Last of the Sea Days

Sailing into Sydney at dawn: The Harbor Bridge and the Opera House beyond

ms Amsterdam
February 12-14, 2013

The three sea days between Picton and Sydney just flew by. Our luck held out: we had perfect weather and relatively calm seas save for one day that was a bit rocky. You can always tell when rough water is ahead; there are bowls of green apples and soda crackers at the front desk and little white bags discreetly hanging by every elevator. After five weeks we were quite experienced with the one-handed hair shampooing in the shower while hanging onto the safety bar with the other hand, walking the narrower halls along the stateroom decks rather than the wide open spaces of the shops/library/casino/etc deck so you can either bounce off the walls or hang on to the railings on either side of the halls and carrying a full glass or coffee cup at the Lido Buffet without spilling a drop. I'm not quite sure how we'll use these skills at home once we regain our land legs. After being on the ship for so long, when you are on dry land every once in a while you find yourself rocking with the non-existent waves on the non-existent sea.

The Tasman Sea can be quite stormy so we were more than happy to have such a smooth crossing entertained by  the occasional enormous pod of dolphins passing by.

Sea days are frequent and special on this long cruise. We've been educated by retired professors and other experts about earthquakes, volcanoes, maritime history of the Pacific, explorers, Polynesian migration, astronomy and geology. We've been entertained by singers, dancers, classical pianists and guitarists, comedians, folkloric troupes and even a magician and ventriloquist. A floating Ed Sullivan show. There is live music every afternoon and evening, from classical trios, to jazz quartets, dance bands and three different pianists at three different piano bars. And my new besties, the knitters. We met every sea day at 10 am in the Explorers Lounge for an hour to knit/crochet blankets for the Linus Project, catch up on what everyone had done in the various ports and just enjoy each other's company. I learned a lot from the experienced knitters, providing a good deal of comic relief in the process. I knitted a couple of blankets for charity, three patterned dish cloths to donate to a craft fair, five kitty snuggies for the no-kill shelter in Santa Rosa Beach, FL, plus two cowls for myself. They also pointed me toward some lovely yarn and quilt shops in New Zealand. We were truly an international group from the US, Canada, Bolivia, Brazil, Thailand, UK, NZ, Norway, Australia and more. I started to miss them the moment I left the Lounge the last sea day before Sydney.

We have had a fantastic adventure. Never in my life did I think I would cross the vast (boy, is it vast!) Pacific. And without getting seasick. I guess my grandfather and father were right; I did outgrow it!!! 40 days was a long time to be so far away from hearth and home. I was ready to go back to Kennesaw and catch up with life there but given the chance Jim would've stayed on the Amsterdam for the entire 115 days. Trust me, I will dearly miss the wonderful staff on the ship. Who will snap open my napkin at dinner and place it on my lap?

Our last night was a formal dress night for Valentine's Day. The ship was decked out from bow to stern with red hearts and streamers and flowers. We had another of the ship's officers at our table for dinner so the wine flowed. We all got a little misty-eyed when we said good bye to our table mates as well as the servers who had taken such good care of us. 81 of us disembarked in Sydney but 200 were joining the cruise so tonight two new people will take our seats at dinner.

Oh, remember Ginger? Well she and her sainted husband were on the airport bus with us this morning so I got to catch up on one last session of shipboard news: One couple had to fly home to Michigan to deal with broken water pipes that had gone all Katrina on their house but intended to catch up with the ship in Manilla, 26 people had not gotten their visas to visit China so had to spend a day in Auckland at the Chinese consulate acquiring the documents, Mary Ann's husband died shortly before the cruise started but had made her promise to take the trip anyway and so she did and has had her good days and bad days (and I have no more idea who Mary Ann is than you do!), there were several budding romances amongst the ship's staff, and Ginger and sainted husband were flying to SFO on their way home to Chico. It was only a 30 minute trip to the airport but Ginger talks a mile a minute. Jim was ready to tear his ears off but I think she's a total hoot! Plus she was wearing gold lame ballet flats for the trip home. I had to give her bonus style points for that.

This is the end of the saga. I'll put up some pictures after I get home. Thanks for sharing the past six weeks with me.

