Suva, Fiji

Saturday, October 10

We definitely needed a Pilot to guide the ship into Suva Harbour, with the channel we had to follow being quite narrow as we passed between two coral reefs on the way to our dock. The weather was a bit overcast and not as hot as expected, which suited us fine as we planned to do a walking tour of the town.

Safely through the reefs on our way to the dock

First up was the local market, and once through this area we were into the main downtown area. We soon found out that it was Fiji Day as they were celebrating their 45th Anniversary, and this meant a lot of shops were closed. We found the locals very friendly, with lots of "Bulas" (or hello) coming our way as we made our way past some colonial buildings to the Thurston Gardens. It was in these gardens that the Fiji Museum was located, and we spent a couple of hours there learning about Fiji's history, culture, customs and politics.

We really were docked close to town!

The approach to the Fiji Museum

 

Further along the main road we came across Government House, which was guarded by a soldier in a skirt, which is the common dress (pardon the pun) for men, including the police! On our way back into town we stopped at a cafe where we enjoyed a coffee just like we get at home, and at last a wifi signal that was faster than the dial-up speed that's common in the islands!!

Soldier guarding the entrance to Government House (below)

 

After looking in the bigger shopping centres, as these were the only stores still open, we headed back to the ship. On the dock we were entertained by a Police rock band, but after a few songs we were happy to board the ship and go and freshen up before dinner. We set sail while enjoying dinner, but as there was no show to attend after dinner we played Uno for a while before retiring for the night.

Police band, rocking the dock

 

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Sailing to Suva

Friday, October 9

As we crossed the International Date Line during the night we skipped Thursday the 8th October, so we awoke to a bright sunny Friday that was a bit cooler and less humid than the last week has been. It was another lovely relaxing day at sea, with Al attending a presentation on Fiji and then both of us listened to a guest speaker (an astronomer) talk about Saturn and Beyond!

We followed this high brow stuff with our daily walk around the Promenade deck, and then had a go at the Champagne Ring Toss but didn't do any good this time. After lunch we went and booked another cruise for next year, and then went to listen to Henry Kaleialoha Allen for the last time as the Hawaiian troupe are getting off the ship in Suva. Then it was time for a swim and a sun bake before getting ready for dinner.

Following dinner there was a choice of a repeat show or a movie, so we opted for the movie. Another great day at sea!

 

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Pago Pago, American Samoa

Wednesday, October 7

After 5 days at sea we finally reached Pago Pago, disembarking at 9:15am to board an island bus which was going to give us a whistle stop tour to the east side of the island - all in 3 hours! The first stop was the local market, followed by a drive along the coast, stopping every so often for photo opportunities, which were numerous. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as hot and sunny as predicted, so the water wasn't the brilliant colours we have seen in pictures, but at least there was a nice cool breeze blowing and the scenery was still fantastic.

Our guide with our bus

One of the local characters we met at the market

The main bus depot!

 

As we turned around to head back, we stopped at a beach to take photos as we walked on the lovely sand, looking at shells and coral that had washed up on the beach. We couldn't resist paddling our feet in the warm tropical waters and just enjoying the sound of the waves rolling in on the beach.

The beach babes taking a rest

Our next stop was called Two Dollar Beach, which we believe got its name from the admission charge to get onto the beach, but today it was free and the locals were going to put on a traditional dance show for us. We decided to have a beer while we watched the show, and the local lager helped us enjoy the performance in the beautiful surrounds. You will notice some graves in the picture below - the Samoans are quite religious and respect their elders a lot. We passed many houses with graves in the front yard, as they want to keep their elders near them, and this way they don't have far to go to visit their graves!

Dance performance at Two Dollar Beach

Camel Rock formation along the coast

Very creative carving done in a tree trunk

 

Back in town we spent an hour at an Internet cafe trying to update Facebook, the Blog and emails but we were unsuccessful. There wasn't a lot more to see in town so we headed back to the ship where we enjoyed Karen and the HAL Cats playing at the sail away party as we left Pago Pago for Fiji.

 

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Honolulu to Samoa - 5 Days from October 2-6

Last night just before we left Honolulu there was a lei ceremony around the pool at the back of the ship. We all stood around the pool and threw our leis into the pool, signifying that we will return to Hawaii one day. The sun was starting to set and the colours of the buildings were highlighted, along with the clouds which turned from grey to pink - it was a lovely way to remember this beautiful city.

