We have been back home now for over a month and already our time in paradise seems like a dream ... long ago and certainly far away. We have been surprised by the amount of traffic our blog has generated and the many requests for the link.
If you are checking this for the first time, please note that the most recent posts appear first. If you would rather read it in chronological order start with "Monday, April 16, 2007 - Sydney" and work backwards title by title. It's a bit wordy but it was very difficult to summarize 30 days of such wonderful experiences any better without losing the reasons for its wonder.
Enjoy!!
Stu and Wendy
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Sunday, May 13, 2007
HAWAII AND SHIPBOARD
OAHU
We had been to Oahu on a previous cruise in ‘04 so we knew where we wanted to revisit. Our ship was docked next to the Aloha Tower right on the downtown Honolulu waterfront so we were able to access our rental car quickly and get beyond Waikiki to the best parts of the island.
We headed beyond Diamond Head to Hanauma Bay, an extinct volcanic crater, open to the sea on one side and an excellent snorkelling site. We continued along the scenic coastline to a state park on the east coast which reputedly has one of the 10 best beaches in the USA. It is a superb beach of fine, white sand, beautifully coloured water and shaded picnic areas. The wind was strong and so once again we were able to watch the kite boarders do their thing with some getting up to 10 feet in the air as they surfed across the waves, pulled by their kite sail. Lessons were being offered on the beach and if not for the other things we wanted to do before sail away, Stu would have signed up.
We continued up the scenic east coast, site of numerous movie shoots over the years because of its exquisite scenery of sculpted mountain cliffs, offshore islands, endless sand beaches and beautiful waters. En route we stopped at one of the many shrimp trucks for lunch. Chip trucks back home are great but don’t offer large, succulent shrimp with your choice of numerous, tasty sauces served with rice salad and local veggies, across the road from the beach scenery ….. no contest!
The north shore surf wasn’t as high as we had seen it during our last visit (it can get up to 50 - 60 feet!) but there were still a lot of surfers providing a great show for us as well as young cliff jumpers plummeting into too shallow water below.
On the way back to Honolulu we had to stop at the Dole Plantation for our fix of pineapple ice cream. After dropping off the car, we enjoyed the shops and bars of the Aloha Tower area next to the ship. The live band and brewed-on-site beer on the harbour side was as great as we had remembered.
We were invited to the penthouse suite of friends we had met onboard to enjoy a 10 p.m. sail away party. Their suite was aft and so we were able to sip champagne on their balcony while the ship’s wake and the lights of Oahu’s south coast provided another blissful memory to draw on for years to come.
HILO - ISLAND OF HAWAII
Our second Hawaiian port was on the east side of Hawaii’s ‘Big Island’. The main attraction here is the active volcano of Kilauea. We had set up a private tour with a local Hawaiian guide who had been a park ranger. Accordingly, he knows the volcano and the island very well. Warren met us dockside and drove us southwest to the volcano’s lava field via the papaya and macadamia nut plantations. Wendy had heard about the medicinal benefits of a local fruit, the noni, from another cancer survivor on board and so when we saw a small, local processing plant next to the noni fields we had to stop. Noni juice smells and tastes like blue cheese but despite this we added some to our ever-expanding pile of acquisitions which will never fit into our luggage.
We approached the lava field via a highway which had been covered by lava in the 1990’s. The highway ends abruptly and is replaced with a bumpy track across the lava field to the next stretches of lava free highway. Eventually we reached the main lava field which extends for miles back up to the crater from our coastal position and laterally for miles as well. The immensity of the lumpy, cake batter-like, black and grey swath of destruction was mind-boggling. The lava flow has been occurring in this location since the 1980’s and still continues as we were about to witness. There are also isolated islands of vegetation which had been surrounded by the lava, sparing these bits of greenery and the few houses on them, some of which are still inhabited.
We headed out with Warren across this undulating field. The various shapes taken by the oozing lava as it cooled were fascinating as were the glinting, coloured, glass particles of the resulting basaltic rock. In places we encountered mounds of lava which had cooled and split open. Small ferns were already revegetating this barren landscape. We felt as though we were present at the dawn of the earth’s creation. After a two-kilometre hike across this extraterrestrial landscape we came to our destination, an area where fresh lava was flowing on the surface. We could feel the heat as we approached but until we encountered the red of the fresh lava we were not aware (until Warren told us) that the slightly more silver appearing lava we were walking on was only a few hours old. The fresh lava we came upon oozed out from under the cooled lava like hot cake batter, quickly cooling and turning grey. We could feel the heat of the earth through our boot soles and had to be careful that they did not melt. A short rain shower added to the experience as it hissed down upon the lava, steaming away instantaneously. We watched the lava pour forth for a long time, mesmerized by its relentless advance and the new shapes it was adding to the surface of the pre-existing lava field. Wow!!!
Reluctantly, we hiked back to our vehicle and drove out of the active zone to a beautiful, forested area of seashore. Upon hearing that Wendy loves mangos, Warren sought out a tree where she was able to eat them to her heart’s delight. Many of the mango trees here are wild and so readily accessible. We proceeded to a glade of high, canopied trees on the edge of seaside cliffs. The high spray of the waves on the rocks and cliffs provided another display of nature’s force. We put out blankets in the dappled sunshine of the grassy forest floor and enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch, watching nature’s display as the waves came marching in from thousands of miles away. As usual we had to return to our ship and sail away once again, this time for four days to Los Angeles where our cruise ends.
ON BOARD
As I write this final instalment, we are three days out of L.A. on our final sea leg. As such, it is a good time to go on a bit about the delights of the many days we have spent at sea on Sapphire Princess, our floating pleasure palace.
The weeks of travel from Sydney to L.A., 10,500 nautical miles across the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, at a relatively speedy 22 nautical mph, provides a great lesson in the enormous extent of our ocean surface and our relative insignificance. In all of our sea days we saw only one other ship, otherwise only vast stretches of water for miles in all directions. We have crossed both the international dateline and the equator and experienced those changes in climate and time in ways that are not as apparent from doing so by jet. The fall leaves and cool temperatures of New Zealand stand in great contrast to the muggy heat of the tropics and the cooler early summer-like weather we are encountering as we approach L.A. Repeating April 28th two days in a row as we crossed the international dateline was also a unique experience.
The prodigious quantities of superb food on cruises is legendary so suffice it to say that we have packed away the clothes that no longer fit and keep promising ourselves that we will eat less the next day but the clothes just get tighter. A month at sea can do that to a person, on a cruise ship at least.
One of the greatest pleasures of life on board ship is meeting people from all over the world. We have met many new friends from many parts of the U.S., Australia, the U.K., Canada and Germany. A month in our small town here at sea allows us to really get to know people and compare notes on life in our various countries and regions. Our town does not possess the average demographic with the older and wealthier dominating. We are the young and poor relatively. The young part we like. We even have our local celebrities, one an actor from NYPD. He spends most of his time in the gym while his wife sits poolside with Wendy and the other sun bunnies. Although we have had no births in ‘town’ that we know about, there have been five deaths due to the older demographic. It’s not pleasant to know that the ship has a morgue and had prepared for at least 11 deaths during our voyage, but on the other hand it is not a bad way to spend your last days on earth compared to some of the alternatives.
We have developed a lifestyle these past weeks at sea of the idle rich, engaging in poolside indolence, various opportunities for enrichment activities and lectures, explorations of the ship’s many bars, entertainment venues, shops and quiet areas, sunset gazing from the ship top’s hot tubs or just watching the ocean slip by below our balcony. It will be hard to leave but our onboard bill just arrived so when we return home we will be neither idle nor rich. Reality awaits but what a slice of paradise we have enjoyed now and in our memories for the rest of our life!
Stu and Wendy
We had been to Oahu on a previous cruise in ‘04 so we knew where we wanted to revisit. Our ship was docked next to the Aloha Tower right on the downtown Honolulu waterfront so we were able to access our rental car quickly and get beyond Waikiki to the best parts of the island.
