Crossing the International Date Line

We are writing you on Monday, March 30, although it is Sunday for all of you. We completely missed our Sunday upon crossing the international date line and gaining a day. Add that to the 7 hours we are currently behind New York (to become 8 hours this evening) and it is 5:00 p.m. Monday here and midnight in New York Sunday heading into Monday morning. You think you’re confused…Joanna tried to book some spa appointments for Sunday and was told the day didn’t exist!

Whatever day it is, we have been mostly at sea. Upon leaving in Raiatea (in French Polynesia) on Wednesday evening , we arrived Saturday morning in Apia, Samoa. Samoa is the first independent nation of Polynesia, and home to the largest concentration of full-blooded Polynesians.

Located on Upolu Island, Apia is shaded by palms and huge umbrella trees, and has the appearance of a typical South Seas town. Traditional open-sided houses with thatched roofs on platforms of coral or concrete, also known as fales, can be seen everywhere. Nearly all the population wears the typical local dress: skirts, or lavalavas for men, and long, mumu-style dresses for women.

We decided to explore the island’s natural beauty and relaxed local lifestyle via a leisurely drive. We started along the island’s East Coast, making stops in the villages of Luatuanuu and Solosolo.

Next, we journeyed to the island’s Falefa Waterfall, from where there were also spectacular views of the ocean in the distance.Our tour concluded with a drive to the Piula Theological College and the Cave Pool, where a magnificent Gothic church stands guard over a pristine spring water pool. John took a dip in the pool while Joanna explored the seafront and some fresh local fruits.

We are to arrive in Suva, Fiji, tomorrow. For those of you following the itinerary, this is a diversion. Due to the tides, the Captain switched our visit to Lautoka and Suva, Fiji. We will be in Lautoka on Wednesday (your Tuesday, there we go again)…

Raiatea...our last stop in French Polynesia

We arrived in Raiatea on Wednesday morning. Although not as popular as a vacation spot, Raiatea is the second largest of the Society Islands. According to Polynesian tradition, the island was once known as the Sacred Isle, or Havaiki. There are many legends that arise from mythology that lend a mysterious and magical atmosphere to the island’s various places of interest.



Raiatea shares a protected lagoon with the island of Tahaa and is totally surrounded by a reef, yet offers navigable passes to the open sea. Raiatea is also home to picture-perfect, flat island islets, or “motus,” scattered across the lagoon with beautiful white-sand beaches.

Uturoa is Raiatea’s capital and main port, and where the ship docked. We ventured out on a motorized outrigger from Uturoa south to the Faaroa Bay and Faaroa River. After navigating the magnificent lagoon and coastline, we descended into the shady realms of Faaroa River, which was much like a “jungle cruise” because of its thick foliage and jungle growth. Unlike Disney World, no rhinocerouses or alligators leaped out at us, and it was very peaceful (and surprisingly, no bugs!).

Afterwards, we ventured to one of the many motus scattered around the lagoon to have refreshments and swim in the shallow waters. It was a nice finale to our last day in French Polynesia.

Sunrise and Sunset over Bora Bora

We travelled 160 miles northwest Monday night to arrive in time for a beautiful sunrise over Bora Bora on Tuesday morning...

It is easily understood why James Michener, author of Tales of the South Pacific, called Bora Bora “the most beautiful island on earth.” Emerald-green hills and crystalline blue lagoons highlight its spectacular beauty. It is comparable yet different from Moorea in that there are fewer mountains and most of the greenery does not extend as high in the sky.

Again we decided to explore via catamaran. We took a scenic cruise across Bora Bora’s Blue Lagoon, considered to be the world’s most beautiful lagoon, which is three times larger than the island’s land mass (about 60 miles in circumference) and has an unbelievable range of azure and turquoise colors.

