South Pacific Odyssey

About My Blog

2009-01-27T11:55:00.007-05:00

I recently returned from a two month journey through the South Pacific. At the suggestion of my travel agent, I created this journal so that others could enjoy the experience with me. I have tried to describe, in as much detail as I could recall, all of the amazing day-by-day sights and experiences that I enjoyed on this trip. So come along and enjoy it for yourself!

Just in case you're not familiar with blogs, they're always bottom-up, i.e. the most recent entry is at the top. So to follow along from the beginning, you have to start all the way at the bottom. There's an archive list on the right side which can be expanded to show all posts. Just click on the side-facing arrows to expand the tree. Once the entire list is displayed, click on the earliest date and you'll get just that entry. Then, when you finish reading that one, click the link for "newer post" after the comment area and the next entry will be displayed. If you stop part-way through, you can click on any archive entry to start again at that point.

If you would like to leave a comment or ask a question, please do! I will try to respond with any additional information that I have or can find.

One last thing: you can click on any picture to get a larger view. And, just in case you want more, I have some additional photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/nbhousch.

Happy reading!

11/25/08 Back to Reality

2009-01-27T10:35:00.003-05:00

Well, I was back. I had traveled a total of 27,794 miles by air and sea. That’s more than the distance around the world. And I was finally right back where I started.

I slept great that first night. There’s just something about sleeping in your own bed. Of course, there was no chocolate on the pillow and nobody delivered coffee and danish to my room in the morning. Oh well, back to the real world. I had to run some errands, the most important being to pick up my little girl from the kennel. But she wouldn’t be ready until about noon since I always have her bathed before she comes home. So I had a little time to get started on other things.

I began with the laundry. I had dumped everything in the clothes basket when I emptied the bags so there was a major pile of stuff to be washed. I figured that I could get at least one load done before I had to go out. Once that was started, I got on-line and downloaded credit card and bank statements, cleared checks, etc. I had saved my credit card receipts and, even though they were from all over the place and in several different currencies, everything balanced to the credit card statement without a problem. That was a relief since I have no idea how I would have resolved a problem with a merchant in Fiji or New Zealand. I downloaded and verified all checking account transactions to make sure that the bills were paid while I was gone. No problems there! I went back to the basement and threw the clothes in the dryer.

After a quick shower, I headed out to run a couple more errands before going to the kennel. First I had to make a “real” trip to the grocery store. The donuts wouldn’t last forever! Since I live by myself, I don’t buy a whole lot of food at any one time. It just goes bad before I can get around to eating it. So the grocery shopping didn’t take very long. I stopped at Costco for a few things, including some chicken strips and pig ears for Sarah. She loves those things and I buy them in large quantities. Then came the post office. They had been holding my mail for two months and I wasn’t prepared for what was coming. I gave the clerk my name and driver’s license and she disappeared for probably five minutes. She returned with one of those big plastic bins like they use in business mailrooms, about three-quarters filled with mail. It must have weighed twenty pounds and it was all mine! She told me to just take the whole bin, so I hauled it away. Of course, most of it was junk….

I dropped everything off at home, put the groceries away and went to get my baby. The kennel charges were pretty high, of course, but not bad for the length of time she had been there. And the people there love Sarah! They take great care of her, even though she doesn’t really understand it. As expected, she went a little nuts when they brought her out to the lobby. But she didn’t pay so much attention to me as to the front door. She kept jumping up on the door and pawing at the knob, saying “Let me out of here!”. So I did….

Dogs are funny. Sarah had been home for no more than an hour before she was right back into her routine. She chased a squirrel, played with her football, had a chicken strip and was asleep on the bed in less than an hour. It was as if I had never been gone. I was really worried about leaving her for so long but I’m now convinced that dogs don’t perceive time in the same way that we do. I guess that explains why she is always so excited when I come home, whether I’m gone all day or just a few minutes. In the future, I won’t worry quite so much when I leave her.

Well, I guess that’s just about the end of my story. I had planned and anticipated this trip for almost a year and it was worth every bit of it. Creating this journal has brought it all back, allowing me the opportunity to re-live all the experiences once again. What started as a favor for my travel agent has turned out to be a lot of fun for me and I hope that you enjoyed following along. Perhaps you’ll be writing your own trip journal before long!

Just one piece of advice: don’t put it off too long! If you have a “trip of a lifetime” in mind, go for it! I kept saying “one of these days” for a long time before I finally pulled the trigger. I wish I had done it sooner. You never know what might happen tomorrow!

So what’s next for me? I’m really not sure. I have two cruises booked for September, back-to-back trips from Seattle. The first is a week trip back to Alaska, my fourth cruise there. Then I’ll stay on the ship and cruise the west coast of the U.S. and Mexico, transit the Panama Canal and visit a few Caribbean islands before docking in Fort Lauderdale. It’s not exactly a “trip of a lifetime” for me but I’ve never been through the canal, so it will be interesting. But I’m looking at another cruise in July that may qualify as one of those “lifetime” things. It’s a thirty-five night round-trip from Boston with a fabulous itinerary, places that I would never visit on my own, including Newfoundland, Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Scotland, Ireland and the Netherlands, among others. I haven’t booked it yet but it’s just a matter of time. There’s a lot more world to see!

Bon Voyage…..

2/1/09 Update: Well, I said that it was just a matter of time before I booked the "Voyage of the Vikings". Turned out to be a short time! I booked it a couple of days ago so I will be leaving Boston on July 25th aboard Holland America's Maasdam. I'm really looking forward to this itinerary since I've never visited any of these ports. I see another blog in my future!

11/24/08 Los Angeles to Richmond

2009-01-26T22:22:00.000-05:00

This was it, the last day. Tonight I would be sleeping in my own bed, watching my own TV, in my own home. I had been looking forward to this day for several weeks. Now it was up to Delta!

I left a wake-up call for 4:15 am but was already up before it came. I was taking the shuttle to the airport at 5:00 am to catch a 7:15 am flight to Atlanta. A couple of hours layover and I would be back in Richmond by 6:00 pm. The shuttle was right on time and we were at LAX in maybe a half-hour. A few minutes at check-in and I had my boarding pass. Again, nothing to do but wait until flight time. I got some coffee (wow, what a surprise) and walked outside to smoke a cigarette. I went through the security checkpoint, found the gate and waited for the flight to be announced. Everything was right on time, a good thing about flying first thing in the morning. We boarded, buckled up and left on schedule. I was on my way home!

There’s really nothing much to say about the flights home. They were smooth, on time and totally uneventful. I’m still amazed that they can keep you on a plane for four hours and only serve peanuts, crackers and cookies. Welcome to the modern age of flying, I guess. But it didn’t really matter. I could grab something in Atlanta during my layover. Instead, I went into a bar where smoking was allowed and ordered a beer. That’s a healthy lunch, isn’t it?

The flight to Richmond left right on time and we landed just before six. It’s funny how you get this happy little feeling when you know you’re home. I just felt sort of warm and fuzzy all over. Laurie met me in the terminal, the first familiar face in two months! I gave her a big hug and she fussed about how long it took me to make it off the plane. Everything is back to normal, just like I never left! We got the luggage and caught the shuttle to the parking lot. Now all I had to do was survive the ride home. Not so fast. First we had to find Laurie’s car! She couldn’t remember where she had parked the thing. And it’s a big lot. The driver was pretty nice about it and drove up and down the rows, several times, until we finally spotted it.

Laurie’s going to hate me for telling that story but I don’t care. It’s my blog and I can say anything I want. On the way home, I stopped at the grocery store for just a couple of minutes. I had absolutely nothing to eat in my house. Everything was tossed before I left. I got some bread, milk, eggs and two bags of donuts. Breakfast of champions – coffee and donuts! That would hold me for a day or so.

Five minutes later, I was home. I honestly can’t tell you just how good that felt, even though it was a bit cold in the house. I had cut the heat back before I left also. But in a couple of days, it would be Thanksgiving and soon after that, Christmas. It was getting to be winter and the heat came back up. I had also turned off the ice maker so back on it came. Boot up the pc, make a pot of coffee. Lots of little things to do!

Laurie stayed and chatted for maybe an hour or more, then she had to get home. Tomorrow was a work day for both of us. She had a job. I had a life to put back together!

11/23/08 Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.

2009-01-26T19:06:00.000-05:00

I hate long flights! I’ve always hated long flights! It might be different if I could sleep on the plane but I have never been able to do that. I look around and everybody else is sleeping like a baby. I really want to hurt those people….

After nine hours of staring at the flight progress map on the screen in the seatback (which moves very slowly), we’re back in the U.S.A. It’s a strange sensation just to realize that you’re back in your home country. I was gone for a long time and now I’m back. It feels good!

The good feeling lasted just a few minutes, long enough to reach Customs and Immigration. Since I had been gone for so long and visited so many different places, would I be more closely scrutinized than the others? I had never been gone this long and didn’t know quite what to expect. I didn’t have any contraband and was well under my customs allowance. But, at this point, I just didn’t need any hassle. I decided to just be the “happy tourist”, home from a wonderful vacation and glad to be back. Which is exactly what I was….

I waited my turn and handed my forms to the Immigration guy. He looked everything over, then remarked on how long I had been gone and the number of countries I had visited. Oh crap! This isn’t starting off too well. He sent me along without any further comments so maybe it would be okay. While I was in line for Customs however, I was watching several of my new friends from the cruise. They had been sent to the TSA screeners for whatever reason and were opening all their bags for inspection. Very detailed inspection! I was hoping I wasn’t their next victim. Fortunately, the Customs guy must have been having a good day or maybe I just look honest. I was directed to the line heading out the door and I didn’t waste any time getting there.

After exiting the terminal, I paused long enough for my first cigarette in twelve hours, then caught the shuttle to the LAX Hilton. It was a little after ten and I was exhausted but also hungry. After checking in, I dropped the bags in my room and headed for the coffee shop. After a large coffee and a pastry, I was feeling much better about my last twenty-four hours. Now to make a couple of phone calls and get some sleep!

I called a couple of friends, verified my arrival time with the person who would be picking me up at the airport and just gave everybody the Reader’s Digest version of my trip. Once that was done, the “Do Not Disturb” tag went on the door knob and I jumped into bed. No problem sleeping this time! The rest of the day and evening was spent doing absolutely nothing. I ordered room service for dinner (hamburger and fries, naturally), which cost thirty-three bucks with all the fees and taxes, watched a little television and went to bed early. I was taking a very early shuttle in the morning….

11/22/08 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands

2009-01-26T17:53:00.004-05:00

Last night, we left Moorea around 5:00 pm and sailed the twelve or so miles back to Papeete. I was on the top deck having a bloody mary. The sun was starting to set as we approached Tahiti so I went to the cabin to get my camera. I always try to get sunset pictures! Sometimes they’re great, sometimes not so much. This sunset, on the very last night, was the most beautiful of the entire two-month trip. Possibly one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. As usual, the sun was setting behind Moorea (duh!) but this time was more spectacular than normal. It was almost as if the sky was on fire! I realize that sounds a little bizarre but it’s the only way I can describe it. And not just the sunset; the cloud formations were amazing as well. I just counted and I have twenty-nine pictures of the sunset and clouds last night. It was a wonderful ending to the cruise.

The rest of the trip won’t be so wonderful. Now I have to get back to Virginia!

We docked at about seven last night. Some passengers disembarked immediately and headed for the airport to catch flights home. I hadn’t realized that leaving early was an option but probably wouldn’t have done anything differently even if I had known. In the beginning, I was too enthused to have thought about leaving earlier than absolutely necessary. By the end, I was ready to go! We stayed on the ship for one final night, essentially using it as a floating hotel. Luggage had to be placed outside the room before going to bed so I packed for the last time, making sure to leave one clean shirt, one sweater and a jacket at the top of the suitcase. This morning, we were allowed to remain on board until around noon, since we had purchased a transfer package. All others had to be off the ship by nine, as I recall. One last lunch then we began the disembarkation process. Transfer packages included a “day room” at the Radisson Hotel in addition to transfers to the hotel and airport. A tour was included for those who wanted it. I was definitely not in that group; I had seen enough of Papeete. I was taken directly to the hotel and given my room. It wasn’t as nice as the Intercontinental but I really didn’t care. It was better than sitting at the airport for twelve hours! I wandered around a little bit but mostly just relaxed in the room. It was going to be a long day and night.

We were picked up at around 6:30 pm for the trip to the airport. I had a 10:00 pm flight to Los Angeles, where I was spending one night before continuing home to Richmond. It was just too much to do in a single day. We arrived at the airport, claimed our luggage and got in the line for check-in. Along with a few hundred others! There are two flights, leaving an hour and a half apart. So there were probably six hundred people checking in at about the same time. The line looped back and forth maybe seven or eight times, with Tahitian immigration agents checking passports just before reaching the ticket counter. Although there was some grumbling, people kept a pretty good sense of humor about the entire process. We had several hours and, after all, what could you do about it? Although slow, the line moved pretty steadily and eventually I had my boarding pass. Nothing to do now but wait.

There were several more souvenir shops outside the terminal building. Gotta get those last few dollars before the tourists get away! There was the obligatory black pearl jewelry shop, duty free liquor shop and several tee shirt, caps, knick-knack places. I had bought all the souvenirs I needed so I just window-shopped for a little bit before sitting down for one last cigarette. Then I went through security and into the terminal. Eventually, the flight was called and we made the same long walk to the plane that I had made two weeks earlier. We boarded, settled in for the nine-hour flight and soon were on the way to Los Angeles, one step closer to home.

11/20/08 thru 11/21/08 Moorea, Society Islands

2009-01-25T22:43:00.014-05:00

Last night, just as we were leaving Taha’a after a great day on the beach, a beautiful rainbow appeared over the water. Hopefully, it was a sign of good things to come. The islands, with the exception of Rangiroa, had gotten progressively better as the trip went along. As I said, Bora Bora was “stunning”, Motu Mahana was “perfect” and now we’re on the way to Moorea, described by many as the “most beautiful island in the world”. At this point, it has some hard acts to follow. But I had spent five days staring at Moorea from the Intercontinental and was really anxious to see it from a little closer perspective.

Again we arrived very early in the morning and I was on deck before sunrise. The sail-in to Moorea is the most dramatic of all, in my opinion, probably due to the many jagged mountain peaks. Bora Bora has two, Moorea has a bunch, including the famous “Bali Hai” from the movie “South Pacific”. We were going to be here for two days so I would get the chance to see them from both land and sea. We sailed into Cook’s Bay, where we would be anchored for the duration of our stay. Moorea is roughly heart-shaped with Mount Rotui in the center, Cook’s Bay on the east and Opunohu Bay on the west. Both bays are gorgeous and the lagoon rivals the one at Bora Bora. I’m beginning to think that Moorea wins the title of “most beautiful island”.

Prior to leaving home, I had submitted requests for two shore excursions, one for each day. However, when I got to my cabin and looked at the tickets, I found that Regent had rescheduled my requested excursions so that they were now scheduled against each other on the same day. I had to make a choice and I chose to search for spinner dolphins, a very acrobatic dolphin which I had never before seen. As I’ve said, I’m an animal lover. But that meant that I had nothing scheduled for our first day in Moorea. Even though I had done lots of island drives, nothing else looked particularly appealing. It’s supposed to be a beautiful island so I booked the tour. It turned out to be your standard drive, except that the beauty of Moorea made it special. The jagged peaks are so pronounced that you can’t help but be impressed by them. We made several stops on the drive to the Belvedere Overlook but the views from the top were the real treat. We had a panoramic view of both Cook’s Bay and Opunohu Bay, split by Mount Rotui. We could see the ship anchored in Cook’s Bay. Not as spectacular as in Bora Bora but gorgeous nevertheless. There wasn’t anything remarkable about the rest of the drive other than the fantastic views of the mountains. It wasn’t my best excursion but not too bad for a last-minute substitute. I went back to the ship, looking forward to my dolphin experience tomorrow.

I awoke the next morning, the last full day of the cruise. Tonight we would sail back to Papeete, spend one last night on the ship and disembark the following day. So I was down to my last excursion, the spinner dolphins. Let’s make it a good one! We were scheduled to leave very early on our search for the dolphins, somewhere in the neighborhood of 8:00 am, as I remember. This was not just a sightseeing trip. Our guide has conducted a research project here for years so this is both science and tourism. I’m sure that he tolerates the tourists in order to help fund the research, not because he really enjoys conducting tours. But I didn’t care, I wanted to see some dolphins!

I have to admit to a major screw-up here. I’m a little more nimble than a lot of cruise passengers and I always try to be one of the first to board any means of transportation. That way, I can choose the best available seat. I was first at the boat, which had a center aisle with rows of two-person seats on either side. Naturally, I chose the first row outside seat. That way, I would have unobstructed views both front and side. Clever me! What I failed to notice, and probably wouldn’t have considered anyway, was that the bow and floor of the boat were painted bright white. There was a canopy which protected from direct overhead sun but, early in the morning, that did absolutely nothing to protect from the reflected rays off that white paint. I was wearing a hat with a bill which also did nothing. As the morning wore on, I could feel my face getting cooked. The boat was packed so I couldn’t change seats. By the end of the trip, I was miserable. I was blistered by the next day and used cocoa butter cream for probably a week or so. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be any real harm done but I think that I’ll pay more attention to the little details in the future.

Back to the dolphins. We were told that dolphins were found about ninety percent of the time but there were no guarantees. For a couple of hours, we were concerned that this trip would fall into the ten percent category. No dolphins made my burning face even harder to take. We tried most of the usual hangouts with no luck and the guide started to mention that ten percent thing. We had traveled about halfway around the island when we saw them. There were some happy people right about then, especially me! It wasn’t too exciting at first. We saw a few fins and tails but not much else. Then suddenly they started putting on a show, jumping out of the water, spinning like a corkscrew, flipping head over tail, fishtailing like a marlin on a hook. It was wonderful. I had the camera aimed in their general direction, hoping to catch one when it jumped. The problem was that you had no idea where that would be. My tactic was just to point and snap, hoping the dolphin would be somewhere in the frame. And it worked several times. I got five or six decent pictures, although most were a little blurry. I think I needed a much faster lens to really get crisp shots. I was happy with what I got. I think I did better than most of the others.

Because it had taken so long to find them, we couldn’t stay with the dolphins for very long. We had a long ride back to the dock. It seemed even longer to me as I held my cap over my face most of the way back. I did get some good pictures of the island’s mountain profile from the water. It’s much more dramatic from a distance and over water. We finally reached the dock and I ducked under a palm to wait for the next tender. It couldn’t get there fast enough. Back to the cabin for some cream! Hard to believe that I’ve spent two months in the sun and I was going to get sun poisoning on the last day. To use Phil Mickelson’s words, I am such an idiot!

We sail for Papeete at five!

11/19/08 Taha’a and Motu Mahana, Society Islands

2009-01-25T18:14:00.011-05:00

Five days ago, we were docked in Uturoa, on the island of Raiatea. Today, we’re two miles north of Uturoa, anchored off the island of Taha’a. These two islands are encircled by the same coral reef and share a common lagoon. So we were here, we left, made a big loop and came back. Seems like it would have been easier to see both while we were here on the first trip but I don’t make the decisions. Anyway, here we are again! There are no shore excursions for Taha’a that interest me, only a visit to a pearl farm. So I have no plans for the day. We are having a cook-out on Motu Mahana, Regent’s private island in the lagoon. Tenders will be running between the ship and the motu all day so there’s no particular rush to go ashore.

