New Zealand, Sydney and Wodonga

I left you pondering the mystery of the international date line. Well, two things happened. Firstly, we lost a day. Just like that. One day it was March 17th and the next day it was March 19th. Spooky. That was just about manageable until about a day later when we realised we hadn't actually reached 180 degrees from UK. So, sad sacks that we are, we sat watching the screen as the longitude seconds ticked by (I was ready to sing "Auld Lang Syne but was dissuaded...). As luck would have it, the screen flicked to something else at the crucial moment, so the best I have to show is this, seconds away from confusion. One second heading west, the next second, east.

Next stop was Auckland and what a lovely place that is. It was clean, bright and friendly - very refreshing - and we had a great trip to a winery and a brewery. Even managed to see a bit of an air show going on nearby. We had a bit of trouble finding somewhere to eat, even in the early evening. It seemed as if everyone was out on the streets. We were docked right in the middle of town again so here we are at night.

Next day, we arrived a little bit round the coast at Bay of Islands, famous because it is where the Waitangi treaty was signed between the Maoris and the Brits, giving the Brits sovereignty of their lands in return for recognition of their lands and rights. Needless to say, the Brits reneged although the Maori we met seemed strong and aware of preserving their culture and language. We had a tour of the lovely park and gardens in the treaty grounds then were treated to a show of singing and dancing by the local tribe, Ngapuhi.

Mike tried to get a pic of me with one of the scary young warriors but as you can see, he just looks a bit stunned. It's the Gaga effect......

We loved New Zealand and will definitely go back.

On to Sydney and the end of the cruise. Joy unbounded, we are free at last. We had an open-top bus trip round the city and saw places we hadn't seen before and other places from other angles.

It seemed amazingly busy after 3+ weeks at sea and it is just such a vibrant place. We went to the amazing Powerhouse museum where we saw everything fron the nose cone of the space shuttle to an iron lung. It was very interactive, even for us big kids. I risked life and limb in a zero gravity simulator but still don't know which way is up!

Bringing you all whizz-bang up to date, we arrived in Wodonga yesterday for our Oz tour. Mags was there to meet us though Bill had gone to the Melbourne Grand Prix. We heard it over the mobile........ Brrrrrrrm

We had a great day today - we went to the Hume Dam, which has lost 30% of its water

then on to some small local towns, Yacandanda and Beechworth. The buildings date from the late 19th century when there was a gold rush there.

In Beechworth, we saw the jail cell where Ned Kelly and his mum were held - men on the left, ladies in the right. Mags and I tried them for size but opted for the wide open spaces....

We also sent a real telegram to our two favourite little people, Ellis & Caitlin - you'll get it in the post at some stage!

We then visited a cheese tasting place - followed, of course, by a wine tasting place so guess what we are eating and drinking tonight!

Mags has just come back from walking Haggis & Neeps (the dogs) so I'll leave you now, mes petits chums. A bientot........

French Polynesia, 12th to 14th March

This time we only had to endure two days at sea before we reached Tahiti and docked right in the middle of the capital town, Papeete. It was great to see "civilisation" again, although we were less enthusiastic about the traffic. As befits French Polynesia, it is very........well, French. We could have been somewhere in the South of France. We went on a great off-road tour, not that we really left the road! The jeep needed 4WD just to manoeuvre the potholes. Here we are with the bay in the background.





It was an overcast day, although the sun did appear later, accompanied by swarms (literally) of mosquitoes. Well protected by Boots pungent but effective deterrent, I was smugly untouched. It is a volcanic island and we went into the caldera of the volcano and it is quite spectacular. There were also lots of waterfalls to see. We later went into town and Mike had his favourite meal, steak tartare. As we anticipated, a welcome break from ship food. C'etait bon.

Next day and a completely diffrent experience. We went to Moorea, an island 12km ftom Papaeete where we had a snorkel trip. First we went to see Sting Rays which are very tame and used to humans and it was amazing. Then our guide fed the reef sharks and Mike got to try out his new underwater camera, with excellent results.





However, it was fairly disappointing as we then went on, supposedly to snorkel on the reef but as we were in a lagoon we had to wade quite a distance to get to the coral. The current was quite strong and as we weren't allowed to have fins, I found it difficult.

Next day - whew, three days ashore in a row! And if it's Saturday, it must be Bora Bora. This was the least interesting of the three. The island is only 17 miles in circumference and they managed to drag the tour out for 3 hours. It is also in a lagoon but the colours of the sea were the most dramatic sight. It was an American base during the war and was the inspiration for the book and film "South Pacific" (which was apparently shot in Hawaii). Nonetheless, some enterprising soul set up "Bloody Mary's Bar and Restaurant", all palm roofs, famous signatures and the ubiquitous t-shirt shop.

So a busy few days. But guess what? We head for Rarotonga and does the weather not decide it's time to make yours truly ill again? I was in bed by 5pm, wishing I could go home. Struggled up at 6am, showere and going out of the door when the announcement comes that as the swells are 2m high, the sea is very rough and they are expecting thunderstorms, Sunday is cancelled. Back to bed....