Stop the Turnip Truck, I Just Fell Off

Delta 16
Sydney to LAX
February 15, 2013

Note: I had planned to use some of the 12+ hours in the air to write a wrap up of our trip but then this happened:

We left the ship early this morning and were shuttled to the airport, arriving about 9 am. Checking in, immigration, security were a breeze. It took us 30 minutes or so to spend our 45 Australian Dollars and then we kicked back in the New Zealand Air Lounge until our flight was called about 11 am.

We boarded, I opened what I thought was a nifty slot for laptops, etc. so put my iPad in and then heard it slide down and hit bottom. Uh Oh. Yes, indeedy, I had opened the tray table compartment and now my iPad was MIA. The flight attendant tried to reach it but no luck; the pilot tried, same result sooooooo two British Airways mechanics arrived to remove the panel below the tray table and retrieve my toy.

I had been on the plane less than five minutes.

Note: Four hours into the flight. I had put away the iPad and wireless keyboard to have lunch and then had a nap and then watched a few TED episodes before deciding to return to the trip wrap-up.

I can't find the keyboard. I've searched the various cubbyholes and nada. I've looked through my "purse", a commodious travel bag, and my carry-on up in the overhead. Nada. My dear friend Cassie gave me a little flashlight a while back and it's always with me. I've used it to find my glasses under another airline seat (Maybe I should limit myself to travel by road or sea), loaned it to a TSA agent to find a drivers license lost on the X-ray machine conveyor belt and today to find the keyboard that had slipped between the chair and the wall to the floor behind my seat. This time it was reachable, no mechanics required.

Jeesh. I've been flying for nearly 60 years. I've got close to a half-million miles on Delta yet it seems I just fell off the turnip truck.

Jim says that next trip, no toys. I will sit with my hands in my lap and feet on the floor.

Picton, New Zealand

The Cloudy Bay Winery in Picton, New Zealand

Picton, NZ
The South Island
ms Amsterdam
February 11, 2013

Since the earthquakes in Christchurch on the south end of the South Island, some of
the cruise ships are starting to call in Picton which is on the north end of the South
Island. It's a tiny little community of 2,000 people and 2,000 boats (New Zealanders love
their water sports) but just over the coastal mountains is the Marlborough Valley, one of
the premier wine making regions in New Zealand.

For a long time, this valley was planted with apples, nuts, stone fruits, corn and probably
squash, too. They grow a lot of squash in NZ. It looks so much like the Napa Valley with
coastal mountains on one side and dryer hills on the other side but much, much bigger.
There are still lots of apple orchards and corn fields and of course sheep (the sheep
population is ten times the people population) but now tens of thousands of acres are
planted with grapes, specifically sauvignon blanc and pinot noir.

We opted for the Wine and Garden tour which, happily, was in the afternoon. I'd rather
taste wine at 2 pm than 10 am! We visited two vineyards, Cloudy Bay and Wither Hills
and had grand tasting experiences at both. Cloudy Bay is closer to the wetter coastal
hills while Wither Hills is named for the mountain range on the dryer side of the valley.

We did our tasting by candlelight in the barrel cellars at both wineries (reminded us
so much of the setting for our niece Erin's wedding at the Wente Winery in California)
starting with sparkling wine at each working our way through young to aged sauvignon
blancs then finishing with a pinot noir. Many of the people who were staying on the ship
for the entire cruise went back with several bottles from each winery.

Like the California wineries, each has a distinct architectural style and beautiful
grounds. They also serve light lunches which can be eaten as picnics on the grounds.
Although we didn't partake, we saw lots of people sprawled under the towering
eucalyptus trees at Cloudy Bay and the wisteria arbors at Wither Hills enjoying the day,
the place and the wine. There aren't near as many wineries as in Napa/Sonoma, but
there are quite a few throughout the valley, many offering "Accommodations" as well as
wine and food. Most on the tour voted for the Wither Bay offerings.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at Upton Gardens, a private garden planted
and maintained by a couple who had bought the property 25 years ago to renovate the
Victorian cottage located there. When the house was finished, Barbara Upton started
planting. The garden covers about an acre and a half with "rooms" defined by sharply
trimmed boxwoods and red cedar. There is a classic knot garden, a perennial garden,
an olive grove, vegetable garden and fruit orchard of apples and citrus and with pears
espaliered on a used brick wall. Completely untrained in landscape design, Barbara has
created a jewel of flowers, fruit and greenery. It was the perfect way to end our day in
the Picton region. Now to Sydney and home.

