Black Sea Blog # 4

ISTANBUL

We had a total of 3 days in Istanbul before and after our Black Sea Cruise.  We were also in Istanbul for 1.5 days a couple of years ago.  This certainly doesn’t make me even close to an expert on this wonderful tourist city but I will share some thoughts.  We were so impressed that Istanbul is now on my list of the top three cities for tourists to visit (along with Buenos Aires and Barcelona).

Istanbul was first named Lygos, but in 667 B.C. when the Greeks took over from the Tracians it became Byzantine.  In 330 A.D. the Romans replaced the Greeks and re-named it Constantinople.  Of course the Ottomans renamed the city Istanbul in 1453 and despite the best efforts of the Ames Brothers 1950’s hit song the name has never reverted to Constantinople.  If you don’t know the song to which I refer you are probably too young to bother reading my blog.

At 18 million Istanbul is the world’s 6^th largest city and it ranks 5^th in number of tourist visits (almost double New York).  The city is divided by water into three distinct areas.  The original city (referred to as the old European city) is on the north side of the Strait of Bosphorus.  This area is the main business and shopping area and contains many of the tourist sites.  It is separated by an inlet called the Golden Horn from a newer (by a few 100 years) European area.  However, the majority of the population lives across the Strait on the Asia side.  Most of the people living in the Asia part of the city commute to the old city to work.  The look and feel of the Asian side is somewhat different with wider streets, more greenery and newer buildings.  The three parts of the city are connected by bridges and a tunnel and an unbelievable number of ferries cross back and forth.  Looking out my stateroom window I counted 19 ferries at one time passing the ship.

In addition to visiting some of the main tourist sites such as the Blue Mosque (one of 2000 in the city), the Dalmabahce Palace, the Grand Bazaar (world’s largest enclosed shopping area), the spice market, etc. we spent hours walking through the narrow streets of the old city.  In fact, walking seems to be the best way to get around.  Shopping is everywhere and prices are much lower than in Canada, even without the semi-obligatory bartering system.  Restaurants are almost as pervasive but (with the exception of McDonald’s) are primarily Turkish.  This is not a problem as everything Turkish that we tasted was yummy.

A WORD ON CRUISING.  Those of you who read my blogs know that Betty and I have fallen in love with cruising.  We have been on different ships on three different cruise lines and have liked them all.  We generally choose by which ports of call are included.  And, there is nothing better after a long day of touring than to get back on board and face an exquisite meal accompanied by several glasses of good wine. 

We generally choose a certain type of line which is primarily for adults.   Lots of really old people (our age) on the ships but most seem to be having a great time.  One of the entertainers in the evening show noted that she started her singing career at the age of six by visiting nursing homes.  “Now”, she added, “I know longer perform for old people.”  I’m not certain everyone in the audience was amused.

Every time we have cruised we were sorry to see the excursion end. 

A HINT FOR EXCHANGING CURRENCIES.  Travelling means that everything is paid for in some currency other than Canadian.  Credit cards are useful but not always accepted.  Buying foreign currencies sometimes adds excessive fees, particularly if you are dealing with a Canadian bank.  Recently while travelling in New England I tried an experiment.  I pulled up to an ATM and withdrew $400. U.S. from my CIBC account.  I then borrowed $400. U.S. at the same ATM using a Mastercard drawn on Chase Bank.  The fees for the withdrawal came to $13. while the fees and interest on the loan came to only $5.77.  Chase Bank is the only bank we have found that doesn’t charge a percentage of the exchange.

When in Istanbul we discovered that the best exchange was trading Canadian cash for Turkish Lira at one of the hundreds of money exchanges in all the shopping streets.  Never would have thought that I should have taken more Canadian cash with me.

Black Sea Blog # 3

FROM SOCHI TO SINOP

SOCHI DAY TWO:  Saturday’s rain ended and the sun was bright for our second day in Sochi.  Our tour included not only the compulsory cathedral but a promenade through the seaside park, a hard climb to a mountain-top tower, and a cable ride to the top of the botanical gardens followed by a steep hour’s walk back down.  However, the most interesting visit was to Stalin’s Dacha, which is on the outskirts of Sochi, but carefully camouflaged so that it couldn’t be seen from any of the surrounding areas.  We heard lots of anecdotes about Stalin and his life but the one I liked best related to the main highway which passed the street into his Dacha.  After Stalin built his villa here (close to the local medicinal springs) it became illegal to drive one’s car on the “Stalin” highway if the car was dirty.

We had lunch in a local restaurant and as we wanted something light we ordered bread with cheese and some Georgian dry red (Stalin’s favorite).  The bread was a flattened loaf that looked like an elongated pizza but with melted cheese and a soft egg sitting in the middle.

THE POLITICS OF CRUISING:  On most of our past cruises the majority of passengers have been Americans.  This cruise would have been no different except after the Ukraine crisis began the ports of call were changed (stops in Crimea were dropped and Bulgarian and Turkish ports were added).  Hundreds of Americans cancelled the cruise (perhaps to boycott Sochi) and the cruise line sold the empty staterooms by offering deep discounts to the British.  Dinner conversation is quite different in that politics is never raised, whereas with Americans it can’t seem to be avoided.  The British also seem to drink less and on this trip we never see hard liquor at the dinner table.

TRABZON, TURKEY:   We sailed overnight across the eastern end of the Black Sea from Sochi to Trabzon.  I must confess that I never heard of Trabzon, although it is an ancient city which for centuries was part of the silk route from Asia.  In fact in the 13^th century it was the capital of an empire of which I am also woefully ignorant.

Trabzon appears to be a city of Halifax size although others think larger.  After breakfast we walked up the steep hill from the port to the city centre where the shops began.  Three hours of walking may have covered 1/3 of the shopping streets.  I usually hate shopping but the scope was so great and the variety so interesting that the time flew by.  I must have walked by 15 shops that specialized in wedding dresses.  I almost wished that I had a teenage granddaughter so I could have bought her one of the 100’s and 100’s of “prom” dresses on display.  I settled instead by buying Betty a dress for the next formal night.

