June 3, 2024
Cork catch up!
So I have been chilly in Cork at my friend Edel's house, while we wait on the update of the Ship Inspections by the DNV ( DNV is somewhat like European Coast Guard). Sunday, after Mass, we went to Edel's nephew Brian's house to visit with his family. Lori, his wife and their first born Mia, came to OCNJ, along with Edel, her 2 kids and her brother Colm, for a 2 week vacation about 6 years ago. It was great to catch up with them and reunite with Colm (granddad), Lori and Mia again and to meet Brian and new additions Ava and Jax. All the kids were in great form, full of laughs and smiles! Below is their whole family at Jax's christening - he is now 6 months old. I forgot to get a picture when we were there, so Lori kindly sent me these. Mia is so grown up now at 8 and a lucky duck because her granddad scored them a lottery place for Taylor Swift tickets, for Dublin shows, and she and Lori are going to Sunday June 30th show!
Ternate, Indonesia, which is both the name of the city and island, and is part of the Maluku Islands in eastern Indonesia. It is a port that sees maybe 3 Cruise ships a year. However, they really made an effort to show us the best of what they can offer. It's mainly a Muslim country, and we knew we had to dress discretely, but we knew little else. We didn't have our typical port talk prior, due to a technical issue with the AV equipment. Ben a fellow resident, organized an island tour, with about 8 stops, for 90 of us residents.
Cebu greeted our Ship with a big warm welcome, despite having just been rocked by a major Earthquake, days before our arrival. The Minister of Tourism arrived with a motorcade and she proceeded to chat with the residents and thank us, for all our support.
Today we were Cave explorers! We went to the one of UNESCO newly classified 7 NEW WONDERS OF NATURE - The Puerto Princesa Underground River.