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Published: February 25th 2017
SAMOAN DANCER
A natural born dancerWe were fortunate to have fairly smooth seas on our six day voyage to Samoa. That’s lots of sea time to catch up on shipboard activities like gym workouts, water aerobics, star gazing, reading, playing Hand & Foot (a lively version of Canasta), listening to Dr. Mark Elovitz's excellent current events lectures and contemplating the state of the world while transiting this vast ocean.
We crossed the Equator and the International Dateline skipping January 21 in the process and arrived in Samoa on a sunny, hot Sunday morning. Many of the South Pacific islands became very Christianized over the last century and thus adhere to some strict rules regarding allowable activities on the Lord’s Day. In essence Samoa is closed on Sunday with the exception of church services. The Silver Whisper’s tour director Clive did an outstanding job of lining up church groups to perform for the cruise guests. We saw an excellent performance at the local cultural center set amidst a beautiful natural backdrop. Clive also arranged for a choir show at the Robert Louis Stevenson home which is now a museum dedicated to this great writer and traveler. Tusitala, as R.L.S. was known by the Samoans, loved his
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHEDRAL
The church suffered from the 2009 earthquake but has been fully restored adopted island and its people. He is buried on a mountainside near his plantation. Tusitala means “writer of tales” and that is what Stevenson excelled in.
We hired a taxi to take us around the shuttered downtown area and stopped by the local fish and vegetable market that had little to offer tourists. We had lunch at the Aggie Grey Hotel---the only restaurant we found open that day. Aggie Grey is another historic personage of Samoa. She hosted many celebrities at her inn such as Robert Holden, Dorothy Lamour, Gary Cooper and Marlon Brando. It is thought that her friend James Mitchener modeled his Bloody Mary character after Aggie. Bloody Mary’s song “Happy Talk” in the musical South Pacific is a classic.
Our next landfall was the Kingdom of Tonga. Nukualofa, which means “abode of love” is the port town where we docked. It was hotter than blazes but at least we didn’t experience a near cyclone as we had on our last visit to this friendly island. The Tongan Police Band was on the dock to serenade us and local artisans set up a tent pier side filled with their crafts. We visited the local
INSIDE THE CATHEDRAL
The congregation follows the Latin rite market, a beehive of activity, and after that we walked around the King’s palace and the Royal Cemetery seeking shade at every turn. As we sailed out of Tonga we were treated to another spectacular South Seas sunset.
Coming to the end of our cruise, the Silver Whisper docked in downtown Auckland, New Zealand. The final days of a cruise are always filled with farewell dinners with good friends, packing and exchanging addresses with new found friends.
Our dockmates from Sausalito, Jack and Stephanie, recently made a career move to New Zealand. They have a lovely home in Devonport which is a 15 minute ferry ride from Auckland. They welcomed us into their gorgeous home along with my brother Steve and his daughter Ellie who also live in New Zealand.
We had three wonderful days with Steve and Ellie and spent most of it at the nearby beaches since we lucked out with the warmest weather of the summer. We all tried our hand at stand-up paddle boarding. Ellie took to it like a champ. Steve cooked some great meals and we also checked out the local cuisine in restaurants in the quaint village of Devonport.
SAMOAN DANCE TROUPE
They sang and danced their hearts out Jack and Stephanie returned from their short holiday and we got to hear all about what life is like in New Zealand for ex-pats. The unlimited access to outdoor activities, golf, the Kiwi viticulture scene and boating suits them fine. They have a good thing going and are great hosts. It was such a pleasure staying with them.
We cut our New Zealand trip short in order to return quickly to California to be with my wonderful sister Judy for her battle against a terminal illness. All seven of us sisters and a brother were able to bid Judy farewell in her final days. She will be greatly missed.
The Silversea cruise was memorable as was our time spent in New Zealand. As always, we are looking forward to our next trip afloat!
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Rocky
non-member comment
Awesome!!!
Thanks for sharing,