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.