Volcano Island (5/10)

Landed in Hilo right on time, actually sailed into a beautiful sunny day! Quite unusual for the rainy side of the big Island. Disembarcation was a breeze and the car rental pick up was much smoother this time around in Hilo. The first time we were here was on the NCL Star, which was making one of her first port calls to Hilo (they had previous tendered into Kona). While getting off the ship wasn’t a problem (we were even greeted by a tourist representiatvie with shell leis!), the rental car situation was not very coordinated and it took us forever to get the van to go to the airport for the car. This time we walked right out, got on the Budget van, hit the airport and got our car right away.

We were out of the airport at 9:55 and onto route 11 headed toward the Volcanoes. The 45 minute drive took us through farmland and past typical Hawaiian villages before climbing uphill to deposit us at the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. A $10 entrance fee and we were on our way. First stop, the welcome center to check out any volcanic action. Unfortunately for us, there was none. A couple of steam clouds had been seen a few days before, but otherwise, nada! Oh well – at least it was a gorgeous day for a walk.

We took off out on Crater Rim Road and hit Chain of Craters Road by 10:55. Took another half an hour through incredible lava fields, Craters and cinder cones. Winding our way back down to sea level, in some places the road is cut through lava rock 30 feet high on each side. The views are amazing for the entire 19-mile drive, until it abruptly stops at the Mauna Ulu parking lot - the end of the road, literally. The Chain of Craters Road has been covered by lava since 1983 – approximately 10 miles of the road still remains under massive flows of the inky black lava mass.

We parked in the little circular parking area and headed out for the trails. Ed had developed a full blown cold by this point (thank you Sapphire Princess passenger who sneezed all over the elevator while we were riding with him!), but ever the trooper, he kept up the pace as we hiked down the “white” trail markers to get close to the shoreline in hopes of steam plumes (not!) and then back on the “yellow” trail markers that took us more inland over miles and miles of lava fields and up on top of huge lava mounds for breathtaking scenery.

The day was fantastic. Beautifully sunny, could have been very hot except for the very stiff ocean breeze. Completely unlike our first visit when it was so cold and windy I often times refused to get out of the car! After an hour of hiking through the lava fields we were ready to head back down into Hilo and explore the Northern side of the big island. From the bottom of Chain of Craters, it only took us a little over an hour to get back into town. We stopped by the WalMart for provisions ( Kleenex and cold medicine) and then headed out to find the waterfalls.

We had never been into the town of Hilo, and driving through it looked like a cute, old-fashioned little town. We thought we might explore later, if we felt like it, but first headed out toward the Akaka Falls.

Easy to get to, the falls are only a few miles outside of Hilo. On the way we had seen a sign for a “scenic” drive, so we detoured a bit and meandered through a small, and sometimes very narrow, drive along the coast and through the forest. The “scenic” drive wends through the woods with views of secluded bays and huge palm trees with leafy vines. It goes past the Botanical Gardens before coming back on route 19 a few miles before the Falls. The road is a great diversion – but beware the one-lane bridges! Eight in all – they’re very picturesque, but very narrow and can come up on you quite quickly. All in all, the scenic route probably adds a very worthwhile 5 or 10 minutes additional to the total commute time.

From the Scenic route it only takes about 5 minutes to the Akaka Falls turn off onto Route 220. From there, the route takes you through an old country town, Honomu, complete with wooden sidewalks and quaint little shops and cafes. It looks like something right out of the old west – which is really what Hawaii was all about – the FAR west! After leaving Honomu, the road turns uphill and winds through more beautiful farm land with livestock and Taro plants all around.

The Falls themselves are a pretty incredible sight. There are two falls – the lower Kahuna Falls which only has a 400 foot drop, and Akaka Falls, which is larger by a whole 20 feet at a 420 foot drop. We parked in the lot (it was fairly full, but we squeezed right in), and headed off to the trails. The signs suggested we head to Kahuna Falls first, then loop back to Akaka. We followed the instructions, which was probably a good thing as the loop down to Kahuna had many, many steps. It was worthwhile heading down the steps for Kahuna, then up many less steps to get to Akaka. Mind you it was still a strenuous little walk/climb, but worth it for the waterfalls. Both were stunning and we took our share of photographs – plus a helpful fellow tourist took an excellent picture of the two of us in front of Akaka Falls (as you can see here, we finally figured out the photo uploading!).

Back in the car, we headed back down the road – and just in time! As we were heading back to town, two tour buses were heading up the road to the Falls. We visited at just the right time! Half an hour later, we were sitting on a stone wall in the Liliuokalani gardens just out side of the town of Hilo. The gardens are beautifully landscaped in Japanese fashion with rock formations and Koi ponds. It’s a very serene place to sit or walk and contemplate. Right on the water at the head of Banyan Drive, it was a nice little rest stop before heading back to the ship.

Turned in the car at the airport and then waiting with a huge klatch of other folks for a van to the ship. Were a little concerned about fitting into the van (since on the ride over we were filled to over capacity with some poor man crouching in between the side of the van and the 3rd row of seats!). Ran into Sarah and Geoff (our Tisa’s Beach organizers) who had rented from another agency. Got to chatting and ended up on the bus with them back to the ship. Worked out perfectly.

Freshened up, headed outside to watch sail away and tried not to let the fact that we were on the very last leg of our “epic” voyage affect our moods too much! Can’t believe we’ve been away this long, can’t believe it’s almost over! We’re hanging on to every last day we can………….

Back in the US of A – or Honolulu Redux (5/9)

Sailed into Aloha Tower (well, not the actual tower, but the pier there!) right on time, actually a tad bit early. It was a perfect Hawaiian day – beautiful blue skies, a balmy 70 or so degrees going up into the 80’s. A perfect day for the outdoor hiking and sightseeing we had planned.

Since this was our first American port on the cruise, there was an immigration inspection planned for the morning. All passengers had to go through the inspection at assigned times before disembarking the ship. We had heard that this process could take forever, and we were resigned to not getting out and around Oahu very early. As a matter of fact, our scheduled immigration time was between 10:30 and 10:45. So, we figured we’d have an abbreviated day – we only had the car until 6, even though we sailed at 10.

We finished our walk early, showered and breakfasted and then were looking at each other around 9:15 wondering what to do next. Our immigration meeting spot was in Club Fusion (our basement), so we headed back to the cabin, figuring we could hang there until we were called since we were so close. Good decision! We had no sooner hit the cabin when they made an announcement that all remaining passengers should report to the immigration inspection! We ran down to the basement – and were directed right through. Walked right through showing our passports, and voila!, we were off and running.

Rented our car through Enterprise, who, when we pre-booked, told us they wouldn’t pick us up at the pier. Didn’t really matter since it was only a 5 or 6 block walk, so we headed out down Nimitz to Ala Moana to the office. It was a long walk, but even as it turned out Enterprise would pick up at Aloha Tower, it was so busy with the ship’s tours, etc., they were having difficulty locating people. The rental agent took pity on us though, and gave us an upgrade, so we had a newish Corolla to tootle around in.

Hit the road heading east past Hanamauna Bay and Hawaii Kai golf course to Makapuu Point to hike to the light house. Didn’t take but half an hour or so, even in the terrible Oahu traffic. Once there, we pulled right into the recently upgraded parking lot and headed up the trail.

The trail is more of a concrete path that winds up and around the Makapuu cliffs. It’s a beautiful, if strenuous, walk up to the top viewing platforms. Along the way you walk from the south side in the sun, then turn into the West side where the stiff breezes off the Pacific ocean cool you down quite nicely. In the middle of the walk there is a viewing area to watch the migrating whales. Unfortunately, we were too late in the year for whale watching, but the view of the Pacific and ragged cliffs below was worth the stopping – not to mention for a little climbing rest!

The path continues on up the cliffs to the summit, where two viewing platforms have been erected. Both give out to stunning views of the North side of Oahu, including Waimanalo and further down to Kailua. If you stretch out and look down, you can get some excellent shots of the lighthouse as well. Small and red roofed, it resembles a fireplug perched in the cliffs. On the other side of the viewing platforms you can also hike farther up the hillside to inspect the pillboxes left over from the War. We wandered through scrub a bit, then headed back down to sea level.

All in all, the whole walk doesn’t take more than an hour or so, including rest and photo stops. We hopped in the car and headed off toward the Pali highway to find the rainforest trails. We had originally planned to make quick pitstop in Kailua and go back to Buzz’s for a quick bite, then hit the rainforest trail. We decided we really weren’t all that hungry, so we just stopped at a Safeway and Long’s Drug to stock up for the last 5 shipboard days (boo hoo!).

Back on Highway 12, we headed South back toward Honolulu on 61, the Pali Highway. The tour book said the trail heads were located right after the tunnels coming from Honolulu. Unfortunately we were going in the wrong direction with no way to get across the highway (big metal dividers with absolutely no breaks). Figuring we’d find some where to turn around, we continued on in the direction of Honolulu and found the turn off for the Pali Lookout. Thought for certain we could get out and make a U-Turn that way. Nope, no U-Turn there! The road takes a very long loop through a park and dumps you out into a parking lot for the lookout. It’s one way in and one way out! Since it was obviously the tourist hot spot (buses upon buses), we went right by it which worked to our advantage, because on the way out you could choose Honolulu or Kailu. We got headed in the right direction, came through the tunnels and there was a little tiny parking lot with the trails.

