It's a wrap!

Thursday 27th
Sea day again. The sea is building a bit and the temperature is a little cooler but still shorts weather. Passenger talent show was great with Mark the star performer in 2 items. Danny insisted on shouting Vivian & me a drink to celebrate their bridge partnership.  Later in the afternoon we passed by Tonga, about 10 miles to the west of our course.  Otherwise a quiet day, which is just as well as tomorrow promises to be really hectic (in a nice way).

Friday 28th
Another sea day and now busy as we rush towards NZ.  Hit a few speed bumps overnight but currently a moderate swell.  Final Cruise Critic lunch, where surprisingly we are the only ones getting off in Auckland.

The ship provided a magnificent chocolate cake as a dessert. Special tributes flowed for Sandie and her magnificent organisation of our CC getogethers.  We were at a table of 4 Canadians and 2 Australians from the Gold Coast - they actually boarded the ship in early April and had already done the Hawaiian cruise before the world one. To make matters worse, they are going all the way to Fremantle!  

Mark (& Danny) were in the choir at 3.15 and it was a full theatre with a very good performance. After that we rushed to drinks with Cheryl & Graham, who were on our Machu Picchu bus along with her sister. They were actually travelling as a foursome with Cheryl's mother (in her mid 80s) and had all gone diving with sharks in in Bora Bora.  Christine & Mark 2 also joined in the drinks.

The Captain's farewell cocktail party for the Auckland disembarkees was held at 7.15 and for a change was a pleasant experience, with all the Officers in attendance and plenty of hospitality 😀😀.  It was also the last formal night for the cruise and a special souvenir menu. Yummy!  Needless to say, straight to bed and a quick, quiet rock to sleep.  Feels like we could sleep for a whole day (& more).

Saturday 29th
The day that we've all been waiting for. 

It simply does not exist!  Thanks International Date Line.  ..and to think that I'd been promised free coffee today too!

Sunday 30th
Replacement day for the above and also our last sea day and indeed our last day onboard the Sea Princess on our epic voyage around the world. The sea is calm, the sun is shining, OK the temperature is down to 18, but still pleasant. The day we have dreaded for 99 days - packing day.

For some reason they have decided to have a brunch, so we had room service. Then packed a bag, went to church, packed another *big* bag, had coffee with our coffee team - Maureen & Wyn, Greta & Gordon and Jaye & George (all from Sydney). Next up was final lunch with Christine & Mark 2, then a catch up with Richard from Whitby on the way back to the stateroom.

Of course Vivian has been playing her final bridge, so I picked up our 22 DVD set of the cruise - we'll have no friends when we get home! and did the immigration papers.  4.00 we had final drinks with Greta & Gordon et al in their full suite aft on our deck. It was lovely and thankfully the sun was shining brightly as we approached NZ. 

A final show in the Princess Theatre and an emotional farewell to all our wonderful friends & companions we have got to know so well over the last 100 days. Our bags have been picked up so there's no going back now.

Monday 31st
That's it. Woke at 5.30, just as the Pilot arrived. It is very calm, but guess what? .. that darned foghorn is going again!  The forecast was for wet and wild, so let's home they are wrong for the sake of our fellow passengers.  We have once again ordered room service breakfast as we otherwise wouldn't be able to eat, apart from the "Horror Zone" upstairs.

Assembled in the lounge at 8.00, off to immigration/customs and we are now no longer valued passengers, just past passengers 😀   Apart from our NZ friends, most of the others are off on excursions or whatever in Auckland and sadly we say goodbye to ship life and look forward to seeing our daughter Fiona waiting for us after such a long time away.

Time for quick reflection on the last 100 days. It has been amazing and honestly the time has flown, so in no way have either of us been bored or tired of the routine. I don't think that the enormity of what we have done has set in yet and our earlier experiences in the Middle East and the Mediterranean etc. seem like a different holiday.

We love (most of) our fellow passengers and the staff on the whole are amazing. Of course there were things that could be done differently, or better, but it is the overall experience to be treasured and there is no point in dwelling on the negatives (as one couple we met have done for the whole cruise).

So many things marked off the bucket list and I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog and hope that the many readers (known & unknown) have enjoyed/been informed over the length of the cruise. Thank you.

Our next adventure is the 10 week Circle Pacific cruise in June 2016, which takes us up through Asia, Alaska, Vancouver, Western USA, Hawaii.  There are several hundred from our current cruise doing this (including Vivian's bridge partner), so it'll just be like family!!  The new blog address will be: pacificcruising2016.blogspot.com.  

See you there next year.

Remembering sunshine

As we bump our way home, a reminder of sunny days over the last week.

Tahiti, Bora Bora & Pago Pago.

Last port before home

Saturday 22nd
Another hour back, so we woke "early" as we approached Papeete. Last night the Captain determined that we'd be late, so moved everything forward an hour - however we were well on our way to our berth by 7.00 as originally intended. The long and the short is that we had breakfast on our deck well ahead of time. 

We are berthed adjacent to the M5, apparently the largest sloop in the world - it is owned by an American billionaire and clearly just the crew are on board. The boat is huge and even boasts a seaplane aft.

We'd planned a day tour with Heather & Mark and once ashore made our way to the Avis office. Mark is our official driver and we hired a little 2 door Renault for our adventure.  Before we set off we went to the markets and got some bananas and mangos. The poor guy at the stall had no idea of US$s. 

We went clockwise around the island and Mark's driving was superb - a lefthand drive manual is a bit of a challenge. Our only minor hiccup was getting out of Papeete city - but we got to see sights we'd otherwise have missed. And to be fair to our guide, the various maps we had were all very good schematically, but useless for actually showing the streets.

