Talofa From Pago Pago

While I have cell service, I'll give y'all a quick update of our brief outing in Pago Pago.  We were docked at 11:00am and we walked off the ship soon after.  We walked along the waterfront and stopped at Utulei Beach Park.  It was not much of a park or much of a beach, but it did provide nice views.  And it was windy!

                                                    
 

Continuing on from there, we intended to walk a bit before heading back into town for lunch.  But we came upon a nice looking restaurant, the Goat Island Cafe, right on the waterfront and opted to eat there.  The rather large fish bowls were really good.

Right after we finished lunch, there was a 2 minute rain shower.  Timing is everything!  We walked back to town and returned to the ship.  

It was a good 90 minute outing.

As I'm sitting on our veranda writing this, the rain returned.  Timing is everything!

Filemu ma faamanuiaga,

Linda and Larry

Catching Up From Pago Pago

It's Saturday morning and we're sailing in to Pago Pago, American Somoa.  It's been a while since I've been able to do a blog entry so let's catch up.

Tuesday we were in Raiatea, French Polynesia.  We took an Oceania excursion - Maxi Catamaran Sail Away.  Raiatea is encricled by a lagoon and we sailed up part of the lagoon until we reached a small island where we swam and snorkeled.  The snorkeling was not very good, just one small patch of coral with some very colorful little fish.  But it was good to get in the water.

Following a day at sea on Wednesday, we were in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.  It's a tender port which can be very difficult to get into.  When we were there in March, the weather conditions prevented tender operations.  This time the conditions were perfect for a smooth, short tender ride into the port.  We did another Oceania excursion - Highland Paradise Cultural Tour.  They took us to the reconstructed site of a village that was occupied until the 1840's when the missionary's converted the local people and ended their tribal life.  It was quite an interesting tour of the site and very insightful.

As I write this we are maneuvering into Pago Pago.

This is our third visit here and our plan for the day is to walk around, maybe to the national park, and to get some lunch.  We'll see how it goes.  After today, we have another sea day before arriving in Fiji.  We will cross the internaitonal dateline tonight, so we will not have a Sunday!

Peace and blessings,

Linda and Larry

'La Ora Na From Papeete

We made it to Papeete, Tahiti Saturday night after a fairly smooth second leg from Honlulu to here.  Getting through the airport was pretty quick (unlike the last time we flew here and there were massive lines through Immigration).  And then a quick taxi ride to the apartment we booked and into bed about 11pm local time.  The apartment building is in a mastly residential area with nice views from our 4th floor unit.  The only downside to this apartment were the neighborhood barking dogs and crowing roosters starting at 4am!

Sunday morning I picked out a good looking breakfast spot about a 15 minute walk from the apartment.  Despite Google Maps telling me it was open, we discovered that it was closed.  Then we went to plan b and found that Google Maps was again wrong and it was also closed.  The bottom line is that most everything is closed in Papaeete on Sunday, except for the municipal market.

We decided to head back to the apartment and stopped at a store to pick up some provisions.  It turned out to be a nice breakfast on the balcony.

After napping, lunch, another trip to the grocery, and more resting it was time for dinner.  It was off to the waterfront by the cruise terminal for food truck dinner.  We had done this before and it didn't disappoint.

This morning we were greeted by the sight of the Riviera docked at the cruise port.

Now, all that's left to do is to repack and head down to the ship!  As usual, we are looking forward to getting settled in and enjoying a month of cruising.

Hau and Maita'i,

Linda and Larry