The Cruise of a Lifetime!

Day 22 ............ October 17, 2008

At sea - - - Day 22 (10/17) thru Day 23 (10/18)

• Left Noumea at 11:00 pm on 10/16
• Arrive in Bay of Islands, New Zealand, at 8:00 am on 10/19

The ship was feted with a balloon release at 7:00 pm on the night of our departure from Noumea.

Weather 1st day: In 70's and getting cooler; overcast with rain and mist.; 2nd day: partly cloudy, sea with moderate swells, but no white caps.

It is interesting to observe that most of the participants on this type of a cruise are "cruise junkies."

Noumea on Grande Terre Island, New Caledonia

• Tour: Le Petite Train
• The highlights of Noumea including including interesting vistas from higher elevations
• Tour: Mythical Kanak Culture
• The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center
• Guided tour through the museum and gardens

Noumea is considered to be the most cosmopolitan and industrialized city in the South Pacific island area, including rush hour traffic jams (but with smaller cars). French is the major language and is used as the lingua franca for the native populations which speak over 20 different and unrelated (or so they say) languages. The Pacific French Franc is the currency.

The Cultural Center is not just a static museum, but a working project to reacquaint the indigenous populations with their cultural heritage. Groups of children from the various islands are brought to the center for several days at a time for orientation sessions. "Kanak" is the term for native New Caldeans.
***Weather: In 70's; started out sunny, clouded up in the afternoon and rained on the evening-meal open deck BBQ.

Ile de Pins, New Caledonia

• Leisurely afternoon on the island

The ship anchored offshore and we rode in tenders to reach the dock where we were greeted by a native dance troop. This island resort engenders the feeling of the ideal paradise retreat with sparkling clear waters and sandy beaches.

Weather: In 70's and beautiful

Port Vila on Efate Island, Vanuatu ~~ Tour: Glass Bottom Boat & Snorkel Safari

• Boat ride by town water front
• Snorkel site with very clear water
• Taxi ride to downtown Port Vila
• Water taxi ride back to ship

Port Vila is a tourist town with a private resort on an island in the middle of the bay. Vanuatu was know as New Hebrides before independence in the 1980's and at that time was governed jointly by the British and the French. Property can only be owned by natives. Shops close at noon for an hour.

Weather: In 70-80's; Heavy rain shower as we docked, then partly mostly cloudy with occasional showers throughout the day.

Day 18 ............ October 13, 2008

At sea - - - One Day

• Left Suva, Fiji, at 6:00 pm on 10/12
• Arrive in Port-Vila, Vanuatu, at 8:00 am on 10/14

We left Suva about an hour late in order to complete some engine adjustments. Last night the seas were considered "rough" -- 7 to 12 ft waves.

Weather: In 70's; seas moderate.

NOTE that when we crossed the International Dateline, the camera date is correct, but the camera trip day also advanced, so that it is 1 day off

Suva on Viti Levu Island, Fiji ~~ Tour: Pacific Harbor Arts Village

• Staged performances
• Fiji fire walkers
• Traditional Fiji Island ritual dances

Suva has been the most developed of the islands we have visited. A police band met the ship when we docked. The buses were not the home-made variety found in American Samoa and Western Samoa, but more modern. However, the ac system was "au natural". On the way to the show area we encountered several police roadblocks, as the government is still under the coup which happened in 2006. As in the Samoas, Fifi has Sunday Blue Laws, so most of the shops in downtown Suva were closed, although some stores were open because of the presence of the cruise ship.

Weather: In 70's-80's, overcast and misty most of the day.

Day 16 ............ October 11, 2008

At sea - - - One Day

• Left Apia, Samoa at 5:00 pm on 10/9
• Cross the International Dateline
• Arrive in Suva, Fiji, at 8:00 am on 10/12

Note the date; because we are crossing the International Dateline, we are only at sea 1 day. When we cross the dateline, instead of being 7 hours behind Chicago time we jump to 17 hours ahead of Chicago time. At 3:30 pm Fiji time today we have traveled 5350 miles from Los Angeles.

Weather: In 70's-80's with slight seas.

Apia on Upola Island, Western Somoa

• The downtown area
• Government buildings
• The market place
• Sports complex constructed for the South Pacific Games
• The Robert Louis Stevenson Museum ( Villa Vailima)
• Native dances and the Kava Ceremony

The town (and not a village) of Apia and capitol of Western Samoa bustles with activity. The "market place", largely under one roof, consists of many little stalls for food vendors and souvenir vendors and a large open area where islanders can market their home-grown produce. Lots of churches of various denominations; Sunday blue laws in effect.

Weather: Hot (in the 80's), but a constant breeze had a pleasant cooling effect.