In Turkey one is supposed to bargain for everything.  However, it is hard to bargain for a beautiful leather belt when the first asking price is $4.  I needed a tube of shaving cream ($7.50 in Shoppers in Antigonish) and I was charged $1.5.  John Hanlon tells me that at the next formal night he will wear his new dress shoes that he had hand-made this morning for $30.  I could easily have spent longer wandering by the shops but we had to get back to the ship for cooking class.

The streets in Trabzon were very busy, although with the exception of people from our ship it appeared to be only locals.  I doubt very much that I shall ever be back here and I suspect most of you will not experience this place either.  However, if you have a lot of shopping to do it would be worth the price of a plane ticket.

SINOP, TURKEY:  We had sunny and warm weather for our visit to Sinop, a small semi-walled city of about 50,000.  The town is very pleasant with a lovely waterfront.  Perhaps not too many tourists visit here as there was no McDonald’s and no money changers.  However, the shopkeepers were happy to quote prices in either Lira or Euros.

Unfortunately our cruise is almost over as tomorrow we return to Istanbul where we will spend a couple of days before squeezing into the back of an Air Canada plane.

Black Sea Blog # 2

FROM VARNA TO SOCHI

BULGARIA DAY TWO:  We tendered off Varna (3^rd largest city) and drove north to the town of Balchik.  Unfortunately we stopped just short of the Tracian Cliffs Golf Course which I would have loved to see as Golf Canada Magazine rated it as one of the 10 best golf courses in the world.

We did a lot of usual tourist stops.  One of the more interesting ones was a visit to Queen Mary of Romania’s summer palace.  The part of Bulgaria around Balchik was ceded to the Romanians after WWI and the Queen (grand-daughter of Victoria, daughter of Tzar Alexander) spent most of her time there.  After her death in 1938 her heart was buried at the Palace but when war broke out the Bulgarians joined the Axis powers allowing them to get their land back from the Romanians.  The heart was returned to Romania.

After we finished up with the museums and churches 12 of our travelling companions wimped out and returned to the ship.  However, the Hanlon’s and Johnson’s decided to spend a little time walking around the beach/shopping part of Varna.  I should say the Hanlon’s walked around while the Johnson’s took refuge in a sidewalk café.  We ordered delicious lunches of salads, with sides of prosciutto, deep-fried mushrooms, tapenade, sardines, etc., as well as ½ bottle of a Malbec blend.  When the wine came the waiter gestured for Betty to try it.  I almost laughed as I wondered (given we had no Bulgarian currency, no language skills and had ordered the wine randomly) how bad it would have had to be for Betty to have sent it back.  In fact, the wine was excellent and I wished we had ordered a full bottle.  In any event the total bill which, went on a credit card, came to the equivalent of $19.

SEA DAY:  The sail from Varna to Sochi takes two nights and one day which gives a break from touring.  The relaxing day included lying by the pool, a Captain’s Club cocktail party and eventually attempting to squeeze into my tux for a formal night dinner.  In the morning we attended an interesting lecture by an Anthropologist (clearly not from StFX) who talked about Russian culture and values.  We learned that in Russia if offered a vodka, or any other alcoholic drink, there are acceptable responses and non-acceptable responses.  The best response is:  “thank you very much”.  Also acceptable is “no thanks, my liver is failing and I am waiting for a transplant.”  Not acceptable is a simple “no thanks”.  That response is interpreted as meaning that you are untrustworthy and that there should be no further social interaction.

SOCHI DAY ONE:  Sochi is the southernmost city in Russia and the most favored resort area because of the miles of beaches and the warm/hot weather in the summer.  Also, of course, there are the nearby ski mountains for winter vacations.  Sochi was first developed as a resort area by Stalin in the 30’s.  The city was also favored by Yeltsin and now it is where Putin makes his home.  In the summer the normal temperatures are near 40 degrees and in the winter the temperature still reaches 15 most days.

It was 17 degrees when we disembarked but by the time we got to the Olympic ski slopes and took the 40 minute cable car ride to the top (and another 40 minute ride back down) it had dropped to freezing and the snowfall kept us from enjoying the views.

Sochi is quite a lovely city on the sea, and with the mountains in the background it reminded me a bit of Vancouver.  However, it is cleaner than our west coast city and the new and architecturally interesting buildings give it a fresher feeling.  Of course, much of the city (roads, hotels, etc.) was built in the 7 years leading up to the Olympics.  In fact, it is staggering to believe that so much construction could have been completed in such a relatively short period.  The Olympic village is immense with stadium after stadium.

At lunch we were taken to a 5-star hotel where the food was very good and interestingly enough the accompanying wine was from Chile.

From Istanbul to Burgas

FROM ISTANBUL TO BURGAS

October 14:  For anyone who has flown overnight in Economy you don’t need an elaborate description of cramped seats, long line-ups for the toilet, but very healthy food (meaning it’s too tasteless to ingest the  unnecessary calories.)  Nonetheless after 10 hours in steerage on a flight from Toronto to Istanbul we arrived tired, but optimistic.

Our hotel had sent a driver to the airport and after he had finished fighting heavy traffic we arrived at our lovely little hotel in the heart of the old part of the city.   We dropped off our luggage and had a very nice lunch at some sidewalk place before heading to the Topkapi Palace.  We were not in the mood to stand in the ½ kilometre line for tickets so we made our way to the spice market.  Many wrong turns made a 15 minute walk last 30 minutes but we were rewarded with exotic smells and beautiful displays.  Then back to the hotel for check-in and a shower and a shave (2 of the 3 essential “s” words that make life much more pleasant).  Then we walked to the grand bizarre where Betty unbelievably found the same jewelry store where she had purchased earrings two years ago.  She then cleaned me out of my Turkish Lire by matching the earrings with a pendant.

