THE FIRST KEY SEA BATTLE OF WORLD WAR II WAS FOUGHT IN THE CORAL SEA

 The Seabourn Odyssey left Cairns and is headed for New Caledonia.

The Battle of the Coral Sea occurred between 4 and 8 of May 1942, five months after Pearl Harbor.  

• Japan vs the USA and Australia.  
• First aircraft carrier battle ever fought.
• All the fighting, however, were carried out by airplanes from those ships.
• This was the first time in WWII that Japan experienced failure in a major battle.
• This was the victory that saved Australia, for Japan was advancing towards Australia.

The U.S. knew more than the Japanese suspected, for America had broken the Japanese secret naval codes.  The strategy was to sink carriers, for that would destroy the plane runway.  The problem was that each was protected by a screen of cruisers and destroyers.

The Japanese were led by Admiral Shigeyoshi Inoue, with Admiral Frank Fletcher in American command.

The final truth is that this was actually a tactical victory for Japan, as the American USS Lexington carrier was scuttled and USS Yorktown damaged.  The Japanese lost a light carrier.  Both sides had similar plane losses.  But the overriding reality was that the U.S. and Australia won a strategic victory, for the ultimate consequence was that this stalemate influenced Japan to pause, leading to the Battle of Midway (TBoM, located 1300 miles from Hawaii) the following month.

TBoM  was led by Admiral Chester Nimitz, defeating an attacking Japanese fleet under Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.  

• 
  Earlier in April General Doolittle had air raided Tokyo.
• The Japanese lured the 3 American carriers (but they knew that Yorktown had been crippled) to the site with 4 carriers and double the number of planes.  The plan was to destroy the American naval fleet, allowing them to invade Fiji, Samoa and Hawaii.  I did not realize we were one battle away from this. Of course, I was only a year old, but the possible consequences are frightening.  Where would I be today if....
• Cryptographers, though, were able to keep the Americans alerted to instead ambush the Japanese. 

• 
  The key intelligence through this info was keeping supporting American ships in a nearby area when those of the Japanese were dispersed elsewhere.  That was the difference.
• All four Japanese carriers (they were the ones that attacked Pearl Harbor) were sunk.
• Only that same Yorktown from the Coral Sea was lost...the USS Enterprise and USS Hornet survived intact.
• This was the most stunning and decisive blow in the history of naval warfare, the turning point of World War II in the Pacific.

• 
  There were two Battle of Midway films, first Midway in 1976, then in 2019.  The first got 47/71 Rotten Tomato reviews, while the second had a Rotten Tomato rating of 42% by reviewers, but 92% by the audience.
• Of course there was also Battle of the Coral Sea movie, in 1959, with Cliff Robertson.  However, got an embarrassing Rotten Tomatoes rating of /22.

All that to say that I again did nothing much on my cruise today.  But what a night,  Not much for breakfast, but a good lunch.

Two fish servings, with soup and risotto, plus baklava for dessert.

Not much the rest of the afternoon except for a long walk all over the ship.  Dinner was special because we had arranged for some maguro sashimi and miso soup to start the meal.

A welcomed improvement of anything Japanese, especially the sashimi.  The miso soup remains a project being perfected.  Then miso salmon for supper.  Superb.  Followed by a soufflé and petit fours.

The new Chef who just boarded the ship in Cairns came by for a chat.  Then went to The Grand Salon to be entertained by Wil Martin, publicized as THE VOICE YOU MUST HEAR TO BELIEVE.

He was, indeed, fabulous.  On the way back to our cabin we stopped by The Observation Bar to have a drink.  Bruce and Carlo from Australia, who I sat next to at the Sommelier's Wine lunch, sat with us.  We were entertained by The Trio.

Very unusual for us, but near midnight we thought, one final drink at what has in the past been a disco-type setting in The Club.  Nikki and her band was just finishing up.  So that was it.  I had a cognac anyway, and closed the bar with, of all the person, Wil, and his friends.

Note that we are the only two left.  Even the bar was closed.  Did not get to sleep until 2AM.  What a day.  Even the 5301 steps showed that this was an active day at sea.

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QUEENSLAND

Yesterday was, again, a boring day.  Loved it.  Did virtually nothing but eat and sleep.  

We are now in the Coral Sea, and will cruise for two days.  I thought the internet would be non-existent.  Works well.  Yes, I continue to be very happy.

What is particularly nice is not to have to do anything.  Well, maybe this blog is a bit time-consuming.  But some tell me they love to live vicariously through my postings.  Not sure if humdrum appeals, but  I nevertheless continue.

Well, anyway, we were in the state of Queensland (5.3 million people) for the past few days, where we ported in Townsville (181,668), Cairns (153,951), and smaller towns, Airlie Beach and Moreton Island.  Still wondering why we bypassed Brisbane, which has a population of 2.5 million. 

Queensland has more area than all but 15 countries--about the size of Mexico and Indonesia--and different from previous visited states in that there are rainforests and coral reefs.  Yet, this area experienced a temperature of 121 F in 1972.  Texas easily fits into this state.

