Today, I would like to write about my early life working on ships and about the cruises which Sue and I have done together in the past 20 years.
As most of you would know, my fascination with ships and with sea travel goes back a very long way, 70 years in fact. It began the day when I boarded the “Kota Gede” (see posts 8 and 24) as a crew member, embarking on my first long voyage. We left Rotterdam to sail to New Orleans and to other American ports, including New York, from where we slowly steamed towards the Mediterranean, and to the port of Beirut in Lebanon. I can clearly remember our arrival there, and the bus tour, which was paid for by the shipping company, through this “Paris of the Middle East”, as it was known to us then. Beirut still stays in my memory as a sophisticated and beautiful city, although sadly, as we all know now, parts of it have since been bombed and destroyed.
On this first voyage we sailed through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Hormuz (which, at the time of writing this story, is mentioned daily in the news), into the Persian Gulf. We stayed there for a good 7 weeks, in mid-summer, visiting ports in Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. For a 19-year-old, it was an exciting time to be there. Our cargo, which included refrigerators, trucks and thousands of bags of flour, had to be offloaded using our ship’s own winches (this was in the age before container ships). I can’t help being reminded of these voyages to the Persian Gulf, as so many of the ports we entered there have recently been attacked. As a now 90-year-old, it upsets me to find that some of the world which I knew when I was very young, is now in chaos.
Talking about more recent times, Sue and I did six cruises on ships of the Holland America Line, of which both the first and the last were to New Zealand. Although both of us had been to New Zealand before, we had been looking forward to exploring some new destinations and to experiencing a relaxed and leisurely sea voyage. We were not disappointed. Both cruises were wonderful and unforgettable. Much as I would like to write about all the ports we visited, I know that this would take far too long, so, in the next few paragraphs, I’ll mention just White Island (Whakaari), Christchurch and Tauranga.
White Island is an island in the Bay of Plenty. We sailed very close to it on our first voyage, in 2006, and then again on our last voyage, in early 2020, not long after the catastrophic volcanic explosion of 2019. Our ship slowed down on both voyages to allow interested passengers to have a close view and to listen to the commentary which was broadcast over the ship’s loudspeakers.
I was reminded of this just a few days ago, when I was reading a regular feature in the weekend edition of the Sydney Morning Herald, titled, the “Two of Us”, which was about a mother who had lost her husband and one daughter in this volcanic explosion. A second daughter, who had also been present, had survived but was terribly injured with third-degree burns. The woman’s husband and two daughters had joined a group from the ship for a tour of the island, while she, the mother, had stayed on board. Of the 47 people who had visited the island that day, 22 were killed and 25 injured.
New Zealand has a history of natural disasters. Sue and I visited Christchurch, on the South Island, on our first cruise, and then again in 2020, well after a massive earthquake which had taken place in February 2011, and which had resulted in 185 deaths and widespread devastation in, and around, the city. It is not surprising therefore that one of New Zealand’s nicknames is “The Shaky Isles”, due to its position near colliding tectonic plates. Despite the devastation since our first visit, Christchurch remains, in our opinion, one of the most beautiful New Zealand cities we visited.
On both voyages we went ashore in the port of Tauranga, a suburb of which, Mount Manganui, was headline news earlier this year, after heavy rains triggered a landslide, killing 6 people. I remember Mount Manganui well, as I had to travel there frequently in the 1980s.
Our cruises to New Zealand allowed us to visit many beautiful locations, on both the North and the South Island. Another highlight was Fjordland, which included Milford Sound, with its spectacular scenery and dramatic waterfalls.
We chose the Holland America Line (“HAL”) for our cruises because of its Dutch history and because their cruise ships reminded me of my own voyages of 70 years ago. Being on board the “Statendam” for our first cruise made me feel as though I had “come home” to an environment which I had loved when I was a very young “Assistant-Hofmeester” with the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd. I found, somewhat to my surprise, that, after all those years, I was still able to communicate with the Indonesian stewards, and this added greatly to my enjoyment of being a passenger on these ships.
