HOME, not Bay of Islands

Fate moves in mysterious ways, as do older people with walking frames and bi-focals, and it struck off the coast of Auckland. We left the Sydneyesque harbour of Auckland late at night and headed for the Bay of Islands. It was supper time so we all headed for the restaurant to get that piece of lime pie we had been ogling, and resisting, all day. 

Sitting on deck, pie and red wine in hand watching the brightly lit southern sky, the ship began to turn to port in a sweeping u-turn. The ships grapevine swept into action within minutes claiming that several passengers had been left on the Auckland dock and we had to go back. The second version was that an overly abusive passenger was being put ashore so we had to go back. So far, three passengers have been put ashore for bad behaviour and two crew are being put ashore in Sydney for innappropriate liaisons with passengers.

I worried more about the second version as more than half the ships passengers would have to put off if abusive behaviour was the measure. I decided to stay away from my suite in case there were any messages for me from the Captain!

About 30 minutes later the Captain did an all stations broadcast which was unusual given the time of night. He announced that a large storm was inbound from the south and we had turned about to head straight for Sydney.

24/7 coffee and tea on open Deck 14

Three sighs could be heard across the ship. The first, a sigh of relief, was from the many passengers who were busy creating defence statements for their abusive on-board behaviours. The second, a sigh of disappointment, was from those realising that we were to miss the Bay of Islands. The third was a slap in the face of reality rather than sunning ourselves on the beaches of New Zealand we now had to begin the packing process. I had to let out three long sighs.

The mood of the ship turned sombre almost immediately. Hoots and cries went up everywhere  about compensation, not enough bags, last party arrangements, tips for the crew. It was on for young and old, the latter being the noisiest.

It all happened in a semi synchronised fashion. The ships shops began to sell discounted suitcases, vacuum storage bags and trinkets from long forgotten ports of call. We could buy that last minute watch at an extra 10% off for today only. Alcohol was 50% off with the warning of two bottles only into Sydney. Cigarettes were a whopping 70% off by the carton. This was naughty of the ship as new Customs restrictions state that you can only bring in 50 cigarettes (two packs) or pay duty on ALL items including alcohol, if caught. They still sold out in a few hours and the purchases were delivered to cabins after being recorded so Customs in Sydney will have a profitable morning......

There is a custom on ships of tipping with cash at the end of a cruise. Many ships also take an automatic $15 per cruising day from your credit card as a "whole of ship" tip. Princess abandoned this practice only last year, for Australian cruises only, in response to the outcry by Australian passengers. The automatic tipping may be gone on Australian cruises but the crew are not Australian and expect to be tipped so it is a sensitive and delicate situation to work through. I established a practice of slipping a few dollars every few weeks to my cabin valet and waiter. I also left a few mid cruise tips for others that had delivered exceptional service. This ensured a reasonable level of service throughout the cruise. On our last night I will not be putting cash into the now very visible white envelopes appearing all over the ship.

Entering Sydney Harbour 0630

Sydney Harbour is appearing out of the morning mist and there is a tear in my eye. Australia is the luckiest country and I am happy to be home. I will pay the car rego, pat the cat and my mum and start planning the next high seas adventure which is SOUTH AMERICA in a year or so.  


What more to tell?

Last minute directions from the Film Director of Masterchef

Our table set for filming

BIG GOSSIP LEAK..... Masterchef came onboard in New Zealand, with all their chefs, to film an episode cooking for the elite passengers. I was invited of course. The photo is taken by me dining with the Services Director, Angus, in camera for the episode. The lady talking to us is the director. 



Final notes...
 
I did not write for you as well as I have previously. I hope that I still gave an engaging overview of my adventures. I was consumed by the amazing voyage itself. I have all the prices I paid and itineraries best followed in the places I have visited. I have views on ships tours versus independent arrangements. If I can add any value to your own plans for cruising I am happy to share thoughts with you. Leave a comment and an email address and I will reply.

Thank you all for your kind emails and encouraging comments. Bon Voyage!

Auckland

Auckland Harbour at night, as we left

We are close to home where the roads are paved in gold and we live off the sheep’s back but first we took a port turn from Tahiti and visited the country where the roads are black, but you can’t say that, and what happens to sheep is not discussed in public, New Zealand.

We tied up at the cruise terminal. Auckland Harbour closely resembles Circular Quay in Sydney. On the dock is the Hilton Hotel and some very expensive harbour-front apartments. As the ships cafeteria is on Deck 14, we sat having breakfast looking down on each owner and hotel guest as they threw open their curtains, semi-naked or worse, see us looking at them and struggle to shut the blinds again. This happened many times and was a great source of amusement predicting which set of blinds would open next.

