Millers World Cruise 2025

Feb. 17 An interesting stopover. Not just about Darwin, but Karla’s activities. We are friends with a 90 year old couple who are very sharp and seemingly healthy. He’s a retired Presbyterian minister; she a retiree from the State Department’s foreign service. Kathleen was on a bumpy tender ride (a week prior in Mooloolaba) which…

Feb. 16 We’re in our second day cruising the Arafura Sea, on the way to Darwin. The Captain, on his noon update, said weather is nice. Actually, it’s not. It’s sunny and 85 degrees. Nice would be 55 and overcast.  Walking at 85 degrees with winds of 15-20 mph is not our favorite. Still, Karla…

Feb. 15 Torres Strait is the passageway between northern Australia and Papua New Guinea. There was a land bridge connecting the land masses about 10,000-12,000 years ago, but rising sea levels have covered most of the ‘bridge.” Now, there are 276 islands which used to be hills or at least high points. Fourteen of these…

Feb. 10-12 The Great Barrier Reef was important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders for tens of thousands of years. However, it was “discovered” by Captain Cook in 1770, when he ran aground on a reef. We need big numbers to describe it. The reef system covers 344,400 square kilometers. It is 1,400 miles long. The…

Feb. 9 As we sail from Mooloolaba to Whitsunday Island it’s an opportunity to comment on our fellow passengers. The Viking Sky carries 900-1000 passengers. Perhaps half of them are doing the “full cruise” from Ft. Lauderdale to New York. If Viking could sell the entire itinerary to 900-1000 customers, they would. But, they sell…

Feb. 8 We anchored in the bay near Mooloolaba. With a population of 8700, we expected a sleepy little town. When our tender arrived at the dock, we saw a vibrant oceanfront community. It looked like lots more visitors than residents. A very nice beach and 80* temperature evidently is attractive to Australians.  We had…

Feb. 5 and 6 We were looking forward to a 2-day stop in Sydney. We weren’t disappointed. Sailing into the Sydney Harbor is matched only by entering New York in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty at dawn. So, we were up at 6 to make sure that we were ready for the tugs…

Feb. 5 We’ve been on the sea for one month. Before writing something on Australia, I thought it would be worthwhile checking in on the US. Naturally, I went to Truth Social for an authoritative update. Here’s what trump says:     “This is fun!. Now you see what a meritocracy looks like. No special deals…

Feb. 4 We’re in the 3rd day of a 3 day cruise from New Zealand to Sydney. There is an interesting clash between experiencing two great places to live and what is going on in the US. One might blame trump for the chaos in the US, but voters and Republican legislators also have some…

Feb. 3 “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,”    Emma Lazarus, The New Colossus, inscribed on the Statue of Liberty Welcome the Stranger.    The three Abrahamic religions “America is for Americans”.   Stephen Miller “We will carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history”.  DJ…