Archive for the ‘cruise’ Category

Cruise - Days 32-35 - homeward bound

Saturday, October 24th, 2009

The last three days at sea between Fiji and Sydney were pretty laid back. We spruced ourselves up for formal night and had a bunch of photos taken and Ange managed to disappear to quilling for an afternoon. That’s pretty much it, other than trying to relax and chill. Ange and I went through a few bottles of wine to assist with that.

A couple of days out I tried to book a hire care for the Sydney-Canberra trip. Every damn stationwagon or 4WD in Sydney was booked. We decided to go by train, which was cheaper than the hire car, more fun, and (most importantly) actually available.

We spent the last day or so saying goodbye to the staff and our neighbors (who strangely, live in the suburb in Melbourne we had our eyes on) and generally getting ourselves organised. Jeremy woke us all up at 5:30am on Saturday morning, but we could hardly be annoyed because it meant we got to see the ship come into the Harbour. There was a slight delay disembarking, but that was nothing compared to the trip to Central.

First up, I’d mis-read the CityRail map and thought there was a station near the Convention Centre, but it was actually a monorail stop. The ever-so-helpful Information guys didn’t bother to tell us that the monorail goes to Central, instead they sent us to Town Hall. Now, Will’s in the pram, Jeremy’s on the BuggyBoard behind, Ange is pushing that with a backpack on, I’m dragging a suitecase in each hand with stuff tied to both and have my camera bag on my back. Walking up the friggin hill to Town Hall, just to find out that the construction work has closed off the disabled (and hence pram) access was, well.. we weren’t happy. Given we were already on George St we decided, what the hell, and just walked the rest of the way to Central. I say “just walked”, but I mean dragged and moaned and cursed and sooked and whinged. And that was just me.

And then the fun started. He helpful guys in the CountryLink baggage check kindly informed us they wouldn’t take bags over 20kg or under 5kg, which is pretty damn useless. They didn’t bother to tell us for quite some time that the carriages have a fairly large self-load storage area. Bah. Anyway, once we were all loaded on, the trip was actually pretty pleasant. We were right at the front of the carriage and had a bit of extra room for the boys to play. Both boys had a sleep, and despite it being almost 5 hours we came out if it fairly unscathed.

Both our phones had flat batteries, so we weren’t able to call ahead as planned and book a wagon taxi. Ange grabbed one of the regular taxi drivers and got him to order us a wagon and it turned up surprising quickly. The next surprise was that we had a genuinely helpful and friendly driver, to the degree that Ange tipped him.

It’s good to be back at home and we’re all settling back into normal life. After close to 40 days away, we’re exhausted but happy, so I guess that makes it a good holiday :)

Cruise - Day 31 - Port Denarau, Fiji

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

For our last stop we decided to go out with a bang and book a full day tour, complete with catamaran, glass bottom boat and secluded island swimming. We  had to meet at 7:45, which is damn near impossible. Somehow we made it, just. Rather than the usual ship’s tender, we were loaded from the ship directly into one of the tour catamarans. Unfortunately, this just took us to the harbour, where we got off then loaded onto a second cat that took us to the island. As usual we were weighed down with kid-related baggage, so each change was good fun.

The cat trip was supposed to be a leisurely cruise past some of the islands, but as we set off the weather went from overcast to raining, so we headed straight for our main stop - Beachcomber Island. We anchored offshore, then transferred to the quite small glass bottom boats, which took us into the sandy shore. Somehow I managed to not get my sneakers soaked whilst leaping (with Will strapped to the front of me, my camera bag on my back, and one of those big blue and red stripy bags in my hand) from the boat to the sand.

We walked the short distance up the shore to the only building around, a sand-floored bar and restaurant. We found a place to set up Will’s tent and much to our surprise he had a great sleep, despite the basket-weaving happening next to him and the band playing a few meters away. The food and drinks (all part of the tour) were great. If I’d somehow lost the kids, I could have happily drank Fijian beer and sat there in the bar with my feet in the sand, looking out at the water, for the whole day.