Mudbrick Vineyard

Bored with that we went ashore for morning coffee at the Depot Eatery in Federal St. This café is one of the best eateries in Auckland and you sometimes have to queue to get a seat, bookings are not taken. After coffee, we headed across the harbour to Waiheke Island where most of the fun happens away from the CBD. It is the “Manly” (Sydney)of Auckland. $NZ5 later and we were sipping some of the best white wine in the world at the Cable Bay Vineyard. For $NZ45 you get a tour of the best five winery/eateries in Northern New Zealand; Cable Bay Vineyard, Kennedy Point Vineyard, Mudbrick Vineyard, Stoneridge Vineyard and TeWhau Vineyard. We remember most of the day but the milieu of good food and better wines was hard to keep up with.

You could just walk around the foreshore and have almost as good a time.

Historically,

Way back, around a hundred and eighty million years ago, the Mauri’s had a falling out with their neighbours in Gondwana, a large land mass in the northern hemisphere, so they grabbed their oars, gave their island a push and paddled south for a few thousand kilometres. It was visionary of their Chiefs to throw out the anchors very close to a nearby country that has easy residency visa access for their citizens.

In the 1300’s the Polynesians, out for a sail, bumped into the islands and named them “Aoteara” or “Land of the Long White Cloud”. In 1642 Dutchman Abel Tasman dropped by whilst on a Pacific cruise and, as the Dutch do, promptly renamed them to “Nieuw Zeeland” and left happy.  

Captain Cook popped in for a visit in 1769 and was a bit smarter as in 1840 Nieuw Zeeland joined the British Empire under the Treaty of Waitangi and became “New Zealand-Land of the Long White Cloud”.

Home......Home........ Home

Western Samoa - Apia

Apia, Western Samoa

The islands are getting smaller but the fun and adventure is just as large. Apia is west of Tahiti and 2500 kilometres from Auckland, New Zealand. The Samoans are a deeply cultural and proud people. Traditional dance is taught from primary school on. They hark back to about 1000BC and were only discovered in the 1700’s by a Dutch navigator who was just passing.

As usual, the British, Americans and Germans quickly began to claim bits of Samoa for their own and the territorial bickering continued for years. In 1889, the bickering was resolved and the Americans took over the eastern islands in what is now American Samoa and the Germans got Western Samoa. The British went home.

With the coming of the first World War in 1914, the New Zealand military quietly occupied the Islands taking over from the Germans. The New Zealanders, all three of them, them managed to convince the United Nations that New Zealand should be the administering power of Western Samoa. Over much kava, this was agreed. The Yanks got the East, the Kiwis got the West and the naughty Germans got kicked out. The Western Samoans weren’t overly excited by the Haka so requested and achieved Independence in 1962.

Say hello to the mother- in-law

As you drive around Samoa you see evidence of the strong family culture that exists here. Every home has a large verandah area for the extended family to sit when visiting. This area is sometimes bigger than the home. Also, the Samoans, and Tahitians, bury their family in the front yard to keep them close. It is not uncommon to see seven or eight burial plots in Samoan yards. I can see the benefit in less mowing but doing the edges would be more difficult. I suppose you could chat to your deceased relatives whilst whipper-snippering around their memorial, to stay in their good books. You never know do you?

Property values might otherwise be affected as getting vacant possession could prove difficult without a lot of digging, but in Samoa the homes are thought of as communal and are not bought and sold outside the family.

Robert Louis Stephenson's 1800's home

Apia, the capital of Western Samoa, has its piece of fame in that Scotsman Robert Louis Stevenson lived and died here. He was the author of “Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and “Treasure Island” amongst others and found that Samoa allowed his creative juices to flow so built a stunning mountainside home and stayed until his death in 1894. His stately home and gardens, set in the mountains above Apia, is well worth the visit giving an insight to the life of the author and colonial lifestyles at the time.  The home is fully furnished and you can walk through every room, a very intimate and interactive experience.

The beer is good, as well as the view

Exploring the rest of Western Samoa consists of driving from Resort to Resort as most beaches are private and an entry fee of 10 Tala ($US5) must be paid. It is a visual feast of tropical mountainsides, white beaches, blue water and cemeteries in every front yard.

On to New Zealand, the land of the long white cloud with some of the best white wines in the world :))

Bora Bora

Main Street of Bora Bora

Having circumnavigated Tahiti by go-kart our Captain, Ivan, turned the ship to  Bora Bora. The small coastal town of Vaitape was totally overwhelmed by 2000 cashed up passengers pushing their way into the six or so stores on shore. Most sold craft items and black pearls at indecently marked up prices.

