Traveling Cows

Janice was still “under the weather,” but I got up early since tender service started at 7 AM and only ran ’til 1:30 PM. John also stayed aboard.

Niue is a coral uplift island, unlike all the islands we have encountered so far, which are volcanic. It is the (or at least one of the) largest coral islands in the world and is about 100 square miles in area. It is very lush, but the shoreline is craggy, 30-50 foot high bluffs. Geographically, it is part of the Cook Islands, but politically Niue is internally sovereign in free association with New Zealand, which means that NZ manages it’s international affairs and it uses NZ currency.

I took an early tender in. Once you scale the coast, Niue is relatively flat, the highest point being closer to 200 feet than the 2000 of recent islands. It is a tropical rain forest with no discernible dry season and average high temperatures in the high-70′s to low-80′s year around. But I was struck by how warm and humid it was as early as 9 AM. I walked a ways up and down the main street along the coast. I followed a couple of paths down valleys worn into the limestone to the shore. The rock formations and tide pools were amazing. Of course, I’ll post some pictures when I get the chance.

I also wandered up one of the side roads. I was struck by how quiet it was compared to the main road. But I was also struck by how much friendlier the locals were. On the main road, drivers just pass the tourists by without a glance. On the side road, every driver acknowledged me with at least a small wave of their hand, which I returned.

One of the remarkable things about this island nation is that it is the first country that is a free wireless hotspot and every school-age child is given a laptop computer. Now when hundreds of laptop wielding tourists descend upon a town of 600 looking for an alternative to slow and expensive satellite-based, ship-board Internet, they are bound stress the system. And they did. I was not able to even connect. One large tree in the market square that had picnic tables and benches under it was christened the wireless tree for all the tourists crouched over their laptops under the tree.

Around the square there were some shall shops and the post office. In the middle of the square was a shelter with some more vendors. In one corner was a small playground where the local children mixed with a few of the little ones from our cruise. One of the officers has his wife and baby on board, and there are two families with two kids apiece. The older children are being tutored by their parents, I guess you could call it ‘home schooled’ since everyone on board consider the Amsterdam home at least for the few months of the cruise.

I returned ‘home’ in time for lunch. First, I took a dip in the pool to cool off. Then I decided to eat at the pool-side Terrace Grill, something we don’t often do. I skipped the bergers and hot dogs and had some pizza and taco fixings (w/o the shell or meat).

Then I listened to Cluny talk about the future of the Pacific Islands while I sorted through the days photos. Cluny continued from the post-war phase nation-building dominated by the US and European powers to the post-cold-war phase during which a wane in the interest of the big powers shifted support to international institutions, which had different goals from nation-builders. Where the US and European powers seemed willing to provide continuous aid, the international institutions wanted to create self-sustaining countries. The only problem was that the island nations cannot generally be self-sustaining in the modern economy. The current trend is to develop regional institutions that can provide benefits to, and be sustained by, groups of countries.

The talk reminded my of what Janice and I have been learning from the GISPIA lectures at home. Municipal consolidation is almost impossible in Pennsylvania, even though many municipalities are not self-sustaining. One solution that is being used some areas and would probably benefit Southwestern PA is regional cooperation through regional authorities and revenue sharing. Then municipalities don’t have to compete against each other with drive-to-the-bottom tax give-aways that don’t really pay off.

Entertainment: Comedian Jack Mayberry, a funny west-Texan.

Crossed the International Dateline tonight, so we lost a day. Some people are upset that we missed Ground Hog day. From the weather reports from home, though, it sounds like Winter will last forever.

At anchor: 21º11.70′ S 159º46.89‘W

At 7:55AM: temperature 75ºF, relative humidity 83%, wind from the NE at 25 kts 6 Beaufort. We have traveled 7103 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

Rarotonga is the largest and most populous of the 15 Cook Islands. It sits by itself, smaller than Tahiti but larger than Bora Bora with 9 thousand people—11,300 in the whole country and 110,000 abroad. It has two roads that circle the island, an old coral road—that is now paved over—and a newer one closer to the shore. Most days there are two bus routes, both use the outer road but one runs around the island clockwise and the other runs counter-clockwise. The former is labeled ‘Clockwise’ and the latter is labeled “Counter Clockwise.” Since today was Sunday, only the Clockwise bus was running. Also all banks, most stores, etc. were closed. A few of the locals had booths near the dock with their crafts, jewelry, and shirts.

I got out on the deck about 6:50 AM and saw that the island had a rain cloud hanging over the saddle between a couple of the mountain peaks. I subsequently learned from one of the Cook Island Customs Inspectors at breakfast that they had had rain for the last week. (Well it is the rainy season, but residents of some of the other islands we have been to on this trip had commented on the lack of rain.)