I piddled around the ship most of the morning, considering whether I even wanted to bother tendering to the motu. I finally decided that I would never be here again so why not take a look. Plus, I had to eat somewhere! So, sometime late in the morning, I jumped onto a tender. My best decision of the day! This is the prettiest little island you can imagine. It’s just a tiny little place but it’s an idyllic setting. The water is crystal clear, the sand is a soft white powder, it’s covered with palms and flowering plants and you get free food and drinks. It’s perfect! If it weren’t for those other couple of hundred people, I’d feel like Gilligan. Regent has done a great job of preparing and maintaining this island for its guests. It’s immaculately clean, there are an abundance of lounges and hammocks, canoes and kayaks are available, there are thatched huts serving as restaurant and bar, even the restrooms are in a thatched hut! What’s not to like?

We were met at the dock by the Gauguines, playing Polynesian music and singing. They’re always a terrific welcoming committee. I immediately spotted some folks I knew, who invited me to join them. But first, I had to get something cool to drink. I walked over to the bar and said “Give me something in a coconut”. They did! I have no idea what it was but I’m absolutely certain that it contained rum and fruit juices, at a minimum. The problem was that the damned thing weighed at least six or seven pounds. I’ve never had a drink that I couldn’t carry around before but this one required that you sit. So I joined the others for a while. I didn’t ask for more coconut drinks after that; glasses were just fine.

The food was also excellent. A lot of it was probably prepared on the ship but there were a lot of grilled items as well, including hamburgers and hot dogs, so I didn’t go hungry. After lunch, I relaxed on a lounge next to the lagoon, watching the people kayaking and snorkeling. You know, if I live long enough and take another tropical vacation, I just might try some of this stuff. At what age can the dog not learn new tricks? It looks like fun when other people do it. I mean, how hard can snorkeling be anyway? You put on a vest, which keeps you afloat, so you can’t drown! Maybe some day….

I hung around on the island for several hours. It really was relaxing but the sun was getting brutal. Staying in the shade didn’t help and there was no air conditioning anywhere. I reluctantly decided to take the tender back to the ship. While I was waiting on the dock, I noticed some chunks of coral lying on the ocean bottom. I took a picture just to show how clear this water actually was. I thought you might want to see it.

This had been a very good day. Tonight we leave for Moorea, the last stop before I finally head home.

11/18/08 Bora Bora, Society Islands (Day 2)

2009-01-25T13:11:00.010-05:00

I had two separate but similar excursions planned for our second day in Bora Bora. Both were short, two hours or so, and both were glass-bottom boat excursions. The difference was in what we were looking for: sharks and stingrays on the first, tropical reef inhabitants on the second.

The first excursion was scheduled for 9:00 am. I took the tender to Vaitape and was directed to where the boat was docked. There were probably eight or ten passengers on the boat, along with the captain and a mate. We left the dock and slowly made our way across the lagoon. It’s pretty amazing how clearly you can see through a thick glass panel straight to the bottom of the water. Of course, the water itself probably had a lot to do with it! Might not work on a lake in Virginia. We slowly cruised over the coral heads, which seemed just inches away from the bottom of the boat but were actually much deeper than they appeared. After a short time, we stopped and the mate began chumming the water. Almost immediately, black-tipped reef sharks started swimming up to the boat, probably a half-dozen or more. They would grab the food, go under the water, then circle back for more. They were supposed to be harmless but swimming wasn’t allowed. No problem at all! Nobody seemed particularly interested in getting into the water with them. But they were fun to watch. I had never been this close to sharks in the wild, and probably never will be again, so I was enjoying the show. After fifteen or twenty minutes, we went looking for stingrays.

We didn’t have to look long. I guess that there is a resident population of rays here so they always know where to find them. Unlike the shark encounter, swimming with the stingrays is strongly encouraged. I had actually done this once before on a cruise to Grand Cayman Island. As I’ve mentioned several times, I almost never go in the water but this is one of the rare exceptions. The experience is just too cool to pass up. Stingrays are very gentle, non-aggressive creatures who are simply interested in being fed. What happened to Steve Irwin was a fluke, possibly caused in part by his own over-confidence. But I guess I’m getting out of my area of expertise. Since I had done this before, I lagged behind to take some pictures while the others were playing with the rays. Then I hopped in for a few minutes. The water was no more than three feet deep, around waist-high, and there must have been at least a dozen or more stingrays. After I got back on the boat, I could see an occasional shark swimming around the outside of the group. I was glad I hadn’t seen that earlier. But they’re harmless, right? After swimming with the stingrays for maybe thirty minutes, we re-boarded the boat for the cruise back to the dock. It had been a short tour but a lot of fun.

After returning to the ship for some lunch and relaxation, I was ready for my afternoon excursion on the same glass-bottom boat. We again tendered to shore, boarded the boat and slowly crossed the lagoon, this time in a different direction. I guess we were heading for a different section of the reef. Before long we were seeing a bunch of tropical fish, starfish, urchins, sea cucumbers, etc. It seemed that most of the fish were butterflies or parrot fish but there were many others that I recognized from my days of having marine aquariums. Somehow they look different here than they did in my living room!

We floated over the reef, with the mate occasionally diving down to retrieve a starfish or an urchin for us to examine. Then he put on snorkel gear, grabbed a bag of food and jumped into the water. It was as if someone had rung the dinner bell. Actually, I guess someone did! Fish were everywhere at once. He backed away and they followed. He went under the boat and they followed. It was just a big massive ball of fish. As soon as he stopped feeding, they all went back to business as usual. The tourists loved it!

After the feeding, we cruised back to the dock. The tender was pulling out just as we arrived so I wandered back over to the craft hut. This time I bought a few souvenirs for the folks back home, those poor people who couldn’t be in Bora Bora with me. By the time I was finished, the tender was just about ready to leave again. I hopped aboard and went back to the ship for the second and last time today.

We sail for Taha’a this afternoon…..

11/17/08 Bora Bora, Society Islands (Day 1)

2009-01-25T10:29:00.011-05:00

Bora Bora is stunning! That’s the only description that comes to mind. I’ve read that James Michener thought that Bora Bora was the most beautiful island in the world, even though he modeled the mythical Bali Hai after Moorea (or so the story goes). Sailing into the harbor, the island certainly makes a dramatic first impression. We arrived early and I was on deck before sunrise. I had been told by several people not to miss the sail-in and I decided to heed their advice. This would be my only chance to see what they were so excited about and I didn’t plan to miss it.

I was impressed with Bora Bora long before we actually approached the harbor. It has a very distinctive profile, dominated by Mount Otemanu and Mount Pahia, two volcanic peaks that rise from the center of the island. The top of Mount Pahia is actually twin-peaked and shaped somewhat like a saddle, very unusual and striking. We sailed through the protective coral reef and into the most incredible blue lagoon you can possibly imagine. The backdrop of the mountains behind the multi-colored blues gave it an almost surreal quality. Later in the day, I would discover just how many shades of blue there were surrounding Bora Bora. We eased our way across the lagoon and anchored just offshore from Vaitape, the island’s main village. We would be here for two days and I had three excursions scheduled, one this morning and two tomorrow.

Today’s excursion is another off-road four-wheel drive safari. I have no idea why I keep doing these except that the scenery is usually fantastic. Today would turn out to be no different. I took the tender to Vaitape and was met by our driver, who said to call him “George”. Unlike with “Joe”, we asked “George” to give us his real name, which turned out to be “Rapa”. We called him by his given name for the rest of the trip. We started out on paved road around the shoreline of the lagoon but that didn’t last for long. After just a mile or two, we turned onto a dirt road and headed straight up a mountain. There were two vehicles traveling together, by the way. That has no significance to the story but it just occurred to me for some reason. Climbing this mountain wasn’t scary at all compared with the ones in New Zealand. It was steep and rough but there were no drop-offs on the sides of the road. We were heading for the gun emplacements overlooking the harbor entrance. During World War II, the United States had a supply base on Bora Bora and installed guns to protect the harbor from a possible Japanese invasion. I believe there were a total of fourteen but I’m not certain. Obviously, they had to be positioned high above the harbor so getting there was not easy. But what a view! We were looking straight down on the harbor with the Paul Gauguin and the Tahitian Princess anchored side by side. It was a gorgeous, postcard-type picture.

We stayed there for a little bit and started back down the mountain. Going down may be scarier than going up, since you can actually see just how steep it is, if that makes any sense. Anyway, we got back to the paved road and continued around the island. Our next off-road portion took us to another one of those souvenir stops, this one perched on the side of a mountain. The main products here were hand-painted pareos, beautiful but totally worthless to me. But again, we were served fresh fruit! My personal favorite was the pineapple. It’s amazing how sweet fresh-cut pineapple tastes. They also served mango, guava and several other fruits that I just can’t remember. I must be getting senile! No comments, please. My favorite moment came when we ran out of one of the fruits and the guy walked out into his backyard and simply picked some more. Maybe folks in California or Florida can do that but somehow it seems cooler when it happens in Bora Bora. We looked around for a bit, some people actually purchased some things and we headed back down the mountain again. These roads up the mountains are always one-way, in case you haven’t guessed.

Back on the paved road, we headed for what Rapa said was the most beautiful spot on the island. It was not fun getting there but it was sure worth the ride. We were at an overlook above the most incredible multi-hued blue lagoon I can imagine. There were so many shades of blue that it was impossible to count them all. And there were dozens of little motus jutting from the water. It was one of the prettiest views of the entire two-month trip. Like I said a couple of times, I had seen enough coastlines to last a lifetime but this was special! We all took turns having our pictures taken with this view as a backdrop then just stood for a while admiring the view. We made one more stop at another overlook later in the day. Ordinarily, it would have been impressive but it just couldn’t quite measure up to this one.

That was the last off-road trip. The rest of the excursion was spent driving on paved road. By the time we returned to the dock, we had driven completely around the island. Rapa pointed out the sights as we went along but we didn’t make any more stops. We did pull off the road for just a minute at Bloody Mary’s, world-famous restaurant and bar. They have a reputation for being “touristy”, with a wall of all the celebrities who have eaten there etc, but the food is supposed to be excellent. Maybe I should have come back for dinner but I didn’t do it. Instead, we arrived at the dock and I looked around town for a while, browsed through the local craft market and caught the tender back to the ship for a nice, relaxing nap. Getting up before the sun is tiring….

11/15/08 thru 11/16/08 Rangiroa, Tuamotu Islands

2009-01-24T20:52:00.006-05:00

This post will also be brief, for reasons which will become clear in just a minute. Rangiroa is one of the largest atolls in the South Pacific, with a lagoon so large that it’s hard to see from one side to the other. According to Dictionary.com, an atoll is defined as “a ring-shaped coral reef or a string of closely spaced small coral islands, enclosing or nearly enclosing a shallow lagoon”. So, there ‘ya go! Very little land, whole lot of water. Not my kind of place.

We arrived around noon and made our way through the passage into the lagoon. Rangiroa is famous for scuba diving sites but not much else. There are two tiny villages on the atoll, next to the two main passages through the coral reef. If you’re a diver, this is a great stop. Supposedly, there are manta rays, barracuda, several species of shark and tons of other marine life, including dolphins and sea turtles. If you’re not a diver, you’re bored silly, trying to figure out what to do with yourself for two days! As you may have guessed, there are no non-water-related shore excursions available here.

I stayed on the ship for the full two days. See, I told you this would be brief!

11/14/08 Raiatea, Society Islands

2009-01-24T17:33:00.008-05:00

Raiatea was our second stop after leaving Papeete. Quite honestly, all these islands are starting to run together and I’m just about out of different things to say about them. I also had booked another island drive shore excursion which would most likely mimic all the island drives that had preceded it. So this post will likely be brief!

We docked, actually docked, in Uturoa around mid-morning. It would be the only port with a dock during the entire cruise. Everywhere else would require tenders. I went ashore for my tour and was met by our guide, a young woman named Summer, from San Diego! I came all this way to be shown around Raiatea by a woman from San Diego. She actually had come here on vacation some years ago, met an islander, fell in love, came back, got married and now has several kids. And she guides tours! Small world….

This turned out to be your standard sightseeing tour with nothing remarkable to report. Our first stop was along the side of the road for some pretty views looking out over the water. Then to yet another marae (those things are everywhere) where we got the standard lecture about the sacred nature of the site. In other words, we were not supposed to walk around on the stones. After leaving the marae, we drove quite a while with no stops, just sightseeing from the bus. But I did enjoy the next stop, at the home of an island family, for fresh fruits and a brief look around. As usual, the primary purpose of the visit was selling souvenirs and the house was full of shell necklaces, wood carvings, pareos, etc. I didn’t buy anything but the fruits and juices were a welcome treat. That’s something I loved about all the islands I visited on this trip. It’s amazing just how much better fruit tastes when it’s fresh off the tree or bush or vine. And this was served the island way, using a banana leaf as a plate. It’s surprising how sturdy a banana leaf actually is. You just hold them in your palm and they form a natural bowl. Kinda neat!

After leaving the home, we headed up over the mountains. We had traveled along the coast on the way out but were going to go back through the crater of the volcano. We climbed the mountain and, when we reached the top, stopped for a view over the crater valley. It was gorgeous, lush, green, scenic and exactly like a hundred other valleys I had seen during the past couple of months. I took a couple of obligatory pictures, just to prove I had been there, and re-boarded the bus. Can you tell that I’m ready to go home?

We drove through the valley for a while and stopped at what was described as a botanical garden. I believe it was actually an area where lots of plants, trees and flowers grew naturally in abundance. We started down a muddy path, steeply downhill, with lots of rocks and roots. This was certainly not a maintained garden of any kind, although there was lots of pretty foliage. We walked a long way down the path and it occurred to me that we were going to have to walk back up from wherever we stopped. Since I had seen all this before, I decided to make a leisurely walk back on my own. So I left the group and went back up the hill. That turned out to be the best move I made all day. I was standing at the road, next to the bus, when the skies opened up with the most intense tropical downpour I’ve ever seen. It was the type of storm they always show on “Survivor” episodes. The wind was blowing the rain sideways when the others started straggling up the path a few at a time. They were literally soaked to the skin. I was so proud of me…..

By the time we got back to town, the rain had stopped. There were quite a few shops very close to the dock so I looked around for a few minutes. I didn’t see anything that I couldn’t live without so I made my way back onto the ship. I was ready to move on to the next island!

11/13/08 Huahine, Society Islands

2009-01-24T11:33:00.009-05:00

We left Papeete at 2:00 am and, after a pretty choppy ride, arrived at Huahine in the morning. I was scheduled for a Jeep Safari in the afternoon. We were anchored in Maroe Bay, I think, but some of the details on this part of the trip aren’t as sharp as they were on the first cruise. Like I’ve said, I was tired and distracted. We took the tender ashore and were met by our guide, who told us to call him “Joe”. I never did find out his real name but I know it wasn’t “Joe”. There were six of us in the back of the jeep, sitting on side-facing seats, with open sides and a canvas canopy top. We loaded up and headed down the road. It was a little bumpy but the seats were padded. Huahine consists of two separate islands, Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti, joined by a bridge and circled by a large coral reef. Like all of the islands, there is one road that essentially circles the islands winding along the coastline for about twenty miles. Almost immediately after leaving the dock, we crossed the bridge and had a good view of the ship anchored in the bay, so we stopped for photos. We were off again in just a few minutes. One of the first things I noticed was the foliage. Just as with every island throughout this trip, there was a wide variety of trees, shrubs, fruits, flowers, ferns, etc. There were bananas, papaya, mangos, breadfruit, pineapple, etc. Then there was noni, which I hadn’t seen until we got here. It only grows in the French Polynesian islands and is reputed to have almost mystical properties, including curing cancer. It is taken in liquid form but smells so bad that I couldn’t imagine anyone actually using it. Bottom line: there’s a lot of vegetation here!

After a little more driving, we pulled off the road more or less in the middle of nowhere. We all hopped out and crossed the road to the bank of a creek. Joe announced that this was the home of the fresh-water blue-eyed eels! Apparently, these eels are sacred to some of the residents. Joe must not have belonged to that particular sect since he was talking about feeding them some “sacred” mackerel from the “sacred” can bought at the “sacred” supermarket. Not a lot of reverence here! These eels are big, probably four to five feet long. They’re also very fat, likely from being fed all that “sacred” mackerel. I couldn’t actually see their eye color from the bank so I’ll just take Joe’s word for it.

A little farther along, we stopped to observe some unusual rock formations in the water. These were like walls, constructed in a long arrow shape, with a deeper pool at the pointed end. Joe explained that they were fish traps, designed so that the fish swim through the rocks and get trapped in the deeper water when the tide goes out. I guess it’s the same concept used in constructing crab traps. They were designed centuries ago, maybe millennia ago, so I guess those old Polynesians were pretty sharp! They’re still used today. We drove a little more, then took a detour over to the beach. It was another beautiful stretch of coastline but, quite honestly, I’ve seen so many coastlines that I’m not so easily impressed anymore. Still, I always enjoy the view!

The next stop was a vanilla farm. On the way there, we stopped several times to see various things: a coconut drying operation, mounds and trellises for growing yams, kapok used for pillows and floatation devices, etc. It was interesting but a little more detail than I really wanted. The vanilla story was fascinating although I really can’t remember all the steps in the process. What I do remember is that it takes years from planting to harvest and is a very labor-intensive process, sometimes including hand-pollination. Tahitian vanilla is very expensive and now I can understand why.

We made one more stop at a marae on the way back to the dock. I’ve seen maraes on virtually every island we’ve visited so this one didn’t hold much fascination for me. The scenery in the area was pretty, however, so I took a few pictures while we were stopped. Then we made our way back to the dock and the ship. It had been an interesting tour, although a little long, and a good overview of Huahine.

11/12/08 Embarkation Day, Paul Gauguin

2009-01-23T19:18:00.004-05:00

After five relaxing but boring days at the Intercontinental, I was ready to get on with the next cruise, ten nights on the Paul Gauguin. I suppose that it was due to airline arrivals late in the evening but the schedule for this cruise was different from any I had ever taken. Normally, boarding begins in late morning and the ship sails around 5:00 pm. Today, I wasn’t scheduled for pick-up until 3:30 pm. The bus showed up right on time and I was surprised at the number of people who boarded from the Intercontinental. I hadn’t realized that so many cruise passengers had been staying there. We each claimed our own luggage, delivered it to the separate truck which was to take it to the ship, and climbed onto the bus. It was almost completely full and we headed straight for the cruise terminal. It would be a very slow ride.

I mentioned that I didn’t see any of the city on the trip from the airport to the hotel. I wish we had kept it that way. This time we went straight through the middle of Papeete and it really looked like one of those cities that you see in third-world countries on the Discovery channel. It was dirty, graffiti covered everything, the houses were dilapidated, stray dogs were running loose. It was just not a nice place. And the traffic was atrocious! We inched along for what seemed like miles and, particularly since we were on a big bus, there was nowhere to go. The little cars were ducking down alleys and side streets but we couldn’t do that. Eventually, we got to the source of the problem. There was either a parade or a protest in a town-square type area. I never learned what was going on there but it sure caused some major traffic problems. As I remember, it was about 5:00 pm when we arrived at the dock, so the transfer took about an hour and a half. We passed through a security gate, made the trip up the gangway and boarded the ship. Check-in went pretty quickly and smoothly. I was in my cabin within just a few minutes. The luggage was delivered immediately and I met my cabin stewardess for the trip. Her name was Caroline and she seemed like a very sweet young lady. However, as I would learn very quickly, she wasn’t the most efficient cabin attendant. But more on that later!