Monday was much the same but thankfully today we have sunshine although we still have the rockin' & rollin'. That means we have 5 days at sea (groan.....) We have an interesting day ahead tomorrow, or should I say we won't have a day tomottow as tomorrow we cross the Date Line and lose a day. Even Captain Kirkman can't quite work that one out. So tomorrow when you are having Wednesday, we will already be Thursday. Hmm, time for a lie down in a darkened room to ponder that one. Bye for now, mes amis xx

Easter and Pitcairn Islands

After another few days at sea, we reached Easter Island. Really looking forward to being on land again but what trial to get there!The ship anchored at sea and we had to get on a tender (one of the lifeboats). We were going up and down like a see-saw and risked life and especially limb to get on the bally thing. We had to go through huge waves to get through quite a rocky entrance to the harbour.

We visited several sites where the statues (or correctly, Moai) are. We had already had a talk about the history of the Island and how the natives had pretty much exhausted the land resources - there are very few trees even now. So it was very dry and dusty and as the bus was "air-cooled" we were soon rubbing dust from our eyes. It was a fascinating day and this is just one of the pictures of the Moai. I had to pass on a walk to a quarry where the biggest of the Moai (about 70ft high) is still in the rock, which was a pity.

Then we had another couple of days at sea to reach Pitcairn Island. Here is our first sight of it.

We knew we would not be going ashore and that the Islanders would be coming on board. The sea was very high again and they had to try both sides of the ship before they could board. Here they are coming round, just under our balcony.

The day before we watched the Mel Gibson/Antony Hopkins film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and one of Fletcher Christian's descendants (she looked nothing like our Mel...) gave us a talk on what life is like on the island, There are only 50 people on the tiny, rocky island, most of whom are directly descended from the mutineers. What is really fascinating is that they speak perfect English - on this speck in the ocean! They were very friendly and we felt quite emotional when they sailed off.

So apart from one day on Easter Island, we have been on board every day. Luckily, the weather has improved significantly and we have been sitting out on the deck. I even got in the pool yesterday!

We are looking forward to having quite a bit of time on Tahiti, where we actually get to dock. We don't leave until the following morning so after our tour we are going back into town - for a long-awaited change of menu!

Au revoir, mes braves (we are in French Polynesia now), a bientot.........

En Route to Easter Island, Tuesday 3rd March

Ay up, chucks,
Seems like a long time since we caught up.......so where we? Ah yes, crossing the Andes. The view was quite spectacular and as Santiago is in a valley, we had stunning views coming in to land. Here is one.......





Santiago was quite disappointing. We had a day to ourselves but discovered that excitement and travel had caught up with us so we gave in to lounging about by the (tiny) pool.

Next day we set off for a city tour, the highlight of which was really the political background – Chile had a military government until fairly recently. Our guide was quite informative and said that while in Argentina we shouldn’t mention the Malvinas (we did, but I think we got away with it :-)), in Chile we shouldn’t talk politics. Senor Pinochet, of immortal memory, might be listening in....

The day after that was much more interesting – I had always wanted to go to Valparaiso and boy, I was not disappointed. It was the main port for Chile until the capital was moved to Santiago and it is a very shabby, down at heel old lady (yes, I know, I can hear you – a bit like me!!) but there was a surprise round every corner. The houses are all painted in different, vibrant colours and it is built on a hill on a large bay.




We boarded the ship and the highlight of the trip so far was the view over a darkened Valparaiso. I am really disappointed we stayed in Santiago rather than go there.

So now we are aboard....after taking full advantage of the (free?) drinky poos, we go to bed tired but happy. During the night, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling nudges my fuzzy brain. What’s this? Some sort of funfair ride? Oh no, chums........the Pacific had decided to do an Atlantic and while not up to the QM’s 100ft waves, it was trying its best. All I can say is that the next day or so has been spent trying to keep my eyes on the horizon, drinking ginger ale. I had to get some seasickness pills. Horrible.

But today is sunny with only a slight side-to-side swell so that’s better. Other slight problem is that we expected sub-tropical temperatures and packed accordingly. Guess what? I have 1 pair of jeans and 1 cardigan – yesterday was 16 degrees, today about 20. I have cranked the heating up, much to the scorn of ‘im indoors.

Yesterday, we stopped at Robinson Crusoe island and despite my debilitated state, I struggled up, ready to go out and face the pirates. However, the weather was so bad they wouldn’t let us go ashore so the pirates came to us. (Thinks – if it’s too dangerous for us, how can they do it? Ah yes, the yankee dollar) Cynical? Moi?

We went to a very interesting talk today – Jean-Michel Cousteau on the effects of devastation on the Pacific islands by global pollution – on one beach they found debris from 52 different countries and seabirds dead from eating fishing nets, bottle caps etc. Heartbreaking......

Well, that’s it for now, mes braves. Trivia @ 4:30 – we have been head-hunted for a team we were sitting next to yesterday. They begged Mike to join but you all know who has the brains in this outfit :-) Hasta luego......