February 12th – The Contrasting Sides of Bali

You go to any temple in Bali (you have the choice of 20,000 of them on the island after all), and you'll see that many of the statues are draped in a black and white checked cloth. These cloths represent the duality of spiritual life – the good and the bad spirits which must always be kept in balance. In the Hindu teachings, too much of a good thing is to be avoided just as much as too much of a bad thing.

From our time on this beautiful island today, it appears that Bali is in danger of losing some of its balance, if all the development and commercialisation are allowed to continue to expand at the same rate as it has in the last decade. When Tracy and I first came to Bali in the year 2000, the population was 2 million – 15 years later, it's doubled to 4 million. That's far too many people for a place like this; as the terrible traffic around Sanur, Kuta and Denpasar showed. As you drove around this over-populated southern part of the island, it was difficult to see where one city finished and another one started.

Having said all that, once you got out of the congested cities and into the peaceful countryside, then the fabled Balinese charm begins to work on you. Every village and every home you pass by has at least one ornate Hindu temple to remind you that a deep spirituality runs throughout Balinese life, even if western fashions are increasingly taking over from traditional dress. While, the countryside is still swathed in the emerald green paddy fields that make give the island its timeless character (away from the cars and fast food joints).

I joined a tour that visited Tanah Lot temple to see the view of a million postcards of Bali, of its super-picturesque temple sitting on a tiny island surrounded by the sea. The temple was looking as good as ever – the tide was coming in, but people were still crossing the semi-flooded causeway over to the island; however, on the land, there were hundreds of souvenir and clothing stalls that give this place a hard commercial edge which seems at odds with the serene temple surrounded by foaming waves.

Our second temple, the Pura Taman Ayun at Mengwi, was a much more tranquil affair – its lines of meru (multi-tiered pagodas) and its well tended lawns looking as majestic as they ever did, without being marred by lots of stalls and shops. Earlier, we had enjoyed a delicious lunch at one of the homes of the Mengwi Royal House, and we'd been met by a welcome party of what looked like the whole village – we felt like royalty.

Thunder clouds had been looming all day, but the heavens didn't open until we'd pretty much finished all the main sights – the gods must have been pleased with us.

So, we got back to the ship without being drenched, and we got to enjoy a wonderful gamelan show, with some great examples of the Balinese exotic dancing. To be honest, there's only so much of the crashing gamelan music that I can listen to without getting a headache (as an ignorant philistine, it can occasionally sound to me like someone's noisily washing up the pots and pans without much care); however, the bulging eye motions, the jerky head movements and the doubly bent back fingers of the graceful female dancers is just totally unique – a pleasant reminder that plenty of the Balinese traditions are still going strong.

Bali remains a place of fascinating contrasts – serene temples and manic traffic; peaceful countryside and crazy cities; ancient traditions and modern commercialism. Long may that fragile balance continue.

February 8th – A Quiet Sunday in Perth

Perth on a blisteringly hot Sunday morning feels a bit like the morning after the night before. None of the shops open until 11, and the streets are virtually deserted before that.

When we got the train from Fremantle, the hordes of people getting off at Fremantle showed where everyone was heading, while as the train made its way up the coast, the beaches were already looking pretty busy. That meant that when we got to Perth, the town had a bit of the feel of Dawn of the Dead, no-one there, apart from the large number of homeless and drunk people lying around (we couldn't work out if Perth has more homeless people than the other Australian cities, or they just stood out more because there wasn't anyone else there).

Perth hasn't been as good at preserving its historic architecture as the other State Capitals, which, with all the skyscrapers that have shot up because of the state's mineral boom, means that the city centre has an overwhelmingly modern, if slightly characterless feel. The city's best feature has always been its waterfront on the wide Swan River, but unfortunately, most of that is undergoing a massive makeover, so consisted of a huge, ugly building site.

However, that did make the few attractive colonial buildings stand out even more in this sea of modernity – the oddest addition being the mock-Tudor London Court shopping mall, looking like it could have been transported en masse from London (or at least London from before the Great Fire).

