Inflating a Life Raft

On board the ship there are lifeboats and life rafts.  Today they decided to show us how the life rafts are inflated, so they chose the smaller 20 person raft for the demo and inflated it in the larger indoor pool.

 This is a sea anchor to help hold the raft in position.

 Here they're turning the raft over to show us the underside.  It just barely cleared the overhead beams, but they did get it turned over.

 These yellow things fill up with sea water and help give stability to the life raft.  There are also provisions and first aid kit inside the raft.  It was a very interesting demo.  With all the cruises we've taken seeing a life raft inflated was a first for us.

Our towel animal for tonight....cute little crab.

Crossing the Equator

When you are on board a cruise ship and have never crossed the equator before they have an initiation party on deck for you and other first timers.  King Neptune and his princess are there and the helpers smear you with some weird concoction, in today's case it was coloured meringue and you had to kiss this big fish.  Years ago we were on another cruise and they had cooked spaghetti, raw eggs, and a large raw liver they dragged over your body....the whole thing was totally gross, but people were good sports and everyone had fun.  I was busy doing something else and didn't get to see the whole ceremony this time, but from what I did see it wasn't quite so gross...at any rate I was glad I'd crossed the equator before.

 In the evening we went down by the gift shops where they had a couple of big electronic screens giving the ship's position and speed.  Notice the latitude in the pictures.  We could see approximately when we crossed the equator.  Also notice the sunrise and sunset times (remembering it's a 24 hour clock) and you'll see how even the days and nights are right near the equator.

Tonight's towel creation.

Pago Pago continued

Further into our tour around the island we saw the Correctional facility.

 We were on the Island on Sunday so most of the businesses were closed.

How would you like to have your bananas growing on a tree in your yard?

 The tour took us to this village so we could get a taste of life in a typical Samoan Village of several years ago. 

 They did some dances for us, showed us how they cook in the underground ovens and things like that.  We got to taste some of the food prepared in the traditional way.

 Of course they made use of whatever materials they had on hand.  From the palm branches they made brooms, mats for sitting or sleeping on and bowls or baskets like the one in this picture.

 Tonight, back on our cruise ship we were on our verandah and saw some lights far, far in the distance.  Got out the binoculars and determined it was another cruise ship.  Had to use the full power zoom on my little camera to capture this picture.

Pago Pago, American Samoa

We docked in Pago Pago.  Again we're on a working dock so this ship was in the midst of loading.

 View from the stern of the Noordaam

 We booked a tour for this stop.  We were told the transportation is via "Island buses" so no AC or other frills!

 They were right.  This is the inside of the bus and the seats were wooden and small.  AC was having no glass in the windows!

 Our tour guide told us there is one of everything on the Island but there are two McDonalds.

 Here foreigners are not allowed to own property.  The properties are handed down from generation to generation and grandma, grandpa and other family members are buried on the property.  Some in fancy crypts like this and others with just a marker on their gravesite.  Apparently they don't have cemeteries.

Dravuni Island, Fiji / Crossing the International Date Line

We were supposed to tender into Dravuni Island, Fiji today, but about 8am an announcement came on in our stateroom. "This is your Captain speaking..."  I was still in bed and the speaker was right by my ear, so that woke me up real quick!!  I had visions of having to abandon ship! The Captain told us that there is a tropical storm to the southwest of us and conditions on the Island have deteriorated to the point that it wasn't safe for us to tender in.  Well, thankfully we don't have to abandon ship!! 

Within an hour or so they had new daily programs printed up and in our staterooms with added activities to keep us busy for the day. That also means we'll have 2 full sea days before getting to our next destination. 

The seas were classed as "rather rough" and the skies were overcast with chance of rain. We've had fairly calm seas up to now so you saw a lot of people "staggering" trying to keep their balance.  I met a lady in the hallway and she said, "I'm not drunk...I didn't have anything to drink!"  I told her she'd have an even harder time to convince herself she wasn't drunk if she DID have a drink.

The date on today's program is Saturday, April 16A and the next day was Saturday April 16B because we crossed the International Date Line.  I talked to a lady in one of the lounges and she said her husband loved having two April 16's, because he got to celebrate his birthday for two whole days!!


 

Lautoka, Fiji

We docked at Lautoka.  There were stalls set up on the dock with people selling their wares, selling tours and a money exchanger.  On the dock they would accept US dollars or Australian dollars, but in town you had to have Fijian money. 

We bought a some lovely keyrings then decided to walk into town.

A ways down the road there was a bunch of these signs welcoming us to Lautoka and explaining the history of the island and the importance of the Sugar Mill.  Bula is a Fijian word used the way the Hawaiians use Aloha. 

The only problem was that it was so very hot and humid we felt like we were melting and it was still quite a walk into town, so we decided we would head back to the ship instead.

It was heavenly to get back into the coolness of the ship!!  We had our second shower of the day, changed into dry clothes and went up to the Lido deck for some ice cream.  Walked out on the deck and took this picture of a poor boat that went aground on the reef and was just left there.

Mystery Island, Vanuatu

I looked out and thought this looked like the typical small deserted island you read about people being marooned on....then I noticed that our tender was going to this island!!!

On board the ship they warned us not to partake in the Kava Ceremony because purity and safeness of the drink did not meet the ship's standards.  Apparently Kava is a non-alcoholic drink that gives you a "high"....no....we didn't try it!!!!

 The island has no electricity, running water or inhabitants.  People come from the surrounding islands to sell their wares at the market.

 This little girl was so intrigued with this palm branch.  Days later onboard ship they were running a photo contest and I entered this picture.  It didn't win but I did end up with a lovely 8x10 of it.

Mystery Island's claim to fame is the grass runway they have which was used during World War II as a refuelling depot.  Not sure if it's still used or not...they do keep it mowed down somewhat and there are wind socks there.

 The Noordam  at anchor.  The folks were waiting for their ride back to the island where they lived.  When they all got into the little boats with all their stuff, there sure wasn't much freeboard left.  I said a quick prayer that they'd make it home without capsizing and drowning!!!

 Tonight...another towel animal.