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Cruising

Cruise Days – Suva, Ile Des Pins and Noumea

Posted on October 6, 2011

Between Leaving Western Samoa and arriving into Australia, there are three more ports. The first after one day at sea is Suva, Fiji, closely followed by two ports in New Caledonia, Ile des Pins and Noumea. Following these three ports, there will be two days at sea before arriving in Australia.

While I enjoyed seeing and exploring these ports, I must say they are not places I will be rushing to visit again. Getting to and sampling Both Suva and Noumea via cruise ship is a great way to get a taste. While Ile Des Pins is a nice beach getaway, but there are options much closer to home. However, this being said I did enjoy my time in all three

Suva, Fiji

My last tour for the Cruise is in Fiji, Walk on the Wild Side. The tour takes you on a bushwalk not far from Suva. I almost thought the wild side might have been regarding the bus trip from the ship to the start of the hike. The bus is not designed for the road that we needed to travel down.

The was not the easiest of walks, being rather uneven and with plenty of roots across the path. For me, this was an excellent hike, and I loved every minute of it. The water across the path, the big steps, and stairs did not bother me. However, some of the other passengers on the tour were not as agile as I am. But at the end of the day everyone made it through, and nature here is quite spectacular.

Exploring Suva

Once the tour returned to the ship, I grabbed a bite to eat and went to explore Suva a little further. The first thing that I noticed about Suva is the level of pollution. The air seems thick with smog, and I suspect it mostly comes from the ageing vehicles used in Fiji. It hardly makes it somewhere that you want to spend to much time.

The shopping in Suva seems to be a little bit of a mixed bag. With some shops appearing to be rather cheap and others rather expensive. There was nothing that inspired me to buy, so it was soon back to the ship.

Ile Des Pins, New Caledonia

Ultimately, today I decided that today instead of running around everywhere, I was going to the beach. I am sure that there are possibly other things to do on the island of Ile Des Pins, but that is for another visit. Being that the ship was at anchor and access to the island was via tender, I only have photos from the ship. I can assure you though there are many beautiful scenes on the island. But I only have photos from the ship.

Noumea, New Caledonia

Just like going between the two ports in the Samoa region, Ile Des Pins and Noumea are not far apart. In fact, so close that it took less than six hours to go from Ile Des Pins to Noumea. The ship arrived around 11 pm, and it was something different to arrive into port at night. However, we may have been in port, but could not go ashore until the morning. Noumea is only the second port I have been in at night, and it gives the area a different feel.

After a good nights sleep and some breakfast, I ventured ashore with a group of friends. We started the morning finding a local cafe to have a coffee. Continuing the day exploring the shopping area and some parks. The shopping is not great; most stores are more directed at the local population. With just a couple of souvenir shops selling a somewhat interesting collection of souvenirs.

It might be the area that we walked, but I did not find a whole lot to photograph here. Possibly the best photos that I have are from the arrival and departure. However, I am sure that Noumea will be a place that I will return. Mostly because it is a popular port to include on cruises from Australia, due to how close it is.

Heading To Australia

There are two more days at sea after we depart Noumea, before arriving in Australia. The first port in Australia is Eden, just south of Sydney in New South Wales. With the second and final port for the cruise being Sydney, Australia.

Cruising

Pago Pago, American Samoa and Apia, Western Samoa

Posted on September 28, 2011

After spending a full five days at sea, it is great to see land again. I must say though that I had a fantastic time exploring the food and entertainment onboard MS Volendam. The first port after this stint at sea is Pago Pago in America Samoa. With a visit to Western Samoa and the port of Apia the following day. Even though they are only hours apart by cruise ship, the two ports have a different feel to them.

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Arriving in Pago Pago, the reality was quite different to my expectations. I had expected the islands here to be somewhat flat. However, the island of Tutuila on which Pago Pago resides is rather mountainous. The way the mountains rise from the water forms quite a dramatic coastline.

The call in Pago Pago was quite long arriving around 8 am and not leaving until 11 pm. To get a feel for the island and the ability to explore a little further, I decided to take a tour. There had been a warning from some not to expect a lot from the tours here. But I must say the tour I took was quite good, in my opinion for a small island nation.

Part of the warning about the tours came in that the tour guides were high school students. However, our guide spoke great English and gave an excellent commentary, with a lot of information. One of the stops we made was to see a ceremony calling the spirits of the sea. We end up a little far away from the person performing the ceremony, but it was still a beautiful location.