Had to stuff the car in the lot because some ungracious SUV driver had parallel parked instead of head in, but we managed to fit in with a little bit of room to spare if the SUV left before us. Headed off on the Maunawili trail in search of the waterfalls listed in the guide. The trail actually runs for 9 or 10 miles and must come out somewhere on the other side of the mountain as the materials all said you would need transportation back to your vehicle. We had planned to walk in far enough to see the waterfall, then turn around. Never even got that far! But it was a great hike – the path crossed so many streams and rock beds (that were fortunately dry because it’s not the rainy season!) we saw plenty of forest and beautiful vistas without the waterfall.

Back on the road to Honolulu – headed down to the Ala Moana mall for an internet fix, then back to Enterprise and the shuttle to the pier. Shared the shuttle with a younger couple we had never seen before – we’ve been all over that ship for 25 days and we’ve never seen them? How can that be? We’ll never know because we never saw them again! Amazing.

Hit the ship, dumped our packs, freshened up, then headed out to Aloha Tower Marketplace. Great place to shop for tzotchkes, and not as expensive as one might think. Picked up some great little treats for the office and friends, then headed to a Tiki bar on the second floor for happy hour. Sandi and Larry wandered in so we spent a very pleasant hour or so chatting and enjoying beverages. Finally decided to head back to the ship for food – alcohol on an empty stomach and all that! Made it to dinner at our appointed hour and then headed to the balcony at 10 to watch Waikiki slide away into the darkness.

A long stretch of sea days (5/5-8)

More long sea days, occupied with sunning, trivia playing and general meandering. Same thing each day, very relaxing and fun. Watching movies – “Because I said so” – not recommended – why? Because WE said so!!!
A few other interesting things to note:
The bridge staff will get on the PA and announce when it’s going to rain. A few times now they’ve warned us of impending rain showers, which is very nice. If you are up on deck, you have time to grab your gear and run before you are drenched by these sometimes torrential downpours. First time we’ve ever had that on a ship.
Every day at noon, we get the Captain’s report and also an announcement with the time and 8 bells are rung. On the 6th, they let one of the 4 children aboard (yep, only 4 all under the age of 8) ring the bells (in honor of her birthday – she turned 5) and her slightly older sister got to make the time announcement.
We found a way to get real brewed coffee for “free”. We purchased a Cappuccino card at the coffee bar which gives you a discount on any specialty coffee purchased (basically one free after you buy 14) and along with the specialty coffee you can have unlimited brewed coffee at no additional charge. Helps conserve my coffee bags, which I still go through at an alarming rate!
Had our first island night which was really fun. The basic island music party but set up on a stage on top of the small pool at the back of the ship. It was cram packed and very fun. No extra outside buffet –however they keep the inside buffet open at night and from what we understand, they used it as the fruit and dessert buffet for the event.

Crossed the Equator without any challenges. Celebration came the day after as we crossed at 6 pm which is dinner time for early seating. Big pool deck celebration the next day with King Neptune in attendance. We are now no longer “pollywogs”—those who have yet to cross the equator by sea. We are now officially “shellbacks.”
Think that’s about it for now (posting this early – it is only the 7th – but don’t know that we’ll have anything too exciting to add about our 4th sea day!! If we do – we’ll just add on!). Next stop – Honolulu.

Our Motu adventure (5/4)

Today is our big tour day. Yes, we acquiesced to take a ship tour so that we could see Moorea off the coast of Tahiti. We didn’t want to stay in Papeete, which we heard (and found it was true) was just a big ugly city. Moorea is reputed to be one of the most beautiful islands in the South Pacific so we really wanted to visit it. We of course researched going on our own, but the ferries to the island are notoriously off schedule (or cancelled completely at whim), plus our sail time had been moved up to 4 pm from 6 pm. The earlier sail time meant we could take the 9 am ferry over to island, but would have to be on the 1:30 ferry back to ensure we made the ship. That would give us less than 4 hours on the island, if all went well, and we didn’t feel it was worth the risk, so we took the ship’s tour.
It turned out to be a very fun excursion. The sun came out for our tour (although it did rain briefly when we first hit the island), we took the 9 am ferry and were met by our tour guide, William. William it turns out is a native of Moorea, but he looks more Irish than Tahitian. His grandfather was white, and somehow the genes just carried through to his father and himself. His father, Albert, started the first taxi service on Moorea and has been in the business for 36 years. William was very informative, and hysterically funny. He told non-stop jokes, none of which we can remember now, or if we do remember, can’t repeat here!
Moorea means “Yellow Lizard” in Tahitian, because there are so many lizards (what we call geckos) all over the island. There are 15,000 people living on the island, 10 villages, 7 hotels and 11 policemen. The island is 39 miles around and has a huge variety of plants and floral life. We saw the most amazing flowers (particularly the Pagoda flower that looks like a miniature red Christmas tree) and plants on our island tour.
During our island drive, we went up to the Belvedere look out point for beautiful views of the two main bays on the island. Along the way we saw all types of tropical foliage and agriculture. The whole area around the mountain was a government owned protected forest where locals could lease land for $50 per year for agricultural use only. Planting only, no building. Thus, there were plenty of coconut, taro and other fields planted along the drive up the mountain.
Back down the mountain, we headed for the lagoon for a quick cruise past the Beachcomber hotel (where all the rooms are little villas over the water) and on to the Motu where we would be having lunch and snorkeling. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the sun and the water – as well as feeding the stingrays along the shore. There were 5 stingrays at one point in time all swimming around our legs and rubbing up against us – they felt like silk. Cool! Also had some great island food – the Tahitian version of cerviche with tuna and coconut milk, plus pork ribs, mahi mahi and chicken.
Very fun- but unfortunately because of timing – very rushed. Because of the ferry schedule, instead of taking a boat back to Papeete, we were scheduled to fly back. We were told that there were 2 flights, one at 2:15 and one at 3:15. If we wanted to, William would take us to the shop that he owned (black pearls) for a bit of shopping before going back to airport for the 3:15 plane. He said he would have mini vans waiting for us when we got back from the Motu.
Once back from lunch, we asked about shopping and Albert said we didn’t have enough time – that we were running late. We were disappointed, and were heading for the bus, when William said he had a car that could take us to his shop, but only 4 of us could go. We banded together with Bill and Shirley, another couple we have met frequently at dinner, and headed off on our adventure. The 4 of us climb into a big Mercedes and drive off to William’s shop.
We turn right out of the lagoon boat launch, the buses turn left – and away we all go. Got to William’s shop and stayed for about 20 minutes, buying a beautiful natural pearl necklace for me – and a cultured pearl pendant for Shirley. It’s starting to get a little late, we knew we had to be at the airport by 2:40, so we head out for our driver to take us back to the airport. As we get out to the car, he says he is sorry, but he has to stop and get gas, he wasn’t watching the gauge close enough. Ok, no biggie--let’s go. Well, he turns away from the airport and drives about 5 minutes in the opposite direction for the gas. Now we’re even further away and it’s rapidly approaching 2:40.
He gases up and finally heads in the right direction, but we have no idea how far we are. He leisurely drives us around the island, answering questions now and again and getting stuck behind local traffic getting off of work on Friday evening. It’s now 2:50 and we’re no where near the airport and starting to get a little antsy. We’re figuring we have to get there early enough for them to check us in, go through security, etc., and we’re all 4 calculating what it will take to get us back to the ship if we miss this flight. (For those of you following the itinerary, you’ll know that this is one port you don’t want to miss the ship – it’s 4 sea days until Hawaii – and if you miss the ship – you’re flying to Honolulu to wait 4 days for the ship with what’s on your back and in your backpack – which in this case is wet beach towels and bathing suits!)
The driver, sensing our stress, does speed up a little bit, but then gets stuck again behind some slow driving locals – and it’s like a bad Amazing Race segment where the cabbie let’s every other team pass the one team up! At about 2:55 William, who is still coordinating the tour at the airport, calls our driver on the phone – now we know we’re right to be anxious since William is obviously concerned about where we are. We’re in the back seat telling the driver to pass these slow cars, but he’s back to being totally unconcerned. We finally hit the airport drive and he speeds up – and screeches into the parking lot. We jump out of the car before it even stops and run toward the airport.
William is waiting for us directing us to the gate. It’s 3:05 and we’re thinking we’ve just made it by the skin of our teeth, but as we get to the gate we see virtually our entire group standing there in line waiting to board. The first flight—the “2:15”-- had just left at 3:00!! We’re on the 3rd flight which is scheduled at 3:15 and we’ve got plenty of time! The entire boarding process is standing in line at an open door that leads to the airstrip with a laminated boarding card with the number 3 on it! Too funny! All that stress and here we are with everyone else waiting for our little 21 passenger plane!
Plane #2 took off about 5 minutes later, and then in comes plane #1 back from Papeete to pick us up. Don’t even think they shut down the propellers – the plane came in, taxied to the front of the door, let off 2 passengers, then loaded us. We all clambered on, shoved our back packs down at our feet, followed the pilot’s only instructions to fasten our seatbelts and off we went. Total turn time, approximately 3 minutes! We were taxiing down the runway at precisely 3:15! Total flight time 6 minutes to Papeete with great views of Moorea and Papeete as we approached.

Later note:
Tragically, this was the aircraft (Tail number F-OIQI) that crashed on August 9, 2007, killing all 20 occupants.

Hit the mini-bus and flew back to the ship, getting on right before the 4 pm sail time. Sailed away through a now hazy sky, while watching Tahiti grow smaller and smaller from our perch on our balcony. Headed out for our nightly walk around promenade deck, then dinner and a little dancing to one of the better bands on the ship.