The catamaran stopped at various spots in the lagoon for us to snorkel or have other experiences (to follow). At the first stop, we saw many, many colorful fish over a coral reef…

At the second stop, it was very shallow and not as inviting to get into the water. The boat crew dropped bait in the water to attract “friendly” sharks and sting rays (how do you keep the “non-friendly” ones away?). We were encouraged, if not thrown, in the water to enjoy this experience upfront. There were sting rays and sharks everywhere and they brushed right up against you (all those shadows in the water pictured below right are NOT rocks!). As you can see from the pictures below, John clearly is having a good time meeting a sting ray. However, Joanna was not so pleased when she got side-swiped by a shark immediately upon getting into the water! It was quite an experience and one we will never forget.

After getting back on the boat with all of our body parts intact, we travelled to a private island in the lagoon on a coral atoll, or “motu,” for a barbeque picnic and spent the afternoon on the beach and swimming in the lagoon.

We cleaned up back on the ship and later headed out to dinner at the world-renowned Bloody Mary Restaurant on the island (where the rich and famous have gathered for decades), catching this spectacular sunset over Bora Bora on the way.

Tahitian Sunshine

Boy is it HOT…almost 90 degrees and 56% humidity. We spent the day in Papeete, Tahiti’s capital. It is French Polynesia’s only real city and a major South Pacific port of call for freighters, cruise vessels and yachts. It is not as pretty as Moorea and far more commercialized. We departed the ship early to take a private tour of the entire island, with the most memorable stop being the Arahoho Blowhole, one of the island’s major natural resources. It was formed thousands of years ago by a lava flow that, once cooled, created a channel that became the source of roaring plumes of water shooting into the air (see below)...


It was situated adjacent to a lovely black sand beach with gorgeous waves.

We also made a trip to the museum of Paul Gauguin, the famous French impressionist painter. Dedicated to Tahiti’s most famous resident, the museum was inaugurated in 1965 by the Singer Foundation of sewing machine fame. It is a memorial to the artist’s life on Tahiti from 1891 to 1901, when Gauguin created his most powerful canvasses highlighted by brilliant colors and exotic subjects. However, we were disappointed that the museum had no original works on display, but featured documents and photographs from the Gauguin era, along with some reproductions of his paintings.

We set sail again shortly, this time for Bora Bora, arriving at 8 am on Tuesday.

Finally...French Polynesia

Well after three days at sea and and sailing through dark low clouds on the water Saturday night, we awoke yesterday morning to the beautiful sight of LAND and Moorea, French Polynesia!

We took an early morning tender to shore and embarked on a private catamaran cruise (water again!) to the picturesque Cook’s and Opunoho Bays. We sailed through beautiful blue lagoons and dropped anchor in one to snorkel in coral gardens. The weather was perfect and the scenery stunning, as you can see from the pictures.

Moorea is known as the “Magical Island” of French Polynesia and almost doesn’t seem real. It is often likened to James Michener’s mythological island of Bali Hai with its picture-perfect lagoons and gleaming white beaches surrounded by jagged mountains and volcanic spires. The island is unusually fertile and very green due to its tropical climate and rich, volcanic soil. The whole package is breathtaking.

After returning to shore from our catamaran trip, we had lunch in a local restaurant on the water and walked for hours along the coastline. Late afternoon we returned to the boat for a snooze in the shade (it was a very hot day) and in the evening had a lovely dinner in the ship’s exclusive wine-tasting restaurant, Le Champagne. This morning we have just set sail en route for Papeete, Tahiti, just 9 miles away across the Sea of the Moon. We are watching a lovely sunrise over the bay.

Hi from the high seas

Just wanted to let you know we've been at sea for three days now.

We get to Moorea, French Polynesia at seven thirty tomorrow morning.

That's one thirty in the afternoon your time. It will be nice to see some land instead of this view from the balcony of our cabin.

Just to bring you up to date

At the moment we are sailing to Moorea, French Polynesia. And, by the way, that volcanic eruption near Samoa did not affect us at all.