We headed beyond Diamond Head to Hanauma Bay, an extinct volcanic crater, open to the sea on one side and an excellent snorkelling site. We continued along the scenic coastline to a state park on the east coast which reputedly has one of the 10 best beaches in the USA. It is a superb beach of fine, white sand, beautifully coloured water and shaded picnic areas. The wind was strong and so once again we were able to watch the kite boarders do their thing with some getting up to 10 feet in the air as they surfed across the waves, pulled by their kite sail. Lessons were being offered on the beach and if not for the other things we wanted to do before sail away, Stu would have signed up.
We continued up the scenic east coast, site of numerous movie shoots over the years because of its exquisite scenery of sculpted mountain cliffs, offshore islands, endless sand beaches and beautiful waters. En route we stopped at one of the many shrimp trucks for lunch. Chip trucks back home are great but don’t offer large, succulent shrimp with your choice of numerous, tasty sauces served with rice salad and local veggies, across the road from the beach scenery ….. no contest!
The north shore surf wasn’t as high as we had seen it during our last visit (it can get up to 50 - 60 feet!) but there were still a lot of surfers providing a great show for us as well as young cliff jumpers plummeting into too shallow water below.
On the way back to Honolulu we had to stop at the Dole Plantation for our fix of pineapple ice cream. After dropping off the car, we enjoyed the shops and bars of the Aloha Tower area next to the ship. The live band and brewed-on-site beer on the harbour side was as great as we had remembered.
We were invited to the penthouse suite of friends we had met onboard to enjoy a 10 p.m. sail away party. Their suite was aft and so we were able to sip champagne on their balcony while the ship’s wake and the lights of Oahu’s south coast provided another blissful memory to draw on for years to come.
HILO - ISLAND OF HAWAII
Our second Hawaiian port was on the east side of Hawaii’s ‘Big Island’. The main attraction here is the active volcano of Kilauea. We had set up a private tour with a local Hawaiian guide who had been a park ranger. Accordingly, he knows the volcano and the island very well. Warren met us dockside and drove us southwest to the volcano’s lava field via the papaya and macadamia nut plantations. Wendy had heard about the medicinal benefits of a local fruit, the noni, from another cancer survivor on board and so when we saw a small, local processing plant next to the noni fields we had to stop. Noni juice smells and tastes like blue cheese but despite this we added some to our ever-expanding pile of acquisitions which will never fit into our luggage.
We approached the lava field via a highway which had been covered by lava in the 1990’s. The highway ends abruptly and is replaced with a bumpy track across the lava field to the next stretches of lava free highway. Eventually we reached the main lava field which extends for miles back up to the crater from our coastal position and laterally for miles as well. The immensity of the lumpy, cake batter-like, black and grey swath of destruction was mind-boggling. The lava flow has been occurring in this location since the 1980’s and still continues as we were about to witness. There are also isolated islands of vegetation which had been surrounded by the lava, sparing these bits of greenery and the few houses on them, some of which are still inhabited.
We headed out with Warren across this undulating field. The various shapes taken by the oozing lava as it cooled were fascinating as were the glinting, coloured, glass particles of the resulting basaltic rock. In places we encountered mounds of lava which had cooled and split open. Small ferns were already revegetating this barren landscape. We felt as though we were present at the dawn of the earth’s creation. After a two-kilometre hike across this extraterrestrial landscape we came to our destination, an area where fresh lava was flowing on the surface. We could feel the heat as we approached but until we encountered the red of the fresh lava we were not aware (until Warren told us) that the slightly more silver appearing lava we were walking on was only a few hours old. The fresh lava we came upon oozed out from under the cooled lava like hot cake batter, quickly cooling and turning grey. We could feel the heat of the earth through our boot soles and had to be careful that they did not melt. A short rain shower added to the experience as it hissed down upon the lava, steaming away instantaneously. We watched the lava pour forth for a long time, mesmerized by its relentless advance and the new shapes it was adding to the surface of the pre-existing lava field. Wow!!!
Reluctantly, we hiked back to our vehicle and drove out of the active zone to a beautiful, forested area of seashore. Upon hearing that Wendy loves mangos, Warren sought out a tree where she was able to eat them to her heart’s delight. Many of the mango trees here are wild and so readily accessible. We proceeded to a glade of high, canopied trees on the edge of seaside cliffs. The high spray of the waves on the rocks and cliffs provided another display of nature’s force. We put out blankets in the dappled sunshine of the grassy forest floor and enjoyed a lovely picnic lunch, watching nature’s display as the waves came marching in from thousands of miles away. As usual we had to return to our ship and sail away once again, this time for four days to Los Angeles where our cruise ends.
ON BOARD
As I write this final instalment, we are three days out of L.A. on our final sea leg. As such, it is a good time to go on a bit about the delights of the many days we have spent at sea on Sapphire Princess, our floating pleasure palace.
The weeks of travel from Sydney to L.A., 10,500 nautical miles across the immensity of the Pacific Ocean, at a relatively speedy 22 nautical mph, provides a great lesson in the enormous extent of our ocean surface and our relative insignificance. In all of our sea days we saw only one other ship, otherwise only vast stretches of water for miles in all directions. We have crossed both the international dateline and the equator and experienced those changes in climate and time in ways that are not as apparent from doing so by jet. The fall leaves and cool temperatures of New Zealand stand in great contrast to the muggy heat of the tropics and the cooler early summer-like weather we are encountering as we approach L.A. Repeating April 28th two days in a row as we crossed the international dateline was also a unique experience.
The prodigious quantities of superb food on cruises is legendary so suffice it to say that we have packed away the clothes that no longer fit and keep promising ourselves that we will eat less the next day but the clothes just get tighter. A month at sea can do that to a person, on a cruise ship at least.
One of the greatest pleasures of life on board ship is meeting people from all over the world. We have met many new friends from many parts of the U.S., Australia, the U.K., Canada and Germany. A month in our small town here at sea allows us to really get to know people and compare notes on life in our various countries and regions. Our town does not possess the average demographic with the older and wealthier dominating. We are the young and poor relatively. The young part we like. We even have our local celebrities, one an actor from NYPD. He spends most of his time in the gym while his wife sits poolside with Wendy and the other sun bunnies. Although we have had no births in ‘town’ that we know about, there have been five deaths due to the older demographic. It’s not pleasant to know that the ship has a morgue and had prepared for at least 11 deaths during our voyage, but on the other hand it is not a bad way to spend your last days on earth compared to some of the alternatives.
We have developed a lifestyle these past weeks at sea of the idle rich, engaging in poolside indolence, various opportunities for enrichment activities and lectures, explorations of the ship’s many bars, entertainment venues, shops and quiet areas, sunset gazing from the ship top’s hot tubs or just watching the ocean slip by below our balcony. It will be hard to leave but our onboard bill just arrived so when we return home we will be neither idle nor rich. Reality awaits but what a slice of paradise we have enjoyed now and in our memories for the rest of our life!
Stu and Wendy
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Friday, May 11, 2007
THE SOUTH SEAS ISLANDS
FIJI
After two wonderful days at sea we sailed into Suva, the capital city of Fiji. There has been political unrest there recently with a peaceful government coup and so tourists have been avoiding this area recently. As well, Suva is not really a tourist-oriented part of Fiji with the resorts elsewhere on the islands. Given all of this the locals were very glad to see us, as we were the first cruise ship they had seen in a few months.
Fiji is an interesting culture of native Fijians (Polynesians) and the economically dominant East Indian population, hence the government issues between these two groups. We stayed in Suva as the tourist areas were too far out of town for us to easily access them in the limited time in port. It is very much a third world city and so some of the cruisers quickly fled back to the ship and their comfortable surroundings. It’s an older, wealthier demographic onboard not always willing to step outside their comfort bubble. As it happened there was a festival taking place that day and so we were treated to street stalls, local entertainment including hula style dancers, bands and competing radio stations blaring out their play lists at deafening levels. It was very colourful and entertaining but also very hot and humid (go figure). The beautiful sounds of a choir coming from a nearby church only added to the colourful ambience.