The first thing I do on any cruise, usually even before unpacking, is to walk around the ship just to get my bearings. So I left the luggage on the bed and headed out for a quick tour. The Paul Gauguin is smaller than most cruise ships so it’s pretty easy to get around. My cabin was on deck seven and all the main public rooms are concentrated between decks five and eight. I never had to travel more than a couple of decks, much better than on the larger ships. After browsing around the ship for a bit, I ended up on deck eight next to the pool. I ordered a bloody mary and sat down. I was immediately invited to join a group of folks who, I could tell fairly quickly, had been hanging around the bar for a while. It was nice to start making some more new friends. It was almost sunset and very pleasant on deck, so I stayed for an hour or so. Then I went back to my cabin to unpack and dress for dinner. While I was unpacking, Caroline came in and asked if I wanted my bed turned down. I had my bags spread open on the bed so I told her not to worry about it. I never got turn-down service for the rest of the trip!

Dinner was pretty good and I had some interesting table-mates. But they seemed more interested in me than anything else. Everyone I met seemed fascinated that I was doing a two month South Pacific tour. I became somewhat of a conversation topic, I think. One guy brought his wife over and started the conversation with “This is the guy I told you about”. I’ve never been a rock star before (and probably wasn’t then but it felt that way). After dinner, a group gathered around the pool while another group gathered on the rear deck outside the bar. I tried to meet as many people as possible and actually did a pretty good job of it. It seems that it’s easier meeting people on a smaller ship since you see them much more frequently in the more confined space. It was a pretty good start to the cruise. Later that evening, another big group of passengers came in on a late flight and embarked the ship. We were scheduled to sail at 2:00 am for our first port, Huahine.

Before I get to Huahine, let me say a few things about the Paul Gauguin. My travel agent, Beverly Bell, will be disappointed to hear some of my thoughts because she loves the ship. In fact, she had wanted me to join one of her groups for quite some time. Regent Seven Seas is considered an “up-scale luxury” cruise line and the Paul Gauguin is rated as a five or six-star ship. Perhaps it’s just personal taste but, after sailing on her, I’m confused as to what makes for a luxury vessel. I just didn’t see anything special about the ship itself. She’s small at just over five hundred feet as compared to the Volendam’s seven hundred eighty but I don’t know how that equates to luxury. Cabins aren’t especially large or luxurious, at least mine wasn’t. In fact, it was smaller than my non-balcony cabin on the Volendam, had very little closet space and there wasn’t a single drawer anywhere in sight. Underwear, socks, etc. had to be folded and placed on small shelves in the one closet in the cabin. The ship’s appointments weren’t anything special. The carpets and drapes were worn and probably needed replacing. I believe that she went into dry dock shortly after our cruise so maybe some of these things were addressed but I don’t know. The Grand Salon reminded me, more than anything else, of a high school auditorium, but with a bar and waiters, of course. The gift shop was small and sold a very limited number of items. If you didn’t want black pearls or Paul Gauguin logo’d merchandise, you most likely wouldn’t find it. The casino was tiny, with two tables and a few slot machines. As I said, maybe it’s just personal taste, but I didn’t think it was special. Sorry, Beverly!

To give credit where credit is due, however, there were some bright spots. For the most part, the crew did an outstanding job, especially the bar and wait staff. They were always there, ready to get anything you needed. In fact, in a couple of cases they were too efficient, taking my drink when I went to get a snack. But they were always happy to get me a fresh one so no harm done! The Gauguines, the Polynesian hostesses, were great. They were both entertaining and informative. They added a special touch to the trip. The Maitre d‘ in the main dining room stopped me after a few days to ask whether I didn’t like the food. I was getting tired of cruise ship food and had been ordering sandwiches and burgers from room service. I couldn’t believe that he had noticed! I ate in his dining room several times after that. I figured that, if he cared that much, it was the least I could do. There were a couple of negatives in the crew. Like I said, Caroline wasn’t up to par. One of the women at the Shore Excursion Desk had an attitude, as did the girl at the Front Desk. I’m getting tired of typing so I won’t go into detail about those experiences. But in general, the crew was great.

It may seem, from these comments, that I wouldn’t recommend a Society Islands cruise. That’s totally wrong! The stars of this cruise are the islands themselves, regardless what ship you’re on. I know that I haven’t seen all of them but this may be the most beautiful island group on the planet. Bora Bora is stunning and Moorea has been called the most beautiful island in the world. I think I agree with that assessment. Especially if you enjoy water sports, beaches, sunbathing, anything water-related, you should come to French Polynesia at least once. Or even if you don’t! It’s still worth the trip…..

In fact, let me suggest an alternative plan. I visited seven islands on this cruise and they’re all beautiful in their own right. But the others pale when compared to Bora Bora and Moorea. If you love cruising, by all means do a cruise. But, if you’re open to suggestion, here’s another thought: book a four or five night stay at a resort on each of those islands. There are a bunch of package deals offered, many including airfare from Los Angeles. Call your travel agent or do a Google search. A good place to start would be Air Tahiti Nui’s website. There are several inclusive vacation packages offered. You won’t regret making the trip.

11/7/08 thru 11/11/08 Intercontinental Hotel, Papeete, Tahiti

2009-01-23T12:13:00.014-05:00

Let me preface the rest of this blog with a few remarks, just to put things into perspective. This experience was literally going to be one of those proverbial “trip of a lifetime” adventures, although I really hope that there will be more of them in the future. As I’ve said in previous posts, New Zealand was the most anticipated part of the trip but I had a high level of enthusiasm for the entire thing. However, by the time the first cruise ended in Sydney, my enthusiasm had started to wane somewhat. As I’ve explained, I was tired, both mentally and physically, having been on the go constantly for at least six weeks. Not to mention all the work that preceded the actual trip itself. I was beginning to miss my friends, my home and especially my little girl, Sarah. She’s a dog, by the way. I also wasn’t looking forward to all the travel that was ahead to get from Australia all the way back to Virginia. And, even though it was a five star resort, I wasn’t enthused about spending five days alone in a hotel, no matter where it was located. As much as I wanted to see these islands, I was ready to do it quickly and get it behind me so I could go home. In retrospect, I probably would have enjoyed French Polynesia much more if it had been a separate destination on a future trip rather than an add-on to this one. So that was my mind-set when I reached Papeete.

Okay, where was I? Oh right, I went to bed late last night, the 7th and fell asleep immediately. I woke up pretty early Saturday morning, feeling much more refreshed than when I went to bed. If you know me at all, you can guess what my first priority would be in the morning. I looked around for a coffee pot! Fortunately, there was one in the armoire, along with all the fixin’s. Enough coffee, sugar and creamer for four cups, regular and decaf. I brewed a cup of high-test and went out on the balcony for my first look at my temporary home. I have to admit to being impressed! Especially since I had booked just a garden view room, at the low end of the price range. Of course, everything is relative. My room was more than three hundred dollars per night, not cheap by any measure. Just not up there with the ocean view and overwater bungalows. Since I was using the hotel as simply a waiting area, it didn’t make any kind of sense to spend the extra money to upgrade. After all, I’ve had ocean views since I left Long Beach! Anyhow, I walked outside, looked around and immediately went in to get my camera. The view was gorgeous. Palm trees, pretty flowers, green foliage, overlooking a lagoon with folks kayaking and paddling outrigger canoes. It was great! Across the lagoon, planes were landing at Faa’a airport and, off in the distance, I could see ships coming into the port. All in all, not too shabby. I sat on the balcony for an hour or two (or maybe until the coffee ran out, I can’t remember) then decided to shower and wander out for a look around the resort.

First stop, the lobby. Wow! Coolest lobby I’ve ever seen. It was completely open, floor to roof, with wooden columns. The floor looked like marble (but probably wasn’t) and was polished to within an inch of its life. It was well decorated, with some very comfortable sofa and chair groupings, where I would spend a lot of time during the next few days. The open design allowed the breeze to blow through, making it not seem nearly as hot as the temperature and humidity would indicate. But the real grabber was the view. My first impression was that this may have been the most beautiful view I had ever seen. If there’s a heaven, this might well be it! First, there’s the pool and lagoon, then a coral reef, twelve miles of ocean called the Sea of the Moon, another reef and finally the island of Moorea with its jagged mountains dominated by Mount Mouaroa, commonly known as the “Shark’s Tooth”, in the center. It was an amazing sight. I just stood and admired that view for a few minutes. It was really mesmerizing. Little did I know that it would get even better when the sun set!

I’m not much of a breakfast person but I decided to have coffee and danish before the restaurant quit serving breakfast. The restaurant is located two levels below the lobby, adjacent to the pool. It’s also open and has the same views as the lobby so it’s a pretty pleasant place to sit and have a meal. Until you get the check! Sticker shock, big time! The “Express” breakfast, consisting of coffee, juice and pastry, was about sixteen dollars. My immediate reaction was shock but I reminded myself that I had already spent a small fortune on this trip. So I stopped worrying about the little things. Somewhat….

After breakfast, I just strolled the grounds and took some pictures. It’s a pretty large resort and it’s spread out over a lot of land, with walkways connecting all the various pieces. Everywhere you look, you see a post card view. The pool is an amazing color of blue and is divided into several different sections of various depths. The lagoon is fed by the ocean and contains an array of tropical fish. Guests are invited to feeding sessions twice per day. There are several sections of small white-sand beach, complete with lounges and hammocks. There is a cabana bar located beside the pool area and a souvenir hut between the restaurant and pool. Bridges cross the lagoon and inlet streams. There are several somewhat isolated sections of overwater bungalows. And palms, shrubs and flowering plants everywhere! It was just a gorgeous setting. I took fifty pictures without ever leaving the grounds. I suppose if you have to kill time somewhere, this isn’t the worst place to do it. Some of my enthusiasm was starting to return, just a little bit.

Way back when I was planning the trip, I figured that having five days to relax after the first cruise would be a good thing. I thought that I could take an excursion around the island, maybe take the ferry over to Moorea to do a little sightseeing. And I could have done those things but I never did! Instead, I found myself just sitting around the lobby, wandering the grounds, sitting on the balcony, taking naps or doing something equally non-productive. It was strange: I was bored after a day or so but I couldn’t make myself do anything about it. It was just much easier to do nothing! I did buy a couple of tee shirts in the gift shop at thirty-five bucks each and I got a phone card and called some friends. That was nice after so long without hearing a familiar voice. Too bad I couldn’t talk with my dog! I also met some nice people while I was hanging out in the lobby. Folks are friendly when they’re on a nice vacation, it seems.

That was pretty much the way each day was spent so I won’t try to recount each of the five days. Oh, one thing I was going to mention: a cheeseburger and coke cost thirty dollars. Tipping isn’t expected, however. The best part of each day was late afternoon. Just before sunset, guests would begin to gather in the lobby and on the beach to watch and photograph the sunset over Moorea. It was always magnificent, sometimes spectacular and never bad! The photo that I chose for the main picture on this blog was taken from the lobby of the hotel. I’ve got thousands of photos from this trip but none that I like better. But even the picture doesn’t give you the true feeling of being there, seeing it in person.

11/8/08 Sydney to Papeete, Tahiti

2009-01-21T17:47:00.005-05:00

Back to the Future! No, wait a second, that’s not right. Forward to the Past! That’s more like it. It’s déjà vu all over again. Groundhog day squared! Whatever….

It’s November 8th in Sydney. I’m going to be traveling all day today and, when I finally check into my hotel in Papeete, it will be yesterday November 7th. But we’ll get there in a few minutes.

I left an early wake-up call so that I’d be in the lobby on time for my airport transfer. As usual, I didn’t need it. I was awake before the call came, bushy-tailed but not very bright-eyed. There’s only one direct flight each week between Sydney and Papeete and I wasn’t taking any chances. I was actually booked on a one-way flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on Air Tahiti Nui, which allows up to a thirty day stop-over in Tahiti, at lower cost than two individual segments. I was in the lobby even before the restaurant opened but they already had coffee, so I flagged down the hostess. She told me to pick a table and brought me a cup. I asked about the possibility of getting a danish or a croissant or something similar. In just a few minutes, she came back with a plate full of assorted breakfast pastries and jams. I don’t typically eat breakfast but I had a long day ahead. After I finished, I asked for the check. She smiled and said not to worry about it! I wish I had ordered french toast and bacon!

Eventually the HAL rep arrived, gave me my taxi voucher and sent me to the concierge, who hailed a taxi. The driver seemed to have no problem with the voucher thing, so we loaded the bags and took off for the airport. It took about thirty minutes or so to get there. I filled in the amount, signed the voucher and handed it to the driver. It’s all good, I guess. I got my bags and walked into the terminal. This place was huge! There was row upon row of ticket counters, all with ridiculous lines of people trying to check in for their flights. The most rows belonged to Qantas, as you would expect at the Sydney airport. I found Air Tahiti Nui and got into the line reserved for the cheap seats, which snaked back and forth for a long way. Of course, the business class and first class lines were virtually empty. Didn’t matter to them, they didn’t help the coach folks. They were pretty efficient, though. The line moved pretty well and, before too long, I was checked in and given a boarding pass.

I had over two hours before flight time so I looked around the terminal for awhile. I had about thirty Australian dollars left so I looked for something to buy. Most of the souvenirs were pretty much junk so I ended up with a twenty dollar mouse pad. Then I bought two candy bars with the rest of the money. Chocolate is always a good thing to have on hand, in my opinion. Eventually, I went through security and made my way to the boarding area. I was committed now! It was pretty boring except for one thing: I couldn’t understand a thing that was being announced over the P.A. system. Aussies speak English, of course. But they speak it differently than you and I speak it. They speak quickly and with a funny kind of accent. And in a big open area, over a P.A. system, with a hundred people talking around you, it’s really hard to hear. I tried for a little while, then just gave up. I figured that, as long as the plane was still there, I was okay. As soon as people started getting up and walking toward the gate, I went with them. It all worked out just fine!

There was nothing special about the flight, other than its length. I’ve been on longer flights than this but not for a very long time. At least I didn’t have the seventeen hour flight back to Los Angeles. Eight hours was more than enough for now. I must say that Air Tahiti Nui is a very good airline by today’s standards. Each passenger is given a tropical flower upon boarding, a nice touch. The planes are clean and colorfully decorated, the flight attendants are efficient, professional and, well, just nice! Each seat back contains a screen for watching movies, tracking flight progress, playing games, etc. The meals were nothing special but edible, better than the peanuts or crackers I received on my Delta coast-to-coast.

Here comes the good part. After about eight hours, we arrive in Papeete. It’s yesterday, November 7th, 2008! I already spent the seventh in Sydney, disembarking and touring. I spent the night in a hotel in Sydney. I spent all day today traveling. And it’s the seventh again! Tomorrow morning, I’ll wake up and have the chance to live the eighth one more time. At least this time I’ll spend it in a five-star resort rather than in an airport. Good on ‘ya, Norm!

I have no idea why this date line thing fascinates me so much. It just does! To continue, we arrive in Papeete and de-plane way out at the end of the tarmac. There are no jetways here; you come down the steps and walk a block or so to the terminal. It’s late, about 9:30 pm, plus it’s hot and muggy. We wait around the carousel for our baggage for a long time and head for the immigration officials. All two of them! They seemed a bit bored with the whole thing and it was a little slow, but we finally got through. Right outside the front door, I found my hotel transportation and was on the road in a matter of just minutes. The Intercontinental Hotel is close to the airport, plus it was dark, so I didn’t really see anything on the way. I was the first person to be dropped off and was met by the coolest bellman I’ve ever seen, covered in tattoos and wearing a lava-lava, or something like it. I went to the front desk where my reservation was all confirmed, got my room key and was directed to my room. The bags were there before I was. It had been a very long day. I walked out on the balcony and took a quick look around, then fell into bed. I could sightsee tomorrow!

Besides, I had gained another day. I had plenty of time…..

11/7/08 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

2009-01-21T11:23:00.017-05:00

Sydney! What a cool place. It’s hard to believe that I’m actually in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Harbor Bridge (a.k.a. the “Coat Hanger”), the Opera House, the Rocks, Darling Harbour, Bondi Beach. I’ve seen all this stuff on television for years but never really thought I’d be seeing it in person. Yet, six weeks after leaving Los Angeles, here I am! How great is this?

I had heard that the sail-in to Sydney was something not to be missed. So I got a very early wake-up call, was on deck before sunrise and still missed it! We were easing into the dock well before 6:00 am and were tied up just a few minutes later. Fortunately, we had drawn a fabulous docking location, right between the opera house and the bridge. We were no more than a seven iron from either landmark. There couldn’t have been a better photo op if we had scripted it ourselves. Bill, Linda and Greg were there as well and we took turns snapping pictures of everyone in front of the Sydney icons. As luck would have it, the sunrise was just behind the opera house. I must have taken a dozen pictures of it, with everything from just a glow to full sunshine. Same for the bridge but without the backdrop of the sunrise. If we had to end the cruise here, we couldn’t have asked for a better finish.

Unfortunately, we were ending the cruise here and, before too long, they began calling disembarkation numbers and colors. People with early flights would go first, then later flights, etc. Since I had no flight scheduled until the next day, I knew that I would probably be one of the last groups to be called. And that’s exactly the way it happened. Bill and Linda were among the first to go since they had a fairly early flight to Los Angeles, I think. They were spending a day or two with the kids before going home to Oregon. I gave Linda a hug, shook hands with Bill and they were gone. Tom and Tess also left, with a flight to Vancouver, British Columbia. They live on Vancouver Island so they would be almost home once they arrived. Of course, it was a seventeen hour trip. At least, by stopping in Tahiti, I was breaking up that long flight back. Greg was doing a five-day post-cruise tour to Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and Cairns where he would snorkel the Great Barrier Reef. He was flying out of Sydney today so he also left the ship. Suddenly, I looked around and found that I was the only one left on the Lido Deck, aft. Like I said, starting all over again….

Finally, they called my color and number. I picked up my tote and headed for the gangway. I had booked a one-night hotel package through Holland America at the SwissOtel, right in the heart of downtown Sydney. It was supposed to be a very nice hotel, close to many of the tourist attractions and within walking distance of the harbor. The package included transfers to the hotel and airport, as well as a city tour prior to the hotel drop-off. Anyway, I made my way to the gangway, scanned off the ship for the last time and followed the signs toward the luggage claim area. The terminal was a zoo, even more so than usual at the end of a cruise. Maybe it was the strict customs regulations I mentioned earlier but, whatever the reason, things were moving very slowly. I found the area where my bags were supposed to be. What I didn’t find were my bags. Porters were running in and out of the terminal, unloading bags two at a time from the dolly. Eventually, I spotted one of mine and took it directly from the porter, not wanting it to get away again. A few minutes later, the second one appeared so I grabbed it and joined the line for customs and immigration. For those who haven’t taken a cruise, I’ll explain what usually happens prior to disembarkation. A couple of days before arrival, each passenger must complete the customs and immigration forms for the arrival country. Immigration agents come aboard the ship and meet with each passenger to verify the information, check passports, etc. When I completed my customs declaration, I said that I had nothing to declare. But, when I started packing, I found a cheap shell necklace that they were giving as souvenirs when I visited Hilo Hatties in Maui. I had stuck it in the drawer and forgotten about it. I started to just toss it but decided to put it around my neck instead. As I said earlier, Australia and New Zealand are very strict on stuff like this. But either they’d confiscate it or let it go. Either way would be okay with me. So, when I got to customs, I handed the agent my declaration form and pointed out the shells around my neck. She looked at them, let it go and actually thanked me for my honesty! I grabbed my bags and went out the door. Welcome to Sydney!

