Random thoughts from the sea
Day 75, Grand Asia 2018 Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, At Sea: We are expecting the Amsterdam’s Christmas decorations to arrive on board in Honolulu tomorrow. But meanwhile, the pastry chefs have put their gingerbread village together around the base of the Atrium Clock. I expect we may see more decorations
Continue reading
Day 70, Grand Asia 2018 Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, Pago Pago, American Samoa: If you are paying close attention, you might notice that yesterday was Day 69 and Saturday, Dec. 8. Today is Day 70 ad Saturday, Dec. 8. No, I did not make a mistake. We crossed the International
Continue reading
Day 69, Grand Asia 2018 Saturday, Dec. 8, 2018, Apia, Samoa: I hadn’t been to Apia, Samoa, before. I still haven’t been there, at least not on land. We docked early in the morning as usual. A group of Samoan dancers and musicians welcomed us with a special performance before
Continue reading
Day 67, Grand Asia 2018 Thursday, Dec. 6, 2018, Suva, Fiji: After the South Pacific beaches and resorts of our last few ports, we are back in a city. Suva is the capital of Fiji, and our berth is on an industrial pier where giant forklifts move containers all day
Continue reading
Day 66, Grand Asia 2018 Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018, Port Denarau, Fiji: I kept wandering through the same dozen shops, looking for the Fijian hot sauce I had seen an hour or so earlier. Of course, I never found it. A friend and I tendered ashore to Port Denarau and
Continue reading
Day 64, Grand Asia 2018 Monday, Dec. 3, 2018, Mystery Island, Vanuatu: After feeling a bit of guilt over doing not much of anything yesterday at Easo, Lifou, I didn’t feel a bit of guilt today about my lack of ambition. Perhaps the most strenuous thing people did today was
Continue reading
Day 63, Grand Asia 2018 Sunday, Dec. 2, 2018, Easo, Lifou, New Caledonia: This is the kind of port that leaves me in a quandary. It’s a small island whose attractions are mainly swimming and snorkeling. The ship charges $60 each for some excursions around the island, which seems a
Continue reading
Day 61, Grand Asia 2018 Friday, Nov. 30, 2018, At Sea: “Books are a uniquely portable magic.”– Steven King This afternoon our book club met to discuss our third book, The Dry, by Jane Harper (a crime drama set during an Australian drought). Holland America provides dozens of copies of the
Continue reading
Day 59, Grand Asia 2018 Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2018, Sydney, Australia: I awoke to thunder and lightning, and a check of the radar on my smartphone showed the storm was right over the city. Fortunately for us, it passed by midmorning and even the promised rain after that was relatively
Continue reading
Day 58, Grand Asia 2018 Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2018, Sydney, Australia: Our shuttle driver said, “Better get your outside activities in today. Tomorrow we are expecting more rain than we have had so far all year.” And it’s almost December. So with that in mind, I set off on a
Continue reading
Recent Comments