Friday, May 11th Honolulu and Hilo We are on the last leg of our Great Adventure, and today we are starting to really feel the home strings pulling us! Our Honolulu visit began with a stop at Office Max where we purchased two small boxes and then packed them in the parking lot. These boxes are filled with our cooler weather clothing, jackets, sweaters, some books and papers and those wonderful bathrobes that came with our Grand Occasion Package. Next stop was FedEx! Then we were on to the highway and over the mountains to the north shore, where we spent the day driving along the coast. We stopped at Waimea Bay Beach, where we have been many times. Another stop was at the Dole Plantation. We really miss that little old shed that used to stand among the pineapple groves where we could buy vine fresh pineapple. Reality set in when we hit afternoon rush hour traffic. We did get back to the ship on time for our overnight sail to Hilo, on the big island. Hilo was just as we remembered it. We picked up our car and were off for a half day drive to the eastern end of the island. We stopped at "Hilo Hattie's" to get some Hawaiian-wear for Allie. Today we are on the last four days at sea before we finally reach LA. We were asked many times about how we would do on a 30 day cruise, and I think I can say that we have done great! Our stateroom is roomy and although we don't participate in Bingo or Ballroom Dancing, we still have plenty to keep us busy. Now we are looking forward to getting home and back to our favorite pastime, taking care of Allie!

Monday, May 7th At Sea Today is day three of four days in a row at sea. It is beginning to take its toll..... • Two women were slapping each other in the laundry room over an un-emptied washing machine! • Some women were fighting at the 75% off sale in the ship "junk" shop! • A man pushed a woman at an elevator because she didn't move fast enough • A man went into a foul-mouthed tirade when someone got in his way at the buffet • Two people have died... so we've heard • Three people have had injuries...so we've heard • A number of people have had to leave the ship due to illness or deaths at home ...and the list goes on... Being on a ship for a month is interesting..people really do start getting cabin fever... On Wednesday we arrive in Honolulu. We are starting to make our plan for the contents of the box that we will FedEx home from there. Even though we really didn't purchase much on our travels and we have gotten rid of most of our travel books, we still have to lighten our load for the flight back to Dallas. The Captain is just on saying that we are 928 nautical miles from Honolulu and the water depth is just over 15,000 feet deep! He also said: Americans and British have more heart attacks..... The Asians eat rice and fish and they have less heart attacks The French eat lots of fat and drink lots of wine and have less heart attacks The Germans eat a lot of sausage and drink a lot of beer and have less heart attacks The Italians eat lots of fatty foods and drink a lot of wine and have less heart attacks The conclusion is that English speaking people have more heart attacks... Jack has included some pictures of our crossing the equator..of course there is nothing to see, but you know Jack.... Also, he has included two pictures of "flying fish". These have totally fascinated me! You have to watch closely for them and you can see them quite easily if the sun is shining. I guess after all these days at sea something has to hold one's interest! The ships entertainment has been, and I say it conservatively, mediocre! Last night, we have heard, was the best, and we missed it! The theater is very small and you must go at least an hour in advance to get a seat. The second show at 10:15pm usually has some seats, but sometimes that is too late for us!

Until next time....

Saturday, May 5th Moorea, Tahiti Yesterday we arrived in Paradise again! Our ship docked in Papaheete, which was as very busy little city. There was a road that came down from the hills and it brought into town a lot of commuters. Papaheete was better than most, and four hundred times better than Suva! There are still unpleasant areas, but they didn't seem quite as bad as some we've seen. Our day began with a trip around our ship to the next dock, where we waited for the ferry to come in. Jack and I went on top to watch our progress toward Moorea. The island of Moorea was much bigger and taller than we expected! On arrival, we were greeted by our local tour guide and boarded on two comfortable buses. There were only about 45 on this tour, which was really nice. Off we went for an informative ride. We went through a very old volcanic crater area in the hills and then climbed up through the foliage to a lookout point. Then, on to a small dock on another side of the island where our boat was waiting to take us around the most beautiful lagoon and to the motu where we would spend the afternoon. Yes, the water is as beautiful as in the pictures..the colors are spectacular and crystal clear. Jack is sure that we could see straight down more than 30 feet! The pictures of the cabins hanging over the water are of the Moorea Intercontinental, and they were perfect!

