Blogs from Oceania

Day 45 (15/4/2019) Walked into town to take a look around the Ceduna shops, picking up a couple of bargains that we did not expect to find! Went to the Ceduna Foreshore Hotel for lunch. Had a 400g Rump Steak for $25, while Deb had a massive Stir Fry for $18. Stir Fry was brilliant while the Rump was as chewy as an old boot. Went fishing & caught fresh fish again, so fish is on the menu. The only problem is that mosquitoes inhabit the jetty & you not only get eaten alive but also picked up & carried away! Day 46 (16/4/2019) Went for a short drive to Denial Bay, which is north west opposite Ceduna across the bay. Lovely jetty walk talking to some wonderful people from all over Australia. Funny how people ... read more

Today we arrived at Bora Bora, near the northwest end of the Tahitian Archipelago. You may know if from the famous World War II battles of Bora Bora. Or maybe you don’t because there never was such a battle. The Americans came to this island in 42 or 43 and took control as an anchor to protect the remainder of the island chain. They built an airfield and a boat harbor to bring in supplies and personnel. Then they built a road around the perimeter of the island. And they installed a water purification facility. And they built bunkers and huge cannons to protect all of it. None of these were ever used in the war but they have all remained and have served as the facilities which brought Bora Bora into the modern world. Our ... read more

“We’ve done it twenty-six times,” the grey-haired retiree next door told me matter-of-factly. “Kids and grandkids in WA,” he added by way of explanation. “People ask us, ‘What do you see out there?’ ‘Australia,’ I tell ’em, ‘we see Australia.’” I’d encountered a similar reaction when I first started talking of driving the Nullarbor, that 1,200 km (745 miles) expanse of barely inhabited country in the middle of the 3,940 km (2,450 miles) between Perth and Sydney. “But why would you wanna do that? There’s nothing there.” “Jeez, have you got enough music?” “Well, I guess, if it’s a ‘bucket list’ kind of a thing…” Yet, since joining some friends in a couple of self-drive trips out of Johannesburg and into Botswana and Zambia in the late 1990s/early 2000s, I’ve had a yen for crossing countries ... read more

Today we sailed from Tahiti and arrived at Moorea. What do we mean? We didn’t sail from Pateete until about 3:00 AM this morning. We have no idea how many people made a late night of it in Tahiti, but since it is such a short distance between destinations, the Star Princess stayed in port until long after we had gone to bed. This morning we got up at 6:30 and the ship arrived at the anchorage off Moorea at 7:30. Meanwhile we had gone up to the Horizon Court and had breakfast. We had to meet in the Crown Grill at 8:00 and a little later we boarded a tender (sometime called a cruise ship limousine) and were soon taken to shore. The sea was smooth so the ride was gentle, and we had no ... read more

Day 32 (2/4/2019) Last day in Perth. Went for a drive into West Perth To Watertown, which was the original DFO in Perth Before they built the Airport DFO. Here they had all the usual shops, but nowhere near as many bargains as the Airport DFO has. If you ever visit Perth, give Watertown a miss & go to the Airport DFO as it is far better. Back to the caravan to pack up & plan tomorrows trip to Busselton. Day 33 (3/4/2019) Departed Perth at 9:00AM; peak hour traffic. Strangely enough the traffic was not too bad considering as we rarely came to a halt. Our only holdup was some woman doing 40kmh in the 80kmh/100kmh zones. Hard to change lanes when other vehicles are travelling so fast & you get stuck behind some buffoon ... read more

Talofa (Hello) from Pago Pago, American Samoa. Guess what? It is Saturday the 13thall over again. Confused? Last night we sailed back across the International Dateline and got back the day we skipped a few days ago. We are at Longitude 170 W and Latitude 14 S. We only sailed about 100 miles but it makes a day’s worth of difference. So now we are back on the same day as everyone at home. Since last night was a short sailing distance we arrived pretty early and our excursion left comparatively early. We set the alarm for 6:00 and had breakfast delivered to the cabin using Room Service. We got Breakfast Biscuits and a pastry, with orange juice and hot tea. We ate on the balcony and watched the scenery as the ship came into port. ... read more