OCEANIA VERSUS THE SOUTH PACIFIC

 If someone asked you in a trivia quiz, "Where are Ron and Betty?" you might respond "The South Pacific."  This answer, however, wouldn't get you any points, as we are in Oceania.  Oceania is a large part of the Pacific Ocean that encompasses hundreds of islands running from Hawaii to New Zealand.  Ever since the famous musical was first performed this area has mistakenly been called the South Pacific.  Since many of the islands, including Hawaii, are north of the Equator, the name is incorrect.  However, not all the Pacific Islands are part of Oceania.  The Philippines and Indonesia are excluded.

The 13th of Nov. was scheduled to be a sea day.  However, the Captain decided to moor off the island of Raiatea.  We had a beautiful sail in at breakfast time and during the afternoon I took a short walking tour ashore.

On the 14th we moored in Opunoha Bay, Moorea.  This is also a beautiful island with huge inaccessible mountains inland.  We took a boat tour around the island and listened to our guide tell us about mythical creatures in pre-historic times. Most of these French Polynesian islands have a road that circles the island following the shoreline and most, if not all the people, live along that road.

We got back to the ship in time to dress for dinner, and while doing so heard a ship-wide announcement instructing the stretcher crew to report to the medical centre.  A few minutes later a helicopter landed on the top deck in order to evacuate a passenger.  As the helicopter landed more-or-less directly overhead there was lots of noise and wind. 

On our way to dinner we saw two crew members heading to the tender deck carrying bags of stuff, obviously having cleaned out a passenger's suite.  The sort of good news was that while we were eating the Captain announced that the passenger had reached hospital and was in stable condition.

On the 15th we docked for two days at Papeete in Tahiti.  We tied up next to a very large cruise ship from Japan, and we watched 100's, if not thousands, exit the ship and fill the streets of Papeete.  I had trouble sleeping as I tried to estimate how many bags of noodles would have been loaded on the ship to feed 3,000 Japanese on a 108-day cruise.

Papeete is quite a lovely town/city with wide sidewalks and lots of shopping. There seemed to be a ukulele band playing every few blocks. 

 I did a self-walking tour the first day and we had hoped to do a taxi-tour the second morning.  However, cars could not stop at the cruise terminal and the walk to the taxi stand was beyond Betty's range.  I confess that I was not overly disappointed as I could then return to the ship and watch the StFX men's basketball team very narrowly defeat the UNB Reds.

FROM HAWAII TO BORA BORA

 We had almost a week sailing from Hawaii to French Polynesia, but the time went quite quickly with lectures, concerts, choir practice, and lots of food and wine.  Incidentally, the first picture is of what I call "the parking lot" at the entrance of the main dining room.  Of course, there is always wine on our deck before heading to dinner.

Food is sometime great and sometimes adequate, depending on which restaurant and what one orders.  When one reports to the Maitra 'de your names are electronically sent to the waiters at whatever table you are being assigned.  That way you are always addressed by your name.

We had an "interesting" meal in Manfredi's, the Italian restaurant a few nights ago.  We sat with a couple who were from an unnamed country, but you can probably guess. When the waiter first brought a basket of bread, the woman said she didn't want any of that oil and balsamic and that she immediately wanted butter.  She then shoved the basket across the table to me as she didn't want to smell the small plate of shaved parmigiana that accompanied the bread.  When the waiter then brought some lovely Tuscan wine she said she didn't want any of that Italian stuff and demanded some Riesling.  It is hard to imagine a Riesling in an Italian restaurant, but after some time they did locate a bottle (perhaps it was flown in from Piggly Wiggly).  When the Riesling did arrive she didn't want it poured into a wine glass but rather over a tall, very full glass of ice.  One of the courses was seafood of the day which included turbot, scallops and shrimp.  She wanted that but with no turbot, no shrimp, no salt or pepper, or no sauce.  I couldn't tell how her plate came but she sent it back.  

For her main she ordered the Bistecca alla Florentina which is a herb marinated bone-in ribeye.  She wanted that not-marinated, with no herbs and definitely no salt or pepper.  The chef's first try was also sent back.  On the other hand, there was something that pleased her (Yes, Trump's victory).

