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| Iconic London Bridge |
For the last few years, Jeff and I have gone to Washington DC to spend Thanksgiving with our daughter. We started the annual trip since we had time and she only had a couple of days then her time off changed, and she had the whole week. Thus, this year off we all went to merry old England.
Bora Bora
This is the last fun port for Jeff and I since when we get to the next one we will leave the ship. We have been to Bora Bora before and enjoyed snorkeling when we were here 3 1/2 years ago. One of the people we met on this ship knows of a guy with a snorkeling excursion, so we and 12 others book it which means he and another guy are bringing boats for us. So, the "friend" is Patrick and yes, he knows these people as do several other people when we get off the tenders in Bora Bora (all ships have to anchor offshore here). We get off the tender and Charlie the husband of the lady who booked the excursion is welcomed by Patrick and at least 2 other people. I think they come here more often than she let on!
It is Sunday July 13, 2025, and we are in Apia, Samoa. Then 24 hours later, it is Sunday July 13, 2025, and we are in Pago Pago, American Samoa. No there is not a typo there and yes you read it correctly. While sailing from Samoa to American Samoa we crossed the international dateline, so we had the same calendar date 2 days in a row. It proved to be a challenge for some of the ship's computers. Reservations for the specialty restaurants had to be done manually and at one-point American Samoa dropped off our itinerary. Unfortunately, both countries are very religious so many things were closed at both stops since it was Sunday to both islands - no shopping and we had to be conscientious of the times as we passed churches.
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| I got my revenge from Jeff putting me in danger on these trips! |
Mystery Island, Vanuatu
Vanuatu is an island nation that was under both British and French control (together believe it or not) until the 1970s. Now it is a popular tourism spot for Australians. Originally, we had 2 ports in the country, but the other island is still rebuilding after a one two punch of earthquake and cyclone both in December. We did visit Mystery Island so named during WWII. The US built an airstrip on the island in such a way that the Japanese could not figure out where the planes were going and coming from. Now this is a little island as in you can walk around the whole thing in 30 minutes so it is kind of amazing that A there is an airstrip here and B that it could be so well hidden! Also no one lives on this island. The locals believe it is inhabited by spirits so it is taboo to live here. All the recreation we will be offered is brought over from the main island.
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| secret WW II tunnels under Darwin |
Darwin
You might remember that Jeff and I spent a couple of days in Darwin before our Kimberley Coast cruise and Darwin is on the small size. We have decided to skip the couple of excursions the ship offered - nah we don't need to see more crocodiles and not dying to go on the WWII tour around town. We docked in the middle of the afternoon so after we went through immigration we headed on a pedestrian passage to the other side of the harbor to a different dock where the Royal Flying Doctors and the Darwin WWII Museum is located. We were told the museum was good from our earlier cruise's fellow passengers. We also have a sunset cruise booked for the evening; thus, we had less time than ideal for the museum. Having said that 1 1/2 hours would have been more than enough since it is not big.
Our first port stop on this cruise is to Komodo Island, Indonesia as in the home of the Komodo Dragon. This island is the only place in the world you will find them. We booked an excursion with 18 other people that took us to see the dragons and then to the pink beach on the island. This is a small place; there is a small town on the other side of the island, but most if not all of the island is a national park. As such, entry is closely controlled and if you did not have a prebooked tour, you could not get off the ship!
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| Floating Temple |
We leave our resort by 7 in the morning to catch the ferry back to the island of Bali where we have a driver/guide waiting for us to drive us up in the mountains to Munduk and will stop at some tourist places along the way. I should point out that driving through Denpasar, Benoa, Ubud and all the southeast parts of Bali is slow because of the traffic. They cannot widen the roads due to so many family shrines right at the road and there is too much traffic for two lane roads. Once we get out of the touristy areas and into the country traffic is much easier.
Ubud
We get in around 10pm after a trying flight experience, but we are here as is all of our luggage (gate agent in Broome messed up our luggage) and the screaming family is gone. We are pleasantly surprised at the hotel and our room. Our room has its own private patio with a small pool. We unpack and hit the bed - we're tired
Today we are visiting 2 places. First up is Freshwater Cove followed by Montgomery Reef. We are here in the morning. We will be greeted by the Damibmangari traditional owners who will welcome us with a ceremony and then we will walk 1/2 a mile each way to see some rock art. Jeff and I were surprised to learn that they have a store so this might be a level of civilization - will let you know. As the name implies freshwater is available year-round here. This is the mainland with the reef nearby. The reef is 154 square miles.
Our first day was a sea day so while we were busy and had fun, I will say no more. Well I will point out to you that we will not visit a city or town until we get to Broome which is the end of the journey. You cannot drive to any of the places we are going. You can get relatively close to some of them, but never where we will be. The next day was our first "port" day. We went to the opening for King George River and its twin waterfalls.
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| While it is remote, Seabourn keeps its reputation up and serves a glass of champagne when we get to the falls. |
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| Lots of legs reveal Dad protecting these chicks, Comb Crested Jacana, aka Lotusbird |
It is easy to forget how big Australia is. Our flight from Sydney to Darwin will take around 5 hours so similiar to crossing the US from the East to the West Coasts. Once we land, we get our stuff and our rental car and Jeff practices driving on the wrong side of the road for a minute and we are off. We are ultimately heading for the Kakadu National Park, but want to pick up some provisions first so we are stopping at a shopping mall/center with a grocery store. We are heading out to a big land of nothingness and it is hot like a southern US summer day so humid too. The Aussies recommend 3 liters of water per person per day, we won't do that much but we do buy water and some fruit and granola bars for snacks. Now we are off. Off down a long straight 2 lane road for 3 hours till we hit the large thriving metropolis of Jabiru.