Rain drops keep falling on our heads (5/3)

So we finally hit the bad weather. We have been so lucky all throughout this trip with the weather, that we were due a bad day – and we got it in Bora Bora. A real shame as everyone who has ever been here has said how beautiful the island is in the sun. Well, it sure wasn’t sunny today! Sailing in, it was like the most torrential rain you’ve ever seen. One of our C.C. buddies likened it to having a bucket of water dumped on your head. It was nasty!
Tender service again today which went very smoothly on the disembarking side. Our plans for the day were another bike ride around the island. Same scenario as Roratonga – one road around the island, about 22 miles in length, spectacular views, etc., figured it would be a great way to compare and contrast the islands along with a little bit of exercise. However, with the rain, we were seriously re-thinking our options. Once on the island we went to the Europe Car office to see about bikes. They had them for something like $40 US, but as it was still raining pretty heavily, we decided to wait a bit and check the other rental places in the little town of Vaitape. The next place didn’t have bikes, but did have 3 cars remaining to rent. They had a much better price for a 4 hour rental than Europe Car, but we were still sort of hoping for the bikes. After hemming and hawing, we finally decided to go ahead and rent a car so at least we could see the island. Figured if it ever stopped raining, we could then rent bikes in the afternoon for a little spin.
Got the 2nd to last car, and headed out around the island to explore the beaches and scenery. Well, someone was looking out for us, let me tell you! First of all – the island is fantastically beautiful, again with the lagoon beaches and incredible mountain cliffs and peaks on the interior. However, Bora Bora is more touristy than Roratonga, thus there are more hotels, and more traffic around the island. In addition, the roads are very narrow with no real shoulders – and on most of the island – in ill-repair. Tons of pot holes, that, because of the rain were filled with muddy water, unpaved stretches of road, and one horribly steep and twisty uphill part of the road that, had we ever made it there, would have definitely been the end of our bike riding!
And the dogs – have I mentioned the dogs? No? Well, we had read to be careful of the dogs and the chickens and children running through the streets of Bora Bora. Ok, so, watch out for them so you don’t hit them. Well, no, not the dogs at least! These things attacked the car. Kid you not – at least 3 separate dogs around the island attacked the car when we drove by! Can not even imagine being on a bike – that would not have been a happy ending! Between that and the road conditions, as it turned out, the rain was a blessing in disguise!
Made it around the island in an hour in the car – it is absolutely beautiful with pineapple and coconut plantations on one side of the island, beaches and lagoon view on the other. Had read about a little beach at Matira point so headed down the “little paved road” – that was an adventure in and of itself – one lane, right past the Intercontinental hotel – you’d think it’d be a better road – but no! Gave us the beach when we saw the road turned into mud and pot holes and very, very narrow. We fortunately had a little Peugeot, so Ed managed to get it turned around – on the way out – we got stuck with traffic coming into the road and had to negotiate the lane like on the Amalfi Coast – back up and pull into any little alcove we could. That ended our exploration of little roads on the island.

Headed into town to shop a little bit until we were ready for lunch. Back tracked to the famous “Bloody Mary’s” restaurant around 11:30. This place has been written up in all the magazines and travel guides. It’s a low key (but expensive) place under a huge palapa roof, with sand floors and tables and stools made out of local wood that has been polished and finished to a shine. Great atmosphere in the restaurant – out front is a board with a list of all the famous people who have come to Bloody Mary’s. Movie stars, sports stars, the rich and the famous – if they’ve been to Bora Bora, they’ve been to Bloody Mary’s.
Food was great, a bit pricey, but you’re paying for atmosphere – which was completely worth it. We were there so early, that at first it was really quiet and peaceful, then as the place filled up, the party atmosphere started. A lively place to be at lunch – so we could only imagine how fun it would be at night. One interesting highlight was the bathroom – where you wash your hands in a waterfall replica – real stones and everything, pull a chain and the water flows down through the rocks and the waterfall.
After lunch we headed back into town to turn in our rental car. Wandered around Vaitape, but honestly, there wasn’t much of anything there to keep our attention, so we headed back to the ship. The tender line was the first glitch we’ve had so far. When we first arrived in Bora Bora, we were the only ship there – so we had the dock to ourselves and could run 2 tenders at a time. At noon, the Tahitian Princess arrived (it’s one of the old Renaissance ships with 680 passengers). Once the TP was in, we shared the dock so we could only have one tender in at a time. Since we have 2850 passengers on our ship, it made for quite a long wait for the tenders. It wasn’t a big deal to us, so we stand in line, who cares? But it was a huge deal for the crew. Some of them waited in line for 2 hours just to get on the tender. We really felt bad for them, and would have thought that Princess could have found a better way to schedule all the tender service to accommodate the different needs of their different sized ships.
We got back on the ship fine, cooled off, headed to the sail away party and then to dinner and the magician show and bed.

Another Sea Day (5/2)

Another boring-for-you-blog-readers day at sea. We’re not bored, but I’m betting you are reading about our sea day adventures. So – we won’t go into any more detail than to tell you we are still losing at trivia!!

32 kilometers of scenic beaches and mountain peaks (5/1)

Rarotonga! The Cook Islands! What an incredible place. Just as lush and verdant as Pago Pago, but more resort oriented. Not to say more developed, because it is all still very primitive and beautiful, but definitely more houses, businesses and resorts. From the ship you could see the little town of Avarua, some beaches around the town and the most incredible mountain peaks covered in dark green trees and shrubs.
We were at anchor today (well, it was too deep for the anchor, but we weren’t at a dock let’s put it that way!), and managed to catch the first tender off the ship. Very rocky going ashore – yep – glad it was only a 5-10 minute trip, let me tell you! Got into town and headed to Budget to pick up our push bikes. After a relatively long wait while they went to get our bikes – we headed out for our own circle island tour. There is one road all the way around the island that skirts the coast and provides a great scenic ride. If you aren’t energetic enough to ride a bike around, there are buses that go all the way around the island. One bus route goes clockwise, one goes anti-clockwise! Isn’t that great?
So anyway, we headed off through the main town, and out past pretty little beaches protected by coral reefs that create a lagoon around the island. There was plenty to see along the route – lots of local houses, chickens, roosters, even a couple cows right on the side of the road. About 45 minutes into our ride, we stumbled upon Doug’s Internet Café. What looked like a single family home with a large front deck with chairs and umbrellas, but out in the middle of nowhere really. We wandered in to his front room which serves and the Internet portion of the café with about 8 monitors and his front desk. An avid Blues fan, Doug was in the back (the rest of his house) singing and practicing for his weekly Saturday Blues sessions he attends. He came out and greeted us warmly – and set us up on the computer. In addition to the Internet, he also offers some food snacks and what sounded like incredible frozen shakes – Coconut, Pineapple and chocolate! My mouth was watering, but it was too early in the day and too early in the ride for me to fill up on something like that – so I had to sadly decline.
Doug’s mom is originally from Rarotonga, although he’s lived in New Zealand and most recently in London for 16 years. He’s come back to Rarotonga and plans to stay focusing on his café and his music, A great friendly guy, we had a blast talking to him about lots of stuff (including the 6 cyclones that hit or almost hit in 6 weeks a few years ago).
Back on our trusty bikes we headed out toward the other side of the island, and our halfway stopping point at the Salt Water Café. The scenery only gets better on this side of the island. Beautiful lagoon beaches protected by the outer ring of coral reefs on one side of the road, the steep mountains incredible cliffs on the interior side. The sun came in and out of the clouds which made for a very comfortable 32 Km ride.
We reached the Salt Water Café about 11:30 and decided to have an early lunch of fish burgers (Mahi Mahi, grilled) with beer and wine. The little café serves breakfast and lunch Monday through Friday and dinner Tuesday – Thursday. It’s a very friendly place situated right on the road and overlooking a beautiful part of the lagoon called the Avaavaroa Passage. We sat outside on the little deck area, enjoying the day and our food.
We worked off the alcohol on our way back to town. Only 16 km away! As we rode along, we decided to veer off the main road in search of a waterfall, and had a great off road mountain bike hike up into the hills and then back down again. Never found the waterfall, but had a great time climbing hills and riding up and down and around on gravel and mud lined tracks. Very scenic!
Back in town after about 4 or so hours, and really thirsty, we found a great little bar called “The Whatever Bar”. Perched up on huge stilts overlooking the Avarua Bay, it’s a no-nonsense little place made entirely of a huge deck with tables and umbrellas, a bar and small open grill area. High enough to catch the great island breeze and avoid the traffic noises from below, it’s a perfect place to sit in the shade and stare out at our ship in the bay. Great t-shirts too – of which I am now the proud owner (no men’s shirts though, much to Ed’s chagrin).
After quenching our thirst, we headed out to the shops. Not much around, t-shirts, shell jewelry, the ubiquitous black pearls, etc. Wandered through a couple of places without buying a thing. The surprising thing is that there is absolutely no Survivor gear here at all. One of last year’s Survivor episodes was filmed on the island of Aitutaki, 220 kms north of Rarotonga. There was a big article in the Cook Islands Sun about how the island was “invaded” by some 260 Survivor crew members from April to August of last year, and how while it had affected tourism (because they had booked up all the hotels), it was rumored to have brought the island a lot of money. After the filming was complete, the crew and program left the island exactly as they had found it, removing all sets, the portable hospital, 40 metre long portable kitchen, infrastructure, etc., from the island once they left. We thought for sure we’d see some memorabilia on Roratonga, but obviously not.
Having hit the ATM earlier, we had $40 NZ to burn through before we sailed, so we were looking for something to spend our money on. As it turned out, we ended up buying refreshments for the cabin and using all but a few dollars before heading back to the ship to sail for Bora Bora.
PS - can’t believe it’s May already! Time just flies that’s for sure! We’ll be home now before you know it. It’s just pretty astonishing to think we only have 2 weeks left – and that we’ve been gone almost one whole month! Wow!