There was a stop made at the home of the late Governor Taueses. It shows some of the local histories and outlines the impact he had on this small island nation. Along with the impact that his death had all around the world.

One of the other beautiful locations that the tour stopped at is Flower Pot Rocks. It helps to show the wonderful crystal clear water and great location that we visited here.

Relaxing Island Style

The tour finished around lunch time and after a quick bite to eat, there was some time for exploring. The small township has a few interesting stores and is interesting to see.

With such a late departure tonight, a small group of us took advantage of finding a nice spot to relax. We found a place called Goat Island Cafe where we chatted and enjoyed some drinks and local food. The view here out to the inlet to the harbour was the perfect spot as the sun was setting.

Apia, Western Samoa

At just 84 nautical miles from Pago Pago, was the next port, Apia. In some ways, it feels as if you never left the dock, but Apia is about ten times the size of Pago Pago as a city.

Taking a tour in Apia was I hoped a good idea to make the most of the area. I had slightly higher expectations here, but they were soon put to the test. While the buses were markedly better, the guides were unfortunately not as good. The guides were able to provide very little information and often did not answer or did not understand questions. But either way, I still got to see a lot of the area here.

The first stop of the day was the local Fish Market. Not the ideal tourist attraction I must say, but sometimes you just have to take the bad with the good. The second stop was a little more interesting and is the parliament building. It is a small building that is run down but is in a beautiful location.

The third stop of the tour is a local produce market. The produce market provided a little more of an insight than the fish market. With a lot of similar produce to what I see at home, there were a few more exotic items as well.

The final stop I think is a little more interesting at the Robert L. Stevenson Museum. The museum is located in what used to be his residence on a hill overlooking Apia. Seeing the home of this world renowned author from the 1800’s is very interesting. As part of the visit, there was a small display of some local dance and a kava ceremony.

Next Stop Fiji

I must say that I have enjoyed my time in both American and Western Samoa. However, at the same time they are not places that have the same appeal to return to like Hawaii. I most likely would return again as part of a future cruise.

Cruising

Exploring Hilo, Honolulu And Kona, Hawaii

Posted on September 22, 2011

After leaving Long Beach, California, the MS Volendam spent four days at sea before arriving in Hawaii. There were three ports of call in Hawaii, including Hilo, Honolulu and Kona. The three stops each had an island feel, but also a different feel to each other.

Hilo, Hawaii

The first port of call in Hawaii is Hilo, located on the western side of the Big Island. As the ship was docking the skies were grey and overcast, with some rain as we were disembarking. The rain did hang around for most of the day but thankfully was not too heavy to impact today’s tour.

I chose a shore excursion, to visit three waterfalls, that kind of turned out to be a little disappointing. The tour was named Waterfall Spectacular, and to be honest, I found the tour quite lacking in the description. We visited three waterfalls, and there was only one that was flowing.

Waterfalls

Akaka Falls at over 440feet high was the first waterfall we visited. It is also the only waterfall that we had a good vantage point to see.

The second waterfall was a short walk from Akaka Falls. Unfortunately, the view of Kahuna Falls is all but entirely obstructed from the viewpoint that was available. I am not sure that there is a good accessible point to see it either.

Finally, the third waterfall was a short drive from the other two. Rainbow Falls, from most accounts, is supposed to be rather beautiful when water is flowing. However, due to a hydroelectric project the water just does not make it to the waterfall. It is disappointing because I can imagine how it would look with a good amount of water flowing.

After the tour, I took the free shuttle from the cruise terminal to visit a couple of places in town. The first was Big Island Candies, where they make a range of chocolates, cookies and shortbread. I did not end up buying anything here, but there were some delicious looking treats.

The second stop was at Hilo Hattie’s, which is a big souvenir store. They give free shell necklaces here, and I did end up buying a couple of little things. There are free shuttle busses, but the wait can be a little bit much and can leave you standing around waiting. Of course, this leaves you without much time to do much else.

Honolulu, Hawaii

A day later and small move from Hilo to Honolulu. However, you would have been forgiven for thinking it was worlds apart, as the weather was the total opposite. The first thing as you dock in Hawaii is Aloha Tower, on the dock nearby, a real Hawaiian greeting.

The best part of where the ship docks in Honolulu is how close it is to many things. A very short walk and you are in Downtown, with shopping and some other attractions. The only thing that is not immediately nearby is the beach.

