October 22 2012 Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Another day in Paradise

As there was no early morning sail-in today, I started the day with breakfast on my balcony. How neat is that! My neighbours don’t seem to use their balconies much so I was able to enjoy the early morning in solitude.

Today I had another excursion booked through Patrick, a 4WD tour of the island. Eight of us joined Frank, our driver, as we set off around Bora Bora. All was good until we hit the offroads – narrow, steep, rocky, rutted roads with roller coaster elements at times. I soon found out that I was sharing the back of the jeep with some screamers – and I was one of them. I sat at the back of one of the side benches so that I could take photos but it was also in this position that you tended to get squashed as the jeep went uphill and everyone slid into you. Going downhill, I had to cling onto the back tyre so that I didn’t slide downwards. All up, an adventurous, fun ride but definitely not recommended for someone with back problems or suffering from motion sickness.

Our tour stopped at two vantage points, first to look at WWII cannons put in to protect the island from the Japanese, and the second with a great view of the lagoons, where we had a snack of fresh mangos and finger bananas.

Like yesterday, we circumnavigated the island, this time by land, stopping for a quick photo stop at Bloody Marys on the way back to the port.

Once back at the Vaitape, I had a look around the small town but black pearls, shell jewellery and paroes didn’t really interest me (been there, done that) so I took a few photos and then stopped in the supermarket and bought a few supplies. You’d think that with such a great supply of food on the ship you wouldn’t need anything else but sometimes it’s nice to have something savoury (i.e. Pringles) to snack on in your cabin while you’re watching a movie.

I went out onto the bow to watch the sailaway from Bora Bora, a beautiful sight.

Ship's bell out on the bow

October 21 2012 Bora Bora, French Polynesia

Swimming with the fishes

I was up on deck early this morning for our entry into Bora Bora’s lagoon where we are now ‘anchored’ in the middle of what was once the crater of the volcano. Similar to some of the islands we have visited on this cruise, only the outer rim of the volcano survives, and in the case of Bora Bora the surrounding volcanic peaks are very lush and picturesque. In the town of Vaitape roosters could be heard crowing and as it is Sunday the sound of singing in the churches carried across the water.

Today I joined a privately organised tour which Sherrie arranged through Patrick (Maohi Nui) who has the reputation of offering the best excursion in Bora Bora, and his outing certainly lived up to this. Our group was divided between three motorised ‘outriggers’, 12 people in each, and then we were off across the lagoon to our first stop, snorkelling with black tipped reef sharks.

We then moved on to a shallower part of the lagoon where we were able to stand in chest-deep water as sting rays came in to be fed by Patrick. The sting rays feel like wet velvet as they move past you or stop for you to skim your hand along their back. These adult rays are used to being handled – and kissed by Patrick – so we just shuffled around as they swam around us.

Our final snorkelling stop was near a coral reef. Once again, having my own fins was a great advantage because I could stay in longer and the slight current didn’t bother me as it did some others. I kept close to the reef where there was a greater variety of fish including lots of parrot fish, trigger fish, saddled butterfly fish and even a Moorish idol (which moved too quickly into the coral for me to take a photo of it.

All this sea air and activity helped us work up an appetite for lunch which was held on Patrick’s private motu. A pig had been pit roasted, along with a chicken dish, and there was also barbequed lobster and yellowfish tuna steaks, poi, plantain, etc., all served on banana leaf plates, and accompanied by French champagne, (or Mimosas for most of the women), beer and soft drink. If that wasn’t enough, picnic tables and chairs with shade umbrellas had been set up in the water with fabulous views over the lagoon to the Bora Bora peaks across the way.

By the end of the excursion we had circumnavigated the main part of Bora Bora, had been well fed and had seen lots of marine life.

After a shower to get all that salt out of my hair and a nap to recover from all that fresh air and activity, I went in search of dinner and discovered that tonight there was a Polynesian barbeque on the outside Lido deck (I should read the daily program more closely).

All up, a big thumb’s up for the day!

NB. All above photos were taken with the Canon Powershot D20, an underwater compact camera which I'm quite pleased with.

October 20 2012 Raiatea, French Polynesia

Follow My Drift

This morning, not long after sunrise, we arrived at the island of Raiatea on the first day of six in French Polynesia and I was up on the outside viewing deck in front of the gym to get a bird’s eye view as we sailed past motus (small islands) and waterfront homes on the way to the pier where we were to dock.