Leaving Wellington

Leaving Wellington on the way to Picton

I took this from our balcony last night about 11:30 as we left Wellington and headed to Picton, about 70 nautical miles away. I did NOT get up at 6 am for the colorful commentary as we headed into port; figured I'd catch it on the way out this evening at cocktail time.

Wellington: Hang on to Your Hat!

We're on top of Mt. Victoria with Wellington behind us. Our ship is just to the right of Jim's arm.

Wellington, NZ
ms Amsterdam
February 10, 2013

Once again we're at a pier in the commercial port area. NZ exports a lot of timber and
produce and whatever else is hiding in all those containers. HAL and the city have
provided a fleet of buses to shuttle people into the central city. Right across the pier is
the big, round sports stadium where they play professional rugby. No game today or
tonight. Would've been fun even if we would be clueless about the rules.

There are a lot of earthquakes in this part of the world. Wellington has on average
one a day. Of course most are so small you wouldn't know. But when they have a big
one, they are on a fault so as well as shaking, the earth literally rises a meter or more.
Evidently they are glass half full people because they say, "Oh, look. We now have
more land along the shore so let's go build something there." And they are certainly
optimistic because most of the houses are built on the sides of the hills around the
harbor. It's like San Francisco but with a lot more trees.

In fact, we rode a little red cable car from downtown up a steep cliff to the Botanical
Gardens. Since it's still summer here, the roses were spectacular. And since it's
Sunday, there were a number of locals in the gardens, too. They have a fabulous
Begonia House beautifully planted in drifts of color. The docent confided that the
begonias are nurtured elsewhere on the grounds and brought to the display when they
are at their peak.

We also stopped at Old St. Paul's, the original cathedral in Wellington, constructed
entirely of wood. It's used now just for weddings, funerals and other ceremonies. Inside
the docent pointed out a Marine flag and 48-star US flag hanging together. During WWII
over 70,000 Marines were in Wellington before going to battle. In fact, they lived in tents
on the grounds of the now-Botanical Gardens. They presented the flags that flew over
their temporary quarters to St. Paul's in gratitude for the hospitality extended by the
locals. The docent said it was very much a mutual admiration society.

Our driver took us all the way around the harbor to Mt. Victoria. Somehow he got that
bus up that narrow, winding road to the top and somehow most of us managed to climb
the 72 steps for a spectacular view of the entire city. Because it was Sunday, there were
all kinds of people walking, running or biking up that mountain. New Zealanders are
quite the outdoorsy group. There is a big half-marathon race around the bay next week
end (lots of posters and billboards about) so a lot of pre-race training going on.

We're in port until 11 tonight which is quite unusual and gives passengers and crew
alike time to spend ashore. This evening there is a big Food and Wine of New Zealand
party on the Lido (pool) Deck so we'll bypass our usual 8 pm in the dining room dinner.
As it happens, tomorrow in Picton, our only stop on the South Island, Jim and I are
going on a Wine and Garden tour which won't be until after lunch so we won't have to
set the alarm for an early departure. It will be fun to watch the ship leave port at night.
the ms Amsterdam may silently arrive at a port in the dawn's early light, but when this
ship leaves it does so with deep blasts of its horns that echo around the harbor (I need
my Chapman's to remind me of which toots mean what) and a band playing on the top
deck.

Picton is also our last port before we disembark in Sydney early on the 15th. So
many people have asked us if we wished we were staying aboard longer. It's been an
unbelievable adventure but we both think 40 days is enough for now. Of course if they
could bring a couple of crates of those strawberries on board I might reconsider...

Napier, New Zealand

The view from Cape Kidnappers in Napier, New Zealand

Napier, NZ
ms Amsterdam
February 9, 2013

"Jim, would you please go up to the bridge and tell the captain that I am not pleased
with the current location and to move the damned boat to the proper dock as promised."

