2009 World Cruise – We had a day at sea between Sydney and Melbourne (pronounced Melbun), sailing through Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania, a section of water notorious for high seas – we, fortunately, were blessed with calm water.

Melbourne is the second largest city in Australia and the capital of the state of Victoria.  It is consistently listed as one of the most livable cities in the world.  The city was still suffering the affects of all the bush fires (over 180 people had died so far) and the air was very smokey; not a good thing for my asthmatic breathing.  As it turned out I didn’t leave the ship for our tour as I had to see the ship’s doctor for a bladder infection.  The infirmary is only open from 8-9 am and 5-6 pm.

Our tour to the kangaroo and koala sanctuaries left at 8:15.  Once again John had to go alone.  It was a very good thing I had the opportunity to pet a koala in Sydney or I would have been very upset.  This excursion was actually a second-choice as our originally booked excursion (koalas and a visit to an old gold mine site where you could ride a stage coach) was cancelled due to low participation.  I was not very happy about that as I really wanted to go on that one.  But, not much you can do about it if not enough other people want to go.

John went off on tour, I saw the doctor and got some antibiotics, read my book, typed some email and stayed out of the smokey air.

The bus took them out of the city and through the grasslands of the Western Plains to an exclusive Open-Range Sanctuary in the You Yangs Range where they saw several koalas huddled in the crooks of tree branches. Later the bus drove out to  Serendip Sanctuary where they had tea before going out to see the kangaroos. This cute koala was even awake in his tree perch.  They live exclusively off the leaves of a few species of eucalyptus tree and rarely go to the ground.  There is very little actual nutrition in the leaves so they are very low energy animals; sleeping about 20 hours per day.  During the heat wave and subsequent bush fires there were many koala spotted on the ground getting some water from puddles or pools.  Usually there is enough water in the eucalyptus leaves for their needs and they stay aloft in the trees. The tour group visited a billabong (water hole) and saw an emu, black swans and a large flock of Magpie Geese.And some Cape Breton Geese.

When he got back to the ship we decided to go for a walk along the shore.  I put on my red and black charcoal-filled ‘bandit’ mask that I got from the fire department after the 2008 forest fires at home, and off we went exploring.  It was nice to get out and walk around for awhile.

The ship sailed at 5:30, with another day at sea before we reach Adelaide.  Australia, after all, is a big country.  If you could pick it up you could lay it right over the continental United States and it would  fit nicely coast to coast.

Our day at sea was Valentine’s Day; another formal night.  As usual all the main lounges and the dining room and Pinnacle Grill restaurant were beautifully decorated. (Komang, one of the Assistant Dining Room Managers is in charge of all the decorating.  He orders everything he needs and he and a few of the wait staff put it all up and take it all down.)

The Pinnacle Grill.

The entrance hall to the dining room is always decorated as well. On formal nights the Adaggio Strings Quartet play pre-dinner music from a balcony between the  floors of the dining room.

The Valentine’s theme was even followed by the kitchen. Elaine and Tim had dinner at the Pinnacle Grill so there were only four of us at our table.  It was a lovely Valentine’s Day.

2009 World Cruise – The 2000 Summer Olympics were held in Sydney.  The main stadium and Athlete’s Village area was originally a dump site and all the buildings were  designed so as to be converted into offices and a residential area after the games.  The area has its own solar power gird.  At the Olympic Stadium each solar stand generates enough power in one day to run 5-6 homes for a year.  Our guide explained many of the ways that the Olympic Committee designed the site, its various venues, and the Athlete’s Village so it could all be viably used after the Games. We were able to wonder around the area for awhile on our way out of Sydney to visit the Blue Mountains 110 miles north.  One of the things we discovered as we wandered the Olympic site was the little plaques in the colours of gold, silver and bronze that contained the name, event and nationality of every medal winner at the 2000 Games.  These little plaques were inset in the paving stones all around the square making intersecting lines and patterns.  We found a Canadian athlete’s name for each of the three medals.  I think it was a nice permanent touch to remember all the hard work and dedication put forth by the competitors. Unfortunately the overcast skies continued all day.  Sad as this poor weather was for us cruise passengers it was enthusiastically welcomed by the Australians.  Much of the country had been suffering under a searing heat wave (104 F a couple of days before we docked) and there were horrific bush fires burning north of Mebourne.

We arrived at the Blue Mountains, billed as “an awesome Grand Canyon-like rock formation among deep valleys and  cascading waterfalls” to see swirling white fog.  We road the cable car to the valley floor passing over huge Fern Palms.At the bottom we visited an exhibit about the old Katoomba coal mine.