Exiting the cruise terminal, I found the bus which would take me on the city tour. It was double-decker with a flight of stairs leading to the upper section. I hadn’t seen a bus like it before. We pulled away from the terminal and into the usual big-city traffic jam. But once we left the dock area, it moved pretty smoothly and we made our way around the city without much problem. In general, it was pretty much the same as any other city tour but I was impressed with just how pretty Sydney was. There seemed to be lots of open spaces for such a large, modern city. There were gardens, parks, monuments. The buildings were clean, modern and scenic. We stopped at a park across the harbor where we could get some nice pictures with both the bridge and opera house in the same scene. Everyone took advantage and got photos of themselves with the icons in the background. It was a very comprehensive tour, covering all the major attractions of the city, plus some lesser known ones. I now know where Russell Crowe lives and where Nicole Kidman sends her daughter to pre-school! Who knows whether that might come in handy some day. By the way, it apparently caused quite a commotion on those days when Tom Cruise came to pick up his daughter from school. Just thought you might want to know that! The final stop on the tour was at Bondi Beach, site of several events during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. It’s a very pretty beach but not quite as wide as I had thought. I heard that it’s a topless beach but I must have come on the wrong day because everyone seemed to be pretty well covered! We spent about a half-hour here, taking pictures and looking around, then we left for the drive to the hotel.

We were dropped off at the hotel around mid-afternoon. The Holland America representatives were waiting for us with welcome packages containing room keys, city maps, tourist info, etc. Well, everybody but me! There didn’t seem to be an envelope with my name on it. Terrific! I’m on the other side of the world and they’ve lost my reservation. Fortunately, I was confirmed in the hotel computer so there was no harm done. Eventually, my package was located but, by then, I didn’t need it. However, there was still one thing that concerned me. There was a chalk board with each passenger’s name and airport departure time listed. Everybody except me, again. I was the only one going to Tahiti, naturally, and no arrangements had been made for my airport transfer. Others were grouped by departure flight and appropriate-sized vehicles had been scheduled to arrive at the hotel by a specified time. When I asked about it, the HAL reps seemed a little perplexed and confused. After making a few phone calls, they told me that I would be given a voucher and sent by taxi to the airport. The theory was that I would write in the amount of the fare, sign the voucher and hand it to the driver, who would later get his money from the local operator. Good in theory but it didn’t give me a very warm, fuzzy feeling. Anyway, I was told to be in the lobby at a certain time the next morning and everything would be fine. I’m not overjoyed about this set-up but what can you do?

I finally made it to my room about an hour after arriving at the hotel. It was a nice room overlooking the city, on one of the upper floors. The only problem was that it was a non-smoking room and I’m a smoker. I was originally supposed to be assigned a smoking room but, like I explained, things were a bit confused at check-in. The desk clerk told me that it would be okay to smoke on the balcony and I was satisfied with that resolution. Until I actually went out on the balcony! As I said, I was on one of the upper floors and the balcony was maybe three hundred feet above the city. I’m not a big fan of heights and I felt like I was standing on the ledge of the building. Remember those mountain excursions in New Zealand? This was worse! I didn’t smoke very much that night….

By now, it was late afternoon. My original plan was to wander down to the harbor and see the sights, maybe take the ferry around the harbor. But with all the hassle of disembarkation and hotel check-in, plus the fact that we had already taken a pretty comprehensive city tour, I was really tired. So I changed my plan. I decided to stay in the area around the hotel and just relax for the rest of the day. Tomorrow was going to be another hassle day anyway so it was just as well. I wandered around a little, found a coffee shop with an al fresco sitting area, ordered a long black and watched the people for a while. Plus I could smoke at ground level! On the way back to the hotel, I ran across a food court with all the various fast food choices I’ve come to know and love. After six weeks eating cruise ship food, I was absolutely ready for that. I walked up to the Subway counter, ordered a foot-long tuna sub and went back to the room. It was the best meal in a long time!

Tomorrow would be a long, tiring day….

11/6/08 At Sea

2009-01-20T20:20:00.000-05:00

One last sea day before we disembark in Sydney. I’m tired! It’s been a fabulous experience and one that most people, including me, would remember for a lifetime. And I’m sure that I will do just that. The problem is that it’s still not finished for me. I have more than two weeks to go in this adventure. In a couple of days, I’ll board a flight to Papeete, Tahiti where I’ll spend a few days until my ten-night cruise on the Paul Gauguin. I can hear all the people reading this saying “Poor baby! Forced to spend a couple of weeks in French Polynesia! What a shame!”. I felt the same way when I was planning this trip. I wanted to see all of these places and it seemed perfectly logical to do it all while I was “in the neighborhood”, so to speak. But after six weeks away from my home, my friends, my dog and everything familiar to me, I missed all those things. Except for business travel, I had never been gone for more than a couple of weeks. When I was working, there was never enough vacation time to do a trip like this one. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to do it, I think that I’ll limit myself to shorter trips in the future. Maybe three or four weeks will be just about right. At any rate, I find myself wishing that I was boarding a flight to Virginia rather than Tahiti. I know you don’t understand….

If you’ve ever traveled alone, maybe you will understand this. I will be starting out alone again once we get to Sydney. Everyone will be scattering in all different directions when we disembark. All of the new friends I’ve made, the ones that I’ve grown so comfortable with during the past six weeks or so, will be gone. I’ll meet new people once we board the Paul Gauguin, of course. But I really hate to say goodbye to all these folks. Friends that you make while on a cruise tend to be good ones. Maybe it’s the circumstances; everybody having a great time, doing interesting things together. Whatever it is, I always hate it when a cruise ends.

Okay, enough of that! I am going to Tahiti, for better or worse, which brings up that always fun, last sea day activity – packing. Because I am continuing on my trip, packing will be a little harder than usual. Ordinarily, the only concern is making certain that everything fits into the suitcase. If it gets wrinkled, who cares? You’re going home anyway. Not this time! Remember way back on day one, I said that I had packed everything I owned? Well, now I have to pack it again and some of it can’t get wrinkled. So I decided to lay both suitcase and garment bag on the bed. The plan was to pack all the things I would need in Tahiti in the garment bag, if possible. Things that I absolutely wouldn’t need would go at the bottom of the suitcase. Questionable stuff would be near the top of the suitcase, easy to find when and if they were needed. I had a plan!

The Paul Gauguin has no formal nights, only what they call “elegant casual”, so the dress clothes were folded and went right on the bottom. So did the South Island New Zealand stuff – sweaters, sweatshirt, rain jacket, etc. There was one exception to my logic, however. I did pack one sweater and a jacket near the top of the suitcase. It would be late November, after all, when I got back to Richmond! Shorts, tee shirts, polo shirts and a couple of pairs of slacks went to the garment bag. This process went on for probably a couple of hours but eventually both bags were finished. And I had remembered to keep something out for tomorrow. Does anybody actually forget to do that? I believe that Cruise Directors just think it’s cute….

With all the final preparations for disembarkation complete, I spent some time with my friends talking about all the things we had experienced together. We exchanged e-mail addresses, phone numbers, etc and promised to keep in touch. Then, as I had planned to get up very early for the sail-in to Sydney Harbor, I went to bed.

11/5/08 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

2009-01-19T15:27:00.009-05:00

Melbourne was our second Australia port and the last one before we disembarked in Sydney. In other words, this was my last shore excursion. Just in case yesterday had turned out to be a bust, I had chosen an all day trip which included another wildlife park. I was going to see those animals, one way or the other! In my research, Ballarat Wildlife Park had gotten great reviews so I had scheduled the only excursion which included it. But it also included a visit to Sovereign Hill, a recreation of a gold rush town, which didn’t really interest me at all. I suppose that they were combined in the same trip because they were just a few miles apart, but it was a strange combination of tours in my opinion. But to get the wildlife park, you take the gold rush town, so that’s what I did. Greg was also doing a wildlife excursion but he was walking through a forest, looking for koalas up in the trees. That seemed a little unpredictable so I had opted for the sure thing.

Ballarat is a fairly long drive from Melbourne so we had an opportunity to see some of the countryside on the way to the park. Melbourne is a very modern city, with a very pretty skyline. And the scenery on the ride was equally nice. But I was looking for animals, not scenery. Boy, did I find them! Ballarat was much larger and more spread out than Truwanna. Groups were organized for guided tours or you could choose to explore on your own. Not being a “group” kind of guy, I chose option two. All the pens were labeled with the names of the animals, plus a little information about each one. But the really great thing about this park was that many of the animals, including the kangaroos, were free to roam among the guests. The gift shop sold bags of food so that customers could feed the kangaroos and, as a result, the kangaroos were so tame that they would come up to you to beg for food. I actually had two ‘roos grab my hand when I squatted down to feed them! It was a very weird and wonderful experience. I wanted to see animals but I sure didn’t expect all of this! Walking around the park, I saw all the animals I had seen the previous day plus emus, snakes, tortoises, eagles, goannas and several kinds of birds that I didn’t recognize. Plus, they had five or six koalas that we could take pictures with, but the keeper had to hold them. This was the best animal encounter yet!

By the way, I probably should mention that Greg saw the koalas “in the wild”, so we both had successful shore excursions. He got some great pictures but I still think my trip was better. I got to play with my animals and he didn’t!

Our other stop was Sovereign Hill, the gold rush town. Maybe I had already decided that I wouldn’t enjoy it or maybe the morning was just too much fun. But I absolutely couldn’t wait to leave! Authenticity is nice, I guess, but the streets were dirt and it was windy. And it was hot. And the flies were everywhere, buzzing my head. Swatting them only seemed to piss ‘em off! I had a hot dog and fries at the café, then wandered through a few of the stores. But it just wasn’t working for me. I left the park and went outside, where there was a gift shop and a coffee shop. I spent the next three hours sitting at an outdoor table, waiting for the group to return. All in all, this portion of the tour was a total waste of time. Eventually, the others began to show up and it was time to make the drive back to the ship.

The wildlife encounters had made it worthwhile.

11/4/08 Burnie, Tasmania, Australia

2009-01-19T08:19:00.009-05:00

Before I forget, we lost two more hours while we were “crossing the Ditch”. I know you had been wondering about that! We’re now nine hours behind Richmond time. Well, we’re actually fifteen hours ahead and into the next day. But that would change in a few days.

We sailed into Burnie in flat calm seas, a wonderful change from the previous few days. I was happy to be there and apparently they were happy to have us there as well. The mayor greeted us at the dock, which I felt was a nice gesture. Most ships that visit Tasmania dock in Hobart, the state capital, rather than Burnie so they were happy to get our business. Tasmania is a small island off the southeastern coast of Australia, about two hundred miles from Melbourne. The impression that I received is that most mainland Aussies don’t really think much about Tasmania as part of the country. I suppose it’s not much different than Alaska or Hawaii for United States residents. You know they’re states, just not the first ones to pop into your head. Anyway, Tasmania has the nickname “Tiny Tassie” and, apparently, most of the residents enjoy their isolation. They don’t really want a lot of new folks. They like their state just the way it is and I can understand. It’s a pretty little place.

If you remember from a long time ago, I said that there were certain things that were on my “must do” list for each of the places on our itinerary. Australia was all about animals! With only three ports and just a short time in each, I realized that it wasn’t possible to really see much of the country. But I knew I had to see a kangaroo, koala, wombat, Tasmanian devil, emu, etc. So today’s all day excursion, my last with Greg, included Truwanna Wildlife Park, along with several other stops. It was sort of an all-inclusive tour of Tassie.

We boarded the bus and set off through town towards Sheffield, our first stop. As usual, our guide provided all sorts of information about Tasmania in general and Burnie in particular. I don’t remember much from his talk but one thing stuck in my mind. There is a paper mill in Burnie which produces hand-made “roo poo paper”, made from just what it sounds like! If you don’t believe it, I found a news article from a couple of years ago:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/news/stories/s1305282.htm

So we’re on our way to Sheffield which is known as the “town of murals”. Pretty much every building in town is painted with a mural. I have no idea why they decided to do that, except that it definitely makes them unique. The murals are very elaborate and painted to look three dimensional. Taking your picture in front of the mural can make it appear that you’re actually in the scene. Of course, the town is only three blocks long, so it doesn’t take much time to see all of it. Then we’re on our way to “The Honey Farm”, a store that specializes in honey. All kinds of honey products, including ice cream. There’s even a honey museum! Everyone got a free cone of honey ice cream, then we stood around chatting for about fifteen minutes. To this day I have no idea why we went to that store. Maybe the tour operator got a commission. I think a few people actually bought some jars of honey to take back to the ship with them. I suppose that it would make a pretty unique souvenir if you didn’t mind hauling it back to the U. S.

Then it was onward to the “real” reason for this excursion, Truwanna Wildlife Park. We saw kangaroos as we were coming up the driveway, hopping around in the woods. This was going to be good! We left the bus, got a brief orientation talk and were turned loose to wander around the park. Most of the animals were in individual pens and the staff took them out while they talked about them. There were wombats, wallabies, blue-tongued skinks, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, koalas, kangaroos and a dalmation. The dog was the local mascot, I guess. The koala was not in a pen but sitting in a tree, where you could get close for a picture and a pet. The problem was that everybody wanted a picture of themselves petting the koala, so there was a lot of waiting. You can’t come all the way to Australia without getting that picture, though. After seeing the other animals, Greg and I wandered into the woods to look for the kangaroos, which were allowed to roam freely around the park. We found them pretty quickly! There were quite a few of them, some lying down, some sitting up, some hopping around in the brush. I took about a thousand pictures, or at least it seemed that way. I didn’t want to miss a good shot! Of course, they all look alike once you get home. But I have them….

When we finally figured that we had enough kangaroo pictures, we went back to the koala tree and took a few more shots. The crowd had cleared out a bit and we were able to get some clean pictures. Koalas are cute but I’ve heard that they are docile only because eucalyptus contains a natural chemical which acts like a sedative. Without it, they’re pretty vicious! Afterwards, we had a little time to wander through the gift shop and pick up a couple of postcards, a hat pin and whatever else I really didn’t need. We boarded the bus and left for our last stop, a chocolate factory.

The stop at the chocolate factory was okay but fairly anticlimactic after the wildlife park. When we arrived, we walked into a dining room where each table was set with four different chocolate desserts. I found myself staring at a large piece of chocolate cheesecake, which wasn’t the worst thing I could imagine. The problem was that, after almost six weeks on a cruise ship, food was not really a big priority for anybody. It’s the old “know your audience” thing. However, I don’t think much of the food was wasted. But I also don’t believe that they sold much from the gift shop. I know I wasn’t interested. After strolling the grounds for a little bit, we boarded for the trip back to Burnie. The drive back was along the coastline and it was a beautiful drive. When we reached the ship, we were met by a bagpipe and drum band which was very enjoyable. I boarded the ship with a very satisfied feeling. It had been a good day!

11/2/08 thru 11/3/08 Crossing the Tasman Sea

2009-01-18T12:13:00.005-05:00

The Tasman Sea, called “The Ditch” by Aussies and Kiwis, has the reputation for being one of the most unpredictable and treacherous bodies of water in the world. I don’t remember all the factors which cause it but mostly I think it has to do with its location between the Pacific and Antarctica. Lots of currents flowing in lots of directions, strong winds coming from the south, etc. This may all be a bunch of crap but I believe that it’s at least partially correct. When I first began researching this trip, the Tasman Sea kept popping up in the reviews posted by other cruisers. There was an occasional smooth crossing but, more frequently, the reviews were not very good. And now it was our turn. We were “crossing the Ditch”, about twelve hundred miles of it, on our way to Burnie, Tasmania.

Leaving the coast of New Zealand, we headed due west into seventy mile per hour winds and fifteen foot seas. Unfortunately, it didn’t get much better over the next couple of days although the winds did eventually die down somewhat. Oh, I almost forgot something: this area is known as the “Roaring Forties” after its latitude. The “Roaring” part is easy to understand.

Because I had opted for “As You Wish” dining, there were many nights when I didn’t eat in the dining room. So I can’t really say what happened during the rough weather. But one of my “roll call” friends, Robin Heuer, kept a diary of her trip and she has a wonderful description of the experience. I’m going to “borrow” some of her narrative (I don’t think she’ll mind):

“It got VERY rough. Walking became difficult. But it was complete mayhem in the dining room! The ship was rolling from side to side, followed by pitching from front to back, followed by some really strange lurching. It was the lurching that caused the problems. Dinners and glassware and anything not secured started flying off tables and steward’s stations.

The dining room started out about two-thirds full but was nearly a ghost town by the end. I’m sad to say we lost Aunt Brigitte. She didn’t get the Bonine onboard soon enough. But you know it’s rough when your dining room steward offers you a seasickness pill and takes one himself. He declared, ‘This is the first time I’ve been in the Australian Sea, and it’s very rough’. Yes, Alberto, it is.”

Robin, thanks for the excellent description! There were a few other casualties of the rough seas, in addition to the dining room. Of course, items in passenger cabins ended up on the floor. However, the two big things were the shops and the entertainment. Items in the shops which had been on display were now all over the floor. And the liquor display case also tipped over, smashing a number of bottles of very high-priced booze! The rest of the shops closed after that disaster. The entertainment for the evening was scheduled to be a big production show with the Volendam cast but they felt it was too dangerous to attempt in such high seas. So a banjo player was substituted for that night. The cast show was held several days later. Oh yeah, one last thing: there was no orange juice at breakfast one morning. Seems that so many glasses had been broken, there weren’t enough to go around. That was a first for me!

I’m glad that I’m not prone to seasickness but it’s beginning to get tiresome. I’m ready for calmer seas…..

11/1/08 Fjordland National Park, New Zealand

2009-01-17T14:58:00.011-05:00

We’re scheduled to spend the entire day scenic cruising Dusky Sound, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park. This area has the reputation for being one of the most beautiful in the world and has been compared with the fjords in Norway and Alaska. Unfortunately, the weather along the Tasman Sea coast isn’t always cooperative and the entrances to the Sounds can be tricky to negotiate. As a result, it’s not always possible to get into the Sounds and ships are forced to skip them. I’m hoping we’ll have good luck!

But first, let me tell you about last night. We left Port Chalmers just before 6:00 pm and headed back down the bay (or whatever), past Taiaroa Head and back into the open ocean. It was still daylight and a group of us were sitting in the Lido restaurant, relaxing and doing pretty much nothing. Then the ship lost all electrical power and went totally dead in the water! It was really eerie, with virtually no sound at all, bobbing around in the ocean. Plus it had gotten fairly rough when we reached open water, so we were rolling a bit. The Captain came on the P.A. system to explain what had happened and to tell us to expect some heavy rolling, since without the engines we would drift sideways into the swells. Doesn’t that sound like a lot of fun? Fortunately, they were able to restart the engines and restore power within about fifteen minutes. But it sure seemed a lot longer!

The Captain’s short explanation was that “we dropped an engine”. I don’t remember all of the details but I’ll try to summarize what had happened. An oil sensor on one of the engines signaled a problem and that engine shut down in order to prevent damage. The computer should have adjusted the load on the remaining engine to prevent an overload but, for some reason, that didn’t happen. So the second engine overloaded and shut down. Since the engines generate the ship’s electrical power as well as propulsion, everything went dead. They had to restart both engines, which luckily didn’t take too long. Once we had propulsion, we were able to turn back into the swells and the ride smoothed out again. But a little later, the Captain came on again to say that some guests were smelling smoke in their cabins and to report it to the front desk. This time the explanation was that, after the engines were restarted, there was such a demand for heat (it was pretty cold) that the heating coils had gotten too hot! He asked everyone to lower their cabin thermostats and slowly bring them back to comfortable levels. That seemed to do the trick and we had no more problems that I know of.

Anyway, back to the cruise! The seas had been pretty rough last night and, as we rounded the southern tip and sailed into the Tasman Sea, it got even rougher. We were bouncing around quite a bit as we made our way to Dusky Sound but, as soon as we entered the fjord, the water was like a lake. I’m not going to spend much time describing the scenery in Dusky and Doubtful Sounds, since all I can say is that it was very special and very beautiful. If you’ve ever seen a fjord, you probably know that they are very deep channels carved by glaciers flowing down to the ocean between high mountains. Because they’re sheltered from the winds, there is often a misty look to them that is almost mystical and magical. And it’s usually strangely quiet sailing through a fjord. Passengers just seem to be mesmerized by the scenery. At least, that’s the way it seems to me! Everyone is on deck but there’s very little sound. And today it’s even prettier since we had rain last night, producing a bunch of little waterfalls on the mountains. I loved it!

