Cruise Journals - Page 2, Fiji, Pago Pago, Bora Bora, Papeete

 Sunday, April 23 - Monday April 24. We are at sea following our visit to Auckland. On Sunday afternoon the seas and wind picked up again to the 12 to 18 foot range and by the evening they were higher. Walking was an adventure especially in the dining rooms where the quarters are much more constrained. When we sat down for dinner, the wine list tipped into the glass of water for Jeanne and it wound up in her lap. We told the waiter that the next day we would bring an umbrella. Our waiters name is Alfonso from the Philippines as are many of the waiters. There are many other nationalities also. Alfonso is a very pleasant person with the tough job of waiting on us. He takes a lot of ribbing from us but gives some back when necessary. He has signed on for an 11 month contract after which he will return home for two months and be off again. He has a wife and two children at home waiting for him.  By Monday morning the seas had calmed somewhat. Click on the thumbnail picture to the left and look at the beauty of the Pacific Ocean on Monday April 24. At the time this picture was taken, the temperature was in the 80's. 

Tuesday, April 25. We arrived in Suva, Fiji on time at 8:00 AM. It was a sunny, steamy, warm day with temperatures in the 80's. We didn't know what was ahead of us. We had scheduled an eight hour tour of a Fijian Village. Our bus was not air conditioned and all the windows were open. With all of the noise we couldn't hear a word of what the guide was saying. What we got was that Fiji has over 300 islands with a population in total of 800k. Of that 48% are Fiji with a large population of people with Indian descent. Of the native peoples 99% are Christian. While the skin color between the Indians and the Fijians is similar, the guide said that straight hair goes with the Indians while bushy hair goes with the Fijians. After a 35 km drive we arrived at the river where we would board longboats for the ride up the river to the Fijian Village. The boarding of the longboats was an ordeal in itself. The docking facilities weren't very safe and you had to basically step into a canoe which was wide enough for two people per seat. We had a near tragedy as mom had one foot firmly planted in the canoe when the sloped concrete ledge under her other leg gave way and mom wound up half in the boat and half in the water. She was soaked on one side up to her blouse, very shook up but thank God unhurt.

We then proceeded to go up-river for what was indicated in tour literature on the ship to be a one hour trip up the river. Let me put those rumors to rest. It was a 3 hour ride on wooden benches with a small cushion. The seat was only 10 inches or so off the bottom of the boat so for the ride I had my knees even with my shoulders. After a while the cushion felt as hard as the seat. Ken said that had he known that it was a three hour ride he would not have selected the tour. The guide explained that the boat ride was calculated in Fiji time not European time. Ho Ho. There were about 8 boats in our caravan with 8 people per boat. At one point we stopped at a waterfall for the advertised swim opportunity. Of the 60+ people only about 6 swam so the rest of us waited. I couldn't understand why would people swim in a river when there were 4 beautiful pools on the boat and make others wait while the few satisfied their ego's. After the half hour stop for the mermaids we continued up river to the village. Along the way the scenery was green and lush. At some spots you could see cattle grazing on the very narrow river bank. At the village we learned that the cattle belonged to them. No worry that they could wander as the land was very steep besides the river.

Having survived the boat ride we arrived at the village to be greeted by a fierce warrior with a war axe. After the proper staged introductions we we were led, men first to the meeting house where we were shown the traditional Kava ceremony and treated to a small cup of Kava. Kava comes from the root of the Kava plant which is pounded into a powder and then mixed with water and drunk ceremoniously. It is non-alcoholic and supposed to remove stress. Mom needed much Kava after her ordeal at the boat dock. After the Kava Ceremony we were entertained by some of the villagers in song by the women and war dances by the men. After a short lunch we took a tour of the village school. The village school here takes in boarders for grades 1 through 8. For higher education they are sent to boarding schools in Suva.  There were 250 students there with about 140 boarders. The children were in simple uniforms and seemed happy in their little village. They were starved for attention and chased after the video cameraman that was recording our visit for the benefit of the ship's video. After a farewell song we boarded our boats for the return to the busses 16 km's down the river. This time there was no swim stop and we were going with the current. Downstream one of the boats, not ours, ran out of gas and another one stopped to fuel him up. The river is treacherous in places with swift current, rock obstructions and rapids. On the return trip to Suva we passed many Fijian villages with housing that didn't look any more than tin roof shacks. There were no doors on the lodgings and from what you could see there was no furniture as we know it inside. 

