November 5 2012

Home Again

For the fourth time on this trip I have crossed the International Dateline and Sunday November 4 was nonexistent. Even though we were late leaving LAX, we arrived into Sydney a little ahead of time (you can always count on Qantas to step on the gas) and I used the SmartGate at immigration and sailed through without queues.

Being the good little Aussie that I am (and paranoid about having a starring role on Border Security), I always declare anything I have that might warrant the Customs and Quarantine guys a second look – normally food or wooden objects, etc. Which is exactly what I did this morning, and was so relieved I did as there was a big sign just before Customs and Quarantine inspections that Border Security was being filmed there today. (For those who are unfamiliar with this show, it focuses on passengers being questioned by officials because they are trying to bring illegal goods and substances into the country without declaring them, or are trying to enter the country illegally. We have very strict rules on entering Australia as we are free of rabies, foot and mouth, etc. and our government will fine and prosecute offenders.)

Half an hour after stepping out of the airport I was going through my front door – and checking out the fridge. After a shower, some wine and pate I now have to contemplate unpacking, washing and facing work tomorrow.

With a future cruise deposit for a 22 to 35 night cruise made a few days ago, I also have to consider what looks best – a Collectors cruise in either the Med or out of Sydney next year or the 34 night Australian Circumnavigation. I have grown to love sea days so enjoy the longer cruises but I guess I should check in with work first! I’ve still got Rajasthan and the Galapagos on my bucket list though.

November 3 2012

The Long Road Home

It was still dark when I got up at 6.30am, readying myself to front up to San Diego officials for immigration checks. Decks 1 and 4 were called at 6.50 am and by 7.05 am I was back in my cabin, and ready to have my last waffles with blueberry sauce up in the Lido for quite some time.

I’ve heard lots of bad reports about San Diego red tape but at 9am they were calling for the first lot of passengers to leave the ship – and by 10 am I was sitting on a coach for HAL’s City Highlights tour and airport transfer, with my luggage safely bestowed underneath.

The coach wasn’t filled to capacity but it included Jenny, Carol, Norm and John from my trivia team plus my Canadian dinner companions from last night. As transfer tours go, this is about the best I’ve been on in that we actually had stops where we got out of the coach, first at Coronado to take photos back across to the city skyline, at La Jolla to see the sea caves and marine life along the shore and then a lunch stop at Old Town. We also drove through the Gaslight District and Balboa Park.

At Old Town our trivia team had lunch together in a Mexican restaurant, the others licking the salt off their Margaritas while I had a soda (while I’ll still be waiting at LAX for my flight tonight they will have arrived home!).

I think what made this tour better than most was to spend the final few hours before departure with friends I have made on this cruise so that it didn't feel final when I walked down the gangway for the last time. And I’ll be catching up with Jenny and Norm when they come to Sydney next year.

As I was the only person flying out of San Diego’s commuter terminal, I was dropped off at the airport first. I had read up on the facilities at San Diego’s International Airport but obviously had missed the part about the commuter terminal where I had to spend the next 6 hours.

Free wifi is on offer and although there were power points in most seat blocks to recharge your iPad, phone, laptop etc. the majority did not work. With vacant seats available for passengers, it is always amusing to see some seated on the floor immediately outside restrooms because that is where the only working power source is – for the cleaners!

Over the last few days I had watched news coverage of Superstorm Sandy and one thing that stood out for me was how much we rely on the ability to recharge our gadgets now to stay in touch with people. A lot of people have given up landlines and rely on mobile phones, which are great as long as you have a charged battery, and this was difficult for a lot of those affected by the storm. All three airports I have spent time  in (as in many hours!) on this trip – Sydney, LAX and San Diego – offer free wifi but not enough charging facilities and it has been interesting to see passengers breathing down the necks of others, waiting for them to unplug and move on.

My little commuter flight to LAX also carried the three Aussies from Maske but they sat at the back of the plane so I didn’t speak to them. The seatbelt off sign had barely come on

In LAX I had 2 hours to fill in before the long haul home. The A380 to Sydney left just before my flight so after my 747 took off we were hit with quite a bit of turbulence as we were in the jet stream of either it or one of the other 3 Qantas flights departing at around the same time for Australia. Whichever one it was, it caused quite a few bumpy minutes. I’m a seasoned traveller but I was a little unnerved as it wasn’t like turbulence I’ve experienced in the past so I was glad when the Captain explained the cause.