We sailed all the way through Dusky Sound and back into the Tasman Sea. The weather was getting worse, with extremely strong winds and high seas. We were able to enter Doubtful Sound, which I didn’t feel was quite as pretty as Dusky. Of course, everything is relative. It was still magnificent, just a little less so. Our final scenic cruise was going to be Milford Sound, the most beautiful of them all. We never made it! After sailing around off-shore for a while, the Captain announced that it was just too dangerous to attempt to take the ship through the narrow entrance. It would be our only missed port of the entire six weeks. I was disappointed but safety is the primary concern of a cruise ship Captain and you have to respect his judgment. Besides, the winds were now blowing at seventy miles per hour and seas were running at fifteen feet, occasionally higher. The Tasman Sea was living up to its reputation. We reluctantly left New Zealand and Milford Sound in the distance and headed for Australia.

10/31/08 Dunedin, New Zealand

2009-01-16T21:50:00.016-05:00

Dunedin, on the southeast coast, is the South Island’s second-largest city behind Christchurch. It was also our last port in New Zealand and I was sorry to see this portion of the trip come to an end. As I think I’ve said (or you’ve certainly surmised), I have fallen in love with New Zealand. It’s the most spectacular country I’ve ever seen and I really want to come back someday. After today, we spend a day scenic cruising Fjordland National Park, weather permitting, then cross the Tasman Sea to Australia. But today Greg and I have another full-day excursion along the Otago Peninsula for some more wildlife viewing. Or at least that’s the plan. You can never be totally certain when wildlife is involved.

We docked at Port Chalmers, a few miles from Dunedin proper. Seems as though we never dock in town, doesn’t it? Dunedin has a very strong Scottish background and, in fact, was originally called New Edinburgh. The name was changed to the Celtic “Dun Edin”, meaning “Edin on the Hill”. After a visit to Dunedin in the mid-1890s, Mark Twain said: “The people here are Scots. They stopped here on their way to heaven, thinking they had arrived”. Okay, I admit it. I didn’t actually remember all of that. I had to Google “Dunedin” to find what I was looking for! But I did remember enough to know what I needed, so I get partial credit. Anyway, our excursion today was by bus, boat and Argo (sort of like an all-terrain vehicle). Hopefully, we would see dolphins, seals, penguins and various kinds of birds. The big attraction was the chance to see a royal albatross, one of the world’s rarest birds. Keep your fingers crossed….

We sailed into the area very early, just about sunrise, and were actually docked by 7:30 am. The sail-in was very picturesque, once again with rolling hills and flowering shrubs on both sides of the inlet. It seems like all sail-ins have been that way. I can’t remember a boring one! We were on our way shortly after being cleared and headed for our first stop, the Marine Research Station. Interesting thing here is that we could see where we were going just across the water from the dock but there was no way to get there except to drive about fifteen or twenty miles around the inlet. This turned out to be the least interesting part of the excursion, at least for me. It’s a working research facility and, although they do tours, it’s not really a tourist attraction. The best exhibit, in my opinion, was an octopus! I spent most of my time hanging around outside. Fortunately, it wasn’t a long visit and we were soon on the way to meet the tour boat which would take us on a visit to Taiaroa Head, site of the albatross colony.

It was cold and wet when we boarded the boat. Fortunately, they provided jackets for everyone, which were bulky but effective. We didn’t get more than a mile away from the dock when we stopped to view several fur seals just lying on the beach of a small island. Actually, they may have been sea lions. I’m not really certain. But they were our first wildlife of the day. As we continued out toward Taiaroa Head, we saw large colonies of seabirds and a few dolphins. Then there were quite a few fur seals lying around on the rocks at the Head itself, as well as a few in the water. We cruised along the edge of the rocks for a while, taking pictures and enjoying the animals and the views. Then we spotted some more dolphins farther out from shore so we took off in that direction. These were the very rare Hector’s dolphins, only found in this part of New Zealand. They’re the smallest of the dolphins and man, they’re fast! While we were watching the dolphins, someone spotted a royal albatross far off in the distance. They fly very close to the surface most of the time and are exceptionally hard to see, plus this one was a long way off. Fortunately, Greg had a good zoom lens and got a couple of pretty decent pictures (which I appropriated). That was a great ending to the tour and we cruised back to the dock to meet the bus.

Our next stop was Nature’s Wonders, a tour along the coast of the Otago Peninsula in Argos, an ATV or dune buggy kind of thing. But first we had lunch at the lodge and gift shop. Lunch wasn’t great so I went outside to look around while we waited for the previous tour to return. The lodge sits high up on a mountain overlooking the ocean and the views were terrific. As always, there were sheep grazing just across the road but my favorite thing was a little lamb in a pen right next to the lodge. He was just about the cutest thing I’ve ever seen! After maybe thirty minutes, the other tour came back and it was our turn. Each Argo held six people plus the driver, two up front and four in the back. We were given rubber coats with hoods which I didn’t understand at first. Then we took off down a dirt path and I understood perfectly. I have never seen so much dust flying around in my entire life. And the rear of the vehicle was the absolute worst place to be. For whatever reason, the dust was thrown up into the passenger area and just swirled around in there, making it hard to even breathe. By the time the tour was over, everyone was filthy.

But the scenery almost made up for the dust. Maybe not completely, but close. The coastal views were once again spectacular. I realize that I’ve used words like spectacular, magnificent, outstanding, etc. to describe almost everything I’ve seen but I don’t know another way to express it. You’ll just have to visit New Zealand and see for yourself. Maybe then you’ll understand why my vocabulary seems to be so limited. We went up and down the mountains on dirt roads, stopping several times at scenic overlooks to view the coastline. Then we stopped at one spot where quite a few seals were either swimming or just lazing on the rocks. Our last stop was going to be where we hoped to see the yellow-eyed penguins. But as soon as we arrived, the guides said that we wouldn’t be seeing any penguins. Lying in the surf was a leopard seal, which is a very rare sight and I suppose that I should have been happy to have the chance to see it. However, leopard seals are very ferocious predators and penguins are a favorite prey. Unfortunately, the penguins know this and were staying away in droves. Like I said, it’s rare to see the leopard seal so I guess it was a trade-off. Personally, I would rather have seen the penguins.

That was the last stop and we made our way back over the dusty trails back to the bus. When we got there, I slapped my pants legs (not covered by the coat) and dust flew up in a cloud. I felt like Pig Pen in the Peanuts comic strip! All in all, it had been a great excursion but I was ready for a shower. Unfortunately, that would have to wait just a little while longer. On the way back to the ship, we did a little tour around town and made a stop at the train station. It’s a very ornate structure and, even though I was ready to go home, I enjoyed seeing it. We didn’t stay very long, just enough to get a few pictures. Then we went back to the ship and I was more than happy to be back!

10/30/08 Christchurch, New Zealand

2009-01-16T09:55:00.017-05:00

Christchurch has the reputation of being the most “English” city outside of England. We got our first inkling of the reason for that as we approached the dock and were met by a bell-ringer in full yeoman warder costume. It was a unique greeting, I must admit. I’ve been piped ashore, greeted by marching bands, singers, dancers, etc. but this was the first time for bell-ringing. It was different….

We actually were docked in Lyttleton, the port serving Christchurch, about twelve kilometers away by a highway which ran through a mountain tunnel more than a mile long. I have no idea why that’s important but it seemed worth mentioning. Greg and I had again booked the same excursion, the “High Country Explorer” into the Southern Alps. It was another all-day trip, promoted as the chance to see things that the natives seldom see. It had been the last excursion that I booked for a couple of reasons. First, it was another all day trip and I had already scheduled a lot of those. Second, it was the most expensive excursion I booked, about $360 for the day. After thinking about it, it occurred to me that this was pocket-change in the grand scheme of things and I would only be doing this trip one time. So let’s not miss anything! I’m really happy that I made that decision.

The bus picked us up around 8:00 am and we made our way through the tunnel and into Christchurch. We did a short drive around town with the guide pointing out the sights. I have to admit that I was very much impressed with Christchurch. It was a very pretty city and very English in style, architecture, gardens, etc. We drove along the Avon River for a pretty good while and it got narrower as we went along. I suppose we were getting closer to its source but I’m just guessing. Anyway, after a bit more sightseeing, we stopped at the Mona Vale Gardens. This wasn’t listed in the tour description but I’m really glad it was on the agenda. As I’ve said, it was early spring and the gardens were putting on a magnificent show. I’ve never been so impressed with flowers and shrubs! And the setting was almost pastoral. There was a stream running the length of the left side, ducks with ducklings, magnificent homes with formal gardens along the stream and everywhere you looked, flowers! I can’t ever remember enjoying a garden so much. I was one of the last people to make it back to the bus. It was a very pleasant start to the day.

We left the gardens and headed for the Alps. One really weird thing about New Zealand is that, as soon as you leave the city, the roads are virtually deserted. We drove for miles and only saw a handful of cars. The scenery was as gorgeous as usual but nothing like what was to come. As we drove along, we began to see the mountain range ahead and, as we got closer, the view went from gorgeous to spectacular! We were trying to get pictures from the bus but just couldn’t do it justice. So the driver simply pulled onto the shoulder and let everyone off to take some pictures. No traffic is a good thing! The Alps were magnificent, about six thousand feet high and snow-capped. I got a picture of a flock of sheep grazing in a pasture with the mountains behind them. I’ve been told that it almost looks as though the background was painted into the shot. But the picture is genuine, I swear!

After a few minutes for photos, we re-boarded the bus and drove into the mountains. It was a very scenic drive on very smooth paved roads, which was a pleasant change from my other mountain adventures. As always, we passed flocks of sheep grazing in fields bordering the road. We made a couple of stops for pictures, eventually ending up at Flock Hill Lodge where we were to have lunch. The lodge is a hostel, providing accommodations for hikers, backpackers, cyclists, etc. The setting is like a scene from the Sound of Music, surrounded by tall snow-covered mountains, flowers, pastures, etc. There’s even an enclosure with reindeer and sheep. We spent about an hour or so having lunch and looking around the grounds. Then it was time to board our next mode of transportation, four-wheel drive mini buses. Uh-oh!

Remember my earlier mountain safaris in Napier and Wellington? The ones where I stopped looking and said a few silent prayers? The ones that terrified me right down to my soul? Those were the kiddy rides that led into this E-ticket adventure! That’s the problem with shore excursion descriptions, they don’t always tell you exactly what to expect. As I recall, this one said something like “board your next mode of transportation for a scenic drive through the mountains” or some such wording. I suppose that “prepare for the most terrifying ride of your life” or "make certain that your affairs are in order" might discourage folks from signing up for the trip but that would have been much more accurate. Oh well, we’re here now and we have to get back to the ship so we boarded the buses and took off down a dirt road at the rear of Flock Hill.

There’s really not much to say about the ride except that it was both fantastic and terrifying at the same time. We went straight back over the mountains on dirt roads that were narrower and more winding than before and this time we were several thousand feet higher. Need I mention the lack of guard rails? But again, the scenery was majestic! We made a couple of photo stops, including one at the edge of a cliff overlooking a deep valley where every view was amazing. At some point on the drive, a lady asked whether she should buckle her seat belt. The driver’s response was that if we went off the road, it wouldn’t matter one way or the other. I almost forgot to mention that. In any event, we made it over the mountains and ended up at a very blue, very shallow river. And waiting for us was a Hamilton jet boat! You’ve seen travel documentaries where they’re flying down a river at fifty miles per hour, doing 360s every so often? Yep, that’s a Hamilton jet boat! We boarded the boat after donning life jackets, packed in like sardines, and started down the river. I don’t know how fast we were actually going but it seemed like we were flying. And it was actually fun! Not too far from the take-out point, we did the obligatory 360 and I assumed that the excitement was over. I was wrong. I’m not sure exactly how he did it but the driver nosed the bow under the water, then ran the water up the bow, over the windshield and directly on top of my head. It was as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over me. The bad thing was that I had my camera in my hand and it got soaked. I’d dry eventually but I’d be very upset if I lost all the pictures I had taken on the trip. Fortunately, the camera was fine and I did dry out. All’s well that ends well, I suppose….

They had coffee waiting for us at the boathouse and the bus was standing by to take us back to Christchurch. We boarded the bus and started back, with no real sightseeing along the way. It had been a very long day with beautiful scenery interspersed with moments of absolute terror. That may be a slight exaggeration, but not too much! Anyway, I’m really glad I did it. Once!

10/29/08 Picton, New Zealand

2009-01-14T19:19:00.012-05:00

It’s only sixty-four nautical miles from Wellington to Picton, our next port, so we didn’t leave until almost 5:00 am. We had to cross Cook Strait (remember – unpredictable, treacherous?) on the way and, to quote one of my fellow passengers, it was “lake-like”. We’ve really been lucky with the seas throughout the entire trip. Picton was our first stop on the South Island, reputed to be much more spectacular than its northern neighbor. From my point of view, what I had seen so far had convinced me that New Zealand was my new “favorite place in the world”. I couldn’t wait to see just what the South Island held in store.

I was on deck early since we were scheduled to do some scenic cruising of Queen Charlotte Sound and Captain Cook Ship Cove on the way to Picton. From the research I had done, this area was supposed to be absolutely beautiful. It certainly lived up to its reputation. It was overcast and misty as we sailed into Queen Charlotte Sound, giving it an almost mystical quality. And the scenery was breath-taking, with the clouds hanging right on top of rolling green mountains. Then, right on cue, a rainbow appeared off the starboard side of the ship. It added just the right touch! After a while, we reached Ship Cove. This was one of Captain Cook’s preferred anchorages and he stopped here often during his explorations of New Zealand. A freshwater stream provided drinking water and the gently sloping beach allowed the ship to be grounded for repairs, then re-floated during the next high tide. Plus, it was a gorgeous location! We would be coming back here later in the day on a shore excursion.

Picton is nestled between the mountains and the sound and is just about the prettiest little village I’ve ever seen. The sail-in is very picturesque and you can see the town long before you actually reach the harbor. We were the first cruise ship of the season. Even though the Volendam is small by cruise ship standards, she was sixty feet longer than the dock which required some creative line-tying. I can’t imagine how larger ships will handle it. We were greeted by the town ladies with small corsages of wildflowers as we came down the gangway. It was a nice touch, I think. Greg and I were booked on the same afternoon excursion so we decided to make the short walk into town for a little sightseeing. The area surrounding the harbor was a park-like environment, with palm trees and flowering shrubs everywhere. As usual, there was a small craft display with locally-made souvenirs, including some really interesting stuffed animals and dolls. The town itself was only a couple of blocks around but there were some interesting shops. My favorite was the Jade Factory. I bought a jade bracelet even though I had no idea what I would do with it once I got home. I just thought that it was pretty. It’s still wrapped up in tissue and is lying on the dresser at this moment. Perhaps I’ll meet a woman who likes jade….

After spending some time in town, we headed back to the ship for the “Dolphin Watch and Guided Walk at Ship Cove” excursion. Apparently, it was a popular trip since there were two boats loaded with passengers. It was cold and damp when we left the dock so I was perfectly content to remain inside the lower deck cabin. If we saw dolphins, I’d go outside. What we saw immediately upon leaving the dock was the Inter-Islander ferry which makes several trips per day between the North and South Islands. It’s a big boat so we decided to yield the right of way. Once it cleared, we headed back down Queen Charlotte Sound, the same way we came in this morning. We hadn’t gone too far when we came to a screeching halt, which turned out to be a large flock of seabirds of some kind. Not too exciting. But then the dolphins showed up! I can’t remember which came first but we saw both bottlenose and dusky dolphins. And lots of them. We watched them for quite a while but then had to continue on to Ship Cove in order to keep on schedule. As we approached Ship Cove, we could see the monument to Captain Cook from a long way out. Cook made five stops here and the Kiwis erected a large, white commemorative monument in the early 1900s. Like I said, it can be seen from far out to sea and acts as a beacon for ships looking for a safe harbor.

Once we reached the dock, we disembarked and wandered around for a while, admiring the scenery and taking some pictures. We saw a “weka”, another of New Zealand’s flightless birds. It’s sorta like a chicken, for lack of a better description. Not particularly exciting but interesting, I suppose. The guides divided the passengers into two groups, depending on whether you wanted to do the “history walk” or the “jungle walk”. History walk people hung around the cove and got a history lesson. That didn’t interest me so I decided on the jungle walk. It was a pretty strenuous hike, uphill over some pretty rough and muddy terrain. At the top, however, there was a beautiful twin waterfall that made the walk worthwhile. Of course, after about ten minutes, we had to make the walk back down the same muddy trail. But it was fun.

After a little more “wandering” time, we re-boarded the catamarans for the trip back to Picton. Just a little way out of Ship Cove, we ran across some seals and some more birds. We stopped to watch for a few minutes then took off again. Just before we reached Picton harbor, there was some commotion at the rear of the boat. Seems that some dolphins had decided to follow us all the way back and were riding in our stern wake. Of course, we had to get some pictures of them and they were very cooperative, staying with us until we reached the dock! It was a great day in my new favorite port.

10/28/08 Wellington II

2009-01-12T22:03:00.000-05:00

I’ll make this one brief and to the point. When we arrived in Wellington on the 28th it was cold, wet and windy! I had done two excursions on our first visit and had absolutely no plans for the second one. Plus, the weather didn’t exactly inspire me to get out and wander around. So I decided to stay on board and just relax. I never left the ship!

10/27/08 Napier II and “Code Red”

2009-01-12T21:36:00.004-05:00

Our second visit to Napier was on October 27th and again I had no specific plans. However, we had driven past the downtown area, some beautiful gardens, the visitor center, etc. on the way to Cape Kidnappers and I wanted to wander around that area on this visit. I took the free shuttle from the ship to the visitor’s center and started walking along the shore drive. There were gardens, an amphitheater, fountains, statues. It was a very pretty place to visit. Then I saw a store called Opossum World and I had to go in there! Possums are a huge problem in New Zealand. They were introduced to solve some problem (I don’t remember what) but, as often happens, the plan backfired! Now there are estimated to be seventy million possums and they’re destroying vegetation at an unbelievable rate. So this store sells everything you can imagine that can be made from possum fur, with the concept that buying their products will save trees. Whatever works, I guess! They sell possum sweaters, socks, gloves, scarves, etc. My personal favorite was possum fur nipple warmers. But I had no idea who might want those as a souvenir. By the way, if you think that I’m making this stuff up, feel free to Google Opossum World!

After browsing around the downtown area (and finding another Starbucks), I caught the shuttle back to the ship. However, there was a surprise awaiting everybody. We were now sailing under “Code Red” conditions. After being on board for more than a month with no problems, passengers who boarded in Auckland brought a virus onto the ship. Norovirus is a highly contagious intestinal bug which causes severe vomiting and diarrhea. In a closed environment like a cruise ship, it can spread very rapidly. It is contracted through touch, either directly by contact with an infected individual or by touching common items, like a rail or a door handle. It usually runs its course in three to four days but the infected person must be quarantined during that time. The only way to reduce the spread of the virus is to constantly sanitize common surfaces, continually sanitize your hands and eliminate, as much as possible, passengers handling common items. Hence, the Code Red. Self-service in the Lido restaurant was eliminated, salt and pepper shakers were removed from the tables, latex gloves had to be donned before entering the shops, etc. In short, I couldn’t even get myself a cup of coffee without help from a crew member! Of course, the crew had to work even longer hours serving meals, serving drinks, wiping down every surface of the ship, etc. in addition to their routine duties. Everyone pitched in to help, including casino staff, cast members, shop personnel, etc. who all took a turn serving meals in the Lido. At one point, there were over a hundred passengers sick. Fortunately, neither I nor any of my friends were among them. We were under Code Red conditions for the remainder of the cruise.