Sadly it started to rain, so we only saw 1 of the 3 waterfalls from as distance (there were heaps of Princess tour buses there) as it was unpleasantly wet at that time. Onwards we went and just before midday we reached Tarevao at the bottom of the main island, where the little island joins. As we headed along we found a small cafe, so pulled in. We ended up with the most magnificent baguettes filled with salad, bacon & eggs (subway style) and tiny espresso coffees!  Turns out that this was also very popular with the locals, including the local gendarmerie!!

We went on to the end of the road on the little island and found a small beach to have our picnic - which we just finished when the showers returned. Back onto the main island and around the corner heading up the west coast and the weather, road and the standard of housing and beaches improved dramatically.

We motored along and came across the Paul Gauguin Restaurant (the house and museum were a kilometre away and are closed!), so we called in for a coffee and .... lemon meringue pie.  No, they were out of pie, so made do with the coffee, which was more expensive than the coffee & baguettes we bought at lunchtime. However, the ambience was magnificent and they had open fish ponds with lots of tropical fish.

As we approached the outskirts of Papeete, Mark decided to drive up a hill up to where all the modern expensive houses were. The only trouble was that the poor little car was not really made for such a climb. However Mark was our man and he got it up!! (What's that funny smell? asks Heather).   At least the brakes worked OK on the downward journey.

Onward to the city and the next stop was the petrol station to fill up before returning the car. One slight problem was that they wouldn't accept a credit card as our fill was less than 2,000pfs but they would take USD thankfully (otherwise we might have met up with our gendarmes again).  The conversion rates on the island do not bear thinking about, but after all it is only money!!

A quick wander back to the ship and reflection on a great day. We certainly have seen pretty well all of Tahiti and of course the weather by now is absolutely perfect!  The crew of M5 have been on the turps all day by the look of it and as the evening progressed their music got louder and they had a great time playing up to an audience on the upper decks.  It was pleasantly quiet as we sailed out, the lights of Papeete looked magnificent. 

Sunday 23rd
A little cloudy as we arrive at Bora Bora, but this didn't last. A tender port (the last one), so we met Heather & Mark about 8.45 and were ashore by 9.15. We were not in a hurry today as we had planned to walk to Bloody Mary's, about 4 miles away.

It was an epic, but enjoyable walk and took just over 1 1/4 hours. The sun shone with the temperature around 30 degrees and thankfully there was a breeze most of the way.  Funnily, after quite some time, Vivian was in need of a rest etc. so we stopped while the others went ahead.  Once refreshed, we took off with gusto, only to find that our destination was just 200 metres up the road ☺ 

When we got to Bloody Mary's, there were numerous buses with Princess & other private tours, so it was a bit chaotic getting a drink before we continued on to the beach ("just 10 minutes " said Mark). 20 minutes later we could certainly see the beaches and suddenly Heather darted across the road to a cafe to check out the menu.  Great move!

This little cafe (once again mainly supported by locals) was right on the beach with magnificent white sand and clear water. A lovely woman was running the place and she spoke perfect English despite my attempts at poor French. A good & reasonably priced (but probably not healthy) lunch.

Vivian & Heather and Mark had a swim, as did Mark 2, who arrived with Christine later. After all that excitement we were pleased to hail a shuttle bus on it's way back to the ship. The bus came complete with family (including the dog).  Heather & Mark however completed the return trip by foot, so win the prize for "most walkers".

We had a spectacular sail away through the reef and into the setting sun. Even a whale was playing very close to the ship - well we hope it was playing and not stranded.  We thoroughly enjoyed our balcony on a balmy evening, staying out there until it got completely dark and we had to go to dinner.

Monday 24th
The last hour back on our clocks, so we woke *very* early and had a relaxing time before breakfast. Otherwise it was a pretty normal sea day. The weather has been very pleasant, with temperature still in the early 30s.

Tonight we had an extended group dinner of 14 friends in the pizzeria. This was a great night, even though the Captains Circle deck party was scheduled just beforehand. It is disappointing that Princess do not see fit to entertain their guests in a more genteel manner as once again some (say) 1,200 passengers all trying to swill in the allotted 45 minutes is not a sight which will appear in their publicity brochures! 

Having said that, we did not bother to attend (but the others reported back!), as we had to organise the seating arrangements, which staff seemed to have forgotten about. We were pretty well the only people in the restaurant, so the staff didn't mind that we overstayed a little beyond closing time - much!!  Everyone enjoyed the gathering and just to clarify, we were 12 Kiwi's & Christine and Mark 2 (bravely the Australian contingent).

Tuesday 25th
Horrors, the days are running away on us.  Another sea day broken by yet another " lifejacket drill" which meant no Mah Jong and a rush for coffee once the drill was over. Partly cloudy but warm day. A swell is coming from behind us, so we have a bit of a roll - Captain explained that a following swell is not really controlled by the "flippers" (stabilisers) as there is less water passing over them to be effective.  Now there is the physics lesson for the day ☺☺.

Vivian & Danny came top at bridge today, well done. They only have 2 more bridge days to play so hopefully will continue to do well. I've been updating the blog before my memory fades completely.

Wednesday 26Thursday
Pago Pago is our last port of call before home and we arrived just after dawn. As with most of our Pacific ports, early morning is misty/rainy but by the time we got off the ship about 9.00 it was pretty clear and got hotter and hotter as the day progressed. Once again we were trekking with Heather & Mark, although not the epic of Bora Bora!