We especially appreciated the vegetable and seafood market where locals come into town to sell their produce. The colours of the goods, the dress, the interesting people and the exotic produce were enthralling. The locals were sincerely friendly with broad smiles and very interested in us and our huge ship. Stu had a long conversation with a young barrow boy who transported produce around the market by wheelbarrow. He was very interested in meeting an outsider and in fact wanted to become a ‘pen pal’ as he had never met anyone from Canada before.
As we left port that evening we were greeted with waves from the seafront and the honking and tooting of car and boat horns. Quite a send-off and introduction to the South Seas islands.
Samoa - Pago Pago
A day’s sail NE of Fiji sits Samoa, our next stop. We put in at Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila. As we approached at dawn we were greeted by a mountainous rugged island with steep, lushly vegetated slopes. The harbour is the crater of an extinct volcano that blew out one side to let the sea enter so it is very deep and steep sided.
The island is very lightly populated and so Pago Pago is really more of a village with its few buildings on the limited areas of flat land close to shore. We landed on a Sunday which lent an even sleepier tone to these very religious South Sea Islands (the missionaries long presence here has had quite an impact on the locals). As we passed by the many churches the handsome Samoan women and men lingered outside in their white lava lavas catching up on the news.
We took a local tour up onto a pass between the mountains affording a beautiful view of the harbour and our ship below and on the other side of the island the ruggedly beautiful, sparsely populated coast of surf, islands and rain forest. The villages we passed through had the typical Samoan layout with family compounds of low, large buildings. Families live next to one another in these compounds and their ancestor’s graves are part of the compound right next to the houses. There is also a central fale or hut with a thatched roof and no walls used for entertaining guests, a sort of communal Samoan living room.
Our ultimate destination was Tisa’s Barefoot Beach Bar, the most popular tourist and local’s destination on the island. It is located on a sandy shore with large waves breaking on the offshore reef and quiet tidal pools for snorkelling. The restaurant-bar consists of a series of thatched open sided huts along the beach with easy access to it. It is a wonderful ’Mom and Pop’ operation owned by Tisa, a beautiful former Samoan model and her surfer style, pony-tailed NZ husband known only as “Candyman”. This is the real deal, the colourful kind of bar where you expect to see Ernest Hemingway regaling the patrons. The locals and expats here are right out of a novel, colourful and interesting. Stu had interesting conversations with some of the more colourful. One of them was Mihala, a Samoan who had returned home to retire. He had left home to fight three tours of duty in Vietnam in the late 60’s and then settled in California raising a family of successful professionals who can’t understand why he has decided to leave them and return home. Stu broached with him the topic of Joe Pao Pao, a famous CFL player and coach, as he is the only Samoan he knows of. Turns out Mihala grew up with him and had no knowledge of Joe’s offshore fame in Canada. The bar owner Candyman told Stu of the 15 year struggle to get the bar and restaurant up and running having to rebuild after hurricanes. Mike, a toothless, 40 something, pony tailed, lava lava wearing child of an American marine and local Samoan provided an interesting background into life growing up in Samoa, leaving and then returning. We also found time to enjoy a lunch of fresh swordfish and veggie skewers presented on woven palm frond dishes and washed down with the local high-test beer.
As the sun set and we sailed away this little slice of paradise receded from view but we are sure not from memory.
Rarotonga
Raro, as the locals call it, is affiliated with New Zealand and so shares its standard of living to a certain extent as well as its clean, efficient and very friendly atmosphere. The island is a typical South Seas, reef encircled, green, mountainous and beautiful Eden. Our large ship was unable to put into port because of the reef and the size of our ship so we were taken ashore by the ships launches.
We had arranged for a car rental and so after Stu obtained his Cook Islands license from the local police station he picked up the convertible, 4X4 rental. He immediately turned the wrong way onto a four-lane avenue despite the large 36 point font sticker on the dash that noted he should ‘KEEP LEFT’. Not only did the vehicle have right hand drive but the windshield wiper control was where the turn signal is in right hand side Canada so every time he wanted to turn he put the windshield wipers on. Very disconcerting .... until he stopped for a local brew.
Rarotonga has a ring road that encircles the whole island so off we went exploring. The interior consisted of volcanic pinnacles sheathed in green and the shoreline was a seemingly endless white sand, tree lined beach. We stopped first at Muri Beach where we waded in the turquoise coloured waters, watched the waves crash on the offshore reef and enjoyed the sight of younger people after our days on a ship where the average age is at least 15 years older than us. Not that there is anything wrong with that but bathing suits and bikinis definitely look better on people younger rather than older than us.
We continued around the island stopping at a number of beaches stretching into the distance with almost nobody on them. At one we discovered a resort with a restaurant perched right on the sea’s edge. We enjoyed perhaps the best fish and chips that we have ever had. The beer was pretty great as well. We also enjoyed feeding scraps to schools of large, colourful, tropical fish swimming by our deck table in the shallow, sand bottomed lagoon. Once again we had discovered paradise.
Raro has stunning scenery, beaches and is still relatively undiscovered so it is uncrowded. We didn’t want to leave, especially Wendy who discovered the numerous pearl shops and availed herself of the opportunity to acquire a black pearl pendant, earrings and necklace. However, our floating five star resort was about to leave and so we retired to the after deck with cold drink in hand to enjoy the sunset as Raro shrunk into the distance.
BORA BORA
Bora Bora is the iconic South Seas Island. It was apparently Michener’s model for South Pacific and is on many lists as the world’s most beautiful island. Much of this is due to its large multi-hued lagoon surrounded by reef and motus (small islands where the reef has built up above the sea with sediment and vegetation). The island itself has a precipitous, block shaped peak arising from its centre, it and its slopes covered in green and colourful tropical flowers. The lagoon is deep enough for our huge ship to anchor within. We were joined that day with another smaller cruise ship as well.
Despite the good weather we had been experiencing, we arrived here on a rainy, overcast day. The rain abated as the morning progressed but the clouds persisted. This only detracted from the colour palette of the island and lagoon though as the beauty shone through otherwise. As well, our activities in the morning were water based and so not as weather dependent.
.
Wendy departed on a cruise of the lagoon including views of the famous over the water bungalows of the luxurious resorts, a picnic on a motu beach, accompaniment by a pod of dolphins and the piece de resistance, snorkelling with stingrays and reef sharks. Those of you who know Wendy know that snorkelling and large things living in water she is in have never been a big draw for her. In fact she goes out of her way to avoid such experiences. On this occasion the tour guide put ‘chum’ in the water to attract the stingrays, other large colourful fish and black tip reef sharks. It wasn’t long until he was surrounded by a froth of fish. Wendy was coaxed into the water and ended up feeding, stroking and sweet-talking the rays. She even had a shark swim by and graze her leg with its rough skin. She loved it all pronouncing it to be the best experience of her trip so far, something she finds herself saying each day as a new experience exceeds a previous.
Stu spent the morning scuba diving outside the reef in crystal clear waters at a depth of 90 feet. The dive master brought fish food down with him. We were instructed to stay a few feet away from him at the bottom and we watched as he was soon surrounded by schools of large colourful fish, 4-6 foot long black tip reef sharks and 10-12 foot long lemon sharks. Previous shark dives Stu had taken were ones where the shark sightings were incidental and not the result of attracting them with food. This was definitely an exciting difference as the sharks circled the group and the dive master. On a number of occasions large lemon sharks approached Stu head on and mouth open turning away finally from about four feet out. Wow! There were also sightings of moray eels, lionfish and the usual colourful reef schools.
Stu and Wendy met in the afternoon at the local bar of international fame, Bloody Mary’s, to share their stories and enjoy the scenery across the lagoon to the central mountain peak. Other time was spent wandering the white sands of Matira Beach and of course shopping.
Sail away that night was enhanced by the lights of the Tahitian Princess at anchor in the lagoon as well as the strings of lights stretching out from the decks of the over the water bungalows of the lagoon-side luxury resorts. Later that night we sat on our balcony enjoying a glass of wine as the full moon provided a triangular, shimmering carpet of light spreading towards us on the ocean surface. We passed by the lights of the island of Raiatea and then retired to bed not certain where reality ended and our dreams began.
