17 February 2008 Bay of Islands, New Zealand

17th February 2008, Bay of Islands, New Zealand

After an overnight cruise from Auckland, we awoke to find ourselves in Waitangi harbour, the site of the treaty between Britain and the local Maori folk. The scenery was stunning and not too dissimilar to Falmouth harbour in that it was a drowned river estuary. However, unlike Falmouth, this area was studded with many islands, some tiny, others medium sized and inhabited. All the surrounding towns, such as Paihia and Russell were really overgrown villages only and the whole area was fabulous.

We had elected to do a tour with the ship because we were tendered off - we didn't know to where - and had been advised that the only way to see this area was by boat. Hence we selected the boat tour. Fortunately, there were less than fifty of us and we all fitted easily into a 165 seater catamaran which was to be our home for over four hours.

Our guided tour included a newspaper delivery, two jettys, flash landing wharfs (with tunnels to pricey properties) and even a bucket where the paper was pulled ashore from a pylon by electric motor. Some of these second homes were stunning. We saw many islands, New Zealand's answer to the Giant's Causeway - the area, too, was volcanic - and a huge hole in the rock on Motukokako through which the cat passed to much cheering. We finished up on Urupukapuka where we walked to the top of the highest hill and took a 360degree panorama. Photos are better than words for this day.

In summary, New Zealand was a big hit.

16 February 2008 Auckland, New Zealand

16th February 2008, Auckland, New Zealand

What a great day. After the frustrations of the trip on Fiji, we decided not to take the trip to Waitamo Gloworm Caves but to rent a car and do it ourselves, and the volcanic areas near Rotorua if that were possible. We arrived a good hour and a half after our due time and did not disembark until 8.30. However, we were lucky to spot our car rental office on the downtown Auckland map plus it was only 5 mins from the wharf.

We had agreed a car share with a couple of other passengers, Dave and Pat. We were in the outer suburbs of Auckland by 9.00 and after an uneventful ride south on highways 1 and 39 arrived at Waitamo by 11.00. The roads had been empty, as was the countryside - we bypassed Hamilton - and a typical village comprised a filling station, general store, school and community hall; all very British. Things hotted up within a km or 2 from the cave and we even saw 3 coaches, having overtaken our cruise coach some 5km previously. We were processed very quickly and in the cave on our guided tour within 10 minutes of purchasing our tickets. I guess this site gets busy because the management and tour length we obviously measured to achieve fairly high throughput. The first part was the usual stalactites and stalagmites before we had a taster of the glow worms in a darkened area. Finally we were taken down for a pitch black underground ride on a boat pulled along a series of wires. The whole ride was 'lit' by thousands of glow worms Arachnocampa luminosa to give them their correct appellation. This led us back to the outside where we followed the river back to the car park. Certainly worth the trip; and we were through by noon.

And so, to the cross country trip to thermal territory. Although this was not as far it took longer as for much of the time we were on minor roads. Furthermore, the scenery was quite wild. Despite being about half way down North Island, we felt we could have been in Norway or Switzerland. We weren't particularly high but we were completely surrounded by pines and fast rivers and lakes. Eventually, we reached the real back woods and had to rely on signs. Despite M's better judgment we took a turn along Waikite Valley Road to come across valley side releasing steam like and old engine - or at least, like we'd seen on the Azores. Eventually, there was steam escaping in the valley bottom as we had come upon the Wikite Valley thermal pools. These people had captured the (very) hot thermal waters and channelled them into a series of swimming pools. Not having our costumes, but feeling rather cheeky, we asked the owner where we could find the Wai-o-Tapu pools and geysers to find we were only 6kms short.

12 February 2008 Fiji & Deck Party

12th February 2008, Fiji

We had previously decided to do a Rainforest Walk in Fiji on the second visit and this may not have been the best of choices. We went on a ship's tour to Cola-i-Suva Forest Park a dozen or so kms from the capital - along with three coach loads of fellow cruisers. We hate big tours - it takes the edge off the trip and slows us down to the speed of the slowest. The walk was ok. Essentially, we followed a stream down a valley in the rainforest past a dozen or so locations where the stream was dammed to form waterfalls and smallish rock pools, in the last of which it was possible to swim; we didn't but 20 or 30 did! The trail was busy and somewhat littered and this, too, took the edge off the trip. We were through by 11.30, but then had a walk back to the buses. We were then taken to a lodge for a soft drink and cakes and to be treated by local people - notionally Melanesians in traditional costume - to tribal dances. This was a farce as it was necessary to pass the dancers to gain entry so progress was snail's pace. We quit the queue after 20 minutes and went round the back to the poolside veranda. All very touristy, but for no obvious advantage as there were no commercial outlets. It was also a waste of an hour or so as we didn't get back to MSVG until around 1.30.