I then noticed that the crew was beginning to get the tenders and platforms ready. But the seas were pretty rough and the tender at the platform was bobbing and weaving. They did eventually run the tenders with advise that only the fully mobile attempt the landing. There were a few pauses in the service and they finally stopped letting people go ashore about an hour and a half a head of schedule so they could make sure they could get everyone back.

John stayed on the Amsterdam, but Janice and I eventually made it ashore. We just wandered along the main street. Yes, most of the stores were closed but the churches were full. We stopped for a few minutes to listen to their singing. The rain made it off the mountain and down to the shore once or twice, but we didn’t get too wet. Around the public market area the free-roaming chickens were the only occupants. Probably half of the people we saw on the street were fellow cruisers.

We bought some T-shirts with really neat Maori-like/tattoo designs. Tattoos are a Polynesian tradition. They often were clan identification. When we were in New Zealand five years ago we learned how the Maori used to tattoo just about all of their bodies. Robert and Bronwyn said they talked to a native who showed them the tattoo that stretched up her arm from her wrist and recorded the history of her family.

We got back to the ship after a wild ride in time for a late lunch. Janice then went to the movie, Robin Hood with Russell Crowe, while I hung out on deck looking at the island and the tenders struggling to make it back to the ship. Unlike Easter Island where the problem was land-side only, today the problem was ship-side.

Even though they stopped taking people over, and had everyone back, ahead of schedule, we were two hours late leaving our anchorage because they had a problem with one of the winches and couldn’t raise the last tender until they repaired it.

Entertainment: “The Comedy Magic” of Chris Blackmore. We found him very funny. For example, at one point early on he grabbed a set of large steel rings and asked how many people had seen a magician take solid rings, link them together, and then separate them again. After a lot of the people indicated they had, he threw the rings behind him and said, “so much for that trick.”

Listened to Diane while working on our journal/blog. Savored some Benedictine. Requested Etta James’s At Last.

Clocks set back one hour.

The three of us went to the beach. We’d heard that the one public beach didn’t have any amenities—beach chaises, changing rooms, etc. Since we wanted those things for John, we decided to go to a hotel. We’d learned that the Sofitel charged $25US for use of the facilities and $54 with lunch. I’d been talking to an officer who said he’d been to the Intercontinental, which is next to the public beach, and they charged $18. So we tendered over around 8:30 AM and went in a van with Robert and Bronwyn and a few others to the public beach/Intercontinental. When we got there, we asked the van driver to wait while we checked things out. We are glad we did since the folks at the hotel said we’d have to take the lunch package since we were there in the morning, and that it would be $80US. We jumped back into the van and the driver took us another mile down the road and around the southern tip of the island to the Sofitel. She promised to be back about 11:30 and we promised to be ready.

It was gorgeous, again: a white sandy beach next to the deck with the infinity pool and bar.

We dragged several chaises into the shade. The beach sloped gently down to the water, which stayed relatively shallow for a ways out. There was a bit of dead, broken, sea-smoothed coral and some volcanic pebbles right at the entrance to the water, but not enough to cause a problem. The water was warm enough that we didn’t shiver as we walked in, but not so hot that it wasn’t refreshing. John was in a couple of times and Janice and I several more.

About waist deep in spots there was some large (maybe 20 feet around) coral mounds. It wasn’t obvious that the coral was still living, but there were three or four types of fish swimming around. Gradually, other people from the ship, mostly people who had been there the day before on the same tour we were on, arrived. We clearly outnumbered the hotel’s guests.

About the middle of our time on the beach there was a gentle rain that came and went. Later we learned that it didn’t rain on the other side of the island at the public beach. But the rain was light and refreshing and filtered the sun’s rays for a few minutes.

We were back on board in time for lunch. After a bit, Janice and I returned to town, wandered around some more, and bought some vanilla beans and beer. We talked to a tattoo artist—tattoos are really big in Polynesia—who said we could see some of his designs at boraboraink.com and look for JJ’s work.

Sail away started about 5 PM, so we had a chance to take a few more pictures before dinner. I even got a last photo out the stern windows of the dinning room while we ate.

We all really enjoyed Bora Bora. Aside from it being such an expensive place and being so far to come, the only real problem is that their best season is also our best season!

Entertainment: “Musical Comedy Actress” Sally Jones. She has quite a resume, but we left early and went to bed.

At anchor: 16º31.00′ S 151º45.30′W

Bora Bora is beautiful. Hot and humid this time of year, but beautiful.

Like Tahiti, Bora Bora is part of the Society Islands. Unlike Tahiti, Bora Bora is part of an atoll. Bora Bora is the mountainous inner island surrounded by motus, or lower islands and islets. That makes for beautiful views in all directions, calm waters, and a variety of blues in the waters corresponding to a variety of depths. Other differences include Bora Bora is a much smaller island and it is much less developed, although there are more “large” hotels, but no highrises. Also we were anchored not docked. The Princess Line’s Paul Gauguin was also anchored off Vaitape between Bora Bora and Toopau.

