As we sailed into Suva, Fiji, this morning the sun was rising & I was up on the fitness deck getting my steps done. It was beautiful. 

Today we again purchased a local tour in a minibus with 8 others from Sirena. This time it even had real aircon!  Suva is quite a large city & being Saturday it seems all the country people come to town to sell their goods at the market & do the shopping. It’s quite a large market & it was very busy.

We stopped at a resort briefly. The vegetation is very green & lush & there was a lovely ‘lake’ or we would say ‘dam’, I reckon.

The guard keeping watch in front of the President’s Palace was a very serious guy:

The Suva museum showcased some of the seafaring history of Fiji. We admired this canoe but we’re glad that the Sirena, although a small ship, is much much bigger than the canoe especially in the rough seas we’ve had since leaving Tahiti. My Couch Family genes from the family of master mariners of Port Isaac stood me in good stead but David suffered a bit. Thankfully the sea appears to have calmed now.

​​We were met in Apia by a very energetic group of young people doing their traditional dancing whic was a lot of fun.

Then we caught a shuttle bus into a Samoan Cultural  Village where we were shown how the men prepare the fire and the coals, make coconut cream, prepare the food & cook it which was all very interesting:

We then wandered around Apia’s shopping centre which was quite small, did a little souvenir shopping & returned to the ship.

This is the Healing Garden Memorial to some of the American Samoans who died in the tsunami. There are 10 people buried here

These two outcrops are explained by a Samoan legend about the thwarted love of a Fijian princess & a Samoan man who were turned to stone.( It’s a strange place to be wearing a Macbeth shirt.) The water was clear & very colourful.

Our groovy bus & its driver!  We had a great tour with him.

The same rock from different directions is called the camel or the gorilla depending on the direction.

We really enjoyed American Samoa

Yesterday we docked in American Samoa at Pago Pago (pronounced Pango Pango) & joined a local tour of the island on a very tropical-looking bus which cost us US$20 each for 3.5 hours –  amazing value & much better value than the ship’s excursions.

There is no road around the island so you go all the way one way & then all the way back the other way. The island is very lush, green & pretty.

About 200 people were killed here in the 2009 tsunami & we stopped at a memorial beside the ocean where 10 were buried – it’s called the healing garden. They had no warning system – apparently because of government corruption – the US government had provided funding to install one in 2007 but the money had been misdirected. It must have been so frightening.

We really enjoyed our tour, the guy was knowledgeable & intermittent showers dampened us down & kept us cool. Apparently they charge you to go onto the beach just like in Europe. We are so spoilt at home with our beautiful beaches all freely accessible to us all.

The industry here is tuna fishing & there have been 2 big tuna canneries but one has recently closed. Many people are leaving & heading to the US. Traditionally, family members are buried in the front yard of your home so as we drive around we saw many decorative headstones in front yards. Those migrating just close up the house & head off to the US leaving the tombstones in front of the house.

Last night we sailed the short distance to Samoa & once again it was a bumpy ride but we’re quite used to it now. While we were sleeping, we crossed the International Date Line & lost Wednesday so now we are the same day as you at home.  We came into Apia this morning as the sun was rising & it was very pretty. 

We caught the shuttle bus into town to visit the Samoan Cultural Centre where we enjoyed a display of the men cooking in the traditional way which was really interesting. The sun is shining today which makes for a pleasant change but it has been very steamy.

Surprisingly Samoa is much bigger than American Samoa – I had presumed it would be the reverse. Apparently families on holidays are their main industry.

We’ve enjoyed the Samoas. Will add more photos in the next post.

We’ve a sea day tomorrow & then we will be in Fiji.

Hello from somewhere in the Pacific between Bora Bora & Pago Pago in American Samoa. We’ve had some rough seas which had meant the cancellation of Saturday night’s show as it was too dangerous for the dancers but we are fine.

Tours were cancelled in Bora Bora too because of the weather but we did go ashore & wander through the village. Most of the shops were selling Tahitian pearls in various shades of grey, brown & green. Fortunately I wasn’t tempted at all.

We are into our second sea day at the moment – plenty of time for reading, chatting & playing bridge. Most relaxing!

Here are some pics I took as we sailed into Bora Bora. The colours of the sea were beautiful but the clouds masked the beauty somewhat.

We boarded our ship, Sirena at noon yesterday & have settled very easily back into life aboard a beautiful Oceania Line ship. It’s half the size of the Marina. Our cabin is still very nice but obviously, not as roomy as the one on Marina – especially the bathroom.

The food is still very very special & it’s not too difficult for me to find something which meets my new dietary requirements of pesto-vegetarian.

This morning was very stormy & our snorkelling & ray feeding excursion was cancelled so that was very disappointing as we were looking forward to it. I really wanted David to have a go as he has never snorkelled before.

We anchored in the atoll here at Moirea at 8am. Here’s a couple of pics I took. 

But it didn’t rain!