PagoPago on Tutuila Island, American Samoa ~~ Myths & Legends of Tuluila

• Flower pot rock (Fatu Rock)
• Village of Leone ~~ site of first Missionary Congregational Church
• Site of the legend of the Turtle and the Shark
• Governor Tauese's Memorial
• Special show on board by native Samoans

Our tour through the main island Tutuila of American Samoa reminded me of the rural south. The bus had wooden seats and the air conditioning consisted of open windows. Our tour guide was a high school student with an incomplete command of English; but what a most interesting experience. Sunday blue laws in effect: no stores open on Sunday. In contrast to the surrounding areas, church compounds are meticuously maintained. Most churches are large auditorium structures.

Weather: Hot (in the 80's) and humid; encountered a brief rain shower on the tour. The vegetation throughout the tour was very lush.

Day 12 ............ October 6, 2008

Crossing the equator

• King Neptune reigning over the initiation ceremony for the "polywogs" from the crew

Fun for all!

Dessert extravaganza in the evening from 10:30 to 11:30.

Day 9 ............ October 3, 2008

At sea - - - Days 9 (Oct. 3) thru 13 (Oct. 7)

• Departed Lahaina at 10:00 pm on 10/2
• Sailed 3,800 miles from LA by 6:00 pm on 10/5
• Crossed the equator at approximately 9:00 am on 10/6
• Arrived in Pago Pago, American Samoa at 8:00 am on 10/8

Weather: The weather at sea has been remarkably pleasant and ranges from mostly cloudy with rain showers to mostly sunny and bright, warm and humid; the veranda is a wonderful asset. The consistent factor so far has been the smoothness of the sea ~~ very little pitch and roll. On the evening of Oct. 5th as the sun was setting, the sea resembled Lake Michigan for me.

Lahaina on Maui Island ~~ Tour: Adventure to Hana

• Surfers at Kaumahina State Wayside
• Ke'anee Peninsula
• Wai'anapanapa Caves
• Black sand beach
• Wailua Falls (but not gushing forth)
• Grave of Charles Lindberg
• Seven Sacred Pools (volcanic rock formations)

Hana is located on the the east coast of Maui between the slopes of Haleakala crater and the Pacific Ocean. For about 50 miles, the route consists of hair-pin curves to navigate the eroded flank of the volcano. Our tour guide gave very detailed snippets of the history of Hawaii, and especially of Maui. Part of the route traversed dense, rain-forest type vegetation, much of it non-native to the islands, in contrast to the Lahaina area which is very dry. Much of the wildlife also is non-native to the island. We saw ferral chickens, cats, mongoose, etc.

Hilo on Hawaii Island ~~ Tour: Explore the Land of Frozen Fire

• Viewing the aftermath of Kilauea Volcano's many eruptions
• Lava Tree State Park
• Ahalanui Warm Springs
• MacKenzie State Park ... lava cliffs at seaside
• Kapoho lava field
• Kaimu black-sand beach
• Enormous steam plume where Kilauea lava currently entering the sea
• Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory

Our tour was in a 12-passenger van driven by a most congenial tour guide and meandered through the rain forests and sea coast of the southern part of the island. There are still parts of the island which use generators or solar-charged batteries for power and collect rain water off of the roof for non-drinking purposes; no telephone service. Have not seen a great deal of wild life; apparently, much of the wildlife derives from non-indigenous ferral stock (pigs, rats, mongoose, donkeys, etc.).

Weather: bright and sunny, hot in the sun, comfortable in the shade; yesterday the tour guide said that it rained the entire day.

Honolulu on Oahu Island ~~ Walking tour of downtown

• Fort Street Mall
• Episcopal Cathedral Church of St. Andrew
• Iolani Palace
• State Capitol
• Statue of King Kamehameha
• Early dinner at Don Ho's Restaurant

Our tour was conducted by "Joe", who claimed to be a descendent of King Kamehameha; his ongoing commentary of local history and lore was the most interesting part of the tour and dove-tailed with the four lectures on Hawaii given by George Losey on the ship. The day ended with an evening of Hawaiian music and hula on board ship.

Weather: Mist and drizzle as we approached Oahu, but sunny and in the 80's in Honolulu

Day 1 ............ September 25, 2008

At sea - - - Days 1 (9/25) thru 5 (9/29)

• Departure from Long Beach Harbor
• Lifeboat drill
• Finding the Internet Cafe
• and the food!
• Arrival in Honolulu at 12:00 noon of Day 6

We sailed from Long Beach at 5:00 pm of Day 1 in clear weather, but ran into a fog bank a couple of miles out of the harbor. Days 2 and 3 remained overcast and misty with the temperature in the 50's. Day 4 dawned bright and sunny with the daytime temperature remaining near 70, with a somewhat brisk breeze (ship's speed of 18-20 knots), and smooth seas.