Had lunch on the ship and in the afternoon we posted our blogs. Having not done this for quite a while - since Manta - there were a lot to post. We also needed to make contact with our friend in Sydney - Andy Spencer - and book flights for Oz and Car Hire for NZ and Taz. So, this took up a couple of hours. Having been round Suva extensively on the previous trip we were not inclined to repeat the exercise so went back to the ship around 5 and ate onboard.

In the evening, the same dance troupe as we had previously seen came on board for a repeat show. We gave this a miss as there was only one showing and the lounge gets very crowded if there aren't two shows; it's too small to cope. Afterwards, though, there was a Fiji Deck party. This got off to a bad start as it was absolutely pouring down. But, the rain soon stopped and the party going. We wore the same garb as last time and the usual exhibitionists went in a parade for the best costume. Not a bad end to the day. Fiji is ok, but I'm not sure we'd rush back.

30 January 2008 Cross International Date Line

Friday 1st February 2008 - Disappears!

7 February 2008 Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia

7th February, Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia

Second attempt, having been completely washed out on our first visit, to take in reputedly the world's most beautiful island, a volcanic peak surrounded by a fringing reef of coral with many motu housing an array of luxury resort hotels and an airport.

The island was amongst the smaller ones we have visited and takes less than a couple of hours to go round - with stops. The coast road is, for the most part flat or flattish with gradients only at a couple of peninsular cut throughs. On our arrival at 9.00am we decided to take a group taxi around the island for $30 apiece with a guide, Pascal, a local born in Paris where he spent his early years. M & D sat at the front of the vehicle so had excellent views of the island. The fist stop after leaving Vaitape was at Faanui, a small settlement with a smart protestant church and a good view, cloud covered of course, of Mt Otemanu. We continued clockwise to our next stop at Marae Fare Opu - pleasant enough but not on the scale of the Ra'iatea marae. We were stopped 15 minutes for the insertion of a water main across the unmade main road - time is of no consequence to these folk - before continuing on our way around the largely rural island with a few small villages. Along the whole route we had excellent views of Marlon Brando's pad - now owned by his wife - the lagoon and the motu with the posh hotels.

About three quarters of the way around, we reached the village of Matira which, on the main island, is where the remainder of the luxury resort hotels are located - for the singular reason that the lagoon is sufficiently deep here to facilitate excellent swimming. We stopped at and were shown the only public beach on the island of which more later. Our final stop was at Bloody Mary's which, we understand from those intrepid folk who went round the island in the rain on our last visit, was then closed. What a pity; it was a very fine eatery and bar - at a price - with an extremely rude handle on the flush in the gents toilets. Needless to say, it was impossible for the guys to get in as all the women on our and other taxi tours were all in there to take photographs. We took the usual photo's at the stopover. We finally returned to Vaitape about 11.30 after the various stops and determined to take a lagoon trip in the afternoon.

This started at $70 for a 4 hour trip on M's first asking but eventually came down to $60 (each of course) subsequently. D could not lower this price and, in fact, was told the trip would be $60 for a 3 hour trip around a single motu - starting at 1.30 or as soon as they could get 6 persons. At about 12.50 M went to finalise the negotiations during the middle of our picnic lunch to be told the lady had left for the day. She hadn't; we found her, but she told M they were not running the trip in the afternoon - we were their only punters. Anywhere else would run a small boat for $120 for three hours, but not in French Polynesia. (We were later told by a fellow passenger that Pacal had advised on our earlier trip that the locals will not drop their prices - they'll simply do without business. I think you'll all have the drift of this by now).