Into each life some metaphorical rain must fall and today it's our turn. First of all we
had to leave Tauranga late because of the tides which meant bouncing along at 20+
knots instead of our usual regal 15 to 18. We still arrived about three hours later than
scheduled in Napier and thus lost our spot at the spiffy, close-to-town cruise dock.
We are in the commercial port surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of containers,
many of which are refrigerated so make a lot of noise as do the giant lift trucks that
are constantly in motion moving the containers from here to there and making a loud
beep-beep-beep whenever they are backing up. And it smells like diesel. And everyone
who just wanted to spend the day wandering through the streets admiring the Art Deco
architecture (the entire town was destroyed by an earthquake in the 30s and rebuilt in
the style of the day) has to take a 20 minute shuttle from pier to downtown. Because it is
a commercial pier, passengers and crew are not allowed to walk off but must be driven
through the gates. We had to do this in Lima, too, so when we return to the ship an
official will board the bus, count noses and make sure each person has a ship ID card
before opening the gate.

So before we leave on our excursion, postponed until the afternoon I will take just a little
time to whine, bitch and moan. I'm overdue.

Okay. All better now.

We can't remember why but we booked a shore excursion to Cape Kidnappers and the
gannet bird breeding colony. We had an adventure! In fact, we went on a Gannet Safari.
We drove all the way from one side of Hawkes Bay where the town of Napier is clear
around to the other side and Cape Kidnappers Station. This is a huge chunk of property
that has gone through several hands and is now owned by an American. He made a
lot of road improvements, planted timber (they grow a pine related to the Monterey
Pine that is harvested and exported mostly to Asia) and built a lodge and golf course.
Lemme tell ya, you REALLY have to want to play that course because it is a good 45
minutes from the station entry gate (a station is essentially a sheep or cattle ranch) on a
winding, hilly, narrow road to the road leading to the lodge and course.

We went past that, the end of the paved road, and went on an even narrower gravel
road the rest of the way. The sheep are all over the place; I really don't see how they
keep up with where they are. Some cattle, cows and calves are also grazing. This
ranch (think the size of the Ponderosa but looking more like the coastal hills of central
California) is also a protected area and when they say protected they mean from
predators. The owner had a fancy-pants fence built entirely around the place. It's about
four or five feet tall, made of metal with metal screening that is buried 20 inches into
the ground. This is to keep out rats, ferrets, stoates and cats so the rarer and nearly
extinct native birds can be relocated inside of the fence and flourish again. Especially
the kiwi. The kiwi is a chubby, flightless, defenseless bird that is nearly extinct. There is
a national movement to Save the Kiwi so the search is always on for a location without
predators. Happily they seem to be thriving at Cape Kidnappers.

After another 45 minutes or so we arrived atop the point at Cape Kidnappers and
the gannet breeding ground. You can hear and smell them before you see them but,
Bam!, there they were, hundreds of them. One breeding area is on top of the bluff
and the other way, way down on a promontory at sea level. They look like large gulls
with golden heads but are actually a type of booby bird. They nest on the ground with
the male and female taking turns sitting on the egg. We saw a lot of the chicks easily
differentiated by their fluffy down. Our guide told us that they weigh about 50 grams at
birth and will gain another couple of kilograms before they make the one migratory trip
in their lifetime before returning to their breeding ground. There was a lot of swooping
around and then lots of bird kisses when each bird returned to its nest and mate.

And the views. Spectacular! There are very steep, tall cliffs at this end of Hawkes Bay.
The water is a milky jade green color close to shore and then darkens to a Prussian
blue as it gets deeper father out. The water is a bit brisk (lots of mental translation
between C and F!), high 50s, low 60s. We reluctantly boarded our little safari buses to
go back down that winding road---one way in, same way out.

We thought we would be driven straight back to the ship, but when we got back to sea
level we made a "comfort stop" at the safari headquarters and were surprised with a
bountiful and delicious tea---cakes, cookies, muffins, tea or kiwi or orange juice, a big
variety of stone fruit and the. best. strawberries. ever. E.V.E.R. As each of us bit into
one our eyes widened in disbelief. Beyond lip-smacking good.

This area of New Zealand is quite temperate, gets 50 or 60 inches of rain and 300+
days of sun each year. It seems they can grow everything. We drove past apple, peach
and plum orchards, nut trees of all kinds, citrus, kiwi, vineyards and acres of vegetables.
There are little villages spotted around the bay. Napier appears to be a very popular
beach resort and has a flat pedestrian/bike-way that runs for miles and miles and miles
along the bay. Next time we're definitely going to rent bikes!