In Suva we were driven past the Presidents Palace and the Government but due to the noise we couldn't hear a word out of the guides mouth. We had the fancy busses with the windows. The locals rode busses with no windows and a plastic curtain was to be pulled down when it rained. Fiji in April gets about 13 inches of rain but it stayed sunny for most of the day with clouds building in the afternoon. We luckily left without getting soaked. All in all it was an interesting tour. We wouldn't do it again but once done it was OK.

Sunrise on ocean close to Fiji	Fijian Village along road	Our treacherous transportation mode to the village	Scene along the river
One of our partner boats	The water was rough at times. We got soaked	Waterfall from river	While others swim we wait
Fijian Village in the interior	Greeting from the warrior	Kava Ceremony	War Dance
Children in Class	Farewell Song	I don't know why we didn't select this tour	Guard ourside of Presidents Palace.

 Wednesday, April 26. The picture on the left is of us coming  into Pago Pago. It actually took place two days after our departure from Fiji as we had an extra April 25 due to the crossing of the international date line. We even got certificates from Princess attesting to the fact. Ken asked why we didn't get one from Qantas going the other way but there was no answer. On the extra Tuesday we were treated to an excellent fiddle player - Doug Campbell. My camera has become a victim of the humidity after our boat ride in Fiji. It shows sign of clearing up but then goes right back to goofy land. I was going to buy a camera on board but Ken loaned me the Nikon Coolpix camera he doesn't use. All the pictures taken after April 25 are with the Nikon.

We arrived in Pago Pago at 8:00 Am and were greeted by singing and the sight of the Stars and Stripes flying over the Harbor. We were after all in American Samoa which was retained as a territory after WWII. The pronunciation of Pago Pago is actually Pango Pango. The Samoan's add an N to the pronunciation before a G. Our tour today was "A Taste of Village Life" We were picked up in non AC busses with open windows and taken on a ride around the island. We made several stops for photographs before being taken to a replicated Samoan Village where we were shown a typical Samoan House along with a cooking and basket making demonstration. We were given a taste of Samoan food that they had just prepared and then it was back to the ship. The tour lasted about three hours. The guide told many untruths in his tales. He said the Samoan flag had a chicken on it. It is really an eagle. He said that the word Samoa comes from a combination of two words which are Banned Chickens. Samoa really translates into "Sacred Land" I guess it was his way to fool with the tourists. His version of how to say hello did not match what the guard at the post office said so I guess it is a good thing i didn't repeat the guides words to anybody. One feature we noted was the many buildings that looked like open air structures covered by a roof. There were many different sizes and shapes next to houses throughout the island. The guide explained that these were guest houses where the family would greet their guests and according to Samoan custom almost every house had one of these structures on the property. We also noted that many of the properties had gravesites on them. The guide explained that it is permissible to bury on one's own property but that if the property is sold, the grave can be removed. Who knows it this is true given the history of our guide as a jokester. At the end of the tour the guide gave us his e-mail address vernonwilson_99@yahoo.com He wanted pictures of himself e-mailed. 

Pago Pago was a beautiful place to visit. Back at the ship there was a large open air market place where we didn't buy anything but post cards. Items seemed too high. We walked to the post office to mail our cards and saw people from the ship packing suitcases into shipping boxes to mail home. Wonder if customs duties were on their mind. We did appreciate the 24cent charge for post cards as compared to the $1+ at other places. We found a book store that had some craft jewelry across the street from the ship which had reasonable prices and mom some nice items. The entertainment for the evening was a song/ance show called "Ports of Call". Mom liked it and I said it was OK.

Samoan Dancers greeting us at the dock	Flowerpot Rock on the beach	Samoan church along the highway from the bus	Typical Guest House where family gatherings took place.	London Missionary Society Church. First Church on Pago Pago.
Interior of LMS church	View from Sliding Rock	Fishermens grave along shore	Samoan Village - basket makers	Samoan Village - coconut gatherer
Ken and Jeanne relaxing at Samoan Village	Samoan Village - typical houses	Samoan Village - farewell greeting	Samoan Village - tour bus under construction	Our Smart A__ Tour guide.

Thursday, April 27. Today started out with a beautiful 1/3 rainbow on our side of the ship. Click on the picture for a better view. Being a sea day things were a bit quiet with the usual dining requirements, morning and afternoon trivia. In the evening there was an "Island Party" planned by the indoor pool for 9:30pm. As usual we knew it was going to be crowded for seats so we arrived at 8:30 to stake out 4 chairs overlooking the balcony. By the time the party  started the balcony was crowded as was the lower floor. When I got up to take some pictures, mom had to fend off chair claimers as soon as I stepped away. The band "Odysea" played rock and roll music and stirred the crowd up with the usual, Mustang Sally, Proud Mary, Shout and other tunes. They were excellent. We had our cruise director an assistant cruise director dressed up in grass skirts with coconut bras and wig performing as well. Being poolside they eventually wound up in the pool with the rest of the cruise social staff along with some passengers also. The evening was finished up with a fruit and desert buffet. A good time was had by all.

