Cruise Stories

Daintree River Cruise

Posted on August 20, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

boarding the riverboat

We stepped out of the 4-wheel drive jungle bus onto the muddy banks of Australia’s Daintree River. Picking our way through the mud and across the makeshift plank path near the water’s edge, we boarded the waiting river boat perched stern end up on the riverbank.

bird on the riverbank

Once the entire busload of people climbed on board (and thus became a boatload of people) the boat left the shore and proceeded down the river. All eyes watched the riverbanks, looking for any sign of the many creatures dwelling there.

bats take flight

Not all bats live in caves, we discovered. Several trees came to life as the colony of sleeping bats left their upside down perches on the branches and took flight, disturbed by the noise of our boat. They must have quite a hard time getting a good day’s sleep as ours was not the only riverboat cruising the Daintree River.

row of frogs on a branch

Farther downstream we found a tree full of frogs. Not little ones like the Pacific tree frogs we see at home. Pretty big for frogs. I didn’t know tree frogs got that big. We learn all sorts of things while traveling.

freshwater crocodile

Here and there along the banks we saw lots of juvenile crocodiles. Even adult fresh water crocs are not as big or fierce as the saltwater crocs. Of course we did not see any of them along the banks of a river.

ferry at the dock on the Daintree River

A small primitive ferry crossed the river on cables. We had crossed the river on that ferry earlier in the day on the jungle bus rainforest tour. Now we passed under the cables.

leaving the riverboat cruise

When the ride ended, the boat docked near a steep bank.

Posted in Australia, Day Trips | Tagged Australia, bats, crocodile, Daintree, photo, River, river cruise, tree frog | 5 Comments

Jungle Bus Rainforest Tour

Posted on August 12, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Jungle Bus

Standing in front of our hotel in Port Douglas waiting for a ride to the Daintree Rainforest tour, we all felt a bit surprised when a giant 4-wheel drive off-road jungle bus pulled up instead of an ordinary tour bus.

“We need this bus where we’re going,” the driver announced.

We climbed aboard and found seats. After picking up a few more passengers at other hotels, the bus headed for the jungle.

real rainforest cafe

At the first stop in the rainforest, we climbed a tall set of stairs to a rustic cafe where we had a little snack and learned a bit about the flora and fauna of the area. Many trees depend on a large flightless bird called a cassowary. The trees grow large seeds that must pass through the digestive system of the cassowary in order to sprout. It has to eat a lot of them as each seed does not provide much nutrition. For anything other than a cassowary, most of the seeds are poison.

we saw quite a variety of bugs

Australia’s ancient rainforests contain many plant species not found anywhere else. Some primitive species remain unchanged from the time of dinosaurs. Many live nowhere else on earth. Less than 1% of Australia’s landmass, the Daintree holds a large percentage of the country’s species of both plants and animals.

the elusive cassowary

Many of Daintree’s visitors see cassowaries only on the speedbump signs. We got lucky and saw one along the road early in our tour.

mmm, lunchtime

The tour stopped sometimes for hikes on trails or for viewpoints. We had a nice barbecue lunch at a shack in the woods. A short trail led to a stream where fish hung out near the shore hoping for handouts.

trail to the beach

beach in the rainforest

At one stop we hiked a sandy trail to a remote beach, uninhabited until our group arrived.

stick bug

Along the way we saw stick bugs in the trees.

we saw some crazy-looking spiders

We saw a tractor harvesting tea leaves at the Daintree tea farm. We stopped there for quite a tasty afternoon tea.

harvest time at the Daintree Tea farm

Near the end of the tour, the bus took us to a trail up a mountain. We crossed a long bridge through the jungle and soon it began to rain. Looking toward the threatening sky, some people had grabbed umbrellas as they left the bus. Those of us that hadn’t ran back, only to get told by the driver we had to don garbage bags over our wet clothes before he would let us back on the bus. Had to protect the seats and keep them dry he said.

on the rainy bridge

The rain stayed locally just in that area, as the bus let us off near a river for the next half of our adventure on a river cruise, not a drop fell from the sky.

more crazy spiders

Australia has a lot of spiders

cassowary

Posted in Australia, Day Trips, Port City Side Trips | Tagged Australia, bus tour, cassowary, jungle bus, photos, rainforest, spiders | 3 Comments

Beware the Ninja Floaters

Posted on August 6, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

snorkeler near the Reef Encounter

What exactly is a ninja floater? I could be talking about the irukandji (aka iracongi)

iraconji jellyfish photo courtesy of jellyfish facts.net

jellyfish. Tiny and transparent, these deadly jellyfish float about unseen in the waters of northern Australia. But they are not the subject of this blog. Perhaps a great white shark? While it is hard to imagine something so large having the stealth of a ninja, if everyone saw them coming nobody would lose life or limb in a shark attack.