Not to be thwarted, we finished our picnic lunch and found a place to rent bicycles at about 2pm. We figured we had plenty of time for a nice ride given we weren't leaving until 7pm - but we didn't. The lady told us she was closing for the day at 4pm. Also, Mr Europcar was also closing at 4pm. Still, we took the bikes for 2 hours for $12 each and cycled back to the public beach. It was even better than we remembered from the morning - in fact the best beach in Polynesia - and fairly uncrowded. The sand was clean, the sea was clean, the weather completely cleared - even from the mountain top - and it was hot. We chatted to a couple from LA who were on a second cruise ship from whom we learned that they had to get their rental car back for 4pm! We swam for 45 glorious minutes and set back on our half hour ride back to Vaitape, stopping off at Bloody Mary's on the way where M did her videoing to complement the mornings more tasteful photos - attached. You will notice that with typical artistic flair and licence M has added M & D to the list of famous people who have visited the establishment - but you will only see this pic on the blog; it's not for real (Ed please note).

On returning the bikes with a couple of minutes to spare giving D time to photo the velo propensities of M, we decided to have a last beer - another Polynesian bargain at $5 for half a pint (just under a fiver a pint) - before returning to the MSVG. This did have the saving grace of spending as opposed to wasting our remaining Pacific Francs.

We should add that on both visits we thoroughly enjoyed French Polynesia. We cannot say for sure that we feel the same about the locals; some were very friendly but and equal number were indifferent or churlish. We can say for sure that it is far too expensive for an independent re-visit.

5 February 2008 - Ra'iatea, French Polynesia

5th February 2008, Ra'iatea, French Polynesia

A really interesting island and one that was added to our tour when Niue was cancelled for a second time because of inadequate landing facilities. However, this island was in no way a serious tourist centre - or at least - not for the beach brigade. Located about 25 kms short of Bora Bora, it was added between Tahiti and Bora Bora, maybe to provide a bit of a contrast which it certainly did.

The approach should have been interesting for those in the Navigation class in which D assisted earlier in the trip. MSVG had a difficult negotiation through the reef, well short of Uturoa, the capital, and then had to cruise a very narrow lagoon-side channel between the coast and the reef/motus. Great to watch though, particualrly as coast-side the lagoon was very very shallow around the whole island apart from this channel. In that regard, the location of the capital chose itself.

D & M decided that, yet again, the best strategy was to rent a car and sought out Mr. Europcar - this time in the guise of a French metropolitan from Toulouse who had lived 25 years on the island (they all seem to get hooked by local girls - don't ask anymore). He rented us a sturdy Honda, but this time without AC but it was only £50 for the day. He explained Polynesia was having a hard time at the minute: the Americans were impacted by the dollar under siege; for the French it was too far and too expensive in comparison to Guadaloupe and Martinique and only the Japanese were still coming. Our experience elsewhere was the Polynesians don't seem to give a damn!

Our guide book suggested there were no places to take lunch and that we should take a picnic. This turned out to be not quite true but was probably sound advice financially. So, having set off, we turned around and went back to Uturoa to seek out Champion, where we bought bread, cream cheese - with and without saumon fumee - fruit and a couple of beers. This turned out to be a good choice. We set off anti-clockwise round the west of the island. There was not a lot to see and the lagoon was too shallow to swim. We did, though, find a marae (communal worship/social/sacrifice ground) within a protestant churchyard. We should add that most of Polynesia is protestant (London Missionary Society) - much to the chagrin of the Catholic French - so any apparent desecration of things ethnic by 'prods' is subject to much comment and disapproval. Also, there was fine view of the high mountain (Mt Temehani) where a specific flower grows (the Tiare Apetahi) - here and only here - of which we were able to take/make a panoramic picture. We saw few folk and no tourists on this western leg or our journey. However, the island was considerably larger than Mo'orea (and Bora Bora we were to find) being almost 100kms in circumference. At the southern end there was an inland loop of 8 kms that took off 30 kms of coastal route with a fine Belvedere to view both north and south. Just our luck that as we approached it the re-surfacing lorry was out and Mr. Tarmac was spraying his load all over the road. Not only could we not stop at the look-out, the vehicle also received an unplanned and probably unrequired additional coat of underseal!!