Odysea on the balcony stage	The party is getting big	The conga line weaves through the crowd on the lower level	Frankie, our very very very happy asst. cruise director	Dancing by the poolside

Saturday, April 29. Today we arrived at the island paradise of Bora Bora in French Polynesia at 6:00 AM. We had a busy day scheduled for Bora Bora as we were taking a morning tour around the island for about three hours and then taking a glass bottom boat ride in the afternoon. That worked out to be a good idea as we found out. The island of Bora Bora has only 7500 inhabitants and our ship load of 2600+ automatically put a 50 percent increase into their population. The facilities at the dock are just not enough to handle that many people at a time. After the tour we walked into a newstand/souvenier shop and were greeted by a crush of people. It seemed to be the only air conditioned store in the area, but I digress.

Our tour vehicles were locally converted Mercedes trucks to look like busses. Very similar to our conveyances at Samoa. The sides were basically open to let in the 88 degree 90 percent humid air. We circled the island and got some beautiful views of the lagoon. We learned that the island is basically composed of three villages spread around the island. The guide spoke English with a heavy French Polynesian accent so when she said "Our primary industry is tourism" it sounded like "Our primary industy is to raise" I was wondering what they raised. Bora Bora had been used by the US forces during WWII as a small base and the US had left a hospital, roads and a water de-salination plant on the island. The roads and de-salination plant are still in use but the hospital is gone. All major treatments are sent to Papeete on Tahiti. The guide kept referring to the US soldiers and Sea Bees as "the GI" We stopped at Mama Ruta's sarong shop where they were selling tie died cloth which was dyeing and bleaching in the sun. Our other stop took us to Bloody Mary's restaurant which had been visited by many famous people. The names that I remember are Rex Reed and Troy Donahue. There was a long list. Bloody Mary's is named after a local woman who made thousands selling items to the US soldiers during the war. She is immortalized in the movie South Pacific. The main attraction at Bloody Mary's is supposed to be the stone waterfall sink in the rest rooms. Many people were pressing in just to take pictures. I took a shot only after using the facilities. It was nothing special so I didn't publish it below. If you want to see it e-mail me and I will send it to you. The shore in spots is dotted with palm leaf thatched roof hotels and condos. During the months of December, Bora Bora is subject to large waves and in some instances these buildings do get damaged or disappear. The guide pointed out another item left behind by "The GI", a powder bunker with a steel door across the road from the lagoon. The locals use these bunkers during the high water for protection.

We visited the local newsstand to buy some cards and a magnet and paid almost $18.00 for something we would pan maybe $6.00 at the most at home. The locals seem to have a very liberal exchange rate from the franc to the dollar. Giving up any hope on lunching at the dock because of the prices as well as lack of facilities we took the tender back to the ship for lunch and returned to the shore for our afternoon boat ride. Before the ride we visited the Catholic Church across the street. A beautiful interior with a great stained glass window over the altar. The sides of the building are made of decorative cement block which is hollow and provides ventilation to the outside.

Our afternoon boat glass bottom boat ride was much different that the Fiji express up the river. About 2o people sat under a canopy and looked through glass panels in the bottom of the boat which was moving over the live portion of the coral reef. The guide was a transplanted American from South Dakota and was very easy to listen to. At one point he driver of the boat tied up to a buoy and dove in the water with some food for the fish. They really swarmed about the glass. Who knows if this is good for the fish but it does fascinate the tourists including us. One of the scuba diving boats nearby was being entertained by a thong wearing dive guide. He was singing to the people on the boat in native language and our guide said that the lyrics were kind of racy and probably wouldn't be appreciated by the people on the boat if they could understand. We returned to the ship after our two hour cruise over the lagoon. Bora Bora is beautiful but I would get bored here after two days. Mom heard a longer term visitor talking on the phone at Bloody Marys that they were ready to go home as they had run out of things to do after two days.

Diamon Princess at anchor from the tender.	Our transportation for the Bora Bora island tour	View of 8 billion year old volcano on Bora Bora	Mama Ruta's Tie Dye in progress
Bora Bora Lagoon	Marlon Brando's widow is selling this condo	Bora Bora Lagoon	Bora Bora
Beach at Bora Bora	Bloody Mary's Restaurant. This was a 10 minute stop.	Catholic Church at Bora Bora	Fish below our glass bottom boat.