Sharks are not the subject either. Ninja floaters weren’t found in the waters outside the boat. Far closer to a home away from home, right in the cabin. In the waters of…….a malfunctioning toilet.

I blame diet soda for random cruiser’s floater problem. I’ve heard it takes over a year for the chemicals in just one can of soda to clear out of a person’s body. Random cruiser drank enough diet soda to kill a person. I’ve also heard that aspartame (artificial sweetner used in diet soda) was an accidental invention by someone researching chemical weapons. Yummy. Death in a can.

Nobody else on the boat had problems with their toilets, so either random cruiser’s had a really weak flush, or the ninja floaters were just too much for it to handle. My vote is on the floaters. Regular toilets have issues with them, a marine toilet didn’t stand a chance.

Random cruiser’s roomate despised using a dirty toilet. They threw toilet paper over the floaters and flushed, hoping the toilet paper would drag them down. Somehow though, the floaters often managed to sneak out from under their paper net. The toilet paper had no trouble going down. Actually nothing else had any trouble going down. In less than a day, the whole bowl was coated with a film making the once clean toilet appear as if it hadn’t been cleaned in months.

If the roommate ever did manage to rid the toilet of the unwanted floaters, by their next visit more would have appeared. No winning against ninja the floaters.

Most ships have a public toilet somewhere, but this one did not. They must have figured it was small enough people could always get to their cabins. So there was, literally, nowhere else for the roommate to go. I really felt sorry for whoever had to clean that room when their cruise ended. I hope they left the maid a really big tip.

Posted in Randoms | Tagged cartoon, comedy, cruise, funny, humor, random | Leave a comment

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef

Posted on July 30, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Coral and Fish

I love snorkeling, and did a lot of it on our Great Barrier Reef cruise on the Reef Encounter. At one stop though, I tried something different. The beginner’s scuba lesson they offered on that cruise. You don’t usually think of lessons as part of a vacation, but there’s all sorts of opportunities to learn new things. Traveling to new places often offers a chance to discover things you never would have thought of on your own.

Diver and Coral

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef sure beats the normal first dive in a swimming pool! We got to the stop where John and I had our dive lesson scheduled and found the water full of tiny jellyfish. Not the deadly sort, but they did sting. Most people opted out of snorkeling at that stop.

“They’re only on the surface,” the dive instructor said. “Once we get under the water it will be fine.”

Chris at the reef

My son Chris usually dove, but since the ship had more stops per day than they allowed dives he had chosen to snorkel at this stop. And since he had a full wetsuit he actually went, jellyfish and all.

John and I had the rented wetsuits from the ship. Mine had short legs and long sleeves. His had short legs and short sleeves. We started down in the water. The instructor told us to use the anchor cable to get under.

Hand over hand, we made our way down the cable. Got a few stings at the surface, but once below the surface, the water was indeed jellyfish-free. We barely got our heads under before John bailed. Got a jellyfish stuck in the sleeve of his wetsuit he said. Had to get out of the suit to avoid constant stinging.

going down the anchor cable through the stinging jellyfish

On down the cable I went, just me and the instructor. Into the undersea world Chris loves so much. The instructor watched all the gadgets that tell air levels and whatever else it is divers need to keep watch on, so I just watched the instructor. And the sea life. Lots of life to see. Not quite as brightly colored as it looks from the surface, but then I didn’t have a light. You can’t touch the coral, but some places have bare rock in between corals and people can hang onto the rocks. At one point the ship’s photographer, Kathy, came by and snapped a couple photos, so I actually got pictures of my one and only dive. I think we only went down about 30 feet or so. The experienced divers probably go farther in places where the water gets deeper.

