Day 102 – Auckland, New Zealand – August 31st, 2015

Posted on August 31, 2015 by oriana77

Auckland, New Zealand – 07:00 to 22:00

Our final port of call on this grand voyage around the world, before sailing into the magnificent Sydney Harbour on Friday morning. Having been in Auckland twice before, many years ago, I recall it as a spectacular arrival and was fully intending to be out on deck enjoying the sights. However, waking up my usual 04:30 I was serenaded by two minute blasts on the ship’s whistle. It wasn’t foggy, but with rain reducing the visibility, it was pointless heading our with the camera.

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Day 101 – At Sea – August 30th, 2015

Posted on August 31, 2015 by oriana77

Pago Pago, American Samoa to Auckland, New Zealand

Our final day at sea before arriving in Auckland tomorrow morning. Judi was very pleased to note the seas flattened out, which eased the passage giving her inner ears an opportunity to settle. This is our last Sunday at sea, so today’s culinary highlight was the final Sunday Brunch, which means no dining room breakfast, as the waiters get a well deserved later start. It was also an opportunity to say our goodbyes to the many New Zealanders departing the ship tomorrow morning.

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Day 100 – The Day We Skipped – August 29th, 2015

Posted on August 29, 2015 by oriana77

International Date Line (IDL), Prime Meridian, Antemeridian ?????

So how much sleep did we get last night – 7 hours or 31 hours???

A rather strange question you may ask, 31 hours sleep in 1 night, no way, that’s impossible!. However, we retired at 23:00 on Friday 28^th August and awoke at 05:00 on Sunday 30^th August. With my rudimentary math skills, that makes 30 hours of sleep, not the 7 hours or 31 hours noted above.

You may ask – did we awake completely refreshed – nope, no different than usual, so what happened? Well it’s really rather simple, provided you understand things like International Date Lines, Prime Meridian, Antemeridian, Time Zones, etc.

Read on for an explanation of how it works.

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Day 99 – At Sea – August 28th, 2015

Posted on August 29, 2015 by oriana77

Pago Pago, American Samoa to Auckland, New Zealand

The second of three days between Pago Pago and Auckland and this will be our last day at the tail end of world time, as at 02:00 tomorrow morning the ship’s clocks will zoom ahead 23 hours. The resultant puts us at Z+12, or the leading edge of world time. Today’s social calendar is well filled, with the guys having a TGIF (Thank goodness it’s Friday) meeting for Happy Hour, followed by cocktails at Fay & Vonnie’s cabin at 18:00 and finally another trip to the Steakhouse for dinner.

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Day 98 – At Sea – August 27th, 2015

Posted on August 28, 2015 by oriana77

Pago Pago, American Samoa to Auckland, New Zealand

Having spent most of the last week heading west across the Pacific, on departing Pago Pago, we headed south. While this is normally good news for us northern hemisphere types, on this side of the equator, it means heading to chillier climates. After the heat and humidity of the past few days, it was already noticeably cooler down on the Promenade Deck this morning. With respect to weather, the swells and winds have picked up and we continue to rock and roll our way across the Pacific.

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Day 97 – Pago Pago, American Samoa – August 26th, 2015

Posted on August 27, 2015 by oriana77

Pago Pago – 08:00 to 17:00

We originally booked one of the ship tours, but cancelled it last week hoping to find internet ashore. We wanted to Skype with our daughter and grandson again, and I am still waiting to download the new Windows 10, but at 3GB download, don’t want to use our precious remaining satellite time. Nope, no internet available, so we Skyped from aboard, which with most people ashore, actually worked very well. This will probably be our final Skype session, as we will be home in about 10 days.

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Day 96 – At Sea – August 25th, 2015

Posted on August 27, 2015 by oriana77

Bora Bora, French Polynesia to Pago Pago, American Samoa

The second of two sea days between the idyllic Bora Bora and Pago Pago, and wow, what a spectacular day it was. Being worldly travellers and courtesy of tomorrow being a port day, Judi took the liberty of arranging a surprise birthday celebration today, rather than tomorrow. However, based on Sydney time, when we headed for breakfast, it was already the 26th, so it really wasn’t a day early. We also scheduled a guys photo swap afternoon, which of course just happened to coincide with happy hour. Therefore, today was basically spent nibbling and imbibing with some exceptional company.

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Day 94 – Bora Bora Tour – August 23rd, 2015

Posted on August 26, 2015 by oriana77

Our final tender port of the 2015 World Cruise. On entering the lagoon we splashed the anchor, swinging around the pick, a short distance offshore from the main Bora Bora island. Although only a short 2 hours, our tour today was very similar to yesterday, being a scenic drive around the island, with a few stops at points of interest.

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Day 94 – Bora Bora, French Polynesia – August 24th, 2015

Posted on August 26, 2015 by oriana77

Bora Bora – 08:00 to 17:00

After a relatively short jog of about 150 miles through the night we arrived at Bora Bora, another island of French Polynesia. Entering the single narrow channel in the outer barrier reef, we anchored in the bay off the town of Vaitape, commencing tendering operations shortly after 08:00. This morning we completed a two hour circle island tour and with very little on the shore, in the vicinity of the ship, we returned aboard, spending a pleasant quiet afternoon. However, the highlight of the day was spotting the fins of a couple of whales, during the departure. Our 3rd whale sighting.

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Day 93- Tahiti Cultural Show – August 22nd, 2015

Posted on August 26, 2015 by oriana77

As we returned from the tour, we noted the Polynesian dancers and drummers on the dock, waiting to board the vessel. Fortunately, I remembered the show and cancelled my plans for taking a walk around the downtown area in the vicinity of the ship. Having been to all the Hawaiian Islands numerous times, we always attend a Luau, so we were interested in comparing both the costumes and dancing.

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