The glorious island of Moorea! I booked a morning 4wd island tour and it turned out a nice couple from Vancouver who were on my my Marquesas tour were also on it! 8 of us in total, originally all in the back of a pickup truck converted to an open-air bus with 2 rows of … Continue reading Day 12: Moorea

Another full day at sea as we continue to sail south towards the Society Islands. Not a lot interested me on the ship’s schedule so I did a lap of the ship on the way to coffee - 480 steps just to coffee so about a 1000 steps or so right there. 9am was the … Continue reading Day 11: At Sea

It was a short night last night! To bed at 11pm but up at 4:55am. I’m not sure what woke me, perhaps a change in the sound of the engines, but when I looked out my window I saw land! I ran upstairs to Deck 13 for a look and we’d arrived to the harbor … Continue reading Day 10: Nuku Hiva

Another lazy day at sea. Morning lecture, trivia, lots of reading. Lunch with friends, dinner with friends. Attended a fantastic show in the theatre, followed by a funny comedian. Life is good!

A big day, nautically, on board. We crossed the equator!! King Neptune came on board midday to conduct the traditional initiation ceremony of converting "pollywogs", or those never having crossed, into "shellbacks", experienced equator-crossers. Dozens of people lined up to be dressed in togas and have their face painted while hundreds of others gathered to … Continue reading Day 8: At Sea

A day of overcast and frequently wet weather but with so many inside activities to attend I hardly noticed what was going on outside. First breakfast was a coffee and yogurt in the Garden Cafe - but I realized that the adjacent restaurant is open for extra buffet seating during breakfast and lunch, so for … Continue reading Day 7: At Sea

Well, it turns out that the couple I sat beside at dinner 2 nights ago are the guest lecturers on board the ship! She spent years as a Professor of Native Textiles at the University of Hawaii, and he was a Professor of Geology. Each sea day, at 9am, one of them gives an hour … Continue reading Day 6: At Sea

The sun shone today! Big puffy clouds still hugged Kauai’s mountain tops as we cruised north this morning, but the cliffs of the Na Pali coast were free of the heavy mist that cling to everything yesterday. We headed north to circumnavigate Kauai just so we could view this majestic portion of coast. It’s been … Continue reading Day 5: Leaving Kauai

A lazy morning today as the ship didn’t arrive to the port of Nawiliwili until 9:30am. Ideally I would have slept in but my curtains were open so I awoke with the dawn about 5:45am. We were just off the coast of Oahu then so we are backtracking north again from the Big Island. It … Continue reading Day 4: Kauai

An unplanned day for me today, just planned to see a little of Hilo and then relax onboard. I therefore caught the 9:30am shuttle downtown to Hilo for a stroll around the historic sights and buildings. It’s Sunday so few stores are open but that’s okay, I’m not a souvenir shopper and I’ll hit up … Continue reading Day 3: Hilo, Hawaii