And once again, lovely, cordial people everywhere. No wonder New Zealand makes
potential immigrants jump through hoops otherwise half the world would relocate down
here. I'd do it for the strawberries alone!

Maori Excursion: Tauranga, New Zealand

Maori Performance: This song and dance is to scare off any enemies instead of fighting.

Tauranga, NZ
ms Amsterdam
February 8, 2013

"Glorious Bay of Plenty: Rich Land, Rich Culture" is the title of the shore excursion
we took today. We were to visit a Maori family, descendants of the migrants who first
arrived by ocean-going canoes (wakas) from central Polynesia more than 650 years
ago, spend time at a kiwi farm and finish at a "stunning coastal headland site of a
centuries-old Maori fortification." We chose this a couple of months ago evidently
thinking we should learn more about the Maoris. Well, fooled us. Our guide, Charlie,
went rogue.

Ahhhhhh, Auckland!

Approaching our berth with the skyline of downtown Auckland in the background. For $200 or so you can do a free fall jump from the Skytower (the pointy tower building).  I'll pass.

ms Amsterdam
February 5-7, 2013

Because of the rough weather around Rarotonga, we headed straight to New Zealand,
arriving in Auckland in gale force winds Tuesday evening about 6 pm. The temperature
was in the low 60s, mostly due to the ripping wind (it nearly knocked me off my pins as
I stood on deck taking pictures), which felt delicious after weeks in the tropics. I even
broke out my new windbreaker (thank you AAA) to wear on deck.

We docked right at the foot of Queens Street in downtown Auckland. The New Zealand
government is very strict about bringing anything alive or once alive ashore; no fruit,
meat, seeds, flowers, shells, animal products are allowed with stiff fines if you dare to
test the law. So we put on long pants, left the forbiddens behind and went ashore.

After so many days at sea and only island visits in between it was a pure delight to walk
down the gangway to a real pier and walk on a real sidewalk. We window-shopped
for a couple of miles up and down Queen Street until dusk, about 8:45 pm. Back in
the stateroom we ignored the sign on the verandah door, "To maintain a comfortable
stateroom temperature, please keep door closed at all times," and propped the door
wide open and enjoyed the cool, fresh air. I'm pretty sure we weren't the only ones to
ignore that directive tonight.

Tomorrow we're going on a Highlights of Auckland tour in the morning and then will
have the afternoon to explore some more. First on the agenda is to get some NZ
dollars. The ship ran out, the exchanges were closed by the time we got ashore this
evening and tomorrow is a bank holiday. We're pretty sure our Visa card will work in
an ATM machine if we can recall the password. Since I found a great yarn shop on our
evening walk that had a sign in the door "Open on the holiday from 10-6" I have plenty
of incentive to remember those four digits!

February 6

The first thing our guide said this morning was, "We love Americans; if it weren't for
your boys in WWII we wouldn't be speaking English today. We'll never forget." Well,
now, that's a first! Did you hear that, France? And this was not an isolated incident. I fell
in love with Auckland just steaming into port but even more so after exploring the city.
It's clean, no graffiti, very friendly people and you can almost understand what they're
saying! We spent some time yesterday looking for "Henny's" shoe store which turned
out to be "Hannah's."

Today was a big holiday commemorating the treaty between the Maoris and English in
the 1800s so it seemed that everyone was either at the beach or out sailing. They call
Auckland the City of Sails and for good reason. Boats, boats, boats everywhere. The
day was just perfect, dry and sunny and not too hot. We visited the Auckland Museum
in the early morning; it has loads of exhibits about the Maori history of NZ. We drove
around part of the harbor then back and forth across the bridge before it was time to get
some NZ dollars and go shopping! The banks might have been closed today, but not
the exchange offices. Between the holiday people and the passengers from the cruise
ships (the Europa and Voyager of the Seas were also in port), Auckland was a busy,
busy place. It's very walkable and the drivers do stop on the red so crossing the street
was not an issue. It's just so hard to remember to look right!

We ate green lipped mussels for dinner (they were HUGE! At least twice as large as
those we can buy in the states) at a waterside restaurant where the America's Cup
boats were docked as the sun was setting. What a perfect day.