me diving (holding onto a rock, not the coral)

It’s a quiet peaceful world down there. The dive instructor communicated through pre-arranged hand signals. I followed where he led and stopped to see the things he pointed out. All too soon it seemed, he motioned time to return to the surface. Back through the jellyfish and onto the sting-free safety of the boat. Luckily we did not see jellyfish at any other stop, so I did not miss out on any snorkeling. Chris said he got a couple stings on his face, the only exposed area he had, and not much there with the mask and snorkel. At least we never encountered any of the deadly jellyfish varieties.

purple staghorn coral

My daughter’s husband, Aaron, took a lot of great underwater photos on this trip.

plate coral

Lots of different varieties of coral and fish.

fish & coral

more fish & coral

Giant Clams.

giant clam

Turtles too.

sea turtle

We loved our cruise on the Reef Encounter and I would thoroughly enjoy visiting the Great Barrier Reef again.

Posted in Australia, Great Barrier Reef | Tagged Australia, coral, cruise, family, fun, Great Barrier Reef, nature, scuba diving, travel, tropical fish, underwater photos, vacation | 4 Comments

Snorkling the Great Barrier Reef

Posted on July 23, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

staghorn and other coral

Snorkeling over multicolored corals of many varieties feels somewhat like looking down on a living fireworks display. The Great Barrier Reef certainly lives up to the name great, with many varieties of fish and coral to see. Such a vast reef would take far more time to explore than the average vacationer has, but with a stay on the small cruise ship, Reef Encounter, for a couple nights we got to see several different places.

hard coral

When it came time to hand out the snorkel gear, I asked if they had the sort of snorkel that does not let water in if you dive under. They gave me a look usually reserved for the village idiot. Seriously, I said, such a thing exists, we used them in Hawaii. Perhaps they have them now, as this happened several years ago, but at that time they had not heard of them. Still eying me like a crazy lady, they passed me a normal 2-way snorkel that you have to blow the water out of if you dive under.

Lois & Chris snorkeling

The reef cruise and snorkeling was the highlight of our trip to Cairns. My son, Chris, mainly dove, but he did some snorkeling. My daughter Sheri set up this trip for us, and her husband Aaron came along as well. He brought an underwater camera and took some great photos. Sheri used it some too.

Plate Coral

Some of the types of coral we saw in addition to multitudes of staghorn coral included plate coral, brain coral,

Brain Coral

soft coral

and hard coral.

hard coral with giant clam

Brightly colored fish in a variety of shapes and sizes call the coral home.

fish on the coral reef

One day Sheri found a turtle. Another time we had to swim over a small reef shark to get back to the boat. It posed no threat though, and stayed well below us in the deep spot where the boat anchored.

Sheri pets a turtle

People are not allowed to touch the coral, which keeps it healthy and beautiful.

reef fish

staghorn coral with small fish

Aaron Snorkeling

going snorkeling

Posted in Australia, Great Barrier Reef | Tagged Australia, coral, cruise, fish, fun, Great Barrier Reef, nature, snorkeling, travel, turtle, underwater photos, vacation | 4 Comments

Reef Encounter

Posted on July 16, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

snorkel & dive on Australia's Great Barrier Reef

Reef Encounter

Walking down the dock in Cairns on a sunny Australian morning we found the boat that would take us out to the Great Barrier Reef. Not time to board yet, we waited around on the dock. Two sorts of people began to gather near the ship. Those with just a beach bag, often dressed in swimsuits, and people more like us wearing street clothes and carrying luggage of some variety whether suitcase or backpack. Then some people who worked on the boat started getting things ready for people to get on. Watching them made me wonder what it would be like to work on a cruise ship. Those who would love to work on a cruise ship can find out about tourism programs via online accredited colleges.

Compass Boat - our ride to the reef

Once on board, crewmen stowed the luggage in a rack and sent the beach-bag people upstairs to the open seating on the top deck while the rest remained seated around the tables below. Turns out that the Compass boat did double duty, taking overnight guests and supplies out to the Reef Encounter, which rarely comes in to Port, while also taking day-trippers out to the reef.