We arrived on our motu and waded ashore. The rays where everywhere. No wonder, as they knew that they would be fed. The islet had toilets but no running water..you had to flush by bucket of sea water. There was a large covered cooking area and also a large covered buffet area. They were they cooking when we arrived so we grabbed a table to put our things down and then headed back to the water to watch the rays feed. We didn't have our suits on, so we waded in. The rays were incredible. They just came right up to you and stared! I am such a chicken that I keep backing out as they came closer, but they just kept following until the water was too shallow.

We had gotten into conversation with a couple from Florida and they came and sat with us during lunch, which was quite good. We had a great time and we stayed together the rest of the day. The motu was very pretty, with palms trees hanging down to the water and white sand to walk in. After our trek back through the lagoon to the buses, we headed off to the small airstrip where is boarded our 19 passenger twin otters for a jump over the water back to Papaheete, a 7 minute flight! As you can see from the picture, it was really tight, three across, but the views of the reefs were terrific. Upon arrival we were met again and taken back to the ship. By this time it was rush hour and we keep watching our clocks, as departure time loomed! Sure enough we were the last ones back and only one gangway was left out. We got our traditional applause from the balconies, as people were out waiting to watch our departure from the island.

We decided that Moorea was our favorite island stop because it was really a tropical paradise.

Today is the first of four straight days at sea, the longest that we have every done. Nothing we can't handle! How hard is it to have someone clean your living quarters twice a day, cook your meals (as many as one can eat!), and entertain you with all kinds of things from ceramics to lectures! And then there is my personal favorite..our private balcony..for sunning and reading or just sitting and watching the water go by.

The ship is preparing for the Crossing the Equator ceremony, with the traditional King Neptune and his Merry Clan. A first timer is called a "Pollywog" and a repeat crosser is called a "Shellback". Jack is charging his camara battery for the big event! More at another time.....

Wednesday, May 2nd Rarotonga, the Cook Islands

Finally, paradise! No coconut shells and grass skirts, but a clean and beautiful island. We arrived at 6:30am and we anchored just off shore. We made our way to shore, by tender, and met up with our Excursion group. We were on a 4WD Safari into the interior and what a ride! There were nine of us in the Land Rover and our driver was Mr T! There were two women from Canada, another couple from Canada, a woman from Israel and a couple from Moscow. Jack and I were sitting at the back. Our tour included going up a road that turned into a rain gully. Some of the ruts had to be at least two feet deep. We were going up hill and everyone was sliding back ..we were crushing Jack ..and so I lifted myself to try and give him so room but at the same time we hit a huge hole and I was smashed down on the floor of the vehicle. I stayed there until we finally stopped and then slid myself out of the back. After that, I had a hard time getting in and out of the truck. Jack and the Russian man always waited to help me out, thank god, or I probably would have had another causality. Today I do have a very large bruise on my back, but it really doesn't hurt too much! Anyway, our excursion was really quite good and the guides were very informative and humorous. They did tease us about the tee shirts that said "Send more tourist, the last batch tasted great" because this was once a cannibalistic island. After grazing the booths that had rapidly appeared at the dock, we tendered back so that we could shower and do the "Cruise Thing", eat! Today we are at sea! We slept late and ate breakfast before returning to our room to get the laundry! Oh yes, a dose of reality does show up now and then! The Laundromat is just a few doors down from us, which is convenient. There is one on almost every deck but they still get rather crowded and if you are not there when your washer or dryer stop...you guessed it...dumped!! We have heard many loud and unkind words come out of this door! Anyway, eight washers, eight dryers and four ironing boards with irons on each floor cause a major traffic jam. We usually try to go during dinnertime, but today we decided to go for it! It really wasn't too bad, we came out of it unscathed! After such a feat, I decided to get some sun on the lounge chair on our balcony while Jack went to another of the lectures on Investing (snore, snore, snore!). Jack stopped by the Pizza place and brought back Pepperoni Pizza and we dined in our room on that and our own Green Tea, which we bought in Sydney (Two cases of it). Jack is now exhausted from the strain of this cruising, and has fallen asleep crossways of the bed. I'll have to wake him soon so that he can send this note. Anyway, I'm sure he won't want to miss dinner!

