FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 6th Port – Mystery Island, Vanuatu – Day 17
February 14, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 6th Port – Mystery Island, Vanuatu – Day 17
Thursday, February 11th
- An island is an island is an island…
…and this one was just long enough for an eight-seater plane to land.
- Uninhabited by night and filled with locals from the island next door by day. Outrigger canoes and small boats beckon today’s tourists to sailing, snorkeling, or to the sea turtles sanctuary.
- Our SIOP (Standard Island Operating Procedure) music included guitar strumming with the addition of a marimba made from liquor bottles of all sizes partially filled with water.
- The overgrown island vegetation has to fight for their piece of the sun and the sand. And that lush landscape pretty much covers a full spectrum of varying shades of greens with only a handful of colorful blooms.
- Even the short rain shower as I headed back to the tender didn’t dampen my spirit of this sweet little island.
FUN-fact – The Vanuatu Archipelago is 800 miles long dotted with 80 islands and islets.
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 5th Port – Lautoka, Fiji – Day 15 —
February 12, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 5th Port – Lautoka, Fiji – Day 15 —
Tuesday, February 9th – Lautoka, Fiji – Day 15
- This was our first peak from our balcony. A mangrove protected teeny tiny spit of an island in the harbor.
- Walking off the ship felt like being hit with a furnace blast of hot air. Big Surprise! Once again we had a short 10 minute free shuttle to town. As we meandered through the streets and parks of this 2nd largest city, “Bula, Bula” was our greeting. There are no strangers here and Fijians very much appear to be a happy contented bunch. Plus, they love their music! Big speakers at store fronts blast a variety from rock n’ roll to reggae.
- The city block long Central Market was filled with more colorful exotic fruits and roots, herbs and spices. That and more stalls of woven mats, hats, baskets and bags mixed with beaded jewelry, carved wood and masi, the traditional painted bark cloth.
- Trees with massive gnarled trucks and limbs are on every corner of the city. They look like a mix of
Sri Krishna Kaliva Temple
Jacaranda and Mimosas with high canopies that spread out far and wide. And more flowers and bushes in full bloom in every color from magenta, vanilla, lilac, almost neon yellow and ruby red.
FUN-fact – Fiji is made up of 300 islands. Sugar production makes up half of the economy with tourism the other half.
More FF – There is a heavy Indian influence as they were brought in to work in the sugar cane plantations between 1899 and 1903. Fijians are considered to be people of the sea and were never required to work the land.
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 4th Port – Yasawa-i-Rara, Fiji – Day 14
February 11, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 4th Port – Yasawa-i-Rara, Fiji – Day 14
Monday, February 8th
- When you want to be completely isolated on a primitive, unspoiled South Pacific island, this is where you come. With a population of only a mere 600 souls, this little piece of paradise feels pretty remote.
- The teal blue waters turned to turquoise and then to a light aqua by the time our tender arrived at
the only dock. The crystal clear water below greeted us with schools of fish darting in all directions.
- As I ventured down the long dock I took in today’s scenery. Lush green gentle rolling hills rose up from the talcum powder white sand beach. Palms and pines mixed with grasses and vines just above the shore.
- “Bula, Bula” means hello in Fiji, and was all we heard as we took off to explore. Once again we felt a very warm welcoming from the villagers. (And what we are finding is “SIOP” – Standard Island Operating Procedure) That, along with a choral group greeting. Today it was a baker’s dozen of baritones belting out a ballad.
- Like clothes drying on a clothes line, the sarongs flapped like flags in the wind. Strung from tree trunk to tree trunk, zig-zagging along the waterfront, we came upon more and more vibrant fabrics (not a muted one in the bunch) of floral and island scenes. And adjacent to them were the women dressed in colorful muumuu’s, some with their babies in tow, playing shopkeepers in their make-shift stores. More strung shells, carved bowls and jewelry. A light sweet floral scent wafted through the air. Plumeria and hibiscus blooms were in abundance.