Hence, instead of completing a figure of 8 route, D decided we were not inviting trouble and we determined to repeat the 30km coastal road by-passed by the inland route. After a short drive we reached the main marae in the whole of Polynesia - a large extended site where we stopped for lunch and photographs. This probably made the stop worthwhile in its own right. After, we continued south, seeking the 'Queens Bathtub' a local waterfall where, in principle, we could bathe only to discover the Vanilla farm (Prix d'Or, Concours de Paris 2007, Ministre d'Agricole et Peche - but only the Argent in 2006!). We arrived at 13.50 to observe there were daily tours at 14.00 'tous les jours'. So, we went for the daily tour. Very interesting; we learned all about Mexican and Madagascan vanilla and how that from 'Tahiti et ses Isles' was a unique cross strain from Mexican and Philippine vanilla that remains flexible when mature. Apparently the vanilla plant is an orchid and the pod evolves to look just like a green bean - at least, it does in early February. It's left on the plant - grown in huge 1,000 m2 hot houses - until it turns yellow. It is then air-dried enclosed in cloths where it both turns black and secretes vanilla oil, losing mass as it does so. This is monitored by hand on a daily basis and the pods are graded by length. Any that are not long and straight (is this the EC again?) are used for scraping seeds which - in fact - is where the flavour comes from - a bit like chilli in that regards. We were advised that price in Europe/US/Japan/Aus depends on length but that by-and-large this is a nonsense, except in-so-far as the longer ones have most flavour because of size and for no other reason. We made our excuses and bought a pot of seeds for £6 as best value option. We enquired about her majesty's tub to be told that whilst only 15 minutes away it was across private land. Did you know the word 'tabu' (spelt like that) is actually Polynesian. We got the message.

We travelled on to the end of Ra'iatea, turned round and came back, looking assiduously for the 'Jardin Botanique' and the kayaks for rent on the 'only navigable river in Polynesia' - actually an estuary - and too late for a canoe even if we had found one. We did, though, look for the botanical gardens to no avail. Unfortunately, it was only when we returned to the boat we learned that 'ne manquer pas' means not to be missed, but Mr. Europcar de Toulouse did tell us that most folk miss it because the owner won't put up a sign. As we said, the locals appear to be totally indifferent to doing business.

We returned the car, were delivered back to MSVG but eschewed the opportunity to eat at the port, possibly because of our experience at Pape'ete but equally because we had a good ship's menu that night. And so to Bora Bora.

4 February 2008 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia

4th February 2008 Papeete, Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia

We chose again to take the cat to Mo'orea as we had such an excellent day walking the jungle on our first visit, but determined we would not repeat that exercise. Having had such a good time renting a car on Bonaire we decided this was the most cost-effective way to do Mo'orea; so we took a small motor for £60 for the day. A good decision.

Mo'orea, along with Bora Bora, is the jewel in the crown of French Polynesia - at least in terms of intrinsic beauty, classy resort hotels and excellent beaches. After the usual efficient 30 minute crossing on the cat - amazingly which no fellow MSVG passengers took - Mr. Europcar supplied us with a nice little air-conditioned Fiat and good advice on where to go around the island. We first went to an excellent local beach between the ferry port and the aerodrome where we swam in sight of the classy Sofitel resort for nearly an hour in beautiful warm clear seas with only a handful of other tourists. In fact, there were more locals manicuring the beach than punters. Next, we motored around the north of the island to the first of two fantastic indented bays the first known as Baie Cook - but not where the famous man anchored. We had seen this from the mountain track on the first of our visits but it was better close up. After a couple of short stops including a local museum (one room 10x12 and £2 for entry) we approached the second of the super indented bays, Baie Opunohu where we stopped for a second swim for half an hour or so. This time, there were only a couple of other tourists swimming in the sea with us which was, naturally, crystalline. This was where the aforesaid Captain Cook actually stopped over.

From the internal end of this bay we took off inland for the Belvedere which, apparently, was located on the jungle path we had followed on our first visit a couple of months previously. It was - but maybe a mile or so further on than we had managed to walk - but offered stupendous views of both bays and the intervening volcanic peaks. These peaks - and the freestanding individual peaks are known as aiguilles (needles) - constitute the defining beauty of Mo'orea. It is not particularly large, but the internal areas - three or four valleys excepted - is wild jungle with volcanic peaks whilst the outside is smart small settlements with a regular sprinkling of 5 star resort hotels. Since returning to the boat from this stop M has been playing with her photo software and has constructed a panorama of the view from the Belvedere using 5 separate photos (see pics).

