DAY 190 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30 - HONOLULU

We woke at 6am and were able to check emails on the Kindle via Honolulu 3G.  The pilot came on board at 9:30 and people started going ashore at 11.  We wandered around the area near the docks and saw some of the older public buildings.  This was the view from the Aloha Tower.

It was built in 1926 and gave us a 360 degree view of the city.

We used the free Wifi at Starbucks to bring the blog up to date, read emails and check Facebook.  We would have paid $30 to do all that on the ship. We wandered around the town and joined many others in Walmart, which was simply Coles and K-Mart combined and not really very cheap.  Having only spent money in Starbucks for morning tea, we returned to the Volendam for a free afternoon tea.

After dinner we watched a show by a local group called Drums of Polynesia.  There was a dance troop of four girls and two men who did dances from various islands and a haka.  The star of the show was a boy of about seven who performed quite a lot of the pieces with them and on his own.

DAY 189 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 29 - DAY 5 AT SEA

This morning we saw more flying fish and did ten laps of the promenade deck.

The last lecture by Adrian Cooper was on coral reefs.

At 4pm we had a concert by the Hawaian people on board, which was terrific.  A man played the ukelele and steel guitar superbly and sang well also.

The show was Terry Davies who sang Billy Joel and Elton John, supported by his wife and son plus Katrina. They made us do the Gangnam dance and said it was going on Youtube.  We enjoyed it a lot.

Afterwards we watched the full moon across the waves.

DAY 188 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 28 - DAY 4 AT SEA

Today we saw our first flying fish from the Volendam.  We also saw a sparrow on the buffet deck and a duck (perhaps a goose) circling the ship.

At 1:30 pm Malcolm went to the navigational talk and learnt that a tonne of bunker oil will drive the Volendam about 5 nautical miles.  The second officer told us that we would not see the eclipse of the moon from our location tonight.

Dr Cooper gave a lecture on the development of ecosystems on islands.  This was followed by the memory lecturer who included some advice about diet today.  He recommends turmeric.

Then we listened to Bob Arno who has inside knowledge of European pickpockets and how they use credit cards to empty your bank account.

Only Linda turned up at dinner tonight as Wayne was ill and Gail had found a friend she wished to sit with. John seems to have written us off.

The show at 8pm was a guitarist, Fabio Rini, who played the Flight of the Bumble Bee in one minute twenty seconds. 

DAY 187 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 27 - DAY 3 AT SEA

At 9am we attended the Protestant Sunday Service which was conducted by Alan, a United Church minister from New Hampshire.  The theatre was nearly full and they ran out of hymn books (Celebrate).  The Catholic priest attended and sat at the back near us.  Alan called for a volunteer to play the keyboard but no one offered so we sang two hymns unaccompanied.  He read from The Message version a diatribe by Jesus to the Scribes and Pharisees and challenged us not to be hypocrites. 

After the Service we went to the Showroom to hear Dr Cooper talk on life on the ocean floor and he showed us pictures of angler fish, dragon fish and many more.

At 1:30 Malcolm went to a half hour talk by the Second Officer on the ship's navigation and took away a detailed description of the dimensions and characteristics of the Volendam.   Meanwhile Lyn attended a floral art demonstration.

A lady gave us an illustrated talk on the history of surfing in Hawai'i.  It was a shame that the nineteenth century missionaries closed down the sport until the early twentieth.

At dinner we had a discussion on theology with John who belongs to the Gospel Hall denomination.  After he insisted that the King James Version of the Bible was the only reliable one, we could see not much point in proceeding.

After dinner the HAL singers and dancers performed DROOM.  We have no idea what the story was, but the staging and dancing were great.

DAY 186 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 26 - DAY 2 AT SEA

At breakfast we met a couple who spent half their time in Tauranga, NZ, and the other half in Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast.

At lunch we saw a pod of dolphins chasing the ship.

We played Scrabble and attended a lecture by Robert McGugan on how to remember lists and what you came into a room to fetch or do.  Forgetting where keys and personal items are chew up large amounts of time in most older people's lives.

After dinner with Wayne and Linda, Lyn did the washing and we listened to Adagio Mark 2, again from Ukraine, but who were more intense and played fewer popular pieces than Mark 1.

We spent an interesting hour chatting with John who is a retired Mounted Policeman.

DAY 185 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 25 - FIRST DAY ON PACIFIC OCEAN

Today is the first of five days at sea on our way to Hawaii.  We met Terry and Gail at breakfast.  Terry is a lecturer in theology (retired) and Gail is a linguist so we had plenty to talk about.  Malcolm is reading Hans Kung's "What I Believe" (it is only available in German in the ship's library) and Terry knew the history of how Kung was almost excommunicated for his views.

We played Scrabble.

Kelly and Maja spoke in the showroom about the Shore Excursions in Honolulu and Pago Pago and later on Kelly gave us her personal experience of Oahu.

We had the first lecture on Life Forms in the Ocean by Dr Adrian Cooper of London University.  

After dinner with Linda, Wayne and Gale (from California) we went out to see the sunset and the full moon. 

  More interesting were the school of tuna that followed the ship. 

