Los Angeles - The end of our Grand Voyage - December 21

Our eighty-two day trip around the Pacific rim is ended.  The most stressful part of the end is getting home.

The morning of our departure began with my bacon and eggs breakfast, followed by lots of sitting around waiting for our group to be called.  Once our group was called it was a short walk to pick up our luggage and board the shuttle to LAX.  They deposited us next to our airline curbside check-in, where they relieved us of our luggage.

For a person uncomfortable in crowds, flying the week of Christmas through LA and Houston is special.  Sharing space with thousands of people all focused on their travel plans, followed by shuffling onto overbooked flights and sitting in cramped seats.  My mind starts thinking about all the possible points of failure.  It's not so much that I'm a worrier, but the bulk of the process I feel mostly powerless.

I pray when I fly.  Since most flights, either end well or they don't, I consider it something of a high stakes venture (either you live or you die).  So as I buckle my seatbelt, I remind God that my life is in his hands and how much I want things to go well.  I pray for the training, proficiency, and sobriety of our flight crew.  I also express my concerns about the health of the hundreds of people with whom I'll be sharing air for several hours.  It comforts me to remember that God is in control.  This probably sounds odd coming from a lover of flying.

So we arrived safely in Fort Myers around 2300 where Vergil is waiting to take us home.  I marvel at the speed with which we get from LA to RSW in one day.  I find about a metric ton of mail has been collected for me by my neighbor.

I think it's called "jet lag"; the disorientation to time.  My body is confused about waking and sleeping.  Sunday at church, as the Pastor led us in prayer, I found myself being shaken from my slumber to come and help in the nursery (how embarrassing)!

Afterthought: It occurs to me that my last post was from Pago Pago.  Just to chronicle the last two weeks of the cruise, it was mostly spent at sea.  The seas were rougher than any we had experienced earlier in the cruise.  On our way to Hawaii, was the worst.  Many stayed in their cabins and/or took the patch/pill for motion sickness. 

We stopped in Honolulu first.  As usual, it was mostly spent shopping.  It was reported that Pearl Harbor was not doing tourism that day.

Anh and I had been there about twelve years ago for a family wedding, but nothing seemed familiar to me.  We got around by purchasing a day pass for the bus system. 

All that really mattered was that we found a place that served Vietnamese food. 

Thu treated me to a local beer.

Bone head left, Diamond head right

Pago Pago - American Samoa

So it's December 8 and last night we crossed the international date line.  That gave us two Saturdays.

Over the last week, we have had several stops, but not much access to the internet.  After Noumea we went to Easo, Mystery Island (Vanuatu),  Port Denerau and Suva (Fiji).

Our port yesterday in Apia Samoa was canceled for safety reasons, (High winds and an unprotected harbor).

Apia

We are in Pago Pago (American Samoa).  The weather is warm humid and windy.  I'm hoping I can finish this before it rains again, but service here is painfully slow.   Internet access is available at the pier for $3.00.  It's the kind of service you have to wait for, and wait for... The wind is threatening to pick up the canvas covers here on the pier and carry them away.

Local bus

Tutuila Island

Today we walked until we found a local bus.  We hopped on and rode as far as $5/each would take us.  Turns out not too far.  We drove out to the entrance to the harbor and then he turned around and came back.  The owner's son was with us and telling us about his plans to join the Army after high school.

Then we went to the National Parks building and watched several videos about things like how they make Tapa (a fabric made from tree bark)

We also saw a whale's jaw bone, unlike any I've seen before.  After watching several of their videos, we walked back to the ship.

We leave here this evening around 1730 and head for Hawaii.  It will be five days at sea.  Aside from no internet access, I love time at sea.  There is a rhythm to life at sea.  Not that there is anything difficult about cruising, but sea time is "in the zone".

I looked at the calendar the other day and we have less to two weeks left.  I'm holding back the tears.

Noumea - New Caledonia

     A week has passed since my last update in Mooloolaba.   After a few days at sea, we spent two days in Sydney.  Then a couple more days and here we are in New Caledonia.  We will be here until 1600 this afternoon.  FYI, we are still living in tomorrow land and don't know when we cross back into yesterday.  It's Dec 1 here.  Weather is lovely.  I had planned to go ashore, but somehow I missed the memo.  I don't care to wander around Noumea alone, but thought I'd update the blog.


     Sydney was very nice.  Lots to see and do.  We were only there for two days and day two was thunder, lightning, wind, and rain.  I kept the ship in order while Anh led the VN cohort to China town.

Ron & Ruth Prosise

     Sydney day one we took a harbor tour with Captain Cook then we had lunch ashore and finished up with the "hop on hop off" bus.  Ron and Ruth (our companions du jour) stayed on the bus when we got off to explore China town.

     The bus tour was a little too long for some of us.  So I was surprised that we wanted to trek around China town.  Silly me...

Smitten by the sand man

         So we went into the "Market Center" in China town.  It was just a four-story shopping mall.  Then we wandered around and had supper at a Japanese Mom & Pop business. 

The second day in Sydney, I met the man that had been taken off in Dutch Harbor with a heart attack.  His name is Hans and he's ninety years old.  In Anchorage, they gave him a pacemaker and sent him home to Florida.  He contacted the cruise line and was flown to Bali where he hitched a ride for the remainder of the cruise.  He was extolling his good luck over a big ole cigar.

     Here are a few of the sites we saw in Sydney.

Anh imitating art

Notice people on top of the bridge ($300 ea)

 Personal note:  Stepped on the scale this morning to see how my weight is doing.  Don't feel like I'm losing any weight.  Turns out I've gained two pounds over the last two months.   This is unacceptable.  The goal is to lose weight.  Making a new plan to kick it up a notch for these last twenty days.