After the lei ceremony, about to sail into the sunset

 

We now have five glorious days at sea before we reach Pago Pago in American Samoa. For us this means days to sunbathe, swim, walk around the Promenade Deck, read, listen to live music, go to Shows, play games, drink and chat with friends (both old and new), sleep, and of course, eat! We love sea days as much as the days we explore exciting ports of call.

 

Friday, October 2 (1st Day)

After a leisurely breakfast, we headed off on our daily walk around the ship - 2 circuits to a kilometre. This morning the sea looked fantastic - that deep navy blue with patches of a brighter blue and little white caps caused by our ship ploughing through the swell. It was very humid on the Promenade Deck so we limited our walk to six circuits then headed poolside for an iced tea. Then it was off to a lecture on the Constellations - interesting material but a very boring presenter so it may be the only one of eight we attend. We then caught up with Tony & Angie for lunch and the boys decided to have a swim afterwards while Angie & I walked a few more circuits and, of course, chatted non-stop. Next on the program was a talk on our upcoming ports of call but the theatre was packed so we decided to watch the presentation on the TV in our cabin when it is shown tomorrow. This made time for a rest & read in our cabin before getting dressed for dinner with Tony & Angie at Canaletto Italian Restaurant - courtesy of our travel agent. The meal was very nice and we were very full (especially of the Limoncello that laced our desserts) as we headed off - Tony & Angie to bed and Al & I to the 10 pm Show - an excellent US Doo Wop group - The Alley Cats. Another wonderful day at sea.

 

Saturday, October 3 (2nd Day)

After a sleep-in then breakfast, we made our way to the Crows Nest for Al & Angie's Ukelele lesson as I wanted to take some photos of the group in action. Sadly, a glitch in the programming of daily activities has meant that the Ukelele lessons have been omitted both yesterday and today. The group are to perform one night before we reach Samoa along with the Hula dancers who have not suffered the same fate with their practices and seem to be making excellent progress. The Ukelele group have been assured there will be a practice for them tomorrow - much to their relief as they have not played since the day before we arrived in Hawaii. Oh well, I'm sure it will all come together in the end.

Angie & Al at their Ukelele lesson

We decided to have a walk with Angie as Tony was playing chess and six laps later in very humid conditions, we decided to call it quits and have lunch in the cool. After lunch we enjoyed another read before having a swim. There has been quite a swell today and as we are sailing into the wind, the ship has rocked from side to side as well as from front to back - the result being that swimming in the pool was more like surfing as the water rushed from one end to the other and from side to side. The Captain assures us that tomorrow the swell will be smaller and only from the side so the ship's stabilizers will be a lot more effective and we should have a calmer ride. There was time for a quick game of British Pub Trivia (we found the cards in a Thrift Shop in Canada and thought they might be fun on the long sea days) with Tony & Angie before we went to dinner in the Rotterdam Dining Room then we went to the Show - a Canadian Violinist/Comedian, Dave Levesque. What seemed quite an unlikely combination worked well and we all enjoyed the Show more than we had expected. Tony & Angie and myself decided to call it a night but Al chose to go to the 10 pm movie about Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. I think all the walking and swimming had caught up with me!

 

Sunday, October 4 (3rd Day)

After the non-denominational service led by Rev Allen Hulme it was more of the same as the previous sea days but it was a lot more humid today. This is to be expected as we cross the Equator at 2.00 am tomorrow morning. The swell was much larger and increased as the day went on so walking became interesting - we walked a lot further than planned in zig zag fashion. We played the second round of Pub Trivia - this time changing partners so that Angie & I played the boys AND WON! The night's entertainer was a pianist/singer - Heather Sullivan, who paid tribute to pianist singer songwriters like Carol King and Elton John.

 

Monday, October 5 (4th Day)

In cruising tradition, all crew members who were crossing the Equator for the first time (Polywogs) were summoned by King Neptune - King of the Seas - to account for themselves in a poolside ceremony this morning. Rhyming verses were read aloud about each shipboard occupation and then crew in that particular occupation were smothered in meringue and made to kiss a very large fish before plunging into the pool. This procedure was repeated for all ocupations so This rendered the main pool unswimmable for the rest of the day. The rough seas made it necessary to use the main covered pool in lieu of the more exposed back pool where it was originally planned to be held. Doors to the Promenade Deck were locked to stop us walking around and maybe falling or being totally drowned by the spray. It was very humid again and the skies were cloudy and grey. Hopefully we will see sunshine before Pago Pago!