We saw all we needed to see and adjourned to Sadie's Hotel on the waterfront for coffee & toast at 10.30!  They don't do things like scones, muffins or cakes!  Mark & I left the girls to go swimming and we climbed up to the lookout. That was quite a climb but well worth it. We also got to find out the history of the former cable car which ran across the harbour and the disaster that occurred with a US Air force (I think) plane collided with the wires and crashed into the hotel below (now Sadie's) with much loss of life.

As always the walk down was much easier and on getting back to the hotel found Vivian & Heather in the sea. We each had to pay $5 for a day pass to use the beach etc. even though we were patronising the hotel. Shock horror, I had my first swim in some 2 years!  Yes, you read it here. It probably won't be repeated and I am sure that any photos Vivian may have taken will be destroyed!!

So eventually we got (re)dressed and found a table under a fale. The place was crowded and the staff we pleasant to the extreme, but totally overwhelmed. Our waiter took our order, eventually came back with drinks and then returned some 10 minutes later to retake our order, because he had lost his bit of paper.  We had a great lunch and Christine & Mark 2 came and joined us later, as they'd already eaten (but no swim).

Sadly I am writing this as we sail away from American Samoa. Our course will now tend far more southerly than westerly and I fear that the days of T shirt and shorts are numbered - possibly 1. The Captain has prepared us with his longer range forecast on our way to NZ and really when you think of it, over the 95 odd days we've travelled, we have had some great weather so mustn't grumble.

Pacific paradise

Monday 17th
Clocks back an hour, but sunrise still not until 8.00. A more cloudy day but temperature supposedly 22 degrees (apart from the windy side of the ship). What I'd describe as a standard sea day, brightened by my twin, Mark's birthday.

In the afternoon we had a Machu Picchu cocktail party and sadly the usual happened - the greedy got up to 8 drinks and the polite ones, nothing. I think it says a lot about the culture of some (happily a minority) of our passengers - hell, they'd paid over $2,000 each for the excursion, so you wouldn't think they were needy.

Happier times with a gathering in the Wheelhouse Bar where a number of friends gathered to celebrate our birthdays before dinner.  We (all of us) took over the dancefloor and certainly made our presence known. The band even played a special "Happy Birthday" to Mark & me.

Tuesday 18th
Clocks back again as we rush along to meet the International Date Line next week. At least it is now light at 7.00 and the sea is calm, so looking good for another day of relaxing after such a busy 3 months ☺☺☺

A lot of socialising but that's about it. Temperature up to mid 20s but had cooled down in the afternoon with a solid cloud base and we are now experiencing a lazy south pacific swell. Captain anticipates this building overnight with an increase in wind too. All makes for an interesting rendezvous with the people of Pitcairn Island tomorrow morning.

Apology (of sorts):  In my previous blog on Easter Island I referred to the fee charged to visit the National Parks.  Surprise surprise, today our account was refunded the fee as they'd changed their mind again......... So, sorry to malign the Chilean government, but I understand there is still conflict between them and the indigenous people.

Wednesday 19th
Much brighter this morning, as yet another hour back overnight. As expected, the sea is a bit choppy and overcast, but quite warm. We arrived at Pitcairn Island just before 10.00 and the Mayor & about 30 locals came out in the longboat. They brought their goods onboard and set up stalls on deck 12.

His Worship & Captain Kent did the formal gift exchange and declared the markets open. A real bunfight, unfortunately spoiled by the odd shower passing through. The stalls each had a sign indicating the owner, so there were plenty of "Christians" about and I was delighted to see that one stall belonged to "Len Brown". Is it too much to hope that he has escaped to a life of solitude??? 

Pitcairn is a pretty desolate hilly place and only a small part appears to be habitable. It was a pleasant surprise to see quite a number of whales close to shore/ship (it may be that there were only a couple, but they kept surfacing in different spots).

The visitors packed up and returned ashore just before 2.00 as the wind picked up to around 60+kts. The ship actually used it's bow thruster to keep the longboat alongside. It looked a pretty hairy ride back to shore for the locals!  After a quick whizz around much of the island, we continued our journey westward to Tahiti.

Thursday 20th
Less waves, same large swell, overcast with odd showers but quite mild. Oh yes, yet another sea day and everything that goes with it.

Friday 21st
Another hour's sleep in this morning (these 25 hour days are becoming too frequent). This is the last sea day for a couple of days, so making the most of it with the usual activities. The sea has calmed and skies are clearing, so it is looking good for Tahiti tomorrow. But that's another story.

Easter Island photos

Just a couple of shots of Moai & the birdman islands off the coast.. plus with JP, our Head Waiter

Easter Island birthday treat

Wednesday 12th
Pretty well recovered from our excursion and all set for day one of a series of sea days on our way to Easter Island.  The weather has turned rough and we are pitching and rolling a fair bit. Another "sale", so I got another T shirt and Vivian a couple of blouses.

Other than that, coffee, bridge, dinner and more sleep.  Captain issued a veiled warning on our impending visit to Easter Island, by reminding us that we left 2.5 hours late and the weather is rougher than expected. So we'll see how it all pans out.

Thursday 13th
At last I completed the MP blog post, before I completely forget the finer details!!   Yet another sea day and the usual activities.  Captain today is "hopeful" of our arrival on Sunday, but interestingly there was some confusion on the time zones and thus our arrival will be an hour later than previously anticipated. I don't think it will affect our planned trip in the afternoon.  A bit more sociable tonight - went to the show, a multi talented singer/musician. Not used to late nights!

Friday 14th
Horrors, it is 9.00 when we wake up and a big scramble to get to breakfast before they close. The thing is that Vivian's bridge is at 10.00 today for some reason. Just as well we have reverted to tea & toast!  Back to the deck circuit and although some high cloud, is actually a very pleasant morning.