Instead though, I went with Jeremy on a glass bottomed boat fish feeding trip. The boat itself was a bit of a disappointment - fairly small glass strips in the bottom. Once we started feeding the fish though it didn’t matter at all, because all the action could be seen perfectly over the side. Despite the rain (still falling) and the roughish water it was incredibly good fun. So much so that Jeremy was happy to go again with Ange half an hour later. All the Fijian locals were extremely helpful and friendly and really lived up to what everyone always says about them.

After lunch and a Hula show, Jeremy and I managed to squeeze in a very short swim before needing to get ready to get back on the cat. By now the weather, and the sea, was a fair bit worse than when we arrived. Getting onto the boats from the shore was a bit interesting, and getting from the boat back onto the cat was positively dangerous. We managed to get on unscathed, but a few of the Bold and the Beautiful crowd had minor falls and injuries.

We expected Will to have a nap on the cat ride back, but it was Jeremy who passed out with his head on my shoulder. A little annoyingly, the cat went directly past the Sun Princess on its way back to the port, where we needed to catch a tender back to the ship. That added almost and hour to the end of an already long day, but it did give Jeremy the chance to sleep a bit longer.

Once back on the ship it was (well past) time to put Will in the pram and walk him around the deck for and hour. Thankfully I grabbed my camera bag, because finally the sun broke through and we ended up with a rather nice rainbow.

Despite the weather and the crazy cat-swapping, it was easily one of our favourite days. I’d love to come back and spend some time here.

We’re now headed back to Sydney, where we’ll arrive early on Saturday the 17th. We were thinking of staying there a couple of days, but instead going to head straight back to Canberra and try and settle back into land-based life for a few days before real life takes hold again.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Day 30 - Suva, Fiji

Monday, October 12th, 2009

I’d been looking forward to Fiji the whole trip, so when we turned up in Suva and the weather was crappy I was a little disappointed. We didn’t have any plans, other than to re-stock our nappy supply and wander around town. As soon as we got out of the secure area around the ship we were inundated by taxi drivers, tour guides, people selling trinkets, people warning us about the dodgy people selling trinkets and telling us to lock our bags. It was pretty frigging annoying. Plus it was a public holiday, so almost everything was closed and there weren’t a whole lot of people around.

Once we broke loose of that mess and made it to the local shopping centre (they had a Gloria Jeans… it was just weird) things were a little better, but none of us were exactly relaxed any more and the weather was getting worse. So we did our shopping, went back through the same mob of people and got back on the ship within an hour of first leaving. Whee.

Jeremy was insistent on going on a bus tour, so when Will went down for his morning nap Ange took him on one of the courtesy buses to “the city”. Which, it turned out, was some dodgy shop next to the shopping centre we had walked to that morning. Not all was lost though - in said dodgy store Ange bought Jeremy a drum, partly because he wanted it and partly to piss off all the old people on the boat who’d started to get under her skin. The other consolation (for me) is that I managed to get one of my favourite photos from the whole trip.

Despite it being a very average experience it’s hard to blame the place - we turned up with 2000 clueless rich old folk, on a public holiday, in crappy weather. It’s not like we got to see the best it had to offer. Still, it didn’t exactly make it to the top of our “places to revisit” list.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Day 28 - Pago Pago, American Samoa

Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Unlike the independent western Samoan islands, the eastern islands are a territory of the US. Despite very similar ancestry and culture, the two countries are quite different. The US presence is obvious, from the cars to the Army barracks to the fast food stores. Where Western Samoa is laid back and traditional, American Samoa is busier, dirtier and more “western”. It’s not all negative though - public school is completely free in American Samoa, including transport and breakfast. The children seem to take real pride in their schools and are interested  in learning. In Western Samoa parents must pay for public school, and the attitude towards education was much more lax. Our tour guide, and 15 year old school girl, moved with her family from Apia to Pago  Pago so that she and her older sister could go to school.