Our excursion in “Le Truck,” a truck body with an open-air, bus-like back-end, took us all around the island. This time being on the water-side of the bus meant we had great views across the shades of blue toward the motus. No impressive valleys but a few big craggy mountains in the middle.

Our tour made several stops for photos. One included the remains of a marae (ancient temple) with petroglyphs, including one obvious carving of a tortoise.

Another stop was to see pareos being dyed. They sort of tie-dye a cloth, sort of because they don’t tie it, they just twist and dip the cloth in acrylic dyes. Then they open it up lay it out in the sun and lay linoleum cutouts and palm fronds, etc. on it. The sun enriches the saturation of the dyes and the objects keep the colors subdued. How they fix the colors they didn’t say.

Another stop was to see a cluster of Sand Crabs. At first we just saw a bunch of holes in the sand below a few coconut trees. The driver threw hibiscus flowers out the window and slowly several crabs emerged from their holes. I have a really good video of one sampling the flower and leaves, which they drag back into their holes and eat it.

Another stop was to see broken up coconuts drying in the sun. They would eventually be sent to Tahiti to have the oil extracted.

We also stopped at the Sofitel Hotel for a sumptuous snack on the water front looking out at the bungalows on stilts over the water. We saw very few guests as the recession has hit paradise and several of the major hotels have closed and unemployment is up.

On the way back to the ship we stopped at the famous Bloody Mary’s Restaurant and Bar, founded in 1979. They have several boards at the entrance with the names of many of the famous people who have stopped by, including the Phantom Diner from KDKA’s (no defunct) Evening Magazine!

Upon our return, we had a light lunch and Janice and I tendered back into “town.” It’s really just a string of buildings either side of the road. Lots of vendors offering excursions, pareos and other brightly colored fabric and clothing, carved wood and shell, pearls, etc. One vendor had a couple of tables of fruits and vegetables and a metal rack at the side of the road with about eight 18-24” salmon handing by their tail fins.

Dinner was a “Bali Hai BBQ” on the Lido including roast pig—delicious. Entertainment was the movie Avatar. Janice went to the movie while I enjoyed the cool of the evening on deck, took more photos, and took care of some Internet business.

Too tired for Diane’s piano. The heat and humidity are very wearing.

Docked: 17º32.30′ S 149º34.20′W

Our excursion: circled Tahiti Nui, the big part of the island. Tahiti Iti is a little tail of land connected by a small isthmus. Tahiti Iti is much more primitive and rugged and has a road around less than a quarter of it. Our excursion only included Tahiti Nui—Big Tahiti. The heart of the island is Papeete. The farther out of town you go, the less expansive the real estate, the few people live there, and the more it looks like a tropical paradise.

We stopped at Vaipahi botanical garden, the Gauguin Museum Restaurant for refreshment—Hinano Tahiti biere—and rest stop, an impressively tall waterfall, and a final stop at a small blowhole. The flowers in the garden and around the island were beautiful. The beaches are black. Many of the waterfalls dry up if there isn’t much rain. It is the rainy season, but there has been a shortage of rain. I liked the beer, hoppy but not bitter. For some reason we didn’t hear, the restaurant had a dock beside which there were fish pens with a variety of fish, including a small shark.

Captain Cook came to Tahiti to observe the passage of Venus across the face of the sun. Captain Bligh came for breadfruit. Many more modern authors and painters came to Tahiti, too, including Paul Gauguin, Herman Melville, Robert Lewis Stevenson, Jack London, and Marlon Brando (who came to film The Mutiny on the Bounty, married a Tahitian girl, and bought an island.

Modern-day Papeete is not paradise, it’s a crowded, urban capital and largest city of French Polynesia. The island does have its charms however, especially its beautiful valleys. Unfortunately, we were on the ocean side of the bus, which had partially tinted windows and so no picture opportunities.

After lunch back on the ship, Janice and I walked around downtown and through the two-story, public market: colorful pareos, many shades of Tahitian pearls, carvings from shell and wood; fresh fruits and vegetables.

Entertainment: Australian singer Peter Cousens. We were too tired to go. The heat, high eighty’s, and humidity, high eighty’s, and the congested city were too much.

Sat and listened to Diane for a few tunes, including her attempt at Brewer and Shipley’s One Toke Over the Line.

At 7:55AM: temperature 73ºF, relative humidity 72%, wind from the NE at 26 kts. 6 Beaufort, speed 16 kts., heading 278º, sea depth 11520 ft. We have traveled 5163 nautical miles from Fort Lauderdale.