Our feet screamed “sit” so we returned to the hotel and proceeded to the roof top bar for complementary sandwiches and beer.  By this point the Hanlon’s had joined us and we switched to surprisingly drinkable Turkish wine.  Betty insisted I stay awake and we walked around the corner to one of seemingly thousands of restaurants where we chose one that distinguished between Turkish and Ottoman cuisine (don’t ask me the difference).  We were joined by Tori Anderson (a charming young Antigonish woman who was sent to Istanbul on business by her London investment firm.)

The meal was very, very good (my sea bass in particular) but we wished we had ordered the Testi Kebap.  This is dish of lamb, chicken and beef sealed in an earthen crock.   The crock is heated at your table over open flames and when ready the top of the crock is smashed off revealing the meal.  Again the Turkish wine (a Cab/Petit Verdot blend) was nicer than I would have guessed. 

We stumbled back to our hotel and slept so soundly that we didn’t hear any of the calls to prayer that normally jumpstart the tourists five times per day.

BULGARIA (Day 1).  We docked in Burgas (4^th largest city in Bulgaria) a little late because of fog.   However, our guide was waiting and treated us to a very pleasant day. 

Bulgaria is a small agricultural country of 7 million people.  However, in recent years 500,000 Russians have immigrated and bought up many beachfront properties.  Now, the Bulgarians are very worried that there may be a repeat of the Ukrainian crisis, particularly if Putin decides to protect the Russian minority.   A large part of the Bulgarian economy is based on tourism (traditionally Russian), but since Russia has taken over Crimea her citizens are discouraged from going to Bulgaria.

We skipped Burgas in favor of a 30-minute drive to the UNESCO city of Nessevar.  Needlesstosay we visited more churches than enough but the town was very pretty and the people in the stores were extremely pleasant.  Later we drove through the countryside to a Chateau where we tasted 3 Bulgarian wines along with local cheese, sausage and bread.  All three wines were extremely good, but I’ll save more detailed comments for my next wine blog.  We also did some early Christmas shopping in the village by the Chateau.   Our final stop was at a 2500 year old tomb of a Tracian king.  The tomb was architecturally interesting but perhaps not more so than the 6-foot snake that wriggled by the entrance on our way in.

 

WELLINGTON TO TAMPA

MARCH 5/6:       By 10:30 p.m. the dinner tables were all cleaned, the evening’s entertainer was doing his final bows, the chairs on the verandas had all been lashed to the railing, the wind had dropped to a mere 40 knots and the waves were down to only 16 ft. so we set sail across Cook Strait.  Our bed felt a bit like the ones in a cheap hotel where you insert 3 quarters for a massage, but as we sailed the rocking became more gentle and suddenly it was time to look at the beautiful hills as we sailed into Charlotte Sound.

We docked in the tiny town of Picton, which had not been on our original itinerary, and a place which gets only a very few cruise ships.  The sun shone brightly and we headed to the middle of the town where we immediately booked seats on a van to drive to the hilltops for views of the coves and inlets.  We also booked a water trip to isolated coves where the wealthy pay over a million just for a small lot that is accessible only by water.

Picton turned out to be an incredibly pleasant surprise and we are pleased with our Captain’s efforts to compensate for our being stuck in Wellington.  He also announced that all the bars on the ship starting a 5:00 p.m. would not be charging for drinks.  I wonder how many single malts and vintage cabernets 1200 people can consume before heading to dinner.

NAPIER (March 7):  Napier is a large town/small city that was 90% destroyed by an earthquake in 1931.  For some reason they rebuilt the city in an Art Deco style and now in the downtown core volunteers dress up in straw hats, etc. and rent vintage cars to the tourists.  Not quite as stupid as Helen, Georgia but close.

Fortunately we had a wine-tasting tour scheduled which included driving through beautiful countryside as well as vineyards.  This looked like the New Zealand we had imagined but perhaps better.  Included in our tour were visits to four wineries, which is at least one too many.  Each offered at least six wines to taste and by the 3^rd we were turning down wine.  Of course, New Zealand is a cool country for wine so most of the wines are Sauvignon Blancs and Pinot Noirs; not our favorities.  One lady on our tour wanted to go to a fifth winery but she was outvoted.

MARCH 8:   A sea day, we relaxed, attended a couple of interesting lectures as we sailed through the Bay of Plenty.  At 6:00 p.m. we sailed within a couple of miles of White Island.  White Island is an active volcano and as we passed on the starboard we went up to the open 12the deck to watch the smoke/steam belching out of the volcano.  We certainly could smell the sulfur.  We were surprised at how few people were on the deck to watch.  I guess an active volcano is a poor match for happy hour.

MARCH 9 (Chief for a day):  We docked in Tauranga and 10 of us took an all day trip to Rotorua, a little over an hour away.  We stopped at scenic vistas and once in Rotorua we spent most of the day at Te Puia, a Maori cultural centre.  As our guide/driver was also Maori we learned a fair amount of stuff.  At the centre we spent time viewing very active geysers as well as boiling mud flats.   We also attended a Maori concert held in a group house.  There were about 200 people attending the short concert and it began with a very elaborate ceremony in which the Chief of the visitors (audience) first met a warrior and picked up a fern leaf without losing eye contact.  Somehow I got picked as Chief and after the leaf ceremony I slowly walked down a long path and entered the building.  Betty carefully stayed 5 paces behind (I enjoyed that part) and after the Chief and “Mrs. Chief” were seated everyone else was allowed to sit.  At this point I slowly walked to the stage and bumped noses with four different warriors.  At this point the concert which included the Haka war dance began.

In New Zealand we observed that the Maori are very comfortably integrated with the Europeans.  I wonder how we got it so wrong in Canada.

OZ VERSUS KIWI:  Before we started this trip several people told us we would like New Zealand more than Australia.  Our short stay in Auckland (hop on bus, walk on the waterfront) confirmed our experience that New Zealand cities (Auckland, Wellington) were much less interesting than Australian cities (Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne).  Certainly the countryside in New Zealand cannot be excelled and there the Kiwi has it over the Oz.  But the architecture and the vibrancy of the Australian cities are far more exciting.  Also, Australia had much warmer weather (New Zealand, like Nova Scotia is too cold for swimming) and prices are much cheaper in Australia.  For example, a more comfortable hop on bus in Sydney that travels longer and farther costs only 60% of one in Auckland.  Finally, for those of us who like our wines big and bold, New Zealand is far too cold for anything but whites and some thin Pinot Noirs.