10/26/08 Tauranga II

2009-01-12T17:35:00.005-05:00

It was time for our second stop in Tauranga, Napier and Wellington, the three ports we visited on the first leg of the cruise. As I said earlier, I hadn’t scheduled any excursions for the second stop so I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to do with myself. But I figured that something would come up….

We actually docked in Mount Maunganui rather than Tauranga on the 26th, a chilly, dreary day. Bill and Linda, my new friends from Oregon, had decided to take the walking trail around Mount Maunganui and invited me along. I guess I need to explain that both the town and the mountain are named Mount Maunganui. We docked in the town and walked the trail around the mountain. Sorry for the confusion! Anyway, the trail completely circles the mountain, not too far from the base, and covers approximately three kilometers. There are a couple of fairly steep sections but, for the most part, it’s relatively flat and easy to walk. Shortly after getting off the ship, it started to rain so we ducked under a tree to wait it out. After a few minutes of getting wet, we decided on a strategic change of plans and headed for the downtown area. We browsed through some of the shops and picked up a few souvenirs (they had a $2 store with all kinds of crap in it!). Since it was getting pretty close to Halloween, Bill bought a clown mask (more on that later). The rain had just about stopped so we decided to go back to our original plan and headed over to the mountain. The walk (actually more like a stroll) took about two hours and provided some fantastic views of the Bay of Plenty. The mountain sits at the tip of a peninsula so it’s virtually surrounded by water. The scenery was spectacular once again.

After completing the trail, we walked back into town and wandered around for a while. We found a Starbucks (those things are everywhere) and sat outside drinking our coffee. As it turned out, there was some type of local celebration being held, with local musicians scattered along the downtown sidewalks. Everybody seemed to be having a great time! Then I guess Bill decided to join the fun. He reached into the bag and put on the clown mask, then sat back and waited for the reaction. He didn’t wait long. Even people driving down the street were pointing him out! It might have been embarrassing if it weren’t so funny. After an hour or two, we made our way back to the ship. What had started out as a day with nothing to do turned into one of the best days of the trip.

10/25/08 Mercury Islands, White Island Scenic Cruising

2009-01-12T11:20:00.005-05:00

As I said earlier, we left Auckland at midnight and, since it was a short sail to Tauranga, we were scheduled for a day of scenic cruising the Mercury Islands and White Island. Because these islands are so close to Auckland, we were there by sunrise even though we were sailing very slowly. In fact, we were sailing so slowly that the ship’s stabilizers were ineffective, resulting in a bit of rolling. I don’t think it really bothered anyone but it was definitely noticeable. The islands were scattered all across the ocean, just small chunks of land protruding from the water. It was very scenic, just as I had come to expect from the entire country.

Then around mid-day, we approached a much larger island situated by itself in the middle of the ocean. As we got closer, I saw what I thought were clouds or mist hanging over the summit. Then I realized that I was looking at an active volcano, with clouds of smoke billowing from fumaroles within the caldera. All of a sudden, White Island became much more interesting! As we sailed around it, the on-board naturalist came on the P. A. system and gave a little background on the island. Several attempts had been made over the years to set up operations to mine minerals (sulfur, I believe), but they were never commercially successful. Plus, the workers got sick so mining operations were abandoned and the island is now privately owned. One side of the volcano collapsed at some point, providing a great view inside the crater. Also, there is a small gannet colony there. And that’s all I remember about White Island!

Except that we sailed around and around the thing for more than four hours. The Captain said that we would stay in the neighborhood until sunset to give us the opportunity to take some pictures and that’s what we did. Actually, it was very pretty with the sunset behind the island but I can’t believe that was the reason for the long stay. I think that we just had to kill some time before heading for our next port.

10/24/08 Auckland, New Zealand

2009-01-10T16:15:00.006-05:00

After a day of cruising the coast of the North Island, we arrived in Auckland, New Zealand’s most populous city and the end of the first of my three cruises. This leg of the trip was a repositioning cruise from Alaska and, for the next few months, the Volendam would be sailing two-week itineraries between Auckland and Sydney. I was staying on board for the first sailing of the season but most passengers would be disembarking in Auckland. That meant that I would be saying goodbye to a lot of the new friends that I had made during the past month and meeting a bunch of new folks for the first time. Fortunately, some of my “best” new friends were staying on for the trip to Sydney and a group of my “roll call” members were boarding in Auckland. We would meet them the next day at our scheduled “meet and greet”. By the way, on this leg of the trip we had sailed a total of 8,811 nautical miles, which equals 10,133 statute miles. And the seas had been amazingly calm the entire time.

We were required to dock very early in Auckland due to the busy nature of the harbor. Ferries were coming and going constantly so I could easily understand why they wouldn’t want a large cruise ship in the harbor during the busier times of the day. That may also have been the reason for our midnight departure but I don’t know for sure. In any event, since Auckland was a disembarkation port, there weren’t many shore excursions offered by the cruise line. The few that were available didn’t look especially appealing so I had no plans for the day. We were docked just a short distance from the downtown business district and I decided to walk around on my own for a little sightseeing and souvenir shopping. Since other passengers would be disembarking and embarking, I was given an “in transit” pass which allowed me to come and go as I pleased. By the time I decided to wander into town, disembarkation was complete and the shore excursions had departed. The ship was basically mine! It felt really strange to wander around the Lido deck by myself and see almost nobody there. Unfortunately, I knew it wouldn’t last very long. Soon I would have to fight the crowds again.

Once I left the ship, I started to regret not having taken a city highlights tour so that I could have gotten at least an overview of Auckland. It was chilly and windy and, after a month of traveling, I was tired. So I knew that I wasn’t going to walk around too much on my own. And I was right! I found a multi-level, enclosed mall a few blocks into the city so I decided to look around for a while. The first thing I saw was a food court with a good old McDonalds, a perfect place to sit and have a “long black”. After finishing my coffee, I found a shop with every New Zealand-related souvenir you could imagine. I left there with a bag full of “stuff” and was on my way out of the mall when I spotted a coffee and muffin shop. I suppose it’s like a donut shop in the States. I ordered another coffee and sat outside at one of the tables, drinking my coffee and watching the people. It was in the heart of downtown so there were lots of people to watch. It was very enjoyable! Also, being outside gave me the opportunity to meet one of the locals when a pigeon landed on my table. I didn’t have a muffin, and I guess he didn’t like coffee, so he hopped over to the next table. By the way, New Zealand seems to have a lot of little eateries like the muffin shop with an order counter but no inside seating. It’s also dotted with all varieties of “takeaways”, what we would call “to go”. You can get virtually any type of food to “takeaway”, including ethnic food (Chinese, Thai), fish ‘n chips, meat pies, sandwiches, etc. I guess that we have them in the States too. They just seem to be more prominent down there.

By the time I returned to the ship, embarkation had begun although it was still pretty much empty. However, as the afternoon progressed, more and more “newbies” started to appear. I found myself experiencing a strange emotion. I actually resented these people who were invading “my” space. I mentioned this to Bill, Linda and Greg, who said that they had the same reaction. I guess that, after living on board for a month, the ship starts to feel like home. Maybe, in a couple of weeks, some of these people will be new friends. But they’ll have to prove themselves!

10/22/08 Wellington, New Zealand

2009-01-09T15:51:00.012-05:00

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand and was the last of the three ports which we would visit a second time. We arrived in the morning, maneuvering through a very narrow channel, and docked at the commercial port by a container ship being loaded with logs. Lumber is the leading export commodity for the country and there were large lumber yards at several of the ports where we docked. The interesting thing is that the lumber is shipped to Japan, processed into wood chips and shipped back to New Zealand! I never really understood that one. The first thing I noticed about Wellington, aside from the logs, was the traffic. It’s a big city and we were docked overlooking a major highway leading into the downtown area. The second was that it was windy and cold! Wellington is situated at the southern tip of the North Island, near Cook Strait, which separates the North and South Islands and joins the Tasman Sea to the Pacific Ocean. To quote Wikipedia, “Cook Strait is one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world”. And the weather is just as unpredictable. The only constant seems to be the wind and I found that Wellington is nicknamed “Windy Wellington”.

I had scheduled two half-day excursions, Seal Coast Safari in the morning and Wellington Highlights in the afternoon. I was really anticipating the seal-watching trip and, while I don’t get very excited about city tours, I thought that I might get some ideas for our second stop here. We were picked up in a Toyota Land Cruiser for the morning trip. Since I was traveling solo, I sat in the front with the driver while three couples sat in the back on side-facing bench seats. After driving through the city, we started four-wheeling straight up a mountain on a very narrow, very bendy and very steep dirt road. Sound familiar? The mountain was a bit over three thousand feet tall, not especially high as mountains go. What made the trip so “exciting” were the clouds hanging over the mountain and the seventy-plus mile per hour winds blowing across the road as we neared the summit! It’s really hard to describe what it was like driving along a ridge in a dense fog with hurricane-force crosswinds and drop-offs of several thousand feet on either side of a dirt road! I didn’t think to try for pictures but it wouldn’t have captured my terror anyway. Let’s just say it was a very scary ride and I was extremely happy once I saw the shoreline on the other side.

When we reached the coast, we turned onto the beach and headed for the seal colony at Tongue Point. Driving through the sand was an interesting experience. It wasn’t hard-packed sand like you see at Daytona. Instead it was soft, loose, volcanic sand which was deeply rutted most of the way up the beach. Several times we almost got stuck but managed to keep moving. By the way, the scenery on the coast was fantastic, as usual. It was a very rocky shoreline and the winds were causing some magnificent wave action, with foam and spray blowing everywhere. I did snap some pictures of that as we drove along! After more slippin’ and slidin’ through the sand, we reached Tongue Point and the seals. The colony normally consists of around twenty individuals but there were only three ashore when we arrived. The guide figured that the others were in the water, feeding or getting out of the weather. By the way, the wind had died down to “only” fifty mph or so. We had coffee and tea with the seals, huddled around or actually inside the vehicles. I took some pictures, admired the scenery and tried to stay warm until it was time to leave. On the drive back, one of the other vehicles got stuck in the sand. Everyone had to get out and walk while they tried to free it. We got to stay warm and watch while the others were having their faces sand-blasted by the winds. I wasn’t looking forward to driving back over the mountain and we didn’t! Actually, we didn’t have to drive over it in the first place. We simply drove a little farther down the beach, got onto a paved road and drove straight back to Wellington. I guess that the morning drive was just to give the tourists a thrill. If so, it worked!

The afternoon sightseeing tour was much less exciting than the morning excursion but interesting nonetheless. We boarded full-sized buses and drove around town for a bit, then rode the cable car from the city center up to Kelburn. The views from the lookout over the city were terrific. The bus met us at the top of the hill for our visit to the Botanical Gardens. The outdoor formal gardens are impressive but, since it was early spring, there weren’t many blooming plants. Too bad, I’ll bet it’s gorgeous later in the season. The begonia house made up for the lack of flowers in the gardens. It was full of beautiful plants. I assume they were all begonias but I may be wrong. Next, we made a brief picture stop at the government buildings, i.e. the “Beehive” and parliament buildings and the Library. Then we visited Old St Paul’s Church, constructed in 1866 entirely from native timbers. The interior of the church and the stained-glass windows are beautiful. After leaving the church, we headed for our final stop, Mount Victoria, for some panoramic views of the city. The views were good but the wind was blowing as strong as ever, so I didn’t spend much time outside the bus. Besides, I had already taken so many scenic pictures that the urgency just wasn’t there. I was ready to go home! My ship home, that is!

We made it back to the Volendam safe and sound. It had been a very long but satisfying day. One more sea day and we would be in Auckland, the end of this leg of the cruise.

10/21/08 Napier, New Zealand

2009-01-07T22:57:00.014-05:00

Napier was the second of the double-visit ports on the itinerary. We only had about eight hours in port and I had chosen a combination scenery and wildlife excursion to Cape Kidnappers and the gannet colony. I really wasn’t sure what to expect on this “safari”. To be honest, I wasn’t even certain that I wanted to do this one. How many birds can you watch before you get bored? The answer is “thousands and thousands”. This turned out to be one of my favorite excursions of the entire trip.

We hopped onto buses and were taken on a quick city highlights tour on the way to Cape Kidnappers. In case anybody is interested, I’ll tell you how this piece of land got its name. Captain Cook explored New Zealand extensively. He had a Tahitian cabin boy and the local Maoris mistakenly thought that he was a prisoner or slave. So while Cook was exploring the area, the Maori natives kidnapped the cabin boy. Cook eventually resolved the problem somehow and the cabin boy was returned. The site was named Cape Kidnappers and that’s how it’s known today. That’s the story as I heard it but I can’t vouch for its accuracy.

Anyway, we were on paved roads for a while, driving through some of the small communities on the way to the Cape. Then the roads turned to dirt, wound through woods for a bit, then we began going up and down some pretty steep hills. This was the first of several very “exciting” drives I would make while in New Zealand. The road was extremely narrow, very winding (bendy, the locals call it) and very steep! I swear that the rear wheels had to be off the road when the front of the bus went around some of those curves. Oh, they don’t have guard rails down there, either. The trick is to stop looking but the scenery is so gorgeous that it’s hard to do. After a while we began to pass through Clifton Station, a huge sheep and cattle ranch on just about the most spectacular piece of land I can imagine. It stretches all the way to the sea and the views from the cliffs are just incredible! We stopped alongside the cliffs for some pictures and I didn’t know what to shoot first. I started with the cliffs, then the valleys with all the grazing animals, then the views across the water back towards Napier. I swear, it was impossible to take a bad picture. Every view was a postcard. I didn’t know it at the time but I had already taken a picture of the gannet colony on the cliff top off in the distance.

We re-boarded the bus and wound our way from the cliffs down into the valley. After a short distance on flat road, more or less, we started the very steep climb to the top of Cape Kidnappers. This was the scariest part of the drive, then you reach the summit and you’re face to face with thousands of the most beautiful birds you’ve ever seen. They’re a creamy white color, tipped in black, with golden heads. We were able to stand within a few feet of maybe five thousand nesting birds and they didn’t seem to notice at all. One interesting thing was that each nest was situated at a certain distance from the surrounding nests. I was told that this keeps each bird just out of “pecking range” of the ones around it. Again, I can’t tell you if that’s true but it sure sounds good! Also, did you know that gannets mate for life? Better than most humans, huh? Oh, and by the way, the views from the cliffs overlooking the sea were simply amazing. I’m running short on superlatives…..

Too soon, we had to board the buses for the trip back to town. The trip back didn’t seem as scary as before, for some reason. On the way back to Napier, we stopped at the home of the tour company owner for a light lunch, served outside in a beautiful garden-like atmosphere. They served sandwiches, salads, drinks and a fantastic assortment of desserts. It was a great way to end the excursion.

10/20/08 Tauranga, New Zealand

2009-01-04T21:22:00.006-05:00

Tauranga was the first of three ports that we would visit twice on this trip. For each of the three, I had booked excursions on the first stop and left the second stop free to visit any attractions that looked interesting the first time around. Earlier I had said that there were some “must see” things on the cruise. Today’s excursion was loaded with them. First would be the Agrodome, dedicated to all things sheep-related, then a Maori village to learn about their culture, a wildlife park for my first look at a kiwi and finally, a visit to the geothermal springs for which the area is famous. Greg and I had both selected the “Hell’s Gate and Rotorua Area Highlights” tour, an all-day excursion in the Rotorua area, about an hour and a half from Tauranga.

We boarded the bus and headed out through town. Two things were immediately obvious: they drive on the wrong side of the road in New Zealand and they have every fast food franchise known to man here! I realize that I wasn’t driving but it feels strange driving on the left, never quite sure exactly which lane you’re supposed to be in or which direction other cars will be coming from! The interesting thing is that, after a while, it seems perfectly normal and you don’t really notice any more. Except when you’re walking, of course. Then you need to pay attention! As for the fast food thing, I don’t know why I noticed that. I guess that I just wasn’t expecting to see so many McDonalds, KFCs, Burger Kings, etc. so far from the States. But I digress….

We got onto the main highway and headed toward Rotorua. It was a long ride but it provided the opportunity to see some of the New Zealand countryside. From what I saw, I decided that this was a beautiful country! Green rolling hills, lush vegetation, wildflowers, sheep and cattle grazing everywhere. It was just gorgeous! I could see why people who visit here want to come back. Of course, it probably helps that it’s springtime here so the flowers and vegetation are really starting to show their stuff. On the way, we passed through Te Puke, center of the kiwifruit-growing region. There’s an attraction here called Kiwi 360, sort of a Disneyland dedicated to the kiwifruit. I suppose it would be the equivalent of Iowa having a park dedicated to all things corn. By the way, don’t you love the names of the little towns? Te Puke is Maori for “the hill” and the correct pronunciation is “tee pook-ee”. Wouldn’t it be more fun to live in “Te Puke” than in “Petersburg”? Maybe I’m starting to lose it….

We eventually arrived at our first stop, the Agrodome. I was looking forward to a sheep ranch-like atmosphere but this was basically a stage show. There were various breeds on stage, with a shearing exhibition and people being invited up to participate in the show. This wasn’t especially enjoyable so I wandered through the gift shop, then went across to the coffee shop. And found that I had no idea how to order coffee in New Zealand! There is nothing like “regular coffee” on the menu board. I explained, as best I could, that I simply wanted a cup of coffee with cream and sugar. The barista informed me that I wanted a “flat white” so that’s what I got. It was okay but a little weak for my taste. So that I won’t forget later, I’ll finish this story now. Later in the cruise, I found that a flat white is actually hot milk with a shot (or two) of espresso. What I actually should have ordered was a “long black” with milk on the side. Who knew? Anyway, Greg and I sat outside for a while enjoying the view, then watched a short demonstration of herding by a sheepdog. Then we were off to our next destination, the Matai Maori Village.

We were met at the village by a Maori woman who would act as our guide. We were instructed to choose a “chief” to represent the group in the ritual challenge ceremony that would take place later. We all looked at each other until someone volunteered. He didn’t look very “chiefly” but it wasn’t me, so I had no problems with it. He was led away to learn his lines for the ceremony. Of course, when the ceremony actually took place, he forgot the lines! But the show went on, with some authentic Maori songs and dances. All in all, it was fairly informative and entertaining. Then we had a traditional “hangi” meal, which consisted of meats and vegetables cooked together in an underground pit, similar to a luau-style meal. There was lamb, chicken, potatoes, corn, etc. It was excellent! After lunch, we walked down the hill to the Rainbow Springs Wildlife Park, where we saw lots of different kinds of wildlife. The major attractions were the birds, all kinds of birds, in a beautiful park-like, wooded setting. The highlight, for me, was the kiwi exhibit. The kiwi is a nocturnal bird and they were kept in a simulated nighttime environment. No picture-taking was allowed, so all we could do was look, but seeing a kiwi was on my “things to do” list. Check!

The last stop of the day was at Hell’s Gate. The geothermal springs around Rotorua are considered a must-see attraction and I was looking forward to the experience. Unfortunately, it turned out to be similar to the Tsunami Museum in Hilo, interesting in a scientific way but not much of a tourist attraction. Bubbling pools of mud can only be so fascinating and the smell was atrocious! Sulfur dioxide, I believe. Rotten eggs, absolutely! I was ready to leave long before we finished the guided walk. And to top it off, one of the buses broke down and we had to wait for a replacement. Fortunately, it didn’t take very long so there was no harm done. The ride back to the ship seemed a lot longer than the ride out this morning but we eventually made it back. At the end of the day, it was an okay excursion.