They left when we ordered coffee.  I think she didn't want the aroma.  At that time our very, very, very patient waiter asked Betty "How was your meal?"  When Betty replied "It's better now" the waiter almost choked trying not to laugh.

On Tuesday morning we anchored off Bora Bora and were tendered ashore.  Bora Bora is an atoll where James Mitchener was stationed during WWII and where he wrote "Tales of the South Pacific".  It is sometimes described as the most beautiful island in the world.

We took a boat tour of the islands on a 12-passenger open boat.  The trip was quite lovely and we saw beautiful beaches, etc. 

 The final picture is of the largest of the "cottages" that are part of the Conrad Hotel.  One can stay there for only $ 8000. per night.  Spending any amount of time here would bankrupt all but the wealthiest.  I went in a small wine shop and looked at a bottle of not very good California Merlot.  In Antigonish it would sell for about $ 15. Canadian.  InVaitape (Bora Bora) they were asking $ 50. U.S.

HAWAII

On our second day in Hawaii we tendered at Kona (also on the Big Island), which was considerably more attractive than Hilo.  Our tour of the island was, however, less than exciting.  We stopped at a coffee plantation, where they sold very expensive Kona coffee, before visiting a "painted church", which some of the more devout passengers considered to be beautiful, but I found to be the ugliest church I have ever entered (sorry no pictures or I might get sued).  On the other hand, we sat at the front of the bus and really enjoyed our talks with the septuagenarian driver.  Among the many things he told us was that there were relatively few native Hawaiians on Hawaii.  The largest ethnic group is of Japanese decent, followed by Portuguese, and then those from the Philippines..  

On Monday we were in Honolulu, which is quite beautiful, and which looks very prosperous, although we were told that tourism (the largest industry) has been much reduced the past couple of years.  While the American passengers all headed to Pearl Harbor, we took a 2 and 1/2 hour taxi tour of Honolulu and then saw quite a bit of the island of Oahu.  We visited Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head and then travelled along the east coast.   We saw lots of very expensive real estate, but also a homeless encampment on one the the many beaches. 

We returned to a late lunch on board.  The waiter insisted that my roast duck would be better digested with what seemed like a quart (a unit of measurement used in the U.S.) of Malbec.  After lunch we both fell soundly asleep, and in fact snored away until we had missed a pre-paid early supper harbor cruise.  We eventually went to the main dining room for something to eat and made do with Lobster Thermador and Chateaubriand.  After dinner we attended a concert put on by the singer who is the section lead in the choir I joined.

Somehow over the past week my sandals disintegrated, so when we docked at Nawilliwilli on the island of Kauai I was anxious to go shopping.  I had barely a couple of hours first thing in the morning before our scheduled tour of an historic plantation.  I grabbed a free shuttle to the nearest shopping mall (which had no shoe stores) and then after returning to the ship I got a cab to a more distant mall.  After getting the last pair of sandals in my size I was unable to find a taxi in the pouring rain.  My useless phone (a Mac) didn't help so I eventually went into a small jewelry store and asked the man for help.  After phoning three cabs (none of whom answered--apologies to my I-phone) we settled on a fee of $ 20. for him to lock up his shop and drive me back to the ship.  On the drive he wanted to know how I was going to get to vote for Trump while on the ship.  My explanation of being a Canadian didn't seem to register, and he wanted me to try to vote for Trump anyway.  I guess you could say that he is a typical American given the result of the election.  Fortunately our dinner companions on election night were Brits and Canadians; otherwise I might have had to opt for room service.

At the plantation we took a train ride through the lush fields and stopped to feed some pigs.  There are twice as many feral pigs on the island as there are people, which is also true on Kona.

Now we have left Hawaii for a six-day sail to Bora Bora.  I am glad to have seen a bit of Hawaii, but have little desire to return.  The weather is wonderful and I think swimmers and surfers might feel differently than Betty or I.  We did pass a half dozen attractive golf courses on Oahu, but the prices described by our taxi driver put them well over my green fee ceiling.  That might also explain why I saw lots of fairways, but very few duffers.