The two Samoan days were an interesting juxtaposition between a traditional, laid back but limited lifestyle and a modern and option-filled, but more chaotic existence. American Samoa seemed to be so much less in touch with its traditional culture, but offered its residents the option of being something other than a farmer, tour operator or rugby player.

Despite not being as scenic or cultural as its neighbour, we had a great day in American Samoa. Our tour guide was great, giving us a different perspective from that of our other more seasoned guides. Will fell asleep in Ange’s arms on the bus, and when we stopped she found a shady spot under a tree. After a little while all of the bus drivers from the tour buses got together nearby and started singing. I managed to lose my 2 day old sunglasses in a church, and we were all pretty sore from the wooden seats by the time it was over.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Day 27 - Apia, (Western) Samoa

Friday, October 9th, 2009

The info sheet that the ship circulated for Samoa had me a little apprehensive. Lot of warnings about how to ensure you follow local customs and don’t cause offense (including not waving your hands around whilst talking… I’m doomed), plus not being sure what to expect post-tsunami. By the end of our mammoth bus and beach tour though, it was at the top of my list of favourite stops so far.

Again we had a long bus tour booked, but this time with a good chunk of time spent at a beach. We left Apia, traveled through the outer suburbs, then into more rural towns, then crossed a mountain to get to the other side of the island. The beach we ended up at was spectacular, on par with Moorea. There was a nice breeze all day which took the edge off the heat, and it was less humid that Tahiti. As a testament to how good the weather is, the traditional houses (fale - still widely used) don’t have walls, just some blinds to roll down if it gets a little bright or windy, or if you want some privacy.

The local customs warnings make a little bit more sense when you get a feel for just how seriously the locals take their culture. 75% of the land is family-owned and cannot be sold (though can be leased). Only the remaining 25% is freehold, and even then, can only be sold to Samoan citizens. 80% of the population are ‘full blooded’ Samoan, and while almost everyone is bi-lingual English is only used when necessary. They seem to have put a lot of thought into how to best keep their culture alive and it seems to be working a treat. It was very cool to witness some of it.

The inherited, fertile land results in a pretty cool attitude: you work just as much as you have to, but if you starve you’ve only got yourself to blame. That laid-back attitude make the ‘culture warnings’ seem a little over the top to me - everyone we met was incredibly polite, friendly and relaxed.

Samoa is now at the top of my list of places to re-visit - not only is it awesome, but it’s cheap. According to our tour guide Tiare, a fale right on the beach we visited is about AU$30/night/person, including meals. Plus you can  get direct flights from Sydney. Compared to $600+/night on Moorea and Bora Bora, it sounds like a pretty damn good deal to me.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Days 22-26 - At sea

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

It’s a long haul to and from Hawaii, and again we were glad for the 5 days at sea. A lot of people disembarked at Honolulu and a lot new people got on. The demographic is quite a bit different - whereas the old mob were almost entirely white 60-80 year old retirees, the new mob are much more diverse. So it’s a little less like being in a retirement village, but only a little :)

One of the benefits is that some new kids have joined, including Annabell and Tom who are 3 and 7. Tom’s used to looking out for Annabell, so when Jeremy went on tour to meet the Captain with the kids club Tom automatically took care of him. We met up with Tom, Annabell and their parents for a post-lunch swim and all the kids had a great time.

Jeremy’s still not going to kids club, except for special events. We’ve been back a couple of times but even with us there he gets bored and sick of the other kids. With Annabell being his age, and Tom to look out for them, he might be a bit more interested now.

On one of our many random strolls around the boat, Jeremy and I came across a shuffleboard tournament. Pushing stuff around with big sticks instantly had Jeremy interested and once the tournament was over we had a play. He loved it, and we’ve been back a few times. It’s sort of like a cross between lawn bowls, air hockey and darts, though designed for people who can’t move. It’s sorta cool.

