Hawaii / Tahiti 30 Day Cruise - Day 14 Sea Day

Friday Day 14 – Sea Day

As you can imagine, we have very few television channels out in the middle of nowhere.  The ship has a few channels that replay taped versions of the various talks and lectures they have had onboard, as well as advertisements for things they are selling in the ship’s store, and shore excursions sponsored by the ship.  One of the channels we find most interesting is the channel that displays the current weather, our exact position in the world, how many miles we’ve sailed, how many miles to our next port, and other current nautical facts about our cruise.  One piece of information it shows is the depth of the ocean in our current location.  Since we have been in the South Pacific the sea depth beneath the ship has been between 14,000 and 19,000 feet (which is three to five miles).  A good incentive not to fall overboard!

Today is our second Friday this week, which makes up for missing Tuesday a few days ago. Crossing the International Dateline can be confusing. After breakfast it was time for another of Travel Guide Julia’s talks on our upcoming ports, this morning it was Bora Bora.  Another great presentation, and we are really looking forward to Bora Bora.  After the Bora Bora talk it was time for another lecture by Dr. Ken Longenecker, this time on the “Sex Lives of the Reef Fishes”.  This was a very interesting talk about the reproduction process of the fish of the coral reefs we will be seeing when we go snorkeling.  It turns out that seventy percent of the reef fish in the world change their gender during their lifetimes and most of them change from female to male.

After the lecture it was time for lunch, and then Val was off to Team Trivia and I finally finished up the Fanning Island blog post.  Later in the afternoon we had another appointment with Future Cruise Consultant, Annette to wrap up some details of our Inca Empire cruise next year. 

We decided to go to happy hour in the Crow’s Nest where we ran into Ken, Cathy, Mark and Shirley so we joined them.  We chatted with them for a while and as we talked we saw an amazing sight.  A large school of dolphins suddenly appeared off to the side of the bow of the ship and swam alongside for a bit jumping in and out of the water and treating everyone to a wonderful show.  Soon it was time for everyone but us (early seating for them) to go to dinner so we went back to our room.  I decided to try my walk again today and this time had more success as the decks were clean and polished and ready to use.  I managed to do two miles today, but could really feel my inactivity in my legs.

Tonight was a formal dress night, but before dinner we attended the evening show, which was another production show by the Westerdam Singers and Dancers.  The show was very good, as have been all the shows we have attended.  Before the show started I was chatting with a lady sitting next to me who has been on thirty-five cruises.  This was their first on Holland America and she said how surprised she was at how good the entertainment was.  We thought so to, but we only have a couple of other cruises to compare it with.  After the show we had another (need I say it again) excellent dinner and then our usual visit to the casino.  Val was back on track tonight and did pretty well.

We have one more sea day until Rarotonga.  After Rarotonga another sea day, and then we have a string of port days all in a row as we sail to several different islands.  We were treated to another beautiful sunset this evening, and we were almost late for the show watching it.  Val took some great pictures of the sunset, here are several of those. 

Hawaii / Tahiti 30 Day Cruise - Day 13 Sea Day

Friday Day 13 – Sea Day

Today is the first of three sea days before we reach our next stop in Rarotonga.  We crossed the Equator around 5:15 this morning so we are now in the Southern Hemisphere.  We did our usual sea day routine of getting up around eight or eight-thirty and having a quick, light breakfast in the Neptune Lounge before starting the day’s activities.  The first thing on our agenda was a talk on Raiatea, our next stop after Rarotonga by Travel Guide, Julia.  As usual, her talk was very informative.  She is a very good speaker and gives an interesting talk.  After Julia there was a talk by Dr. Ken Longenecker, a marine biologist who is onboard as a guest lecturer.  His lecture today was on the discovery of deep coral reefs (at about 300 feet below the sea surface) that no one knew existed until recently.

After that talk it was time for lunch and today we were meeting some of our new shipboard friends in the main dining room.  We had a great time with Ken and Cathy, Mark and Shirley, and Stan and Deanna, as they are all very interesting people and we enjoyed talking with them.  One thing we have noticed on this cruise is how well travelled most people are, not just cruises (which most have done many), but travel all over the world.  We have added several things to our travel to-do list from talking to other people onboard.  Also, most of the people we’ve met are retired or at least semi-retired and it has been very interesting to talk them about their former careers.

After lunch, Val was off to trivia and I went back to the room to start the process of preparing the pictures and writing the Fanning Island blog post.  That was difficult as Fanning Island was so interesting to us and we had many photos to sort through.  I made some headway, but at 3:00 they were having a show put on by the crew that we wanted to attend.  The Holland American crew is mainly Indonesian so the show featured music and dance of their home cultures.  It was a great show, and there is a lot of talent on the ship.  They do this on their own time and it was greatly appreciated by the full-house audience.