Sunday, April 30. We arrived in Papeete, Tahiti at 8:00 AM to a partly cloudy sky. Off in the distance you could see rain squalls which eventually arrived at the ship and after 10 minutes or so stopped. The shot on the left is the Ferry to Moroea arriving at the dock in Papeete. It was Sunday and we were advised that almost all the shops in Papeete would be closed. That was OK as we had scheduled a 6 hour bus tour of the island. To our surprise we were greeted by modern air conditioned coaches with comfortable seats. I know I wouldn't have made it in one of the truck/busses we took in Bora Bora. The guide Dida spoke perfect American English and we found out later that she had been educated in England and the United  States. This was a real plus. The tour was titled Circle Island Drive, Paul Gauguin's Museum and Lunch.

Our tour took us to Arahurahu Marae, Maraa Grotto, Waipahai Waterfall, Paul Gauguin's Museum, Lunch at the Museum retaurant, Arahoho Blowhole, and Point Venus Lighthouse. The guide was very interesting and during the first 3 hours of the trip she hardly came up for air when talking. The facts or story came a mile a minute. She primarily pointed out sights with a Paul Gauguin flavor, talking about the places he lived and his life on the island. Gauguin had a tough time dealing with the French police on the island and from the guides talk it could be discerned that a lot of it was self inflicted pain. Gauguin is buried in the Marquesa Islands rather than Tahiti. All of Gauguin's belongings were sold upon his death to settle debts so the Museum has only been able to retrieve two original pencil drawings which are on display. All the other art items are prints.

Our guide explained that land could be bought on Tahiti but that it was very pricey. She mentioned that two acres had recently sold on the water without a beach for over $2.0 million US. Much of the land belongs to families and to sell all of the family members must sign. Club Med was stopped dead in its tracks when 6 of the 1000 or so family members refused to sell the land for a resort. The guide noted that the most numerous age group on Tahiti Island is 14. People on Tahiti until recently tended to have large families. Education on Tahiti is presently required up until age 16. What we call High School education in the states is called "College". University education as we know it is attained by only a few and then only by going to Hawaii or other places off the island. There is a movement in Tahiti to attain independence from France but that will have a tough price on the island. France at the present time is providing $2 billion US to the economy Tahiti. Even so, there is a 18%  sales tax in Tahiti and with the loss of the French subsidy, things would most likely go into a tailspin. Free medical for all and housing for the needy would have to be paid for locally. Income  tax would not work in Tahiti because most of the population is inter-related in one way or another and nobody would collect taxes from their own relatives.

The Arahurahu Marae is a site of outdoor Tahitian Religious Ceremonies. It is set in a quiet valley and bears various stone platforms and stone statues. The site is used to this day. The grotto is a water cave where Gauguin swam back into the mountain. At the blowhole we were treated to an outrush of air and water from openings in the volcanic rock whenever a wave would crash into the shore. At the Point Venus Lighthouse, in addition to the lighthouse there are two monuments. one to Captain Cook who landed here and also a monument for the missionaries of the London Missionary Society. The Protestants hit Tahiti ahead of the Catholics which accounts for the large proportion of Protestant Churches. The monument for Cook is rather small considering the importance of the man. The guide explained that in the Polynesian culture history and the future is not an important consideration. Today is the most important thing.

We returned to the ship and did fine an outdoor craft market where variious shell jewelry items were on sale. We also found a newstand where we were able to get a Tahiti magnet which mom had promised to a friend. We were back on ship by 3:30 PM, just in time for the 4:00 Pm performace in the theater by a fine group of Tahitian dancers and musician. The evening was capped by the usual stage show, a game of bingo where I was one number short of winning $1000, and the international talent show by members of the crew. The acts came out of the kitchens, stewards and others including members of the ships social directors group. The usual "If I were not upon a ship" skit we have seen on the other cruises we had taken was funny and entertaining. A very busy day - up at 6:00 AM and to bed at midnight.

Arahurahu Marae on Tahiti	Chiefs hut at Arahurahu Marae	Water Grotto	View out to sea at Water Grotto	Waterfall on Tahiti
View at Gauguin museum	Swimmers near the blowhole	Venus Point Lighthouse with Cook's Memorial in foreground	Looking down the hilside towards Papeete. It was cloudy	Craft market near ship
Brittish sailboat on a round the world cruise	At the Tahitian Dancers show	At the Tahitian Dancers show	At the Tahitian Dancers Show	At the Tahitian Dancers Show

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