Today I had booked through Holland America to do their Coral Garden Drift snorkelling excursion and what a wonderful choice that turned out to be. The trip was limited to two boats of 12 people each, plus our guide and driver. We had a 30 minute boat ride out to Tahaa, skimming across the most inviting turquoise waters, past over the water bungalow hotels, yachts and reefs.

The coral drift is done between the two motus above

  

Once at the motu we waded ashore and walked along the coral sand to the beginning of the drift between two motus which had lots of coral between them. Our guide Maryanne went in first and swam out about 5 metres and then we followed her at 3 metre intervals. The current was fairly fast so all we had to do was put our heads down to view the coral and tropical fish only an arm’s distance below us and keep track of the fins of the person in front of us to guide us through the coral. Once at the other end where the smaller motu finished, we got out and walked back to repeat this great experience. The second time the current was going much faster so I found I had to use my fins more to ensure I kept following the correct route to avoid landing up on coral – which would have been extremely painful! My snorkelling gear ended up being a great investment because those provided by the operators weren’t always the best fitting for the other participants.

Back on board our boat we had a fresh platter of tropical fruits – papaya, finger bananas, coconut and grapefruit – to refresh ourselves on the way back to the dock.

This was a great outing and I would highly recommend it to confident swimmers and snorkelers.

After showering to get the salt out of my hair, I had lunch in the Lido before going back ashore to have a look around the town. It’s Saturday and most stores closed at lunchtime so only half of the sleepy town was open. I found that the most interesting stores were the local supermarkets where I went expecting to see some French delicacies but was surprised to see Australian wines, Tim Tams and Bega cheese alongside their more expensive French counterparts.

Although the town was very much an island settlement it had touches of Gallic charm with its wrought iron lamp posts reminiscent of those found in Paris, and of course, the French gendarmes walking along the streets.

Just before sunset we set sail (not figuratively) for Bora Bora. I’ve never cruised out of one port before where you can see the next port in the distance – it is that close. (Where we snorkelled today would probably have been half way between Raiatea and Bora Bora.)

 

October 19 2012 At sea

The Good Morning Westerdam talk today was with Captain PJ (von Maurik) so quite a crowd turned up. I’m really enjoying these informal talks as they can be very informative. One subject that was discussed was the medical evacuation from Christmas Island. We knew that a plane had to be sent from Hawaii but I didn’t know that the US Coast Guard was called in and that they organised for a Hercules to fly in to take the patient to Honolulu.

My trivia team thought we were going so well today until we got to some sticky questions towards the end. One question we did get correct though (and not many others did) was which two kings had Eleanor of Aquitaine married. I’m very interested in genealogy and have recently traced back one line to the Plantagenets and Eleanor so we aced this question. Fortunately for us, our rival team didn’t do so well either (not that I’m keeping score).

One activity which we have on this cruise which I haven’t seen before is the ‘Public Forum’. Those passengers who have a special interest or hobby they would like to share in a seminar are invited to register their interest. One such forum took place today by an author/writer who gave a Q&A workshop on writing your memoire.

Apparently Marilyn gave an initial talk yesterday and it generated so much interest that she was asked to give another talk today. Even though I missed yesterday’s talk, I still found today’s talk useful, so much so that I came back to my cabin and worked on my journal (apart from the online blog I keep a personal journal with watercolour sketches).

As I got carried away with my work, I decided to order a light room service dinner tonight. I’ve also been getting my gear ready for tomorrow when we finally reach land again, Raiatea, Tahiti, where I am booked to go on a drift snorkelling trip over coral gardens. The snorkelling gear I bought in Hawaii will finally get a work out!

October 18 2012 At sea

Parallel Universe (or Cruise)

I’m thoroughly enjoying this cruise with the beautiful tropical weather we are having during our sea days, just going with the flow and relaxing. Talking to some other passengers, though, I sometimes wonder if we are on the same cruise or if there is a parallel universe in force at the moment. There are a few passengers still unhappy with the unexpected change in itinerary or don’t think the service is up to standard, etc. and state that they won’t cruise on HAL again and so on. I’ve even heard one passenger imply that the change in ports was to save Carnival fuel costs. For myself though, I have received nothing but great service and I have no complaints about my cabin, or indeed the crew or the rest of the ship. In fact, the Westerdam is now my favourite HAL ship. My first cruise with HAL was on the old Westerdam so I have come full circle.