We landed in Sydney early in the morning after the airline crew was sure we knew we absolutely could not bring all sorts of food into the country and had us fill out declaration forms. Once we were off the plane we wandered through parts of the airport until we hit customs and out into the main airport. We are here for basically a long weekend and unfortunately it is supposed to be a rainy one. We took a cab into the city, and I saw a sign about road closures due to Vivid Sydney, so I asked the cab driver what it was. Seems we are here at the start of a big modern arts festival. There will be lighting up of buildings and special performances and fireworks on select nights. We are now looking forward to the lights show even though it is now raining hard when we get to our hotel.
As many of you know, Cierra and I often go to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. A couple of years ago it was announced that the World Figure Skating Championships would be held in Boston in 2025. We immediately agreed we were going. We usually go to the championship weekend of the US event but splurged and bought tickets for the whole event which meant I spent most of my time Wednesday through Sunday at the TD Garden Arena in Boston. Since it was a full week this time, Jeff came along too and shared the 2nd ticket with Cierra while she worked some days.
We heard from family that Portland had a great food scene, so we signed up for a food tour. It seems, Portland’s waterfront was revitalized in the 1990’s which made it a tourist destination. Now they have multiple James Beard award winning restaurants and bakeries. We have done several food tours and this one from Maine Foodie Tours was very good because the food was great, and the guide gave us a great overview of the community and its history along with many stories regarding the local food scene. Besides the places below, we stopped at the Harbor Fish Market which is the source for many of the restaurants. It had an amazing selection. I had no idea how many different types of oysters there are either.
We got in on a Saturday afternoon after a taxi ride that took for EVER - longest ride in a long time due to traffic. Our hotel is kind of close to the old town and close to a food hall called Time Out Market which is part of an international chain we discovered in Capetown, SA. We dump our luggage and headed for the food hall. Turns out it is in a shopping mall called Eaton Center. After a nice Spanish meal we wanderd the shopping center some and then headed out in the cold (40s and windy) to old town. After a longer than expected walk we are in the old town area. Unfortunately, some of the roads are being rebuilt so areas aren't that accessible, but we still find shops to explore. Starts to look like rain so we head to a bar/restaurant for a drink while the rain passes. It is now dark outside so time for another selfie! Back to the hotel where we eat dinner and head to bed. Next day we have a food tour with Secret Food Tours planned.
We are sailing on a small cruise ship – Windstar’s Wind Spirit with 2 other couples. The cruise is called the Adriatic Icons and Venetian Treasures. As we are visiting the different ports I come to understand why the Veneitan Treasures part – most if not all of these towns were under Veneitan rule at one time. We will visit: Rovijn, Zadar, Hvar, Dubrovnik and Korcula Croatia and Piran Slovenia with one day at sea too. We are big fans of Windstar cruises and have sailed on several of their ships before including the Wind Spirit in French Polynesia (Tahiti) in November 2021.
When the door of our plane opens at the Venice airport we are immediately hit with heat; something we had not felt in quite a while. We went from mid 60 degree, cloudy weather to mid 90s sunny; what a change! We wandered around the airport for a bit before we found the car rental lot (naturally on top of a parking garage), got our vehicle for the next week and reminded ourselves to drive on the right-hand side of the road. And off we go. We are heading for a shopping mall – we need another outfit or 2 each geared to 90-degree weather. True to form when you need clothing nothing seems right, but in the end we each get something and then the adventure starts. We are heading north of Venice to a small town in the Veneto region which is a wine region specializing in sparkling wine. Did I say small? We are staying in a Bed and Breakfast called Villa Toderini and yes there is a fancy house associated with it, but that’s not where the rooms are; we are in a newer building. The website has some directions, but we find ourselves circling around this small town when suddenly I see a sign for it and we turn. Still not sure we are in the correct place till I notice the door says Agritourism on it. We are warmly greeted and shown our room for the next 2 nights. Room is nice and is actually 2 stories with a twin bed and a chest of drawers up the stairs.
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Abbey Glen
We have booked a one-night package stay at a castle hotel in Clifden which is near the western coast. When we get there our room is not ready yet and we are hungry, we check out the bar area and enjoy a midafternoon light snack. We figure we need food in us because our package starts with a history of the castle presentation with free prosecco at 6:30pm. Before we get there, we wonder if this really is an old castle - yes, it is. While we are here, we debate if there are any additions to the original buildings and decide we don't want to know. Our room is on the second floor right next to the main staircase, so I am pretty sure we were in the original building.
This is our next stop after our first castle stay in Abbey Glen. Our route here starts with a scenic drive on the upper sky road leaving the town of Clifden. It is another one lane road, but oh the views it gave us were fantastic and my favorites. I have decided I prefer a landscape with a gentle drop off into the sea versus the steep cliffs although that is what you hear about in write ups for Ireland. We are still following the "Wild Atlantic Way" road signs and we do stop at one of the scenic viewpoints. It was quite pretty, and we were there probably a half hour or more. We would have stayed longer but had to get to our next spot-sigh. I liked how you could see so many small islands. The tide was out so you also saw some beach areas. On our way to this spot we had seen a group of people windsurfing and a couple of small boats. At our spot is a local horse who is happy to have the people around him.
