World Circumnavigation - Sector Two

30^th January - 22^nd February 2013

Itinerary: San Francisco - Honolulu - Nawiliwili - Bora Bora - Papeete - Auckland - Napier - Wellington - Sydney

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January 30. San Francisco, USA. After a late night last night, I was up at 7 for a wine country and wine tasting tour. Barbara and I were picked up at a local hotel, and we and 5 others travelled off to the Sonoma Valley, over the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped at our first winery and were tasting wines at 10:15. We tried four different wines and were then allowed to try more. We then went on to another winery, where a similar thing happened. We had lunch in Sonoma City and then travelled on to the Napa Valley. Our final winery was the Domaine Chandon, one of four around the world owned by Moët Chandon. All the wines were sparkling. On the way back to the ship, we stopped off at a viewing point for a great view of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Sea days. These took on a slightly different pattern on this sector. Instead of the Battle of the Sexes, I took dancing lessons. I'm really not a good dancer. I occasionally took part in the individual quizzes and we still tried to win bottles of wine in the Masquerade Challenge, and were sometimes successful.

February 4. Honolulu, USA. Barbara, Rob, Linda and I took a cab to Pearl Harbor. We spent all of the morning there, visiting the various museums and the Arizona Memorial. In the afternoon we took a shuttle to the local large shopping centre. I bought a couple of t shirts and then Rob and I left the girls shopping, whilst we went for a drink (or two) at the Hard Rock Cafe. We then walked along Waikiki Beach and saw the sunset.

February 5. Nawiliwili, USA. The weather was damp and fairly cool. I had booked a tubing trip, but it was cancelled due to lack of numbers. So it was a shuttle bus into the local shopping centre and later Costco, where we had lunch (a hot dog). I saw nothing of the island at all, a very strange day. To cap it all I realised that I had lost my credit card and had to cancel that. That'll be an expensive call! After Sailaway, Captain Hutley came on the tannoy to say that the ship was experiencing problems with the port propeller and so there were some itinerary changes coming up. We were losing Bora Bora, Napier and Wellington, spending two days in Auckland and gaining a day in the Bay of Islands. Not a popular announcement.

February 8. Crossing the Line. Today I went from being a Pollywog to a Shellback. Which means that I've crossed the equator on board ship. To mark crossing from one hemisphere to another, Neptune's permission must be granted. This is done with the Crossing the Line ceremony, essentially a battle between pirates and the ships crew. The ceremony was at 14:00 but the actual crossing was at 21:00. It was 60's/70's Night and I finally got to wear my hippy outfit. The wig was lop sided and everyone said I looked like Ozzy Osborne!

February 11. Papeete, Tahiti. The weather was overcast when we arrived, but soon the sun shone and it was a humid 30 degrees. I took an island tour today. We first visited Pointe Venus, with it's lighthouse and boats lined up on shore. Then we visited the blowhole. There were actually two blowholes, one where the water shot up and the other, where air shot up. This was a surreal experience, with air suddenly whistling up my shorts legs! I found out afterwards that water often came out of that blowhole too!. A visit to the Three Waterfalls next. Then we called in at a botanical gardens for a short visit. We had lunch at the Gaugin Museum, where the view from the restaurant was amazing. The museum was, unfortunately, closed. Off to the Maraa Grottos next, followed by the Marae de Arahurahu. A marae is a temple. A quick stop at a beach and then home.

February 12. Sea Day. The captain announced today that we were now reverting back to our original itinerary and that the ship would now be repaired in Dubai, during our scheduled two day call. Rumour had it, that a German engineer had joined the ship in Papeete.

February 13. The Invisible Day. Today we crossed the International Dateline and lost a day. My birthday! I celebrated on the 14th instead.

February 17. Auckland, New Zealand. We arrived early and moored right by the Hilton. The Sea Princess was moored just across from us. I was hoping to meet Gary but not Tracey as she had gone to a Guiding event in Mexico. I did wonder if I'd manage to find him, as I wasn't sure that he knew which ship I was on. As I walked along the road, I heard him call my name. We went to Muriwai Beach to see the gannet colony there. It was really interesting, and as we were visiting, so was a tour from the ship! I met a few people I knew. We drove over the Harbour Bridge and went to a supermarket, so I could buy some wine and then we ate lunch in a pub, near where Fi, Tracy's daughter used to live. We drove back under the Symond's Street Bridge, right by the Langham Hotel, which is where Angie and I stayed on our visit.

February 18. Napier, New Zealand. We arrived to a cool day at lunchtime. I took the shuttle bus into town with Barbara. We just strolled about the town, which was flattened in an earthquake in the 1930's. It was rebuilt in Art Deco style. The main shopping street is the most Art Deco street. After wandering around the town, we had a beer in the Provincial Hotel and then visited the aquarium where as well as various aquatic life, we also saw two kiwi birds.

February 19. Wellington, New Zealand. A nice sunny day. Barbara, Rob, Linda and I took the shuttle bus into town. We then just stolled about. We walked along the harbourside walk. We saw some young guys and girls jumping in to the water from the dockside. We then went along to the Te Papa museum for a fairly quick visit. Then it was lunch and a beer in a local pub, before we ambled along to the cable car station. We took a trip up to the top of the hill and admired the view, before a brief visit to the botanical gardens. Then it was back down on the cable car, before catching the shuttle bus back to the ship. The Pacific Princess was moored near us.

February 22. Sydney, Australia. I got up early for the sail in to Sydney. It was well worth it. The views in the slowly brightening day were spectacular. We moored by the Ferry Terminal opposite the Opera House. The weather was really warm. It rained slightly once or twice during the day, but mostly, it was glorious. I spent the morning wandering through the Central Business District and Hyde Park. I was amazed at how expensive everything was. The last time I was here, it all seemed so cheap. I wanted to get my hair cut, but the cheapest place was much the same as on the ship, so I didn't bother. In the afternoon, I just messed about and on my way back to the ship I ate a pizza. It was the first one in over 6 weeks and it was wonderful! I went up to the deck for the sailaway and when I went back to my cabin, the Opera House was gliding past my window. Here endeth the second sector.