You know when there aren’t many Aussies on a cruise – no daily Australian news is printed – but I have discovered that I can go to the Front Desk each day and they will print a copy for me. At present on TV we are only receiving Fox News which is completely taken up with US politics. I had not realised before how heavily slanted their news is so with my little printout it is great to hear of news from the outside world. The internet is too slow and too expensive to sit and read the news online. 

I did hear though at the morning coffee talk with Ron, the Hotel Director, that as each HAL ship goes into drydock they are now being rewired so that internet and phone access is available from anywhere on the ship, including all cabins. Bandwidth is also being upgraded. Unfortunately the Westerdam missed out on this at the last drydock so will have to wait 14 months until the next drydock to have this upgrade.

I also heard (could be Chinese whispers) that a fix was applied in San Diego before the cruise left but didn't work out - and is thus worse than would normally be experienced.

Tonight, by popular demand, The Unexpected Boys performed again, this time singing a selection of Broadway songs. And like the first time, they received a standing ovation. Unfortunately they will be leaving the ship in Bora Bora. There go the dreams of many female passengers!

Next stop was Karaoke in the Queen’s Lounge. Participants ranged from very good, entertaining, good and those who looked as though they did it for a dare over a drink. Whatever the reason, I spent an enjoyable hour watching their performances. Some have signed up for the Westerdam Superstar competition which will be held later in the cruise.

October 17 2012 At sea

Groundhog Day

We’ve crossed back over the International Dateline so we are reliving yesterday by having two consecutive Wednesdays, but today the Westerdam is actually cruising. During the night we also crossed the Equator so we are now in the Southern Hemisphere. The Captain let us know that the passenger who was evacuated yesterday is now safely in a Honolulu hospital.

We’ve been informed that we will now be arriving in each of our Tahitian ports a day earlier with an extra overnight stop in Papeete – pity it couldn’t have been Bora Bora or Moorea instead! This has meant that those who have arranged the private tours we’re on have had to scramble and contact the tour contacts In Tahiti to try and reschedule the tours, which I’ve had confirmation that they were able to do. What a headache for Sherrie who has organised 4 tours in Bora Bora!

Our trivia team is ‘storming’ up the rankings, well, jumping from 11^th position to 6^th out of nearly 30 teams.

Later this afternoon I attended a Healthy Vices talk where Ruby, the Party Planner, discussed the benefits of red wine and dark chocolate – and naturally there were samples of both. As an unashamed chocaholic I enjoyed this presentation. As an aside, the Westerdam is the only Holland American ship which has a Chocolate Seduction bar where all drinks and treats are, naturally, made from chocolate. Surprisingly, I have not patronised this area yet but I intend to hit it in the next day or so.

This cruise I have splurged and booked a balcony and it has been on evenings like today where it has been worth every cent. With the large door and window space a lot of natural light comes flooding into the cabin but on sea days it is wonderful to sit on the balcony, enjoy the sea breeze and watch the sun set. Magic!

October 17, 2012 Christmas Island, Kiribati

Expect the unexpected

We arrived just off Christmas Island and watched a motorized outrigger bring several people out to the ship. Not what I was expecting to transport a critically ill person to shore! I was wrong though – two crew members with their luggage transferred to the outrigger and left for the shore – and we all waited to see what would happen next.

After an hour and a half I gave up and headed up to breakfast. We soon learnt that the plane for the medical evacuation from Papeete never turned up and other arrangements had to be made. Just after lunch we were informed that a plane would now come from Hawaii to take the passenger there instead but as medical facilities on Christmas Island were pretty basic, it was decided to keep the patient on the Westerdam until the plane arrived, which wasn’t until this evening.

So, we have spent the whole day sitting off Christmas Island. They did look into seeing if they could get passengers ashore during the day and while it would be possible by tender, there is nowhere for the tenders to dock.

With this unexpected delay, our itinerary has now had to be amended. We will no longer be visiting Raratonga where I had booked a private snorkelling excursion and we have yet to see how it will affect our visit to the French Polynesian ports – the dates could shift a day or two.

Most passengers have been understanding of the circumstances of this delay but there are a few who are vocal about their displeasure. As Jason has said though, preservation of life takes precedence over everything else.

On a lighter note, my trivia team tied for first today, and even better, beat our arch rivals! We are slowly moving up the ratings! We had done badly at the beginning of the competition because the questions were very American-centric but they are more general now and the playing field has levelled out.