TAHITI - MOOREA
Tahiti is well known as a travel destination and has a lot to offer. Despite this we chose to visit its nearby neighbour Moorea as we had read and heard that its beauty was as good as it gets in the South Seas. Upon leaving the ship we wandered to the next berth and caught a modern hydrofoil ferry for the 30-minute trip to Moorea.
We toured along the east and north coasts of the island. Jaded though we might have been from the previous islands, we were in awe of Moorea’s beauty. The mountains here are even more sculpted into statuesque forms that give the appearance of the buttes and mesas of the American SW except higher, greener and augmented by the sea. We went inland to a high belvedere where the colourful bays were visible, separated by massive peaks.
Back on the coast we boarded a covered boat for a cruise through the multi hued lagoon. Kite boarders gave us a show as they road their boards, pulled along by a parachute-like kite high above, occasionally leaving the surface as they were pulled aloft. We stopped at a nearby motu where we alighted onto a white sand beach with the requisite stingrays awaiting our arrival. We enjoyed the beach, the friendly rays and a great BBQ lunch. The highlight was a demonstration of the preparation of the local version of ceviche. Raw red tuna caught that morning was cooked by a lime and salt mixture and then mixed with coconut milk (from the nearby coconuts growing on the palms) cucumber, onion, carrots and tomatoes. Sushi was never this good!
As the afternoon waned, we had to take leave of our most recently encountered utopia. Because the ship was setting sail early for the four-day trip to Hawaii we caught a local plane back to Tahiti. The 14 passenger twin otter allowed us a great view of Moorea and Tahiti during the seven-minute flight. After crawling through the rush hour traffic of Papeete (the biggest city in the South Seas Islands) we boarded just in time to sail away, enjoying beautiful views of Tahiti from our balcony.
After two wonderful days at sea we sailed into Suva, the capital city of Fiji. There has been political unrest there recently with a peaceful government coup and so tourists have been avoiding this area recently. As well, Suva is not really a tourist-oriented part of Fiji with the resorts elsewhere on the islands. Given all of this the locals were very glad to see us, as we were the first cruise ship they had seen in a few months.
Fiji is an interesting culture of native Fijians (Polynesians) and the economically dominant East Indian population, hence the government issues between these two groups. We stayed in Suva as the tourist areas were too far out of town for us to easily access them in the limited time in port. It is very much a third world city and so some of the cruisers quickly fled back to the ship and their comfortable surroundings. It’s an older, wealthier demographic onboard not always willing to step outside their comfort bubble. As it happened there was a festival taking place that day and so we were treated to street stalls, local entertainment including hula style dancers, bands and competing radio stations blaring out their play lists at deafening levels. It was very colourful and entertaining but also very hot and humid (go figure). The beautiful sounds of a choir coming from a nearby church only added to the colourful ambience.
We especially appreciated the vegetable and seafood market where locals come into town to sell their produce. The colours of the goods, the dress, the interesting people and the exotic produce were enthralling. The locals were sincerely friendly with broad smiles and very interested in us and our huge ship. Stu had a long conversation with a young barrow boy who transported produce around the market by wheelbarrow. He was very interested in meeting an outsider and in fact wanted to become a ‘pen pal’ as he had never met anyone from Canada before.
As we left port that evening we were greeted with waves from the seafront and the honking and tooting of car and boat horns. Quite a send-off and introduction to the South Seas islands.
Samoa - Pago Pago
A day’s sail NE of Fiji sits Samoa, our next stop. We put in at Pago Pago on the island of Tutuila. As we approached at dawn we were greeted by a mountainous rugged island with steep, lushly vegetated slopes. The harbour is the crater of an extinct volcano that blew out one side to let the sea enter so it is very deep and steep sided.
The island is very lightly populated and so Pago Pago is really more of a village with its few buildings on the limited areas of flat land close to shore. We landed on a Sunday which lent an even sleepier tone to these very religious South Sea Islands (the missionaries long presence here has had quite an impact on the locals). As we passed by the many churches the handsome Samoan women and men lingered outside in their white lava lavas catching up on the news.
We took a local tour up onto a pass between the mountains affording a beautiful view of the harbour and our ship below and on the other side of the island the ruggedly beautiful, sparsely populated coast of surf, islands and rain forest. The villages we passed through had the typical Samoan layout with family compounds of low, large buildings. Families live next to one another in these compounds and their ancestor’s graves are part of the compound right next to the houses. There is also a central fale or hut with a thatched roof and no walls used for entertaining guests, a sort of communal Samoan living room.
Our ultimate destination was Tisa’s Barefoot Beach Bar, the most popular tourist and local’s destination on the island. It is located on a sandy shore with large waves breaking on the offshore reef and quiet tidal pools for snorkelling. The restaurant-bar consists of a series of thatched open sided huts along the beach with easy access to it. It is a wonderful ’Mom and Pop’ operation owned by Tisa, a beautiful former Samoan model and her surfer style, pony-tailed NZ husband known only as “Candyman”. This is the real deal, the colourful kind of bar where you expect to see Ernest Hemingway regaling the patrons. The locals and expats here are right out of a novel, colourful and interesting. Stu had interesting conversations with some of the more colourful. One of them was Mihala, a Samoan who had returned home to retire. He had left home to fight three tours of duty in Vietnam in the late 60’s and then settled in California raising a family of successful professionals who can’t understand why he has decided to leave them and return home. Stu broached with him the topic of Joe Pao Pao, a famous CFL player and coach, as he is the only Samoan he knows of. Turns out Mihala grew up with him and had no knowledge of Joe’s offshore fame in Canada. The bar owner Candyman told Stu of the 15 year struggle to get the bar and restaurant up and running having to rebuild after hurricanes. Mike, a toothless, 40 something, pony tailed, lava lava wearing child of an American marine and local Samoan provided an interesting background into life growing up in Samoa, leaving and then returning. We also found time to enjoy a lunch of fresh swordfish and veggie skewers presented on woven palm frond dishes and washed down with the local high-test beer.
As the sun set and we sailed away this little slice of paradise receded from view but we are sure not from memory.
Rarotonga
Raro, as the locals call it, is affiliated with New Zealand and so shares its standard of living to a certain extent as well as its clean, efficient and very friendly atmosphere. The island is a typical South Seas, reef encircled, green, mountainous and beautiful Eden. Our large ship was unable to put into port because of the reef and the size of our ship so we were taken ashore by the ships launches.
We had arranged for a car rental and so after Stu obtained his Cook Islands license from the local police station he picked up the convertible, 4X4 rental. He immediately turned the wrong way onto a four-lane avenue despite the large 36 point font sticker on the dash that noted he should ‘KEEP LEFT’. Not only did the vehicle have right hand drive but the windshield wiper control was where the turn signal is in right hand side Canada so every time he wanted to turn he put the windshield wipers on. Very disconcerting .... until he stopped for a local brew.
Rarotonga has a ring road that encircles the whole island so off we went exploring. The interior consisted of volcanic pinnacles sheathed in green and the shoreline was a seemingly endless white sand, tree lined beach. We stopped first at Muri Beach where we waded in the turquoise coloured waters, watched the waves crash on the offshore reef and enjoyed the sight of younger people after our days on a ship where the average age is at least 15 years older than us. Not that there is anything wrong with that but bathing suits and bikinis definitely look better on people younger rather than older than us.
We continued around the island stopping at a number of beaches stretching into the distance with almost nobody on them. At one we discovered a resort with a restaurant perched right on the sea’s edge. We enjoyed perhaps the best fish and chips that we have ever had. The beer was pretty great as well. We also enjoyed feeding scraps to schools of large, colourful, tropical fish swimming by our deck table in the shallow, sand bottomed lagoon. Once again we had discovered paradise.