Had lunch with Christine & Mark 2 and ended up with a group of about a dozen outside the dining room at almost 3.00 - what you might call a long lunch. Being virtuous, I accompanied Vivian on yet another mile walk around the deck before adjourning for our belated coffee.

It's formal night again tonight, yet no one knows why as it wasn't originally programmed. However went to the early show with Maureen & Wyn and they came back to share our canapés before dinner.

Saturday 15th
Go the All Blacks. Woke up about 8.00 and logged on to see the news, which was far better than last time.  They are having another brunch this morning and it doesn't really excite us, particularly as it doesn't start until 10.30, so we got room service.

The sea is calm, but the odd rain shower is passing through. Temperature this morning is 20 degrees, which is just right. I see we are "tootling" along at over 20 kts, so Captain Kent is trying really hard to ensure we reach Easter Island on time. He was very positive last night telling us that we'll anchor on the western side of the island with forecast nor easterlies. Watch this space.

Pizza lunch and then watched the premiere of the Machu Picchu video, which is great. Vivian finished their bridge tournament and we took her partner Danny to the Wheelhouse Bar, which was an eye opener.  2 for 1 from 3.00 to 4.00, which we have always rubbished, but it turns out you can get miniature bottles of bubbles for $4!!!  Enough to put away for a rainy day! 

The sun is shining and the sea is an inky colour as we continue westward. Sad to think that we are down to just 2 weeks left, yet we are still meeting people who have been on board for over 80 days.

Big surprise at dinner as our Head Waiter, JP had organised a lemon meringue pie, which we'd been trying to get since Heather's birthday, ages ago. Amaaazing!  When Vivian tried to organise it earlier they wanted $80!  Just shows what a good head waiter can do.  Mr Wolfgang, the other head waiter Vivian had approached was somewhat true to his Sgt Schultz image, as "knew nothink". All's well that ends well I say.

Sunday 16th
Birthday boy today!!  Woke up about 7.00 and it is pitch black. Had room service cuppa & a shower, still black outside. It seems that they keep the time in the Chilean zone, but we are well over 1,000 miles west of that.  The good news is that we should have a nice long evening tonight. BTW, the clock goes back tonight. 

It was 9.00 before we did the " rattle rattle, splash " which is Captain Kent's description of anchoring!  The Chilean authorities have pretty well done everything to give us grief, from making us move anchorage 3 times to only allowing 1 tender boat (150 capacity) at a time.  The other thing is the National Park charge of US$60. This was charged, them we were told it was not going to be charged, but then today the Parliament in Chile have said they are charging!!  Today is the first day of charging since March - aren't we lucky. Given that the island has no exports and relies on tourism, it is sure a good way to annoy a few thousand customers.

Shouted ourselves a full breakfast for a change and later a coffee as we were not in a hurry to go ashore, particularly as the morning tours would have priority and our tour is not until the afternoon. Vivian however was getting anxious and was sure that we would never make it, I preferred to go with the flow.  Had an early pizza (again) and wandered down to get our tender tickets from the Elite Lounge (sorry, couldn't resist that!).

Long story short, we were ashore just after 1.00 and our revised tour was 2.20, so had time to wander. To be honest there was not a lot to see so we ambled the coastal road for half an hour and then back again. There were market stalls set up by the wharf, so we contributed $5 to the local economy. Silly thing is that much of the stuff for sale was untreated wood. 

We almost didn't make it ashore as our tender driver just about crashed our tender boat onto the rocks - it is a very narrow channel and the current and wind was quite strong. Fortunately there were spotters onboard who yelled out at him before disaster struck.

We were fortunate with our tour and selected a smaller bus/van, which was air conditioned!  Firstly we went to the bottom end of the island to the birdman area. This is where in old times the ruler of the island was selected each year by the winner of a competition to scale down the cliffs, swim a couple of kilometres in shark infested waters to the islands off the mainland, collect a specific bird's egg, and return!

Following that we visited the large crater and its water features. Then a drive to the middle of the island to see the 7 Moai (statues) facing out to sea. All in all a good trip. Of interest also is the airport, with its runway extending the whole width of the island. It was extended by NASA as an emergency landing strip for the space shuttle programme, but never used.

Although part of Chile, Easter Island is very much Polynesian in looks and culture. There is no unemployment, and many are quite happy with their little plot of land, and an animal or two. The land away from the coast is very fertile and there are lots of small plots, growing a variety of vegetables, pineapples and other crops for local consumption.

Had a delightful birthday celebration culminating in the singing of "Happy Birthday" by a large number of waiters in the dining room.  Good stuff as we can repeat the whole procedure for my twin, Mark, whose birthday is tomorrow!!

Machu Picchu photos

OK
Just a taste of Machu Picchu.  The first 3 are at MP itself and the last one of us both is overlooking the Sacred Valley

Machu Picchu at last

Sunday 9th
The alarm went off at 5.30 and we bounded out of bed.  Breakfast in the cabin and down to assembly by 7.15.  Looking a bit overcast and it certainly feels a lot colder than a few days ago. We were split into groups of (I think) 140 and bussed to Lima Airport without any drama - we were #1 group!  On arrival we were issued with our boarding passes - I was 1C & Vivian 1E !!  Another couple were also split 1D & 1F.  We soon sorted it out.

All aboard (had to be bussed out to the plane first) and the door closed. Announcement "due to air traffic, our departure has been delayed for 50 minutes" Oh the joy of South America.  Just over an hour flight to Cusco and just before arrival a similar announcement, although just 10 minutes this time!  Interesting flight (737), we actually climbed the whole time and our eventual landing was more of a nose dive. However the scenery was magnificent.