Jack has added a picture of us on our last, and I hope last, formal night!

Tales from Bora Bora are to follow.....

Monday, April 30th

Stateroom – Suva, Fiji – Pago Pago, American Samoa With sadness, we sailed out of Auckland harbor and after two days at sea we arrived in hell! Suva is a small but very dirty and crowded city. We knew that it wouldn't be terrific here and that was why we had decided to rent a car. Our arrival did not produce a Budget Rent a Car person to greet us, but we got a taxi at the port gate and for $1.62 we were dropped at the Budget door. She was waiting for us and informed us that she did not have a small car left, but she would give us a larger one for the same price. The Gods were with us as we drove off on the left side of the road in a Mazda King Cab 4X4 5 speed pick-up. I only say this because the holes in the road were SO BIG that we would have been lost forever in a small car! We drove about 75km east out of Suva, looking for the "beautiful paradise". You will see in the pictures that we never found it! We really didn't find ONE pleasant thing in or about Fiji. Dirty, dirty, dirty. The most exciting part was when we stopped to fill the tank. Jack filled up and went in to pay. He came out with that "I screwed up" look and said that they didn't take credit cards and only Fijian cash. We had no Fijian cash! So, without thinking, he left his Mastercard! We now drove like on fire through the city to find a Westpac bank where we could get some Fijian cash. It was a huge event weekend and every school bus from the entire island and also from the outer islands were there in the city! Traffic was insane and we were lost! Time was also running out for our appointed time to return the truck! While the stress level climbed, we found a parking space and Jack ran the 4 blocks to the bank. Back on the road again, we couldn't find our way back to the BP gas station. Finally we found some faintly familiar dirty places and we made our way back to the BP. Finding the rental places was easier, as it was close to the port. When we got there, the doors were locked so Jack had just enough left on his cell phone to reach the Budget lady, who said she was on her way! We finished there and then she dropped us at the port gate. NOTHING looked prettier than that big, clean white ship! And NOTHING looked better than the sight of the open sea away from Suva, Fiji! After another restful day at sea, we arrived in Pago Pago, American Samoa. As we stood on our balcony at 6:00am, watching our arrival to the island, were got drenched by a sudden deluge of rain, before we could stumble back into our room! Pago Pago turned out to be a much cleaner island, although with room for improvement. By this time we had been away from home for two months and this was the very first time that a preplanned event went wrong! We were supposed to meet a lady from Oceanic Travel at the port gate and she was to have a car rental waiting for us! Never Happened! The local tourism people tried to find her and the local Police Officers assigned to the port gate also tried calling here many times, to no avail. It was Sunday morning and all islanders were in church! There were very few cabs and either the other rental companies had no more cars or they were closed! Everyone was very helpful, but to no avail. Finally one of the Officers said he knew someone who might drive us around, so we said ok! When he arrived, quite quickly, his taxi was stormed by a mass of other ship people looking for a ride. The Officer made it clear that this taxi was for Jack and I, however the group was not pleased! So off we went on our private two hour tour of eastern American Samoa. We have to say that it was much more pleasant than Fiji, and the locals have a great deal of pride in their homeland! Today we are at sea again, on our way to Rarotonga, where we will join our first "stomping stampede" shore excursion of the cruise! We slept until 9:30am, went for coffee and came back to the room for Jack to work on his pictures. By noon it was time to eat lunch. Now it's time for me to sit on the balcony and enjoy the wonderful peace of the lounge chair and sea sounds. Jack will go to the computer center and send this note and pictures. Stacey, we have finally included some pictures of our stateroom! The pictures don't do it justice. It is a very comfortable place, with plenty of room for everything, including us! We have eaten lunch at the table on our balcony. Our room steward, Eric, from the Philippines, is terrific. We still have not had our Champagne Breakfast in Bed as we are saving this for later on. And yes...we are still getting our goodies every afternoon, one day h'ordourves (even spell check won't help me here!) and the next day sweet goodies! We will email again soon...we hope