;

YANI:  Are any of you fans of the Greek musician Yani?  We are not familiar but went to hear Lauren Jelencovich in concert the other night.  She has been Yani's singing companion for many years.  She was absolutely amazing.

WINE ON BOARD:  At lunch and dinner one can imbibe in the provided free wine or one can upgrade to wine from the wine list (good selection at very good prices).  Sometimes we drink the provided stuff  (but there is no choice and you get what they offer that day).  At lunch today they offered white or red German wines.  We decided to be open minded and have a glass of each.  We managed to hide Betty's Reisling by pouring it into a water glass.  I, rudely, just left my red on the table.  On the way out we noticed that 80% of the tables had glasses of Coke.

SEA DAYS

                                                             SEA DAYS

Although there are many "sea days" on this cruise we are not bored so-far.  One of the things that I enjoy is attending the lectures.  There are a half dozen lecturers on board.  These are people who have expertise in things related to the part of the world we are visiting.  I think they get free cruises for giving several lectures.  All the speakers are very good, speak without notes, and have interesting accompanying slides and videos.  Some of the talks I have attended include:  Explorers of the South Pacific; The Effects of Geography on the outcome of WWII; Coral Reefs; The Evolution of Whales; Pelagic Birds of the Pacific.  Betty attended an excellent talk on "How to take pictures with your cellphone."

I have joined a "Guests Choir".  There are about 25 of us and we rehearse most sea days.  In addition to a Director we have Section Leaders who are professional singers from the ship's theatre cast.

On Saturday we docked at the town of Hilo on the "Big Island".  In the morning I took a taxi into town where I was less than impressed with the seedy downtown area where there were too many people sleeping on the street.

However, our afternoon bus tour was very pleasant with stops at an outdoor zoo, a fine candy factory, a waterfall and a Japanese garden.

The vegetation is quire beautiful with lots of monkey pod and banyan trees.

The food on board continues to be very good.  Most mornings I breakfast by myself at the buffet, and then bring things back for Betty to enjoy on our deck.  The picture shows only a bit of her arm as she no longer wishes to pose in her undies.

Most nights we eat in the main dining room, but there are also two specialty restaurants for which you need reservations well in advance.  We enjoyed our meal in the Italian restaurant, particularly noticing my clergy person dinner companion glare at me as I got to my fifth and sixth glass of wine.

Saturday night we had a late reservation at the Chef's Table.  This is an unusual restaurant with a fixed menu that changes every three days.  Each menu is from one country and is accompanied by matching wines.  We had the British menu, which seemed unusual but was in fact very, very good.  We started with scotch eggs (quail eggs in sausage), then had traditional and chips.  To cleanse our palates we had shaved ice liberally soaked in gin and tonic, and then the main was Yorkshire pudding with roast braised brisket.  We could either have the included wines or the premium wines for an additional fee.  As the premium wines were mostly French we chose to stay with the regular stuff and had six glasses of very good South American and Spanish wines.  I think I fell asleep before I got completely undressed.

                                                             CRUISING 2024

When Betty and I were planning our 2024 cruise(s) our bucket lists were quite different.   I really wanted to see the sub-continent (bottom of Betty's list) and she wanted to see Hawaii (bottom of my list).  Therefore we decided to do two cruises.  

As most of you know "my" cruise to India didn't quite go as planned.  On New Year's Eve Betty fell and smashed her elbow.  Thus, the only part of India I got to see was from her hospital window in Mumbai (Bombay).  The hospital was nevertheless superb and the surgery went very well; and, after 10 months our insurance even covered all the costs.  Here I have a bit of advice for travelers.  Most out-of-country hospitals will not deal directly with Canadian insurance companies.  So, you pay up front and get reimbursed later (in our case a lot later).  The advice is to get as much credit limit as you can on your plastic.  You might need it.