There is an aboriginal story about a man with three lovely daughters who were constantly being sought after by men he felt were not good enough for them.  In order to protect them from making a bad match he turned them all into stone.  The Three Sisters is the name of three upthrusting formations atop the mountain.  The fog cloud parted just enough and just long enough to get a misty photo. We rode out of the valley bottom via the old coal train track which is a very steep cut through the rock.

A lunch stop at the village of Leura broke up the bus ride back to the ship.

The ship wasn’t scheduled to set sail for Melbourne until 7 PM, so we took the opportunity to enjoy the newly arrived sunshine and walk over to the iconic Sydney Opera House.

2009 World Cruise – The early afternoon of our second day at sea out of Île Des Pins the Captain announced that we would be going at full speed (22 knots) to Sydney due to a medical emergency.  This meant that we would arrive about midnight instead of the planned 7 am the next day.  John and I went to the movie that night and then went out onto the bow deck for the sail-in.  We entered Sydney Harbour about 11:30 PM against a fierce, cold wind.  We were freezing and could hardly stand upright but it was lovely to sail into the famous harbour at night. We were docked in Sydney for two days.  I was so excited to be in Australia.  It had been a dream of mine since I was a little girl and watched “Flying Doctor” on TV.  (Of course, the part of Australia I was most interested in seeing was the Outback with the massive sheep stations, Flying Doctor service, and miles and miles of red dirt – but I’ll take Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth/Freemantle, which were our Australian ports-of-call).                                 Do you think I looked happy to be there?

My Number One thing to do in Australia was pet a koala and our morning tour provided that opportunity.  We went to a Koala Park where we met Berry the koala, Matilda the wombat, saw the small, friendly grey kangaroos, wallabees and a beautiful dingo.  How could an animal-lovers day be any better than that? I was a bit ticked with the lady that reached in to pet Berry just as I was having this photo taken.  There were so many people wanting a turn I didn’t feel I should take the time for another shot.  But, petting the koala for a little bit was the main objective; getting a photo of the event was secondary.

After our visit to the Park we boarded a rivercat and returned to the ship via the Paramatta River.  Rivercats are regular public transport in Sydney and it was interesting to see areas of the city from the water.

In the afternoon we went for a walk around The Rocks, an urban district and historic district of Sydney where the penal colony era is still visible in the cobblestone streets and brick buildings.  We walked under the Sydney Harbour Bridge, around Dawes Point and down Argyle Street.

This tunnel was built by convicts.

Royal Ibis.

In the evening we were treated to an exclusive tour and dinner at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo.  This, too was one of the perks of staying in a balcony suite.  Unfortunately it began to rain heavily and our Zoo tour was cut short.  We ended up in the dining room with appies and drinks for over a hour before dinner was served.  I would have rather gotten wet and seen the animals, but, it wasn’t my call; sadly.                    Cayman                                                   Young Python

We returned to the ship at 10:30 PM to see an ambulance at the gangway.  The medical emergency patient that prompted our early arrival in Sydney was removed immediately we docked, but there was someone else being taken off and loaded into an ambulance when we returned from our afternoon walk; then a third person in the evening.  This, apparently, is not unusual on such a long cruise with many elderly passengers – two or three deaths often happen.  As a matter of fact, some terminally ill, but still mobile people will get their affairs in order and take the world cruise as a bit of a last hurrah.

It was a long, full day where I got to see lots of critters, and I loved every minute of it.

2009 World Cruise – The sky was overcast and it looked like rain would be falling shortly.  Île Des Pins was a tender port-of-call and we were anchored quite a way off shore so as to not damage the reef.  We took the 15-20 minute tender ride to the island in the afternoon.  The clouds never left, and the rain never came.

Île Des Pins (Island of Pines; for the native pine trees that tower over the tropical forest) is also called I’île la plus proche du paradis – “the island closest to paradise.”  It is not very big, about 60 sq. km. and is located SE of Nouméa.  Captain James Cook discovered it in 1774 and the French claimed possession in 1853.  A penal colony was established in 1872 and 3,000 political prisoners from Paris were sent to the island.Today it is a sparsely populated island famous for scuba diving and snorkeling.  We spent a few hours wandering around the island, checking out the prison ruins and wandering the beautiful white sand beach.

The trees were very knarly.

I liked the stick fence.

Lots of pretty flowers.

The prison ruins were very derelict and overgrown.  After 100+ years nature is taking over once again.

We set sail at 5 o’clock for two days at sea before we reach Sydney, Australia.  My life-time dream-come-true destination!