One of Jeremy’s other new hobbies is quilling. Ange has taken him to a couple of the courses with her, and although he doesn’t actually do any quilling at all, he seems to love it. For info, quilling is, from what I can tell, making pretty, intricate things with tiny bits of paper. It sounds like the sort of thing that would make my head explode in about 10 minutes, but Ange on the other hand loves it. We even managed to arrange things the other day so that she could go to a class without Jeremy so she could actually get something done.

As you can imagine, all this cruise food is starting to take its toll. With Jeremy not going to kids club, Ange and I aren’t getting to the gym at all. And 3 courses for every meal ain’t helping either. To try and stem some of the insanity (and the boys’ mood swings) we decided to have a ‘treat free’ day, where none of us had any sweet stuff. So no chocolate donut for Jeremy after breakfast, no chocolate croissant for Ange, and no post-lunch ice cream for any of us. It was all going well, until I made a (completely uncharacteristic) smart arse comment to our waiter at dinner (after the  boys were in bed) which ended with the him bringing us pretty well every desert on the menu. And, of course, we ate most of it. Ugh.

We’ve actually had a string of nice dinners lately, polishing off a bottle of wine between us for the last 3 nights. By the time we get to the end of the cruise our expenses (tours, alcohol, coffee etc) are going to cost as much as the damn cruise itself.

The moral of the story: if anyone knows where to pick up a Wall-E style hover chair, let me  know. I’m not sure if my legs are up to the task of carrying me any more.

Photos for the days

Cruise - Day 21- Kona, Hawaii

Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Lets just call this Walmart day, shall we? :)
With the boys starting to get agitated, we decided to spend the morning on the ship and just take it easy for our last day in Hawaii. In the afternoon we got on a tender and then jumped on a courtesy bus to Walmart. We needed to restock on some supplies, Ange still had some shopping bug to exorcise, and we were sorta curious to see what all the fuss was about.

Maybe the Kona Walmart is small, but  I wasn’t particularly blown away by the size. I was expecting incomprehensibly large, but really it was just like a super-sized Big W. Somehow though we managed to spend US$250, of which I was responsible for about $60. The prices weren’t really blowing me away until I found the alcohol isle: 1.75 litres of Smirnoff for $20, the same sized Tanqueray for $35. The only downside was that I expected the alcohol to be ‘put aside’ for us by the ship’s crew - if I had known we’d be able to take it back to our room I would have picked up another bottle for the trip home :)
Getting on the courtesy bus with the pram was a hassle as it was, so after we were loaded up with shopping bags there was no way it was going to happen. We could see the ship from the carpark and Ange had a decent idea about the route the bus had taken, so we decided to walk. Despite me being mildly worried (we were cutting it fine to get back to the ship before it left) and exhausted (Ange’s knee meant I carried most of the stuff) it was a really nice walk. We made it back to the wharf in time to catch the second-last tender.

As I mentioned after Honolulu, both of us felt really at ease and at home in Hawaii. We’ll have to make it back to the US at some stage and see if the rest of the country has the same effect.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Day 20 - Hilo, Hawaii

Friday, October 2nd, 2009

We had a very early start in Hilo, needing to meet on the pier at 8:15am for our  tour. Ange and I had forgotten what the tour actually was. It turned out to be a 6 hour bus tour with an awesome local named Rudy.

The first stop was a lava tree park, where lava has cooled around the trunks of trees before the tree has fully burnt down, leaving a hollow tree trunk shaped pile of lava. The flora in a park was amazing, with plants and trees growing right on the lava.

There were a few hiccups with the day though. Ange had a tumble on the lava with Will in the baby carrier. She somehow managed to land without hurting him at all, but banged her knee fairly badly and has been hobbling around. The boys are also starting to get ready to go home, or at least it feels that way.