King Neptune & His Queen watch the judgement of the Polywogs alongside the Fish to be Kissed

A group of Polywogs awaiting their "dunking" (a relief I would have thought!)

....... and our Certificates too!

As it was Gala Night, we dressed in our glad rags and went to dinner - always a special dinner and tonight was no exception - lobster, jumbo shrimps, game hen, etc. etc. The Show was "Dance" performed by the ship's singers and dancers - we didn't stay long!

 

Tuesday, October 6 (5th Day)

The clouds had largely cleared away and it was 29C with high humidity but still very pleasant. The pool had been cleaned and refilled and the mood of the passengers was lazy and relaxed as they planned to spend their day sun baking, swimming, sleeping, reading, chatting, eating - such energy required! We headed for the Crow's Nest for the final Ukelele practice for Al & Angie as the performance was scheduled for 5 pm today during the Island Aloha Music Hour performance. Considering they have had so many lessons cancelled, the task seemed a bit daunting and Angie was threatening to drop out as the G7 chord was proving elusive for her to master and it was the mainstay of the song they had to play. Also, the Hawaiian vowels were proving difficult for both of them as they struggled to learn the words - and this was supposed to be fun!!! Tony & I were glad we had been dull and boring and chosen to read our books instead.

My view from the Crow's Nest as I read and listened to the Ukelele practice

The concert went well and our two muso's were excellent. It was then time for dinner (again!!) and then off to the show - a fantastic comedian/juggler who we have seen before - Benji Hill.

 

 

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Honolulu - Day 2

Thursday, October 1

It was an early start for all of us as our tours required us to be ready by 7:20am. Tony went on a Pearl Harbour VIP Military Base Experience tour, while the 3 of us went on a small group tour of Pearl Harbour. This was a good decision as there were only 15 of us, and we had a great tour guide/driver called Tony!

Pearl Harbour is about 30 minutes drive from where the Volendam was docked, and there is a lot to see and do there related to the attack on it on December 7, 1941 which brought the USA into the Second World War. The first site we visited on Ford Island was the memorial to the Oklahoma, one of the battleships that were sunk with a large loss of life. Not far away was the battleship Missouri on which the surrender document was signed in Tokyo Bay to end the war, and the "mighty Mo" has now been turned into a museum.

On board the Mighty Mo

Commissioning ceremony, near the spot where the surrender document was signed

We were given a guided tour for 30 minutes and then left to roam around other parts of the ship to get a feel for what life on board might have been like - we much prefer our current ship and life on the water as we know it, but we owe our gratitude to all who served so we can enjoy the lifestyle we have today. While on the tour there was a commissioning ceremony for a man who was being promoted to Major, and he had his family and military family there to witness it - not something you see very often.

We could have spent longer than the hour we had to roam about the Missouri, but we had to drive back to the main site on the mainland to access the Arizona memorial. Our allocated time to see the movie about the attack and then visit the Arizona memorial was 11:15, so we had time to visit a couple of the other museums that depicted different aspects of how and why Japan took the course it did and the history of the 1930s and 1940s, from individuals to Hawaii's involvement and of course the world war.

The Arizona memorial is built perpendicular to the hull of the ship, and there were over 1100 sailors who lost their lives in the December 7 attack, and most of them were left in the wreckage, thereby converting the wreck into a cemetery. Some of the survivors who have since died requested that they be buried with their crew mates, so it is a very special place to Americans.

Approaching on the launch

Exposed gun turret, and oil still leaks from the Arizona!

Viewing area on the memorial

After we left Pearl Harbour we drove through Punchbowl cemetery which contains the bodies of lots of service people who died in World War 2, and the views from there are spectacular.

The last part of the tour took us through the downtown area, most of which we had seen yesterday, but Tony had some good stories to keep us entertained so it didn't bother us. Honolulu is a beautiful place and requires a longer stay to really enjoy it and to get further afield on the island of Oahu - I'm sure there will be another visit sometime in the future!

Statue of the Hawaiian King in front of the original palace

The Iolani Palace

 

We have another 5 days at sea coming up on our way to Samoa, so no more wifi until then!!

 

 

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Honolulu, Hawaii

Wednesday, September 30

We enjoyed a lovely breakfast watching the coastline of Oahu pass by as we sailed towards our berth near the Aloha Tower on a hot sunny day, and as we disembarked all guests were given a beautiful orchid lei. We had purchased tickets for the hop on-hop off trolley to get around and see the sights, and this turned out not to be the best idea. There were a lot of other guests from our ship with the same idea, and we all headed for the same trolley stop. We don't think the trolley company was very organised as they didn't arrange extra trolleys for this first rush of customers, consequently some didn't fit on the first trolley and were not happy about waiting an extra 10-15 minutes to get on the next one!