November 2 2012 At sea

Feeling Blue

Our last day at sea and the weather is reflecting the mood on board – or at least mine – dismal. The final Good Morning Westerdam featured Jason, Ron (the Hotel Director) and Captain PJ and as always it was informative and entertaining.

Following on straight afterwards were travel trivia, team trivia and then the talk regarding departure procedures tomorrow morning. All non US citizens will be going through Immigration on board, starting at 7am.

A few months ago I came across a tip in a travel journal: as it is such a letdown to arrive home after a holiday and have to face unpacking, it was advised to have a bottle of bubbly chilled in the fridge with a few little treats like cheese and crackers, pate, etc. I thought this was great advice as I hate unpacking after my return, but as I was feeling down about having to pack today I also thought I might put it into practice here and now, especially as I still had some wine in my cabin’s fridge. So, with some brie and crackers to accompany the wine I packed up all my belongings in preparation for tomorrow’s departure. I must admit that it made the packing slightly more bearable!



The end of the cruise and the aft of the Westerdam
 - I got this idea from someone else's photo



At dinner tonight I shared a table with 5 others – two Canadians and 3 Germans. Although the German ladies spoke English, they conversed in German and excluded the Canadians and myself throughout dinner, with one odd exception. Towards the end of the meal when the dessert menu was presented, one of the dishes had a German name and one woman asked the Canadian lady to pronounce it, obviously hoping she would make a hash of it. The Canadian woman could speak Dutch so had no problem with the pronunciation which caught the Germans by surprise so they resumed talking amongst themselves and ignored us. As I said, odd! Fortunately for me, the Canadian couple were amiable dinner companions.

After dinner I saw the last guest talent show and then went onto the Farewell Variety Show with Mike Robinson, a comedian, and Dale Kristien, a singer, both of whom had performed earlier this week.  

I haven’t seen all the evening entertainment on board as some didn’t appeal to me. Often I would sit up the back in case I wanted to leave early but except for one occasion I found myself enjoying the shows and staying until the end. Quite a few others obviously have had the same thoughts as me and at some shows, especially Darren Williams’ performances, the people who were standing at the back of the theatre ended up finding seats after the first few songs until in the end there was only standing room in the theatre.

My luggage is now out in the corridor which is lined with suitcases of all colours and sizes, and the cabin is looking a little bare. I’ve really enjoyed this cruise so am feeling sad about leaving the ship. At leave I have put an open deposit down for another longish cruise.

November 1 2012 At sea

Winners and Losers

The winners of the 30 day cumulative team trivia were announced today and as we all expected, the team which has taken the lead from the very beginning won with the highest score Jason has seen before. Jason said that despite very close scrutiny there was never any evidence that they, or indeed any other team, did anything untoward. Obviously the rest of the teams have been suffering from trivia envy for having such unflattering thoughts about a team which has just been plain smarter than the rest of us.

For their win they each received a jacket with their team name embroidered on it. The two teams which tied for second received a Pinnacle lunch and the team who sat next to my team for the entire competition, were very excited to hear they came last. That hadn’t been their aim but they were awarded a certificate for a free lunch in the Lido with unlimited tea and coffee (which if you’re familiar with HAL, you will know that the Lido is complimentary anyway!)

Trish had a bottle of champagne so brought it along for our trivia team today. All I can say is, no wonder we don’t win! (We ended up 8^th out of 27 teams.)

Tonight was our last formal dinner which was followed by the Officers’ Black and White Ball. Unfortunately I have developed a sore throat so since I go back to work the day after I arrive back in Australia, I opted for room service and an early night.  I must say that I find the room service Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Sauce to be one of my favourite desserts.And in case you think otherwise, yes, I can still fit into my formal clothes so that wasn’t the reason I didn’t attend.

October 31 2012 At sea

Trick or … dessert!

It’s been harder to get out of bed in the mornings since Papeete – we’ve lost 3 hours over the last few days and as we put our clocks forward at night, that means less sleep unless you sleep in. Sunrise is later so I no longer have the sun to wake me naturally either.

This morning I attended a reception where 205 fellow passengers and I were recognised for earning our Copper Medallions. Apparently this is a HAL record and after the reception as we all headed off to lunch the ship listed to one side under the weight of all our hardware.

Today is also Halloween, which we don’t really get into back home in Australia so it was interesting to see the involvement around the ship. A few passengers were dressed in costume nearly all day. I have to admit I didn’t realise they were in costume until I saw them again later in the evening with all the other partygoers – I just thought they had a funny idea of cruise attire!