February 7

Today we took the 12-minute ferry ride across the harbor to Devonport, which looks like
a Victorian Sausalito. It has a very charming business district with loads of shops, cafes,
pubs and galleries, but it's also home to locals who can commute to Auckland by that
same ferry. (Senior round trip was NZ$9.40 or about US$8)

One of our dinner table companions, another Susan (our waiter thinks we're sisters),
came with us. Poor Jim; he had two Susan's going two different directions and each
coming back with more packages for him to schlep. The wonderful yarn shop and
wonderful quilt shop were separated by an equally wonderful book shop. I was in a state
of bliss and quickly ran through the NZ$ I'd gotten the night before.

To show you how unbelievably nice the people are, I went into the ANZ bank to change
US to NZ and the teller said, "We have to charge you a $5 transaction fee, but the BNZ
does not. It's just a half-block up the street; go there instead." Can you imagine a teller
at the Bank of America telling you to go to the Chase branch instead? So we went up to
the BNZ, got our NZ dollars and a handful of pens! (Pens seem to be scarcer than hen's
teeth on the ship.) And then we gleefully went out to do our bit for the NZ economy. I'm
just one person but I do what I can.

81 people disembarked from the ship yesterday and I'm not sure how many new
passengers are on board now but we're having another passenger/crew emergency
drill at 4:15 this afternoon before we leave this wonderful spot around 5 pm and head to
Tauranga where we will spend tomorrow.

Suddenly we have just a week before we reach Sydney and we disembark to fly home.

Super Bowl Monday

Bora Bora

ms Amsterdam
February 4, 2013

The ship's staff is prepping for the big Super Bowl party. We're 500+ miles from
Auckland still, but ESPN is back so we will get the game live. (Alas, no Puppy Bowl)
However, since we crossed the International Dateline, it is going to be played at 1:30
pm on Monday, February 4th. We all spent a couple of days trying to figure out the
effect of the dateline but just gave up and went with it. I went to bed Friday night at
11:30 pm and woke up at 7:30 am on Sunday. Forty-five years ago I would have said, "Great
party."

"Snow" Day

ms Amsterdam
January 31, 2013

We were supposed to spend the day on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands however when
we arrived dawn-ish this morning the whole island was engulfed by rain. We knew
something was up because instead of anchoring and preparing to launch the tenders
the ship was hovering a couple of miles off shore in choppy seas and a wicked wind.
At about 7:30 the captain made the announcement that it was indeed too rough and windy
(35 knots) to launch the tenders and the weather was not going to improve, so we were
going to head on towards New Zealand and maybe an extra day in Auckland.

So it's a Snow Day!!! Bruce the Cruise Director is now scrambling to have a new day's
program printed and just announced that all the usual sea day activities would be held.
We're disappointed to miss Rarotonga; it has its own currency, Cook Dollars, that are
non-negotiable anywhere else in the world (it also uses NZ Dollars), has one road
around the island with two buses, one running clockwise the other counter-clockwise
and supposedly the best bargain shopping in Polynesia. As one of my ship-board
friends just told me, "I've been here three times and have yet to get ashore."

Oh, and it's Dutch Day. Happy 75th Birthday, Queen Beatrix.

French Polynesia: Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora

Cook's Bay, Moorea

French Polynesia: Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora
ms Amsterdam
January 27, 28, 29, 2013

French Polynesia---where you go when you can't take the stress and hectic lifestyle on
Molokai.

We stopped at three islands in three days: Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora.

Tahiti

Tahiti is the "youngest" of the islands as well as the most-populated. At dawn we
slipped silently through the pass in the reef to our berth in Pape'ete. There was another
liner in port as well as a mega-yacht, both waiting for passengers to arrive. The pier is
in downtown Pape'ete, the capital of French Polynesia. This was the first time since we
left Peru that A) we saw other boats B) heard car horns and traffic sounds and C) the
engines were off and the Amsterdam wasn't moving.

And it was our first real blast of tropical heat and humidity! As we all left the ship to
explore the island, a convoy of container trucks and lift trucks were pulling up with fresh
stores. Yay! Fresh lettuce!!!