The biggest problem though was realising just how warped our attitude towards Aboriginals is. Rudy was telling us that there’s only around 8,000 full blooded Hawaiians left and asked how many Aboriginals there were. Someone on the bus said “too many”, which led to most of the rest of the bus discussing the Aboriginal “problem”. I think the fundamental racism stood out more than usual because we’ve been knee deep in indigenous culture for the last month, visiting countries that are proud of and reverent towards that culture. I was embarrassed to be associated with those idiots, and ashamed that someone passionately sharing their culture was us was exposed to just how little we value our own.

Photos for the day

Cruise - Day 19 - Lahaina, Maui

Thursday, October 1st, 2009

We were all pretty exhausted after our day in Honolulu, but for some reason none of us slept well. We were all pretty excited about Maui though, because we had tickets for a submarine tour in the afternoon.

To give Will a chance to catch up on some sleep he and Ange stayed aboard for his morning sleep while Jeremy and I caught a tender to the island. Unfortunately the tender system is pretty slow and annoying, so we didn’t get there until almost 11am, and needed to be back on the ship for lunch at midday. So after a quick look around we jumped back on a tender and met Ange and Will for lunch.

Jeremy was taking his sweet time getting ready, so  I told him about the submarine to get him motivated. It worked a treat, except from then on he was constantly worrying about being late for the tour (not surprisingly, seeing as he still remembers that we missed the glass bottom boat tour in Bora Bora). Once we had caught a tender back to  Maui again, and Ange had had a bit of a look around, we decided ice cream might be just what was needed to take his mind off things. We found this great little place with fantastic ice cream which cheered us all up no end. Until we went to get on the sub..

The description of the tour seemed to imply that, although children had to be over 3ft, infants would be fine. Once there though the tour operators said that the 3ft rule was for everyone, so of course Will was too small. We were pretty upset because we’d all been looking forward to it, Ange and I since Sydney. In the end I took Will back to the ship for his afternoon sleep while Ange and Jeremy went on the sub. From  all reports it was fantastic, except that they played loud music when they surfaced, which scared Jeremy a bit.

Despite the disappointments it was still a great day.

Photos for the day

    Cruise - Day 18 - Honolulu, Hawaii

    Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

    Honolulu was the first of our four stops in Hawaii and to make sure we eased into things we had absolutely no plans. Everyone on the ship needed to go through US immigration before anyone could disembark, but it was relatively painless and before long we were walking down the gangway. Ange was keen to do some shopping, so after a brief detour through Chinatown we found a nice semi-open air mall called Aloha Towers which is right on the waterfront.

    As usual, the first order of business was food. Luck was very much on our side - Ange fairly randomly picked Don Ho’s Island Grill which had excellent, down to earth food and great service. I had these vegetable lettuce wrap things that we just beautiful. During lunch a warning came over the radio about he earthquake in Samoa and the possibility of a resultant tsunami, although of course nothing eventuated from it.

    After lunch Ange took Will for a bit of a shopping adventure and Jeremy and I watched ships and forklifts and planes and helicopters do lots of interesting things. Then we wandered back into the city where Ange picked up some clothes, the boys got some toys, and I got a mild gastro bug. Shopping done, it was time for Will’s afternoon sleep so we headed back to Aloha Towers, which was quiet, outdoors-ish and cool. While Ange walked Will around, Jeremy played with his new motorbikes and I tried to catch up on some blogging. Ange did some more shopping, including finding an Hawaiian babushka store which her and the boys loved.

    This was my first time in the US, and I have to say I really like it. I’m sure it varies a lot around the country, but Honolulu felt really… well.. comfortable. If it wasn’t for the different accents and backwards traffic we easily could have been wandering around an Australian city. So despite in the past being fairly nonplussed about  going to the US I’m looking forward to the next 3 days and adding the rest of the country to my ‘places to visit’ list.

    Photos for the day