Sydney
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| Dinner on Promenade at Darling Harbor, Sydney |
Australia is a fur piece. It takes a flight from Cleveland to Charlotte, then a long one over to L.A. and finally a very long one from there to Sydney. Very long means fourteen and a half daggone hours. The first two were on Boing 737s and the last was on a 777. Since 737s have been known to crash and/or lose their doors, I ask the flight attendant, "How often do these planes crash?" "Only once," she answers.
Yet a later flight was delayed when our plane returned to the terminal after making it all the way to the runway. When we finally returned to the runway and became airborn, I ask the flight attendant (same one) what caused the delay? "The pilot didn't like the sound coming from one of the engines," she answered. "After returning to the terminal, it took some time to find a new pilot."
Sydney sparkles. The city is absolutely beautiful. The craggy bays are everywhere, and there are plenty of touristy things to see and do. Sights like the Harbor Bridge and Opera House are spectacular. And best of all, there are Australians all over the place. They're a fun lot.
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| Our Itin |
We arrive a day early so as to acclimate and enjoy the city just a little bit; we're sailing straight outta Sydney in the evening of our second day here. We don't feel too much need to explore the city more than we have since we did that on our last visit in 1999. What we do with the time we have is walk around the Darling Harbor and Barangaroo Reserve Park areas. "Ooo Ooo Ooo, Aaah Aaah Aaah!" I had been running at the latter park earlier when I heard the loud and unmistakable call of a kookaburra.
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| Darling Harbor during my morning run |
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| Barangaroo Reserve Park |
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| Barangaroo Reserve Park |
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| Darling Harbor |
The sail-away is spectacular. I can't imagine a better one anywhere.
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
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| Sydney Sail Away |
Sailing the Tasman Sea
Contrary to what you may believe, Australia and New Zealand are pretty far apart - about 2,500 miles. That's almost like the width of Australia itself. We have three full sea days allotted for our journey. Unfortunately, and much to our consternation, we did not receive our expected beverage package for the good ship Oceania Regatta. We can pay for wine as we go, and possibly bring some onboard from various ports, so we'll tough this out somehow. Otherwise, we stay on an even keel through these sea days by playing team trivia and doing the art scavenger hunt. We make friends with folks on our trivia team as well as some others around the ship.
Said even keel doesn't hold up so well when Lady Adventurer becomes somewhat ill. It starts with GI problems, but then progresses into a somewhat severe cold. Guess who catches that a few days later?
Napier, New Zealand
This will be the first of four ports in New Zealand. Best we can tell, Napier is known for two main things: the nearby wine region of Hawke's Bay, and the Art Deco Architecture. Perhaps not surprisingly, we walk the town, buy some wine, and admire the buildings. We also visit a nice park with plenty of late-summer flowers.
It' also our third trip to the Land of the Kiwis. We can't get enough of this place. The natural beauty is unsurpassed, and the people are wonderful. The icing on the cake are the clean public toilets that are everywhere we go. "Come and use our beautiful clean toilets, you'll love 'em," they say. And we do.
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| Napier Park |
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| Napier Park |
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Napier Art Deco Architecture
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Tauranga and Rotorua, New Zealand
From the port of Tauranga, we make our way - a n hour and a half - to Rotorua, home of the famous geothermal hot springs and geysers. As soon as we arrive, we spot a big-time geyser in the distance. It's done by the time we get there, but it's interesting to see the hot springs anyway. Too bad it's raining. We also see a couple kiwis (the birds, not the fruits), and observe some Mauri craftspeople and a Mauri cultural show. The Haka part is cool.
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| Rotorua |
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| Rotorua |
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| Rotorua |
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| Rotorua Mauri Cultural Show |
Auckland, New Zealand
Our Australian team trivia teammate says, "We consider New Zealand like just another one of our states. The Kiwis may not see things the same way. Oh well." Sure enough, Auckland is kinda like Sydney's little brother. The weather has improved, so that has helped. I still can't figure out whether it's always this cool toward the end of their summers as it has been for us. Not that I'm complaining. The sunshine today is great. But back to this here city: it sparkles!