The dining room was decorated in black and orange with cobwebs and spooky ornaments, and this theme was carried on through the atrium and Queens Lounge. One of the arts and craft classes had been pumpkin carving so these were displayed for judging.



Above photos are of the Dining Room

Stryker, of Piano Bar fame, hosted a party in the Queens Lounge which was very crowded when it first started but once the main event approached, people went in search of their cameras for photo taking.

Stryker, DJ  Mario and 'The Queen of Hearts'

And the main event for Halloween …. a dessert gala at 9.30pm set out around the three storeys of the atrium and neighbouring bars. You would think after 4 weeks at sea the thought of more dessert would make us groan with boredom but apparently not!

October 30 2012 At sea

Serious Dosh

This morning’s guest with Jason for Good Morning Westerdam was Noel O’Driscoll, the Staff Captain. He gave some interesting insights into the workings of the Bridge. The Westerdam is often the first of the HAL fleet to introduce new things and it is now the first ship to trial an automated man overboard warning. Currently the only way to know if someone has gone overboard is if there is a witness/bystander or search of the ship doesn’t find someone. Sensors have been placed so that any movement over the railings can be monitored and adjustments have had to be made so that birds don’t set off the alarms.

Only two trivia sessions today – travel trivia this morning and the last day of the 30 day cumulative trivia. Needless to say, we did not come first in either but we’ve had a lot of fun.

I’ve been using my netbook throughout the cruise to access the internet and post this blog and finally today I got my iPad talking to the internet service. Apparently the brightness has to be turned up to maximum so that the battery has the power to pick up the signal (or something along those lines). At home I always have the brightness turned down as it chews up battery life, hence not being able to access the internet.

This evening Jennie, Carole, Norm and John from my trivia team and I had a leisurely dinner in the Canaletto restaurant – obviously with Italian cuisine. It’s always very pleasant to have good company and swap travel tales.

Back in Papeete I mentioned we were docked between some mega yachts and here are some photos of them.

Golden Odyssey

Pacific

Most passengers were very taken, and fascinated, with the super sleek  ‘Pacific’ which was right beside us, with its two heliports and own helicopter. We found out it is 2 years old, has 17 suites, is worth about $300 million and is privately owned by a very ‘under the radar’ Russian gentleman.

The ‘Pacific’ can be chartered for about $34,000 per week which sounded a lot until I worked out that if I shared the cost with others, filling up those suites, it would actually be quite reasonable. I’m sure though, that there would be very strict criteria as to who they chartered to and as I don’t have a Black Amex I guess I wouldn’t qualify.

This is probably more in my price range – but not as appealing!

October 29, 2012 At sea

Fish of the Day

A good cabin steward is worth his weight in gold and Agus, who looks after my cabin, tapped on my door at 7.13  this morning with all my clothes, washed, pressed and hung on hangars. He had to listen to my tale of woe last evening and he came through for me! It’s amazing how a whole wardrobe of clean clothes makes the day look brighter.

We crossed the Equator today as we head back north so King Neptune had to preside over the ceremony to judge the Pollywogs (those who haven’t crossed the Equator before) to ensure our continued safe passage. With political correctness nowadays, only crew are subjected to the trial, sentence and punishment. It was a lot of fun, especially watching the crew that we have come to know after nearly 4 weeks at sea, submit to kissing the fish (a Dolphin fish or Mahi Mahi), get dragged along tables for treatment by ‘medical staff’ which included being covered in pasta and soft meringue, and finally go into the pool.

For obvious reasons the after pool was closed for the remainder of the day for cleaning.

A huge seafood buffet was on offer around the mid Lido pool with Alaskan crab legs and barbecued lobster. As someone who unfortunately is allergic to shellfish this area was off limits to me except for taking a few photos.

This afternoon I attended another public forum, this time on Astronomy and Star Gazing. The talk was mainly about celestial navigation, so although informative, wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I did learn a few interesting little tidbits which might prove helpful in star gazing in general.

As I didn’t have a big lunch today, I was a little peckish so dropped by Chocolate Seduction, the Westerdam’s chocolate bar, for a treat and came away with a small selection of enjoy back in my cabin. Why haven’t I been coming here more regularly?

This evening’s entertainment was an encore of our recent Australian acts – Maske and Darren Williams. I think this is the first cruise I have been on where the Aussie entertainers and crew outnumber the Aussie passengers.

