Random thoughts from the sea
Day 69, Grand Asia 2017 Friday, Dec. 8, 2017 – At Sea I remember saying once to my mother that I had no artistic talent, that I wasn’t creative. She painted in oils and acrylics, made ceramics and excelled at just about every art or craft she tried. In fact,
Continue readingDay 68, Grand Asia 2017 Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 – Pago Pago, American Samoa “Did you use up your local currency?” people asked as we boarded the ship after a day in Pago Pago. It was a joke, because the official currency on American Samoa is the American dollar. For
Continue readingDay 67, Grand Asia 2017 Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017 – At Sea Today is the last day I will come to you from the future. I am 19 hours ahead of the Central Time zone, which has allowed me considerable latitude in when I write and publish blog posts while
Continue readingDay 66, Grand Asia 2017 Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2017 – Suva, Fiji Suva, Fiji’s capital, was hot and humid when I disembarked to explore the city. One of my immediate stops was the city market only a block from the pier. Venders filled tables with limes, bananas, garlic, tomatoes, large
Continue readingDay 65, Grand Asia 2017 Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2017 – Lautoka, Fiji The actor Raymond Burr has left Fiji with a beautiful heritage, the Garden of the Sleeping Giant. My tour started here and it was the highlight of our visit to the port of Lautoka on the west side
Continue readingDay 64, Grand Asia 2017 Monday, Dec. 4, 2017 – Dravuni Island, Fiji I didn’t have much expectation of our visit to Dravuni Island today. We would arrive at noon and tender in. It is a small island with seemingly not much to offer. There were no shore excursions offered.
Continue readingDay 63, Grand Asia 2017 Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017 – At Sea We officially kicked off the holiday season tonight with a Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony, accompanied by holiday songs, cookies, hot chocolate and apple cider and even a little snow. Passengers and crew packed the three-story atrium, where a
Continue readingDay 62, Grand Asia 2017 Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 – At Sea Today ended with a sad reminder that we will be getting off this ship sooner than many of us might want. We received a form asking for our disembarkation plans — flight numbers and times, whether we want
Continue readingDay 61, Grand Asia 2017 Friday, Dec. 1, 2017 – Auckland, New Zealand When it’s an island nation or a natural port, a locale’s history is intertwined with the sea. I saw an example of that today in Auckland, where I spent a couple of hours at its maritime museum.
Continue readingDay 60, Grand Asia 2017 Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017 – Tauranga, New Zealand Today the Amsterdam docked right at the downtown area of Tauranga, a small city that has become New Zealand’s largest port. We were in the shadow of the volcanic Mount Maunganui, and a number of passengers took
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