking as I discovered.
2- get a perfect windless sunny day (not so common in this region of prevailing SE trade winds) when the beach and snorkeling are idyllic.
3- combine your visit with another marine place out of Cairns like Fitzroy Island or the outer reef: If like me you are just out to check Green Island you can do a comprehensive tour in about 3 hours. Any longer and the place is a bit boring unless you also have 1 or 2 above.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- if you really want to spend time on an Australian fully vegetated coral cay, do a trip which has some extras mentioned above (note you can pay for these on the island but I don’t know if the price is the same) – or better still combine some other area like the outer reef or Fitzroy Island.
Alternatively, spend less time. At least one transfer outfit out of Cairns offers a half day visit,
-take warm clothing: waiting for the ferry in the SE gale was less than pleasant. Better still, lurk in the shelter of the trees near the pier until the ferry arrives – they won’t leave without you – the ferry takes time to load and there was plenty of surplus seating on the return trip.
- if you are time-short and can only do one island trip out of Cairns I reckon Fitzroy is way better than Green. It’s far more interesting, has more variety and will keep dudes like me who want to do a simple transfer and self discovery way more happy. Oh, and the ferry transfer is slightly shorter and cheaper.

**not great value when JETSTAR can do SYDNEY-ULURU return for $99 when they have their specials up.