Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Posted on October 20, 2010 by JoeTourist

Oct 20, 2010 – Wednesday – Bay of Islands, New Zealand

Port of call on a 2010 South Pacific Cruise from Vancouver to Auckland aboard the Volendam

This is our first port of call since our departure from New Caledonia. We are anchored in the Bay of Islands, so we are tendered ashore to the Waitangi wharf. They have shuttle buses to take passengers to Pahia, which is the main town in the area.

We go ashore on the tender and take the lunchtime version of Darryl’s Dinner Cruise. We find the boat on the pier in Pahia, and have a very nice time with a bunch of Australians, who are on a bus tour of New Zealand. It is a bit choppy out on the harbour, however we travel around the little bay by Pahia, as well as down to within sight of Opua, then around Orongo Bay. There are some beautiful glimpses of Volendam before we return to Pahia wharf. Along the way, we are served our choice of New Zealand Lamb Chops, roast venison, or catch of the day, along with salad, steamed potatoes, and even a bit of chocolate for dessert.

JoeTourist: Food &emdash; Wendy McDonald's birthday aboard ship in the Rotterdam dining room — Wendy’s birthday aboard Volendam

After walking around Pahia for a while, we return to the ship mid-afternoon. It is Crew Performance Night in the Rotterdam Dining Room, so the dining room serving staff dance between the tables, starting with placing napkins on everyone’s lap through to serving Baked Alaska (sans sparklers). After the Baked Alaska, the servers surround my friend who is celebrating a birthday and sing her a version of “Happy Birthday” in Filipino. Her chocolate cake is served in addition to the Baked Alaska, so everyone is overstuffed by the time we leave the dining room.

Bay of Islands

9 photos

Sunset over the North Island eastern shoreline from aboard ship

Skipper of Darryl's Dinner Cruise — Skipper of Darryl’s Dinner Cruise

Joe at Opua marina where SV Sequoia was moored in 2004

Noumea, New Caledonia

Posted on October 17, 2010 by JoeTourist

Port of call on a 2010 South Pacific Cruise from Vancouver to Auckland aboard the Volendam

Oct 17, 2010 – Sunday – Noumea, Grand Terre, New Caledonia

Welcoming dance troupe on the dock at Noumea

We arrive in port on time this morning at 8am and are serenaded by a local dance troupe performing Polynesian dances on the dock. Noumea is a large, and well developed city, however since it is Sunday, most stores are closed. “Casino”, the supermarket across the street from where we are docked is open until noon, which according to my friends who lived in France is “very French”, since Sunday afternoon is reserved for time with family. The prices in the supermarket are as I expected: about three times higher than anywhere else for foreign imported goods, and reasonable prices for local goods and those items imported from France. New Caledonia is a French colony.

I quickly decide during our little excursion to the market this morning that it is too hot to bother with any tours. I return to the ship and have a swim in the Sea View pool. There is lemonade being served poolside, so I soon cool down. I go out on the Promenade deck and sit in a lounge chair in the shade and work on my journal and photos – watching the world go by. There are huge numbers of sailboats moored in the harbour…almost to the point of it being crowded. People in power boats scoot alongside our ship, waving hello before taking off again

A local dance troupe Temonoroa Dance Group put on a terrific show of Polynesian dancing in the show lounge aboard ship this evening. They get some audience participation going, with both the men and women in the audience appearing on stage. The Volendam departs right after the show, once the troupe goes ashore with all their costumes and gear. She creeps out of the harbour dead slow past all the sailboats that are moored for the night.

Please note, the photos below are from two cruises, this one in 2010 aboard the Volendam, and a followup Solar Eclipse cruise in 2012 aboard the Paul Gauguin.