Here we are in Papeete, Tahiti on another lovely holiday. Yesterday, Valentine’s Day in Australia, we flew to Auckland & onto Papeete in time to arrive here at 11:30pm on the 13th & have our second Valentine’s Day.

The Hotel we originally booked was flooded a couple of weeks ago but luckily we found another – not fancy but the aircon works & the bed was ok.

We’ve had a few mishaps that we will remember. Someone left the carry on bag on the security X-ray thingy, someone nearly left their glasses on the plane & someone else took us completely in the wrong direction when we went off to find breakfast but all was well in the end.

We had dinner tonight at ‘the trucks’ which is like an ‘eat street’ on wheels which has apparently operated for 30 years or so. It was pleasant there beside the harbour which is where we will board our ship on Thursday.

It’s been too hot to do much. We went to the market & bought a bunch of delicious local bananas & wandered around the streets a little once we found ourselves. But there’s been a lot of resting in the air con in our room.  Storms were forecast for the whole day & for the next two days but apart from when we arrived last night, there has been no rain.

Here’s a couple of pics of the harbour & one of the trucks. 

So we’re home safely. Bags are unpacked, washing’s done & life is back to normal. Well, almost!  Jacki has returned from Tassie & she & Polly are living with us for a short time; which is lovely. Next week they will move next door to house sit for our lovely neighbours. She is studying for her Diploma of Education to become a secondary maths & business teacher. I’ve had my second round of surgery on my shoulder to ensure that all of the melanoma is gone so my movement has been restricted. This morning though I have been for my first walk & enjoyed the lovely Esplanade at Manly.

Wednesday was David’s birthday & we celebrated with the family at Wynnum Manly Leagues Club. It is so busy there every night now that it’s not much Fum because the queue to order & the wait for dinner to arrive are both too long. Don’t think we’ll be doing that again. The food is pretty ordinary too!  We came home for cake.

People keep asking what the highlights of our trip were. For David it was our Norway in a Nutshell tour with the visit to Flåm & the ride on the Flåm railway & the absolute luxury on the Oceania Marina.

Myself, I have to say that meeting my cousins in Swindon & Truro, seeing the homes of my ancestors in Swindon & Port Isaac & walking where they walked was vey special. Having grown up believing I was a Richardson & finding out at 52 that I was not & had been adopted, finding my roots has become very important to me. I now know where I came from & that is very special. I have an extended family. I belong. Thanks Wendy, Beryl & John for helping me to feel that!

I loved sitting back on the MS Trollfjord & admiring the absolutely stunning scenery. The moment when I shared with our Brisbane grandchildren the midnight sun from the deck of the ship was very special. Thank you FaceTime. I agree with David that the Flåm was very special & that the Marina was a wonderful home from which to enjoy the cities of the Baltic.

David can’t decide which was his favourite meal but I do know he loved his lamb cutlets for

breakfast in the Grand Dining Room on the Marina & he was very impressed with his whole lobster in the Polo Grill restaurant on Marina. For me it was undoubtedly the sea bass I had in Red Ginger – it had been marinated in palm sugar & soy sauce for 24 hours & wrapped in Banana leaves for cooking. However, the Alaskan King Crab we had on Trollfjord & in Bergen & the whole lobster were excellent too.

The most exhilaring moments were on our rib boat ride to see the fastest moving tides & the Book of Mormon certainly gave us the most laughs.

We both agree that the most disappointing  part of the trip was Oceania wanting to charge everyone $400 per couple to transfer us 7km into Copenhagen at the end of that wonderful cruise. What were they thinking?  We all queued for 2 hours & were not happy!

All in all it was a wonderful, wonderful holiday & we have some amazing memories.

So what’s next?  I’m heading off for a short trip to Forth in Tassie early in September to see my lovely family down there, Kylie, Kate & Lotte.. My little granddaughter is walking now & I need to spend some time with her & her Mums. FaceTime is good but you can’t have cuddles on FaceTime. Then my brother & sisters & I are going to spend some time together in Beechworth in Victoria where our grandfather lived. We need to get to know each other properly as we grew up in different households.  So that’s all something to look forward to.

We need to plan a trip to Sydney too, to visit Stefan, Louise & the boys.

And that’s enough for now. It’s just great to be home.

Our amazing holiday is nearly over & we are ready to go home. Today we ran out of energy & just wandered up the street. We went into the Lego shop. It is truly amazing. I could have spent a fortune if I’d had 2 more suitcases & someone to carry them.

The things you can make out of Lego!  I am sure all six of the grandkids would have loved to play in there & we wouldn’t have been able to get them out.

We also went into the Royal Copenhagen store which has some beautiful hand-painted plate ware. We watched an artist at work. She was very quick & very sure in her brush strokes.

And, of course, we had lunch – just fish & chips today in a tin can!

Then we saw a strange thing; a world convention of Santas all gathering in the street with national flags & singing the children’s song Skinamarinky dinky dink. 

The bags are nearly packed. It’s time for home.