What a delightful surprise, to sail around Pitcairn Island on the 221^st anniversary of Bounty Day, the day they burned what was left of the Bounty.

Not on the initial itinerary, we arrived about 9 AM (while we were at Tai Chi class), many of the islanders (there are only about 60) came aboard using one of their longboats, and stayed until about 2 PM. The ship set up tables for them on the Lido by the pool and they laid out their wares. They had hand-carved ships, sharks, turtles, plates, spoons, and walking sticks; T-shirts, polo shirts, and caps with “Pitcairn Island” on them; native honey from certified healthy honey bees; stamps and postcards; jewelry from local and other materials; CDs of a local singer; baskets, coconut oil, and various other merchandise. About 11 AM, they presented a narrated slideshow on island life. The Mayor then presented the Captain with a carved replica of the Bounty. Finally they sang a few songs, got back into they longboat, and returned to their island. We were on our way by 3 PM. While the islanders were aboard, the Captain had the ship sail slowly around the island. Perfect weather, beautiful blue sea and sky.

Pitcairn is a British protectorate that gets financial support from the British treasury and physical support from New Zealand. We met their policeman, a NZ policeman here for one year. They also have a NZ teacher for the 8-10 children of school age. The general store is open for two hours, three days a week: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The electricity is available 10 hours a day, five in the morning and five in the afternoon, which is sufficient to keep their frozen food frozen. Each household has to catch and store their own water. They have telephone, internet, and two TV channels—TCM and CNN—available from New Zealand.

Pitcairn is part of a four island protectorate. The farthest is an atoll about 300 miles away that they cannot reach in their longboat. The nearest is an atoll that they can easily reach and is used as a vacation island. They have built a kitchen and a latrine there. Otherwise they use tents and tarps for shelter on it. The fourth island is not an atoll, about 150 miles away, and, although they can reach it in their longboat, they have only used it as a source of wood for their carvings. Recently they have planted those types of trees on Pitcairn, so they go there less often.

They have a regular supply ship from New Zealand that comes four times a year. They see eight to twelve cruise ships a year. An occasion freighter comes by, with which they will do some trading, but most freighters these day are making a bee-line from New Zealand to the Panama Canal.

The current population of 55-60 people is not optimal. They are developing plans to attract back Bounty-descendent families to double the population. They also have plans for building an alternative harbor on the other side of the island. The current harbor is tricky to maneuver. Neither the current not the planned harbor will be able to handle anything bigger than their longboats.

Even after talking with several of the Pitcairn residents, I still have a hard time imagining what daily life is like for them.

Entertainment: a return of Horizon, the Motown tribute trio. A fun, get-you-on-your-feet group.

Joined the Piano Bar crowd listening to Diane for about an hour. Enjoyed a Benedictine.

Back in the cabin, we received certificates for visiting Pitcairn Island. I don’t remember so many certificates from the ’09 cruise. One for crossing the Golden Line—the equator and international date line at the same time.

Clocks set back, again.

Rapa Nui is 2237 miles from mainland Chile, four days at sea!

Easter Island got its name from the first European to find it, which he did on Easter Day. Being the imaginative white man that he was, Rapa Nui became Easter Island. Actually, Rapa Nui is the Polynesian name for the island. Its original inhabitants called it Te Pito ‘o te Henua or Center of the Earth.

Our scheduled anchorage was to the west of the only town, Hanga Roa. Unfortunately, there were 6 to 10 foot swells coming from a storm somewhere to the south. Janice and I were out early as the crew was opening the landing platforms and preparing the life boats/tenders. We noticed that the platform was dipping into the sea and figured that we would never use it in that condition. The Captain soon announced that it was indeed too rough. But, being the great captain that he is, he worked with the port agent and found another place where we might be able to tender into. He sailed us North, around to the northwestern volcano, and a bit to the East to beautiful sandy beach at Anakena Cove. It’s about half-way to the northeastern volcano, and has a small pier. Rapa Nui is a tringular island with an extinct volcano in each corner.

The seamen dragged out a floating platform, tied it to the pier, then tied one of the tenders to the platform and started tendering us in.

The excursion originally planned for 8:30 AM finally left the ship at noon. Even though the tenders were running, the captain still advised anyone with mobility issues to not attempt the landing. Because of that advice, John decided to stay on board.

An interesting fact about modern Rapa Nui, is that since it is part of Chile (they claimed it in 1888) they keep it in the same time zone. That means that the sun set after 9 PM. Since he got the tenders running late, the captain extended our stay from 5:30 to 9 PM, so everyone could go on their excursions and we still sailed away before dark.

As it turns out, the beach we were tendered to was a royal beach in the Moai period and had a very good example of Ahus (the base, said to be burial mounds) and Moais (big stone statues of ancestors). Apparently the Ahus had gotten buried by the sand and preserved until recent time.