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| Auckland |
We take a city tour sponsored by our Distinctive Voyages representative. What is Distinctive Voyages, you ask? Beats the living heck out of me. But I do know how they make their money: volume.
The tour is pretty good, especially the Winter Garden area and our late-morning tea.
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| Auckland Winter Garden |
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| Auckland Winter Garden |
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Auckland Harbor
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| Auckland |
Bay of Islands, New Zealand
The Bay of Islands is basically a bay with some islands in it. It's a lovely part of this lovely country. Last time we were here, we took a cruise around the bay. This time, we simply take a walk. A long walk. We go from our tender drop off point in the village of Paihia all the way to the village of Waitangi where a famous treaty was signed between the Mauri people and the Europeans. Along the way, we have a wonderful conversation with some natives.
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| Bay of Islands |
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| Bay of Islands |
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| Bay of Islands this is the furthest point of our walk |
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| Bay of Islands |
Sad to say, it's time we say goodbye to New Zealand. On to Fiji!
Lautoka, Fiji
We sail straight North from New Zealand. It takes two full days at sea to get to Fiji. By this time, we're ready to hit the ground running. As we're about to get off the ship, we get the announcement: "We regret to inform you that the 'Garden of the Sleeping Giant' tour is canceled because of heavy rains and flooding. You will be reimbursed." And that's that. It seems the Sleeping Giant did not want to be awakened. Too bad - it had sounded like a nice walk in the forest. Plan B is to just get off the ship and walk around.
Fiji consists of 330 islands of which about one-third are populated. The people are mostly Melanesian, with Polynesian and Indian influence. Lautoka is the second-largest city and it's on the largest island. I had pictured Fiji as a South Pacific idyllic paradise. Based solely on our experience of walking around Lautoka in the rain, it isn't.
Oh, the people are friendly - very friendly. Lady Adventurer whispers that they're simply sizing us up for tonight's dinner. It seems there is indeed some history of cannibalism here. But the city itself doesn't seem to have much going for it, at least as far as we're concerned. It seems rather third-world, in a friendly sort of way. We walk along the seashore, but even that area leaves something to be desired. I am sure that had we been able to get out to see other parts of this island, we would have appreciated the beauty.
Looking for pictures? There was absolutely nothing that I deemed worthy of presenting here. Sorry.
Suva, Fiji
"We regret to inform you that the 'Suva and Rainforest Walk' tour is canceled because of heavy rains and flooding. You will be reimbursed." For the second straight day, Lady Adventurer and I find ourselves simply walking around on a tropical island. This time, the rain subsides for a time, and we manage to not get wet. This time, the town is somewhat larger, and the walkway along the seashore is slightly nicer. Once again, we don't get to see the most scenic parts of Fiji, even though we know they're there. Once again, the Fijians are very friendly. Very friendly. "We're having the Horvaths for dinner tonight," they tell one another.
Looking for pictures? There was absolutely nothing that I deemed worthy of presenting here. Sorry.
Apia, Samoa
There are several things to know about Samoa. First, there's Samoa and American Samoa. The former is an independent country and the latter is a U.S. territory. We're heading there tomorrow. Second, the two are separated by the International Date Line. This means we get to enjoy March 23, 2024 twice, once in each Samoa. Third, both places are populated by Samoans. Although Fiji fairly close by, it is part of Melanesia, whereas Samoa is part of Polynesia. You can tell by the facial features of the indigenous people.
Our mini-bus takes us along the shoreline of the island of Upolu, home of the largest city, Apia. The land and seascape is stunningly beautiful. It's also very hot. We visit a church, a waterfall, a garden (Aggie Grey's Garden), and main market.
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| Heading down to the Samoa waterfall |
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| Samoa waterfall |
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| Aggie Grey's Garden, Samoa |
Pago Pago, American Samoa
We're on U.S. Soil here but only for a day. We're also repeating March 23. If you don't understand, neither do I. But you might want to go back and read the previous section about Samoa.
We are actually going to make it. The primary reason we booked this trip was that it stops at Pago Pago in American Samoa. American Samoa is the home of the National Park of American Samoa. It will be 50th on our list of the 63 U.S. National Parks (I need to check that). And it's arguably the toughest to get to. Okay, okay. There are a few in Alaska that may also present challenges for us. But there's no denying that the National Park of American Samoa is the furthest afield.
