PONTA DELGADA - THE AZORES

The Azores are a remote Portuguese, volcanic archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean. The island of Sao Miguel is known as the green island & this was our stop for the day.  Approx 4 hours by plane to Boston & 3 hours to London. Ponta Delgada the capital, it is old, full of character & appeared extremely clean.

Todays tour was Crater Lakes. We made our way along very well maintained roads with our first stop being a pineapple factory  - it was set amongst beautiful old houses covered in ivy.

 

This plantation had 14 greenhouses each holding 640 pineapples. Ponta Delgada export 1.5 million pineapples per year - a big trade for a small island.

Enough on pineapples - where's the lake??

Finally on our way, we passed beautiful countryside, azaleas & hydrangeas lined the roads, rock walls divided farms & properties, it was lush, green & the view of the lakes truly beautiful.

They lay in the centre of an extinct volcano, one lake looks blue, the other green - this was the kind of scenery we were hoping to find.

Coastal views

Back in town it was quiet with very few people - The streets were practically deserted - it was Sunday & in this country almost every shop is closed, people go to church & then spend the day with their families. We wandered cobbled & mosaic streets lined with whitewashed houses with balconies & there were churches on almost every street 

We came across a little cafe for lunch  - massive size meals, wine served in pretty little blue & white jugs & friendly staff.

We came across another little bar - Cliff just had to stop & sample local beer served in aluminium cups & a local sangria for myself.

This was an island you could spend weeks exploring - it was fantastic

But sadly time to leave.

The end of our cruise is upon us and let us say we have had a wonderful time cruising - your days are your own - you can do as much or as little as you like, we have met some wonderful people and it has been a truly memorable experience. 

We are now looking forward to catching up with Rob and Doug to begin the next chapter of our land-based  adventure.

Cheers everyone xxx

AT SEA

2 days out from Ponta Delgada & it was a cards & quoits afternoon.

Cliff & I played Euchre with Mick & Jenny - Yes finally - Mick & I beat Cliff & Jenny.

Then it was Wales-v-Australia in quoits with our welsh friends Richard & Marilyn, Sandy & Pat & Aussie friends Julie & Steve. A good finish to the game - a tie.

Then suddenly "Houston, we have a problem" 

The Captain made an announcement - some of us may have noticed black smoke & that we were no longer moving. We had lost an engine & they were working very hard to get it back on line.

All power & air conditioning was lost throughout the ship - but it didn't worry us as we were on deck having fun. Finally they restored the engine & we were off again.

We sat around enjoying a beautiful sunset

ANTIGUA - CARIBBEAN

We docked in Antigua just after the Holland America ship 'Maasdam' docked - with 2 cruise ships in port there would be plenty of business for the island. 

Once again we were swamped by taxi drivers & tour guides all offering to take us around the island. We decided to go with "Ninja" as he seemed less pushy than the others. So with 6 of us on the tour, off we went to explore the island. Ninja was a very happy person - he honked, waved & shouted hello to lots of passing cars & people walking down the street, he stopped at a local fruit stall so we could taste the locally grown mini bananas - the flavour was delicious.

The town of Antigua was authentic - although the casino didn't look like it would entice many gamblers from the ship.

It is a poor island with the main industry being tourism - they also make their own rum.  The town itself & the houses in the suburbs are run down & garbage in the streets doesn't seem to be a problem for them. This cruise has been an eye opener - it truly makes us appreciate our way of life in Australia.

The views changed dramatically with the lifestyles of the rich (& maybe the famous) with yachts, launches, resorts & beautiful beaches.

A local police station with sheep wandering up to the front door.

We passed some beautiful resorts. 

Turners beach was pretty with colourful markets right on the beach.

A great view from the bar

Cliff enjoying a local rum with Mike from our tour group (when you purchase a drink they do not measure the alcohol, they stop when it reaches the top.

the beautiful warm blue water of the Caribbean sea.

When we got back to town we had lunch at Hemmingways cafe - food & drinks were expensive.

It was a half day holiday as it was the first day of the cricket test match, West Indies -v- England. 

Most of the shops had closed but the markets & bars were still open. Cliff bought himself a very handsome hat!

We made it back to the ship with only 15 minutes before cut off time - we had a great afternoon sampling the local rum & meeting lots of friendly people.

Staff dancing around the pool at the Sail away party - Farewell Antigua.

5 days at sea with next port of call "Ponta  Delgada" then Southampton - where has the time gone 

CURACAO - CARIBBEAN

Our first close up view of Curacao was not what you would think for a Caribbean island - Oil refineries!

Their main industry is oil & they have some of the largest oil refineries in the western hemisphere.

Check out the fuel chimneys far behind the town.

As we docked the view of the town changed to bright coloured buildings, markets & the old fort.

 - it looked very inviting.

The temperature was a lovely 27degrees but when the clouds came over the trade winds were cool. We wondered how the town survives hurricanes, but this island lies outside the hurricane belt. 

When the sun came out from behind the clouds, it was so bright I could hardly keep my eyes open for photos - I have been trying to find sunglasses for such a long time - I thought surely this will be the place to finally find a pair to fit my face.

We crossed the Queen Emma bridge which is a floating pontoon bridge - This bridge stretches across St Anna Bay, linking the Punda & Otrabanda districts. It swings open many times each day to allow ships in & out of the harbour - most of the ships we saw were oil tankers.

This island is the largest of the Dutch islands in the Caribbean. The buildings are beautiful 17th century gabled houses, brightly coloured & very pretty. The story is, an early Governor of Curacao developed an allergy to white buildings - they gave him migraines, so the houses were repainted in every colour but white. - Believe it or not!

We decided to wander around Willemstad to soak up the atmosphere. But I was on a mission - The first shop I went into was a very large sunglasses shop - Cliff thought "here we go again, another hour & no glasses" well I was only gone 5 mins - childrens Ray-bans,  only $59 US - Mission accomplished - No more squinting for photographs

bright colourful statues of well endowed women.

Cliff wanted to try out a local bar - didn't look very inviting to me so I kept wandering.

We ran into Jenny & Mick -  Is it lunchtime yet mmmm close enough:-) - we walked to the harbour & found a little restaurant right on the water with views of our ship. 

Jenny & I just had to try the blue margaritas

Oh know - hope this tanker doesn't run into our ship!

After a great lunch, good company, it was time to hit the streets again.

Now this looks like a fun kids playground.

The oldest Protestant church on the island built in 1742

A colourful cow seat to rest our weary feet

We found another great place to sit with views of ships entering the bay.

The ships pass so close to the shore that the Plaza Hotel, built into the fortress that originally defended the city, is insured against marine collision!

Now Jenny, leave that ship alone.

Farewell Curacao - We'll be back on our return cruise onboard the Sea Princess.