After getting underway, we filled out the necessary paperwork while anticipating

On the Glass Bottom Boat (full of luggage)

several days of snorkeling, or in my son’s case, diving on the reef. They explained some of what to expect, including the option of a beginner’s diving lesson for people who would like to give diving a try. Chris said most people have their first dive in a swimming pool, so the Great Barrier Reef certainly seems like a grand improvement on that for a first dive ever.

Finally we met up with the Reef Encounter. While part of the crew got the day trippers in the water for some snorkeling, others loaded all the luggage into a glass-bottomed boat. The luggage hid the glass bottom part so once all the people got in, it just became transportation to transfer us to the other boat. The people just arriving grouped up on some couches for information and instructions while those about to leave had lunch.

Reef Encounter, Great Barrier Reef Australia

going snorkeling

We had our chance for lunch later, after they took note of any dietary needs or preferences anyone might have.

After giving unobstructed rides to the day trippers, the glass-bottomed boat returned for the departing guests. Then we had a chance to dive or snorkel. They offered wet suit rentals for a nominal fee. John and I rented them, Sheri and Aaron did not. Chris had brought his own. The water there is warm, but besides adding buoyancy, the suits would give some protection against jellyfish, should we happen across any. We had seen stinger suits at shops in Cairns, but declined to purchase them.

I signed up for the optional beginner’s dive with an instructor, but that would not take

staghorn coral

place until another day. They encouraged everyone to take the noodle floater things, but that was the only time I did so. I found it more in the way than helpful. Warm salt water is quite buoyant anyway, so it did not take a strong swimmer to stay afloat.

After about half an hour or so they called everyone back on board and the boat got

underway for the next stop. It moves around to different spots on the reef and has about 6 snorkel and dive sessions each day. One is a night dive, no snorkeling. Chris tried that for something different, but said he liked day dives better because he could see a lot more. One of the crew went out on the night dive in his birthday suit, apparently a tradition for their 100th dive as crew. Probably better done at night from all sides, all the better not to see or be seen.

Breakfast came buffet style, other meals served plated. Besides the three daily homestyle meals, they also served a late evening dessert. Between snorkel stops and meals, there wasn’t a whole lot of time for other things, but they did have some board games and books for time fillers if needed.

Aaron snorkeling

If someone had the money and didn’t want to come on the other boat, they have the option of helicopter transport. The boat had a landing pad on the top deck. Also a fancy cabin, and the “topdecker” couple who came in by helicopter stayed up there never to be seen by the rest of us, even at mealtime.

The majority of people stayed just one night, but we stayed two. The other boat comes daily bringing people and supplies, so people can vary the length of their stay to suit their own needs. I love snorkeling, but staying forever was not an option. I recommend snorkel socks (available at dive shops) for anyone planning a voyage that includes multiple snorkel sessions to prevent the fins from rubbing sores onto tender feet.

On the return trip to Cairns, the Compass boat makes a stop for one last chance to dive or snorkel, and also offers the opportunity for boom netting.

boom netting on the Compass boat

Posted in Australia, Great Barrier Reef | Tagged Australia, Cairns, cruise, fun, Great Barrier Reef, nature, photo | 10 Comments

Kuranda Skyrail

Posted on July 9, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Kuranda Skyrail

Dangling high above the rainforest of Australia, we looked down on the green canopy of trees, each one an individual mini ecosystem. Plants growing high in the trees gain access to light not found under the canopy.

above the rainforest

Lianas (vines)grow up the trees from the forest floor while strangler figs start out in the canopy and grow down to the ground, eventually killing their host. Air plants of many varieties, ferns, and fungus grow on the trunk and branches.

rainforest tree

The Kuranda Skyrail cable tram transports visitors high above the trees from near Cairns to Kuranda, with stops along the way to view the rainforest from within. We came up the mountain on the Kuranda Scenic Railway, and took the tram back down.

lots of plants call the treetops home

At the tram stop, we walked on wooden trails through the treetops.

trail through the treetops

We could look up at the same treetops we had just looked down on.

tree top

We saw more than trees on the tram stop trail.

beetle on the railing

Back on the tram, we sometimes passed over giant trees standing high above the rest.

some trees tower over the rest

The ride ended at the bottom of the mountain.

ride over. time to get out

On to our next adventure, a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef!