Waiting for the trolley

We transferred at the DFS store for the Green line to take us to Diamond Head, but again we had to wait - at least it was cool and they had free wifi! Our next hazard was the Honolulu traffic as it was slowed by the many construction projects going on. Honolulu has certainly changed since we were last here 20 years ago, but then most major cities have in that time. We finally reached Diamond Head crater, but didn't have the time or energy on such a hot day (and without water) to walk to the top lookout. So we rode the trolley back to DFS, then went to get some refreshments before the next segment.

Statue of Duke Kahanamoku at Waikiki Beach

View from Diamond Head lookout

Tunnel into Diamond Head crater

Back on the Red line we headed off for some more sights, which took us through the downtown area again. It was slow going but we eventually made it to the Ala Moana shopping centre, where I got some quick retail therapy at Macy's. This was interrupted by the setting sun, so we made our way to the beach to watch a Hawaiian sunset, and we weren't disappointed.

Magnificent Hawaiian sunset

 

It was then time for the girls retail therapy, and after a successful outing we had some dinner before catching a cab back to the ship. We arrived just in time for the Drums of Polynesia show which covered most of the songs and dances from the main island groups, and it was a great way to end another big day in paradise!

 

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At Sea to Hawaii

September 25 - 29

Day 1 at sea and we all needed a sleep in to recover from the busyness of the last 4 weeks! We awoke refreshed and ready for the activities on board the Volendam, which included lei making, ukulele and hula lessons, a presentation on Honolulu and famous Hawaiian ukulele players, and the night's show which was an ABBA tribute band. Angie and I decided on joining the ukulele class while Noelle encouraged us, and Tony had a snooze! Of course there was breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as afternoon tea to fit in, as well as getting some exercise by walking around the promenade deck and taking the stairs. The sea made the ship rock a bit with a 3 metre swell so it was funny watching people walk, or attempt to walk, straight! We also enjoyed the benefit of our watches being wound back an hour so we got an extra hours sleep!!

Day 2 started with Al & Angie's ukulele lesson, followed by some more Hawaiian culture in the afternoon. The Living Legend of Hawaiian music, Henry Kaleialoha Allen demonstrated the steel guitar while his wife talked about the guy who invented it and some of the performers who took Hawaiian steel guitar music to the world. Then the Hawaiian cultural team on board did some hula dancing while Henry performed with the HAL Cats backing him during happy hour in the Crows Nest - it was a good lead in to dinner.

We were pleased to see Yaarni, the band leader and keyboard player who we made friends with on last years cruise back on board, and we've also met up with some of the other crew we met earlier this year.

Day 3 was similar, although as we get closer to Hawaii the temperature is warming up so we could lay by the pool and get some sun on us at last. It's also a pleasant place to sit and have lunch and a quiet read. The afternoons activities included a talk on remembering names, surfing and its history, and enjoying some of the live music on board. We did our usual walk around the Promenade deck for 30 minutes, and tried not to eat too much today as we had a reservation at the Pinnacle Grill restaurant, and that's always a good meal. Noelle and I went for the fillet mignon while Tony finished a 23 oz Porterhouse and Angie managed an 18 oz rib eye! It was a lovely meal enjoyed by all.

Noelle having a rest for walking on the Promenade Deck

 

On Day 4 I had to go to the first ukulele class as we had a Mariner Society brunch at 11:30am, which then required a good 35 minute walk to offset it before heading to the mid ship pool for a sun bake and read. We then continued on with the Improving your Memory bootcamp, followed by a fascinating talk/expose on pickpockets and security fraud - forewarned is forearmed!! For some light relief we headed to Happy Hour and some more Hawaiian music and culture before another lovely meal and entertaining show.

Day 5 was a bit quieter with no ukulele class today, but I did attend the talk on coral reefs which was very informative. To prepare for lunch we did a walk, and just as well because our favourite ice cream, red cactus pear flavour was available today! Yum yum, just as good as we remembered from our cruise in April. Some more walking was required to get ready for the Hawaiian afternoon tea, followed by another concert with Henry backed by the HAL Cats. In between times we've been catching up on some reading and just enjoying the sun, the beautiful blue of the sea and the warm tropical air. Honolulu here we come!

Henry with his wife, and hula girl

 

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