The ships which Sue and I sailed on were “mid-sized” ships, all of which had “wraparound” promenade decks. This meant that it was possible to walk right around the ship without encountering any obstructions. On all our cruises the company even organised a long walk, challenging those passengers who wished to take part, to successfully complete a certain number of circuits around the ship, after which they were given an attractive t-shirt with the words “ON DECK FOR A CAUSE” printed on it. We collected several of these and Sue occasionally still wears them today. The proceeds of the donations for participation in these walks were passed on by HAL to selected charities. I found it a lot of fun being able to do these walks right around the ship, while it was moving at sea.
Life on board was very relaxing for us. In the evenings we loved our quiet drinks before dinner, sitting in comfortable chairs in one of the lounges. The large, wide windows allowed us to look out over the ocean while the ship was proceeding to its next port, and often we were treated to some background music, performed by classically trained musicians. After this, we moved on to the main dining room, for a relaxed dinner with our fellow passengers. Occasionally, we also enjoyed having a special dinner for the two of us, in the main or smaller, themed restaurants.
During the day, Sue and I often spent time in the library, another peaceful environment and the perfect place to enjoy a coffee. There were many different activities and shows available for passengers to partake in or watch, but Sue and I were more attracted to relaxing in one of the lounges or to exploring the art works on display everywhere. Most of all, I loved to simply sit in an easy chair on our balcony, with my binoculars close by.
In addition to New Zealand, Sue and I made cruises to Asia, from Singapore to Hong Kong and in between, to the Pacific islands and to Alaska. Each one of those voyages was unique and fascinating. We took many photos, met interesting people and our experiences will remain in our treasure-trove of memories forever.
One voyage which I will never forget was a round-trip from Singapore, on the “Volendam”, to Indonesia. We visited 4 ports on the island of Java, as well as ports on the islands of Bali and Lombok. In most of these locations we joined shore excursions.
In Jakarta we visited the Sunda Kelapa port and saw the Phinisi schooners, large Indonesian trading vessels which still maintain connections between the thousands of islands within the archipelago. I have always been interested in learning more about these trade routes, which, when I was young, were still being served by the old Dutch KPM inter-island ships. In Jakarta, Sue and I, together with the other people in the tour group, also visited the elementary school which President Obama had attended when he was still living in Indonesia.
In Surabaya we were welcomed by the mayor and a group of entertainers and were offered cake and other refreshments, after which we visited a clove factory and, finally, spent some time in the historical hotel, Majapahit, which, in the past, was known to Dutch people as “Hotel Oranje”. It was used as the headquarters of the Japanese army in East Java during World War II and was renamed Hotel Yamato.
After the war the hotel became famous as the site of the “Hotel Yamato incident”, when young Indonesian revolutionaries tore away the blue portion of the Dutch national flag, leaving a Red and White flag only, which subsequently became the colours of Indonesia’s national flag (Sang Merah Putih). This incident played a central role in the Indonesian War of Independence. Visiting this old but stately hotel made me think back to my own contact with young Indonesians in the years that followed Indonesia’s declaration of independence.
Another shore excursion in Indonesia which I will never forget was to the port of Probolinggo (see post 25. Mount Bromo). I had been there in 1956, but for 1 day only, and there was no time then to go ashore. Had there been more time, it would have been possible to travel inland to the top of Gunung Bromo, an active volcano in the mountains behind the port. Sixty-three years later, I was finally able to do so by joining a day-long excursion organised by the HAL, which turned into an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime expedition, which I described in post 25.
The cruise to Indonesia was probably the one I enjoyed most, but, for both of us, all these holidays at sea were very enjoyable and very special because we were able to do them together. Now that we are in our “bonus” years, we treasure our memories and the moments of sharing and reliving some of our experiences, by looking at the many photos we took.
O.P.
P.S. After nearly three years of writing short stories, I have come to realise that I find it increasingly more difficult to continue the fortnightly publishing schedule, and that it’s time for me to slow down. Regretfully, this also means that the next two or three blog posts will probably have to be the final ones. The main reason for having to take this step is my rapidly deteriorating eyesight, which now makes it more difficult for me to read my own writing and to do the necessary research. I hope to explain more about my situation in post 100, which will be published 4 weeks from now, on 28 June. It is simply titled “Twins”.