2009 World Cruise – The captain announced more itinerary changes.  April 13 we were scheduled to go Mamoudzon, Île de Mayotte (French Comoros) – off the east coast of Africa.  Apparently there is an issue between the local government and the tourist/cruise industry (probably a conflict over the port fees or the number of buses being used for tours that will shut out taxi rides.) We were never told what that issue really was, but our stop was cancelled.

Since we will not be stopping at Îl de Mayotte,  April 13 will be a sea day and we will stop at Maputo, Mozambique on April 15 (a day later than originally scheduled) which will then give us two days in Richard’s Bay, South Africa instead of one.

The port, ship and tour staff must really have to scramble sometimes.  Even though these changes are a couple of months away tours have to be cancelled, new tours have to be arranged, docking permission and fees have to be paid.  The list of new arrangements in this type of situation is very long.

Nouméa is the capital city of the French Territory of New Caledonia.  The population is French. They speak French, they have French passports and drive French cars.  New Caledonia was the HQ of the US military in the Pacific during WWII and many American terms are scattered among the street and city section names. (One area of Nouméa is called the Motor Pool.)

New Caledonia has a population of about 250,000, half of whom live in Nouméa.  We were told there was no unemployment and the island is quite prosperous.  New Caledonia contains 1/3 of the world’s nickel and are second – after Russia – in the export of nickel.

The ship was docked two blocks from downtown.  We walked into town in the morning and explored the area; hiking up to the highest point despite the rain.

                                                              Coconut Plaza                                                                   Fire Tree                                               Nice view from up here.

In the afternoon we went four-wheeling in the tropical forest – in the rain.  We were supposed to have a swimming stop but the Dumbea River was flowing too swiftly. We drove all over the hillsides and Jean, our driver/guide took us to the highest point of the island. On the way back to town we passed the 100-year old nickel smelter.  A new processing plant had just opened which will use the acid bath method to extract the nickel rather than smelting it. This is what you call downtown parking – or should that be, porting?

2009 World Cruise – We sailed from one of the islands of Vanuatu to another – Espiritu Santo to Efate, the principal island of the country.  We actually did two tours that day.  The morning was spent at Mele Gardens Cultural Center where we were told about the native plants, saw a traditional grass hut, and were introduced to some of the local critters.

                                                            A banded Gecko

This snake liked John, it snuggled close to the back of his neck to get warm and wound it’s tail around John’s camera strap to secure itself to this new toasty perch.  It was non-venomous and not a constrictor.  Still, I didn’t hold it.  But I did hold the Gecko.

The Coconut Crab (or Thief Crab or Robber Crab) is the largest crab in the world.  They can reach 1 m (3′ 3″) in length from leg to leg and weigh as much as 4.1 kg (9 lbs.).  They eat seeds, nuts, fruits and the pith from fallen trees.  They will also eat carrion and anything found on the ground is fair game for dinner.  This is how they acquired the name Thief Crab.  Their pincers will take off your finger in a flash. Some left behind military items from the war years.This was originally cannibal country.

These young men showed us some traditional dances and only used the stomping of their feet and clapping hands for music. We returned to the ship in time to grab a sandwich from the Lido buffet restaurant and make our way back down to the glass-bottomed boat for our snorkeling and fish feeding tour.  This was great fun!  The water was really warm and only about 9′ deep.  After we had anchored the boat’s crew fed the fish so any people not wanting to get in the water could see them through the glass-bottom of the boat.  We were able to spend quite awhile in the water feeding bread to the fish.  Pretty cool. As is customary at most of our ports-of-call local artisans and crafters set up stalls to sell T-shirts, post cards, trinkets, and locally made crafts.  This one was quite extensive.  As the ship was preparing to set sail at 5:30 we were able to watch the folks pack up their unsold goods and load them into flat-bottomed boats.  It was incredible how much stuff and how many people were put into one of those boats.

The next day was a sea day and it was Flower Power Night.  It was not a formal night, just a theme night.  All activities staff and wait staff were appropriately dressed.  Both levels of the dining room,  and the Crow’s Nest lounge were beautifully decorated.  It was a blast from the past and return to the days of Hippies and Peace Marches.

The next day we stopped at Noumea, New Caledonia where we went on a 4-wheel-drive adventure.

2009 World Cruise – We left Honolulu, Hawai’i at midnight Jan 25/26 and sailed through calm seas all the way to Vanuatu.  Several of the crew were commenting on the calm seas  saying this was the calmest they had ever sailed across the Pacific (which means peaceful waters; and is often anything but.  Especially a long distance away from land.)