Cusco is at 11,000 feet, so altitude sickness was a worry - but not for these intrepid venturers ☺☺. Good news on arrival was that we were split into yet further groups of about 14 for each of the 10 minibuses.  Sticking with our good luck, we went with #1 bus as it also saved us remembering another number!

A quick drive into Cusco to see the Cathedral & Monastery/museum before having a delicious lunch at a 4* restaurant. After lunch we drove a little higher to Saqsaywaman (which when spoken sounds like "sexy woman"!). This is also an Inca site and covers a huge area and may possibly have been an arena or outdoor stadium. Of course, as with all Inca sites, no one knows as there are no records, monuments, burial sites or anything else.  All that is known is that they disappeared as a nation or tribe or race when the Spanish arrived. I will not go into detail about this site other than to say that we were impressed and thought we knew all about the Inca's.

By now it was well after 5.00 and it would be fair to say that we were feeling tired as it had been a long day and of course we had suddenly gone up 11,000 feet from sea level.  Well we still have a 90 minute drive down to our hotel in the Sacred Valley, which is at 9,423 feet (according to my altitude app).  We reached the valley floor and travelled along the headwaters of the Amazon for quite a long time, passing through a multitude of small villages/groups of " houses" before eventually crossing the river and heading back along the other side on a metal road.

We were all wondering what we were in for as we travelled 1km along this road. Suddenly we find ourselves at this magnificent hotel, Aranwa Hotel & Wellness.   We went to our room, which happened to be at the far end of the furthest block away from Reception, which was not easy given that it was dark and the lighting was minimal and we were walking outside. However on arrival we found our room to be  the size of about 5 cabins with 2 King beds and huge living space (for what purpose I don't know). Very posh indeed.

A very quick change of clothes and miraculously found our way back to the dining room, where the whole 140 were served a magnificent 3 course set dinner.  The waiters were impeccable and each table was served in unison with the waiters standing behind and waiting for "the nod" before setting and removing plates.

All this was accompanied by a musician playing as variety of pan flutes and other wind instruments.  A full day ensured that we had no trouble in sleeping. Alarm set for 6.00 as they arranged a wake up call at 6.30 and we have to be on our bus by 8.00 for a full day ahead.

Monday 10th
That all worked out well and I opened the curtains (or should I say the wall) to reveal our view of the Andes and our private terrace. It was a bit too cold to sit there but we could see snow on the peaks and the sun was just touching them too. A full breakfast was available but I restricted myself to coffee and rolls.  Vivian had Coca tea, just to be sure!  We were very pleased that we had no altitude sickness problems and there was only 1 chap in our group who suffered.

We both had a bit of a headache last night, but really it had been a full on day and I think we'd been the same if we were at home. Oh, forgot to mention that both yesterday and today the weather has been perfect.  I was contemplating shorts, but elected T shirt and light trousers (with the Kathmandu jacket for later wind).

We had about an hour's drive to a little village of Ollantaytambo (try that after a couple of drinks) to initially visit the Inca fortress.  This was even more impressive than yesterday's visit and by the time we had done this we were starting to think that we have seen everything there is to see. (Of course we hadn't). The train station is just around the corner, so we only had a few minutes to spare before our train departed for Machu Picchu at 10.32 - don't you just love the exactness of train timetables!

We actually departed on time and the train is a mini Rocky Mountaineer silver class as it had sky domes so that we could see the Andes as we went along.  We were seated 2x2 and the tables were set for morning tea.  We were served a lovely morning tea of 4 different things - I of course ended up with a double helping of strawberries due to Vivian's allergy.  After tea coffee the tables were cleared away and the cabin host/ess proceeded to try and sell books etc. Nothing like a captive audience. I should note that there were about 48 in each carrage and 5 carriages on the train.

So near yet so far - we reached Machu Picchu station (Aguas Calientes) but proceeded to yet another **** hotel (that means 4 stars!) for a sumptuous lunch. The trouble is that I can't recall apart from the coffee desert. Yum.

This time. We now board little 30 seater buses which run up and down the mountain. There are about 50 of them doing the circuit, which sounds great except that it is an unsealed one lane road zigzagging up some 1,200 feet.  Vivian & I had the back seat. To say it is hair raising is an understatement.  On each of the hairpins, the driver flicks the back around sideways. At any time and in any place we'd meet another bus coming in the other direction and one or other would back away.  Somehow they were able to avoid each other.  It goes without saying that there are no such thing as guardrails, just a shear drop. Obviously we made it.

At the top, here is MP at last. It is almost impossible to describe apart from saying that it is awe inspiring and truly a wonder of the world.  The more you see, the harder it is to comprehend and the fact that no one actually knows how or why, despite different theories adds to the intrigue.

While it is early- mid afternoon, the weather is pleasant and the sky clear. As the afternoon wore on the shadows lengthened and gave yet a different aspect. We looked around at some of the various former houses and other structures and then hiked further up to the Guardhouse, which offers fantastic views over the area.  Really sorry that at this stage I am unable to get photos up 😤

Reverse of all the above - this time on the train after our snack the staff dressed up and we had a colourful Spirit dancer followed by a fashion parade. You guessed it, they were modelling male & female clothing, which they later brought around for purchase.  It was a good way to entertain us, as it was pitch black outside. 