Wednesday, April 25th

Milford Sound - Dunedin – Christchurch – Wellington Jack's choice of assorted pictures are included from the cities above. Computer coverage is very slow and very costly on the ship! We are in Auckland today and we are returning to the cheap "hole in the wall" internet place that we used the last time we were in Auckland. It is a holiday here, Anzac Day, and we hope everything is open. We know that the banks are closed, so we won't be able to close our savings account here..oh well, we'll do it by email from home! We are loving our cruise, so far! What's not to love! Our room is big, our balcony is terrific, we get goodies each day at 4:30, we eat and sleep when we want to and we go ashore just for fun, not to sightsee. Today Jack and I went to the spa! Jack had a "full body massage" and I had a full facial! They took more than an hour each. When I finished, I found Jack, like liquid. in the waiting room chair. I almost had to call for a wheelchair to get him back to the room! My facial was heaven, creams, massages and more creams! We are spreading out the goodies that are included in our Grand Occasion Package so that we can enjoy it longer! Next, we are on to the Polynesian Islands. Our first stop will be Suva, Fiji, and we hope that they will not be having a coup when we get there. It seems that they do the coup thing regularly, but the ships usually stop there anyway! We'll see what happens!

Hurrah...Sailing Day! And we are ready to go! We are looking forward to: • Knowing where we are spending the night • Knowing what is on the menu • Knowing that we don't have to lift a suitcase • Knowing that we don't have to be back on the road by 10:00am • And many more "know-ings" We arrived at the dock at about 11:30am and it wasn't too long a wait until we boarded. Our Mini-Suite on the Dolphin Deck has a large balcony (about 8' X 9') with two chairs, two recliners and a table. As you can see, our stateroom faced the Opera House. What a view! Our beloved suitcases arrived very quickly and we immediately got organized. We have a large bathroom with bathtub, a walk-in closet, bedroom, living room, two TV's, a large sofa, chair, coffee table, etc. The best and biggest surprise was a gift from Jim, Stacey & Allie. We had champagne in a silver bucket, flowers and chocolate covered strawberries delivered and served to us by a white uniformed steward. Soon after that, they delivered two wonderful white Princess robes, all wrapped for us to take home. This incredible gift also includes a framed photograph, Champagne Breakfast in Bed, a 30 minute session at the Lotus Spa for both of us, Canapés delivered to our room each day before dinner and an invitation from the Captain to visit the bridge! What a surprise and WHAT LUXURY! As the day worn on, we were filled with champagne and needed a nap! After skipping dinner, we went on deck to watch Sydney in the dark. It was a wonderful nighttime departure and we stayed on deck until we had passed the Heads and left Australia behind!

Monday, April 16th

Ok, it's our last day in Australia. We are sorry that we didn't get to see more and very happy to begin our voyage home!

This morning we were up and out to catch a cab to the Opera House. What a place! Our tour was at 10:00am, but we arrived in time for the 9:30am tour, so they let us go. We climbed many, many steps and walked around most of the Opera House. We went into Opera & Ballet Hall where there was a practice session going on. It was fun to watch that for a little while. Then we were on to the bigger Symphony Hall, which was beautiful beyond belief. We were also taken downstairs to some of the smaller halls and back corridors. There are also halls that can be rented for receptions, etc. At the back of the big halls there are glassed lounges that overlook the river and the city...what a view! We really loved the visit! Next we walked the Circular Quay to the Harbour Tour Boats and took a 1½ hour cruise around Sydney Harbour. We meet two American women on the boat...one from California & one from Michigan. They mentioned that they were there with their sons, who were touring in Australia with a band. Eventually I asked her what band and would you believe.. it wasThe Red Hot Chili Pepper Band! Not our style..Rock, but it was fun talking to these nice ladies! We finished our shopping, wine and snack crackers, etc, for the cruise (need to have goodies to relax with on our balcony!) then we were back to the hotel to get our things ready for the morning!