WHAT DAY IS IT?  On Tuesday morning (March 11) we left the ship promptly at 6:00 a.m. for a 45 minute bus ride to the Auckland Airport.  There we waited two hours before taking our 4.5 hour flight to Sydney.  At Sydney we waited 5 hours for our flight to Dallas.  The flight to Dallas took just under 15 hours and then we had a 6 hour wait for a 2.5 hour flight to Tampa.  At Tampa Airport we grabbed a cab to our hotel where we arrived at 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 11.  Something doesn’t add up.

TASMANIA TO WELLINGTON

TASMANIA (Feb. 28):  Our last port of call in Australia was Hobart, the capital of the island state of Tasmania.  Hobart is described as being very similar to Halifax, N.S., with a waterfront of Georgian buildings.  Other than that the two cities are more-or-less the same size I failed to see any resemblance.  Hobart is much hillier than Halifax and has a beautiful mountain (Mt. Wellington) as a backdrop.

We took a tour in and around Hobart which included such things as a visit to a cheese factory, a walk through the botanical gardens, etc.  However, by far the highlight of the day was a visit to a wildlife sanctuary.  There Injured animals are nursed back to health and then released into the wild.  We saw wombats, Tasmanian devils, etc.  Throughout the park there are 100’s of kangaroos which are not injured but enter and exit the park at will (fences do not stop kangaroos).  These kangaroos approach people and if you have food (we did) they will eat out of your hand.  After eating they lift their heads so that you can scratch their necks where they cannot reach with their limbs.  We spent ages having kangaroo after kangaroo gently take food pellets from our outstretched hands.

NEXT STOP?  Our schedule was to depart Tasmania for New Zealand, sailing for two days across the Tasman Sea to Milford Sound to see the fiords, and then sailing to Dunedin, where we had a pre-paid tour arranged.  On the morning of March 1 the Captain announced that there were major storms south of the South Island and that he had to drastically change course.  He then set course straight for Wellington to sit out the storm.

On March 3 we docked in the early afternoon at Wellington.  A good friend had e-mailed me that he thought we might be in New Zealand or the 1960’s, which he believed were much and the same.  We shall see!

SMALL WORLD:  Just as we were sailing into Wellington we found a letter at our door which said:  “Talked to some folks last night who mentioned that they had met some lovely people from Nova Scotia.  Our jaws dropped when they told us your names.” The letter was from Heather and Harvey Smith, who were friends of Betty’s at Mt. A.   We had lost contact and hadn’t seen them since we attended their wedding in Truro, 51 years ago.  We arranged to meet for dinner and had a very pleasant time remembering old friends from the 1960’s.  The people who made the connection between the Smiths and the Johnsons were MaryAnn and Lloyd, our 83 year old friends who I mentioned in an earlier blog.  Now we are in the process of setting up a dinner for the six of us.

WELLINGTON (March 3):  As soon as we were cleared we disembarked in sunny but cool weather into the beautiful but small city of Wellington.  We grabbed a shuttle to the town center and were dropped at the base of the 111 year old cable car.  Having no other plans we took the cable car up the mountain.  At the last stop there was a sign saying free shuttle to Zealandia.  Why not?  Zealandia turned out to be a bird sanctuary set in what used to be the main water reservoir for the city.  Although we didn’t see that many birds, the walk in the mountains was quite spectacular.  After about an hour it started to rain and we reversed the steps back to the ship.  Since we were then wet on the outside we achieved equilibrium by immediately wetting the insides.

WELLINGTON (March 4):  We walked for hours, mostly to keep warm.  I googled weather and discovered that the average high in Wellington’s summer is 3 degrees colder than the average high in Antigonish’s summer.  Despite the beautiful setting Wellington has relatively little to offer.  There are lots of shops in the downtown core but the prices are about 40% higher than in Australia.  I checked the price of a simple cheeseburger at McDonald’s ($ 2.90).  I also walked by a fish market where they were selling (or at least offering) cooked crayfish in the shell for $ 90. per kilogram.  The New Zealand dollar is very slightly less in value than the Canadian dollar.

WELLINGTON (March 5):  When we returned to the ship (see March 4) we had a letter from the captain saying that the newly scheduled sailing for Akaroa was cancelled due to 60 knot winds.  Akaroa, from where one goes to Christchurch, is a tendered port and I would not want to be getting into a small tender boat in these winds.  Thus it appears that we are stuck in Wellington until 10 p.m. on March 6 (again weather permitting).  However, after over a month of stopping in ports to which we would love to return, a couple of extra days in a less interesting place can hardly be considered a great hardship.

Despite the fact that our ship is securely tied to the pier in a well-sheltered harbour we could hear the strong gusts in the night.  The partition between our and the next balcony blew open and someone told us that the cruise ship docked behind us had two tugs holding the ship against the pier for the entire night.  In the morning we received an e-mail from the guide who was to take us around Dunedin.  He said that the Captain made the correct decision and that the weather down south was terrible.  The money for the cancelled tour has already been returned to our credit card account.  Betty will have to say some nice things about the tour guide on Cruise Critic.

WELLINGTON PLUS AND MINUS:   Just after breakfast the sun briefly appeared and we ventured out into the wind.  We took the cable car to the top of the botanical gardens and took a very beautiful walk back down to the city.  The rain got steadily heavier but despite that the gardens were so spectacular that I would give a plus to the city.  On the other hand our waiter at supper told us that the crew hated to stop in Wellington because there was nothing to do at night after the staff got off work.