Last Saturday, we visited Hilo, Hawaii. It’s the biggest island, and still growing because of the flowing lava from Kilauea, the world’s most active volcano. We toured the island via SUV and saw waterfalls and many beautiful sights. We took a long walk on old lava flow at a black sand beach, and were about half a mile from where molten lava is still flowing into the sea. We were told it has added about 600 miles of island in the past twenty years.

We then drove to a privately run macadamia nut farm and had a delicious barbeque lunch and all the macadamia nuts we could eat.

We were supposed to go to Maui the next day, but that stop had to be cancelled because of high winds that would have made it impossible to dock there. So instead we headed straight to Christmas Island, Kiribati, about 2 degrees north of the Equator. Captain James Cook discovered it on Christmas Eve in 1777, and that’s why he named it Christmas Island (its official name is Kiritimati, pronounced “kee-rees-mass”, which means Christmas in the local language, Gilbertese. It is a totally unspoiled island and about six thousand people live there. They are very warm and friendly, and most walk around barefoot and live in shacks with no sides. They entertained us with a lot of native dancing and singing.

We were only on Christmas Island for a few hours, and but it gave us the flavor of the South Pacific and what is ahead in the coming weeks. Once back onboard ship, we learned that we were heading further south (crossing the Equator!), although that was not our intended direction. Turns out the ship’s captain made that choice so the high winds heading north wouldn’t spoil our barbeque on deck last night. So we made a big circle at sea through the night and are now heading toward French Polynesia.

And that brings you up to date.

Wow

We had a wonderful and very moving visit to Pearl Harbor and the USS Missouri.

You cannot but help tears welling in your eyes when you visit that monument.

You almost feel the agony those heroes went thru when you sit through a well-produced movie showing the attack and our feeble and futile response. And then when you actually visit the USS Arizona memorial and stand over her lying in the water, well it gets to you. Fuel is still leaking from her to this day...about two quarts a day. It's almost as if it's the blood of the nine hundred men still entombed in the Arizona. It is truly hallowed ground.

Our visit to the USS Missouri was equally emotional. When you visit the inside of a ship similar to the ones the Japanese sank during the attack, and see how tight their quarters are, you really realize how terrible it must have been for those men caught below during that surprise attack.

And when you stand on the same spot where the Japanese signed the surrender documents on board that ship, your feeling of sadness somehow morphs into a feeling of near euphoria and tremendous pride in America.

forget what I said

Hello again from the Pacific, and man we're rocking and rolling today. Waves about fifteen feet.
We'll be in Hawaii tomorrow morning.
Just wanted to tell you to forget about that website that shows movement of ships.
Turns out they hardly ever update it, so it's not worth your time.

Still sailing

and sailing...and sailing. Man, the Pacific sure is wide. And deep too. We arrive in Hawaii Friday.

On the High Seas

Well, we're on our way. Our big ship a tiny dot in the ocean.
Just wanted to let you know all is well.
No pictures because there's nothing to see. Except sea.

Los Angeles

Hello from Beverly Hills.
We arrived safe and sound at LAX on Wednesday and checked into the hotel Montage. A terrific place by the way if you ever come here and need a place to stay.
We hit the high seas tomorrow. The next time you hear from us, we'll be on our way to Hawaii.
Aloha!

Where in the world are we?

Here's something you might find kind of fun.
There's a website that keeps track of ships. Sailwx.info
Our ship is the Silver Shadow...part of the Silver Sea line.
Our call sign is: C6FN6.
If you're at all interested, you can see where we are anytime you like.

packing

How the heck do you pack for three months at sea?
If you're a woman, you take every piece of clothing you have, on top of the new stuff that you went out and bought.
If you're a guy, you take a pair of underwear, some sox , a tux and a t-shirt.
Seriously, it's quite a challenge. Our plan is to ship a bunch of clothes to the ship, and carry the rest. We'll let you know how that works out.
Anyway, it's Sunday and we've been packing for two days. It's a chore but it's also part of the excitement of doing something we never dreamed we'd be doing. But WE'RE DOING IT.(are we nuts?)