New Caledonia, Fiji, Tonga, and finally Auckland

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This blog is a few months behind - but I honestly thought that I had written this blog sitting in the airport in Auckland. But anywhow - I left you while we were in the Tasman avoiding a storm heading to New Zealand. Having cancelled a few ports and added a few sea days the guests were very unhappy to say the least - from the bridge point of view the 5 sea days in a row were incredible. Almost like a short break in the middle of a contract. I wonder if this is what people who do proper ocean voyages constantly feel like at work...

Stopping in Tauranga was a pretty neat port - there is a small mountain at the mouth of the harbour so when you sail into the city from the north you don't see any signs of life until you're right in there as the mountain blocks all the view. It also provides a great little hike to the top which offers great views. I got off with one of the 2nd officers and although we are navigators and were armed with a map we still had to do a little route planning of our own and got to walk through a field of sheep on the way to the summit. The town itself has a kind of sleepy Tofino vibe with little shops, restaurants, and bnb style accommodation right on the beach. I totally see the draw for vacationers and thoroughly enjoyed some fabulous food while sitting at a beach side cafe.

Auckland brought not only a really cool sail in with a huge S turn and some of the most professional pilots I've ever worked with - but also a port similar to Vancouver and Sydney where the ship ties up right downtown. With sign off only 1 cruise away in Auckland and a late evening flight I had thought about renting a car and going to see some sights - so I ended up just checking out the downtown core. There is a giant CN toweresque building which offers views, and I also checked out the maritime museum - which like previously mentioned in Hobart I try and see in all the places I visit. The former was pretty impressive, the maritime museum was not as great as I could have hoped. Can't win em all I suppose.

After returning to Sydney the next cruise was something I was looking forward to since I had joined Radiance. It took us to some far away places that I would most likely never visit on my own due to their inaccessibility. The cruise took us to 2 ports in New Caledonia, 2 in Fiji, and 2 in Tonga. Coupled with the fact that it was my last cruise and I had everything prepared for the following 3 weeks for my reliever and the fact that I'd probably never come to these places again I was armed with a goal of getting off in a few of these places. Sure enough I managed to get off in 4 ports and for more than half an hour here and there.

On the Isle of Pines a few of us hit the beach - and it was one of the nicest beaches I've visited. Stunning white sand, blue waters, and surrounded by pine trees. Yes! Pine trees on a south pacific island, it's a weird sight to see! Fiji brought us to the ports of Suva and Lautoka. I hadn't heard much good about Suva but Lautoka was incredible. It was very much off the beaten path and I'm sure that the number of tourists who go there are minimal. I visited a couple markets - and was the only white person around. It's amazing to see how little life has changed for many of the Fijians, still trading what they can grow to other people for more goods. I had a meal that I had the first time I was in Fiji back in 2012 which is like a ceviche but made with coconut milk instead - it's called Kokoda. Needless to say I'm glad I skipped the invite from my colleagues to go to the McDonalds because it had wifi...

Then came Tonga. We were not only off the beaten path here, but we were the first ship in the fleet to call to Tonga. The first stop we were one of 5 ships to call in the year! The first stop we tendered in the very sheltered bay of the Island Vav'au. The sail into the anchorage was absolutely beautiful, little channels, humpback whales jumping, little villages, secluded beaches, I could spend some time on an island like this for sure. We got off and went for a walk in the village - this place made the unspoiled Fiji look like a bustling metropolitan city. We did manage to grab the local Kokoda style fish - which is called 'Ota 'Ika here - which although tasty was not up to the quality that the Fijian version was previously. Unfortunately the watch schedule kept me from having a local Tongan beer, but sitting in the sunshine oceanside took that pain away. Our last stop in Tonga took us to the Capital and biggest island Nuku'alofa - it is more of a tourist destination and although the pier is half the length of the ship at least there is a pier. Being that it was our first call there the entire town was out to greet us - even the prince came onboard. Unfortunately the beaches and everything to see was on the opposite side of the island and it was raining so we decided to go to a highly recommended restaurant to give the 'Ota 'Ika another try. We could not have made a better decision - the food was excellent and the time ashore with great friends really made for an awesome end to the contract.

Signing off in Auckland was a fantastic day as well - the original plan of renting a car was scrapped when I found out that a travelling trainer was signing off with me. We got off around lunch time and parked ourselves down on the balcony of a nice restaurant in plain view of the bridge of the Radiance of the Seas. A G and T followed by some fabulous seafood and a bottle of white really let the ship life just melt away as we talked about our holiday plans!

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[Peter Beier]

Sheep? Pigs?
Too many photos of farm animals, not enough photos of bikinis.