ON USING ONLY THE CORRECT UTENSIL:   At breakfast this morning, just as Betty was finishing the last couple of bites of her smoked salmon omelet, she dropped her knife.  A waiter appeared from nowhere, picked up the knife and said:  “I’ll bring you a new one.”  Betty responded:  “Don’t bother I’ll finish with this” as she picked up her butter knife.  “Oh no, Madam,” said the waiter.  “Someone might see you and then I will be in big trouble.”

 

SYDNEY TO MELBOURNE

SATURDAY, Feb. 22:  Another early morning as we rose at dawn to watch the sail in to Sydney Harbour.  The entire ship seemed to come alive well before 6:00 a.m.   There were even line-ups at the coffee bar.  The Sydney waterfront is spectacular.  We sailed past the Opera House (considered to be an architectural masterpiece of the 20^th century), past Circular Quay, under the Harbour Bridge, into Darling Harbour, and eventually to our dock in White Bay.

Sydney is a more beautiful city than I had imagined.  There is water everywhere and the downtown area is always crammed with pedestrians; more like a European city than an empty American one.   After breakfast we took a shuttle bus to the Queen Victoria Building.  From there we had a half hour leisurely stroll to the Opera House.  As a Christmas gift kids had given us tickets to see “The Magic Flute”.   This was our first time at seeing an opera in a major opera house and it was a great experience.  We had lunch in the Opera House itself prior to the show. 

Getting around in Sydney is quite easy and when we left the opera we grabbed a free downtown shuttle which linked up with the free shuttle to our ship.

MOVING DAY (Feb. 23):  Cruises come in segments and one can book a single segment or multiple segments (called back-to-backs).  Of the 1170 passengers on board 931 departed in Sydney.   Most had come on when we did in Tahiti but some have been onboard well before that.    The dinner at our overnight in Sydney was very quiet as many stayed in their rooms jumping up and down as they tried to close their cases.  Our pleasure at not being among the departing will end in Auckland when we have to start the journey home and others get to stay on the ship.  The biggest smiles, however, were on the faces of crew members who were finishing their contracts and going on 60-day holidays.  The ones departing looked much happier than the returning workers who will be onboard for the next 8 months.

SYDNEY DAY TWO:  We took the hop-on-hop-off bus and toured the city plus the beaches at Bondi.  Every part of Sydney is attractive; quite amazing.  It appears that it would be a wonderful place to live.  However, we missed the 1:30 shuttle back to the ship and had to wait for one at 3:30.  This was very nerve wracking as that meant Betty was stuck for almost two hours in the most expensive shopping area of the city.  However, she didn’t buy anything so I returned to the ship in a reasonably decent mood.

 

MELBOURNE:  On our first day in Melbourne we joined two other couples for a fabulous tour of the beautiful Yarra Valley.  The tour was organized by Marion and Lloyd (two 83-year olds from Milwaukee).  I think I’ll hang their pictures on my wall as role models.

We first drove to Healesville Sanctuary where we had our first sighting of koalas, emus, and kangaroos in a natural setting.  We also attended a display where large birds of prey (raptors) swoop in and around as they are fed.  This was to be followed by a wine tour at Oakridge (rated in 2012 as the top winery in Australia).  However, as a special favor to me our guide stopped first at Chandon because I wanted to compare Australian Chandon to the Napa Chandon that I had had twice on the ship.  Chandon wineries around the world are all owned by Moet and Chandon from Champagne and they all specialize in traditionelle methode sparkling wines.

After Chandon we went to Oakridge for more wine tasting prior to having lunch at the winery.  There we ate kobe beef washed down with cabernet.  This followed the 12 wines we had tasted prior to lunch.

Lunch ended late but we did have time for a quick stop at Ricketts Sanctuary, which is a serene walk through a rain forest of mostly mulberry trees and where the there are numerous sculptures having been created over Ricketts’ lifetime.

I mentioned that Marion and Lloyd were going to be my role models.  They travel all over the world, only occasionally going home to Milwaukee for a couple of weeks.  They also told us that they were buying a limitless drinks package for the rest of the cruise.  Betty and I rejected that option as we calculated that we would be unable to drink enough to make the package a good value.  When our van arrived back at the ship Lloyd jumped out first as he didn’t want to miss happy hour.

MELBOURNE DAY TWO (Feb. 26):  As we had a number of errands (compulsory shopping, finding a barbershop, etc.) we took a bus into the center of the city and walked and walked.  When our feet went on strike we hopped a free tram that circles the city core.  Shortly after boarding, the tram broke down but we found one going in the other direction and completed our tour.

SHOPPING (EUROPE VERSUS DOWN UNDER):  Whenever we have been in Europe we are enticed by the tax free shopping, which in fact approaches a scam.  First you pay the total price up front with the promise of a refund when leaving the European Union.  However, you must apply not at the first airport but at the one that actually leaves Europe.  Thus, when trying to make a connection in someplace like Frankfurt one must find the tax office, which is very well hidden, and complete the process without missing one’s connecting flight.  With luck your refund will eventually be mailed.   In Australia the shops offering tax free shopping give the discount up front and the shopkeepers do all the paperwork.  All the customer has to do is show a photo I.D., such as a N.S. driver’s license, from a foreign country.

Oops, ship’s horn just sounded, we are about to sail for Tasmania.

 

 

 

NOUMEA TO BRISBANE

NEW CALEDONIA:  Out last island stop prior to Australia was the French territory of New Caledonia.  Despite the fact that New Caledonia has a much higher standard of living than the other islands we visited we were strangely disappointed.  The island economy is based on nickel mining and the high standard of living results in infant mortality being lower than in the United States. 

New Caledonia was a penal colony for France until 1922 and one of the interesting things is that the entire downtown area of the city of Noumea is on reclaimed land.  For 50 years the prisoners, with only shovels and wheelbarrows, moved an entire mountain into the sea.  The French treated their penal colonies much more harshly that did the English in Australia.  For that reason there are few descendants of prisoners here.  Despite that Europeans (French) make up a majority of the population.  New Caledonia is supposed to remind one of the South of France, but other than the fact that the people speak French I missed the similarities.