Once on our tour, our guide did a good job of simplifying Rapa Nui pre-history: the first period, ~400-800 CE the original people arrived. The second period was the Moai building period, an expression of their ancestor worship. The third period was a period of great unrest when all the Moai were toppled. The final period before Europeans arrived was the era of the Birdman cult.

Our excursion started with a drive in one 20-passenger and one 10-passenger van from our landing in the northern part of the island to Rano Koa, the extinct volcano at the southern tip of the island. Originally, the lake in the crater was the only source of fresh water on the island. On the southern slope, toward the ocean, we toured the ruins of Orongo, the ceremonial village of the Birdman cult. The housing was constructed of flagstone and the doorways we only about two feet high. They were used for only two to three weeks in the early Spring, and only by the men. The first man to scale the cliff, swim to the largest of three small islands, and return with an (intact) egg of a turn would be the ruler for the next year. Given the steep and rocky cliff, the fierce currents, and the sharks, it was no small feat! But the view of the islets from the top of the cliff was specular.

Our excursion continued back down the volcano, past the airport—there is one flight from/to Santiago every other day—and through town to a partially reconstructed village to see a stone chicken coop, stone house, and several Moais on Ahus. Remember, any standing Moai is reconstructed. At the beginning of the 20-30 minute ride back to the tenders, our van blew a tire. Fortunately, they had an extra van traveling in our group so we didn’t have to wait long.

Back at Anakena Cove, Janice and I wandered down to the beach and waded in the water. It was very refreshing. Then we walked up the sandy hill behind the beach and inspected the Moais there. Unfortunately for our pictures, all Moais face inland toward the village they ae protecting, and we only saw Moais on the western coast in the afternoon. So all our Moai pictures are back-lit.

We returned to the ship after the start of our regular dinner, so we ate in the Lido. They have the same food as the dining hall but in a much more casual, largely self-service environment.

Entertainment: Johnny O who played an Electronic Wind Instrument (EWI). He was different, but we weren’t captivated by his instrument.

A few tunes from Diane and to bed, tired after a long, hot, dusty day.

Clocks set back one hour. We’ll need to do that several nights in a row to catch up, since Rapa Nui is kept in the same time zone as Santiago, Chile.

We had a full day with an overnight and then a morning sail away from this port and town. The port, Fremantle was a pretty little town itself which has been gradually absorbed into the growing city of Perth, inland on the Swan River. Perth, one of the most isolated cities in the world, is actually closer (in distance) to some Indonesian cities than to any Australian city. We had an early arrival and Hanson and I got off the ship before breakfast to go to the information booth for maps and info about transport into town and free Wi-Fi sites.

Fremantle Sail In with Perth in Distance

After breakfast we went on an excursion to the Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan River valley. We drove on the outskirts of Fremantle & Perth into the hills to the Park. We finally got to see and touch (with the back of our hands) Koalas…sooo cute and so sleepy!

Koalas

They say their diet of eucalyptus leaves does not give them much energy.

The guide gave us some pellets to feed the kangaroos.

Kangaroos

They were very gentle and looked sleepy too especially because their eyes are kind of slanted and slitted. There were small ones and large ones too and they like to dig holes to get down to cooler earth to rest in.

We saw a variety of birds, owls, falcons and cockatoos and emus, the national bird. We got to sit next to a wombat and see a Tasmanian Devil running around.

Wombat (The One Without a Hat)

Tasmanian Devil

We got back to the ship in time for a late lunch and then Hanson & I decided to take the train into Perth to see the half-timbered London Court and it’s clock with jousting knights on horses when it strikes the hour, and to walk about a bit but had to take a train back to Fremantle within 2 hours for our round trip ticket to be valid.

London Court

Walking back to the ship from the train station we stopped in a local grocery store for some Aussie beer and at a Backpackers to find out about possible free Wi-Fi sites in Fremantle. After a late dinner Hanson went off to find the Wi-Fi and I rested my sore feet and watched a Shanty Song show with singers originally from Scotland, Netherlands & England (so much for local talent I guess).

Shanty Singers

Hanson got this photo of our ship at night as he returned.

The ms Rotterdam at Night

We were greeted by a beautiful sunny day with little puffy clouds and by an Aussie Band playing lively folk tunes… so much fun to listen to.

Aussie Band

As we move westward along the southern coast of Australia each port we stop at seems to be farther away from it’s city. It took our bus 45 minutes to arrive at the city from our ship on our morning excursion.

On our way into the city we saw more of the “iron lace.”

Adelaide Iron Lace

Our first stop was a park overlooking the city of Adelaide with a statue of Colonel Wm. Light the surveyor general who, in 1836, fixed the site and laid out the city plan for Adelaide.