Another lovely day at sea (4/30)

More of the same today, so I won’t bore you with the details. It’s getting much nicer and less hot now that we’re heading south to Rarotonga, so sun tanning was a large part of the day as well as trivia and the movie The Good German. It’s great being able to watch all these movies (especially as they are most of what we’ve wanted to see at home), and very nice indeed that we didn’t have to pay for them in theater, let me tell you. That should tell you what we’ve thought of them so far….. Hopefully we’ll hit a good one sooner or later!
Formal night again – so we gussied up and headed to dinner for an “English” dinner! Because the cruise is so long, they have a particular schedule of dinner themes and sometimes the more formal dinner menus don’t really fall on formal nights!

No show tonight – just walking around and cabin time – tomorrow we bike through Rarotonga!

Pago Pago – a tropical part of America like you’ve never seen (4/29)

It was a beautiful sail in – the island appears almost deserted until you get closer and around Breaker’s Point into the Harbor. Unfortunately it was pouring as we sailed in. One of those tropical downpours that you associate with the S. Pacific. It cleared a bit as we docked, but just as we were getting ready to go meet our group for our beach tour, it started raining again. As one of the ladies on the tour said, it was like having a bucket of water dropped on your head! We were concerned of course, because we were heading for a beach – but as we learned later – the harbor gets a lot more rain than anywhere else on the island. When the clouds hit the mountain facing the harbor, called the “rainmaker mountain”, go figure!, it always rains. But as we were getting ready to go ashore, it did clear up – and during our little tour it never really rained again!

We had contracted with a tour to “Tisa’s Beach” through our Cruise Critic Group. Tisa and her crew collected us from the ship (ended up with about 50 of us on the tour) and took us in 5 mini vans for a tour of the island. We drove up over a pass in the mountains with gorgeous scenic views, through the National Park where we saw little cave bats, frigate birds and navigational birds, through a couple of villages (where everyone was at church) then on to Tisa’s Beach and Barefoot Bar. The entire island is just gorgeous with verdant lush forests and incredible beach and shore landscape.

This first thing that struck us was how amazing it is that this little island of 16,000 people sitting 2300 miles southwest of Hawaii is actually an American territory. They fly the American flag very proudly, it’s certainly not that. It’s the fact that the island is so remote and tropical that it is hard to grasp that you are basically in part of the States. Everyone lives in a village that is comprised of their extended family. There is a large gathering place in each village, like an open pavilion with columns that hold up the roof. The number of columns corresponds to the number of chiefs in the village. Extended families stay in the village forever, and they are buried there as well. It is an extremely religious island, with more churches per capita than anywhere in the world. (That kind of figures since it was the missionaries who actually settled the island first.) To that point, we arrived on a Sunday and there was barely anything open. Everyone was at home, or at church for the day.


Our van driver, Candy Man, Tisa’s business partner, was incredibly knowledgeable about everything and gave us some great information about the island, it’s culture, the people and the lifestyle. There is a huge Starkist plant here that employs 3000 people. Supposedly they can 3.3 million cans of tuna a day. Yes, a day – we’re having trouble with that fact too, but that’s what he said! The island just recently started trash collection – only 2 years ago. If you have power, you have trash collection and it’s billed to your power bill for $3/month. Also, TV is a fairly new item here – only sine 1960 has there been any TV transmissions. Not everyone has TV, but basically if you can afford a car, you probably have TV and maybe air conditioning.

Also, in reading some material later, we found that Pago Pago only has about 6200 visitors per year. And that number has been falling since 2000 when their main hotel went out of business. Now there’s a few B&B’s that are opening and one hotel with 150 rooms near the airport! Talk about prime place for investing! It definitely has a resort-type quality, secluded, beautiful, lots of swimming, snorkeling, hiking and sun fun available. All it needs is the resort!
Tisa’s village has 22 people living there and she is the acting Chief, as she is the eldest on the island. Her father is actually the chief but he is off island now. When we arrived at the beach, it was packed! Being the only beach open because it is Sunday, all the taxi drivers were bringing ship passengers there. We had a reserved area at the bar, which was great. An old tiki hut with a full service bar (all beverages served out of coolers with ice!) and a small restaurant kitchen in the basement of Tisa’s house. The beach was lovely – in a protected cove with a large reef barrier, you could walk hundreds of yards out in the water and still be at knee depth. We stayed closer to shore as we neglected to bring our water shoes on the trip (duh!). But, closer into shore was lovely, we just floated in about 2 feet of warm water and tried not to drown as little wavelets came in off the reef. Harold and Meryl were on the trip with us, and they snorkeled a bit (with borrowed gear) and said it was great. We were happy to hang out in the shallow water with our beer and wine getting sun and chatting with other ship passengers.
Stayed at the beach for a couple hours then headed back to the ship. Wandered the little market set up outside the pier, then retired to the cabin. And I mean retired! I had had so much sun and fun, I took my first nap on the whole trip! Ed managed to stay awake and read on the balcony!!
Woke up in time for sail away – which was beautiful. Then on to dinner and more wandering around before bed.

Saturday #2 – Ground Hog Day at Sea (4/28 again)

Yes, that’s right – we crossed the International dateline during the night so we are re-living our Saturday all over again. Pretty weird to be repeating the same day – of course the staff and CD crew have been playing it up and talking about today tomorrow or yesterday, etc. We also all received a “Crossing the Dateline” certificate to commemorate our crossing. So now back to the sea day!

You guessed it, yes, Trivia again! What would we do without those 2 hours every day? Read more probably! Hey, we’ll come back with even more annoyingly useless information than we had before! Like what continent receives the most meteors? Which Creature has the most chromosomes? What does a pluviometer measure? Enough? Yeah, well, we’ll have all those and plenty more for you when we get home! Win? You’re asking if we’ve won? Heck no! We’re changing our team name to the bridesmaids!!! But we still have fun trying!

So, after getting some sun – yes we’re finally into the tanning zone – we wandered around, ate (can’t forget that), walked the promenade deck for our exercise, lost at trivia, ate some more, saw a show or movie, then off to bed to prepare for Pago Pago.

Saturday #1 – Suva Fiji (4/28)

Sailed into Suva in a monsoon – dark and rainy. It’s definitely the South Pacific though – hot and steamy! Got off around 8 am so we could explore the market which is supposed to be really great – especially on Saturday mornings when it’s the local shopping day. As soon as we left the ship, the skies opened. We ran for the market and weren’t disappointed – it was an amazing collection of seafood and produce vendors – the most incredible looking pineapples, taro, herbs, odd looking vegetables, coconuts, just incredible sights and smells. And teeming with people. Really amazing. We were looking for the “flee” market (kid you not, that’s how it’s spelled on the Fiji visitor map) that was supposed to be in the same area, but never really found it so we went over to the “Republic of Cappuccino” for Cappuccinos and to find out about the internet service they have there.

Left there and headed back toward the ship to see about getting a taxi to Colo-I-Suva, the rainforest park about 11 km outside of Suva. Ran into a cabbie outside the market who agreed to take us to the park. His name was Johnny and he was as friendly as can be and talked our ears off about Fiji, the Fijian people, the government, etc. A wealth of great information for us to get an insight into the Fijian life. We headed up to the rain forest – got to the park and it was closed with a huge number of police doing training exercises. Couldn’t find anyone at the park office to talk to, so Johnny suggested he take us to a waterfall and then we’d come back to see if it was open.

Long story short, we ended up with Johnny for a half day tour to a waterfall – really cool on the side of a road in the hills! – and then through his home town of Nausori – where he offered to take us to his house and cook for us! We politely declined as we didn’t want to offend him if we didn’t like his Taro and Cholo root boiled in water and sliced – he was so sweet we didn’t want to be rude, so we just told him we really wanted to hike the rainforest, and he headed back to Colo-I-Suva. Along the way learning, Johnny told us about the farming, the Chinese immigration, how friendly the Fijian people are (they are too –more about that later) and different things about the government and the military take over that occurred.

Made it back to the rainforest and found the park management folks, paid our entrance fee, then Johnny drove us down this muddy track to the entrance of the forest. At that point we were very glad we hired him to stay with us since we would have had to walk down the mile and a half of muddy gravel, hike the forest, hike back up the muddy gravel and then try to catch a local bus (which were all packed to gills because it was market day). Good decision!

The rainforest was a great decision too – it was like being millions of miles away in some deserted forest – we only saw 2 other people the whole time we were there. Walking through the dense forest listening to the waterfalls was just amazing. (For all you Lost fans out there – this was just like walking through he jungle in Lost – including the waterfall and pools like at their first cave, before they found the hatch!!!) Hiked down to the lower pools and the up to the upper pools of the waterfalls. Can’t even begin to describe this place – it was just amazing – and only a few Kilometers from Suva – simply incredible and remote and deserted. Hope the pictures do it justice! It wasn’t hot enough or sunny enough to take a dip in the pools – so even though we had come prepared in our bathing suits, we decided to stay dry (well, stream water dry, not perspiration dry!) and head back up to Johnny and our waiting cab.

Headed to the Rainforest Lodge for a quick bite to eat. The Lodge is situated right on a lagoon, and the restaurant is all open with incredible views. Ed had his first “Aussie” burger – guess Australian’s cook their burgers this way – burger patty, fried egg, mayonnaise, bacon, lettuce and tomato. I stuck with Tuna salad! Then Johnny took us back to Suva town and we left him at the pier, looking for another fare (which he found, as we saw him later dropping off another couple from the ship!).