Diamond Head Crater

To maximise my time in Honolulu, I opted for a shore excursion today. Diamond Head Crater is the remnant of an extinct undersea volcano. The peak of the crater towers above the southern coastline of O’ahu at 762 feet.

The tour takes a relatively direct route from the cruise ship to Diamond Head Crater by bus. There were a couple of highlights pointed out along the way. But the main part of the tour is to hike from inside the crater to the top. A hike of some 1.5 miles (2.2km) with the greatly varying terrain, from flat and gradual to some very steep stairs. The set of stairs below is around half of 200+ stairs that are part of the hike.

The views from the top of Diamond Head Crater, definitely make it worth the short walk. I can tell you I have walked much further for significantly less inspiring views.

To the south, you can see the Pacific Ocean Stretching to the horizon. While to the west is the rugged coastline and beaches of O’ahu. With views to the lush green mountains that form the Honolulu Watershed Forrest Reserve. Finally, to the east, the sprawling city of Honolulu stretches away with the beaches of Waikiki in the front.

Exploring Honolulu

Even with the tour being a significant hike for many passengers that took part, it still completed by lunch time. Leaving plenty of time to do a little more exploring of Hawaii in the afternoon. A walk through Downtown taking some time to do some shopping. I managed to find a couple of new shirts and a new pair of shoes. There were a couple of sights that I came across the pictures below as well as finding a little cafe to catch up on email.

Kona

Kona is the last stop in Hawaii for the cruise and the first port to require the use of tenders to get ashore. There were not tours that inspired me here and decided just to explore the area. While tenders have their downfalls, the ship being at anchor provided an excellent opportunity for a good photo of the ship.

Tendering in port can take away a lot of time when you are in port. The ship was at anchor from around 8 am, but the group I was with did not get to shore until around 10.30am. Part of the reason is the tour groups get first preference on the tenders. But a port like Kona everyone wants to go ashore and explore as well.

Myself and a few others I have met on the cruise went ashore together. We spent an hour or so wandering the main street and a market that was on. Before finding our way to the Kona Island Brewing Company, for lunch and some local beer. It was a great spot to take a break and enjoy the area before heading back to the ship.

Farewell Hawaii

Although the weather in Hilo was a little disappointing, I have enjoyed my time in Hawaii. It is a place that I will be looking to return for a longer stay to explore deeper. Without a limited number of hours and need to go back to a ship at the end of the day.

From Hawaii, the ship will head south with the next stop Pago Pago in America Samoa. However, there are a full five days at sea before arriving in America Samoa. So definitely some more time to explore what the ship has to offer.

Needs Photos

Exploring With The Daily Program

Posted on September 14, 2011

Today is the last of four sea days before the MS Volendam arrives into Hilo, Hawaii. So today I wanted to share with you a little about how you know just what is happening any particular day on the cruise. Every evening you receive a copy of the daily program, which on Holland America Line is called Explorer.

The Daily Program

The front of the program starts with an introduction to the port being visited or a small article about the ship. With the bottom half outlining the entertainment options for the evening.

As you open the program out, the inside is split into five columns. The first four columns are Explore Our World, Explore Food and Entertaining, Explore Technology and Explore Wellbeing. The fifth column is called At A Glance and summarises everything from the other four columns.

You can detach the fifth column from the rest of the newsletter to take with you throughout the day. With everything in the fifth column being described in more detail in the first four columns. The reverse of the fifth column also includes all the information about when food and beverages will be available for the day.

Explore Our World

If you want to find out information, these are the activities that will provide you with information. Here you will find things such as presentations by the travel guide about upcoming ports, information from shore excursions and port shopping. But also I have found that there have been some guest speakers on different topics such as cooking or classical music.

Explore Food and Entertaining

If you enjoy cooking demonstrations than this section is likely of interest to you. Each day there is a range of different activities here from cooking demonstrations, to hands-on cooking classes and even napkin folding.

Explore Technology

Onboard the ship they have a Microsoft Digital Workshop. A place where they teach a range of sessions about how to use different programs on your computer. Mostly to do with staying in touch with home, cameras and Windows.

Explore Wellbeing

The one thing that you will often find more activities in than any other section is the wellbeing area. These activities are things like talks about health topics, sporty activities, and gym and spa activities. The place to find things to do rather than to find places to sit and watch or listen.

At A Glance

You get this list of all the activities that are happening through out the day sorted by the time they are taking place. You can also detach this section so that you do not have to take the whole program with you.