Posted in Australia, Day Trips, Port City Side Trips | Tagged Australia, Kuranda, nature, photos, rainforest, Skyrail, tram, travel, vacation | 6 Comments

Kuranda Scenic Railway

Posted on July 2, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Kuranda Scenic Railway

When thinking of Australia, the word rainforest does not normally come to mind. Most people associate Australia with kangaroos, the dry deserty outback, beaches, surfing, and metropolitan Sydney. Or perhaps the Great Barrier Reef. We went to Queensland for a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef, but while there we took a couple side trips to the nearby rainforest, which Australia does indeed have.

Aaron waits for the train

At Freshwater station near Cairns we caught the Kuranda Scenic Railway train from a quaint museum-like Station displaying artifacts of the railroad’s history.

Sheri talks to ghosts of the train station's past

The train snaked up the mountain.

Kuranda Scenic Railway

It went through a series of tunnels and past many waterfalls.

Waterfall view from train

Great views of the Cairns area along the way.

view

The ride ended at Kuranda, a town in the rainforest.

Kuranda. Australia

Kuranda presented a variety of places to shop and to eat, a park, and trails for rainforest hikes. Several jewelery stores offered the ever-present Australian opals among their wares.

Australian opal bracelet

A rainforest tree is like a mini-ecosystem. Many other plants live on it.

Aaron jailed in the rainforest tree

After spending some time and money in Kuranda, we headed to the Skyrail tram for the trip back down the mountain.

Posted in Australia, Day Trips, Port City Side Trips | Tagged Australia, fun, Kuranda, Kuranda Scenic Railway, nature, photos, rainforest, train, travel | 5 Comments

Cairns

Posted on June 25, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

Found Nemo, Great Barrier Reef near Cairns, Australia

On my second visit to Australia, we flew up to Cairns to see the Great Barrier Reef. After just a couple days in Sydney, we took the train to the airport.

spider

Barely. Somewhere on the train a fight broke out. A couple drunken blokes (as the Aussies say) still in party mode from New Years Eve celebrations the night before started pounding on each other for reasons unknown.

The train stopped at some random station in the middle of nowhere. There it sat.

And sat. And sat some more. If it had stopped anywhere near civilization of any sort we would have bailed and took a cab the rest of the way to the airport. This station offered no such option. We nervously looked at our watches and hoped the train would move soon.

flower

Finally some cops showed up and dragged the culprits, still bickering, off the train. Moving again, we reached the airport with not much time to spare. Running to the Virgin Blue check-in, we encountered something the Aussies seemed to expect that I had never seen before. They had the normal long airport check-in line, but next to it a far shorter line reserved only for people who got there later than they should. Quickly checking in through that line we made it to our plane before it took off.

Stopping at another airport along our way, we saw just how big Virgin Blue is in that area. Not only did that whole part of the airport seem to be dedicated to Virgin Blue, but even the restroom was called the Virgin Loo.

In Cairns, we stayed in a hotel right on the Esplanade. A word I’d never heard before,

View from Cairns Hotel

but it seemed to mean a walkway with the beach on one side and hotels, shops, and restaurants on the other. They also had a beachside public pool, necessary because sometimes stinging jellyfish render the beach unuseable.

Gelato stands seemed quite popular. At one we found pavlova flavored gelato, something even Sheri and Aaron (the Aussies) had never seen before. I tried some, it tasted quite good.

Stinging Jellyfish warning sign

One day we took the Kuranda Scenic Railway up the mountain from Cairns through rainforest to Kuranda. Once a lifeline for miners, it now takes daily trips full of tourists.

We spent some time and money in Kuranda, then made the return trip to Cairns on the Kuranda Skyrail in a gondola gliding over the treetops of the rainforest.

After a couple days in Cairns, we went to the harbor to meet a boat for the main reason we went to Queensland, a cruise out to the Great Barrier Reef.

We booked this trip through a travel agent in Australia. Australians seem to use travel agents a lot more than Americans do. For a trip like this with several segments it is a very good idea. The travel agent coordinated transfers from hotels to airports, airports to hotels, and to the various tours we went on. We always had a ride waiting to take us to our next stop, while some other people wandered aimlessly around the parking lot with their cell phones, wondering how they would get where they wanted to go.