By mid-day, as the temperature bordered on burning, there was some life on the streets, and the city felt like it was waking up, however, the overwhelming feeling was that downtown Perth just doesn't have the soul that Adelaide, Melbourne or Sydney have. However, this place isn't really about shopping or museums – it's about the beach and the great outdoors, two things that Perth (and particularly Fremantle) do pretty well.

February 7th – Fun Times in Fremantle

On a sunny weekend, Fremantle is most definitely the place to go in the Perth area – it has all the beaches, the historic pubs, the restaurants, and its famous markets to keep entertained the lively youthful crowd who flock here. The other reason so many Perthites head here, is that the cooling winds of the "Fremantle Doctor" make sure that Fremantle is about 5 degrees cooler than Perth – even so, the temperature was in the 30s.

We got into port at 4pm, so we still had time to walk to the weekend market, to savour its vibrant atmosphere – colourful food stalls, lots of souvenir stuff, plenty of hippy gear, and good buskers to keep us entertained as we browsed. After deciding that we didn't need to buy anything, we just wandered around town, had a look in the old convict-built jail, and enjoyed the incredibly well-preserved historic architecture of this once-neglected port.

Seeing as it seemed as if everyone was enjoying a drink in the pub, we decided to join them by going to the Little Creatures micro-brewery – cold beer, sunset views and good company made for a wonderful combination.

Next it was time to enjoy one of Fremantle's famous alfresco fish and chip restaurants – we decided to go to the slightly more upmarket Kailis rather than the more famous Cicerellos, so that the health conscious in our party didn't have to stick to the traditional battered fish (I, of course, decided to stick to the more cholesterol-laden choices).

An excellent evening was rounded off with a couple more beers in one of the town's lively Victorian pubs, listening to a raucous rock band thrashing out a few covers.

It's pretty hard not to enjoy yourself on a Saturday night in Fremantle.

February 4th – Swimming With The Fishes in Port Lincoln

You're standing on the side of the pontoon in your wetsuit, anxiously looking down at the cold waters below, and in the depths you can make out the fast-moving dark shapes of some monstrously large fish zooming around menacingly. At this point, the decision to go on a "Swim With The Tuna" tour doesn't seem such a good idea after all. By the end of an exhilarating trip, I've gained a new-found respect for tuna fish, and I will never look at a plate of sashimi in the same way again!

We were visiting Port Lincoln, a small town in South Australia that's really famous for one thing only – its seafood. The waters off its coast are full of oysters, mussels, scallops, king fish, and most of all, tuna. In fact, the town can boast the largest tuna fishing fleet in the world.

All this tuna has brought huge amounts of money into this small town, as the tuna they catch here can fetch about $3,000 per fish, or up to $40,000 per ton – the tuna-loving Japanese can't get enough of Port Lincoln's tuna. But, they don't just catch tuna here, they've also cleverly turned the fish into a tourist attraction, by persuading foolhardy tourists to swim with these huge fish – adults weigh in at over 100 kgs (quite a lot more than me, even after a month on the world cruise), they're wider than me, and they're about 5 feet long.

So, we were taken by boat out to a tuna pen, where the fish are corralled together to be fattened up, and then told to jump right in amongst them. The water was chilly at first, but the adrenalin of being so close to these enormous fish soon warms you up. What's astounding is how fast they are – they zoom right past you, emerging from the murky depths and speeding right past you in a flash.

They're so big and powerful that you're rocked by their wake as they career past you, inches from your face – it's almost like they're toying with you as they set a collision course directly at you, and then veer away at the very last split-second. Given the speed of the fish, it's virtually impossible to photograph them, but I have put a link to some video that I took – it doesn't quite convey the size and power of the tuna, but it gives you an idea of how close they get.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=em-upload_owner&v=jM9n0n647xI

As you can imagine, it's a pretty scary (but fantastically exciting) experience – apparently my high-pitched yelps of fear every time I had a close encounter of a tuna kind were coming straight out of my snorkel and amusing those onlooking passengers who didn't fancy swimming with the fishes.