I chose to go scuba diving in some of the clearest, bluest water I have seen. Diving off the coast was like swimming in an aquarium. The sealife was vast including several 3-metre sharks that swam up to us to say g’day. I have been diving for many years and had yet to see a sizeable shark. Not one, but four of these 3-metre monsters swam out of the blue to within a few metres of us. I admit that my breathing went up a bit that shortened our dive, but I wasn’t the only one. 

The sharks swam past and back into the blue and my dive pattern thereafter became circular as I kept looking over my shoulder. The memory of Jaws at Universal Studios was too fresh in my mind…

Next to swim past was a collective of large, majestic, stingrays. The moray eels in the coral and rocks were bigger than your arm. These dives were amongst the best I have ever done. The best, best diving was with Wendy on the President Coolidge in Santo but that’s’ another story.

A lemon shark

Back on the surface, our divemaster told us that the sharks were Lemon sharks, stocky sharp toothed beasties that eat fish and other sharks. They are known as the lemon shark because light interacting with the local seawater gives them a tanned and yellow, pitted appearance, much like the surface of a lemon.

I didn’t care, they were too big and way too close!

The divemaster then pointed out that both my knees were bleeding OMG! I had been sharkbait and didnt know it.....

It was agreed all round that I had been praying too hard on the ocean floor.

Diving over, we navigated back to shore and immediately headed for “Bloody Mary’s”, the local infamous drinking hole, to regale our near death diving stories and taste some local ale. 

A few beers later and our stories told it was back to the beach for a swim. The beaches are the best I have ever seen. They are all blue water with white sand and very easy access.   A full island tour is only $US20 including stops at several beaches,  

-->souvenier shops and cafes.

A small but fun island 

 

Bora Bora is located about 230 kilometres northwest of Papeete, and is surrounded by a lagoon and a barrier reef.  The main town, Vaitape, is on the western side of the island. The products of the island are mostly limited to what can be obtained from the sea and coconut trees, which were historically important for copra. The population is about 8,880 people.
During World War II, the United States picked Bora Bora as a base for military supply and a seaplane base. They also constructed defensive fortifications around the island which can be easily visited and explored. Luckily though, no combat took place here.

The Beach at Bora Bora. Can life get any better?

Today the Island of Bora Bora relies largely on tourism and because of this seven luxurious resorts were built over the past few years. Hotel Bora Bora was the first to build bungalows that stand over the water using stilts which are now a given of every resort on the island.

What’s next, Samoa…………. the fun keeps coming!

Tahiti

a warm welcome

As we move deeper into the Pacific the islands are getting smaller and are at the fringe of the tourism belt, but no less engaging. Tahiti is well known around the world but is still a small community that has held its culture strongly. It is also home to some amazing upmarket seaside resorts.

The welcome we received upon arrival was the strongest and warmest of any country so far. I believe it to be genuine as many passengers were offered to have dinner with the locals in their homes if they wished. A few took this up and were treated as long lost family.

Papeete is a small coastal town focussed mainly on its own daily needs. There are many neighbouring islands serviced by ferries so moving inter-island is not difficult. 

There is a Gauguin Museum on the main Island that I was excited to visit. In Barcelona, I was able to visit the home of Picasso and see original works not generally displayed so I was expecting similar here. I was a bit disappointed as the museum held only poor quality copies of the artists work and was not the home of Gauguin. You could capture a bit of a life timeline if you worked hard but the core reason for this gallery escaped me, and it is heralded as an important tourist attraction on the island. The Black Pearl museum was far more engaging and gave an interactive history of pearling, grading and crafting of pearls.

These silly machines will kill us!

After all of this tourist flurry, a quick walk around and the beaches and resorts is the only thing left to do. We chose a more adventurous way to see the islands and hired a two seater go-kart for the day from Europecar. We jumped the car ferry to the Island of Moorea and drove around all day skipping from beach to beach, resort to resort.  Only the Intercontinental Resort security guards were concerned at our noisy, down-market transport and would not let us in.

Tahiti is a smallish place of some 800 square kilometres. It makes up over 25% of Polynesia and holds 70% of the French Polynesia population of 120,000. Papeete is the capital. 

A good beer, a good woman and excellent food

Interestingly, this area of the Pacific Ocean is called the “Polynesian Triangle” and includes Hawaii, Easter Island, and New Zealand. As a result of various migrations, the native Hawaiians and the Maoris of New Zealand all originate from common ancestors and speak a similar language collectively known as Maohi.

Captain Cook visited in 1769 for a bit of celestial viewing and a few other European seafarers also stopped by. The mutineers from the HMS Bounty made this island a bit more famous as well. It was the French who eventually won over the local royalty and led to Tahiti becoming French Polynesia.

