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............................................................. My Beautiful Bride  54 Years Together |
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Where Woody's Watercolors Are Entered or on Exhibit in 2018 To see watercolors created by my friends in Taos every June CLICK HERE |
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 Our Mountain From Our Backyard .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. |
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| October 24 - More of Sydney: We checked out Bondi Beach, the Botanical Gardens and toured the Opera House before returning to our room at the Four Seasons. My Bride's new Fit Bit says we walked 16,000 steps each day.    ... |
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| October 23 - Exploring Sydney: We spent the day exploring the city - seeing a fantastic Chinese Garden and the Zoo. Three days is not enough time to take in this fantastic city.    ... |
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| October 22 - Docking in Sydney: A wonderful surprise to be docking right across from the Sydney Opera. So convenient, we could walk off and straight into the city - but, we will take the transport because of our luggage. I can see our hotel from the deck of our ship. They won't lets us check into our room till 3 pm so we decided to walk across the harbor bridge. Then we do some shopping and take in a museum - plus, we purchase a 2 day pass for the hop on hop off bus. We can catch the bus right outside our hotel as early as 8:30 tomorrow morning. We are looking forward to exploring the city.   ... |
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| October 20 & 21 at Sea Toward Sydney: Two more relaxing days at sea - but, we are busy packing to disimbark the ship and be transfered to our hotel.  Last Sunrise at Sea ... |
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| October 19 - Fiordland National Park (Senic Cruising): Perhaps the biggest surprise of the entire cruise was Fiordland. We cruised through three sections of Fiordland - perhaps 6 or 7 hours total. Almost everyone was on deck to take in the sights. Fiordland National Park is in the southwest of New Zealand's South Island. It's known for the glacier-carved fiords of Doubtful and Milford sounds. The Craggy Earl Mountains are reflected in the glassy surface of Mirror Lakes, In Doubtful and Milford sounds there are fantastic views of powerful waterfalls.    ...    ... |
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| October 18 - Dunedin (Port Chalmers): In 1848 a Scottish settlement was established by the Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland. Between 1855 and 1900 many thousands of Scots emigrated to the incorporated city. Dunedin became wealthy during the Central Otago Gold Rush, beginning in the 1860s. In the mid-1860s, and between 1878 and 1881, it was New Zealand's largest urban area. The city population in 2013 was 120,246. Making it only the seventh-largest urban area in New Zealand, Dunedin is still considered one of the four main cities of New Zealand for historic, cultural and geographic reasons. This is a delightful little city with wonderful weather - July is the coldest month which might get down to a low of 46 degrees. January the warmest month and it might reach 79 degrees. We docked in Port Chalmers and took a bus into Dunedin. There was a second Princess ship already here when we arrived.   ...    My bride enjoyed shopping here and I found a wonderful museum ... |
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| October 17 - Akaroa: Since this is not a deep port we will need to use Tenders to go ashore. Our ship, the "Golden Princess" carries her own Tenders so it will not be a problem. My bride got to shop some more - but, most importantly I got real "fish & chips".   ...    ... |
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| October 16 - Another Relaxing Day at Sea: We left Tauranga and headed to New Zealands South Island. Our next port will be Akaroa. My bride does not need to be in port to buy jewelry. Once we are out to sea the ships tax free-duty free shops open back up so she can shop to her hearts desire. She just shows her cabin key and it is charged to my credit card.   ... |
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| October 15 - Tauranga: Tauranga was our next port - I had arranged for a "white water raft adventure" but when we realized how cool the weather would be we changed our plans. Instead we signed up to tour Hobbiton. This turned out to be one of the most delightful and memorable part of our entire trip.   ...    Hobbiton was a tour of the filming locations of the Hobbit Movie, written by J.R.R. Tolkien
and filmed by Peter Jackson. Explore the stunning and unforgettable landscapes of Middle Earth on a Hobbit film tour in Tauranga. New Zeland.  |
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| October 14 - Auckland: Auckland - our first look at New Zealand - the largest urban area in the country, with an urban population of around 1,628,900. The central part of the urban area occupies a narrow isthmus between the Manukau Harbour on the Tasman Sea and the Waitematā Harbour on the Pacific Ocean. Auckland is one of the few cities in the world to have a harbour on each of two separate major bodies of water. Landmarks such as the Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Harbour Bridge, the Sky Tower, and many museums, parks, restaurants, and theatres are among the city's significant tourist attractions. Auckland Airport handles around one million international passengers a month. Despite being one of the most expensive cities in the world, Auckland is one of the most liveable cities. We again toured using the hop on hop off busses. This has got to be one of the most modern and "cleanest" cities anywhere.   ...
