Steve and Cathy's Blog

Anyone who knows us at all well is aware of our shared love of islands.  Each one is distinct from all the others, not just geographically but, more important, culturally.  There are some that just seem to have developed a way of life, a mindset among its inhabitants that really appeals to us.  Nuku Hiva is one of those. Insignia anchors in a beautiful bay on the south side of this island of 131 square miles

Another Sea Day, which means another opportunity to catch up on: sleep (although we do pretty well in that department), Cathy’s latest needlepoint project (it’s a special one just for ATW guests), and the blog (today I finish Auckland NZ day 2 and make great progress on Tauranga NZ, both of which are long posts).   We have had five straight port days in some of the most beautiful places on the planet, so we are ready

If you take a look at the map that heads up this post, you see that Rangiroa is better described as an atoll rather than your typical island.  In fact, it is the second largest atoll in the world, with a length of almost fifty miles and a width of sixteen miles.  There are two small towns on two small islets with a total population of around 2,500. This atoll consists of 415 motus, islets and

The island of Ra’iatea is the second largest of the Society Islands at 65 square miles, is considered to be the most sacred island in the entire South Pacific, and was originally named Havai’i.  There is strong evidence that the Polynesian explorers that settled Hawaii, New Zealand and other parts of East Polynesia launched their ships from Ra’iatea. But is almost entirely rural, with a population of around 5,000.  There is some tourist traffic, but the

We arrive in Papeete early because it’s the end of the segment that began in Sydney, Australia. We have traveled 5,120 nautical miles since then and have made seven stops.   Papeete is the capital of French Polynesia and is the economic and political center of the 118 islands that make up what is described as a “collectivity” of France.  As such, it is a tightly packed urban area and, frankly, not all that attractive.  We

Dawn breaks around 6:30am, and we begin our day with a glimpse of Mount Otemanu, one of the two extinct volcanoes that rise up in the middle of Bora Bora.  What a sight that is, from any angle and from any vantage point around the island.  Today our excursion is Sail Bora Bora by Catamaran, and it starts at 8:30am, so we will have ample opportunities to photograph this famous landmark. We tender into Vaitape and

Our ship enters the lagoon at noon through the manmade Channel of Teavanui in the reef that surrounds Bora Bora. Of all the places we have been, this and Papeete are the only two destinations outside the United States that we have been to previously.  And this time, we are arriving by sea, which is much preferable.  We have been watching iconic Mount Otemanu and Mount Pahia for at least an hour, and our anticipation builds

We looked at our daily Oceania Cruises Currents  that lists all the activities and so forth that took place on those days, and we did not find one single thing that we attended, and our memory concerning how we occupied our time on these two days is blank. We did see an interesting cloud formation and took a picture of that which is the photo that heads up this post. Cathy had a very tasty dessert

All our lives, just hearing the name “Pago Pago” sounded exotic and far away.  And here we are, actually inPago Pago.  The first thing we learned, however, is that it is pronounced Pango Pango, and the second thing is that most of the people living there pronounce this territory as American Sam’oa, with the emphasis on the first syllable.  The American influence is limited, though.  There is a National Park here, and American Samoa is administered

We are heading for Pago Pago but won’t be there until tomorrow … but it will be today when we get there!  We are crossing the International Date line between 3:00pm and 4:00pm today, and we will have an opportunity to have another May 23rd tomorrow.  Today is May 23 #1.  Oceania Cruises provides a nice explanation on the front page of today’s Currents that heads up this post. The more Sea Days we have, it