Finally on the reverse of the program is some useful information about all the different dining options and services that are available on board and what times they are open for the day. Finally at the bottom of the page is the daily movie which they play a few times throughout the evening.

Getting Ready For Port

I hope that this has been a good overview for you of what the daily program includes. During the next three days, I will be visiting ports in Hawaii. I hope that I will be able to share a little bit more after these ports about what some of the activities are and also a little about the ports I get to visit in the next three days.

Cruising

Transpacific Cruise – Food Options Onboard

Posted on September 13, 2011

One of the great aspects about travelling by cruise ship is your food is included. Not just any old food, but in my experience so far some pretty good food. So I wanted to share a little about the options for dining while I am onboard the MS Volendam.

There are six different dining options on the MS Volendam for dining throughout the day. The options include the Rotterdam Dining Room, Pinnacle Grill, Canaletto, Terrace Frill, Lido Restaurant and Explorations Cafe. Each of these provides a different dining experience and the times they are available can vary.

Rotterdam Dining Room

The Rotterdam Dining Room, also known as the main dining room is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The timing can vary a little depending on whether it is a sea day or port day. Both fixed and open seating dining are served here.

When it comes to dinner, the dining room seems to be the most popular option. However, for breakfast and lunch, you find a rather small attendance. Full table service is provided, and the menu does change daily. There are a few common options on the menu if something for the day does not catch your fancy. So far the food has been excellent. However, at times I have found the service to be a little lacking compared to my previous cruise.

Pinnacle Grill

In my opinion, this is the best dining experience onboard. The level of food and service provided in the Pinnacle Grill is suppose to be the best. For this, you do pay a small additional supplement, at lunch this is $10 and dinner $25.

I have questioned whether dining in the Pinnacle Grill is worth the extra money a couple of times. However, I think it is worth it just to access some of the amazing food they offer. If it was not for the supplement, I think I would eat here every night.

Canaletto

The Canaletto is an Italian themed restaurant onboard. It is offered as a smaller more intimate dining experience, with a few nice little touches. Only available at dinner time there is a fixed menu with a range of Italian dishes.

There are some small touches that I like at The Canaletto. They start with a selection of Antipasto served before the Appetiser. There is a selection of bread’s available with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar to drizzle over. The greatest downfall here is the flavours are not so prominent.

Terrace Grill

Not all of the restaurants are open all the time, and the Terrace Grill helps to cover some of these hours. Open from 11.30am to 6 pm it is the place to stop for a quick afternoon snack between meals.

Lido Buffet

The Lido Buffet is the place many people eat Breakfast and Lunch. However, it is also available at Dinner time and if you need it a late night snack and ice cream.

The options are much the same each day at the Lido, but there is some good variety. At dinner time some of the dishes to match the Main Dining Room, just not presented as well. I had found the Lido on the MS Volendam to be much better than when I was on the MS Statendam.

Exploration’s Cafe

If you are looking for a coffee that is not instant, this is the place to go. It is the closest comparison to a cafe on land. There is a small selection of cakes that are the same as the daily desserts. The drinks do cost extra here, but the cakes and food are free.

More About The Food

If you would like to know more about the food offered onboard, why not leave a comment. If you let me know what you would like to know, I can try and include something later in the cruise.

One thing that I am looking forward to towards the end of the cruise is the Dessert Extravaganza. I am coming back and adding some pictures from this at the end of the cruise. As it is a great part of the food that is offered onboard.

Cruising

Transpacific Cruise – Sea Days Update

Posted on September 12, 2011

The ship departed from Long Beach, California around 5 pm on Saturday. The ship headed to the south for a little and then we started on a Westerly course for Hawaii. The next port of call is Hilo, Hawaii and we will be four sea days before arriving.

Sea Days When Cruising

Everyday onboard the cruise you receive a program outlining what is on each day. There are many more activities on sea days as opposed to days when the ship is in port.

So far I have enjoyed a couple of different things. One that caught my attention straight away was the Dance Classes. Although the first one is not exactly the sort of classes, I am used to. I have previous taken Latin Dance Classes, and the first dance class was Tap Dance. So I will have to see what else comes up.

Entertainment

The program also includes information about what entertainment will be on around the ship. There is quite a lot of different entertainment in the evening and can be a little difficult to make a choice at times. It is easier to just explain each of the options.