After the show, I went back to work on the blog with Val’s help and then decided to get some exercise on the Promenade Deck.  When I went out to start my walk though, some of the deck crew were washing and polishing the deck so a walk was impossible.  It was back to the room to relax until dinner.  The food continues to be excellent on this trip and tonight was no exception.  Others we have talked to have agreed that the food seems to be above average on this cruise.  As usual we finished the night in the casino before returning to our room.

The weather was beautiful today with mostly clears skies and towering clouds in the distance.  We were treated to another beautiful sunset as you can see below.  Life is good on the Westerdam, but going by much too quickly.

Hawaii / Tahiti 30 Day Cruise - Day 12 Fanning Island

Thursday Day 12 – Fanning Island

Today we visit Fanning Island, originally and officially known as Tabuaeran, which in Polynesian means “hallowed footprint”.  If you look at the island from above it does look like a footprint, but the surprising thing is that the island was named long before anyone could see the island from above.  It is part of the island nation of Kiribati, which consists of 33 small islands. Fanning Island is an atoll which is defined as “a ring shaped coral islet formation surrounding a central lagoon.  Atolls generally form over eons as coral reef builds long the submarine fringe of an eroding volcano base.”

The population of the island is about 2,000 and there is no electricity, plumbing, cars or running water. People live in houses with dirt floors and palm-frond roofs.  A supply ship visits every few months and there is very little other contact with the outside world.  Cruise ships visit 2 or 3 times a year, which are big events as it is a change from the islanders’ everyday life.  It is also a chance for them to sell their crafts, which provides one of the few ways to bring in cash.

Val and I were out on our balcony around 7:30 as we sailed up to the island.  Seeing our first South Pacific Island was very exciting.  The temperatures were mild with partly cloudy skies and moderate humidity.  We opted for breakfast on the balcony again so we could see the island and watch the unloading of the tenders in anticipation of going ashore.  

The first tender makes its way towards the entrance to the lagoon.

We waited until around 10:00 to make the journey through the “English Channel” and go ashore.  The English Channel is a gap in the coral reef which is the only way to enter the lagoon by boat from the ocean.  It is called the English Channel because the early English explorers made the breach in the coral reef to allow their ships into the central lagoon.  The island itself is just a narrow reef between the ocean and the lagoon, with the highest altitude being less than 200 feet.

Entering the lagoon was like entering another world.  The beautiful turquoise-blue water of the lagoon contrasting with the dark blue water of the deeper ocean was amazing. We docked at a rickety pier and were welcomed by islanders singing a welcoming song.  There were small tables set-up to display handcrafted items the islanders were selling. 

The one and only dock on the island for the tenders.

A local group welcomed us with song.

The people were very friendly and the children were having a very good time saying hello (“mauri” in their language) as we walked through their village.  They were very happy to sell us their wares, and we were happy to buy a few items as souvenirs and to help their economy.  To us they seemed content and very proud of their beautiful surroundings. Would they choose leave their island paradise given the means and opportunity?  We feel very lucky to have had such a wonderful opportunity to see an authentic South Sea island, and I think the best way to describe our visit is through some of the many pictures we took as we explored the village.

 

This ship was anchored in the lagoon and there were people on board working on it, but we don't know what it was for or who it belonged to.

Val with a couple of the islanders dressed in traditional costumes.  You'd think she was afraid she was going to end up in some native stew since her hair is standing on end, but it was just a windy day.

Shaking the coconuts loose.

And splitting them open.

 

The Westerdam from the ocean side.

 

 

This was the school, many from the ship brought donations of school supplies.  When the cruise ship appeared the students were given a holiday.

 

Our last view of the village before boarding the tender.

Inside the tender, not exactly luxury.

 After several hours of exploring the island we found our way back to the tender dock and reluctantly made our way back to the ship.  Once back on the ship the first order of business was to take showers as being out in the humidity had taken its toll on us.  After cleaning up, we were off to the Lido for a late lunch. After that we went out on the deck at the bow of the ship to take some more pictures of the island from that perspective, and to look again at the beautiful view of the Island.  What was left of the day was spent downloading and looking at the numerous pictures we had taken, and then it was soon time for dinner

The island and lagoon from the bow of the ship with a local fisherman in the foreground.

Another view of the island and lagoon from the bow of the ship.  You can see the other side of the island across the lagoon.

Our visit to Fanning Island was truly a remarkable experience and made us look forward even more to the rest of the trip, though I doubt if we will experience such an authentic glimpse of life in the South Seas as we did today.