Raro has stunning scenery, beaches and is still relatively undiscovered so it is uncrowded. We didn’t want to leave, especially Wendy who discovered the numerous pearl shops and availed herself of the opportunity to acquire a black pearl pendant, earrings and necklace. However, our floating five star resort was about to leave and so we retired to the after deck with cold drink in hand to enjoy the sunset as Raro shrunk into the distance.
BORA BORA
Bora Bora is the iconic South Seas Island. It was apparently Michener’s model for South Pacific and is on many lists as the world’s most beautiful island. Much of this is due to its large multi-hued lagoon surrounded by reef and motus (small islands where the reef has built up above the sea with sediment and vegetation). The island itself has a precipitous, block shaped peak arising from its centre, it and its slopes covered in green and colourful tropical flowers. The lagoon is deep enough for our huge ship to anchor within. We were joined that day with another smaller cruise ship as well.
Despite the good weather we had been experiencing, we arrived here on a rainy, overcast day. The rain abated as the morning progressed but the clouds persisted. This only detracted from the colour palette of the island and lagoon though as the beauty shone through otherwise. As well, our activities in the morning were water based and so not as weather dependent.
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Wendy departed on a cruise of the lagoon including views of the famous over the water bungalows of the luxurious resorts, a picnic on a motu beach, accompaniment by a pod of dolphins and the piece de resistance, snorkelling with stingrays and reef sharks. Those of you who know Wendy know that snorkelling and large things living in water she is in have never been a big draw for her. In fact she goes out of her way to avoid such experiences. On this occasion the tour guide put ‘chum’ in the water to attract the stingrays, other large colourful fish and black tip reef sharks. It wasn’t long until he was surrounded by a froth of fish. Wendy was coaxed into the water and ended up feeding, stroking and sweet-talking the rays. She even had a shark swim by and graze her leg with its rough skin. She loved it all pronouncing it to be the best experience of her trip so far, something she finds herself saying each day as a new experience exceeds a previous.
Stu spent the morning scuba diving outside the reef in crystal clear waters at a depth of 90 feet. The dive master brought fish food down with him. We were instructed to stay a few feet away from him at the bottom and we watched as he was soon surrounded by schools of large colourful fish, 4-6 foot long black tip reef sharks and 10-12 foot long lemon sharks. Previous shark dives Stu had taken were ones where the shark sightings were incidental and not the result of attracting them with food. This was definitely an exciting difference as the sharks circled the group and the dive master. On a number of occasions large lemon sharks approached Stu head on and mouth open turning away finally from about four feet out. Wow! There were also sightings of moray eels, lionfish and the usual colourful reef schools.
Stu and Wendy met in the afternoon at the local bar of international fame, Bloody Mary’s, to share their stories and enjoy the scenery across the lagoon to the central mountain peak. Other time was spent wandering the white sands of Matira Beach and of course shopping.
Sail away that night was enhanced by the lights of the Tahitian Princess at anchor in the lagoon as well as the strings of lights stretching out from the decks of the over the water bungalows of the lagoon-side luxury resorts. Later that night we sat on our balcony enjoying a glass of wine as the full moon provided a triangular, shimmering carpet of light spreading towards us on the ocean surface. We passed by the lights of the island of Raiatea and then retired to bed not certain where reality ended and our dreams began.
TAHITI - MOOREA
Tahiti is well known as a travel destination and has a lot to offer. Despite this we chose to visit its nearby neighbour Moorea as we had read and heard that its beauty was as good as it gets in the South Seas. Upon leaving the ship we wandered to the next berth and caught a modern hydrofoil ferry for the 30-minute trip to Moorea.
We toured along the east and north coasts of the island. Jaded though we might have been from the previous islands, we were in awe of Moorea’s beauty. The mountains here are even more sculpted into statuesque forms that give the appearance of the buttes and mesas of the American SW except higher, greener and augmented by the sea. We went inland to a high belvedere where the colourful bays were visible, separated by massive peaks.
Back on the coast we boarded a covered boat for a cruise through the multi hued lagoon. Kite boarders gave us a show as they road their boards, pulled along by a parachute-like kite high above, occasionally leaving the surface as they were pulled aloft. We stopped at a nearby motu where we alighted onto a white sand beach with the requisite stingrays awaiting our arrival. We enjoyed the beach, the friendly rays and a great BBQ lunch. The highlight was a demonstration of the preparation of the local version of ceviche. Raw red tuna caught that morning was cooked by a lime and salt mixture and then mixed with coconut milk (from the nearby coconuts growing on the palms) cucumber, onion, carrots and tomatoes. Sushi was never this good!
As the afternoon waned, we had to take leave of our most recently encountered utopia. Because the ship was setting sail early for the four-day trip to Hawaii we caught a local plane back to Tahiti. The 14 passenger twin otter allowed us a great view of Moorea and Tahiti during the seven-minute flight. After crawling through the rush hour traffic of Papeete (the biggest city in the South Seas Islands) we boarded just in time to sail away, enjoying beautiful views of Tahiti from our balcony.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007
NEW ZEALAND
Sydney to Auckland
Days One and Two at Sea
We boarded ship mid day on Tuesday, April 17 and spent some time getting settled in, finally unpacking and discovering things we had forgotten about, checking out all the ship has to offer and meeting other passengers.
We sailed away from Sydney at 8 p.m. and enjoyed the scenery of the harbour at night and taking even more pictures of the bridge and Opera House. We finally left harbour and enjoyed the quiet of the open sea and the starry sky from our balcony.
The next two days consisted of eating way too much, meeting more people and enjoying all the ship has to offer in the way of lectures, pools, eating drinking and drinking and eating. We keep saying that we have to cut back on our food intake but the temptations are hard to resist.
Fiord Lands National Park
On the third day out we approached the southwestern end of New Zealand and specifically Fiord Lands National Park. As the name suggests this is a rugged, mountainous area with many deep, steep sided inlets or fiords that are navigable by ship given their deep waters. The scenery is very much like that of coastal B.C. although the mountains aren’t quite as high.
We entered Milford Sound in rare good weather. Although it was a cool fall day at 13 degrees, the clouds had not yet descended onto the mountaintops and the views were spectacular. Our huge ship was within 75 yards of the shoreline on some occasions which afforded great views of the many waterfalls spraying down from the heights. We turned in the widest portion of the sound about 7 km in and headed back out to sea. This allowed us to see the other side of the fiord from our balcony as we had just got up at 7:15 a.m. when we entered the fiord and were having our breakfast in our cabin.
Later in the day we motored through two more fiords which despite the descending clouds and misty rain were beautiful as well. It was easy to see why scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed here.
Dunedin
Dunedin is a college town of about 135,000 with typically friendly and accommodating New Zealanders. We set out on an all day tour into the countryside to explore with a local tour company. The owner accompanied us and he was a delight. Brian and Stu had a lot in common in terms of their respective businesses and love of the outdoors and nature.
The landscape consisted of rolling hills and sheep everywhere. Their white dots could be seen far up the highest hills. The scenery of hills, forests and ocean was superb, right out of Hobbit land. We headed south along coastal roads beside the extensive beaches with no one on them. Granted, the Easter school holidays had just finished and it was only about 16 degrees but the lack of population in the area was very evident. Brian tells us that even in the summer there are open beaches for miles. We stopped at a friend of Brian’s, Kathy, an active sexagenarian who owns a beautiful home, gardens and two rental units on a bluff overlooking the ocean and beach (currently on the market for about $500,000 CA - heart be still!). Kathy was in the tidal pools below and waved us down. She is a nature lover as well and takes it upon herself to nurse wounded birds and seals back to health. She was administering ‘physiotherapy’ to a recent patient, a yellow-eyed penguin who had its flipper injured by a barracuda. She is trying to get this rarest of penguin species to use the flipper so she can release it back to the wild. This close encounter with nature was a highlight of our tour (pictures below).
The highlights continued as we continued on to Cannibal Bay, another scenic beach surrounded by hills. Here we encountered the rarest of the sea lion species, the Hooker Sea Lion. Two beaches and two of the rarest species of their type in the world! This big boy was a seven-foot long 600 kg mass of potential danger so we gave him a safe distance. He seemed content to allow our examination though as long as we stayed our distance and didn’t cut off his potential escape to the water.