We dumped our packs, changed out of our swimwear and headed out to just walk around the town. There was a little craft market close to the ship as well as some gardens further down we wanted to see. Suva is not exactly a tourist mecca – it’s a fairly large city that is extremely busy – and especially on Saturday Market day – clogged with honking cars and lots of pedestrians. There aren’t too many sites around the city, a few museums, the parliament house, etc. nothing terribly noteworthy at least about which we heard. Tours outside the city encompass the rainforest and swimming and some interesting sites, but the actual city is so filled with hustle and bustle, that it can be a bit much for the senses. We were warned to watch out for petty crime, pick pockets and the like (what you’d find in most cities, quite frankly), however, we honestly have to say that we never felt threatened or afraid. Everyone you passed, even the most serious, somber or frightening looking people would say Bula (hello in Fijian) to us. Virtually every single person we encountered said hello – and not just trying to sell us something or get us to take a tour – they were just extremely friendly.

As we walked, the temperature kept creeping up – so after walking through what looked like abandoned gardens attached to the Fiji Museum, we headed back to the ship with a pit stop at an Internet café to catch up with the world. Back on the ship we relaxed in the air conditioned splendor of our cabin and the Lido Deck buffet for our afternoon cookies and coffee. Sailed right on time – heading to Pago Pago, American Samoa.

Back at Sea (4/26-27)

More short days at sea – what we do – we don’t know – but we keep ourselves occupied all day long – so can’t say we’re bored yet. And we’re very pleased about that!!! Still cold and a little blustery today – so no real sun yet, but we’ve been doing the trivia and reading thing – so that keeps us busy. Also saw the movie “The Prestige” which was about the most bizarre thing we’ve seen. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened at the end. Anyone who can shed a light – please post here!!!

First day was cold, second day a little warmer – actually put on our swim suits and tried to find a chair in the sun. Not happening! We didn’t go up on deck until after noon, so what were we thinking??? Anyhow – did manage to get 2 on the upper most deck, which was fine except for the wind. On a hot day it would be good, but with clouds and rain threatening, it didn’t work out too well. Gave that up in pursuit of calmer and warmer digs inside where we could read without having the book ripped out of our hands!

Well, since there’s not much going on, guess I’ll talk about the ship and our cabin. We weren’t all that enthused with these huge ships prior to this cruise, but now, we’ve definitely changed our minds. Even though it is HUGE, you never feel crowded (unless it’s during trivia where you can’t get a seat if you’re not there ½ an hour early!), and there is truly always something to do. Even though it’s a day trip to the other end of the ship, it is at least good exercise, which we need after the food!

Princess has excellent food – and the dinner portions are tremendous. Absolutely no complaints there. We have personal choice dining, so we go to any of 4 restaurants and sit with whom we want (or don’t want!). We have settled into one specific restaurant because we like the wait staff – who always bring us extra vegetables and enough food to feed a small army. For some reason they think we can eat ½ a side of beef when ever we order prime rib – I keep telling our waitress I’m going to need a doggie bag and she wants to know if we have a dog in the cabin!

Staff is very nice and competent with a lot of stand outs, and some duds – but what do you expect with this many people. The stand-outs definitely outnumber the duds.

Our cabin is great – we are at the back of the ship in a lower lever mini-suite which has is directly below the main level of mini-suites so our balcony is covered. It’s great – keeps out the direct sun (if we get any!) and the rain – which we do get! Plus it has an added level of privacy the rest of the balcony cabins don’t. Only negative is that our cabin developed the squeaks last night when the seas got really rough. Has been fine for a week – then suddenly the ship was obviously moving differently – and so was our cabin walls! Sounds like a bunch of mice in the walls – too funny – we are hoping for calmer seas – or at least the front and back motion that doesn’t make the walls squeak quite so much!

First sea day was Formal night – we ran into two of our CC friends before dinner and they joined us. Only had reservations for 2, but the Maitre de and head waiter in “our” dining room happily accommodated us – as I said, great staff and service here. Food great, as well as the company – headed off for a show afterwards. Second day normal casual day – ate alone, although the way the 2 top tables are set up, you never really eat alone. You’re close enough to each other to talk and meet people, which we have.

Next, our first Saturday in Fiji!

Ferry Boats and Harbor Fog (4/25)

Arrived in Auckland a little bit early today. We were up early and it was a beautiful sail in – although a fog was rolling into the harbor as we arrived. We sailed around Devonport (where we were headed for the day once we docked) and came into the Auckland harbor at sunrise – except for the fog it was quite beautiful.

Got ourselves ready to go early because we wanted to hit the ferries first thing and make it over to Devonport before it got too hot. As it turned out the fog kept everything cool – and running late, so the first ferry was delayed by about ½ hour. As we were buying our tickets, the ferry agent very helpfully suggested we take a roundtrip on the ferry to Birkenhead, which would take us directly under the Auckland Harbor bridge. He said it was a beautiful trip and then we could catch the later ferry to Devonport without a problem. We thought it was a good idea and took him up on it.

The ferry ride itself was lovely and quick – unfortunately the fog had really rolled in by the time we were on the water, so we really couldn’t see anything. Although the bridge coming out of the fog as we got close to it was pretty wild. After returning to Auckland – we had ½ before the Devonport ferry so we wandered through the streets around the dock and got our bearings for later on in the afternoon.

Ferry over to Devonport takes 12 minutes and by the time we arrived, the fog was finally burning off. As it was Anzac Day (Australian-New Zealand Army Corps Day – similar to our Memorial day), everything was closed until 1 pm in order for all the memorial services and exhibitions to be held. In Devonport, there was a huge gathering of armed forces platoons gathered at the park with a commemorative service being held by the mayor and other dignitaries. There were heaps (the Australian word for “lots”) of people there – probably most everyone from the town!

We skirted around the presentations and headed up to Mount Victoria, one of the 48 volcano cones around Auckland. Climbed to the top (for the exercise and the view!) and got the best look at Auckland city. It was a great day to be walking around taking photos – probably 70 or 75 degrees, passing clouds that kept you cool and the bluest skies. We strolled down Mount Victoria and headed over to North Head, the other Volcanic Cone that has a view of Auckland as well as tunnels and gun emplacements from the World Wars. North Head was instrumental in the protection of Auckland and they have left most of the materials there as a memorial. We walked a little way through one of the tunnels, but miss claustrophobic didn’t want to go farther – it was really, really dark in there and creepy as all – so after the little mouse ran across the floor of the gun emplacement we went back to the outside!

Took heaps of photos – and then wandered back to the ferry port past lovely Victorian homes and parkland. We think we read somewhere that Devonport has the largest collection of original Victorian architecture anywhere in the world. Regardless if that is true or not, the town is just picture perfect, very relaxing and welcoming. It is definitely some place to spend a relaxing afternoon walking around, seeing the sites and trying out one or two of the pubs and restaurants that dot the town streets.

Just caught the 12:15 ferry and reached Auckland at 12:30. Because it was Anzac Day, a lot of stores were closed and those that were opening didn’t open until 1. So we went back to the ship for a quick lunch, then ventured out in the city again. Auckland is a very walkable city. Streets are easy to find with good signage, and it’s not nearly as steep as we had read it was. We didn’t find any steep hills or find ourselves walking uphill all the time. Maybe we just weren’t on the right streets – or the wrong streets for that matter! But we found it a very easy city within which to wander. Headed up toward the sky tower, walking through the big retail district. Lots of shops – souvenirs and otherwise – but absolutely no bargains. Both Australia and New Zealand were pretty pricey.

Stopped at an Internet café near the Sky Tower, then headed back for the grocery store to stock up on necessities! Debated going to the Sky Tower – Ed was going to jump off it – but ended up ditching that activity and decided instead to stop at a cute little café off the Queen Street main drag. Called the Belgian Beer Café, they had tables and umbrellas set up in a little cobblestone walkway off the road. A CD/DVD store across the street was playing great music, so the atmosphere was wonderful. Can’t say that for the prices! Had the most expensive beer and wine ever, I think - $23 NZ for one glass of each – that of course included the 15% public holiday surcharge that is in effect virtually everywhere in Australia and NZ. Let’s hope that doesn’t catch on in the US! Anyway, we paid for the ambiance and enjoyed our beverages, then hoofed it down to the harbor for grocery shopping (of the liquid variety and we did buy toothpaste just to be on the safe side), and back to the ship.

Didn’t sail until 6 – so we took advantage of the hot tubs up on deck for sailing – which was a great way to end a very active day – our legs really appreciated it! Had a little issue with one of the gangplanks not being able to be raised, so we were a little late leaving, but we were warm and happy in the hot tub, so we didn’t really care too much. Sunset was incredible and we had front row seats for the sailing – when we finally did - which was very picturesque.

So bye bye to New Zealand and on to the South Pacific part of our odyssey! The weather should be changing – and we’ll be in sunburn territory as opposed to frost bite!

Sailing….. (4/24)

Another beautiful day today – sunny and brisk. Have been updating the blog and sitting on the balcony. Lost at trivia again this morning – so what’s new? Did find out though that there is some storm that is following us (fortunately following!!) and that Sydney has had floods for 2 days, Dunedin has had a lot of rainfall and it’s coming into Christchurch today. We’ve been so lucky! Let’s hope it continues on through Auckland and the islands!

Nothing much going on today – Ed is at the New Zealand Discovery talk and I’m here writing. Heading to the balcony to read and while away the time until the next trivia session this afternoon. Then the usual! There’s a special show this evening – one of the singers who is leaving the ship tomorrow so we’ll see about that. Then we’ll gear up for our Anzac day in Auckland!

My idea of wine country (4/23)

Woke up to beautiful sunshine and only mildly chilly temperatures. Docked at the far end of the harbor, we knew it was a good hike into town (about 2 miles), but wanted to get in and get the car early – so set off about 8 am on our morning exercise. There is also a ship’s shuttle here that will take you into town for $5 roundtrip (a bargain since the others were each way!), but it didn’t start until late and we wanted to make an early start.