We were then encouraged to hand feed these behemoths with pilchards – a real test of bravery as you tentatively hold the fish out, and an enormous tuna comes out of nowhere and yanks it out of your hand. You're left feeling a little shaky and wondering how many fingers you have left – they assured us that no-one had ever been bitten or even bumped into a tuna.

This is an unforgettable experience that takes you right out of your comfort zone, but is totally unique – everyone loved it.

PS. For dinner, I couldn't help it, but I just had to have some fresh Port Lincoln tuna!

February 3rd – Adelaide’s “Liveable” Environment

All of Australia's big cities pride themselves on being "liveable" places – the climate, the alfresco culture and the laid back environment all contribute to that. But, Adelaide really seemed to ramp up the "liveable-ness" factor quite a lot today.

It helped that it was a really beautiful day – clear blue skies but not too hot; and, by the fact that we were greeted by so many "Welcome to Adelaides" by the super-friendly tourist guides as we walked from the port. However, the thing that strikes you about Adelaide is just how well laid out it is, always with a sense of space on its streets that Sydney and Melbourne can't deliver – this is a legacy of the Victorian town planners who made this a city of wide streets and green parks.

To get an early start, we caught a train from the port into the centre of the city, and we headed first to the lively Central Market – a fantastically colourful market that claims to be the largest covered market in the Southern Hemisphere. The range of delicious produce in there was amazing – if you lived in Adelaide, you'd be shopping there every day.

We then trekked around the city's main sights, and saw its eclectic mix of urban architecture – stately Victorian set pieces, more modest shop buildings, 1930s art deco, and a few modern office blocks thrown in. It was all much more understated than Melbourne and Sydney's lines of gleaming skyscrapers, or their grandiose Victorian blockbusters.

All the time, we were struck by how friendly and open the people we encountered were – in atmosphere, it felt more like a country town than a state capital of over one million people (that's meant as a compliment, not an insult). Having said that, the city can boast all the amenities of a big city – great museums, art galleries and cultural centres; an attractive array of restaurants and cafes spilling out onto the pavements; and a large pedestrianised shopping centre lined with talented buskers.

Adelaide might not have the high profile of Melbourne or Sydney, but it's a great place to visit (and I'm sure, a great place to live).

February 1st – Catching Up in Melbourne

In my lecture about Melbourne, I'd said that the city was often a lot cooler (in temperature) than Sydney. But, what I hadn't expected was the rain and fog that greeted our arrival at Port Melbourne – the weather looked more like London than Australia. In fact, strong winds and high seas had delayed our arrival in Melbourne by a couple of hours, but we did have a late departure that gave us a bit more time to enjoy this fantastic city.

We needed as much time as possible, because we had a full programme ahead of us – meeting up with regular Silversea-ers, Larry and Lucinda who wanted to show us as much of the Melbourne area as possible. From the port, we drove around to the beautiful Mornington Peninsula to visit their summer home in Somers – on the way, passing rolling hills, pasture land and vineyards. Their home was beautiful and faced down to the sea, with views over to the yachts racing in the distance. We had a lovely lunch, some much-needed catching up, and plenty of hilarious stories. By the time we had got there, the weather had brightened up considerably so we were able to have a quick bracing walk on the beach.

All too soon, it was time to get back in the car and head back to the city – this time to head for their city apartment on the 42nd floor of one of Melbourne's growing cluster of skyscrapers. From this lofty vantage point, the views over the city were unbelievable, allowing us to appreciate Melbourne's mix of impressive low-rise Victorian buildings, and high-rise modern blocks. The metropolis seemed a million miles away from the peace and tranquillity of Somers – how lucky Melbournians are to have such a choice of environments to explore.

We were then joined by more World Cruisers for a fantastic dinner. The only problem was that time flew by far too quickly and we were in danger of missing the ship; but, with impeccable timing, we were zoomed down to the ship with 5 minutes to spare for our fond farewells.

Lots of food, lots of wine, lots of laughter and a fun time with good friends – your standard ingredients for a day on the world cruise, although today was something really special.