Ua Pou, Marquesas, Feb 13th Our hybrid freighter/cruise ship started working (doing freight exchange) today, fascinating. We pulled into a dock on the island of Ua Pou, and they started unloading onions, refrigerated crates, other crates (6 feet by 6 feet by 6 feet) full of boxes which seemed to be destined for grocery stores- water, coke, beer, insect repellent, etc. Terry and I walked to a lovely church with fantastic carvings; we also walked up a 450 m hill, Terry turned back and I continued to the top, about half way up the mountain and I could see over to [View Full Entry]

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First stop: wet landing, no dock Snorkling was all right, at this atoll: colapsed volcano surrounded by coral reef sunscreen in my eyes mixed with salty sea water, I hung onto Terry to get out of the sharp coral, no more snorkling with sunscreen! then we found one of the most beautiful beach on earth: no need for masks, we could observe he coral from the top of the water and the temperature was heavenly, I bobbed while Terry walked the town( 5 houses...) [View Full Entry]

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Lovely Island just off Tahiti Heard about it from Celine, lives in Kingston, she was on the World Cruise of 2006 with us, took a year off and cruises every year now Morea Did not get there 17 km west of Tahiti, ferry ride was 80$ Cdn for both of us allez-retour, why tour, when we can enjoy an expensive hotel room and pool right here in Tahiti People who went there said that the snorkeling was great And the streets were much less congested than Tahiti We will see enough islands [View Full Entry]

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Landed late at night, after a 8 and a half hour flight Hot and tropical Nice to be away from the cold Staying at the Sheraton/ Hilton, till Tuesday morning 400$ Cnd a night, Tahiti is expensive as it is the gateway to French Polynesiaand everybody has to come through here Venez voyager en Polynésie La Polynésie française est un ensemble de 5 archipels français, situés dans le sud de l'Océan Pacifique, environ 6 000 km à l’est de l’Australie. Elle comprend plusieurs iles dont l’archipel des Marquises. À Tahiti, la plus grande île, les vestiges des deux volcans contin [View Full Entry]

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Hello Everybody! I've been enjoying myself too much to write. We had eight days at sea...all of them perfectly calm. In fact, we haven't had even a slightly rough day yet. Here's a sample day on board: 8:00 Get up and have breakfast, either Continental delivered to the cabin, or a full breakfast (with cloth tablecloths and napkins and waiter service) in the dining room. 9:45 Attend lecture about future ports. 10:30 Find deck chairs (what they call sunbeds) on the promenade deck. Sit and read. doze, chat. 11:00 Go get a mug of tea and return to deck chairs for [View Full Entry]

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In our nine years of world cruising, Susan and I have been fortunate to meet some very interesting and notable world figures. Milton Friedman, Ted Koppel, Tommy Tune, Mark Russell, Debbie Reynolds, Jon Miller and Hugh Downs, just to mention a few. On our last two world cruises we’ve heard lectures by Terry Waite that both terrify and inspire. Terry had remarkable successes as a hostage negotiator in the 1980s until he himself was taken hostage in Beirut in 1987. Terry then faced four years of solitary confinement and torture at the hands of Islamic Jihad terrorists. Since his re [View Full Entry]

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January 21st Daniel, Katherine and I woke at 5am because today was the day we wanted to make a push to visit the island of Moorea. We left the lodge at 6 and were on a bus 15 minutes later. The bus ride was a new experience for us; there were people with no shoes but who had a mobile phone and an ipod. Katherine had noted earlier that the economic disparity here is small, so I guess that these are the people who buy the best gadgets or just drink their money away. We arrived at the ferry dock [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Los Angeles a little late due to the helicopter emergency evacuation off of Baja. We later heard that the patient was resting comfortably in the hospital. Our friends in San Diego said that the whole story was covered by the local television channels. Upon arrival in LA we found a taxi and went to the closest mini mall in order to get some supplies and have our last taste of authentic Mexican food for four months. We got back to the ship in time to get ready for the big send-off gala party. All of the top brass [View Full Entry]

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On Sunday we caught the evening ferry with our new Swiss travel buddy to Moorea, where we hopped on the bus that loops the one road that circles the small island. The drive let us off at the Moorea Camp grounds which were low on the glam-scale, but beachfront so at 35USD for the 5 of us, we were happy to unload our bags. It being Sunday, most things were closed, so after a quick sunset dip, we headed to a restaurant at a nearby hotel for some grub. Polynesia is definitely not a budget destination with not limited, but non-existant [View Full Entry]

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January 18th 2009 Having dutifully retrieved our baggage, George set about trying to find our host, who had promised to pick us up at the arranged time. Half an hour later, a random man who was standing next to me as I began to look more and more frustrated, asked me “Are you looking for someone?” Yes, I said, Taaroa Lodge. “Lucky you! You’ve found me!” Ok, buddy, where the heck is your sign? Apparently, he left it in the van. “It don’t matter! Welcome to the island, man!” he said. Half an hour of manic driving later, I stepped out [View Full Entry]

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