Made it into town to the rental car agency by 8:30 or so. Hopped in the little Holden Viva and off we went. Excellent directions to the motorway – we were on the highway by 8:50 and on our way. The highway turns into a 2 lane road with traffic lights then narrows down to one lane and traverse the Rimutaka mountains up and away from the coastline and into the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. The drive over the mountain is another twisting turning road where Ed got his driving exercise. He is a pro at driving on the left now, so much so, I’m beginning to worry about driving in Hawaii when we get there!!!

Took about an hour through the mountains, including photo opp stops, then another 15 minutes or so through farmland stocked with cattle, sheep and horses, until we reached Martinborough, the heart of the wine country here outside of Wellington.

Martinborough is a sweet little town with a few shops and cafes, one hotel and all the quaintness of a small farming town. Although it’s now a hot spot because of the wineries surrounding the town, it still has all the flavor of a small little village, which is exactly what I think of when I think of wine country! We stopped at the visitor center right at the beginning of the town before the “Square”. Chatted with the representative there who gave us places to have lunch and a guide to the open wineries, then walked through the town window shopping and just soaking in the atmosphere.

Stopped in the Village Café for Cappuccino, got talking to our waitress who had just moved here from Minnesota! Her husband just finished cooking school and wanted to do something completely different and experience different things, so here they are. She said they love it, settling in and think New Zealand is great. We can’t argue that!

Headed off for the wineries – there are 30 boutique wineries in the area – all locally owned and run mostly by families. Only a few are open year round, so we headed to the Martinborough vineyard, which I had heard of – or at least thought I had seen their wines at home (now I think I was mistaken and it was Marlborough – but whatever!). Two other couples were already at the tasting shop when we arrived and turns out they are on the ship too. They had hired a private driver to take them around – and were interested in the fact that we were doing it ourselves. Ed’s my private driver since I’m the one tasting and he’s the one driving!

The wine at Martinborough was very good – served by a lovely woman who obviously owned the place. Had a nice conversation about cruising and season (not as busy as it is in the summer months) while tasting a good Riesling, not too sweet, and Sauvignon Blanc not too tart. But what surprised me most was the Pinot Noir. Since it’s a specialty of the region, figured I’d better try it (not to mention we had to pay for the tasting – 5 NZ – so figured I’d get my money’s worth!). Not being a red wine drinker, I figured I wouldn’t like it – but found it was quite good, not as dry and heavy as other red wines I have tried.

Next we headed to Winslow wines – a very small little cellar door almost hidden behind bushes and a wrought iron fence. Made friends there with the owner’s son, who was just adorable. He told us all about the wines, the area, and how they have underage drinking issues there as well. Told us some great stories about customers and trying to be nice and service friendly when they didn’t really deserve it! Also served an excellent Riesling, which we ended up buying, a cabernet I didn’t particularly care for, and their special champagne (can’t remember the name now) that was incredible. Very little bubbles (he told us that sometimes a lot of bubbles in the champagne mean that the glass is dirty – lovely!) and a very nice taste – not at all like typically champagne. Then he convinced me to try their cabernet liqueur – of course both Ed and I said no, “Cathy doesn’t like liqueur”, but he convinced us and it was surprisingly good. Cinnamon and clove tastes – and like he said, a little Christmas-y tasting. Ed even sipped and enjoyed it. Decided it was time for lunch so I would be able to stay awake long enough to navigate us home (and not throw up on the twisting mountain roads!!!). Took advise from the Winslow son and went to Alana vineyards café.

Turned off the road onto a one-lane dirt road alongside the vineyard. It led us down through a gully and into a car park area with the restaurant and tasting room alongside a large open patio. Sat outside and had a fantastic meal of grilled vegetable stacks (portabella, zucchini, peppers topped with melted brie) and Grouper with a lemon aioli sauce served with avocado and grilled tomato. The setting, the food, the wine and beer couldn’t have been better.

It was getting on toward afternoon, so we decided to head back to town so we could go to the Te Papa museum which we had heard was excellent. Made it back into town with little effort and no traffic. Found our way to the Car rental return and started to head to the museum when Ed noticed he had lost his Princess card. Needless to say Te Papa was now out! We hoofed it straight back to the ship to try to figure out how to replace the card and get back onboard.

It was actually very seamless. Security asked us if we lost the card in Wairarapa – which of course we did – they said it had been found but was still up there – so someone at the restaurant or one of the vineyards or somewhere must have found it – but of course couldn’t get it back to us. Didn’t matter – ship’s security checked our ID’s and then let us aboard where we had a new card re-issued. Not as dramatic as we had anticipated. Gave us plenty of time aboard too – so we got to see the local Maori cultural show that we otherwise would have missed.

The show was a great little insight into their culture – and the showroom as usual was packed! We got there ½ an hour early and could barely find a seat. Pretty funny! Afterward, did our usual deck walking, sail-away and then dinner. Also went to a “who’s Cuckoo” show where the staff told you lies about previous jobs they held and you had to guess who was telling the truth. Uh huh - well – it was what it was – but at least we gave it a shot!

Relaxing sea day tomorrow……

Penguins!!!!! (4/22)

Today we’re in Christchurch, a beautiful town located on the Pacific coast of the South Island. Christchurch is centrally located – ½ an hour from skiing or the beach or the mountains, it’s a great location to stay for a while and explore the surrounding areas and the Maori heritage. Of course we only have one day – so we had to pick and choose our adventures!

Today is the Antarctic Center where we are going to have a back stage experience with their little blue penguins! We got off the ship early – and tried to strategize our way into Christchurch and to the Antarctic Center (which is at the airport and a $75 cab ride away). Since it was Sunday, the public transportation didn’t run as frequently as during the week – and the shuttle to Christchurch from the ship (25 minute ride) didn’t begin until 9 am. We had a 10:30 appointment so we ended up hiring a taxi for a one hour tour of Christchurch ending at the Antarctic center.

Our cabbie was a local Maori who has been here most of his life and enjoys the city. Didn’t give us too much history, but did show us the sites and tour us around to get our bearings. Made it to the Antarctic Center right as it opened and rushed inside before a tour bus of Princess passengers arrived. We had purchased tickets and the back stage experience online and when we checked in, they also gave us free handheld audio guides and a ride on the Hagglund (the transport they use in the Antarctic).

We wandered around the displays, which were incredibly interesting. Went into the Snow and Ice experience where we experienced what a real Antarctic storm would feel like. They have 5 tons of snow in the room, an igloo, a tent, wind chill machines and a storm that blows through dropping the temperature to –18 Celsius. They give you show covers to protect the snow, and heavy down coats to protect you. It’s a ton of fun – I even slid down an ice sliding hill. Too funny!

Outside of the storm, we wandered through fascinating exhibits explaining the Antarctic, the land mass, the atmosphere, how explorers can and do live there, and of course watched the penguins. They have a group of Blue Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world, at the center. They have all been saved from various situations around New Zealand – some are blind, some are paralyzed, or have other issues, and all are living there at the center in an environment specifically designed for them. Learned that penguins have a heavier bone structure than other birds because they don’t fly, they swim (although they are really just “flying” under water). Also learned that they’re feathers are water proof and when they molt, they aren’t water proof for quite some time and can’t swim – so they lose a lot of weight because they can’t hunt for food until they grow back their feathers and become waterproof again; when penguins shake, they are warm and trying to release some body heat; they mate for life but will mate with other penguins if their “life mate” isn’t available.

The penguins at the center live in an area with a swimming “hole” and rocks and pebbles and little nesting caves. They don’t really like to swim all that much, so the staff helps them along, and takes care of the little sick ones. We got to go up into their enclosure and see them up close, then got to go behind the scenes to see how they keep the area the penguins live and the water clean. Then we went into the care area, where one of the little penguins – Mo – was being kept. We got to pet her and watch her waddle around in the office while we sat there and talked to her. Really adorable. And so teeny and looked so cuddly – although the handler said they could bite and really hurt –so of course we were careful of that!

We also went on a Hagglund ride. The Hagglund is the vehicle they actually use for transport in the Antarctic. It’s a huge contraption with tank like treads. The course we rode is in the back of the complex and has 40 degree steep hills and doughnuts with 35 degree angles. It was really fun – but the best part was when we went into this ditch filled with water and the water was up over the hood of the Hagglund and we floated through it. Too cool!

After leaving the center, we took the Penguin Express shuttle back to town (which was free). Walked around Christchurch which has a gorgeous square in the middle of town called Cathedral Square along with a beautiful river called the Avon. Lots of benches and walkways along the river made it a very picturesque, but chilly day. Since it was Sunday, some stores weren’t open, but the weekend markets were in full swing. We spent some time shopping the stalls of locally made sweaters, woolens, soaps and jewelry. The knitted items are all a combination of Merino Wool and Possum. Kid you not. They have a huge possum issue here – they are multiplying and killing off the birds and foliage that keep the ecosystem going, so they are trying to eradicate them. In the process, they have found that combining the possum fur with the wool makes the clothing sturdier and softer – so everything is a combination of the two. There were some beautiful items, but no bargains, that’s for sure! And since we’re heading into Spring, not Fall like they are here, it was very hard to rationalize buying anything.

Ended up heading back into town, walking along the river and having lunch at the Tap – a great restaurant with a view of the river walk. We had a Tasting for 2 – which ended up being a selection of meat and seafood served on a hot stone, so that we “cooked” it ourselves. It was great- beef, lamb, veal, shrimp, mud bugs, mussels, and tuna all sizzling away in front of us. The perfect Atkins meal!

