APIA – 14th February 2013

We arrived in Apia, the capital of the island of Upolo, Samoa (formerly Western Samoa) early in the morning.

We were greeted dock-side by a traditional Samoan/Polynesian welcome with traditional dances. They performed for half an hour and really welcomed the ship as she docked.

Once the ship was secured we were allowed to leave for our tours and private visits. Julie and I were booked onto a day tour of the island. It was an all day tour which included a BBQ lunch on a beach so off we went at 9.00 am for our trip round the island.

Our first stop was one of the islands waterfalls which plummets more than 400 feet into an old volcano crater.

The island is so lush and green with a constant temperature of plus/minus 28 degrees C year round. It also has a high rainfall throughout the year so its’ an ideal environment for flora.

Accommodation is simple and basic but the locals appear to be very happy and contented; they frequently waved to us as we drove past on the tour bus. We were really made to feel welcome.

The locals are very laid back and usually work for a few hours in the morning and then siesta til the evening. I could take to that lifestyle.

Our next stop was at Vaiula Beach where we had a 2 hour stay for lunch and a swim.

The area is delightful; everything imaginable about tropical, South Pacific beaches. Great beer too!

Whilst the local Samoans prepared our BBQ lunch we were able to have a leisurely swim in the warm lagoon. This really is paradise!

After lunch we both had another swim and all too soon it was time to move on to continue our trip around the island.

The roads here are very narrow and I certainly wouldn’t want to pull busses along these roadways. It’s great fun though and all the locals smile and wave as they pass by in their transport.

All too soon it was time to return to the ship to set sail for the last but one leg of our sea trip. We have another 3 days at sea before reaching New Zealand and almost ‘home territory’.

Julie is quite looking forward to it and will be pleased when we get back to the Antipodes. Come to that, so will I although it will be a mixed bag of feelings when we do reach home grounds and fellow Aussies next week!

AUSTRALIA DAY – LATE POSTING

I must be having too much fun; I forgot to post this short blog so here it is now!

Cunard acknowledged Australia Day for all the Aussies on board. We had our own little party in the Garden Room with free canapés and cocktails.

They even had the band play for us for 45 minutes so it was great to have our ‘special day’ on board the ship.

There are quite a few Aussies here and more are getting on when we reach San Francisco.

Julie and I were in there with our Aussie Flag and we had a great time.

CROSSING THE EQUATOR 12th February 2013

Today we crossed the Equator and this is traditionally a big event in sea-faring terms. To sail across the Equator permission has to be granted by King Neptune who just happened to grace us with his presence on the ship. Once permission has been granted those ‘sailors are then allowed passage over the line.

Evidently ‘First Timers’, those of us on the high seas who have never crossed the Equator before are known as POLYWOGS. Thus this morning Julie and I were POLYWOGS. At 2.00 pm today, the time of the crossing we officially became SHELLBACKS.

Of course, no ‘great event’ such as this is allowed to occur without ceremony and Cunard sure know how to mark the event.

We missed the documentation calling for volunteers to participate in the event so we were simply ‘spectators’. Probably as well since it can be a somewhat messy event, albeit great fun.

King Neptune is the officiator and reads out the charges.

The selected members are ‘charged’ with various ‘crimes’ and the onlookers declare them ‘Guilty’ or ‘Not Guilty’. These ‘charges’ include such aspects as ‘Crimes against fashion’; ‘Pressing all buttons in the lifts’ and removing ‘Do not disturb signs from cabin doors’!

Naturally all charges are upheld by the crowd and they are then ‘punished’ by gunging. The guilty ones then have to ‘Kiss the Fish’ as part of their punishment!

Naturally, the crew didn’t escape the carnage and most of the senior crew members ended up being dunked in the pool along with the passengers!

It was all great fun and a really enjoyable experience.

SO FOLKS, THERE YOU HAVE IT. JULIE AND I ARE NO LONGER POLYWOGS BUT FULL, BONAFIDE SHELLBACKS!!!!

Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line. This is interesting because we ‘lose’ Friday 13^th February. We go to bed on the 12^th and wake up on the 14^th. That’s a bit of a bitch for Rose, one of our ‘dining’ group as her birthday is on the 13^th. so she loses her birthday!

One advantage of course is that we are able to have a day fasting and thus eat twice as much of all the great food here on the following day. Yeah!!!

HAWAI'I - HILO

Hilo, our second port of call in Hawai’i. We arrived early in the morning to a beautiful sunrise.

We had a tour booked for a visit to the volcano National Park today and fortunately this one went ahead as planned.

Our tour guide was a total nutter; he talked at a rate of knots that left one breathless. He was either seriously bi-polar and not taking his prescribed drugs or maybe he was taking his non-prescribed drugs!!

Our first stop was the Thurston Lava Tube and a chance to walk through it. The approach to this tube was via the rain forest and it was awesome.

The coach made frequent stops to view the sights such as the local viewing spots and waterfalls. The flora of the region is so lush and green in this part of the world.

The next short stop was the Japanese Gardens in Hilo. OK, we’ve seen gardens before. These were pretty but not spectacular; I guess the tour guides have to fill in their time somehow!!!!

As usual with these ‘organised’ tours there is the usual commercial aspect where they try to sell you the local produce. This resulted in a visit to the local Orchid Gardens which was really a market garden selling orchids!

However, I have to concede that there are some gorgeous orchids grown here and I wouldn’t mind having some of them in my garden.

After the orchids it was on to the primary destination of our tour, the Kilauea Iki active volcano. Not that we saw any eruption like the above!!

She was much better behaved when we were there and all we got was a good look at the crater.

Our next stop was the Halema’uma’u crater. This baby is still active and is bubbling away. We saw plenty of steam but no lava; we did see some mild tinges of red at the vent area.

Night is the best time to view these craters as that is when the fiery glows can be seen.

This volcano is quite active and frequently has little bouts of activity. Hence the warning signs for tourists.

All too soon our little tour around the island was over and it was back to the ship. We had a little bit of time to spare so we called in at the local shopping center to just look around.

Boy, they sure build ‘em big around here! I wonder if this belongs to the security guys?

So, with time moving on it was back to the ship to prepare to sail to our next stop. We have 4 days of sailing before calling in at Apia, the capital of Somoa for the day!