Birds, Money and Other Random Thoughts

2009-01-04T12:01:00.004-05:00

Before continuing on, I thought of a few things which aren’t related to any particular port so I’ll just mention them before I forget.

First, the birds are back! Apparently, Hawaii doesn’t have a monopoly on intellectually-challenged seabirds. The bird blackout again went into effect once we reached New Zealand. However, seabirds in this part of the world must be slightly more intelligent than their northern counterparts since the blackout only affected the upper decks of the ship. To quote from the ship’s daily program:

New Zealand Seabirds

We encourage you to assist us as we work to protect the environment both on board and ashore. Please switch off your balcony lights when not in use. All lighting on the Sports Deck 9 and Lido Deck 8 aft will be switched off each evening, so please use caution. Lighting on Lower Promenade Deck 3 will remain on.

To be completely honest, this caused no real inconvenience for anyone since the top decks weren’t used much at night anyway. And, in spite of the policy, a couple of birds were found injured on the outside Lido deck. They were captured and turned over to the New Zealand authorities. So I suppose it was a legitimate concern.

Second, New Zealand (and Australia) is extremely strict when it comes to going ashore. Because of the closed ecosystem on an island, they closely monitor everything that’s brought into the country. Before we were allowed to leave the ship, a very long announcement was made regarding prohibited items. When you reached the gangway, inspectors were waiting to check all bags, totes, purses, etc. They were assisted by “sniffer” dogs (beagles mostly) which sniffed every bag. They were adorable little dogs!

One of the joys of foreign travel is dealing with various currencies. All the way through the islands, US dollars were accepted in addition to the local currency, so there had been no need to bother with exchanging money. That all changed when we reached New Zealand and Australia. Neither accepts anything other than its own currency. I normally try to use a credit card in order to get the best conversion rate (plus, it’s just easier) but, since we were going to be in New Zealand for more than two weeks, I decided to exchange some dollars. The ship had a decent rate so I exchanged $100 US for the equivalent in New Zealand dollars. The reason that I’m mentioning this is that I think the United States could learn from these folks. The smallest bill is five dollars, with one and two dollar coins. The smallest coin is ten cents, no nickels and pennies. Prices are rounded up or down, making it much easier to transact business. The downside for me was that, while it was easy to spot the dollar coins (they were gold), I never became very good at the smaller denomination silver coins. As a result, I usually just paid with dollars as I didn’t want to take the time to figure out what small change I had in my hand. Of course, every time I did that, I wound up with more coins! Eventually, I started dropping the coins before leaving the cabin rather than carrying them in my pockets.

One last thing: the people! I think the thing that impressed me as much as anything else on this trip was the people. I mentioned earlier how happy the islanders seemed to be. The thing that struck me about the Kiwis and Aussies was their friendly, laid-back attitude. One of the catch-phrases that you hear on a regular basis is “No worries”. That sums up the general attitude of the people that I met while in New Zealand and Australia. They seem to just take things as they come, without getting too stressed about anything. We in the States could probably take a lesson here, as well.

Okay, I think that just about covers the miscellaneous stuff that’s been rattling around in my head. If I think of anything else later, I’ll come back and add to this post. Let’s mush on…..

10/19/08 Bay of Islands, New Zealand

2009-01-03T14:24:00.007-05:00

New Zealand was originally called “Aotearoa” (Land of the Long White Cloud) by the Maori natives and you still see that reference at times today, particularly on souvenir items. Not sure exactly why that thought popped into my head but, since it did, I thought I’d mention it. In any event, we sailed into the Bay of Islands just about dawn and dropped anchor at around 7:00 am. The sunrise over the islands was magnificent even though the sky was overcast and there was a good chance of rain. As expected, it was cooler than our previous ports although not at all uncomfortable. The tenders were in the water very soon after we anchored, ready to ferry passengers into Paihia, one of several small towns around the Bay. Greg and I had booked a catamaran cruise to Cape Brett and the “Hole in the Rock”, a landmark of the region. Hopefully it won’t rain, seas will be calm and we’ll be able to sail through the “Hole”. It doesn’t always work out that way.

The tenders took us to the pier and we made the short walk to the catamaran operated by Fuller’s Bay of Islands Tours. It’s the standard excursion boat, with an enclosed lower cabin and an open top deck for the hardy souls who don’t mind braving the weather. I flip-flopped between the two cabins, mostly depending on how fast we were moving. It can get pretty cold up top when you’re going full speed and they sell coffee in the lower cabin. We started with a leisurely tour around the shoreline, moved on to some of the other islands, cruised into some of the smaller coves and just generally did some sightseeing. At one point, we stopped to deliver some fruit to a lady and her dog, who met us at her dock. We viewed some seabirds nesting in trees along the shore but never saw any dolphins, unfortunately. All the time, we were working our way farther out toward Cape Brett. So far, we’ve avoided the rain and the seas have cooperated.

Finally we can see Cape Brett Light and the “Hole in the Rock”. We’re pretty much in open water at this point and the seas have become a bit choppy. But still not too bad. As we approached, my first thought was that we were never going to fit through that little opening. But, after hanging around the neighborhood for a little bit (probably to allow for picture-taking), our lady captain began easing the boat towards the opening. It was a very slow approach, gauging the currents I assume, then we started through. It was a strange experience, being on a boat inside a mountain, but we were through in no more than a minute or so. Cool! Now I’m probably the only person in Midlothian, Virginia to have sailed through the “Hole in the Rock”!

We spent a little time sightseeing on the back side of the “Hole” then started back to the dock, with just a little sightseeing along the way. It had been a great excursion and the rain stayed away the entire time. After we reached the dock, Greg and I wandered into town just to take a look around. There were all kinds of stores, bars and restaurants, banks, souvenir shops, etc. located within just a couple of square blocks. We stopped for lunch at a fish ‘n chips place, with tables set up for al fresco dining. I ordered chips (French fries) and a coke and we sat outside, eating and people-watching, for a little while. I stopped at a souvenir shop and picked up a cap, a tee shirt and some postcards. Then we strolled through a craft market along the main street before making our way back to the tender dock for the ride back to the ship.

Looking back, there were several other sights that I wish we had visited while we were there: the Waitangi Treaty House and Museum, Haruru Falls, Russell and Flagstaff Hill, etc. But maybe I’ll see those things on my next visit. For today, it was a terrific introduction to New Zealand.

10/17/08 thru 10/18/08 At Sea

2009-01-01T14:31:00.002-05:00

After the other long stretches, two sea days doesn't seem so bad. Besides, we're headed for the primary reason I came on this trip: New Zealand and Australia. All of the other islands were nice and I'm glad that I was able to see them but they were just a warm-up. I guess that I look at this trip in the same way that I view dinner. Hawaii and the islands are the appetizer, New Zealand and Australia are the main course and I have French Polynesia for dessert! Not a bad meal....

Bring on the entree!

10/16/08 Noumea, New Caledonia

2008-12-31T20:14:00.002-05:00

After the great day at Ile de Pins, I was really looking forward to the stop in Noumea. I had again booked a pair of half-day excursions, one billed as an “off-road adventure” and the other a city tour by the “Petit Train”. The off-road trip sounded particularly interesting, using phrases like “pristine pools” to describe sights that the usual tours don’t visit. Boy, was that an exaggeration! The trip turned out to be just a rough, bumpy ride up and back on a rutted dirt road down a valley. We drove alongside a dry river bed for most of the trip. The “pristine pool” turned out to be water backed up behind a bridge. After driving down the road for about an hour, we reversed direction and drove back over the same road. Not quite the “adventure” I was expecting!

Then the day got worse. After coming back to the ship and having lunch, I went to the lounge for my afternoon excursion on the little train. While we were waiting for the staff to call our group, an announcement was made that the train had broken down. They were going to try to have it repaired so we were given two options: either come back in a couple of hours or cancel and receive a refund. Since it was already 2:30 pm and I was already irritated by my earlier “adventure”, I opted for the refund. I later found out that the train was repaired and that the tour was very scenic and a lot of fun. Some days you just can’t win, I guess.

The good news was that our next stop, following two sea days, would be New Zealand. I was looking forward to New Zealand and Australia more than any of the other places on the itinerary. So, in the grand scheme of things, Noumea was just a little speed bump. Onward to the land of the kiwi, the long white cloud, the silver fern and forty million sheep….

By the way, we’re now sailing east again and we set the clocks ahead two hours!

10/15/08 Ile de Pins, New Caledonia

2008-12-31T20:07:00.003-05:00

Ile de Pins was an unknown commodity for me. I had looked it up while researching the ports but hadn’t found anything particularly remarkable. It seemed like just a vacation spot for the New Caledonians. The cruise line offered no shore excursions, suggesting just a relaxing day on the beach. I’m not a beach person! I’ve been on three Caribbean cruises and I’ve only been in the water once. So a day lying on the beach didn’t interest me. I wasn’t even certain whether I’d go ashore at all. But it was a beautiful day and I didn’t have anything else to do so I decided to check it out. At worst, I thought I could take a few pictures. Am I glad I made that decision!

Ile de Pins is exactly what you picture when you think of a South Pacific island. Beautiful white beaches, azure blue lagoons, coconut palms, tropical fish, gorgeous flowers, etc. The only word that comes to mind is idyllic. I strolled around for about a quarter-mile when I ran across some friends on a small beach between two lagoons. That’s where I spent the rest of the day, on a towel on the beach. I don’t own a bathing suit, so I was wearing shorts, but I waded out into the water as far as I could without getting the stuff in my pockets wet. It was cool watching the fish swimming around my feet and the water was so clear that you could get pictures of them. We were only there for the afternoon and it went by very quickly. This was the best day so far!

10/14/08 Port Vila, Vanuatu

2008-12-31T20:00:00.004-05:00

The only knowledge I had of Vanuatu was that it was the location for one season of “Survivor”. There weren’t many appealing excursions offered here, either. I chose a couple of half-day trips, the Mele Cultural Village in the morning and a Port Vila Highlights tour in the afternoon. Just as we were docking, we got our first really bad weather. It started raining buckets, the kind of rain you imagine when you think of the tropics! Maybe not the best day to wander through a jungle village. Fortunately, I had a waterproof nylon rain jacket and a wide-brim hat, so it wouldn’t be too big a problem. Plus, it changed from a downpour to a drizzle by the time we left the ship. The village was interesting even though we had to deal with sporadic rain the entire time we were there. Most interesting to me were the native animals, which included iguanas, flying foxes, coconut crabs and snakes. I’m not a big fan of snakes but I couldn’t resist the urge to have a large boa constrictor draped around my neck! Especially after several others tried it and survived the experience. I even had a photo taken with the snake and a cannibal! It was a fun morning.

The afternoon tour was less enjoyable. Port Vila has no “highlights”, in my opinion. We drove around town, with the guide pointing out various exciting landmarks such as city hall, the post office and a local church. All in all, it was a total waste of time. But that’s the problem with excursions. You just never know!

10/12/08 Suva, Fiji

2008-12-31T19:58:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, I can’t really say much about Fiji since I barely left the ship. On the way to Suva, we were told that there was a serious outbreak of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne virus with several unpleasant symptoms and no real treatment options. I was barely into the third week of my nine week vacation, so I really didn’t want to take any silly chances. The ship’s staff was passing out insect-repellant wipes, warning everyone to wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, etc. Worst of all, I had scheduled a walk in the rain forest! Now, if mosquitoes want to come looking for me, that’s one thing. But it just didn’t seem too smart to walk voluntarily into a rain forest. So, along with a long line of other passengers, I cancelled my excursion. I was brave enough to catch a shuttle into town for a little souvenir shopping but that’s all I saw of Fiji.

I later heard from some passengers who did go on excursions that the Fijians said that there wasn’t really much of a problem. I guess that HAL was erring on the side of caution and just covering their own butts. I probably would have done the same thing in their position. We depart for Port Vila, with a sea day on 10/13.

10/10/08 thru 10/11/08 At Sea / Crossing the International Date Line

2008-12-31T19:55:00.000-05:00

Okay, pay attention! This goes fast and gets a little tricky. We leave Western Samoa on Thursday, October 9 at 6:00 pm. I go to bed that evening, we cross the date line and I wake up on Saturday, October 11. One day at sea and we reach Fiji on Sunday, October 12. Got it?

On the cruise log given out at the end of the trip, the entry for October 10 states “Day did not exist”. Bill Stahl, one of my new cruise friends, had a birthday on October 10. Or did he?

By the way, we lost another hour on the way to Fiji!

10/9/08 Apia, Western Samoa

2008-12-31T18:09:00.008-05:00

It’s only seventy-five miles from Pago Pago to Apia, so we made a very slow trip during the night and arrived before 8:00 the next morning. There were no interesting excursions being offered by the cruise line so a group of my new “roll call” friends and I had arranged for a private van tour of the island. I’m usually a little leery of private tours, since the ship will leave without you if you don’t get back by all-aboard time. We made sure that our driver knew that we wanted to be back with time to spare. Our group had decided to disembark as soon as the gangway was in place in order to beat the ship’s tours to our first stop, the Robert Louis Stevenson museum. So I was number two off the ship. We were greeted on the pier by a Police Band and a Polynesian dance troupe in full native dress. We enjoyed the show while we waited for Jennifer, who had booked the tour, to locate the driver. Both groups were good but the Polynesian group was outstanding!

Our van was waiting and we got away ahead of the other tours. We were the first group at the museum and made it through in record time. I’m not particularly interested in seeing old buildings and such but I will admit that this place was impressive. It was built around 1890 on more than three hundred acres on the slopes of Mt. Vaea. It has five bedrooms, a library, a ballroom and the only fireplace in Samoa. Stevenson is buried on the mountain overlooking the estate. After wandering the grounds and taking a few pictures, we continued on our tour.

Our next stop was the Baha’i Temple for a quick look around the grounds. There wasn’t much to see but the architecture was unusual and the grounds were immaculate. Next we made a brief stop at Papapapaitai Falls, an average-sized waterfall in a magnificent setting. After a few minutes of picture-taking, we headed down the coastline to Lalomanu Beach, where we planned to have lunch and spend a couple of hours doing water stuff. The drive along the coast was beautiful (again) but the beach itself was even better! The sand was the whitest, softest powder I’ve ever seen. And the setting was just fantastic. Several of the group had brought snorkel gear and did a bit of snorkeling, but mostly we stayed out of the sun under the patio roof. The tropical sun is brutal and you can get a serious burn before you know it. Best to be careful! At about 2:00 pm, we decided to start back to the ship, making our way through the LeMafa Pass and making a short stop at Falefa Falls, a small but pretty waterfall. Most of the drive back was on two lane back roads and we passed a lot of residential areas. One of the most interesting things I saw in Samoa relates to the living arrangements. I mentioned earlier that family is extremely important to the Samoan people. This is reflected in their family home sites, where several generations share the land. There is typically one house, where the eldest live. The house is surrounded by any number of fales, open-sided structures where other family groups reside. No walls, no doors, no windows! As we passed the fales, we could look in and see beds, furnishings, etc. We didn’t stop for pictures since our guide said that it was considered rude to do so. I guess that would be the equivalent of a “Peeping Tom”, but we did snap a few as we drove by. Being from the U.S., I still wonder how people live that way.

After seeing more banana plants and palm trees than I’ve ever seen in my life, we arrived back at the Volendam with about an hour to spare. I bought a dolphin necklace and a baseball cap from the craft vendors on the pier, then boarded the ship. Next stop: Fiji…..

10/8/08 Pago Pago, American Samoa

2008-12-31T17:50:00.007-05:00

Pago Pago, it even sounds exotic! We arrived early in the morning and it was a beautiful sight after all those days at sea. From the ship, it was a beautiful island, very lush and green with dramatic steep mountains. It got even prettier as we sailed into the harbor and prepared to dock. I was glad to be here! I had signed up for a pair of half-day sightseeing excursions using local buses for transportation. There was some duplication in the tours but each offered some things that the other did not. In particular, I wanted to learn a little about the local culture and the second tour visited a Samoan village. So I was looking forward to both tours.

The tour descriptions stressed that the buses were genuine island transportation, without air conditioning, padded seats, etc. I quickly found out why this was important. The lack of air conditioning wasn’t a big deal but the seats were a different story. The bottom and back of the seats were boards, maybe twelve to fifteen inches wide. There was nothing to recline against so you essentially sat straight up, with no back support, on a plank. The intelligent people brought a towel from the ship to sit on but I wasn’t smart enough to think about that. After an hour or so, my back and neck were killing me, not to mention my sore butt! Fortunately, there were multiple stops during the tour and we were able to get up and move around for a few minutes. The sights were gorgeous, especially along the coastline. We stopped at the Flower Pot Rocks, Leone Village, Turtle and Shark and Governor Taueses Museum in addition to our drive along the coast. All the sights were impressive but I was even more impressed with the people. They were extremely friendly and they are so proud of their island. By our standards, they appear to have very little but they seem so happy. Vickley, our guide, had taken off from school (skipped) in order to make a few dollars and he was very enthusiastic to be showing us his home! Family is very important to the Samoan people, with multiple generations living together. Deceased family members are buried on the family home site, which is passed from generation to generation. There are no public cemeteries, so far as I know. It was an interesting and enjoyable half-day learning experience.

The afternoon tour was also enjoyable, even though some of it was repetitious. We did see the Sliding Rocks and the golf course which were not part of the morning tour. Then we went to the village where multiple stations depicted various aspects of village life – washing clothes, weaving mats from palm fronds, cooking, etc. My favorite demonstrated the uses of coconuts and began with a Samoan native climbing the palm to retrieve the coconut itself. He was up and down in a flash! Refreshments were served and I took the opportunity to try the local beer which was on sale. Not bad! The visit ended with a show featuring traditional dances, including the obligatory participation of a couple of audience members. Although I normally don’t care much for touristy recreations, the hospitality and friendliness of the villagers made this a fun afternoon.

10/3/08 thru 10/7/08 At Sea / Crossing the Equator

2008-12-31T17:26:00.001-05:00

We left Maui Thursday night. Our next port was American Samoa, the following Wednesday. Oh joy, five full days at sea! I’m gonna go nuts, absolutely stir crazy. At least the lights are back on, no more “stealth” mode. It became a sort of joke among the regulars on the Lido deck. Every morning I’d get my coffee, walk out the door and ask “Are we there yet?”. Of course, we never were “there”. Or anywhere, for that matter. For five full days, we never saw another ship, a plane, a bird, a fish, nothing! I believe that we passed within a couple hundred miles of Kiribati (formerly Gilbert Islands) but we couldn’t see that, either. To make matters worse, we also lost our satellite reception, so we were no longer able to receive CNN, ESPN, TNT, etc. Needless to say, it wasn’t my favorite part of the trip.

The only thing that we had to break the monotony was crossing the equator. There is a long-standing tradition among sailors regarding “crossing the line”. First-timers (called pollywogs) must be initiated by King Neptune through a hazing ritual into the Royal and Ancient Order of Shellbacks. Fortunately, the ceremony only applied to the crew while passengers got a free pass. The hazing involved being smeared with some rather disgusting food, flour, liquids and other assorted “stuff”. It reminded me of my college fraternity parties. It also seemed that the most enthusiasm was reserved for the ship’s officers, which I suppose shouldn’t be any surprise. After being lathered up, the initiates jumped into the pool to wash the stuff off. This produced a side effect – the pool was closed for a day and a half while it was drained, scrubbed and disinfected. All in all, I thought that it was pretty sophomoric. But at least I now have Neptune’s permission to cross the equator whenever I wish and I have a certificate to prove it!

By the way, did I mention that we’re still sailing west and my body is still confused?