Wandered some more, visited a few stores where my back pack kept buzzing going through the theft detectors (never did figure out what made that happen!!!) and then headed for the shuttle and the ship.

Back aboard, sail-away, and then a mad rush to exercise and go see the “comedy” of Mark Angelo, which ended up being the Juggling of Mark Angelo, then dinner a drink or two and off to bed. Tomorrow Wellington and the wine country.

The gorge and the chocolate (or gorging on chocolate…) 4/21

Arrived right on time in Dunedin, our first real port in New Zealand. Not an overly nice day – overcast and cold. We had the Taieri Gorge train booked and were worried about the weather and the viewing potential. Made our way down to the Princess Theater to get in line for the tours (you have to be REALLY early around here to get anything – a seat in the room for trivia, tickets to the tours – these people are amazing!). We were to meet Harold and Meryl to go together, but the lines and the masses of people made that impossible – you were just milled into the room by the masses, no chance to get out of line or get someone else in with you. I was almost mauled trying to reach Ed who was in the line. We ended up on separate train cars from Harold and Meryl because we couldn’t find each other in the crowd!

So…..after that little test of patience, we did manage to find our way to train car #3 which was vintage 1920’s. Great old wooden railway car with seating facing each other for 2 on one side of the aisle and 4 on the other, all with a table in between and china service, etc. The train ride follows the route originally developed after the Gold Rush passed and the land began to be developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. The line opened in the late 1890’s and was finished in 1921. The line continued to be in use over the years and was protected from competition until 1961. It continued to operate until 1990 when it was scheduled to be closed. The Mayor of Dunedin made a proposal to buy the railway if the community could raise $1 million to finance it. Once purchased, they turned the rail into a tourist attraction and keep it running that way today.

The train ride took about 1 ½ hours on the way up – we were served tea (coffee and shortbread), and beer on the ride up along the Taieri river and through gorgeous country of cliffs, mountains and farm land. The train stopped every so often for pictures and you could hangout on an outside platform for better photo opp’s. We took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed the views, which were better than we expected as the cloud cover had not come up the gorge.

At the top of the railway line, we stopped in Pukerangi where there is a small farm and of course the obligatory local’s selling their wares. Stretched our legs and took some photos but high tailed it back to the train because it was so chilly. One interesting fact – they brought EMT’s along with us on the train – they had mentioned something about if you needed first aid it was available, but we didn’t think anything of it until we saw the EMT’s at the Pukerangi stop!

Back aboard, we were served a light “finger” lunch of a sandwich, yogurt, quiche, fruit and cheese. Also all the wine and beer you could drink so the ride down was a bit tipsy!

Learned a lot about New Zealand during the ride from two great guides (husband and wife) who volunteer on the train. There are 10 sheep for every available acre of grazing land, there are more sheep than humans in population size in New Zealand (40 million sheep vs. 4 million humans), the ozone layer is so thin here that children must wear hats to school and the horses all have blankets on to protect them from the sun, not the cold.

After leaving the train in the heart of Dunedin, we went to the Cadbury factory for our tour. Oh, that was so not good (as our friend Stu says!). The tour itself was fun – there wasn’t much going on in the factory as it was a Saturday, but the smell was intoxicating and the machinery really wild to look at. The plant in New Zealand supplies virtually all their chocolate to New Zealand and some to Australia. It’s a small plant, but it produces an astonishing amount of chocolate. Along the way, the tour guide gave us pop quizzes for which we were rewarded candy. It was a bit like Halloween, we were issued bags and then we got to put our candy in the bags as we went along! Ended up only seeing one conveyor of Moro bars being boxed (that’s the NZ version of a Milky Way – but better!), and the operator did look a bit like Lucy when some of the bars didn’t come out lined up right! Also got to see 1 ton of chocolate dumped into a huge holding vat – and splash out all over everything – had to stand back so we weren’t dipped in chocolate ourselves.

Then of course, the tour ends in their candy shop – well – not good – not good at all! Not only had we made ourselves sick on the chocolate they were handing out on the tour, now we could buy more – and at really reasonable prices. So no more ship dessert for us! We’re still eating the darn samples they gave us and have kilos of chocolate to go!

Did find out why the chocolate over here tastes so much better – in NZ for instance – they use whole milk, not milk derivatives for the candy. And in the US – Hershey’s has the license to make Cadbury chocolates and it’s a completely different recipe - obviously.

After our gorging (LOL), we wandered around Dunedin, which is a cute little town, but not overly interesting. Hit the internet, had a nip in a sports bar/pub--The Terrace--that was owned by the son of our train tour guides, then headed back to the ship on the shuttle. Sail-away, dinner and DVD’s in the cabin, then early to bed for our next port, Christchurch.

Sailing Away (4/18-20)

First 3 sea days have flown by. The weather has been decent, not too cold, not too windy. We’ve managed some sun time on our balcony and lots of rambling around on outside decks. Everyone says that this is the smoothest sailing they’ve had on the Tasman sea ever. Must say we are due! After the Bay of Leone on the Costa Fortuna (126 km winds and snow) and the Atlantic crossing to Bermuda on the Celebrity Zenith where our brave captain ran through a Nor’easter that bobbed us around like a cork, it’s refreshing to have a smooth sailing for a change!

Not much going on around the ship but we’ve managed to keep ourselves busy. Have made trivia every day – and lost every day. Great team – but we’re always just shy of the winners. Yesterday we would have had a perfect score if we would have listened to our first gut instincts instead of 2nd guessing – oh well. It does keep us busy though!

Today we are sailing through the Fiordland National Park. It’s one of the largest national parks in the world with 3.5 million acres of forest clinging to steep cliffs. We sailed through Milford Sound which at it’s narrowest is 300 meters wide and the cliffs towered over the ship. We dropped off passengers here for an overland tour to the interior of New Zealand. As we were disembarking the passengers, the photographers were out in a zodiac taking photographs of all of us on the ship.


Back out of Milford sound, we then sailed through Thompson and Doubtful Sounds. More beautiful scenery, waterfalls, and cliffs and mountains. The park gets 300 inches of rain a year, but it’s been dry lately, so there aren’t as many waterfalls as usual, but there are still more than enough photo opportunities. As we pull out of Doubtful Sound, the fog and mist rolled in (along with some Snow), but it’s still a majestic site along the coast with the fog.

Embarkation Day – Can’t believe it’s here at last! (4/17)

Did our walking early – went through the Botanical Gardens all the way to the Quay. The Botanical Gardens are an amazing wilderness in the middle of the city. In one section, there were thousands (and I mean thousands!) of bats hanging in the trees and making the biggest screeching sound you’ve ever heard. Some were flying around overhead making for a fantastic site on the way down to the harbor. Also making for a hazardous walk through an awful lot of bat guano through the woods. Yuk!

Walked to the Opera and saw that our ship had in fact come in! So, since we knew we had our ride, we headed back to prepare to board.

Note about The Coronation Hotel: This hotel, where a few fellow Cruise Critics also stayed, is an outstanding value in this city. It’s a great location, right in the heart of everything, and is very nicely appointed for an economy hotel. Our room was very nice, quite large and clean. A desk, table, mini-fridge, and lots of storage. Also, as I mentioned earlier, a 24-hour pub, a restaurant and a bottle shop. What more could you want? The only oddity was the shower. It was a European-type shower that has no stall – it was literally a drain in the tile floor with a shower curtain hung around it. Great shower, hot, good pressure, but you had to learn to become a human down spout so the water would run down you and into the drain – not fly out all over the place and flood the bathroom (and probably the bedroom since there wasn’t any water catch by the door). The only negative is the lift, which was very old and a little quirky. We were on the 2nd floor so we just walked the stairs – not a problem for us – but could be for others.

Checked out at 11 – and ready to roll. Went outside for a cab, which were in short supply. Met up with fellow C.C.ers – Earl and Carolyn – who were also in search of a cab. After 10 fruitless minutes trying to hail a cab, Earl walked up the street to a queue of cabs and grabbed 2 for us. They arrived, we hopped in, and tried to head off to the ship. Told our cabbie where we were going - and he gave us a blank stare. Tried to explain – Circular Quay, the cruise ship terminal, big ship – even showed him where we were going on the map – he had no idea. So we told him to follow the other cab thath Earl and Carolyn were in (we’re now thinking we’re in the Amazing Race – follow that cab!). Cabbie said fine, but Earl’s cab was turning left and our cabbie couldn’t understand it. We needed to go right, not left. So, I asked if he could take a right to turn onto George Street (where we needed to be). No, he said he couldn’t turn right there – well – duh! So, “Please follow that other cab sir”. We made it, of course we’re in the back telling the cabbie which street he’s going to turn on as we head through town because we’re more familiar with the place than he is! We made it – thankfully – Stevens 2, cabbies 0!

Finally at our home away from home for the next 30 days! Embarkation was the smoothest we’ve ever had. Stowed our bags on a truck (we were on the upper level, it takes them down to the lower level to load), stood in line for about 10 minutes until they opened the boarding process, then flew right through. We were the very first passengers on board – pretty wild!

Found our room, met our steward, Phillip, dumped our bags and were off the ship by 12 noon to wander through Sydney for a while before we sailed. Watched a great street performer juggle, do tricks and then finally mount a huge pole with spikes/nails on top, lie down on the nails and juggle. He was really good – plus – he had a little 5 year old come out and help him (along with other adults) and he told the 5-year old if he would do x, y an z, he’d give him 10 bucks. Well we all thought he would just joke it away – nope – he gave the kid 10 bucks! Talk about priming the pump. When he was done (and after his spiel about how this is how he makes his living, etc.), he really made some dough from the crowd.

