ALOHA HAWAII

FINALLY - LAND & it feels so good to have our feet on solid ground in  beautiful downtown Honolulu - the clouds have disappeared, the sun is shining, the ocean is blue & I think we are in for an interesting day. First stop Pearl Harbour then I think some retail therapy is in order (although Cliff doesn't think so)

Pearl Harbour

Very Sad to think so many people lost their lives in only 2 hours.

Great day for a stroll

Wellington to Pago Pago

Wellington - a very large city probably more like Melbourne than Sydney - Great shops, restaurants & bars - it apparently has more bars & restaurants than New York! 

We wandered through the beautiful botanic gardens

The begonia house was a colourful delight - lots of gardening ideas for Cliffy

Found the highly recommended "Sprig & Fern" hotel. Great english bitter Doug - friendly staff.

Due to Cyclone Pam we had to detour via the west coast of New Zealand.

After a slightly rough night we awoke to a stormy day as we passed over the top of Cyclone Pam - pretty rough but still afloat - Due to the detour we will only visit Pago Pago (our next stop of Apia has been cancelled) so straight to Hawaii - lots & lots of days at sea.

PAGO PAGO - American Samoa

                       (Note the mast sticking up out of the water - sunken boat left to rust)

The humidity was overwhelming - not a great deal to do in town but the people were very friendly. We found a nice place for lunch - Goat Island Cafe - big meals. After lunch found the "Sadie Thompson Inn" for a few bottles of ale - no tap beer & no real internet access but lovely bar staff.

LAND AHOY MILFORD SOUND

 

We are not waking until 7:45 Learning to sleep in.  Have met some extremely nice people - our set dinner table has placed us with a lovely couple from Lane Cove - Steve & Julie and a lovely Welsh couple - Richard and Marion. 

Our days have been filled with information talks on our ports of call and an especially unusual talk on SERIAL KILLERS. Not what we thought we would learn on a cruise but still very interesting.

On our first morning we awoke to an incredible sunrise

Now all we need to do is learn how to relax and not feel like we should be busy all the time. Not sure how we'll go.

FAREWELL SYDNEY FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Our travel adventure begins on 7th March 2015 onboard the P&O Aurora