DINNER COMPANIONS:  A few nights ago Betty was feeling under the weather so I went to the main dining room by myself.  I joined three ladies “of a certain age” and I expected that they might be pleased to be joined by a man somewhat younger than they.  Apparently I did not meet their standards and they continued with their favorite conversation topic.  I didn’t think it was possible to stretch information on getting one’s hair done through four complete courses.

X-RING:  Most nights after dinner we attend the show in the main theatre.  The entertainment varies, or at least our appreciation of it varies.   One showman that really amazed us was an illusionist.  We happened to be sitting near the front and when he asked for four men to volunteer their wedding rings and only three did I volunteered my X-ring.  Now those of you who cruise know that Celebrity Cruises (we are currently on Oceania) have a large X as their logo.  This led to much fun being made of my ring but eventually the magician took the four rings and formed them into a chain.  He asked me to come up on stage and inspect the rings.  I was unable to separate the links of the chain despite tugging and twirling.  The illusionist, however, easily untangled the rings and returned them to the respective owners.  Several days later guests were still stopping me and asking if I was a stooge planted in the audience.

BRISBANE (Feb. 20):  We got up early to watch the sail up river to Brisbane.  Although it was mostly industrial sites it was worth the early arousal just to see the tugs turn our ship 180 degrees in the river.  The length of our ship appears to exactly match the width of the river.

Along with a young (or at least younger) couple from Lloydminster we had a 4 x 4 scheduled for an 8-hour tour in the Brisbane area.  This turned out to be a fabulous day despite the 37 degree temperature.  We were driven past the Gold Coast and then up a very steep mountain path to the top of Mt. Tamborine.  There we took a skywalk over the semi-tropical rain forest.  We stopped for morning tea (scones and clotted cream suggest that the English influence may be greater in Oz than in Canada).  After tea we had a wine tasting (the Albertans don’t drink wine but we enjoyed several samples).  This area is not one of Australia’s known wine districts so I suspect the wines were made from grapes imported from New South Wales.  After lunch at the wine shop we had the compulsory shopping stop before a visit to the Botanical Gardens.   One of the highlights of the day was to be taken to a park for boomerang throwing lessons.  I actually got one to come all the way back, but I fumbled the catch.

On our way back to the ship the highway was closed due to a crash.  Our driver nonetheless worked his way through the back streets of Brisbane thus showing us sights that are not on any normal tourist tour.  We made it back in lots of time to have much needed showers prior to a glass of wine on our deck as we watched the sailout.  Our dinner companions turned out to be a very entertaining couple from Melbourne who gave us valuable tips for our visit there in a few days.

SAMOA TO FIJI

On Feb. 12 we left Samoa, our last stop in Polynesia, for Melanesia where we have stops in Fiji and New Caledonia.  Polynesia is a huge area of the Pacific that goes all the way from New Zealand to Hawaii.  Melanesia is not as large but is different in that the people are presumed to be racially distinct from Polynesians (darker).

In both Polynesia and Melanesia cannibalism was practiced for centuries and didn’t end until the middle of the 19^th century.  Warfare was constant throughout the South Pacific and captured enemies were almost always eaten.  After Europeans (Magellan, Bligh, Cook, etc.) came to this area shipwrecked sailors and later missionaries were pursued for dinner.  In addition to enemies the Chief or King (depending) could also demand that a village send a young person (presumably more tender than an old person) for dinner.

Fiji was particularly frightening to Europeans and consequently was named “The Cannibal Islands.”  Our cartoon caricature of a white man being boiled in a pot is apparently incorrect as the preferred method was baking.  In Fiji they solved the problem of preserving the meat by simply cutting off a limb for cooking, applying a tourniquet to the stump, and then the rest of the meat was preserved for another day.  In Samoa, it was customary when any commoner met the King, for the supplicant to say “Eat me.” (I know you think I am making this up but I am not.)

Finally I should note that not all ship-wrecked sailors were considered to be of equal value for meals.  Americans were the last choice as they were the heaviest smokers and the Cannibals found their meat to be less tasty.  On Fiji the last missionary was eaten in 1867. 

We booked a two-day tour of Fiji.  On Friday morning we docked at the town of Lautoka where 12 of us crammed into a van and travelled to see a Hindu temple (there is a large Indian population here, originally brought in to work in the sugar mills as native Polynesians do not like such hard work).  We stopped to see the guns of Momi before visiting the town of Nadi for shopping.  In Nadi we bought a Cannibal fork (now there’s something for which it will be hard to find a use).  In traditional culture food was eaten with fingers except for human flesh which couldn’t be touched, thus the need for a fork.  We did restrain from buying any eye picks, however.

We stopped to see the orchids at the former home of Raymond Burr (remember Perry Mason and Ironsides) before having a much needed swim in the ocean. 

Fijians are very much aware of their violent past and are quick to point out that “in only 150 years we have gone from being the fiercest people in the Pacific to being the most friendly.” 

On Saturday morning our ship docked in the capital city of Suva and was met at the wharf by a 30-piece marching band, which included 3 sousaphones.  There was also a rock band to greet us.  In addition to passing many urban sites our van took us into the countryside along a one-lane gravel road to a traditional village where we drank kava (a mild narcotic) and ate a traditional lunch which included two kinds of taro.  On the way back we stopped for a little more shopping before returning to the ship.  Just as we boarded a “shower” opened up.  I have heard of tropical rainstorms and have seen such in the movies where it seemed fake.  However, rain like this is not something I have ever seen in Canada.

It was good to get back to the ship by mid-afternoon as we had an active social evening to which we were looking forward.  After a much-needed shower we donned our finest and went to a cocktail party which the Captain threw for cruisers who are veterans to Oceania.  After that we had dinner at the General Manager’s table.  The group of 8 was most convivial and as the Manager is from Lyon we were served very fine French wines.  Our dinner ended just in time to attend a concert of a baritone/tenor who flew in from Australia the day before.  He was sufficiently good that I didn’t fall asleep once during the performance.