Eventually returned to our hotel about 7.00 and we elected (as did most others) to go straight to dinner in our travelling clothes as we have a very early start tomorrow. A 4.20am wakeup call!  Dinner was good, although not as much to my taste, but also I wasn't really hungry and we treked off to our room about 9.00.  Did not need any encouragement to fall asleep almost immediately. Happy dreams

Tuesday 11th
I'd set my alarm for 4.15 so we were at least up when the phone rang.  Yet another light breakfast and all aboard the bus and departed at 6.59. What good boys & girls we were. We had a 90 minute drive back through the Sacred Valley and climb up to Cusco Airport. We bid our guide Fidel farewell and thanked both him and our driver in a tangible way.

As with Lima on Sunday, security screening required removal of watches and belts (luckily I don't need a belt after 80 odd days on a cruise ship!!).  Vivian's shoes triggered alarm both times, but mine were fine. Anyway we were through and everyone hung around looking for our boarding gate.  Nothing showing, and while our scheduled departure is 8.30, the board is showing all flights up until 9.15, but not ours!!!

Eventually an airline staff member appears and tells us to queue up at gate 1.  A quick change of signage from LAN to Peruvian Air and we are away!!  It seems that we are a charter flight, thus the confusion.  This time we are together in Row 6. Yes, a 15 minute hold before takeoff and all in all we are about 90 minutes late arriving in Lima.  Oh yes, as I noted, we were in Row 6 but by the time we got our snack etc they'd run out of milk.

The weather in Lima was overcast, not like earlier in the day.  Back on to bus #1 and looking forward to a 5 hour drive down to San Martin, where the ship is now waiting for us. A bit of a city tour of Lima from the airport, gave a pretty depressing outlook. We are well used to seeing armed guards outside banks, but they are also outside fast food restaurants.  The city had an air of desolation. But down by the waterside at the northern end, millions is being spent on a promenade that extends for miles. Above this stand the homes of the wealthy and clearly the shantytown areas have been or are being removed.

Our trip down to San Martin follows the coast and as we went through the southern side of Lima we were very much in the poor areas. This went on and on for miles. Then suddenly stopped and here we were in the middle of a desert, which extended inland for miles and miles.  For much of the rest of our journey all we saw was desert, natural gas power plants, chicken farms, chicken farms and more chicken farms, extensive areas of cultivation of vegetables and flowers, fruit trees, grapevines (further down in Pisco), desert and did I mentioned chicken farms? 

Down towards Pisco there is a lot of housing subdivision going on and big modern homes being built, along with numerous resorts along the coast - a stark contrast with the rest of the area.  Oh yes, much of the above is on land which clearly previously had chicken farms on it!!

It was really interesting and we had originally thought that we might sleep, but there was too much to see.  As we approached San Martin we ran into a sand storm and apparently the day before they'd had a big one. Incidentally the weather suddenly improved about an hour before we arrived at the port. We were the first bus back just before 5.00 and the last bus, from a different bus didn't arrive until 7.00. We set sail immediately after that, 2.5 hours behind schedule!

A quick summary. A most magnificent experience and thoroughly enjoyed it. The standard of living generally is distressing - it is impossible to imagine people living in such conditions. In every hamlet, town or so-called city every second building is a dairy and every other one is a mechanic repair shop.  An overall impression everywhere is the dust and dirt which is ever present.

I admire the people and see that there is some progress being made and hope that next year's elections will bring stability and development. Peru has a lot of natural wealth, from natural gas and minerals but little has been done to benefit from these due to political pressures.  We were told of previous corruption and instability and one quote from our guide pretty well sums it up. "Peru is like a pauper sitting on a golden throne".  Tourism also helps and our little adventure has made a miniscule contribution in some way

Passage to Peru

Monday 3rd
Brilliant morning, surprised to see so many skyscrapers on the horizon.  We watched with interest the process of tying up the ship.  In Cobh it took 3 men to lift the rope, but in Cartagena just 1 man (oh, but 2 others to watch!). It was clear that it was going to be a hot day, which it was - mid 30s by midday.

Once again we had a ship's tour, which in hindsight was probably a mistake.  In one aspect, we didn't leave until 9.00, when we were all tied up at 7.00 and of course later in the day the traffic was chaotic. Anyway we went to the old city and then had a walking tour through the city.  The map & the guided tour made it seem that we'd been a long way, whereas we had actually gone around in a couple of small circles☺☺☺

After the tour part we had an hour and a half to fill in and there is nothing much else to see in the old city and there was no shopping apart from hundreds of street vendors.  We wanted a coffee, but no one could tell us where to find a cafe. 

Finally found an excellent cafe.... but didn't accept $US!  OK, put it on the plastic.  Rejected 3 times (turned out to be a communication problem).  Just on giving up when Danny, Vivian's bridge partner says that his private guide will pay with her local card and I can reimburse her.  Well her card was rejected, other cards were rejected, the queue got longer and longer.  Eventually the guide's card worked and I gave her $10. The coffee and cakes were delicious, so a happy ending after all.  Almost, 5 minutes later the power went out!!!

Actually pleased to get back to the air conditioned bus and back to the ship just after 12.30.  Shared a pizza again and back in the cabin for sail away just on 2.00.  A very short visit, but well worthwhile. There is a lot of the new CBD area etc we didn't visit and it was a pity in some way to only have time for the historic part.  Certainly the city was not what we'd envisaged.  We are now out of the harbour and once again heading west at full speed to reach our rendezvous outside the Panama Canal tomorrow morning (already it seems we are going to be about an hour behind schedule). 

Tuesday 4th
We knew that we'd be later than our 5.00am scheduled arrival at Panama Canal, however the noise outside just before 6.00 got us out of bed.  We were still some way away from the entrance and it was after 7.00 when the tugs came out and we started our approach.  The NZ flags are attached to the balcony, although somewhat overshadowed by the large Aussie flag of Lynne & Harold next door. 