Most of the population of Tahiti lives in Pape'ete. It is not a pretty place; very scruffy
and not too clean. We did some shopping at the big open air market but since it was
Sunday, not all the vendors were there. The first floor is fruits, vegetables, meat (with
the clerk waving a palm frond over it to keep away the flies, etc) and flowers. I bought
a fabulous bouquet of tropical blooms for 500 XPF (about $6 US). You can bring things
from the island to the ship but nothing edible from the ship to the shore to protect the
local agriculture. Of course, virtually nothing growing in French Polynesia is native so
that horse is pretty much out of the barn, but, hey, when in Pape'ete...

One of our well-traveled dinner table-mates strongly suggested that we get out of
Pape'ete to see the beauty of the island so we took a four-hour tour of Tahiti's natural
wonders and were ever so glad that we did. Outside of the capital the island is still
scruffy, but with an annual rainfall of 200" in the interior mountains, there are numerous
rivers and waterfalls and wonderful tropical plants everywhere. We climbed a slippery
rock path (it had rained for ten days before we arrived, bringing the sun with us) to see
a trio of waterfalls 200 meters high. There's a blow hole on one side of the island at
a popular surfing beach that had a break very reminiscent of The Wedge in Newport
Beach. At a stop at the Vaipahi Gardens we had a chance to wander amongst hedges
of torch ginger, hibiscus and the wonderful pagoda plant.

Lt. Bligh came to Tahiti to bring breadfruit trees back to Jamaica to provide a cheap,
nutritious food for the slaves. He eventually succeeded in getting the plants to Jamaica
where the slaves refused to eat the breadfruit. Bernie, our guide, said it is cooked
like a potato--baked, mashed, fried and even as chips. We had a chance to taste it at
Vaipahi, cooked with tapioca, chilled and cut into squares like Jello. Dipped into a bowl
of sweetened coconut cream it is quite delicious. There is certainly an abundance of
breadfruit trees, as well as coconuts, mangos, papayas and bananas. Every house
seems to have at least one of each plus there are little fruit stands (like lemonade
stands) everywhere. Which begs the question, if everyone has the fruit growing in their
front yards, who's going to buy it from a stand?

And speaking of front yards, that's where you bury the dearly departed, or used to on
this island until a couple of cemeteries were built. You can see rather elaborate grave
sites that take up a lot of space between the house and the road. Bernie told us it
makes selling your house rather tricky; no one wants someone else's ancestors under
foot!

Moorea

It's a short 12 miles or so between Pape'ete and Moorea, a nine minute flight or a 30
minute ferry ride that our captain had to turn into a 12 hour journey for our dawn arrival
at Moorea the next day. As we left the dock and headed towards the pass through the
reef, the ship came to an idling stop. The runway for the airport on Tahiti is on reclaimed
land with a flight path directly over the harbor entrance. As the captain explained,
Pape'ete is one of the very few ports in the world where ships must get clearance from
the airport tower and he had just been informed that a "heavy" international flight was
just about to leave. The sunset over Moorea dead ahead of us was just spectacular, so
many of us were already on the forward decks snapping pictures like crazy and even
I with my year's old point and shoot got amazing pictures of the airliner silhouetted
against the setting sun.

As we approached Moorea at dawn we picked up the pilot who guided the ship through
reefs at the Tareu Pass into the stunning Opunohu Bay where we anchored for the day.
Moorea is breathtakingly beautiful. It looks just like a tropical island should look with
coconut palms swaying along the shore, shimmering turquoise water and mists clearing
up above revealing the instantly recognizable Mt. Mouaroa or Shark's Tooth, even
better known as Bali Hai from the movie version of South Pacific.

Tendering to shore here was a piece of cake. Because we were inside the reef, the
water was flat. There were four tenders running from two platforms off the ship. The

stairway that was so treacherous to navigate off Easter Island was just a stairway now
leading down to a dry, stationary platform and a simple step onto the waiting tender.
Easy peasy.

Moorea has a population of about 15,000, most living along the shoreline. The tenders
took us to a dock in one of the villages where the locals had set up a tent city to sell
pearls and T-shirts and wood carvings, etc. etc. The usual stray dogs and chickens
were everywhere. We took another island tour this time guided by Spiritu, a French
woman of a certain age. Jim was instantly in love. First we went up, up, up a narrow
winding road past a couple of agricultural schools and research agencies (lots of
pineapples grown on Moorea) to the Belvedere Lookout where we could see both
Opunohu Bay and Cook's Bay and the waves crashing on the protective reefs beyond.
The one plant native to the islands, white hibiscus which isn't really a hibiscus, grows
everywhere. It's like Polynesian Kudzu. There is also a native gardenia which I believe
is used in some medicine, but sometimes the words spoken by Spiritu were lost in
translation.