Main Show – Every night there is one main show played twice to accommodate everyone around their dinner times. These are a mixture of the onboard entertainment staff performing shows and guest entertainers. The guest entertainers can include singers, magicians, acrobats, comedians and other occasional options.
String Quartet – A group of four string players whom, perform classical music each night.
The Neptunes Trio – Play a range of older songbook style music, as well as a good range of Ballroom dance styles.
Guitar Soloist – Plays a good range of music from Country to some great recent music.
Piano Player – Playing a variety of music on the piano.
Crows Nest – Later in the night the DJ is also playing a good range of music to a certain theme before moving on to taking requests.

What Do You Want To Know

Since I am on board, I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about being a cruise ship. If you have any questions, leave them in a comment below, and I will do my best to include it in the next update.

Otherwise, at this point, I will be looking to post an update soon sharing a little more about the food onboard. There are some different restaurants and food options, so stay tuned.

Cruising

Transpacific Cruise – Long Beach Update

Posted on September 10, 2011

Today is the third full day of my Transpacific cruise from Vancouver to Sydney. Today the ship is in port in Long Beach, California.

Long Beach

To be honest, Long Beach has not been on my list of places that I want to visit. I did take the time here to take a little look around and caught the shuttle bus to the Downtown area. But there was little of interest to me here mainly just shopping.

The cruise ship did offer some tour options. However, they mostly were tours that headed north to Los Angeles. Exploring places like Hollywood and Santa Monica which I visited on my last visit to America.

After spending a little time wandering around the shopping area, I caught the shuttle back to the ship. There is one interesting piece of history here the RMS Queen Mary. Although tours are available, I left it a little late by the time I realised.

Cruise Life

Being back onboard a ship is exciting, and I am enjoying the time on board. There has been little to see for much of the voyage from Vancouver to Long Beach with a lot of Fog. Although I suspect, there would be little to see anyway. At this stage, I have very few pictures on the ship as I have been enjoying the experience of being back on a ship. However, do hope to be able to share some photos from onboard.

Entertainment

I have enjoyed the entertainment so far. I have been to two different shows in the showroom.

The opening show on the first night is a mixture of all the shows. It is a way that they introduce each of the different performers on the ship to you. It is quite a fun show, and hopefully, the rest will be somewhat similar.

The second night the show was a performer who had previously performed in Las Vegas. He was a single and not too bad. I enjoyed the show for the most part.

I understand that there will be a slightly different mixture of shows for this cruise. It is because it is a longer cruise, and they include some more one-off performances to keep people interested.

Meeting People

From my last cruise, I know that there is a lot of socialising that happens. So far this cruise has not been much different. I have been meeting a lot of new people, both randomly and while dining. So this has been taking up some time, but it is great not to be feeling alone when travelling.

There will be a couple more updates coming along the way. I am still unsure how the updates will go with images onboard the ship. The problem is the internet is relatively expensive, and the speed is quite slow.

Cruising

Bon Voyage – MS Volendam Transpacific

Posted on September 7, 2011

A little later today I will be leaving my hotel in Vancouver and heading down to Canada Place. Canada Place is the cruise terminal in Vancouver and where I will be joining the MS Volendam. From here I will be cruising for the next 26-days from Vancouver to Sydney. Below is an image of Canada Place from last night.

MS Volendam

The ship I will be travelling on is Holland America Line’s Ms Volendam. The ship is slightly larger than the MS Statendam which I cruised on earlier this year.

Recently I have been reading a little about other cruisers who have recently been on the MS Volendam. Well, all that I have read is very favourable, so I am looking forward to getting on board and exploring the ship.

Cruise Destination

There are some great ports included in the itinerary for this cruise. Of course, I am looking forward to the final destination which is Sydney. Not so much as being the end of the cruise, but it will mean the Transpacific is complete.

The ship leaves Vancouver today, and there is one stop in Long Beach before the Pacific Crossing Begins. After Long Beach, the ship has four days at sea before arriving in Hawaii. There are three ports in Hawaii including Hilo, Honolulu and Kona.

There will be a further five days at sea after departing Hawaii, to reach American Samoa. The following day there will be a visit to Western Samoa, before heading south to Fiji. The final stop before heading towards Australia will be in Noumea. With the last two ports being Eden and Sydney in Australia.

Farewell Vancouver

Although today I will be saying goodbye to Vancouver, I am certain this will not be my last visit. Yesterday I did get to visit Granville Island and explore a little. It was one of the things that I missed last time, but I had a walk around and tried one of the restaurants.