We had booked an independent tour because the cruise ship excursions don't make it to the park. It seems there are some huge mountains in the way. The park is only a small part of Tutuila Island (doesn't that sound like some remote Star Wars planet?), on the opposite side from Pago Pago, where we parked our boat. After the visitor center, our mini-bus heads up the mountain pass. It sure is steep. We stop for the fantastic scenery. In fact, this island has to be one of the most scenic anywhere. When we finally get into the park, it's even better.
After descending back down and pass through the remote village of Vatia, we take a hike along the more-remote shore. It's only a mile or so, but it's fabulous. There are bat caves at the end of the trail, but we can't get into them due to the level of the sea. (We had spotted bats in trees earlier.)
We visit other sites around the island, and it's all good. Good, but hot. This National Park will remain in our memories forever.
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| American Samoa (in the park) |
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| American Samoa (in the park) |
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| American Samoa (in the park) |
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| American Samoa |
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| American Samoa |
Bora Bora, French Polynesia
After a couple more sea days, we arrive at the most beautiful island in the world. Don't take my word for it, take James Michener's. Part of the Society Islands that are, in turn, part of French Polynesia (which is, of course, a territory of France), Bora Bora is made up of a mountainous main island, surrounded by a shallow lagoon, ringed by small islets called motus. Yes, it's as gorgeous as you can possibly imagine. Some say there are one hundred shades of blue. Bora Bora's lagoon sports them all, and then some.
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| Bora Bora awaits |
After tendering in, we take a lagoon cruise to a snorkeling spot, where I get into the turquoise water and swim with black-tipped reef sharks and stingrays. From there, we motor over to a motu, where we frolic on the beach for a while. It's my goto motu. The funny thing is that we did this exact same tour eight years ago. No problem though. We can't get enough of this place.
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| Anyone seen any sharks? |
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| A visit from one of our shark friends |
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| I survived |
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| Bora Bora - On our goto motu |
We take a walk in Vaitape, the capital city of Bora Bora. Yes, it's paradise, but a good place to walk, it isn't. For our next trick, we get onboard a chopper. Pretty nice.
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
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| Bora Bora Chopper |
Raiatea and Tahaa, French Polynesia
First, you're taking a boat that's going to a tropical island. But is that island the place you're gonna visit? Nah! So you get on another boat and go to another island. The first is Raiatea, where we've visited in the past. The second is the nearby sister island of Tahaa. We actually have the option to also then visit one of the nearby motus, but we turn that down; two is enough today.
It winds up being a pretty long day in paradise. We visit vanilla and pearl farms and learn about Tahaa. We have a nice beach barbecue, complete with Tahitian music. The only (and I mean only) problem? It's been a long day, and we just wanna get back to the ship. But they won't take us. Relaxing in paradise is nice. But it just troubles me to be held captive, even in such a nice place. (; Don't worry; eventually, we do get back.)
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| Our guide explaining something to Lady A. |
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| Tahaa beach |
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| Dan on Tahaa |
Moorea, French Polynesia
Moorea, I've just met an island named Moorea. And suddenly that sound will never be the same again...... Moorea really is like a dream. From Tahiti, it rises up like Bali Hai in a dream (or in the musical, South Pacific). We hiked here last time. This time, it's a four-wheel drive excursion.
And it's a good one. A very good one. We bounce all over Moorea, especially all the up-high viewpoints. It's a fitting and wonderful end to the trip.
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| Our chariot awaits |
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| Belvedier lookout on Moorea |
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| Moorea black sand beach |
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| Moorea Magic Mountain |
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| Moorea Magic Mountain |
Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
You thought it was over, didn't ya? I sure did. But no, we have about 13 hours between the time we disembark from the ship and board our plane for the ride home. During this time, we sit around an open air meeting room at the Hotel Le Tahiti. It's in the city of Papeete on the Island of Tahiti, which is the capital of French Polynesia. We actually play dominos (yes, someone had a set) and I go for a run/jog/walk up a long hill for a nice view.
Okay, now we're really done.
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| Tahiti |