Coming down the mountain we stopped at the ruins of an ancient marae, a ceremonial
meeting place used in pre-European Polynesia as everything from a gathering place to
discuss community matters to a setting for sacrifices to the gods. Marae Titiroa is now
overgrown with huge trees, but the low stone walls are still in place. Spiritu explained
that even though the maraes and sacrifices were abandoned after the arrival of the
missionaries, the natives still believe the spirits are there and touching or removing
the rocks is strictly tapu, Tahitian for tabu. While some of our fellow travelers were
scampering over the walls for a a better picture, I gave the place a wide birth. Hey, you
never know and we have a lot of ocean ahead of us.

The road around the perimeter of the island is about 50 km so barely takes a couple
of hours to drive. Like Tahiti, Moorea is a young island and has only a couple of white
sand beaches. First the black sand beaches are formed as the volcanic rock breaks
down by surf and wind. As the volcanic islands slowly sink (Moorea is going down about
a millimeter a year), the lagoons take their place and the coral is ground into the white
sand.

There are hotels ranging from basic to fantastic dotted around the island, but it's all very
low-key. If I ever write a book and need a place to proof the galleys, I'm coming back to
Moorea. Spiritu gave Jim a big kiss on his cheek as we parted company, so I'm thinking
he'll be back, too.

As the ship slowly proceeded through the reef pass we could see a small outrigger,
empty and bobbing near the reef. And then we saw its occupant about 50 feet away
surfing the waves breaking on the reef. And that's living the life Moorea-style.

Bora Bora

Bora Bora is the oldest of the three islands we visited, with a small land mass (the
remnants of the extinct volcano that created the island) surrounded by a lagoon and
many small motus (islands). Once again we sailed at night this time about 160 miles
northwest of Pape'ete and once again, arrived at dawn.

Bora Bora is tiny; in fact the lagoon surrounding it is three times as large as the land
portion of the island. The waters in the lagoon are said to be the most beautiful in the
South Pacific. You'll get no argument from me. Because it is so old, there are white
sand beaches everywhere, especially on the motus. Bora Bora is where the very first
over-the-water-thatched-hut hotel was built. There are now many luxury resorts in that
style, most on the motus across the lagoon from the main island. There is the usual
road around the perimeter of the island, but it's faster and easier to get from point A to
point B by water. In fact, the airport is on a motu so arriving passengers are transferred
to a large water taxi that brings them to "town" where the hotel boats pick up their
guests.

It's hard to believe that such a lovely, quiet island was an important strategic WWII
Allied base. 5,000 American were stationed here and built the airport, island roads
and armed bunkers in the hills. The War didn't touch the island, but the infrastructure
remains (the bunkers are used as cyclone shelters) and after riding in the back of Le
Truck (a truck turned bus) around the island I can testify that not many repairs have
been made to the road in the intervening 70 years!

Fewer than 10,000 people live on Bora Bora. Unfortunately the sagging economy
has impacted the island a lot. Most of the luxury resorts are closed. We saw very few
tourists on any of the three islands. It's not hard to understand why. French Polynesia
is a long, long, long way from everywhere. They import about 80% of the goods and
services they need so prices on everything are high. And although it might look like a
Disneyland set, it's real and a bit worn down around the edges.

As we headed back to the ship we were chased by guys in slender one-man racing
canoes who paddled like mad to reach our speed and then surfed the tender's wake all
the way from shore to ship. And that's living the life, Bora Bora style!

Moorea was my favorite island of the three, and not just because I bought a pair of
Tahitian black pearl earrings there (score!), but unless I ever do have galleys to proof
I'm not sure that I would return. I think I'll just remember it instead.

And now we head towards Rarotonga in the Cook Islands and then across the
International Dateline to New Zealand. No one can quite figure out if we are going to
miss February 3rd entirely or what. We did learn that the Super Bowl will be played
about 1:30 am ship's time on Monday (Tuesday?) so the Captain has obtained
permission to tape the game and replay it at 8:30 am at a big Breakfast Tail Gate party.
Whatever. Whenever. Bulletins as they break.