We also hiked a ways into a rainforest that could have been in the tropics with large trees, tree ferns, and moss hanging from the very different tree species. Further along we encountered a beautiful waterfall.
Before we returned to the ship, we toured the Scottish influenced city of Dunedin and of course had to do some shopping (Stu for NZ wine and Wendy for possum fur & merino wool gloves, supposedly the warmest available).
Christchurch
Where Dunedin is very Scottish, Christchurch is very English. We stayed in town and wandered amongst the beautiful botanical gardens and visited a weekend crafts show of beautiful art and handicrafts. The weather was the coldest yet at 13 degrees and cloudy so we were enticed back to the warm and luxurious comforts of the ship in the mid afternoon.
Wellington
We left the South Island behind as we encountered Wellington on the southern tip of the north island. Wellington is the capital of NZ and is built on the hills surrounding a large sheltered harbour. Once again though, we forsook the attractions of the city and headed out into the surrounding countryside.
Our van climbed the surrounding low mountains to a pass and then descended into a flat area of cattle and sheep farms and vineyards - Wairapapa (sp?). We drove along the shores of a large lake on the plain with not one discernible building, although we did see an area in the trees where a site plan for a proposed housing development was posted. Once again we were impressed with the accessibility to cheap waterfront in beautiful countryside. Apparently Shania Twain and other of the jet set crowd are buying up land in NZ so it is not long before it appreciates considerably more than it already has.
We drove further to the ocean coast and wound along narrow twisty roads clinging to sides of steep drops. We passed a fishing village that has no pier or docks for its boats on the open ocean coast but instead launches its large boats daily using bulldozers as trucks would only be swept away. The sight of long stretches of fishing boats on trailers hooked up to their own bulldozers was a unique one. Further along a herd of sheep being driven along by a rancher on an ATV and his three sheep dogs filled the road ahead of us. The dogs soon swept them through the nearby gate and we continued along. Eventually we came to the end of the road at a rocky point with a lighthouse perched on the hills above the sea. Here a colony of fur seals greeted us as they lolled in the grass directly beside the road. Further along we saw the babies playing in the surf while the adults watched closely from the surrounding rocks. Another close encounter with nature in beautiful surroundings added to our enjoyment of a pleasant 18 degree, sunny day.
We headed inland to a local beef and cattle station (ranch) where we enjoyed a homemade lunch in the sun amongst the colourful fall leaves. Down the road we came across the small town of Martinsborough surrounded on all sides by vineyards and wineries. We sampled some at a local winery and added to our shipboard wine cellar that we hope will get us through the hot dry tropics yet to come.
Of course one cannot visit NZ without seeing some of the sites where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. The riverside, forested setting for Rivendell made for a scenic stop in the late afternoon sun. All of the film sets throughout NZ have been removed and the landscapes returned to their natural form since the end of film making so one had to use their imaginations and a spotty memory to reconstruct the setting. No matter though as the natural beauty of the sites was more than enough reason to visit alone.
Auckland
Auckland is somewhat like a mini Sydney in that it has a series of large harbours, a harbour bridge and an outdoors loving population. We docked right in the downtown core so were able to roam easily the harbour area and the shopping areas.
We took a ferry across the harbour to an older residential area of Auckland at Devenport. Early 1900 frame homes surround a central hill, the remnants of an extinct volcano. It was Anzac day when we visited (Aussie and NZ Remebrance Day) so a holiday and families were strolling the sea walk or picnicking in the seaside park. The latter reminded us that NZ is like Canada was 30 or more years ago in a very laid back, pleasant sort of way. We spent time at a sidewalk café, eating guava fruit from a hospitable local’s street side bush, chatting with local kids selling their treasures at a driveway sale, and generally enjoying this quiet, quaint neighbourhood of Auckland.
We are now leaving NZ behind (regrettably) and heading on a two day sea leg to Fiji. More to come from the South Pacific in the days to come …..
Days One and Two at Sea
We boarded ship mid day on Tuesday, April 17 and spent some time getting settled in, finally unpacking and discovering things we had forgotten about, checking out all the ship has to offer and meeting other passengers.
We sailed away from Sydney at 8 p.m. and enjoyed the scenery of the harbour at night and taking even more pictures of the bridge and Opera House. We finally left harbour and enjoyed the quiet of the open sea and the starry sky from our balcony.
The next two days consisted of eating way too much, meeting more people and enjoying all the ship has to offer in the way of lectures, pools, eating drinking and drinking and eating. We keep saying that we have to cut back on our food intake but the temptations are hard to resist.
Fiord Lands National Park
On the third day out we approached the southwestern end of New Zealand and specifically Fiord Lands National Park. As the name suggests this is a rugged, mountainous area with many deep, steep sided inlets or fiords that are navigable by ship given their deep waters. The scenery is very much like that of coastal B.C. although the mountains aren’t quite as high.
We entered Milford Sound in rare good weather. Although it was a cool fall day at 13 degrees, the clouds had not yet descended onto the mountaintops and the views were spectacular. Our huge ship was within 75 yards of the shoreline on some occasions which afforded great views of the many waterfalls spraying down from the heights. We turned in the widest portion of the sound about 7 km in and headed back out to sea. This allowed us to see the other side of the fiord from our balcony as we had just got up at 7:15 a.m. when we entered the fiord and were having our breakfast in our cabin.
Later in the day we motored through two more fiords which despite the descending clouds and misty rain were beautiful as well. It was easy to see why scenes from the Lord of the Rings were filmed here.
Dunedin
Dunedin is a college town of about 135,000 with typically friendly and accommodating New Zealanders. We set out on an all day tour into the countryside to explore with a local tour company. The owner accompanied us and he was a delight. Brian and Stu had a lot in common in terms of their respective businesses and love of the outdoors and nature.
The landscape consisted of rolling hills and sheep everywhere. Their white dots could be seen far up the highest hills. The scenery of hills, forests and ocean was superb, right out of Hobbit land. We headed south along coastal roads beside the extensive beaches with no one on them. Granted, the Easter school holidays had just finished and it was only about 16 degrees but the lack of population in the area was very evident. Brian tells us that even in the summer there are open beaches for miles. We stopped at a friend of Brian’s, Kathy, an active sexagenarian who owns a beautiful home, gardens and two rental units on a bluff overlooking the ocean and beach (currently on the market for about $500,000 CA - heart be still!). Kathy was in the tidal pools below and waved us down. She is a nature lover as well and takes it upon herself to nurse wounded birds and seals back to health. She was administering ‘physiotherapy’ to a recent patient, a yellow-eyed penguin who had its flipper injured by a barracuda. She is trying to get this rarest of penguin species to use the flipper so she can release it back to the wild. This close encounter with nature was a highlight of our tour (pictures below).
The highlights continued as we continued on to Cannibal Bay, another scenic beach surrounded by hills. Here we encountered the rarest of the sea lion species, the Hooker Sea Lion. Two beaches and two of the rarest species of their type in the world! This big boy was a seven-foot long 600 kg mass of potential danger so we gave him a safe distance. He seemed content to allow our examination though as long as we stayed our distance and didn’t cut off his potential escape to the water.
We also hiked a ways into a rainforest that could have been in the tropics with large trees, tree ferns, and moss hanging from the very different tree species. Further along we encountered a beautiful waterfall.
Before we returned to the ship, we toured the Scottish influenced city of Dunedin and of course had to do some shopping (Stu for NZ wine and Wendy for possum fur & merino wool gloves, supposedly the warmest available).
Christchurch
Where Dunedin is very Scottish, Christchurch is very English. We stayed in town and wandered amongst the beautiful botanical gardens and visited a weekend crafts show of beautiful art and handicrafts. The weather was the coldest yet at 13 degrees and cloudy so we were enticed back to the warm and luxurious comforts of the ship in the mid afternoon.
