Bucket List

Crossed a big item off the bucket list in an unexpected way last night. We were steaming past an island around 9:30 pm when the cruise director got all excited over the ships comm. Stromboli was erupting on the Port side. So within a minute 2000 passengers were congregating for a sight of the eruption and spectacular it was.  I have never seen a more red colour in nature than this geyser spewing into the night and it kept going and going. Regular geysers every 5 minutes until we moved past into the night.  I had my camera but trying to get a night time shot from a moving ship on a crowded deck. There was one shot but you had to be there.

Red

Distant Fire

We have seen this a number of times around the Bay where fires start up but two hours later they have died away.  We have had some rain here so the bush can't be that dry now, so that makes me think these are deliberate burning off using something to start it. Or not.  This one seemed to have a lot of smoke and not much flame.  Pt Henry is a bit of an industrial wasteland.

                                                   Looking towards the Pt Henry area

Shady Doings

Yes we have shade on the deck. We have spread a 70% shade cloth over the roof of the deck.  So lets wait for a hotter day like today and see if it works.  Not sure about the first windy day that comes along. There is shock cord at one end and tension bolts at the other end with eyelets at the corners pulled down over hooks.  So if that doesn't keep it in place then nothing will. I have a cool deck.

from this

to this

to shade

Peninsula Hot Springs

The PHS features a hot natural mineral water but with a lot of help.  I have bathed in hot pools in NZ where the water is just running out of the ground and not a cent to pay. Here we have to bore down and bring it to the surface. Nevertheless it is unique in Australia. There are your various spa towns like Hepburn but that one and also Clifton Springs (mentioned elsewhere in ROBOT) started out by getting you to drink the stuff. Later they started heating it for bathing. The closest I have found to this phenomenon is in the NT in Litchfield where warm water cascades into pools after being heated by the rocks it passes over.
I would recommend trying this. Get there on a midweek day not in school holidays, at 9:30am. This allows half an hour for the "No kids on the hilltop" rule to take effect at 10:00am. Don't be put off by the endless cars parked seemingly forever. There seems to be plenty of room to spread out in side.

They do mean Hot

Orakei Korako

Malled

You can get lost in the Dubai Mall. The top of the Burj Khalifa has to be the high point of any visit. HaHa.  We did find a dinosaur and 29 chocolate shops. It was 43 degrees outside so we didn't get to the pool until 4:30. The are many Dubai rules (laws) about eating and drinking during Ramadan. I can go along with all that but I can't figure out the sign below that was in our room.

The Address shaded pool



No Vases?