I also saw a couple of other ships in port in Vancouver that I managed to get some photos of. The first is the Island Princess; you may remember this one from my Panama Canal post earlier in the year. The second is Disney Wonder which was in Vancouver yesterday. The Disney ship does have quite a distinct look to it.

With time running short it is time to head down to the ship now. I do hope that I will be able to update along the way, but will depend upon the internet access. If not you can be sure I will be sharing updates as soon as possible once I make it home.

Destinations

Exploring & Rediscovering Vancouver

Posted on September 6, 2011

Today I am leaving Seattle to head north to Vancouver. My time in Seattle staying with my friend has been a very good time. But as with most things that are good they do come to an end.

Seattle To Vancouver By Train

The proximity of Vancouver and Seattle lends itself to being impractical to fly. There are flights available, but by the time you get to the airport, wait around and fly the train is just as convenient.

The trip is on the Amtrak Cascades service and takes around four hours to cover the approximately 230km route. While the train is more comfortable, it does take longer. But the countryside you get to see and ability to have four hours solid to be able to use electronics is better than air travel.

Arriving In Vancouver

The last time I was in Vancouver I left the city via train, so I arrived in a somewhat familiar area. I had opted to stay in a different hotel this time, one that was located much closer to Canada Place. The hotel was Executive Hotel Le Soleil, which was comfortable and just two blocks from the cruise terminal.

Being that I was here to join a cruise ship to travel Transpacific back home to Sydney, I was interested in seeing the ships. Today there was two cruise ship docked at Canada Place. The first is one that I have seen before when transitting the Panama Canal, the Celebrity Century. The second is one that I was almost booked on for this cruise Holland America Line’s MS Zaandam. However, I changed the cruise to a different and better itinerary.

I was down at Canada Place at around 4 pm when the two ships were scheduled to depart. The Celebrity Century did leave on time. However, the MS Zaandam was still alongside the dock at 6.30 pm, and I could not wait any longer.

Photo Opportunities

While waiting for the two ships to depart, I did come across a couple of other interesting photo opportunities. The first is a piece of public art named “The Drop” which is rather difficult to photograph in a great angle, but here we go.

The second was some rather interesting clouds in the sky above buildings.

Without any movement from the ship, it was time to find something for dinner. While I did stay close, I could not get a good picture of the MS Zaandam leaving due to no tripod with me.

Day 2 – Monday 5 September 2011

As it turned out for my second day in Vancouver, or first full day it is a public holiday here. Instead of being a good day to explore it was a day full of lots of people enjoying the day off work. Also leaving a lot of stores either closed or on very limited hours. But of course, I did not let this stop me from seeing something.

I had a couple of ideas on where to explore today, and I figured a good way to do this would be via ferry. A walk to the False Creek end of Hornby St finds you at the dock for Aquabus. These small boats traverse the inlet known as False Creek with seven different stops.

The first stop for me today was the furthermost stop which is nearby Telus Science World. From this stop, it was a short walk to Dr Sun Yat-san Classical Chinese Garden. I had wanted to visit here on my last trip to Vancouver but just ran out of time.

The area the garden covers is relatively small compared to other similar gardens I have visited. However, there was a tour that was about to start, so I joined this. I did not stay with the tour long though as it was a little more in depth into a lot of history. It might be interesting for the locals, but I decided just to look around and capture some photos instead.

Public Art

Walking back towards the ferry stop I found a couple of interesting carved wooden statues. They had been carved out of old tree stumps and appeared to depict fisherman with their catch.

Granville Island

I rode the ferry back to Granville Island to find some lunch and hopefully explore this area. However, it turned out that being a public holiday and being one of the few places that were open, it was full of people. So I grabbed something quick for lunch and headed back across to the city on the ferry.

At least the visit to Granville Island was not a waste as the ferry ride shows some great views of the city. Once back in town I did find a store to grab a couple of supplies for the cruise which leaves on Wednesday. While also rediscovering a little bit more of Vancouver.

Night Photography

Even though I did not have a tripod with me, I still wanted to give a little night photography a try. Especially around the area of Canada Place, there are some beautiful scenes, including Canada Place itself. I combined the walk with finding something for dinner so that I would win either way. But in the end, I found something to eat and got some nice photo

I have been very much enjoying the time in Vancouver, but just have one more day before my cruise departs. While the time in America and Canada has been a lot of fun, I think I am ready to board the ship now. Tomorrow though I am planning to meet with another passenger that will be on the ship, so that will be interesting.