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| October 10, 11 and 13 - (Skipped the 12th): After American Samoa - we crossed the "International Dateline" so instead of turning our clocks back one hour - instead we turned the clocks ahead 24 hours. So when it's Sunday where we are - it's still Saturday back in Albuquerque.    Relaxing at Sea   Our friend Doris took Ukulele lessons while on board - later the entire Ukulele class preformed for everyone |
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| October 9 - Pago Pago: American Samoa - Pago Pago, the capital of American Samoa, comprises a string of coastal villages on Tutuila Island. It's a gateway to the National Park of American Samoa, which protects lush rainforest, coral reefs and waters visited by humpback whales. In Pago Plaza we found a hub for small stores selling handicrafts while Fagatogo Square Shopping Center has ethnic restaurants and larger stores where you can find American-style clothing as well as Samoan fashions. The traditional puletasi dresses – typically matching skirt-and-tunic sets adorned in Samoan designs are abundantly available. Near the dock at the harbor and on the main street in Pago Pago, locals sell handmade crafts. We discovered what real humidity was really like - we were so use to living in a desert that we forgot about sweating. My shirt tokk several hours to dry out.    ... |
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| October 7 & 8 At Sea: Relax in the sun, play pickle ball, read a good book and have some pizza with a cold beer.    ... |
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| October 6 Moorea: If there is a more perfect definition of "paradise" than Moorea - I 'll never find it. Moorea is where the movie "South Pacific" was filmed. Believed to have inspired the mythical Bali Hai from James Michener's Tales of the South Pacific, Moorea is one of the most scenically striking islands in French Polynesia. Despite her immaculate beauty, she is far from unapproachable. Possessing a relaxed vibe and welcoming spirit, Moorea is just as warm and inviting as the Tahitians lucky enough to call this island home. We toured the island in the back of a pickup truck. Located only ten nautical miles from Tahiti, Moorea is easily accessible by ferry or plane from Papeete. The attraction toward Moorea comes as no surprise; the island is a geographical marvel. Eight voluminous mountain peaks rise from its translucent lagoon, creating a distinctive and rugged silhouette visible from the western coast of Tahiti.    ...   ... |
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| October 5 Tahiti (Papeete) - Overnight: Our first island in Tahiti was beautiful and inviting as expected. We spent most of the day walking and shopping. The heart and soul of the South Pacific, Tahiti is the largest in a chain of islands that make up French Polynesia. French Polynesia is a collection of 118 islands and atolls scattered across an impressive nautical surface area the size of Western Europe. The islands are situated halfway between Los Angeles, California and Sydney, Australia. So, we are half way to our final destination - Sydney. They are in the same time zone as Hawaii and located just as far south of the equator as Hawaii is north.    ... |
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| Sunrise Every Morning: I seldom missed getting up to capture the sun coming up. Every sunrise is different than any other even if my beautiful bride does not agree. Of course I let her sleep in and get her beauty sleep.  ... |
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| October 1 - 4 - Sea Days: We had plenty sea days on this cruise - time to do the laundry, play games, listen to music, edit my photos and of course enyoy the plentiful food. Two talented members of the staff demonstrated the fine art of ice-carving.   ...   Afternoon Music ... |
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| September 30 - At Sea Again: After Kauai, we were at sea for five more days ( September 30th till October 5th). Every evening we dined with our new friends at table #130 - two couples were from Canada plus a couple from Las Vegas, Nevada. We all became friends quickly. We received excellent service from our delightful and knowledgeable waitress "Rossily". Her nine months on this ship were about to end. In Sydney she would fly home to the Philippines.   ... |
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| September 29 - Nawiliwili (Kauai): On Kauai we took a river cruise in light rain to view a Fern Grotto. During the two mile river journey we heard songs and stories of ancient Hawaii. The Wailua River is known as “the only navigable river” in all Hawaii. The river's fresh water pours down from Mt. Wai'ale'ale, one of the wettest spots on the planet. The Fern Grotto is a geological wonder of Kauai. Ferns grow upside down from the roof of the grotto, which was formed millions of years ago. Native Hawaiian plants and colorful exotic tropical plants provide a rain-forest atmosphere.     ... |
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| Honolulu: We took several hop on Hop off busses around Honolulu. Our last stop was in Chinatown where we discovered our first treasures to bring home.      ... |
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| September 28 - More Cruise History: Honolulu was the first port on our cruise - that was on September 28th. I tried to get up early enough each morning to photograph the sunrise. We moved our clocks back twice since leaving LA so we have had two 25 hour days so far making getting up early quite easy. The ship stayed in port till 11:00 pm which allowed us to see the city at night.   ... |
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| September 22 - 28 - Cruise to Sydney: We started out from Los Angeles on September 22nd aboard the Golden Princess. We were at sea for five full days before we reached Honolulu on Friday morning September 28th. |
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