Afterward just strolled through the Rocks, had a beer (2 for 1) and wine (1 for 1) at the Harborview hotel and watched the Bridge climbers come back down. Found the Weiss store and bought some souvenirs then headed back aboard the Sapphire to begin our “Epic” journey to L.A. (Epic, because that’s what the staff and captain keep calling it!).

Settled in, unpacked, got familiar with the ship, exercised, then went up top for sail away – which was a majestic sight. The bridge, the Opera, the city, all lit up and fading away as we sailed into the night. One little ditty – the Opera is only lit on the Quay side, once you get to the other side facing the bridge, it’s no longer spot lit.

Dinner in the buffet tonight since we were right there and didn’t want to dress for the dining room. Had an enjoyable time with some fellow CC’ers, Ro and Murray, then to the show and home. Very good start to our cruise adventure!

Doing the town and the beach (4/16)

Full day today as we are doing the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus around Sydney and out to Bondi Beach. Caught one of the first HOHO buses at the Central Station. Just pure luck – we had just arrived and were beginning to explore the area looking for the bus stop – when the bus magically appeared! Hopped on (excuse the pun), found they only took cash, so we handed over our last dollars (literally!) – and off we went.

Great way to see all the city. Headed over to Darling Harbor, where we got off and wandered a bit, found an ATM, then had some cappuccino at a little outdoor café. Boarded the bus again and took the circular tour of the city, including the red light district (which we ended up seeing and hearing about 4 times on these trips – just the way the buses ran and intersected routes!). Saw all the sights, then changed buses at Central station for Bondi beach.

Perfect day for our ride, about 70 degrees, partly cloudy (mostly fine in Aussie terms) and a cool breeze. The HOHO was an open air double decker bus, so we sat up top the whole time, watching out for low hanging branches that could definitely do some damage if you weren’t careful! Got to Bondi (pronounced Bon-deye) around noon. The bus stops for ½ hour, you can get back on then, or wait for the next bus in 2 ½ hours.

We had lunch at a café called Lamrock, where they had a “Tapas for 2” that was a main meal! Chorizo, squid, octopus, Cajun chicken, olives, feta, sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto and bread. Really great. Sat in the sun for a bit, then headed down the Coastal walk to Bronte Beach. This is a walkway that stretches down the coast along a number of little beaches. It’s carved out of the cliffs and limestone on the shore and is a beautiful exercise on a lovely day. We walked to Bronte and back, about 7 KM roundtrip. It was a perfect day to walk up and down the coast.

Caught the 2:20 bus back to Sydney, then wandered about shopping for this and that in the shopping district. Finally found a hat for Ed – not a real Tilly Hat (which are very hard to find, as it turns out), but a nice cloth hat with mesh to breathe and a string to tie it on in heavy winds. I also bought what I am calling a Gilligan Hat! It was on sale at a little shop that sold “Outback Clothing” and was going out of business due to leasehold issues. The owner was quite sweet and she told me she had one of the same hats and loved it – we’ll see!

Had dinner in the 24-hour pub downstairs in the restaurant. Cute place with great snacks and wine/beer. Headed out to the Cruise Critic meet and greet at the Sheraton up the street. About 50 of the C.C. group showed (think there are over 100 total in the group). Nice to get to know everyone – and start putting faces with names. But way to big to meet everyone – of course we have almost a month to do that on the ship! We stayed for quite a while then headed back to the Hotel Coronation.

Coming round the mountains (4/15)

Beautiful morning in Leura. Crisp and sunny, a perfect day for some bush walking. We had scoped out the different walks from literature picked up at the tourist information in Glenbrook (the very beginning of the Blue Mountains). Wanted to take a leisurely walk in the morning before heading out to Sydney sometime mid-day. There are a couple of waterfalls and good lookout points in Leura, so we decided to do our walk in town, and not drive to other sites.

Walked down to the lookout called Sublime Lookout Point for a look at the three sisters (a very neat rock formation) and then, from there walk through the bush to Gordon Falls. Depending on time, we’d continue on to Leura Falls or just head back to the hotel. The walk to the lookout didn’t look too far on the map – so off we went. Fortunately we are early risers – and love to walk! We headed out about 6 am, and walked, and walked, and walked! The map was “rubbish” as we heard one Aussie explorer remark later in the morning.

The walk to the lookout took us a good 45 minutes – and it was pretty strenuous. Nice in the weather, and the view from the point was sublime. Like looking out over a forested Grand Canyon – fabulous vistas across rolling green mountains, the mist hanging in the valleys and a good view of the three Sisters rock formation (if you knew what you were looking for!). Leaving the lookout, we diverted off the main street looking for the path to Gordon Falls that showed on our map. Wandered through scrub brush at the end of the street shown to be the trail head – but never found a thing (remember the map is rubbish!). We could see a path further down the mountainside heading in the right direction, but we couldn’t find any way to get there. Thoroughly frustrating! So we headed back the way we came – and bushwalked through the streets of Leura. Probably a lot safer activity as later in the day there were news reports of a lost bush walker whose body had just been found in the same basic region (further out than we’d ever be, but still! Two crazy Americans walking through the bush with little other than a bottle of water and a map that was rubbish! Make that 3 bodies……)

So, disappointed, but completely exercised, we showered up and drove around to some of the look out points on the Grand Circular Drive in the Blue Mountains. The sites were all really incredible and we were very glad we had made this little stop over, even if the drive on Saturday was brutal.

Ended up heading back in to Sydney very early, hitting the road about 10:15. Very easy and quick drive into town – we arrived at the airport to drop off our rental car in 1 ½ hours. While the drive is simple, one word of advice to driving visitors – Sydney has things called the “links” on their highway system. These are expressways that “link” major roads to one another – almost like a little beltway or loop system. The warning is that these links (or at least the one to the airport that is shown on all the maps and even on the highway directional signs) are toll roads. Fine you say, so what? Well, they are electronic toll roads – no cash, no tickets, no nothing. You have to have a sticker or an e-pass to use the roads. Of course, you don’t know that until you are on the road and see a bizillion signs about no cash, no tickets. There are also signs telling you to call 13-toll or go to their website if you don’t have a pass. Gee, how nice! So, long story short, ends up we had to set up a visitor’s pass on the web site to pay the 6.15 Aud toll, with a .75 Aud charge per trip and a 1.80 Aud set up fee (on the web, 3.30 via phone), completed by providing your credit card information. In addition, don’t forget to make the pass expire (or in Aussie terms: set a date of expiry) – because of course – it’s a rental car! If you keep the pass open for the whole length of the typical Visitor’s pass (30-days), you’ll end up paying every time that car goes on that road. As it was, the earliest we could set up the expiry date was April 17 – so we may get stuck with another toll or two. Charming!

That little incident aside – we are in Sydney! Very exciting as we take a cab into town for our hotel. Tell the cabbie where to go, but don’t have the exact address, just know the name of the hotel and it’s between such and such a street on Park. Even showed him the map. We head into town, it is a very quick drive, only about 20 minutes or so, and the cabbie pulls up to 27 Park, where he insists the hotel is located. No signs, just a big plate glass door on a busy street surrounded by coffee bars. We tell him it’s not right, he insists it is. Ed gets out an checks, comes back, tells him it’s not right, it’s an apartment building. Cabbie insists it’s right. Cabbie gets out and checks with the coffee shop next door – they say it used to be a hotel, but now it’s apartments. Cabbie thinks this is fine!

Finally we get him to keep going down the block because we’ve noticed he is one block short of the hotel. It’s right on the next block, we can see the sign. He starts driving, we tell him to stop, here it is. He keeps driving. “Sir, stop, it’s right here, see the sign”, he keeps driving. “Sir, Stop!!” Finally, the guy pulls over – finally in front of the hotel. Too funny!

Dump our bags at the hotel (too early for check in) and off we go. We walked the whole CBD (Central Business District). Walked down George Street, the main shopping drag with everything from souvenir shops to Gucci and Hermes. Headed into Circular Quay and watched the ferries, looked across the harbor at the Opera House and made it to the Sydney Harbor Bridge Pylon. We chose to climb the pylon instead of the bridge for a couple of reasons: 1) we could do it at our own pace, take our own cameras and it only takes about 15 minutes – the bridge climb takes about 3 hours once you go through all their rigmarole (including a breathalyzer test) and you can’t take a thing up there with you, they take your picture and then you have to buy it; 2) it was 18 Aud compared to 400 Aud. Hmm…… The view was fantastic (and really only 40 metres shorter than the bridge climb anyway), we took loads of pictures and stayed up there for quite a while. The inside of the pylon is also a museum dedicated to the building of the bridge and it was quite interesting as well. Did you know they used 6 million rivets on the bridge?

Down off the Pylon, and into Circular Quay. Had a refreshment at one of the many restaurants on the broad promenade around the Quay, then headed over to look at the Opera House up close. Fantastic building! Walked back to the hotel by way of the Botanical Gardens (skirting the outside of the gardens) and Hyde Park (lots of British references here, for obvious reasons). Rested up a bit before heading out for dinner in a section of town where there are “reasonable” restaurants (we asked the Tourist info gal for cheap places to eat and she directed us to Stanley Street).

Really fun little area, lots of little Italian Trattorias, a Sushi bar, Mexican place, etc. We ate at a place called Giardinetto’s – which was cute and lovely and bustling. Food was great – Barrimundi with Lemon sauce and Veal with red wine sauce, shared calamari appetizer. Everyone there was doing BYO – it was only a 4 Aud charge, so one couple even left their table to go out and buy a couple of bottles of wine right in the middle of their dinner!
Back to the hotel to drop exhausted into bed!