Wellington
We left the South Island behind as we encountered Wellington on the southern tip of the north island. Wellington is the capital of NZ and is built on the hills surrounding a large sheltered harbour. Once again though, we forsook the attractions of the city and headed out into the surrounding countryside.
Our van climbed the surrounding low mountains to a pass and then descended into a flat area of cattle and sheep farms and vineyards - Wairapapa (sp?). We drove along the shores of a large lake on the plain with not one discernible building, although we did see an area in the trees where a site plan for a proposed housing development was posted. Once again we were impressed with the accessibility to cheap waterfront in beautiful countryside. Apparently Shania Twain and other of the jet set crowd are buying up land in NZ so it is not long before it appreciates considerably more than it already has.
We drove further to the ocean coast and wound along narrow twisty roads clinging to sides of steep drops. We passed a fishing village that has no pier or docks for its boats on the open ocean coast but instead launches its large boats daily using bulldozers as trucks would only be swept away. The sight of long stretches of fishing boats on trailers hooked up to their own bulldozers was a unique one. Further along a herd of sheep being driven along by a rancher on an ATV and his three sheep dogs filled the road ahead of us. The dogs soon swept them through the nearby gate and we continued along. Eventually we came to the end of the road at a rocky point with a lighthouse perched on the hills above the sea. Here a colony of fur seals greeted us as they lolled in the grass directly beside the road. Further along we saw the babies playing in the surf while the adults watched closely from the surrounding rocks. Another close encounter with nature in beautiful surroundings added to our enjoyment of a pleasant 18 degree, sunny day.
We headed inland to a local beef and cattle station (ranch) where we enjoyed a homemade lunch in the sun amongst the colourful fall leaves. Down the road we came across the small town of Martinsborough surrounded on all sides by vineyards and wineries. We sampled some at a local winery and added to our shipboard wine cellar that we hope will get us through the hot dry tropics yet to come.
Of course one cannot visit NZ without seeing some of the sites where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. The riverside, forested setting for Rivendell made for a scenic stop in the late afternoon sun. All of the film sets throughout NZ have been removed and the landscapes returned to their natural form since the end of film making so one had to use their imaginations and a spotty memory to reconstruct the setting. No matter though as the natural beauty of the sites was more than enough reason to visit alone.
Auckland
Auckland is somewhat like a mini Sydney in that it has a series of large harbours, a harbour bridge and an outdoors loving population. We docked right in the downtown core so were able to roam easily the harbour area and the shopping areas.
We took a ferry across the harbour to an older residential area of Auckland at Devenport. Early 1900 frame homes surround a central hill, the remnants of an extinct volcano. It was Anzac day when we visited (Aussie and NZ Remebrance Day) so a holiday and families were strolling the sea walk or picnicking in the seaside park. The latter reminded us that NZ is like Canada was 30 or more years ago in a very laid back, pleasant sort of way. We spent time at a sidewalk café, eating guava fruit from a hospitable local’s street side bush, chatting with local kids selling their treasures at a driveway sale, and generally enjoying this quiet, quaint neighbourhood of Auckland.
We are now leaving NZ behind (regrettably) and heading on a two day sea leg to Fiji. More to come from the South Pacific in the days to come …..
Monday, April 16, 2007
SYDNEY
Days One/ Two/Three
In Transit
We left our house on Monday at 5:45 a.m. and finally arrived at our hotel in Sydney at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday (1 a.m. Ottawa time). Fog in Auckland, New Zealand forced us to land in Fiji where we sat on the runway for three hours waiting for the fog to lift in Auckland. Unfortunately, we had to stay on the plane but our onboard entertainment system with numerous movies and albums available for viewing and listening as well as a hot breakfast made it more bearable. We watched the sunrise over the mountains in the interior and then finally took off for Auckland. The arrival into Auckland was beautiful with countless inlets, islands, sand beaches, lush green forests and fields keeping us glued to the window. The down side was that our flight to Sydney had already left so we were rebooked onto another flight leaving four hours later.
We arrived in Sydney in the late afternoon sun. The pilot took a broad turn into the airport right over the city so were able to see the iconic sights of Sydney including the Opera House, the bridge, the beaches and the harbour. We were here! Upon arrival at our hotel, within a five-minute walk to the Opera House, we called our friends the Roberts who had arrived earlier in the morning. They invited us over to their hotel for a snack, and some wonderful Aussie beer and wine. A scenic walk home along the waterfront to our hotel in the mild evening breezes and then a grateful collapse into our beds ended the long journey to Oz. And then a long sleep!!
Days Four and Five
Sydney
Refreshed and ready to explore Sydney, we headed to Darling Harbour, a refurbished part of the massive Sydney harbour area. It’s an area of shops, parks, yachts and outdoor terraces. A very pleasant area to spend some time wandering, catching some sun, having a brew or two and enjoying a splendid day of blue sky and temperatures in the mid 20’s. Nearby is Paddy’s market a giant flea market on the edge of China Town, kind of like a Stittsville flea market on steroids. The stalls were devoted mainly to products directly imported from China and no doubt pirated copies and knock-offs. Genuine Australian Uggs for half the price of the real deal, Asian food stalls and so on. We then wandered through the shopping and business district near our hotel. Lots of pedestrian malls, pubs and shopping. We were a bit taken aback by the high prices. Granted we were in the equivalent of the Bloor and Yonge area of T.O. but even so, the prices were out of sight, e.g. an 80-gig iPod that goes for $390 in Canada going for $500 in Australia and their dollar is at par. On the way back to the hotel we discovered a great patio at the base of three business towers catering to the business crowd. We found a seat in the sun, sampled the great Aussie beers
and enjoyed the music as the worker bees exited the hives in swarms drawn to the same sweet pleasures. The place was rocking and still going strong as we toddled off to see the harbour at night. The Opera House was magnificently lighted, as was the Sydney Bridge. We passed a local ‘bottle shop” and picked up some more beer which we enjoyed on a deserted jetty next to the Opera House. Not quite up to the standards of the surroundings but damn fine for us.
Day Six
The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge offers a climbing tour to its top. No surprise that Stu decided to take this three and a half hour tour. It consisted of a briefing session where the staff went over the safety issues and suited us up in jump suits and a safety harness. Once we were prepped we set out to the base of the bridge. Through a series of ladders and suspended catwalks we eventually emerged between the eight lanes of morning rush hour traffic and continued up to the arch. The climb up the arch to the summit of the bridge was exhilarating and the views of the harbour, the nearby Opera House, the downtown and waterfront neighbourhoods of the wealthy Sydney-Siders were spectacular. We lingered at the top where our guide pointed out the residences of the P.M. and Governor General, Nicole Kidman and current hubby Keith Urban and Russell Crowe’s humble little waterside retreat. I was lucky enough to climb beside a retired naval commander who was taking his son-in-law on the climb. His 40 years in the British and Australian navies, world-wide experiences in virtually every port imaginable and first hand Sydney knowledge made the climb that much more enjoyable.
In the afternoon we set out for a wander through the business and shopping districts to Darling Harbour for a tour of the world famous Sydney Aquarium. The displays gave us an overview of the aquatic life in the rivers and surrounding oceans of Australia. The highlight was the shark tank, as the following pictures will demonstrate.
Day Seven
Today we decided to explore the outer reaches of Sydney by way of a ferry pass. Sydney harbour is immense and many of its suburbs stretch along the lengthy and serpentine shores of this beautiful focal point of the city. We set out first to the community of Manley Beach which is located at the northeastern extremity of the harbour. The ferry docked on the sheltered harbour side of Manley. We disembarked and walked down the main pedestrian mall of this beach community three blocks to the Pacific Ocean side of the town. A beautiful beach covered with sunbathers and surfers stretched out for a couple of kilometers. Bordered by a park and wide pedestrian walkway it was hopping with the Saturday crowd of Sydney-Sider families and surfers. It’s fall here and so it was bit jarring to be sitting on the beach in 26-degree weather while dried up leaves from the nearby trees rustled by in the breeze. We may not come back!