10/2/08 Lahaina, Maui

2008-12-31T16:54:00.005-05:00

When I initially started planning for this cruise, I decided that I had to go to the top of at least one volcano while in Hawaii. It’s just one of those things that must be done, like visiting a sheep ranch in New Zealand or petting a koala in Australia. However, all the descriptions warn that it can be dangerous for folks with heart problems, due to reduced oxygen at high altitudes, and I had bypass surgery about eleven years ago. I had decided to do it anyway but, just to be safe, I chose to visit Haleakala which, at just over ten thousand feet, was the lowest of the volcanic excursions. And today’s the day! It was the first stop on an all-day excursion which included lunch at the Botanical Garden and a visit to Iao Valley State Park. Maui is reputed to be one of the most beautiful of the Hawaiian Islands and, after my disappointing excursion in Hilo, I was looking forward to a great day. I wasn’t disappointed this time!

We arrived early in the morning and dropped anchor around 7:00 am. Tender service is done very efficiently on the Volendam and we were ashore pretty quickly. Greg was also on this excursion and we boarded the tour bus around 8:00 am as scheduled. We learned very quickly that we had a chatty driver who never stopped talking. For a while, it was interesting hearing all the stories, facts and anecdotes. However, as the ride continued, it became more annoying than interesting. So we began to just tune him out as best we could. We saw Haleakala from a distance long before we approached the base of the volcano. Clouds were covering the top of the peak and we were concerned that the view wouldn’t be very good. By the way, it looked very high! Like any road that goes up a mountain, this one was steep and loaded with switchback turns. I’m still amazed that a tour bus can maneuver around some of those corners! We made one stop about a third of the way up (I believe that it was a bathroom break). I got some coffee and took a few pictures before we headed for the summit. On the way, we passed some gorgeous homes with fantastic ocean views (I believe the driver said that one of them was owned by Tom Selleck but I was only half-listening). We passed through the clouds at about seven to eight thousand feet and emerged into a beautiful, sunny day. Then we reached the summit….

Wow, what a view! It’s really strange to look out over the horizon and realize that you’re looking down on the clouds. I’ve never done that except from an airplane. And the landscape of the crater is simply amazing. One thing that I do remember the driver saying was that the astronauts trained here for the moon missions and I can completely understand. It looks more like a moonscape than a landscape. It’s also much colder at this elevation than at sea level. We had been told that temperatures could vary by forty degrees from sea level to the summit, so I brought a sweatshirt along. It was a smart decision and I was very comfortable. We spent about an hour or more just wandering around admiring the view, then we started back down. It was just an amazing experience. What a great start to the day!

Our next stop was supposed to be lunch at the Maui Botanical Garden but our driver said that, since we were a little ahead of schedule, we would make a stop at one of his favorite places. So we detoured to Makena Beach, an absolutely gorgeous stretch of coastline. People were participating in every water sport you can imagine – swimming, surfing, sailboarding, wind surfing, parasailing, whatever. It was a nice unscheduled stop but, as a result, we were late arriving for lunch. Not that it mattered, since lunch turned out to be the worst part of the day. We were herded into a large open area with row upon row of tables and directed to our seats. It seemed like forever before the food arrived. It definitely wasn’t worth the wait. I settled for the fresh fruit and several servings of dessert, passing up most of the entrée. Even though the lunch was sub-standard, the grounds of the Botanical Garden were beautiful. We wandered around for a while taking pictures of the flowers, plants and trees. Unfortunately, our late arrival and long lunch wait meant that our visit was cut short. I wish that we had more time to browse around the gardens but we had to leave for our next stop, Iao Valley State Park.

If you’re a fan of the original “Jurassic Park”, you’ll recognize Iao Valley. The scene where the helicopter descends straight down between the lush green mountains was shot in the park. I recognized it as soon as we drove down the road. There’s really not a lot to say about the park, except that there’s just gorgeous scenery everywhere you look. The most famous landmark is the Iao Needle, a 2,250 foot monolith covered in green foliage. For history buffs, the valley is the site where Kamehameha defeated the Maui army in 1790 in his efforts to unite the Hawaiian islands. Just thought that I’d throw that out, in case anyone’s interested! We wandered around for a while, then boarded the bus for the trip back to Lahaina. Oh, almost forgot something! The driver had stopped talking a bit earlier and had been playing a CD of Hawaiian music. Before we left the park, he gave everyone a copy to take home! It was a nice touch and I’m sure it didn’t hurt his tips. On the way back, we were given the option of a drop-off at Hilo Hattie’s, a chain of souvenir shops. Greg and I decided to take this option, picked up a few tee shirts and made the short walk back to the tenders.

The captain made another strange announcement before we left Maui. The bird thing was weird enough but this time the subject was passengers. He announced that for the next five days we would be at sea, in the middle of nowhere, with no way to get help if it were needed. Anyone with a potentially serious medical condition was encouraged to consider whether they should continue on the cruise or possibly leave the ship in Maui. I can’t imagine that anyone in that circumstance would have booked such a long cruise in the first place. But I later heard that several people did disembark! Go figure…..

10/1/08 Hilo, Hawaii

2008-12-31T15:36:00.005-05:00

Our second Hawaiian stop is Hilo, on the Big Island. I have mixed emotions regarding my shore excursion in this port. There are several interesting looking excursions here and I had a problem choosing one. That’s the problem with cruising, I suppose. Limited time doesn’t allow for in-depth exploration of the attractions. I had decided to see Akaka Falls, the iconic waterfall featured in all the promotions for Hawaii. The problem is that the only tour which includes a visit to the falls also features several stops which don’t particularly interest me, such as the Tsunami Museum. I suppose that the museum is worth a visit, if you’re interested in the science of tsunamis, but I’m not cruising to be educated in that sense. At least we did the museum at the beginning of the tour. We saw photos, a factual presentation on wave formation and travel and a movie of interviews with some survivors of previous disasters. Not my favorite stop….

After leaving the museum, we did a bit of sightseeing on the way to Akaka Falls State Park, including a stop at Onomea Bay. This is a very picturesque location and I got some very good scenic photos. We finally arrived at the park and I was surprised to learn that there are actually two falls, Akaka and Kahuna. The walk to the falls is fairly strenuous and our guide suggested that we go to Kahuna first, then uphill to Akaka. So we set off down the path. It’s a pretty long walk down to Kahuna and a disappointment once I get there. The falls is not very impressive and barely visible from the viewing platform. So I snap a couple of quick pictures and head up the path to Akaka. Unfortunately, it’s not as impressive as I expected, either. It’s over five hundred feet high but there’s not a lot of water flowing over the cliff. I later learned that it had been pretty dry recently, reducing the flow. It’s pretty nonetheless, just not the sight that I had remembered from the tourist commercials.

On the way back to the ship, we stop at Shinmachi Park, where a second Kamehameha statue stands. It’s the same as the one in Honolulu but I take a picture anyway. Then back to the Volendam. In retrospect, I wish I had joined Greg on his bike ride around the Kilauea crater!

9/30/08 Honolulu, Oahu

2008-12-31T15:08:00.006-05:00

One of the problems with sailing westward is that your body never gets adjusted to the time changes. Each night I would plan to stay up a little later in order to catch up. And each night I would receive a “gentle reminder” to turn my clock back another hour “as we sail into a new time zone”. I’m constantly falling asleep at 10:00 pm and waking up at 5:00 am. I believe that we eventually were nine hours behind Richmond time but, after we crossed the date line, we were actually fifteen hours ahead. It’s all very confusing! Anyway, I’m up before the sun again today but I really don’t care. We’ll be in port soon!

Somewhere around mid-morning, I can start to see the shadowy shape of land on the port side of the ship. It’s covered in fog and mist and I must admit that my first glimpse of Hawaii wasn’t exactly awe-inspiring. Later, someone said that it was Molokai, one of the minor islands, but I don’t really know for sure. After more than four days at sea, I was hoping for more! As we continued to sail, the fog started to lift and more land came into view. Eventually, I could see the distinctive shape of Diamond Head, the icon that says “Honolulu”. As we approached closer, I could make out Coco Head and before very long, the harbor and the city itself. Now we’re getting somewhere!

Unfortunately, we didn’t dock until noon so there was limited time to see the sights. Greg and I had opted for an afternoon “Natural Highlights of Oahu” tour. We would see a bit of Honolulu but mostly we would cover the countryside. My first impression of Honolulu, as we drove through the city, was that except for the palms it could be any other big U.S. city. Construction was everywhere and the traffic was terrible. Not what you think of when you visualize Hawaii. It seemed that we were never going to actually get out of the city. We did get a brief glimpse of Waikiki Beach as we drove along. It’s not as pretty from land as from the ocean. Eventually, we made it to the open road and the scenery started looking much better.

Our first stop is the Diamond Head crater, reached by driving through a concrete tunnel constructed by U.S. military forces during World War II. Once inside the crater, there’s not much to see, just grass and trees. But the size of the thing is pretty impressive. After a brief stop, we continue on to Halona Point (site of the blow hole), Makapu’u Beach and Pali Lookout. Finally, some really gorgeous scenery, just what I was expecting to see. All in all, it was a nice excursion and I got some good pictures. Once we returned to the ship, Greg and I decided to use what little daylight was left to visit the Iolani Palace, about a fifteen minute walk from the pier. We took a few pictures of the palace and the statue of King Kamehameha just across the street. We got back to the ship a little before dark.

Dinner that evening was an island-style barbeque on the Lido deck and everyone was encouraged to wear appropriate dress. In my sixty-six years of living, I’ve never owned an Aloha shirt. But, in the spirit of the trip, I went shopping. Not being one to do things half-way, I now own two of the aforementioned shirts, along with several shell necklaces! I’m not quite sure if I’ll find an appropriate occasion for them once I get home. Dinner was fun, however, and I blended right in with the crowd.

A very strange thing happened before we reached Honolulu. Captain Peter Bos made an announcement that we would be complying with an Hawaiian seabird program during our time in the islands. This meant that all outside lights would be turned off and curtains drawn so that light didn’t escape the ship. It seems that some of the birds navigate by moonlight and become confused by the bright lights of the ship! Now, my first thought was that any bird that couldn’t tell the difference between the moon and a cruise ship was too stupid to survive in any case. Seems like natural selection would get them eventually. But, for the next few nights, we sailed in blackout conditions. I sure hope we saved a few…..

9/26/08 thru 9/29/08 Crossing the Pacific

2008-12-31T14:53:00.003-05:00

The prospect of four consecutive sea days doesn’t exactly thrill me. Not that I have a problem with motion sickness or anything like that. I just get bored! I know people who cruise just for the pleasure of being on the ship. They don’t really care which ship it is or where it’s going. I’m not one of those people. My selection of a cruise is mostly based on the destination, with the exception of an occasional Caribbean cruise taken for the sole purpose of escaping the cold. As I stated earlier, I want to see and do as much as possible in each new port. On sea days, I don’t find much to occupy my time. I have no interest in most of the shipboard activities (galley tours, bingo, line dance lessons, etc.). I did participate in the trivia challenges but that consumed less than an hour. So I found myself wandering around a lot. Fortunately, most of the sea days were concentrated at the beginning of this cruise, when my enthusiasm level was highest. So I took the time to get to know the ship.

The Volendam is a perfect size, in my opinion. I like smaller ships as compared to the megaships which seem to be the new standard. I usually prefer a balcony stateroom, although I travel alone since my wife died a few years ago and don’t spend much time in the cabin. It’s just nice to have when you want it. However, on this trip it just didn’t seem worth the considerable extra cost. I booked an outside cabin on Main Deck, just aft of midships. This was a great location, out of the main traffic flow but convenient to both the midship and aft elevators and stairs. The Volendam is in pretty good shape, considering that she’s nine years old. My cabin was fine, with plenty of closet and drawer space for all my “stuff”. My steward, Touluse, was excellent and provided the standard of service I’ve come to expect from Holland America personnel. I found out later in the cruise that his contract was up and that he was disembarking in Auckland. He was professional right to the end of his trip. Plus he made great towel animals!

I mentioned that I had participated in a “roll call” for this cruise. On the first sea day, Greg had organized a “meet and greet” for the twenty-five or so passengers on that roll call. The ship had reserved a section of the Crows Nest for our group and provided coffee, tea, juice and cookies free of charge. It was a great way to get to know your fellow cruisers and I feel that I have some new friends as a result. I also purchased an internet package on the first sea day - $100 for 250 minutes. I thought this was pretty expensive but I didn’t want to be completely out of touch with my friends for two months. E-mail would be better than nothing. However, the response time was somewhere between “slow” and “really slow” so the minutes dwindled very quickly. As a result, I purchased a second package of minutes just about mid-way through the cruise. A suggestion to others: bring a laptop if you plan to use the ship’s internet service. You can compose messages off-line and only sign onto the internet long enough to actually transmit them. You’ll save a lot of money.

This was my first cruise using the “As You Wish” dining option. It’s perfect for me! I’m not a big eater and I never know when I’ll be hungry and this option gave me total flexibility. I had read some criticism while doing my research but HAL must have ironed out the bugs in the system. Greg and I typically went to the dining room around 7:00 pm and we were always seated immediately, usually at a table for six or eight. Service was fine and the pace was about the same as fixed-seating dinners. We also ate in the Lido restaurant quite a few nights and, although it was served buffet style, waiters were there to carry trays to the table and get drinks. I also took advantage of room service on multiple occasions. The menu was extensive, service was quick and the food was good. In fact, I believe that the food quality was better than on previous Holland America cruises. It just seemed to taste better, not quite as bland as on previous trips. One last thing: if you like hamburgers and fries (and I do), don’t miss the Lido grill. The food was excellent, although a little slow at times since they cook everything to order.

That’s about all there is to say regarding the ship itself. By the end of the fourth sea day, I believe that I had seen every inch of the thing. Tomorrow we get back on land. Hopefully, it’s Honolulu but at this point I’ll take any island the captain can locate!

9/25/08 Embarkation Day

2008-12-31T12:07:00.006-05:00

Through some combination of jet lag and excitement, I’m wide awake long before the sun rises. Thank God for Starbucks! There’s a coffee bar in the hotel lobby and, after inhaling a grande Americano, my heart settles into a normal rhythm. Now what? The bus transfer is scheduled for 11:30 so there’s time to kill. Several boring hours later, we meet in the lobby for the transfer to the ship. The luggage had been collected earlier so all we have to do is board the bus and go. Not quite! We’re led to the parking lot (single file, stay in line) to find all the luggage in a line on the concrete. Our driver, a very out-of-shape Jackie Gleason look-alike, is attempting to load the bags, one very slow bag at a time. It’s very hot and I’m concerned that he’s about to have a stroke any minute. We’re told to board the bus, where the air conditioning isn’t working. In an effort to speed the loading process, the HAL rep (a small woman probably in her sixties) started carrying bags two at a time onto the bus. Finally the luggage is loaded and we’re ready to go. Not quite! The door won’t lock. After fifteen minutes of fiddling with the lock, Greg removes the strap from his camera bag and ties the door to the passenger-assist bar. And we’re off. At least for a hundred feet or so. As we exit the parking lot, the bus begins to scrape the ground and the driver announces that we’re not going anywhere. The hydraulic system which raises the bus is shot! We park right in front of the hotel, almost an hour after we were scheduled to depart. After several confusing calls by the driver and the HAL rep (who actually is sub-contracted and works in San Diego), we’re told to go back to the hotel lobby. The bus company will “try to get another bus as soon as possible”. Sorry, ain’t gonna happen! Given my personality, there’s no way I’m waiting around to see how this plays out. Since we’re right in front of the hotel, there are plenty of taxis a few feet away. Greg and I crawled under the bus, retrieved our luggage and hopped into the first taxi in line. It cost us $60 plus tip but it was worth every penny. We arrived at the pier, checked in and were having lunch in less than an hour. Later, we stopped by the front desk and explained what had happened. To HAL’s credit, our taxi fare was refunded (minus tip, of course). Later, as Greg and I enjoy some ice cream in the Lido, the HAL rep walks past. They finally arrived just before 4:00 o’clock. We sail at 5:00….

Of course, before we can sail, there’s the always-entertaining lifeboat drill. This one seemed more confused than usual. Rather than recording cabin numbers as people arrived, the lifeboat captain waited until the drill began, then started calling cabins. Regardless, we survived the drill and were ready to sail on schedule. The sail-away was festive and noisy. Drinks were on special, beer was half-price, Charlie and the HAL Cats were playing and generally everyone was in a good mood! We eased away from the dock, aimed the “pointy” end to the west and sailed off into the sunset. Next stop, Hawaii….

9/24/08 Richmond to Los Angeles

2008-12-31T11:03:00.002-05:00

Finally, after almost a year of planning and research, it’s time to go! I had begun preparing for this trip in late 2007, when I decided to see the South Pacific. I had always said “One of these days….” but had never gotten around to actually doing it. Then I noticed a cruise on Holland America’s website: forty-three nights from L.A. to Sydney, stopping in Hawaii, American Samoa, Western Samoa, Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand and Australia. It seemed like a great way to get an overview of the islands. Plus, everyone who has ever visited New Zealand seems to fall in love with the spectacular scenery so it was high on my “bucket list”. Australia was a bonus even though I would only have a few days in the three ports on the itinerary. So I said, “One of these days is now” and booked the cruise! Then it hit me that while I was in the neighborhood, I should check out French Polynesia as well. So I booked a ten night cruise on the Paul Gauguin beginning on November 12, five days after disembarking in Sydney. Of course, that required airline reservations and hotel reservations so they were booked. Lots of pieces to this little puzzle….

When all the pieces were in place, I had a two month trip which visited thirty-one ports on two cruise ships, four airline flights and four hotel stays. One thing to know about me – I am a very detailed person. I don’t simply leave things to chance. When I go somewhere new, I want to see and do everything. So the research and planning began immediately and went on right up until departure time. Hundreds of websites, articles, traveler reviews, etc. were visited, read, printed, filed, etc. Lists were made, items completed and crossed off, new items added, and on and on. I bought spare batteries and memory cards for each of the two cameras that I would take, a pair of travel binoculars for wildlife viewing, colored luggage handle wraps, etc. I joined “roll calls” for the cruises, chatting with others who were booked on the trip. That turned out to be an excellent move since I had a new group of friends before I even boarded the ship. And I had twenty-nine shore excursions booked! As each item was completed, it went into a file folder (in chronological sequence, naturally). Airline tickets, hotel vouchers, cruise documents, shore excursion descriptions and receipts, etc. all were filed away. There was even a map showing the locations of the smoking lounges in each concourse at the Atlanta airport. I was ready….

Just a quick word about packing. What does one take for a two month vacation? Especially when temperatures will range from very hot (Samoa, Fiji, etc) to almost freezing (New Zealand). My answer: virtually everything I own. Big mistake! I found that I lived in shorts and tee shirts for most of the trip, except during the time spent on the South Island of New Zealand. A lot of clothes came home wrinkled and never worn. Next time, I’ll take less and have more frequent laundry service.

Anyway, I’m standing by the door, bags packed, waiting for my friend who will take me to the airport. She arrives right on time, the bags are loaded and we’re off! The flights are uneventful, on schedule and I arrive at LAX twenty minutes early. I was doing a one-night pre-cruise hotel package (again, taking no chances) so I caught the shuttle to the Marriott, checked in at the desk and with the HAL representative and went to my room. A little later, I met up with Greg, a retired school teacher and principal, whom I had met on the roll call. He was also traveling solo, as his wife wasn’t interested in such a long cruise. We had a lot of similar interests and he became a very good traveling companion. We talked for a while, had a beer and a burger and, my body telling me that it was 1:00 am, I went to bed around 10:00 pm. Looking forward to tomorrow!