Destinations

6 Days With Friends In Seattle

Posted on September 5, 2011

The past six days I have been visiting with some friends in Seattle. I have only shared one post from this time about my drive to Mount Rainier. In many ways, the past week has not been the regular tourist thing in Seattle and a little more relaxed. There were a couple of first for me this week, but no pictures, so you will just have to take my word.

Arriving In Seattle

I returned to Seattle from Victoria the same way I left via the Victoria Clipper Ferry. The return to Seattle was on Monday 29th August. The ferry trip took around 2.5 – 3 hours and was scheduled to arrive around 2.05 pm. There was a small delay in arrival plus some time to collect baggage and pass through customs. However, it all worked out ok as my friend arrived almost spot on when I walked out of the terminal.

Trying Bikram Yoga

My friend that I am staying with is a frequent attendee of Bikram Yoga Classes. So one afternoon I decided to join her for a session. I was rather unsure what to expect as I have never been to a yoga class, let along a Bikram Yoga class before.

Bikram Yoga is a little different to some other types of yoga, in that it is a performed in particular conditions. The session runs for around 90 minutes in a room kept at 105F (40.5C) with 40% humidity.

To be honest, I do think that I did better than I thought I would. However, I was not able to complete all the poses or even attempt some of them. But in saying that it was a good start and feel like it is something I would like to try again. The most interesting aspect is that even coming from a hot climate at home, the heat gets to you.

Driving In America

Another first for me while in Seattle was to rent a car and give driving on the right side of the road. I had been looking at giving this a try on both of my previous visits, but never truly found the need. While it was not a cheap exercise to rent the car for two days, it was a good option to, fill in two days my friend had to work.

One day I went for the day and drove down to Mount Rainier. A rather substantial drive and an excellent way to get into the act of driving on the opposite side. In the end, I found it quite easy to transition to the other side of the road. I will not hesitate to rent a car again in the future when in America.

Chateau Ste. Michelle

I took another short drive the day after I visited Mount Rainier. I stayed more local and visited a winery not far from where my friend lives. It is her favourite winery so seemed like a good idea for a birthday present. A nice area to drive around and a very nice winery to visit as well.

Snoqualmie Falls

There are extensive areas around Issaquah where I am staying that are bush. If I had more time, I think I would have very much enjoyed heading out for some hikes. However, not much time for this. I did get to visit a waterfall that was quite spectacular. Snoqualmie Falls are quite amazing, and this picture is a low flow in flood times it can be considerably more water.

Thrive Seattle

For the last evening with my friend, we visited a restaurant in Seattle named Thrive. The restaurant is a raw food restaurant, and I was not too sure about visiting here. However, I found the food to be quite good and even though it looks like coleslaw, had some interesting flavours. Not my favourite meal of the trip, but still an enjoyable meal.

I do want to apologise for a rather short, disjointed post for the past six days. However, wanted to fill in what has been happening on my trip for you. I could have shared a post each day, but it would have been rather sparse. I felt it better to give one decent post of the highlights than four or five half-hearted posts.

Older Posts

Newer Posts

Suva, Fiji

Exploring Suva

Ile Des Pins, New Caledonia

Noumea, New Caledonia

Heading To Australia

Pago Pago, American Samoa

Relaxing Island Style

Apia, Western Samoa

Next Stop Fiji

Hilo, Hawaii

Waterfalls

Honolulu, Hawaii

Diamond Head Crater

Exploring Honolulu

Kona

Farewell Hawaii

The Daily Program

Explore Our World

Explore Food and Entertaining

Explore Technology

Explore Wellbeing

At A Glance

Getting Ready For Port

Rotterdam Dining Room

Pinnacle Grill

Canaletto

Terrace Grill

Lido Buffet

Exploration’s Cafe

More About The Food

Sea Days When Cruising

Entertainment

What Do You Want To Know

Long Beach

Cruise Life

Entertainment

Meeting People

MS Volendam

Cruise Destination

Farewell Vancouver

Seattle To Vancouver By Train

Arriving In Vancouver

Photo Opportunities

Day 2 – Monday 5 September 2011

Public Art

Granville Island

Night Photography

Arriving In Seattle

Trying Bikram Yoga

Driving In America

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Snoqualmie Falls

Thrive Seattle

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