A sad byline to this European interest was the devastation and disruption to local culture that followed. Guns, prostitution, venereal disease and alcohol caused the traditional tribal society to rapidly fall into disarray. Introduced diseases including typhus, influenza and smallpox almost wiped out the entire Tahitian population.  

Why Tahiti is worth visiting, the view over lunch on Moorea

In 1880 King Pomare gave Tahiti and most of its dependencies to France. In 1957, the islands of Tahiti became French Polynesia. In 1998, French Polynesia became a country with greater self-governing powers.

Hawaii - Honolulu

 Totally exhausted from an amazing week in California, we made our way to Hawaii. American Airlines First Class reminded me more of a Jetstar flight. At least lunch was free and this is what we were offered:

“Macadamia Nut French Toast stuffed with marscarpone cheese, with pineapple papaya marmalade and grilled Portugese sausage”

……. A signature dish by Chef Sam Choy

I felt unwell reading it, looking at it was indescribable, yet others around me seemed to be immersed in its intriguing cornucopia of flavours ignorant of any potential health implications. Looking around I did note that many were in first class as it was the only seat size they would fit into, not that there is anything wrong with that of course!

Waikiki Beach

We landed in Honolulu to swaying palms and ukuleles.  Honolulu is everything you see on Hawaii Five 0. Waikiki beach is white, with Australian sand, and the hotels loom large right up to the waters edge cutting out the afternoon sun. It is not wave season so the water is calm and urine warm. The whole beachside area looks like the Australian Gold Coast on steroids, ecstasy, juju or whatever your preferred social drug is. Life is my drug.

My arrival euphoria was tarnished a bit by a very irritating and sad intrusion. Every street corner in Honolulu is haunted by people trying to overtly sell you time at a gun range with an arsenal of military weapons at your disposal. Honestly, they are worse than watch sellers on a Bali beach and that is saying something. If you look like saying yes, a van swings in from nowhere to whisk you off to start your weapons training. I DID NOT say yes but the number of teenagers getting into vans was disappointing.

A young pineapple

There is so much to see on this island that a day trip circumnavigating it is mandatory for first-timers and fun. We visited pineapple plantations, coffee plantations and cattle ranches in that order as it represents the changing face of agricultural endeavors in Hawaii. I stood in the valley where “Jurassic Park” was filmed and about thirty other movies including “LOST”. We moved on to Diamond Head to see the beach where the kissing scene from the 1953 movie “From Here to Eternity” was filmed, not that I have any memory of that. My older friends, Gary and Wendy, Judith or Jan may recall it.

USS Arizona

Next we visited Pearl Harbour and the USS Arizona memorial. The country that owns Hollywood certainly puts on a good show. You walk through the museum to get the overview and then watch a film to get the personal perspective. The film is an aggregation of Japanese and American war footage giving an almost complete perspective of both sides of the Pearl Harbour raid. In the land of political correctness, Australia, there would have been counselors waiting at the end of the film as many left quite upset at what they had seen and heard. I was one of them, but I appreciated the candor of the film.

Still in a state of shock from the film we motored out to the Arizona memorial to be told that the drops of oil leaking up from the ship are tears of blood for the lost souls on the ship, great, that’s all I needed to hear. This could take years of counseling to get over….  

USS Missouri - sans Cher

I did not have any insight into American culture until I had completed my visit to Pearl Harbour. The memorial is both respectful and factually graphic which stirs and saddens the soul. We have been very lucky in Australia and we need to keep it that way.  

Emotionally drained, we headed back to Waikiki beach for some more sun, fun and retail therapy.

Historically, Honolulu has been populated by the Polynesians since 1100AD. Captain Cook popped in for a look, as he was just passing in 1778, but it was British Captain Brown that dropped by 16 years later who liked the place and named it “Fare Haven” which translates to “Honolulu” in Hawaiian.

Much later, the Americans decided to move in and set up a Pacific naval base.  In 1931, the Japanese were busy invading Manchuria and were pushing their way through China. They were upsetting the interests of the United Kingdom, the Dutch and the Americans. As the Japanese pushed through China in the years up to 1939, the world’s attention was temporarily diverted to Europe, as Hitler was moving into Poland and beyond. Meanwhile, Japan knew that the Americans were unhappy with Japans invasion of China and had imposed sanctions and matching threats of retaliation. Japan thought they could disable them by sinking their Pacific Fleet in Honolulu.