Mooloolaba - Australia

What did you do on your cruise?

     So after three days at sea here we are at Mooloolaba.  We had to tender into port and the day ashore was shortened because of expected high winds this afternoon.  I won't have much time to wander around town and wifi is slow.  The town looks lovely and I'd like to come back sometime and spend a week or so enjoying the waterfront. 

     Some of our shipboard friends will be leaving us in Sydney.  I'm not too jazzed about that.  We have an early bird table on the Lido where we gather in the morning to watch the sun come up and pontificate about the state of the world. 

     Maggie will be leaving us in Sydney and I will miss her.  She takes great pictures and I'm sharing a few of them with you today.  She has a great sense of humor too.

Komodo lizard/dragon

We have been cruising now about fifty-seven days so we have about twenty-five to go.  Time passes so quickly.

 This one reminds me of Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector.

Things that hang low

Cairns - Australia

     So we had a easy start to the day.  Late breakfast and leisurely departure.  We started off agreeing that we would wander around town, but that soon became eating at a Vietnamese restaraunt, and going to the botanical gardens. 

     It was wonderful because we met a lovely couple from England named John and Dawn.  It was so much fun visiting with them that we had two rounds of stout and a couple hours of conversation.  Unfortunately for Anh, she went shopping while I visited with them.  What delightful people!  John is a retired dentist and Dawn is retired from managing the office.  They have been travelling since they retired several months ago.  We talked at length about politics and religion.  We discussed the English reformation and John was well versed in the topic. 

     I'm not sure what everyone else did today.  We followed the footsteps on the map around town until we got to the mall.  Anh bought a dress or something.  I looked at a drone they were practically giving away for $3,000.  Of course, I consider it a successful day if I avoid buying unnecessary stuff.  But it was very cool and I was tempted (yet without sin).


    Cairns is a tourist town.  So we did tourist stuff.

     Ron Sr. went snorkeling with Ron Jr., Donna, Carol, and Roger.  Can't wait to hear the report.  Hope all went well.

     We went to the botanical gardens and saw lots of cool plants.  Walked a lot!

     We had lunch at a VN restaraunt.  Anh had Bun Thit Nuong and I had Pho Ga Nha and a Cafe Sua Da.


 After all the walking, I'm anxious to get home and order a massage chair.

Called Vergil and visited briefly.  I'm looking forward to seeing him when we get home.  I'm also mindful that we've been gone a long time.  I miss our church and am looking forward to getting home.

Don't misunderstand, I love the cruise and all the people we have grown fond of on the ship.  We have the better part of a month before we land in LA.

Darwin - Australia

 Woke up early as usual and got a nice hot shower before trundling off to the Lido for coffee and eventually breakfast.  The sun was beautiful when it peeked up on the horizon glowing red.  I didn't move fast enough and so didn't get a picture of it.  Today is Sunday and so after breakfast, we went to the Wajang Theatre for a worship service.

About 0900 the gangway was open so we made our way off the ship and onto the waiting shuttle.  Greeting was cordial and in English.  How wonderful to hear your native tongue.

The shuttle took us to a mall that sadly was mostly locked up tight for Sunday.

We took the local bus and got off at a sort of street mall.  They had booths for clothing and food.  So, of course, we had to partake.  When I ordered a beer I was told I'd have to wait because it's Sunday.  So we found a seat and ate some of the food and visited with the natives.  They were very friendly and spoke English (with an accent).

It started raining and soon it was  a downpour,  so I went and bought two beers, one for Ron and one for myself.  It was really good.  It's called Ginger Beer.

Ron and I wanted to go to the Aviation Museum, but couldn't get the correct bus.  We finally gave up and decided to update our computers.

Today the weather is hot and humid.  Fortunately, there's a breeze and scattered clouds.  If we had a sunny day it would be awful hot.  As it is, we're in the low 80's. 

It's unfortunate that we came on a Sunday, because there's very little open.  I think I'll make my way back to the ship.

Next stop is Cairns Australia, but there'll be some sea time in between.

Stay thirsty my friends.

Bali - Indonesia

This friendly fellow was in Chinatown in Semarang.

     Today we departed the ship in Bali and linked up with a relative of one of our servers.  We both like her and knowingly paid top dollar for a car and driver.

     Best intentions, but a lackluster individual.  Anh tried to set him up with a carload to maximize his return, but he apparently didn't understand.  So we kept with our original deal and just the two of us hopped in for a ride.

     We had expressed our lack of interest in temples, but after a forty five minute drive, we discovered that's where we were going;  A Hindu temple.






     We walked around the grounds looking at ghouls, gargoyles, and goblins designed to protect the sanctity of the place.  On our way out I had a beer and Anh ate a mess of durian.

 I don't know if there's anything quite as doofy looking as me in a dress.

















Here is a more revealing look

So the deal with this temple is it's for people who want to cleanse themselves of bad habits.  At least that's what my driver said.  There is a pool with numerous spouts dispensing water under which one puts their body for cleansing.  I restrained myself from my bad habit of sarcasm and disrespect.  I'll confess here that the longer I was there, the more irritated I got.  Jesus is worthy of all praise and yet people pray to deaf, dumb and blind idols.

I suppose a positive take away is that people are mindful of their sinful state and sense a need or cleansing.

     So on our way back to the ship we stopped and both of us had a one-hour deep tissue massage.  It was wonderful.  I had to fight to stay awake because I didn't want to miss any of it.  I kept looking over at Anh, and I thought she was sleeping, but she denies it.

     So now I need to attend to some of the activities that require access.  Checking statements, returning emails, etc.  Tomorrow the ship sails to Komodo island where the dragons live.  I think we will stay aboard and relax.  Neither of us is excited about the critters.

Be blessed