We will not have easy internet for the next four weeks, as the ship internet is very expensive and slow... but we will be in touch from the ports.

P.S. The picture of the Opera House from above was not from Jack climbing the Sydney Harbour Bridge; it was from a book Jack bought!

Sunday, April 15th

After resting for two days in Canberra, Australia's Capitol District, we got back on the road toward the southern coast. The apartment that we stayed in at Canberra was very comfortable, so we enjoyed a respite from driving and we also did grocery shopping and I actually cooked two meals...it was great having home cooking for a change! On the road, we headed toward the coast and The Great Ocean Road. We stopped in a I-Site office (tourist information office) in Geelong, just south of Melbourne where the ladies were extremely helpful and they encouraged us to keep moving along, so we did! The south coast of Australia is just as beautiful as the coasts of New Zealand, with breathtaking views at every turn! We finally stopped at a town called Lakes Entrance. This was a unique area where there are inland waterways and lakes that open to the sea. Our motel room looked out on the boats, etc and it was quite beautiful. The next morning we were on the road again down the Ocean Road. After many miles of incredible coastline we arrived at The 12 Apostles. These are 12 massive rock structures in the water along the coast, however there are really only 8 Apostles left, as the other have fallen to erosion. It is hard to believe how huge these rock cliffs are. I have been continually amazed at the colors of the ocean. The water is so clear and clean and the colors are truly "watercolors". Having gotten quite a ways along the Ocean Road, we checked our calendar and decided that we had better start heading back toward Sydney. We decided that we could drive to a small town north of Melbourne and so we called and booked a room. This was good planning, but we ran into a traffic jam and ending up sitting on the highway for over three hours because of a fatality accident closing the road. By the time we got started and detoured it was dark. Driving here after dark is very dangerous because of the Kangaroos and wallabys. They are just as bad as armadillos, only a lot bigger and there are a lot of them!! We finally did arrive at our motel after 10:00pm and we were exhausted. After a good nights sleep we were off again. We were in the middle of nowhere when Jack realized that we were out of gas. In the hustle the night before, he forgot about filling up! I think that we finally came across a petrol station with just fumes in the tank! All's well that ends well!! Now we were at a dead heat for Sydney with no place to stay. We found a Best Western which was truly a "Hell Hole"! At 2:00 am the noise and partying finally started to quite down! Anyway, we flew out of there this morning and arrived in Sydney to return our rental car and revisit The Holiday Inn at Darling Harbour..my kind of luxury!!! We immediately went to the dining room for a huge breakfast and then out to do some shopping and laundry! Tomorrow we are booked on a 10:00am tour of the Sydney Opera House and then we'll go on a Harbour cruise before returning to our hotel to get things ready for the big ride home!

Emails will not come as frequently, as ship internet is very expensive and slowwwwwww, so we will have to send notes from places that we can find in the ports.

We can't believe that 6 weeks have flown by already. Even though we see and talk to Allie a lot on Skype, we still miss having her with us! We are really looking forward now to getting on the ship and resting! It will be great to put the suitcases under the bed and not see them again for 30 days! It will also be great to eat when we want and not have to "find" a place to eat! We have been doing breakfast in our motel rooms, as most rooms have fridges, micro, coffee and all cooking things. They even offer fresh milk when you check in! Sometimes we would eat a big lunch and skip dinner or visa versa! Today we only ate the huge buffet breakfast and then a few cookies for dinner!

Hope every one is well...

Jack & Terry

We have not had any internet available for about 4-5 days and now will have to play catch up. We left Sydney last Monday after a 3 hour flight from Cairns to Sydney. We then drove on the first straight road in weeks. There were none in New Zealand. We headed south west from Sydney and ended up in Canberra the Capital of Australia. We spent 2 days there resting and driving around. The city was easy to get around in. We visited the Australian War Memorial. It depicted the countries involvement in the 1st and 2nd World Wars. From the front of the memorial you could see the Parliament building which in part under ground.

The weather here has been in the 70's or so each day with no rain which they need very bad. Every thing is brown. In some parts of the country they can not even water a flower pot.