La Grande Terre

26 photos

Lighthouse on SE shore of La Grande Terre

Windmills on SE shore of La Grande Terre

Dance troupe on dock - audience participation — Dance troupe on dock – audience participation

Passengers on Sport Deck watch Volendam pull away from the dock

Pilot boat escorts Volendam through Noumea harbour during night departure

Mary-D docked and disembarking passengers

Interior staircase to the top of the lighthouse

Joe at the top of the lighthouse with the lagoon behind

View of the lagoon and the Mary-D tied up at the wharf

People viewing the lagoon from the top of the lighthouse

View of the lagoon from the top of the lighthouse

Someone climbing the stairs to the top of the lighthouse

Striped Sea Snake swimming in the shallows

Port Vila, Vanuatu

Posted on October 15, 2010 by JoeTourist

Port of call on a 2010 South Pacific Cruise from Vancouver to Auckland aboard the Volendam

Oct 15, 2010 – Friday – Port Vila, Vanuatu

It is cloudy again today in Vanuatu as we pull into the dock in Port Vila right on time. I take another shore excursion this morning to Paradise Cove, which is only a short distance on a motor sailboat from the main town. The underwater wildlife in this area is nothing short of amazing. I see more varieties of fish, coral, and other creatures in the hour and a half we have to snorkel than all my other snorkelling adventures combined. Too bad my underwater camera is hooped; however I get a copy of someone else’s underwater photos, so at least I have a record of what I saw.

Boarding the Paradise Cove sailboat
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish
Coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Coral
Tropical fish & coral
Captain Nemo type reef fish
Captain Nemo type reef fish
Tropical fish & coral
Tropical fish & coral
Feeding frenzie
Feeding frenzie
Our two guides
Viewing underwater through windows in the boat’s hull
Clam or sea slug
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish and coral
Tropical fish being fed bread
Tropical fish being fed bread
Very colourful sea slug
Yellow, black & white striped tropical fish
Yellow, black & white striped tropical fish
Column of yellow coral
Head of coral

Port Vila is much more prosperous than Luganville, and is such a pretty location, with the harbour surrounded by a series of small islands. There are lots of upscale resorts and homes built around the harbour, and some very exotic yachts are to be found in this harbour. As with yesterday, it is nice to return to the comforts aboard ship after our shore excursion. Hot showers, good food, air conditioning, clean surroundings, and warm greetings from all the staff make for such a welcoming home-away-from-home.

Port Vila

9 photos

Port Vila Bay - main harbour — Port Vila Bay – main harbour

Sailboats mooredin the harbour and dry land stored

Sunset - Sun being obscured by clouds near horizon — Sunset – Sun being obscured by clouds near horizon

Paul Gauguin cruise ship anchored in Port Vila harbour

American Samoa

Posted on October 8, 2010 by JoeTourist

Port of call on a 2010 South Pacific Cruise from Vancouver to Auckland aboard the Volendam

Oct 8, 2010 – Friday – Pago Pago, American Samoa

I set my alarm this morning, so I can see and photograph our arrival in Pago Pago. The island of Tutuila is strikingly beautiful, with tall craggy mountains covered in vegetation. The channel into Pago Pago harbour is narrow, and the harbour itself is quite small, however there was a cruise ship docked ahead of us – the Sapphire Princess. She is huge compared with Volendam. Needless to say, it is pure bedlam in the little town with two cruise ships in port at once.

Looking at the Sapphire Princess from Volendam's Sport Deck in American Samoa — Looking at the Sapphire Princess from Volendam’s Sport Deck in American Samoa

I go ashore for an hour in the morning. Once I find the post office and mail some postcards, I wander up to the Governor’s Mansion. The guards chase me out of there, so I return to the ship, since it is so hot and humid. I immediately go for a swim in the pool. There are some tropical downpours while I am swimming.

There are some Samoan visitors to the ship today. They all have cameras and are taking photos of themselves, so I take their photos so everyone can get into the shots. As we depart the very pretty harbour of Pago Pago, I take sequential photos in order to build a time lapse video of our departure.

Seattle

Posted on September 23, 2010 by JoeTourist

Port of call on a 2010 South Pacific Cruise from Vancouver to Auckland aboard the Volendam

Sept 23, 2010 – Thursday – Volendam in Seattle, Washington, USA

We arrive in Seattle on time at 7am. I discover my cabin is near a big noisy winch motor, which starts up as the ship approaches the dock. I rest in bed for another half hour before getting up and join my friends for breakfast in the Lido. Lots of passengers are disembarking in Seattle, so it is pretty busy this morning. I plan to walk to Myrtle Edwards Park on the harbour, and then go to the Space Needle, so I wear a raincoat and leave the ship a bit after 9am. There is a mist coming down, but it isn’t too bad. I find out where the entrance to the Elliott Bay corridor park is located, and start off. In true Seattle fashion, the mist soon turns to light rain, and then it really settles in and I am starting to get wet. I pull my camera bag’s raincoat over it, and put up my hood, and then decide to wait it out under a tree. No such luck – it looks like the rain is here to stay for the day, so I head back to Pier 91 and re-board the Volendam.