It looked like the Hawaii cruise might be a repeat of India.  Betty broke two bones in her right forearm, and after not realizing that they were broken her arm took on an odd angle that required lengthy surgery.  The surgeon wanted her to be in a cast for several weeks, but when we explained we were going on a cruise he agreed to remove the cast just before we left for the cruise, provided she could find a rigid brace (he noted the ones at the hospital were useless).  Forearm braces that de-mobilize neither the elbow or the wrist are rare.  Nonetheless Amazon located one in her size somewhere in China and it was airmailed to her for $ 13.

We boarded our ship in Los Angeles on Sunday and are now on a five-day sail to Hawaii, after which we will head to the South Pacific.  Although we have been on a couple of dozen cruises (in recent years mostly on Oceania) this is our first cruise with Viking Ocean.  Viking and Oceania are direct competitors in the same price range, so we were most curious to do our own comparison.  

It is still early in the cruise so time will tell, but some early impressions of Viking are mostly positive, although not exclusively.  The decor on the ship is definitely Scandinavian with lots of blonde wood and everything is very angular.  Perhaps the whole ship was designed by Ikea.  Here are a few shots from around the ship.

Although the included wines are not very good, one can upgrade for a price, or simply bring your own wine on board (no cover charge).  On the other hand, the food so far has been excellent.  I was most impressed the first morning when my smoked salmon eggs benedict was topped with caviar.

A general rule of thumb is that the longer the cruise the older the passengers.  Obviously, us old guys have time on our hands.  This cruise seemed to have attracted lots of the aged, perhaps not only because of its 34 days length, but because it has lots of non-stressful sea days.  There are so many people using either walkers or wheelchairs that the name of the ship should be changed from Viking Navigator to The Floating Nursing Home.

We have met very pleasant guests on board and last night's dinner was no exception.  We chatted endlessly over our bottles of upgraded wine with a couple perhaps not quite as old as us.  At the end of the evening they decided to tell us "their story".  At the age of 14 they were childhood sweethearts.  They married very young and immediately had kids.  After a few years, he got the urge to "sow some oats" and dumped her.  She eventually married someone else and he also got married.  After many years they were both widowed.  After 37 years apart they met up, he was forgiven, and 7 years ago they got married again.

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  LAST BLOG 

 

HOME: Sixty hours in transit (hour to airport in Mumbai, 3-hour flight to Dubai; 9-hour layover in Dubai airport; 14-hour flight to Toronto; hour drive to son Peter’s; overnight; 2-hour flight to Halifax; 2-hour drive to Antigonish.  

LAST HOSPITAL STORY: When we left the hospital on Saturday, I left two read paperbacks by the garbage bin in the room. Two days later a hospital employee showed up at our hotel with the books. 

SOUTH INDIAN FOOD: Neither Betty nor I know much about Indian food, but one of the hotel restaurants specialized in items from the south of India. I felt we should try this place even though it was a very, very long walk from the hotel lobby (including crossing a courtyard, and including two short flights of stairs. Betty just managed to get up the stairs while I carried her wheelchair. 

Once seated we were presented with a bowl of papadum and then five sauces for dipping. There were no plates, instead the food was served on large leaves. 

Following the Sommelier’s suggestion I ordered a Super Tuscan. The wine was superb, but unfortunately it was decanted before I got a chance to examine the label. 

We next got three small appetizers, and I even recognized one as having been made from bananas. 

At this point the waiter came for our order. The menu had a section of non-vegetarian, and a section of vegetarian. I asked for one of the 12 items from the non-vegetarian page and was told that it was a fixed menu, and if I ordered non-vegetarian I would get all the items on the page. 

We next got two of the items at the same time (a fish item and a chicken item). This was followed by the remaining items presented in several small silver bowls. 

There were three desserts on the menu and, of course, we were given all three. 

The last picture shows Betty being served South Indian coffee. 

When we left the restaurant the waiter insisted that he push Betty’s wheelchair. When we got to the stairs, he asked us to wait while he summoned another man. They then carried Betty’s chair (with Betty in it) down the stairs. 

The conventional wisdom is that passengers gain a pound per day on a cruise. Despite the meal described above I actually lost 8 pounds on this adventure.