Once the immigration process is complete we are on our way an hour late. The day is sunny and the temperature is 64. It is a perfect day for touring. Our guide is Hatsuea (call me Sue). Sue speaks English fluently and appears to love what she does which makes our day quite wonderful. She is assisted by Nana. Nana is about 4’8” and weighs about 85 lbs. Her duty is to insure the group stays together and the count is right. Her English is limited but her smiles are not. We take to calling her “our sheep dog” as at [View Full Entry]

---

---

We approach Iwo Jima just after dawn. The peak of Mt. Suribachi rises from the sea. The weather is appropriately cloudy with rain predicted later in the day. Pads of whales greet us both port and starboard. As we sail closer, the rest of the island appears looking like a flat plain to the east. But that is an illusion. The island has terraced ridges in the east, is flat in the middle with Mt. Suribachi on the West. It is currently a military base for the Japanese and we were lucky to receive permission to cruise within five miles of [View Full Entry]

---

---

There is very little native forest left in Saipan for the same reason that Guam is covered by introduced species. What little is left is conserved and allowed to thrive. We took a short walk down a trail and heard birdsong, saw butterflies. Before the war, Japan had possession of Saipan for many years. The population spoke Japanese and many Japanese nationals lived here. During the war, the Japanese propaganda machine convinced the inhabitants that the Americans were evil captors who would rape the women, butcher and torture the men and children. Despite leaflets dropped during the i [View Full Entry]

---

---

While Saipan’s culture has been influenced by the US, it is less developed than Guam. The northern end of the island has neither electricity nor water infrastructure and is maintained much like a national park. Despite pressure from developers, the locals have repeatedly voted to keep it that way. It is on the north end that my tour was concentrated. The first stop was the Blue Grotto, a collapsed cave when divers can experience one of the great cave dives. One enters the water in a turbulent shore side pool and swims through one of three tunnels to the sea. Turtles, [View Full Entry]

---

---

Tall buildings, traffic jams, rude drivers are my most vivid impressions. It’s probably not fair to visit Guam after the magic of Yap. Not surprisingly, American culture rules and the US military have bases all over the island. The crew can’t wait to get to Cotsco and the largest Kmart in the world to stock up on necessities. The shopping ladies on board went wild to find large malls with all the usual stores. Shopping has been a bit meager since New Caledonia. The island vegetation is the result of efforts by the US. After the bombing in WWII most of [View Full Entry]

---

---

Think about your first imaginings of a romantic Pacific island and you are probably seeing Yap. It lies low in the water, surrounded by a reef and lagoon. It is not dramatic like Hawaii or Bora Bora but it so natural and beautiful it’s like you are Robinson Caruso landing on a deserted island. The island is part of The Federated States of Micronesia, a republic, but legislative decisions must be approved by the tribal chiefs, there are fourteen, and by the head chief. Movements to open the islands to development have so far been resisted by the Chiefs. Only the [View Full Entry]

---

---

The people of Guadalcanal are smaller in stature to the people of PNG. Beatle nut is still chewed in PNG and young men’s teeth are just stubs. Older men have none at all and many of the women and children chew. The UFO (unidentified floating object) was identified as a marine tracking device, perhaps tracking tuna or whales. The most seriously injured passenger from the scaffold collapse was a very, very heavy 48-year-old man who is on dialysis. He will be disembarked at Guam. His cabin is not handicapped equipped; the doorway is not wide enough for a wheel chair so [View Full Entry]

---

---

Papua New Guinea (PNG) New Britain Island - Rabaul Arrived at the pilot station on time, 6:00 am. Waited 30 minutes for the pilot. I guess island time applies even to an island the size of New Britain, PNG. While we waited, I got a good look at Turvur-vur, one of the many active volcanoes in the area. We are on the Ring of Fire here and a caldera on the flank of Turvur-vur was spewing steam into the sky. In 1994, Turvur-vur and Vulcan on the other side of the harbor both erupted at the same time and blanked Rabaul [View Full Entry]

---

---

The Blue Pacific. NOT! At least not until today. For the first days of the cruise, we had misty, cloudy and rainy weather and the water reflected the grey skies. The rains on Guadalcanal turned the sea brown with run off. Flotsam and jetsam fouled the water with large logs, palm fronds, plastic water bottles and aluminum cans. Those folks who chose to dive Iron Bottom Sound must have been disappointed. When we left the dock last night I counted twelve interisland vessels (think tramp steamers) waiting to dock. The vessels don’t look seaworthy but are essential to trade between [View Full Entry]

---

---

Sailed into the Slot and Iron Bottom Sound, past Suva Island at dawn. Arrived at the Guadalcanal dock, not to be confused in any way with a cruise ship terminal. The line handlers are bare footed! There are towers of containers and a small gazebo type structure with a couple of hammocks and a small fire. My guess it’s for the night watchmen. The gangway presents a challenge and it is one of the strangest configurations I have ever scene. Even the Security Offices was grinning. A group of locals in native dress (loincloths’) and body paint welcome us with drums [View Full Entry]

---

---