So, while a Japanese Government representative was in America discussing the lifting of sanctions and world peace, Japan’s military were sneaking around planning to attack Pearl Harbour. In 1941, the Japanese achieved their aim by delivering the worst naval disaster in American history and in doing so “woke a sleeping giant”.

Germany may have invaded Poland in 1939 but it was Japan, in 1931 that ultimately and inevitably led to the declaration of War by the United States.

 Some scuba diving with sharks will lift my mood;

“Ivan, turn the ship to Tahiti please!”

Universal Studios

So, after an exhausting, sweaty day in Disneyland I fronted up to Universal Studios. The benchmark was not set very high so we were prepared to have a modestly fun time. Being stalwart Australians, we stepped into the melee, handed over our $70 ticket and from the start the experience was far more relaxed and engaging. I think Universal had given thought to entertaining adults as well as children.

There was a careful balance of adult entertainment that could be found in the “City Walk” at the park entrance, which had the flavour of a city mall with a blend of upmarket stores and cafes away from the rides so the ambience felt more café than theme park. When you step through the gates into the dedicated ride areas the atmosphere was relaxing and less tired looking than my recent experience at Disneyland. There are some amazing rides like ET, Revenge of the Mummy and Jurassic Park that the child in any of us would enjoy so I set off with my shopping list of rides in hand.

I didn’t get far! 

Off to right of the main entrance was a small ticket box with a sign saying “Upgrade to front of line pass here”. This intrigued me, was there really a golden ticket that allowed you to step to the front of the hundreds of people already queued up for a ride? A legal pushing in, queue jumping card. The answer was YES! The extra fee was $45 and you got a gold star to wear around your neck to wear and wave on entry and you went straight to the front of the queue for the next available car. As I moved around the rides, very few people had taken advantage of this upgrade. I was like a pig in mud, a dog with its favourite bone, a disabled person in a wheelchair, straight to the front every time!

This theme park was scoring 10/10 and I hadn’t got on a ride yet. The rest of the day held more pleasant surprises that made dragging myself around a concrete jungle filled with the screams of distress of children, small and large, more tolerable and more fun. 

The rides are beginning to date but hide their age well. The tram ride/tour of the production areas of Universal, which has been running since 1915, is a mix of theme park ride and adult entertainment as you are titillated by the news that several current TV series and movies are currently in production on the site. This mix of ride and TV reality contemporises the older elements of the park, something Disneyland has not managed to do as well.

That said, the “Jaws” element of the Universal Studio tour is very, very sad. A sick old faded rubber shark rattles up to the side of the car and opens its gummy jaws as we pass. I had flashbacks of the way some of the passengers on the ship eat their breakfast. Once past, look back and you can see the shark being rewound along its track ready for the next ride full of people. This part of the tour needs to fade away as it ages the park, is disrespectful to the poor old shark, and has lost it “scariness” appeal.

We also drove past the Bates Motel, the Munsters House at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, an old Delorean from Back to the Future and Wisteria Lane of Desperate Housewives infamy. 

Another sign that the management of this park are watching customer comfort is the mist spraying fans that are everywhere in the park. The temperature and humidity are similar between Disneyland and Universal Studios but the blowing fans and mist overhead in the long lines makes a huge difference, not that I had to queue up with my Gold Pass. I saw many customers stand under the mist for a minute or two and then, refreshed, move on to the next attraction. The fans and mist made all the difference to staying longer at the park and spending more money.

Another pleasant difference was the superior quality of food and seating at the cafes and food outlets. I did not have to sit like Fred Flintstone chewing on a dinosaur leg in mainly outdoor eating areas that are not cooled in any way as I did at Disneyland,. Universal Studios appears to have a larger variety and number of indoor air-conditioned eateries that allow you to recharge the batteries. If you eat outside then the mist fans are all around to soften the sting of the humidity.

Back to the rides; rattling ride cars, 3D movie screens and loud explosions sums up most but they are different enough to enjoy and get just a little scared. We stayed all day and were not overly fatigued so we went out to the City Walk for coffee and to share scary ride stories with each other. 

Extreme Fun WARNING!

The Jurassic park ride is a dinosaur themed roller coaster ride with a wet finale, a very wet finale. If you take this ride first then expect to be wet to the bone for the next few hours. I have been splashed in rides around the world but this ride is ridiculous. Just before the final splash of the roller coaster several water jets blast into the air and fall back into the car as we pass underneath making sure everyone is wet, not just the ones at the front. Several well-dressed Japanese tourists were not very impressed and neither was I as I desperately dried off my non-waterproof camera, but they did a scream out me.

very very wet

We lasted half a day at Disneyland and left exhausted, we lasted all day at Universal Studios and stayed on to relax at the CityWalk, but tastes differ so your experience may differ.