October 28, 2012 At sea

Dire Straits

Today’s activities were pretty trivial – or rather trivia: travel trivia, the normal 30 day cumulative trivia and showstorm trivia. And I’m sorry to report that my teams didn’t fare well in any of them. The travel trivia, which I normally excel at, was based on knowledge from this cruise, requiring answers to questions such as which atoll was the County of Roxborough wrecked on, etc. I knew the name of the wreck but not the very forgettable atoll where it landed up, and the other questions were just as obscure (if you hadn’t been attending the port lectures or listening to Jason’s commentary). The showstorm trivia was a pictorial/aural based trivia on sports stars, musicals and movie stars and we didn’t do too badly, but didn’t win. We are still holding position in the cumulative trivia.

We had a farewell Cruise Critic lunch today which the Westerdam Front Desk and dining staff did a wonderful job of supporting – individual invitations delivered a few days ago, A3 vellum menus, mimosas, etc. Most of my trivia team sat together so that might be why we didn’t do so well after imbibing several mimosas.

It was nearly a case of ‘eenie meenie minee mo’ this afternoon. I had the difficult decision to attend the cupcake afternoon tea or participate in the ‘On Deck for the Cure’ 5km walk which raises money for breast cancer research through participants making a donation of at least $15 and receiving a t-shirt and pink wristband.

I chose the walk and finally got my joggers and exercise gear out of hibernation. 5km is 9 laps of the Promenade Deck and I am happy to say that I completed the 9 laps easily, even jogging the last 2 as a fellow passenger had to finish quickly in time for a pedicure appointment and I kept pace with her. I’m now feeling guilty that I haven’t been doing at least this every day.

Afterwards pink lemonade and fresh fruit was served, although I think they could have at least saved a few of the cupcakes, but maybe they were focussing on healthier alternatives.

After working up a sweat my gym clothes were no longer my last set of clean clothes so I rang to confirm what time my laundry would be returned this evening. Horror of horrors, there has been a mix-up and my laundry bag has been sitting unwashed in the bowels of the ship for the last 2 days – and with the usual turnaround, I probably won’t have it back now until the day after tomorrow. Although I have handwashed some items, they usually don’t dry completely overnight but I quickly scrambled and am hoping that at least one top will be dry by morning.

October 27, 2012 Nuka Hiva

Nuka where?

Now that we are heading back to San Diego, we had to put our clocks forward 30 minutes last night before our arrival into Nuka Hiva. It was an unusual amount but tomorrow night and over the next couple of few days we will lose an hour each day until we are back on Pacific time.

Something else which has happened with travelling back in an north-easterly direction is that my cabin now gets the morning sun instead of the sunsets I was getting on the way down. I much prefer to see sunrise and go out onto the balcony in the morning rather than having the hotter afternoon sun come onto the balcony and into the cabin.

Today Sandy, a Cruise Critic member, arranged a private tour of Nuka Hiva, part of the Marquesas Islands, for 24 of us. After tendering ashore together as a group we met Jocelyn, our local guide, and boarded a mini bus. HAL offered a similar, although shorter and most costly, tour but as there is a scarcity of public transport on the island, their tour group was divided between a number of 4WDs and went in convey around the island’s top spots, only receiving the commentary when they were all together at a site. We, on the other hand, were able to listen to Jocelyn as we travelled from one spot to the next.

For those passengers who couldn’t do a tour, they really missed out on seeing a very lush and scenic island. As mentioned, HAL’s tour was limited to just over 100 passengers and with our tour of 24, which meant that a lot of passengers were mainly restricted to staying in the small port unless they went to a nearby resort for a swim.

For the most part I enjoyed our tour, even though I was sitting near the rear of the bus, over the wheel, concertinaed in without much leg-room. This wasn’t what detracted from the tour (any bus has to be more comfortable than my African overland trip last year). What upset a few others and myself were a couple of our fellow passengers who were very rude, especially to our guide, and for the most part it was totally unwarranted.

Nevertheless, Nuka Hiva was an interesting island with horses and goats tethered along the roadsides and very high scenic vantage points. We even stopped to overlook the beach where ‘Survivor Marquesas’ was filmed. Apparently it looked very isolated when the survivors arrived by sea – little did they know that they were only about 2 miles away from stores selling wine, soft drinks and food!

Just as we arrived back in the port, the heavens opened up and it rained. Most people queued to go back to the ship by tender so there was a long wait, with many passengers having to stand in the rain.

I had 18750 CPF to spend (about US$18.75) as it wouldn’t be worth taking home so I visited the local craft stalls. By the time I walked from stall to stall and then up to the supermarket I was well and truly resembling a half drowned rat. I did, though, make a couple of purchases so that I have come away with 7 CPF (7 cents) left.