Two things broke up the long sea days.  The first was the second formal night of the cruise, and the first themed-night: The Black and White Ball.  We learned to like formal nights.  Often there was a color theme or costume theme (you were under no obligation to take part) and every formal night we returned to our cabin to find a gift on our beds.  We had previously received leather-bound journals stamped with the map of the world, and this night we were each given a multi-time-zone clock

Second was the Golden Line Crossing on January 30.  We crossed the equator at the International Date Line at noon so the date changed immediately to January 31.  There is a tradition when making the Golden Line Crossing.  The Captain blows the ship’s horn from the moment the bow touches the intersection of the equator and the International Date line until the stern has crossed over.  We received certificates from King Neptune as you must have his permission to make the crossing.

And January 31 was our third formal night in honour of the Queen Beatrix of The Netherland’s official birthday (our gifts were a boat bag).

On February 3 we  docked in Luganville.  Many, many people on board were very happy to see land.  Seven days at sea in a row is a lot and people were getting antsy.

We were scheduled to visit Funafuti, Tuvalu on Feb. 1 but there is some political uncertainties in the area so the Captain changed the port-of-call.  A change of port or change of arrival time happened several times on our trip.

Vanuatu is comprised of several islands.  The major port of Luganville is located on the island of Espiritu Santo.   There is not a lot to see here.  Our tour was World War II relics.  Many of the South Pacific islands became military outposts in the war against Japan.  The allied forces set up a supply and support base, naval harbour and air field on Espiritu Santo.  It was not a super, super exciting tour but interesting enough and we got to drive around the island quite a bit.

We visited a B-17 bomber crash site in the jungle, two overgrown airstrips, a concrete bunker that was a jail cell for Japanese POWs, and traveled on lots of severely pot-holed roads.  It was raining heavily all day and our driver got stuck going up one of the hills.  After three attempts he still could not make it.  The van following ours eventually pushed us up.  We were fortunate to be with a group of people that made light of the bad weather and rough roads so we had a lot of fun in our truck.  Some of the other vehicles were hot-beds of discontent.

The most interesting part of the tour was a visit to Million Dollar Pointe.  When the Japanese surrendered in 1945 the military moved off the island.  It was deemed to be too expensive to ship the jeeps, guns, and other equipment back to the US so everything was dumped in the ocean.  The area is now a popular dive spot, as is the wreck of the SS President Coolidge, a converted luxury liner that hit a mine during the war.  Approximately 40,000 US military personnel were stationed in Luganville during WWII and it is estimated  between 400,000 or 500,000 military personnel took R & R on the island.

Our tour ended with a visit to a nice hotel for some refreshments before we headed back to the ship.  The rain became steadily heavier until it was coming down in torrents.  The only time I experienced a heavier downpour was in 2011 in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, Australia where the rain was falling so thick and fast it looked like a single sheet of glass.

We returned to the ship at noon and had intended to go into town and walk around after lunch.  However the continuing rainfall put paid to that notion and our trip to Vanuatu came to an inglorious end.

2009 World Cruise.  It was an overnight sail (probably at a very slow speed) from Hilo to Honolulu.  Honolulu in Hawai’ian means ‘sheltered harbour.’  The very, very famous Waikiki Beach (also very, very crowded) is there; as is Diamond Head, the extinct volcanic crater and State Monument.

The ship was welcomed to Honolulu by a traditional Hawai’ian band and  dancers at the bottom of the gangway; entertaining us on board and as we disembarked.  This we learned was an oft-repeated treat at many of our ports-of-call.  Local musicians and dancers met the ship at many of our stops. The iconic Aloha Tower.                           Honolulu skyline.

Obviously, for me anyway, being a history buff, the Number One must see in Honolulu is the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbour.  The tour we selected took us there and then to three military bases (Wheeler Field , Scofield Army Barracks – the largest army base outside the Continental US and HQ of the U.S. Army Pacific – and Fort Shafter where we had lunch.  We also went to the Punchbowl National Memorial, final resting place of more than 35,000 Americans who died serving their country and, finally,  the Home of the Brave museum.  It was a seven-hour jam-packed tour.

Our guide was a young fellow named Brandon who had a real love for WWII military history as pertaining to Pearl Harbour and onward.  He had tons of anecdotes and information which means I had a great time.

The Arizona Memorial was very moving and had excellent displays about the attack on Pearl Harbour Dec. 5, 1941.  It is quite common for people to bring a lei and and either lay it on one of the steps of the memorial or strip the petals off and lay them on the water. (A Hawai’ian lei is never to be thrown into the garbage.  They are always to be returned to the earth by scattering the blossoms on land or sea.) The USS Arizona, sunk by the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbour, has never been moved; nor have any of the bodies been recovered. The entire site is a  military grave and memorial.  There is still a small, slow oil leak from the ship that colours the water these many years later.