Colonel Wm. Light Pointing toward His City

His decision to place the city inland from the port on the river was disputed at the time.

From Colonel Light

The fertile river valley was inhabited by the Kaurna Aboriginals who were pushed out to make way for sheep ranching and wheat farming and, more recently, wine vineyards.

Back on the bus we passed by the University whose art building had a very imaginative sign.

Adelaide University

We also passed the first church in Adelaide, a beautiful memorial to the Veterans of WWI, by Scots Church, and by beautiful Victorian buildings.

WWI War Memorial

Square One: The First Plot In Adelaide on the Road from the Harbour

We made a stop at the large Botanic Gardens of Adelaide. We only saw a small portion of it, the Australian Forest with some of the most ancient of tree species and plants, and the Bicentennial Conservatory with its rainforest plants from northern Australia.

Bottle Tree

Ancient Plant

The last stop on our tour was the South Australian Museum which housed an aboriginal cultural exhibit some of which was hands-on. The guide described and let us handle many aboriginal artifacts and explained their design and use. Not too far outside we saw a settler’s church on the way back to the bus.

Settler's Church

Back to the ship for lunch and then Hanson & I took the shuttle back to Adelaide with our computers to find a free Wi-Fi hot spot. (It seems that outside of Sydney, no one has heard of Wi-Fi.) There were none evident so we settled on finding an Internet cafe in the Adelaide Arcade. Lots of fun statues and street performers there.

Public Art in Adelaide Arcade

Before the cafe we decided to look into the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute which had an aboriginal art exhibit with free entry. The gallery attendant was an aboriginal woman about my age who was from the Narrinyeri group southeast of Adelaide. She showed me a book that had several of her cousins who are artists in the Tiwi Islands. It was the only time during our trip that I got to interact with an aboriginal and I was glad that I had the opportunity. The art in the exhibit consisted of totem-like poles that are used in burials, carvings of birds & paintings in earth tones with lots of dots that are said to be part of the dreaming. We only had an hour at the museum before it closed but I was glad we had found it. (We were not allowed to photograph the aboriginal art either here or in Sydney but this sidewalk outside of the museum hints at the dot technique.)

Dot Art on Sidewalk

Back to the Arcade we found an Internet cafe. It was about a quarter of the cost of Internet on the ship and also about 4 times faster. It always feels good to hear from family and friends, and be able to send some communiques too.

Too soon it was time to get back to the ship for our sail-away. We had an Aussie BBQ on the Lido deck complete with the same Aussie band that had serenaded us on our arrival and Aussie beer.

Aussie BBQ

Melbourne is the 2nd largest city in Australia and was the official Australian capital from 1901 to 1927. It was almost called Batmania after one of its founders, John Batman who came to this area in 1835 from Tasmania. That gave us a chuckle having just watched “Dark Knight”2 days ago on ship. It’s located on the Southeast coast right above Tasmania. Unlike Sydney, Melbourne was never a penal colony.

We had a morning excursion so I (Janice) was up early and went outside to check the weather (coolish) and found a brilliant sunrise over Melbourne.

Melbourne Sunrise

The the blanket-like extent of its color was unusual and due to the bush fires that had been raging for weeks in the area with many deaths and much property destruction. We had docked fairly close to the city but not actually in the city a we had in Sydney, at St. Kilda’s Pier.

Melbourne from the Rotterdam

Our panoramic bus excursion started out along the coastline of Port Philip Bay toward St. Kilda’s Beach, an older area that it being rehabed but still retains a lot of its original architecture and some spectacular “iron lace.”

Classic Architecture

Iron Lace

We stopped at the Royal Botanical Gardens with 45 minutes time to tour on our own. We headed toward Fern Gully and the Ornamental Lake seeing huge tree specimens along the way. Dad loved the fig trees with their convoluted trunk.

John and a Fig Tree

There were black swans by the lake and Cockatoos in the trees. Dad was tickled by the sign pointing to “Long Island” because he was born on the one in NYC.

To Long Island

Back on the bus we crossed the Yarra River (which was the great divide between the wealthy and the workers) on its oldest bridge

<!– @page { margin: 0.79in } P { margin-bottom: 0.08in } –>Melbourne’s Oldest Bridge

We admired more of Melbourne’s architecture both old and new together.

Then on to Fitzroy Gardens to see Captain James Cook’s Cottage.

Captain James Cook

It is the “oldest” building in Australia because it was built in England in 1755 by his parents and brought here & re-erected in 1934 to honor his mapping of Australia.

Back on the bus for more city architecture including the tallest, newest building in Melbourne, the Eureka Skydeck 88 which has the highest viewing platform in the Southern hemisphere and the world’s only “Edge Experience,”a glass-walled & floored box-type room that is darkened when you enter it, it is slide out from the side of the building, your photo is taken as the sides and floor become crystal clear at the touch of a button with the sound of breaking glass. In the photo you can just see it starting to get slid out from the building.