Once I got back on the ship, it was after 4.30 pm so I raced up to the Lido to grab a slice of pizza as a late lunch then hit the shower. My dilemma was that I put just about all my clothes in for laundry service this morning so left myself only two days’ worth of clean clothes to last until my laundry comes back tomorrow evening. With today’s clothes wet, I had to change into my outfit for tomorrow, hand washing today’s clothes and hoping they dry by tomorrow morning.

October 26, 2012 At sea

Wrecked

After six busy days in port, it’s a welcome relief to have a sea day, although there will be more in store soon.

This morning all around the indoor Lido pool area towel animals were sunning themselves. I’m still not quite sure why unless they were to advertise a towel folding seminar this afternoon.

We made a slight detour to an atoll where a ship, The County of Roxborough, had been wrecked back in 1906. The hull has remained well preserved all these years, even after a fire several decades ago. Most of the crew survived although there was some loss of life among the crew.

Just prior to the start of the 30 day team trivia challenge, Jason reminded everyone that no cheating using smartphones etc. was allowed. Coincidentally, one team is no longer getting those very high scores anymore and other teams are now starting to close the gap. Unfortunately for my team, we are not closing the gap but are holding onto our position in the top quarter (just) of the field.

Some things on the daily program I haven’t got around to doing, either through lack of inclination or clashing with something else. This afternoon, for only the second time I made it to afternoon tea which really is a pleasant way to meet new people over cake, scones and tea.

Tonight’s entertainment was another Aussie, Darren Williams, who gave a ‘Poperatic’ show – everything from opera to pop – and he was excellent. There really have been some great performances on this cruise and Jason mentioned in a Good Morning Westerdam session that on longer cruises they try to get top of the line acts, as compared with shorter cruises where the budget and audience are different. This probably explains why this is the best entertainment I've seen on any cruise.

October 25 2013 Papeete, Tahiti

Can’t get enough of this water

Today was my last opportunity for snorkelling on this cruise so I booked a lagoon excursion through the ship. Today’s adventure offered something a little different. On the way out to our first snorkelling stop, we came across spinner dolphins near the harbour entrance so we circled around and watched them for a while.

Our first stop for snorkelling was over two wrecks – a crashed Cessna and an old boat. Some dived down to them but I’ve found in this very salty water I’m too buoyant and I would need a weight belt to go down the 15-20 feet necessary to see the wrecks close up. There were also coral reefs nearby with lots of fish and bright blue clams.

Our final stop was relatively shallow, although it was over my head when I jumped in. There was a swim to deeper water to where the coral gardens were and I found more varieties of fish I hadn’t come across earlier in the week. At least I bought a fish identifier yesterday so for the most part I now know what I’m looking at: several different varieties of triggerfish, butterflyfish and wrasse; convict surgeonfish (I’d like to know who gave them that name), scissor-tail sergeants, lemonpeel angelfish, forceps fish, flutemouths, golden jacks and parrot fish – and some I haven’t been able to identify. Combined with what I have seen at the other snorkelling sites, I’ve seen quite a range of tropical fish this week and have enjoyed following a particular fish to watch and photograph it but the photography proved more difficult than I had thought with fish darting one way while the current pulls me in the opposite direction.

Again, I was so thankful I had my own fins as they made swimming in the current effortless. Apart from the first trip in Raiatea, none of the other companies provided fins and these just made the snorkelling so much easier. In all locations I haven’t noticed much difference between air and water temperature.

I should mention that all my underwater photos were taken while I was floating on the surface looking down, so as long as someone can stay afloat they will have great viewing.

We left Papeete mid-afternoon for the Marquesas which we will reach the day after tomorrow. If it wasn’t for the daily Explorer, the on-board daily program, I would have no idea what day it is.

This evening’s entertainment was Maske, an Australian electric string trio who played cross-over music, i.e. classical, pop, country and western etc. I went to the second show and they had a good turnout who enjoyed their performance. 

October 24 2012, Papeete, Tahiti

French flavours

I woke up to clear skies and calmer seas so Captain PJ and the pilot had no trouble in bringing the Westerdam into the pier in Papeete, where we are now docked between two mega yachts.

 

Originally we were to sail out of Papeete this afternoon at 3pm so I hadn’t planned on any excursions here except a self-guided walking tour of the town. With the change in itinerary we now depart at 3pm tomorrow so to make the most of my time in port I booked excursions for both days.