• 
  Aboriginal occupation predates 50,000 BC.  
• Dutch, French and Spanish explorers came here first, but somehow, then Lieutenant James Cook in 1770 claimed this portion of the continent.  
• They brought small pox, which decimated the Aboriginal population.  Seems to be a pattern here in the Pacific, including Hawaii.  

• 
  Interestingly enough, when Ireland suffered their Great Famine in the mid 1850's, orphan girls were sent to live to this Queensland region.  
• With half a million people, this state joined the Federation of Australia in 1901.  Qantas originally was founded here in 1920.

• 
  In 1935 cane toads from Hawaii were introduced to eat cane beetles, and have remained as environmental pests since then.  Hawaii had done the same in 1932 from Puerto Rico, which imported theirs from South America.  These Bufos are still a pest, but now rarely seen, except on certain golf courses.

• 
  The end of the White Australia Policy was in 1973, and waves of immigrants arrived in this region.
• The highest religious affiliation is NONE at 46%, with Christianity at 41%.
• Brisbane will host the 2032 Summer Olympics.

• 
  The koala is the state animal, anemone is the fish and sapphire the gem.
• Their color is maroon.
• 
  As we're leaving Australia, one final note is that you can drive around the continent on Highway 1, a trip of 9200 miles, called the Big Lap.  How long?  At least 3 months.  The record was set in 2017:  6 days, 8 hours and 52 minutes.  Actually, shouldn't take 3 months of normal driving, for a travel itinerary from Los Angeles to Seattle to Montreal to Miami to Mexico City to Los Angeles, about the same distance, surely can be comfortably completed in a month.

Breakfast in Cairns was not much, and lunch was light.

The highlight of the day was a rainbow over Cairns.

Dinner was supposed to be on our veranda to watch the departure.  However, things got delayed, we left in darkness, so had dinner in our room.  Just caviar and steak.

We watched Scotch:  A Golden Dream, a story about James McEwen, scotch master who brought this beverage to the world.  Probably had a lot to do with Japan, Taiwan and Tasmania becoming competing wine steeples. Rotten Tomatoes reviewers only gave it a 67 rating, but audiences said 81%, and I agreed with them.

I was particularly interested in this production because on Wednesday I will attend a whisky tasting on the Odyssey.  Seven of them ranging from the traditional Macallan, Lagavulin, Highland Park and Johnny Walker Blue Label, to even a bourbon, Blanton's Single Barrel, and Irish Greenspot.

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TOWNSVILLE

We had to be weighed the other day to board the flight, and to my astonishment, was at 153.6 pounds, about what I was when I left Honolulu three weeks ago.  I'm eating a lot and drinking too much.  But I'm sleeping a whole lot.  

When we returned from our recent Regent Seven Seas cruise from Dubai to Singapore, I noticed that I only gained a couple of pounds, a big surprise.  The key was sleep.  Read my posting of 23December2022.

We were yesterday in Townsville and this morning docked in Cairns, our last stop in Australia.  Being bored on a cruise is a kind of luxury.  Usually, the day is filled too many activities.  I slept until late in the morning, and my day began with another sumptuous lunch.

After a three champagne lunch, I caught the cruise shuttle into town.  I wanted to visit Townsville's two aquaria.  

• However, before boarding the vehicle, I learned that both were closed for reconstruction.  

• 
  But there was a free bus that took you around The Strand, sort of the Waikiki of this city.  
• It took only a few minutes to get to the connection point, and there was a tourist guide there, who said their shuttle makes a round in half an hour.  
• Another couple from the ship was also interested.  We waited for 45 minutes.
• Turns out that this was the first work day for the driver from Darwin, and the whole day was a mess.
• It was 3:45PM when we boarded.  At the first stop, he said, sorry, but he would be going to lunch.  If he spent only half an hour for lunch, we would not return until 4:15PM, and the final shuttle back to the ship was at 5PM.

• 
  The thing about leaving a cruise ship is that you absolutely cannot return too late.  It's stressful to be away, especially if there was any chance of something going wrong.
• Turns out he got a take-out, and our ride continued.

• 
  The beach side of The Strand is like a combination of Ala Moana Beach and the coastline of Hilo.  The other side is a never-ending series of apartments, hotels, restaurants and homes.  
• About 20 minutes into the trip, the driver stopped and mumbled something about a bird.  I couldn't quite understand what he was saying and why this was so important, but took a photo anyway, which you'll see below.  That was the highlight of the roundtrip.
• We got back in time and I re-boarded the Odyssey without incident.

The Townsville Cowboys are a professional rugby team.  See the bird?  At the base of that tree.  Townsville is what I call a sleepy town, but on Sunday it is dead.  Everything is closed.  Hardly anyone even walking around.  A boring, but stressful, day.  The rest of the night went well.  First, sunset from our veranda.  I've never, ever, seen such a strange rainbow.  With Venus and the Moon.

Then dinner in The Restaurant.

Rode some, but walked little.

Tomorrow we leave Australia for New Caledonia.

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