Melbourne's Edge Experience

We got back to the ship in time for lunch. While dad rested Hanson and I decided to walk along the Bay to St. Kilda’s to get a better view of the “iron lace” that reminded us so much of New Orleans. The story goes that it was made from the pig iron that was used for ballast on the old ships and that at one time there were lots of foundries in all the old ports that made this decorative ironwork. It is now protected by law.

More Iron Lace in St. Kilda

We also saw this whimsical sculpture on the front porch of a building.

Woman

We had heard the story on our tour about this building which was built over the outlet of all the open sewers in Melbourne’s early days when it sometimes had the name of “Smellbourne.”

Belucci on St. Kilda (What Lies Beneath?)

Walking back to the ship we decided to take our shoes off and wade in the Tasmanian Sea.

Wading in the Tasmanian Sea

All aboard was at 5:30 pm. We sailed away as we were eating dinner in La Fontaine and, as foretold by the captain, the ship listed radically to one side due to a combination of wind, current and a narrow channel that we had to pass through. The evening’s entertainment was an excellent juggler.

Jugggler

What a beautiful city!

We were scheduled to arrive at dawn with commentary as we sailed through the complex harbor. Unfortunately someone who was advised not to take the trip for health reasons insisted on coming and his health deteriorated to the extent that he required a medical evacuation. So the captain proceeded at maximum speed and got us to the Sydney Overseas Terminal shortly after midnight. At least the threatening rain held off.

Approaching Sydney and Opera House at Night

Sydney Opera House at Night

Sydney Harbor Bridge at Night

Unlike at most ports of call, we didn’t buy any of Holland America’s excursions. Instead we did our own thing. We were docked in the perfect place, across from the Opera House, next to the Central Quay—the hub of transportation with ferries, trains, and buses—and almost at the base of the Sydney Harbor Bridge.

Sydney Opera House from the Rotterdam

Janice and I went out after breakfast to gather intelligence. As usual in addition to supplementing the information about sights and transportation provided aboard ship, we inquired about Wifi. That lead us to the old Customs House, which now houses the Sydney Library among other things. (Of course we never really had time to use the library’s Wifi, but at least we knew were one hot spot was.)

Sydney

In the floor of the Custom’s House atrium, under glass, was a scale model of Sydney. The blue arrow marks here the Rotterdam was docked and you can see y my shadow that I was standing on the Harbor Bridge (the only way I was to stand on the bridge!)

Sydney Scale Model

After an on-board lunch the three of us walked around the Quay for a tour of the Opera House. During one of the preceding sea days we had attended a lecture on the building of the Opera House and all the delays and controversies. The tour guide added some details about the history and also about the execution of the design. We toured the five performance venues: two small theaters, a “block box” theater, the concert hall, and the opera hall. They only let us take photos in the concert hall.

John and Janice in Front of the SOH

SOH Concert Hall

Around Circle Quay the city has created the Writers Walk with bronze medallions, which are about 2.5 feet in diameter, embedded in the sidewalk.

Collage of Writers Walk Medallions

After an on-board dinner, Janice and I went out to explore The Rocks, the area near the ship and drink some Aussie beer. We found a nice bar in the Observer hotel where the bar tender offered us a taste several varieties of what he had on tap. We wound up with James Squire; Janice had the Gold and I the Amber. They were good beers, but it seems hard to find a local stout or porter.

The Observer Hotel (by daylight)

For the second day in Sydney, we bought day passes on the Sydney Explorer, a hop-on hop-off, 28-stop, narrated bus tour. We got off at Mrs. Mcquaries Point, a prominence of land just east of the one the Opera House is on, named for the wife of a Governor.

Sydney from Mrs Mcquaries Point

Of course we had to sit in Mrs Miscquaries Chair, actually a ledge the Governor had carved out of the rock to one side of the point where his wife used to go sit and look out on the harbor.

In Mrs Mcquaries Chair

We also hopped off at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Typical of many of Sydney’s buildings, the old facade was preserved and a new building incorporated above and/or behind. The museum has works by aboriginal artists (which we were not allowed to photograph) as well as works by 19^th and 20^th century Australian and European artists. Here is one of the latter we found particularly amusing:

What Happened Here?

We continued to bus tour content to stay on the bus.

An Example of Building Reuse

After an on-board lunch, Janice and I ventured back out. This time we caught a free bus to Chinatown. We started by walking around the outside of a beautiful Chinese garden.

Chinese Garden

Then we went into Chinatown.

