South Pacific Crossing 2023

Hilo. (Hawai'i)

22/04/2023

Today we are in Hilo. A view from our deck for the record. The breakwater extends a long way round to the left creating a nice still harbour. No photo opportunities as the weather was cloudy and we had some rain when we went into town.

Colleen buying flowers in the Farmers Market for our stateroom.

These are the flowers Colleen bought at the market.

Honolulu. (Hawai'i)

23/04/2023

Here we are docked in Honolulu. Our ship Towering over the cruise terminal. We are in town but quite away from Waikiki Beach.

We chose to take a tour of Honolulu on a Trolley Bus. This is the waiting area for the tours. I took this photo from the queue for the Red Line Trolley. On the left at the back are passengers waiting for the Blue Line Trolley. We had just missed the Red bus so we were at the front the Red queue. We still had to wait an hour for the next one.

The first stop was at the Duke Kahanamoku Statue, Waikiki Beach. He was a native Hawaiian competition swimmer who popularised surfing.

I don't know what this are is. It looked cool and inviting.

Hawai'i State Capitol building. On the left is a replica of the Liberty Bell.

Honolulu with Diamond Head in the background.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Honolulu 2. (Hawai'i)

24/04/2023

Today we are on a Circle Island Tour of O'ahu the island Honolulu is on. Our first stop was at the Halona Blow-hole.

In the lower centre of this picture the water is just coming up through the hole.

Thar she blows!

Mokoli'i Island. Nicknamed Chinaman's Hat as it resembles the straw hats the Chinese immigrants wore.

A closer view of Mokoli'i Island.

The obligatory photo of someone wearing the hat.

Looking out over the beach to the reef.

We are moving round to the north side of the island and the mountains are smaller. This photo shows the volcanic nature of the island.

Valley of the Temples Memorial Park. The whole place, including the cemetery and the temple, is a resting place for people of all religious beliefs, non-believers, and any ethnicity.

Laie Hawaii Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the first LDS temple built outside of the continental United States.

This is our lunch stop. Fumi's Kahuku Shrimp.

We had Lemon Pepper Shrimp and a bottle of water each. We had to peel the shrimps before eating them. In the box was also two scoops of rice and a piece of Hawaiian pineapple.

After lunch was our snorkelling stop. This was the best photo of a turtle under water. Very dissappointing after Savusavu. Colleen was out within fives minutes as there was a strong swell. Everyone was out and dressed within thirty minutes.

After we had dressed we were shown this turtle sunbathing on the sand below the promanade.

Nawiliwili. (Hawai'i)

25/04/2023

Nawiliwili, our last port before Vancouver.

In the afternoon we went for a walk and sat on the beach in front of the hotels before returning to the ship.

Here is the weather station on the beach.

Last Cruise Day.

01/05/2023

Sunset on the last day of the cruise.

Vancouver. (Canada)

02/05/2023

Vancouver.

The view from our hotel room across the road from the cruise terminal.

One of the interesting building we saw while walking round.

In the afternoon we walked across the road to watch sail away. In the picture above, 1 indicates our stateroom on the Circumnavigation of Australia cruise. And 2, the stateroom we had for this South Pacific Crossing.

Colleen watching the Noordam pulling away from the wharf.

The steam clock in Gastown. A miniature steam engine drives a chain lift that moves steel balls upward, where they are unloaded and roll to a descending chain. The weight of the balls on the descending chain drives a conventional pendulum clock escapement. Gastown is named for "Gassy" Jack Deighton. So called because of his habit of talking at length. The area around his saloon was called Gassy's Town.

Vancouver 2. (Canada)

03/05/2023

This morning we found the Celebrity Solstice parked outside.

And the Royal Princess parked on the other side where we were yesterday.

After watching the loading of the ships for a while we set off for a walk along the waterfront.

Flight NZ23

03 and 05/05/2023

Sunset as we leave Vancouver. We had just boarded the plane and I took this photo through my window. Eagle eyes might spot that we are in the pointy end of the plane. When Colleen booked she asked to claim our complimentary upgrades. There must have been some empty seats as we were lucky enough to be be given them.

Dinner is served. I'm sorry I did not take a photo of the Amuse Bouche. This was the starter.

Mine and Colleen's Main Course.

After the the main course Colleen spotted that the napkins had a button hole. So I made sure I did not spill my dessert on my shirt.

Dessert. Early Grey and Lavender Mousse.That isn't two wine glasses. I'm finishing my wine before having the Port with dessert.

Breakfast before landing in Auckland.