- The heat and humidity was so stifling that even as we sat in the shade we were dripping with sweat. So after just an hour on “this little piece of paradise” we called it quits.
- Note to self – Do not get off the ship without your bathing suit on!
FUN-fact – The Blue Lagoon starring Brooke Shields was filmed at the opposite end of the island.
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – Crossing the International Dateline – Day 13
February 9, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – Crossing the International Dateline – Day 13
Sunday, February 7th
- Today is Sunday, Yesterday Was Friday – “Nee-nee, nee-nee, nee-nee, nee-nee” Rod Serling’s Twilight Zone meets the Bermuda Triangle as Saturday, February 6th just never existed. We gained an hour last night but lost an entire day? “How on earth could that have is happened?” is what my mother would have said.
- And to make it even more bizarre, Super Bowl Sunday kicked off at 11:30 Monday Morning! While the mood was incredibly festive, we were sorely disappointed because it was broadcast to the ship from ESPN and we missed all the FUN commercials! And to top it off, they only had 6 commercials that they ran over and over and over and over!
- Simply put the calendar day starts at the International Dateline. You either lose a day or repeat the same day depending on which direction you cross it. Confused? Me too and it took me all day to figure it out! We will get February 6th back on March 15th when we fly half way around the world from Singapore and arrive home in San Diego at almost the same time we left.
- I spotted a lovely couple having lunch on the Lido Deck and when I ran into them later I said, “You look like you’d be lots of FUN to have dinner with.” It turns out that I was spot on! Andrew & Gordon are from the bay area and have an incredibly great sense of humor. My Surprise Birthday Party guest list is off to a roaring good start!
Chris, Me, Gordon & Andrew
FUN-fact – Both the air and ocean temperatures where the same registering 86 degrees at noon today.
FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 3rd Port – Apia, Samoa – Day 12
February 9, 2016 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Slow Boat to Singapore – 3rd Port – Apia, Samoa – Day 12
Friday, February 5th
- While Fanning Island was relatively flat at only two to three feet at its highest point, as we headed into port this island with its lush mountains jutting up from the ocean reminded me of Hawaii. We hopped on the Free Shuttle to town which dropped us at the locals’ flea market. Oversized coconuts, bananas still attached to their stalks, taros, pineapples (and more exotic fruits and vegetables that I’ve never seen before) were lined up at stalls around the perimeter. Row upon row of more stalls with bright floral fabric sarongs and clothing, strung shells, along with carved jewelry and bowls ran down the center aisles. Single stem tropical flowers filled 5 gallon plastic buckets alongside extravagant wedding and funeral arrangements in another section.
- More like something I would expect to see at some California beach, The Caravan of Love looked totally out of place in Samoa. And as we approached, the mother and daughter team working the counter welcomed us with their big smiles, and just “oozed love.”
- The pristine, freshly painted cathedral in bright white with “It’s a Boy” blue trim, clearly dominated the downtown landscape. As we entered, the strong breeze blowing through the 24 over-sized arched doors along with the cool marble floor provided the air conditioning. At first glance the floor appeared to be inlaid parquet of golden oak, mahogany, ebony, and ash. But because it was so highly glossed I questioned myself and took a longer look. The heavily veined marble did in fact have the appearance of wood depending on how the light struck it. And what goes without saying, a cathedral wouldn’t be a cathedral without stained glass windows.
- Apia was filled with a multitude of flowering tropical bushes and trees. Our 20-minute walk back to the ship took us along a walled crescent shaped
promenade lined with trees that looked liked Mimosas with vivid mandarin and blood orange blossoms. Steps down from the walkway led to a black sand beach, scattered with volcanic rocks and driftwood.
- I “swung out” by trying a new cocktail before dinner! Pinkflower is gin, fresh grapefruit juice, lemon sour & Elderflower liqueur. Actually it’s quite refreshing without being too sweet.
FUN-fact – Tonight’s menu in the main dining room featured some of Elvis Presley’s favorite things to eat and the show in the Galaxy Lounge was a tribute to him starring Simon Bowman.