Our next ferry ride took us along the south side of the harbour stopping in at four different communities and ultimately to Watson’s Bay at the southeastern end of the harbour. We strolled up a short way to the ocean side cliffs overlooking the crashing waves of the open Pacific far below. As we turned back to town we were awed by the scene that unfolded below. A park stretched down to the waterfront and in the background the spectacular view of the harbour and Sydney skyline stopped us in our tracks. We were put back into motion by the beckoning of a waterside pub. We relocated onto its raised terrace where we sampled a few of Australia’s finest brews while viewing the sailboats skimming across the harbour in front of the setting sun. We are not leaving!
Day Eight
We decided to explore the countryside outside of Sydney and so took a tour of the nearby Blue Mountains. They are really a series of wide canyons eroded into an uplifted plateau. The views were magnificent and the descent into the canyon on a 52-degree slope, incline train was heart stopping. We wandered in the rainforest on the canyon floor and viewed the historic coal mining relics that accounted for the original incline train. A large cable car with a plexiglas floor took us back up to the lip of the canyon. We explored the lovely, small towns scattered here. The scarlet and orange leaves of the maples imported here by the original settlers reminded us of similar towns in the Gatineaus and Laurentians. Our tour ended with a view of the Olympic facilities and then a boat ride down river to the western extremity of the harbour. Our voyage was backlit by a passing thunderstorm with lightening and rainbows outlining the huge waterfront homes, Harbour Bridge, Sydney skyline and Opera House. The rain let up and so we toddled down to the harbour side for a feast of fresh seafood on an outdoor terrace between the lighted backdrop of the bridge and Opera House. Did we mention that we are thinking of staying?
In Transit
We left our house on Monday at 5:45 a.m. and finally arrived at our hotel in Sydney at 5:00 p.m. Wednesday (1 a.m. Ottawa time). Fog in Auckland, New Zealand forced us to land in Fiji where we sat on the runway for three hours waiting for the fog to lift in Auckland. Unfortunately, we had to stay on the plane but our onboard entertainment system with numerous movies and albums available for viewing and listening as well as a hot breakfast made it more bearable. We watched the sunrise over the mountains in the interior and then finally took off for Auckland. The arrival into Auckland was beautiful with countless inlets, islands, sand beaches, lush green forests and fields keeping us glued to the window. The down side was that our flight to Sydney had already left so we were rebooked onto another flight leaving four hours later.
We arrived in Sydney in the late afternoon sun. The pilot took a broad turn into the airport right over the city so were able to see the iconic sights of Sydney including the Opera House, the bridge, the beaches and the harbour. We were here! Upon arrival at our hotel, within a five-minute walk to the Opera House, we called our friends the Roberts who had arrived earlier in the morning. They invited us over to their hotel for a snack, and some wonderful Aussie beer and wine. A scenic walk home along the waterfront to our hotel in the mild evening breezes and then a grateful collapse into our beds ended the long journey to Oz. And then a long sleep!!
Days Four and Five
Sydney
Refreshed and ready to explore Sydney, we headed to Darling Harbour, a refurbished part of the massive Sydney harbour area. It’s an area of shops, parks, yachts and outdoor terraces. A very pleasant area to spend some time wandering, catching some sun, having a brew or two and enjoying a splendid day of blue sky and temperatures in the mid 20’s. Nearby is Paddy’s market a giant flea market on the edge of China Town, kind of like a Stittsville flea market on steroids. The stalls were devoted mainly to products directly imported from China and no doubt pirated copies and knock-offs. Genuine Australian Uggs for half the price of the real deal, Asian food stalls and so on. We then wandered through the shopping and business district near our hotel. Lots of pedestrian malls, pubs and shopping. We were a bit taken aback by the high prices. Granted we were in the equivalent of the Bloor and Yonge area of T.O. but even so, the prices were out of sight, e.g. an 80-gig iPod that goes for $390 in Canada going for $500 in Australia and their dollar is at par. On the way back to the hotel we discovered a great patio at the base of three business towers catering to the business crowd. We found a seat in the sun, sampled the great Aussie beers
and enjoyed the music as the worker bees exited the hives in swarms drawn to the same sweet pleasures. The place was rocking and still going strong as we toddled off to see the harbour at night. The Opera House was magnificently lighted, as was the Sydney Bridge. We passed a local ‘bottle shop” and picked up some more beer which we enjoyed on a deserted jetty next to the Opera House. Not quite up to the standards of the surroundings but damn fine for us.
Day Six
The famous Sydney Harbour Bridge offers a climbing tour to its top. No surprise that Stu decided to take this three and a half hour tour. It consisted of a briefing session where the staff went over the safety issues and suited us up in jump suits and a safety harness. Once we were prepped we set out to the base of the bridge. Through a series of ladders and suspended catwalks we eventually emerged between the eight lanes of morning rush hour traffic and continued up to the arch. The climb up the arch to the summit of the bridge was exhilarating and the views of the harbour, the nearby Opera House, the downtown and waterfront neighbourhoods of the wealthy Sydney-Siders were spectacular. We lingered at the top where our guide pointed out the residences of the P.M. and Governor General, Nicole Kidman and current hubby Keith Urban and Russell Crowe’s humble little waterside retreat. I was lucky enough to climb beside a retired naval commander who was taking his son-in-law on the climb. His 40 years in the British and Australian navies, world-wide experiences in virtually every port imaginable and first hand Sydney knowledge made the climb that much more enjoyable.
In the afternoon we set out for a wander through the business and shopping districts to Darling Harbour for a tour of the world famous Sydney Aquarium. The displays gave us an overview of the aquatic life in the rivers and surrounding oceans of Australia. The highlight was the shark tank, as the following pictures will demonstrate.
Day Seven
Today we decided to explore the outer reaches of Sydney by way of a ferry pass. Sydney harbour is immense and many of its suburbs stretch along the lengthy and serpentine shores of this beautiful focal point of the city. We set out first to the community of Manley Beach which is located at the northeastern extremity of the harbour. The ferry docked on the sheltered harbour side of Manley. We disembarked and walked down the main pedestrian mall of this beach community three blocks to the Pacific Ocean side of the town. A beautiful beach covered with sunbathers and surfers stretched out for a couple of kilometers. Bordered by a park and wide pedestrian walkway it was hopping with the Saturday crowd of Sydney-Sider families and surfers. It’s fall here and so it was bit jarring to be sitting on the beach in 26-degree weather while dried up leaves from the nearby trees rustled by in the breeze. We may not come back!
Our next ferry ride took us along the south side of the harbour stopping in at four different communities and ultimately to Watson’s Bay at the southeastern end of the harbour. We strolled up a short way to the ocean side cliffs overlooking the crashing waves of the open Pacific far below. As we turned back to town we were awed by the scene that unfolded below. A park stretched down to the waterfront and in the background the spectacular view of the harbour and Sydney skyline stopped us in our tracks. We were put back into motion by the beckoning of a waterside pub. We relocated onto its raised terrace where we sampled a few of Australia’s finest brews while viewing the sailboats skimming across the harbour in front of the setting sun. We are not leaving!
Day Eight
We decided to explore the countryside outside of Sydney and so took a tour of the nearby Blue Mountains. They are really a series of wide canyons eroded into an uplifted plateau. The views were magnificent and the descent into the canyon on a 52-degree slope, incline train was heart stopping. We wandered in the rainforest on the canyon floor and viewed the historic coal mining relics that accounted for the original incline train. A large cable car with a plexiglas floor took us back up to the lip of the canyon. We explored the lovely, small towns scattered here. The scarlet and orange leaves of the maples imported here by the original settlers reminded us of similar towns in the Gatineaus and Laurentians. Our tour ended with a view of the Olympic facilities and then a boat ride down river to the western extremity of the harbour. Our voyage was backlit by a passing thunderstorm with lightening and rainbows outlining the huge waterfront homes, Harbour Bridge, Sydney skyline and Opera House. The rain let up and so we toddled down to the harbour side for a feast of fresh seafood on an outdoor terrace between the lighted backdrop of the bridge and Opera House. Did we mention that we are thinking of staying?
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