Today’s excursion was a 4WD along the coast before turning inland to view several waterfalls along the lush valley. After my experience in Bora Bora, when my group was asked if anyone wanted to sit up front with the driver I jumped at the chance – padded seat, seatbelts and air-conditioning. Plus, I could look out the front windscreen and see where we were going instead of clinging to the rear tyre to keep from sliding off the seat! We were in a convey of 3 4WDs and our driver had only joined the company two weeks ago so was being very cautious on the potholed roads with his precious cargo of tourists. He also wanted to practice his English so we chatted most of the trip.

  

  

With Tahiti’s lush interior, I found that practically all of the vegetation is not native to the island but are introduced species which have taken over from the original plant life. Likewise, years ago a species of bird was introduced to eradicate pests but unfortunately the pests came out at night when the birds weren’t active so the birds attacked native birds’ eggs for food, so virtually all of the native birdlife on Tahiti has been eradicated instead.

While the tour showed us another aspect of Tahiti away from the town, I don’t think it offered a lot in the way of scenery apart from a few waterfalls which weren’t particularly remarkable.

When we were dropped off back at the port, I had a stroll around the town. I was interested to see how much French influence there was but apart from the language, a few small clothing stores and a patisserie, there wasn’t a lot. I had a laugh though in the local markets where you could buy prepared baguettes for lunch – fish and chip baguettes and barbeque chicken and chip baguettes –with gravy! Although some locals were buying them, I’m sure there would be thousands of horrified epicureans back in France

The roads around the port were the busiest we have encountered since leaving Honolulu but I found the drivers were very courteous, stopping as soon as pedestrians approached the crossings. The only time I found this not to be the case was a young driver on a mobile phone who zoomed straight through as I was crossing, even though cars in other lanes had stopped for me.

All my excursions on this cruise I have deliberately booked for the morning, figuring that there was more chance of heavier tropical rain in the afternoon. This might be flawed reasoning on my part but it has worked out well for me. In Mo’orea I avoided the heavy afternoon rain which deterred snorkelers from going in the water and I met fellow passengers who did the 4WD tour this afternoon –and got drenched. We only had a light sprinkle for a few minutes in the valley this morning (which didn’t affect me as I was in the enclosed cab) but apparently it poured this afternoon.

This evening local musicians and dancers came on board and performed in the Vista Lounge. The group, called Hitireva, proved a hit with the passengers and the theatre was packed.

October 23 2012 Mo’orea, French Polynesia

Bali Hai

Another breakfast enjoyed on my balcony – I’m ensuring that I make the most of the balcony as I paid so much for it! And what a beautiful location - Mo'orea was used for the setting of Bali Hai in 'South Pacific'.

This morning I had booked a shore excursion through Holland America - Motu Beach Picnic and Ray Feeding. After tendering ashore (we moored in Cook Bay although James Cook never stopped there – he anchored in the neighbouring bay) we transferred to one of two flat bottomed boats. The morning was overcast and stayed that way as we made our first stop in part of the lagoon where there were a number of sting rays and black tipped reef sharks. The sting rays had to compete for the food as circling birds would swoop done and take it out of our guide’s hand before the rays moved in.

We then went on and stopped at a motu where tables and chairs had been set up on the shore. Like Tahaa, there were coral beds between two neighbouring motus. Masks and snorkels were provided if wanted but once again I had my own gear and, again, the fins have proved to be worthy every cent as I was able to effortlessly view the tropical fish for long periods. Before lunch while it was still overcast I saw a lot of fish, but after lunch when the sun came out, more varieties of fish seemed to emerge from the coral. This location offered the most variety of tropical fish I have seen in French Polynesia – and even a greater variety than I have seen anywhere before in my travels. I’m going to have to buy a book on identifying them, even though it will be after the fact.

Lunch was a simpler barbeque than with Patrick – chicken, fish, sausages and salad – but when you’ve been in the water so much, anything is welcome.

There really wasn’t much at the tender area, so I headed back to the ship for a shower. When I came out it was raining in earnest and I was so glad that I did a morning excursion. It was nice, though, listening and watching the rain for a change as we really haven’t seen much so far on this cruise.

We had just 3 hours to cruise to Papeete but the weather turned worse and after two attempts to enter near Papeete, Captain PJ and the local pilot decided not to try a third time because of strong winds, rough seas and the narrow channel entrance. Instead we will stay offshore tonight and the Westerdam will try again early tomorrow morning when it is light.

On another note, today I received my copper medallion, recognising my 100 sea days I have cruised with HAL, along with an invitation to a pre brunch reception and then the usual Mariners Society brunch.