The camera team had got ashore as we entered the first lock - anything for a photo!  Most intrigued at the process of aligning the ship and hooking it up to the Mules (certainly not the 4 legged variety, but high powered locomotives) which guide us through the 3 locks to raise us up 26 metres.  The power of the water and the speed at which we were raised was incredible - certainly quicker than the much smaller river boat ones on the Danube etc. After going through the first lock we went down for breakfast on deck 6 and it was an excellent move as we watched the side of the successive locks and appreciated the lateral movement as we carried on through to Lake Gatun (which covers the submerged town of the same name).  The weather is hot and humid but a breeze has sprung up. 

Most interesting landscape as we went on, particularly the upper reaches of Lake Gatun and following the old Chagres River (which Wyn & I have decided to record as the Amazon!). The river is pretty narrow for oceangoing vessels and all the jungle/trees on the side made it look even more exotic.  The funny thing was however than as we went through the only totally man-made part of the canal - the Culebra Cut, with all this impenetrable jungle, you could see the tops to the skyscrapers of Panama City in the distance! 

We had another couple of sets of locks to go through before eventually exiting the last lock about 5.00. Once again, the camera crew were in for anything for a photo opportunity - helicopter flypast, high-speed boat and back on the lock side.  We continued sailing past Panama city, which looks impressive, with lots and lots of high rise buildings and very exotic looking marina.

We have fully exited and are out in the Pacific, heading down to Ecuador on Thursday.  Just before sunset I was looking eastwards and noticed a whale jumping out of the water.  It was quite a distance away and initially looked like the sail on a small yatch, but the sighting was confirmed by other passengers. Tomorrow is thankfully yet another sea day, so we can get back to "normal".

Wednesday 5th
Another lovely morning with temperature around 30.  Breakfast, walk, coffee, talk, lunch, bridge (blog), afternoon tea (green), rest, dinner, sleep.  Just like at home!!!!!!  They had the " equator crossing " ceremony, which we did not bother with.  Apparently we didn't miss anything.  The Captain later announced however that we'd actually cross the equator early tomorrow morning, however our certificates were delivered after dinner anyway.

Thursday 6th
OK we are officially back in the southern hemisphere, so it must be winter!  Somewhat surprised at the size of Manta, Ecuador when we were woken about 5.30.  We'd been told that it was a major fishing port but were not expecting the number and size of tuna fishing boats.  Some go to sea for 3 months, others just 12 days as they don't have refrigeration and the very small ones are just overnight. Manta is second only to Thailand in processing tuna, and boats come from all around the world - the ones unloading next to us were from Spain. The big boats cost about €40m and are state of the art, including chase boat, observation tower and a helicopter in many cases.  

We had breakfast in our cabin and were off on our half day tour at 8.00. The first part was the Archeological Museum, which frankly was a waste of time as there was nothing there, just the guide talking to some murals on the walls.  It was very stuffy.

Then a 10k drive to Montecristi where the famous Panama Hats are made.  OK, we bought three at as total cost of $80, so we'll see how they last!!  They come crushed in balsa wood boxes, which probably won't make it through biosecurity.   It is certainly a very labour intensive industry as everything is done by hand.  Some of the *really good* ones sell in the $1,000s. After some free time we were back at the ship and later had yet another pizza with Maureen & Wyn. As a treat, and for the first time, we then went upstairs and had a snow freeze ice cream.  Could be habit forming.

Ecuador looks very poor, although they do have lots of natural resources - up in the jungle/mountains.  Certainly around Manta the ground is barren, lots of shacks although it seems that there has been a lot of land clearance with potential for industrial development. The Government seems to be doing as good job with rehousing and development.  The weather was pleasant at 28-30 degrees and a little overcast. Being just below the equator they get very little rain. Interesting to see, but don't see ourselves coming back again.

Unfortunately the "ship cold" is still going around,  but seems to mainly be the newer passengers, as those of us who have already had it hopefully have built up a resistance. Maureen has been unwell for a few days and even our Cruise Director who got on at Southampton was off sick.  We are being very careful, given we only have 3 days until we get off for Machu Picchu.  The Cruise Critic group of about 26 got off today as they have a 5 day excursion, whereas the Princess ones are just 3.  It will be interesting to compare notes when we are all back onboard.  Vivian's bridge partner, Danny has gone with the CCs so I have no doubts about a full report.

Friday 7th
Sea day.  What else can I say?  Vivian's bridge was at 10.00, so did my walk alone. We have just sailed through a fleet of yachts, not sure where to or from but they were heading east. At the same time a whale was spouting just 100 odd metres off the port side. This is apparently the area where whales are migrating. The weather is perfect and funnily it feels like home - just a few thousand miles away to the west. Having said that though, the temperature has dropped a bit down to 22 - which would be hot at home but feels decidedly cool here. Just before dusk we saw well over 200 fishing boats off the port side.  I have never seen such a fleet in such a relatively small area.  Obviously it is a great fishing spot!

Tonight our table decided to skip the MDR and have a pizza night instead. It was a great idea and the food was delicious, a change from the usual - most of us had the lasagne - yum. We had a hilarious night, with some great stories being told and it turned out to be a late night too.  However it is another sea day tomorrow, so no worries.

Saturday 8th
Last sea day as we head off to Machu Picchu first thing tomorrow.  The weather is overcast and a lot cooler, but pleasant enough to sit on deck (there are plenty of chairs today). We've had a pretty easy day, checked and double checked our little overnight bags to make certain we have everything we need.  I've gone back to my chocolate on chocolate on chocolate desert to build up my resistance to altitude sickness - that's my excuse! 