At Wheeler Field there is a huge display of US military air planes and helicopters.  The guys in the group loved this part. At Schofield Barracks there was a recently revealed memorial called “United by Sacrifice.”  The men are dressed in the time-period  uniforms of WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Global War on Terror.  A most moving and poignant thing happened as we were boarding the bus to leave the base.  A young woman, accompanied by an older couple – probably her parents, walked up to the memorial and placed a lei around the neck of the front soldier then draped her arms around ‘him’ and began to cry.  A lady who had recently lost her loved one, we surmised.  Very sad.  But it certainly made everything we had been seeing very real.We had lunch at Fort Shafter Military Club and did a tour of the base afterward.

           HQ is commonly called, “The Pineapple Pentagon.”

The final US military installation we saw was The Punchbowl Memorial located in Punchbowl Crater, a lovely setting with gorgeous views and a beautifully maintained site.

We stopped at, but didn’t tour, King Kamehameha III’s palace ; properly called Iolani Palace – the only royal palace on US soil.  It was constructed in 1845 and was used as the royal residence until the US overthrew Queen Lili’uokalani in 1893.  It was then used as the Provisional Government and Territory building and the first Capitol Building of Hawai’i.   Even though it was a functional government building for over 70 years the palace fell into disrepair.  It  was designated a National Historic Landmark 1962 and after a full restoration it was opened to the public in 1978. The architectural style is completely unique and found no where else in the world – it is called American Florentine.Our final stop was the Home of the Brave Museum, a collection of WWII memorabilia owned and displayed by Brandon’s parents.  The small building was jam-packed with weapons and uniform insignias and all manner of items – a treasure trove of history.  It was very interesting to check out.  If you ever go to Honolulu I would recommend it. We set sail from Hawai’i at midnight and we will not see land again for a week.  The Pacific Ocean is VERY big and it takes a long time to get across.  Our next port-of-call is the South Pacific Island of Vanuatu on February 3.

2009 World Cruise.  I am writing this blog 8 years after we went on the Holland America World Cruise and I still remember very well the immediately recognizable changes between the 14-day ‘regular’ cruise we just completed from Ft. Lauderdale and the World Cruise as we sailed out of Los Angeles.

We had to get off the ship when we docked in LA and go through US Immigration.  We were allowed back on board at 10:30.  As we waited in the Cruise Terminal there was HAL staff circulating among the guest with trays of cookies.  A 4-piece string ensemble (wearing tuxedos) played background music.  Two huge purple and white balloon towers stood at the check-in area.

Once we were back on board there was unlimited champagne available on the Lido deck and restaurant.  A long-stem red rose was given to every woman as she entered the dining-room for dinner.  On the tables there were no longer foil-wrapped pats of butter; now the butter was in the shape of pressed flowers.  There are little jars of jam and honey instead of the small plastic packages.  Even the selections on the in-room breakfast menu have expanded. Everything has stepped up a notch (or two).

We spent five days at sea getting to our first port of call – Hilo, Hawai’i (Hawai’i is the name of the biggest island and also the state.  To avoid confusion with the other islands Hawai’i is referred to as The Big Island.)

We had booked all of our shore excursions before we left home.  We have been to Hilo a few times so none of the tours around the town or to Volcano National Park interested us.  However, there was a tour to Mauna Kea the highest peak in the Pacific, at 13, 796′ above sea level.   (Since it rose out of the sea as an erupted volcano it is actually the tallest mountain in the world passing Everest by quite a margin if you measure from the sea bottom, which is the true base of Mauna Kea.)  I have always wanted to go up there but the road rugged and narrow and is off-limits to rental cars.

I had developed a cold just as we left LA which severely compromises my breathing and asthma attacks usually follow.  I, very reluctantly, decided that I better not go on the tour as the low oxygen levels would make a bad situation much worse.  John went without me (there was only five people on the tour) and later said it was a good thing I didn’t go as he found it difficult to breath up there.  All of the photos in this blog are his.

Typical Big Island scenery – it is volcanic after all.

The Observatory at the summit of Mauna Kea.  The snow never melts here.

The volcanic craters at the summit of Mauna Kea. Snowboarders and skiers come up to sail down.  It is a long, twisty, rugged road to get there. (If you have good eyes you can see the skiers.)

On the way back to the ship John made a stop at Rainbow Falls.