Posted in Australia, Port Cities | Tagged Australia, Cairns, fun, photos, travel, vacation | 6 Comments

Pavlova

Posted on June 18, 2011 by LBcruiseshipblogger

pavlova topped with blueberries, strawberries, and grated dark chocolate

Just exactly what, some may wonder, is pavlova? Anyone who has ever tasted it quite likely would say a very light and airy tasting dessert made of meringue and fruit. Very popular in Australia, hardly heard of in America. The origins of pavlova trace back to a tour of Australia and New Zealand by premier Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova in the 1920’s. The answer to which of the two countries invented it likely depends upon which country you are in when asking the question. When I visited Australia, the people there said an Australian chef invented it to serve to Anna Pavlova, but searching online for what chef and where brought up more questions than answers. The dessert and the name of it appearing around the time of her tour is about all that seems in agreement.

My daughter, who lives in Australia, sent me her Australian husband’s grandmother’s pavlova recipe. It is easy to make and quite delicious. The original recipe said to grease the plate it bakes on and dust it with a mix of cornflour and icing sugar, which we don’t have here in America. I found that substituting cornstarch and powdered sugar just does not do the trick. It sticks the pavlova to the plate like glue. After experimenting with various ways of unsticking the pavlova that did not work, I discovered that parchment paper works wonders. No greasing or dusting involved, just the paper. Lifts right off the plate. Sheri says this recipe has less sugar than most, but it tastes great the way it is and does not need more.

Grandma’s Pavlova

BASE

6 egg whites (at room temperature)

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3/4 cup sugar

1 TBSP vanilla

1 TBSP white vinegar

2 TBSP cornflour (cornstarch)

TOPPING

Whipped Cream (about 1 – 1 1/2 cups before whipping)

Vanilla (about 1 teaspoon)

fruit, etc (as desired)

Beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff. Slowly add sugar a little at a time, beating well. When thick and fluffy, fold in cornstarch, then vanilla and vinegar.

Place a piece of parchment paper on an oven-safe dinner plate. Leave enough paper overhanging the edges to make it easy to lift the whole thing off the plate after baking. Spoon eggwhite mixture into a mound on the plate.

Bake in oven preheated to 300 degrees fahrenheit (150 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Turn heat down to 265 degrees F (130 degrees C) and continue baking for 1 hour. When finished turn heat off, but do not open oven. Leave Pavlova in there until completely cooled, preferably overnight.

Use the extra parchment paper left sticking out beyond the plate to lift the pavlova off the plate. Peel the parchment paper off the bottom of the pavlova, and place it back onto the plate. Refrigerate until ready to use.

When ready to serve, top with whip cream. (About a cup to a cup and a half before beating should be enough.) Beat in a teaspoon or so of vanilla after the cream stiffens enough to form peaks. DO NOT use the pre-whipped spray whip cream in a can. It turns to liquid and makes a big mess.

After spreading cream over the top of the Pavlova, decorate with whatever fruit or berries strike your fancy. My favorite is kiwi with strawberries and blueberries. Sheri’s favorite is frozen raspberries (still frozen when added to the Pavlova and eaten,) fresh strawberries, bananas and dark chocolate.

For lactose intolerant folks who want a non-dairy dessert, substitute cool-whip or similar topping for the whipped cream.

It will keep in the refrigerator for up to a couple of days with the cream and fruit on it.

If you just have a couple people to feed and don’t want such a big pavlova, make 2/3 of the recipe and bake it on an 8 1/2 inch plate.

If you need to feed a big crowd, use 1 1/2 times the recipe and bake it on a pizza pan.

You may need to adjust the baking time a bit for the smaller or larger pavlova.

giant bloody eyeball pavlova

You can decorate it any way you like with the fruit. Scatter it randomly, or arrange it artfully in patterns or in ever increasing rings circled out from the center. I once made one for a Halloween potluck that resembled a giant bloody eyeball. The trial one I made to see if it would work had blueberries at the center for the pupil, surrounded by kiwi for the iris. The outer area, or white of the eye, had streaks of strawberry ice cream sauce and bits of strawberries to resemble blood and blood clots. When I went to make the real thing for the potluck, I could not find fresh blueberries anywhere, so I substituted dark chocolate chips for the pupil. The people there had never heard of pavlova before, but they loved it.