Chris Paris behind the Explorations Espresso Bar

After drying off, I find the Explorations Café and Lounge, order a cappuccino, and settle in with my notebook computer. I think this will be my usual haunt, since it is quiet here, the view is great, and it is an Internet hotspot. I experiment with the ship’s Wi-Fi, ensuring auto login is off. I’m in good shape for staying connected while crossing the Pacific Ocean.

My friends and I go to the Rotterdam Dining Room for dinner at 7pm this evening, however all the open seating is taken until 8pm. We sit in the Explorer’s Lounge until then. We are seated on the upper deck of the Rotterdam Dining Room, which is normally reserved for fixed seating. It is a very elegant dining room, and needless to say, it is huge. Service is excellent, the food is very nice, and probably what surprised us all…the portions are not too big. We all have Scallop Ceviche for an appetizer and Alaska King Crab Legs for our main course. I have a tiny Caesar Salad and an equally tiny chocolate cake for dessert, with a cappuccino to finish. All in all, everyone agrees it is a very satisfying meal.

Volendam's departure route from Seattle - map — Volendam’s departure route from Seattle

By the time we leave the dining room at 10pm, the ship has cleared Cape Flattery and is taking a 10-15 mph wind from the south. We are currently on a westerly heading, however I expect we will soon swing around to a SW heading, since my handheld GPS tells me that is the direction to Lahaina, Maui – our first stop in Hawaii. Distance to Lahaina is 2,253 nmi or 4,157 km. Our speed is 16kts, so that means it will take us 5 days, 21 hours to arrive. By 11:20pm, the ship has changed heading to 223° (SW) and the wind has increased to 23mph still from the SW. I tried to connect to the onboard Internet, but no go. There is no on-board cellular service either, so I suspect the satellite link is being disrupted by the pitching of the ship.

Departing Vancouver aboard Volendam

Posted on September 22, 2010 by JoeTourist

Wednesday, September 22, 2010 – the start of the South Pacific Cruise

Pacific Coach Lines (now the BC Ferries Connector) takes us from Victoria across the water to the mainland on BC Ferries to the Canada Place Cruise Terminal in Vancouver without a hitch. They drop us off right inside the terminal, and our bags are delivered to our cabin aboard ship…what terrific service!

Boarding the Volendam is pretty easy, despite having to go through three stages before actually stepping aboard: security screening (like airports), US Customs and Immigration, then Holland America’s own check-in.

Somehow I manage to leave my dress jacket at home, so once I’m settled in my cabin, I leave the ship and make a quick dash to Dunn’s Tailors on lower Granville Street where I buy a new dress jacket. So now I will be ready for the seven formal nights we have scheduled while on board this 30-day cruise. I arrive back on board in time for the compulsory lifejacket drill, just before our departure.

Leaving Lions Gate Bridge behind as Volendam departs Vancouver Harbour

The Volendam slips away from the dock at 5PM, and we are on our way! There are some passengers who boarded today in Vancouver and who will leave the ship tomorrow in Seattle – a one day overnight cruise! No doubt they will party hard tonight to take advantage of all the fun stuff aboard.

Sailing under Lions Gate Bridge is spectacular this evening, with great views of the North Shore Mountains, the harbour, and Stanley Park. It brings back memories of when I sailed under the same bridge in 1981 aboard the Cunard Princess bound for the Caribbean. Everyone is very excited as we pass under the bridge, but then it is time for dinner. We opt for a BBQ dinner served alfresco on the (covered) Lido deck beside the pool. We watch the sun set over Georgia Strait and Vancouver Island as the ship slowly makes its way overnight to Seattle.