There have been numerous whale sightings, but you really have to be focused on looking for them, rather than random observations.  Just before lunch we sailed through a large pod of several hundred dolphin, putting on a magnificent display - many of them were just outside the bow wave and others were jumping fully out of the water.

As I have noted previously, the shop cold has been/is doing the rounds, but other than the odd accident, we've been a pretty healthy ship and I hope that this continues.  I mention this as there has been a distinct sewage smell, which is getting worse - today the smell on the aft port side of the Promenade deck was almost unbearable. Let's hope they have it (whatever it is) fixed before we leave Peru, as it is a long way until the next port.

The next post will be as we sail further into the Pacific on our way to Easter Island, in the meantime, some rest ahead of our 7.30 departure for Lima Airport.

On to South America

Wednesday 29th
Unfortunately the weather has really packed up as we pass through a front.  The ship rolled to an extent that from the cabin I could barely see the sky - just water.  The rain was coming in horizontally, so my excuse for no walking.

Penultimate Formal Night for no reason, other than to improve the photography shop revenues!  Went to the singers and dancers before dinner and while they were OK, the lack of scenery etc detracts & it does not compare to other cruises.

Thursday 30th
Familiar theme - slept in, but when we pulled the curtains back we were blinded by the sun.  A glorious day and ink blue sea, with a lot of orange seaweed. This is typical of the Bermuda Triangle, which we entered just after 2.00 yesterday.... And we are still here to tell the story. Got our mile walk in before morning coffee, but it was very hot and quite windy on deck. 

Cruise Critic lunch again and Mark 2 & Christine joined us, so our numbers were up to 104.  While the temperature is just 30, the humidity is pretty high as we approach the Windward Passage between Cuba & Haiti. Due to hazy conditions we didn't see either as we went through.  The sea has come up quite a bit, so it looks as though bumpy is the story going forward.

Friday 31st
Last sea day for a while as we get to Curacao tomorrow morning. The day is basically a repeat of the last couple of days. We are on the middle of the trade winds and they blow steadily at 30 odd knots from the NE, while we are travelling SE, so plenty if movement still.  Must say that this is not what I imagined the Carribean to be like. However it is 30 degrees and I expect that when we are ashore tomorrow we'll really feel the heat.  Had Pizza for lunch, as we feel that a lighter meal is in order - my clothes have shrunk in this humid weather ☺☺

We had a get together of the groups going to Machu Picchu next week. We were surprised to see that there are over 280 going - there'll be no one left on board. They have added additional planes, trains and hotels to accommodate, but we are in the first original group. The big point they made was that we will be in South America and we should anticipate and accept that things will not go to plan, but............

At dinner we toasted our 10 weeks of friendship. Amazing how the time has gone and how it feels as though we have known each other for years & years. As an aside, flicking through the 3,000 photos, it seems like a dream - it is of course, a dream holiday!

Saturday 1 August
Woke to an overcast day as we approached Curacao, which is only 5 years old as an independent country, 75 kilometres north of Venezuela, with a population of around 160,000. Originally colonised by the Spanish in 1499 and then a Dutch settlement since the 1600s.  Enough history, on with the day.  We have a tour with Maureen & Wyn and assembled in the Princess Theatre at 8.40. after a light breakfast. The day improved as the sun got up and ended up hot and quite windy.

Our first call was at the Hato caves by the airport on the northern side of the island.  Not what we expected, as we had to walk up 50 steps to enter the caves.  It was very hot and sticky inside. After that we went into the town centre and did a walking tour around before heading back to the ship for a special lunch.  This was all part of the tour, but in hindsight a lot of time was wasted as we retraced some of our steps with our afternoon part of the tour.

In the afternoon we drove to the far west of the island to a magnificent swimming beach (no time for that though) and then the wild seas on the north.  There is really little to see, as the countryside is pretty barren with scrub and cactus, lots of cactus, huge cactus - getting the picture?  Oh, also lots of poisonous apple trees - even water dropping off can cause rashes etc.   A full day really and we were quite tired, so retired straight after dinner. Did not even hear or feel the ship leave at 9.00.

A couple of things to comment on.  This is not an idyllic Caribbean Island.  One of it's main industries is oil refining and it was noticeable when we sailed in and saw all these smoking chimneys. Although there are some pretty colourful buildings, the majority are shacks, surrounded by rubbish, like so many Pacific islands we are used to.

The main town is divided by the water leading to the main port, which is effectively inland.  There is a very large bridge over this waterway, but also a pedestrian swing bridge between the ship side and the shop side.  This bridge (it's pretty long) sits on pontoons and is swung open when ships want to go in or out of port. It seems to be driven by a couple of outboard motors!!!  We thoroughly enjoyed our visit although it has altered our opinion on an idyllic Caribbean holiday destination.

Sunday 2nd
Yeah, got another hour sleep in, which now makes us 17 hours behind NZ and this time will stay for the next 10 days hopefully.  They had Sunday Brunch from 10.30, however we opted for room service breakfast and later pizza for lunch. A nice sea day, with the temperature in the 30s but quite a strong wind.  The wind however is astern and pushing us along, so we don't notice it much. 

Maureen joined us at Church and we caught up again after morning coffee.  Big mistake! - they encouraged Vivian to spend money on a watch & necklace set, so Vivian & Maureen can be twins when we get home!!! Other than that it was a lovely day at sea and we did get our walk in before coffee.

Tomorrow we arrive in Cartagena, Columbia so will have to be very careful ashore. On Tuesday (our time) we traverse the Panama 5.00am to 4.30pm.  The ship has provided a web address to view our progress (we are port side, aft, deck 10). www.pancanal.com/eng/photo/camera-java.html   if anyone is interested