BORA BORA to the Two SAMOAS

Our second day in Bora Bora was also very pleasant.  We rode around the island on the back of a truck and then stopped at a nice beach for a swim.  Bora Bora has a single road that circles the island and everyone lives along that road.  The center of the island rises to 3000 ft., and only a serious mountain climber could scale the peaks.  Nonetheless, it is very beautiful.

After returning to the ship in mid-afternoon we started down a slide into gluttony.  We had kobe burgers at the pool and then a little later attended the Captain’s cocktail party where we washed down hot hors d’oevres with copious champagne.  Then we went for dinner to the Polo Grill where I worked through courses of pork bellies, clam chowder and whole Maine lobster.  Each day I swear that I will do better tomorrow.

On the morning of Feb. 7 we sailed to the island of Raiatea (part of the Society Islands of French Polynesia).  The island looks very lovely but as it was raining we were unable to do any touring.  We had hoped to take a boat up the Faaroa River but because of the rain the current was too strong.  We wandered around the town of Uturoa for a bit while I used up some of my funny money buying not very good French wine.

SEA DAYS:  Between Raiatea and the Samoas there is about 1100 miles of empty water to cross.  In two days we didn’t see a bird, an island or a ship.  Nonetheless the days off touring are very pleasant.  I rise early for some brisk rounds on the walking track.  Then I pick up a latte or a cappuccino for Betty.  This morning she complained, while sipping her coffee on our private deck, that there was too much cream.  The day is partly spent reading/sleeping in the shade by the pool and partly spent attending “enrichment lectures.”  There are four lecturers on the boat and during the two sea days I attended  5 lectures on the history, art, and culture of the islands of the South Seas.  It is almost like being back in university except the lectures are more interesting and there are no exams.  The day before yesterday Betty took in a class on Polynesian cooking.  We usually dress for dinner, listen to a string quartet while I think about the perfect wine for the meal and then after the meal attend a floor show before retiring.  A couple of nights ago I tried to be good and only ordered some fruit and a main course.  However, the woman next to me had the waiter bring me a cheese tray when I refused dessert.  Food has improved on these ships in the past 300 years.  When Magellan sailed through here on his way to the Spice Islands the crew survived on maggots ground into a meal which was mixed with sawdust prior to being marinated in urine.

AMERICAN SAMOA:  Yesterday morning we docked at Pago Pago which is on the largest island of American Samoa.  This is an American Protectorate (somewhat like Puerto Rico).  There are only about 65,000 people on this beautiful island and we spent most of the day taking a tour by private bus, complete with wooden seats.  The culture is very interesting and can best be described as chauvinistic and deeply religious.  There is universal suffrage but only village chiefs can be elected to the legislature and only men can be village chiefs.  The current generation is the first without polygamy. 

There are two main religions on the islands with the largest group being Christians and a much smaller group being Catholics (note the dichotomy).  All around the island rusty and empty oxygen tanks hang from wooden supports.  Each night at 6:00 p.m. these tanks are struck making great noise to announce a general curfew, when everything stops and people pray and sing.  There is a general curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.  Swimming is forbidden on Sundays.  Our tour stopped at noon for a picnic lunch but our guide would not let us eat until we had said Grace.  Women keep their bodies well covered but shorts are o.k. for tourists.  Tourism is just starting here and when a cruise ship docks people from all over the island come to the dock is take pictures of the ship and to look at the strange looking people.  Cruise ships are relatively new and infrequent.  Our guide was a primary teacher who took the day off work to be our guide.  She also took her children out of school to help with tours.

Obesity is rampant so it is a feel good place for overweight people like me.

Last night we sailed for Samoa (formerly called Western Samoa).  This is an independent country with the same language and culture as American Samoa.  However, the two Samoas are separated by many things beyond 50 miles of water.  This includes history.  Whereas Americans have been in charge of American Samoa for a long time, Samoa was ruled by the Germans in the 19^th century and then by New Zealand after WWI.  Also the international date line runs between the two countries. 

WEDNESDAY, FEB. 12:  Nothing to tell about the 11^th.  We crossed the international date line and missed Tuesday altogether.  This morning we took a tour from the Port and travelled around the island, feeding gigantic turtles, seeing a waterfall, swimming in the ocean, etc.  Samoa is larger and has more population than American Samoa; yet it has many of the same customs including the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. curfews.  On the beach even female tourists cannot wear bikinis.

OCEANIA CRUISELINES:                 We have travelled with different cruiselines and find Oceania to be the best.  They are very concerned with service.  A couple of days ago we got a questionnaire to complete.  Under comments I complained that there were no bargain wines to be purchased.  Two hours later the chief sommelier called me to invite me to a special wine sale which is to take place tomorrow.  Betty’s complaint was even more trivial than mine.  She commented that the shape of the shampoo bottles made it hard for her to squeeze out shampoo from the bottom half of the bottle.  This morning we were visited by the Head Housekeeper who explained that they couldn’t change the shampoo bottles during the cruise but be assured that there will be extra bottles in our room so that Betty only has to use shampoo from the top half.

 

 

TAMPA TO FRENCH POLYNESIA

FLYING:                  Flying is never fun and getting here was no exception.  Our short flight on Delta from Tampa to Atlanta was late and crowded (no space in overhead bins) and we worried about our connection to L.A.  However, we made it in time and the next foodless flight had the pleasant surprise in that I could watch the Superless Bowl.   We had a four-hour layover in LA, but with miles to walk to reach the international terminal, a 50-minute line at the Air Tahiti check-in counter, and a 40-minute line at security we made it just in time to not grab a $ 14. hamburger.

We had been warned on Cruise Critic (an essential website for anyone contemplating taking a cruise) that Air Tahiti was fanatical about luggage weight so we left Tampa a pound under for each case.  The couple ahead of us in line were 8 pounds overweight on their carryons and had to pay $ 150. to get on the plane.  This is a good news story in that whenever Betty shops and buys an item on this trip she will have to throw away something of equal weight.  I hope that doesn’t mean that she foregoes shoes, etc. for precious gems.