We returned to the bay and moved to the northern end where Kevin - the guy who rented the car (not very Tahitian is it) - recommended we visit the 'juice factory'. As his earlier calls on the beaches and Belvedere were good we took him up on this. We were the only visitors along with a half dozen or so folk in a tour from Los Angeles. We were treated to a tasting of 5 local liqueurs ranging from 9% to 20% which was bad news for D who was driving but fine for M who fully enjoyed. We bought three postcards (75p each) to ease our consciences before moving on.
We then came to the busiest beach area with a half dozen or so flash hotels but moved on past there to a quieter village a few kilometres further on where we took lunch at a roadside burger bar. The American that served us, who turned out to be half Greek/half French (spent time in Hawaii), said he couldn't serve us a cold beer but advised we could get one from the supermarket 100 metres away. We duly had two excellent 'real' burgers and two ice-cold half litres of local beer from the supermarche for £14 which I can say without fear of contradiction was the bargain in Polynesia. Very few Brits could afford to holiday here.

3 February 2008 Rangiroa Atoll, Tuomoto Islands - French Polynesia

3rd February 2008, Rangiroa Atoll, Tuomoto Islands, French Polynesia

Not a lot to say really; paradise is paradise and can become quite boring second time around.
We repeated our mile and a half walk from the tender jetty, this time to find no towels as our fellow travellers were taking three and four apiece. So we had to wait 40 minutes - having deliberately delayed our departure because of the long day and little to do - before we could ensconce ourselves on the beach. Usual excellent bbq but this time we elected to take a direct boat ride back to the ship rather than walk.

So as not to appear too disgruntled, nay churlish, this would have been a good day for the SCUBA brigade or those minded to pay an arm and a leg to visit the neighbouring Kia Ora Hotel Resort. An OK day for us, but nothing to write home about, but don't bother coming to French Polynesia unless you're ready to burn $1,000 a night for a double room!

Lovely sunset as we left the Tuomoto Islands on route to The Society Islands.

1 February 2008 Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles Marquises

1st February 2008, Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, Iles Marquises

After 9 days at sea it was nice to have our feet on terra firma again!

Having visited Nuku Hiva already, we decided to do something different this time. The ship arrived in Taiohoe, which is completely surrounded by a volcanic rim so to spread our wings we had to climb over the rim. We chose to do this at a low point to the next bay. On this visit we walked the full length of the bay and headed uphill on a dirt track road, passing the islands only flash hotel on the way. The climb thereafter became quite steep but we did pass some impressive villas and houses with their pools. The track became less well used as we passed what were probably holiday homes until we reached the rim from whence we could see both Taiohoe Bay and Colette Bay - our intended destination.

The track to Colette bay was less steep but was a good 1.5 km. We walked downhill and saw nobody with the only evidence of man's presence being some horse droppings on the track. After 20 minutes or so from the ridge the track flattened and we found ourselves outside a small holding of banana trees and other exotic fruits and came upon two unteathered horses grazing on the track. We immediately came upon the beach. Probably 2 km of shingle and 150 metres of sand at the point of our arrival. We could see behind us evidence of occupation at the small holding - there was washing on the line - but no human presence. The horses followed us down to the beach, continuing to graze on the way. Like us they sheltered from the midday sun underneath trees. We did so on the beach. We both went for a swim and D discarded his swimming trunks to take advantage of our isolation. After an extremely pleasant half hour interlude, we packed up and headed back up the track to the crater ridge.

On the way down we decided to take lunch at the flash hotel (Keikahanui Pearl Lodge). We asked if we could eat - whether it was M making these requests in French or D wearing his UN shirt we were invited into the dining room. From here we could see a dozen or so other passengers and crew on the terrace. Some asked how we were allowed to dine in the dining room (as they were not) and a later couple from the ship arriving in the dining room were also despatched to the terrace. We still have no idea why we were tolerated! We had a pleasant lunch, Italian sparkling water (mortgage arranged with the purchase) and some beer before moving to the terrace ourselves - by which time most others from the ship had left. We spent a pleasant half hour in the pool which overlooked Taiohoe Bay. We were the last to leave after settling our bill for $46.00 US (for a sandwich and chips, salad, 3 beers and some water - not such good value as Manta!) and ambled back to the ship for the last tender.

26 January 2008 Pirate Deck Party, At Sea

26th January 2008 At Sea - Pirate Deck Party

Our second pirate deck party since October. Punters are not as good as on the last cruise. One of the passengers passed away today so that put a bit of a damper on things anyway. Some people got involved and dressed up. See pics of us and Brian who shares our table with his wife Janet who did not come because she was too upset about the passenger who died in front of her eyes during auditions for the passenger panto.