Entrance to Sydney

The smell of Chinese food was almost overwhelming. We managed to find a pair of “Kung Fu Shoes” for each of us (and have become the envy of the Tai Chi class). Then it was on to the Queen Victoria Building.

Queen Victoria in Front of Her Building

Today, the inside has been renovated and it is a modern shopping arcade.

Interior of Queen Victoria Building

Finally it was back to the ship for an evening sail away.

Sydney Sailaway

Sydney Sailaway

What a beautiful city. We’d love to return.

Île de Pin is a largely undeveloped former penal colony. The only reason to go there is the natural beauty of the landscape and the beaches. There are a few resorts, but reports are that they are primitive or very expensive. There was a big sign by the dock advertising that the island is only 3 hours from Auckland, Sydney, and Brisbane. (Club Med had wanted to develop a resort here, but when they indicated that they wanted an exclusive beach, the government said no.)

Approach to Île de Pin

The island is so undeveloped, we had to be tendered in—taken in to shore on smaller boats.

Lowering Two Life Boats to Use as Tenders

Once ashore we were greeted and crowned.

Janice Being Greeted by a New Caledonian

The island was named for the very tall pines.

Typical Pines on Île de Pin

We found the lower trees even more interesting.

Île de Pin Forest by the Bay

We swam at a very beautiful beach.

No Photo Can Do It Justice

With a sand bar connecting to interesting weathered rocks.

Sample Rock Formations Where We Swam

A variety of fish.

Île de Pin Fish Where We Swam

And local dogs, who were as interested in the fish as anyone.

Fishing Dog

Noumea is a very nice town. Of course it was hot and humid. There were occasional, but brief, showers. But the town is large enough to have amenities while small enough to not be overwhelming. The town is at the southern tip of a 300 mile long by 50 mile wide island. The harbor is surrounded by small islands and the town has many beaches and hills. New Caledonia if French and considering independence.

In the harbor, we were greeted by a fire boat spouting water.

Noumea Morning

At the cruise terminal, there was a group performing traditional music and dances.

Noumea Greeting

Since our excursion wasn’t until mid-morning, Janice and I went out and checked out the daily market where food, flowers, and other local goods were available.

The three of us went on a tour of the town on “Le Petite Train.” (New Caledonia is a French possession, so French is the official language.)

Le Petite Train

First we stopped for refreshment on a tour boat in the harbor because they feared that it would rain on the usual refreshment stop on one of the hills overlooking the town. They served a very nice French cider in addition to soft drinks.

Then we drove around the coast past several bays and beaches.

A Noumea Beach

Another Noumea Beach

Then up onto on of the hills for a panoramic view of another part of the shoreline. It was spectacular.

A Noumea View

On down into the town, past some of the oldest homes, and up to another hill top.

Another Noumea View

Then it was past the main plaza and back to the ship.

After lunch Janice and I went back into town and found free, if slow, Wifi at McDonald’s. Across the street there is a memorial to the USA for its help during the second world war.

Memorial to America

Across the other street is the cultural museum with a statue combining several traditional elements.

Noumea Cultural Centre

Detail

Although the men’s clothing was vary similar to what you might see in the states, the women—particularly older women—could often be seen in a typical dress not unlike the Hawaiian mu mu.

Common Noumea Women

To round out the cultural experience, and since we were at port until midnight, the evening show was the Maeva Tahiti Folkloric show by a local group.

Maeva Tahiti Folkloric Show

The day in Port Vila was much better than the one in Luganville. For one, the rain held off while we were in port—although it poured as we were sailing away. For another, the roads are paved. There are many picturesque islands in the harbor with water taxis constantly scurrying to and fro.

Islands Off Port Vila

We took two of Holland America’s excursions. The first started with a brief drive through town and out to the Mele Gardens and Cultural Center. It is both a planned garden and an exhibit space for Vanuatu history and culture. Some of it was in displays like the scale models of traditional houses.

Traditional Raised Hut

Other information was displayed through posters.

Poster

(The pig tusk is an important part of the culture; it even appears on the national flag.) There we native animals (in cages) and plants. The Coconut Crab was very impressive.

“Cannibal” holding Coconut Crab

And the iguana was cute.

Hanson Holding Iguana

There were some demonstrations as well, like a traditional dance.

Traditional Dance

We returned to the ship for a quick lunch since the tour was running on island time (late).

The second tour was on a glass bottom boat with snorkeling. We started by sailing past the town.

Port Vila

Then around a resort island just across the water from town.

Resort on Island Opposite Port Vila

The crew of four then slowed the boat and tried to hover over a reef so we could look through the glass panels and see the coral and fish. One of the crew dove under the boat and put a piece of bread against each window to attract the fish.

Fish Feeding (Bread in Middle of Glass)

After a few minutes, they dropped anchor and gave us 30-45 minutes of snorkeling time.

Fish