After more than 24 hours in transit we arrived at 6:00 a.m. at the Papeete Airport.  An ATM spewed out enough funny-looking money to pay for a cab downtown.  Reception at the hotel was very nice and gave us a key to the spa so we could shower, etc.  Papeete is a rather seedy looking town with few sights of interest.  Tourists are advised to ferry to the next island or at least go out into the countryside.  We considered renting a car but exhaustion overruled and we wandered around the farmers’ market in the morning and spent the afternoon having a snooze and a swim in the rooftop pool.  This is the rainy season so the weather switches hourly from bright sun to torrential rain and then back again an hour later

Cuisine may be a bit strange here.  At the market they sold French Fries pizza (that means French Fries are mixed in with the cheese) and lots of people were eating French Fries subs.   For our evening meal we sat on our private balcony with a view of the mountains and shared a baguette and pate with a bottle of Chilean wine.  Then we walked to the Port where each evening several trucks set up barbecues and sell local food.  This was very pleasant although the clouds opened just as my Mahi Mahi was being served.  However, there was an occupied table under and awning and we were welcomed by other patrons.

This morning (Feb. 4) we boarded the Marina and now everything feels like home as this is the same ship that we were on in November.

BORA BORA:  This morning (Feb. 5) we arose very early in order to enjoy the sail-in through the barrier reef into the lagoon.  The novelist James Michener described Bora Bora as the most beautiful island in the world.   My experience is not sufficient to confirm, nor can it deny the assertion.

We joined a group of 12 (pre-arranged through Cruise Critic) for a 5-hour water tour of the island.  This tour run by a local family was a delight indeed.  We stopped 3 separate times to snorkel.  The first time was among a school of black-tipped sharks and we were assured that they didn’t bite.  Interspersed with the sharks were huge sting-rays.  I never did muster the courage to touch the sharks but I did run my hand over the back of a sting-ray.  On the second stop I saw a huge moray eel and on the third stop we swam over a school of much larger lemon sharks.  At one point one of the guides yelled sharply at me that I was swimming with my feet too low in the water (which apparently might be tempting to the huge shark.)  I reacted by quickly climbing back into the boat.  I did also make a rookie mistake of getting my back badly burned while swimming.

We sailed by several of the typical Bora Bora hotels with thatched roofed rooms built on stilts out in the lagoon.  We were told that the average price per room was $ 3,000. per night.  Bora Bora is a small island with a population of around 5,000 and is visited (at least those who stay overnight on the island) by primarily the rich and famous.

For lunch we stopped at a motu (a small empty island) owned by the tour family and they barbecued steaks, sausages and tuna for us.  This small island was totally covered in sand but had mature palm trees everywhere.  The only thing missing was a cluster of beautiful people to replace our group of 12 seniors.

Finally on the last lap of the trip an old man with flowing white hair sang native songs while accompanying himself on a strange 8-string ukulele.   While he was singing a young scantily clad girl, who looked like she stepped out of a Gaugin painting, did several sensuous swaying-type dances.

 

 

ANTIGONISH TO TAMPA

We left Antigonish on Monday with good driving as far as Moncton.  After that the unplowed roads were tricky until Fredericton where we hit freezing rain on top of unplowed snow.  White knuckle until Houlton, Maine where I-95 was seemingly bare and we zipped along until we changed drivers.  Getting out of the car I slipped on the black ice and realized the entire highway was a skating rink.  Back to a death grip on the steering wheel.

We made it as far as Portland where we checked into a hotel and went out to find a big steak and a drink.  Outback Steakhouse appeared to have gone out of business so we simply went into a place called “Romano’s Macaroni Grill” across from our hotel.

On the way in an exiting patron said:  “You’re in for a treat if you order the chicken parmesan”.  While looking at the wine list our waiter suggested that we have the “honor system house wine”.  He then explained that you ordered a glass of house wine but he would leave the bottle on the table.  Needlesstosay we were not very honorable and found that the thin Tuscan plonc was great for washing down our chicken and pasta, which was covered in a delicious tomato sauce.  Eventually the waiter commented that there was no point in leaving the little bit left in the bottle and poured us the last of it.   It was only then that I read the fine print on the label and noted that the bottle, which he had originally brought unopened to the table, was 1.5 liters.  Although my vision was getting blurrier by the minute I did note that we were only charged $ 5.50 each for a glass of wine.

On Tuesday the weather was very cold and when we stopped at a “Welcome Center” in Penn. we were advised to hole up in a hotel as there was a blizzard across the south.  We ignored that and drove on dry pavement as far as Mechanicsburg.  Heading into Carolinas on Wednesday (the day after the storm) we still had very cold weather (-12 degrees) but dry pavement.  However, five states had declared a state of emergency caused by the storm (some reports said 6 cm; others 2”).  Apparently the roads were very slippery and the inexperienced drivers caused hundreds of accidents which led to total gridlock in places like Atlanta.  Home Depot and other stores opened their aisles for sleeping, and in many cases children spent the night on stranded school buses.  At dinner the hostess apologized for the slow service because so many staff didn’t come in because of the storm.  She also told us that her daughter’s school would be closed for the third day in a row.

Sunny Florida was anything but.  We arrived in Ocala to 5 degrees and our one golf game for the trip down started at 8 degrees and ended in heavy rain.   However, it did warm up a bit for our last full day in Florida.  Saturday was packing day.  I brought a scale as we are warned the Air Tahiti is very rigid on luggage weights.  Betty has been known to want to travel with 40 or 50 items more than is absolutely necessary.

In the evening we linked up with Rene and Elsa Villa and drove to Ybor City for a great meal.  Rene and I share a unique bond in that we studied at the same time at the same two obscure graduate schools in the 60’s.  In recent years we lost contact but it was wonderful to reunite with friends from almost 50 years ago.

Today is “survival day”.   After breakfast we head to Tampa airport where we face 24 hours of flights in three steps; for all three we will be sitting in steerage.  However, Papeete promises to be warm.