The show tonight was an ABBA FAB group who sang well but were not quite as good as the Aussie group we saw at Taronga Zoo.  In real life the Agneta was the mother of the handsome young Bjorn!

DAY 184 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24 - SEATTLE

We left the ship at 8:30 and caught a courtesy bus into downtown Seattle where we walked along the Pike Place Market area on the waterfront.  The flowers were beautiful and plentiful and cheap.  The dahlias were amazing and so bright.

Lyn loved the chilli table decorations.

Starbucks let us catch up on computer work.

We called in at a model car shop.

DAY 183 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 23 - VANCOUVER AGAIN

The Volendam docked at 7am and we picked up the keys for our new stateroom at 8am.  We serpentined out into Vancouver City and found free Wifi at Tim Horton's.  The Wifi on the ship is slow, expensive and we have no onboard credit so we will go ashore to put pictures on the blog if possible.  There is a constant stream of people in Tim Horton's, at least ten people queueing all the time.

Before returning to the ship we bought a ticket for an aeroplane ticket called Flight Over Canada.  This did not  spoil our plan to not fly on this trip, because we were just suspended inside a sphere while movies of Canada were played.  They tipped our seats and sprayed us with water at appropriate times and it felt like a magic carpet ride.

We passed through US Customs before 2pm and prepared ourselves for 25 days on the Pacific Ocean.  We are on the last stage of our seven month Odyssey.

We settled into our new room which has two small portholes with views and went to dinner at 5:30.

We have set seating and will be sitting with John from Prince Edward Island, who is a retired Mounted Policeman, and Linda and Wayne, who we met on our Alaskan cruise.  They are from Western Canada and will do the round trip back to Vancouver.

After dinner we went to the show of the night, which was a comedian and listened to Adagio duo again. 

DAY 182 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 22 - WHALES

Another day at sea.  The afternoon was spent outside in the cold wind looking for whales.  A few spouts and and tails were seen, but they seemed to dive whenever the ship approached them.  A large colony of sea lions were lying on the rocks and in the water.

After dinner we watched the movie "A Royal Night Out", which was a lot of fun.  Afterwards we listened to Adagio duo again.  They play beautifully.

DAY 181 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 21 - KETCHIKAN

This is our last stop in Alaska and it is the biggest town in Alaska. 

  The ship docked about 9am and we went ashore at 9:30 and found more end-of-season specials on sale.  We had morning tea in a diner that was set in the 1950s and they even sold milkshakes.

Another cruise ship was next to ours, the Norwegian Jewel and it seemed to have mainly Americans.

The Lumberjack Show started at 1pm and lasted an hour.  The little lady overdid the commentary and tried to gee us up to pit the Canadian Team against the Americans.

  We were allotted the Dawson Creek pair.

They competed with a two man saw.

Their axemanship cutting through logs was not up to David Foster's standard.

They were good at throwing the axe at a target.

Our man won the pole climb and descent.

Their man won the log running.

In the evening we had Paul Pappas play the piano Liberace style, followed by a duo of Ukraine ladies called Adagio who played violin and piano.  Both performances were excellent and very much enjoyed.

DAY 180 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 20 - GLACIER BAY

There was no port of call today.  Instead we sailed into the awe-inspiring National Park area called Glacier Bay.

The ship picked up two National Park rangers and a Tlingil First Nation lady in the morning.  The rangers gave us information over the ship's P.A. system and we watched from the bow and the promenade deck.

We cruised very slowly to Marjorie Glacier and while we there two large pieces and one small piece fell into the sea with a crash.  We also heard a large crack.  This glacier is growing while most of the others are retreating.

The big ship turned around very slowly and we were able to cruise very close to three more glaciers.  We saw a brown animal in the water and assumed it was a sea otter.  There were also many sea lions.

The ranger gave a talk about the bay and explained what a wilderness is.  This place was wilder than anywhere we have ever been.  The Tlingil lady told us how she learned her traditional language on the internet and showed us a fish hook that was invented by her people thousands of years ago and still works well.

We had a very moving and educational day.  

DAY 179 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 19 - SKAGWAY

We spent the day onshore again, this time in Skagway, another small Alaskan town that hugs the water's edge.  It has a population of 800.  After breakfast we disembarked and bought tickets for the White Pass train ride at 12:30pm.

In the meantime we found very tempting bargains in the shops and watched two movies about Dawson City and the Klondike Gold Rush.  There were 100,000 prospectors arriving in Skagway at the beginning of the twentieth century, trying to carry a year's supply of food and equipment up to Lake Bennett.  Once there they had to build a raft or boat to float 500 miles down to Dawson City.  Since the climb was up snow steps at 45 degrees, they had to make as many as 40 trips up to the lake.

Those that made it to Dawson City found all the workable areas claimed out and those that found gold often had to dig down 100 feet to find a seam.

We enjoyed a cheap lunch at the Sweet Tooth Cafe and admired the old timber buildings with the raised timber sidewalks to get out of the mud,  just like Western Movies. 

The White Pass train took us up the alternative way for the prospectors, climbing 2,880 feet to the Summit.  The line is heritage listed and is an amazing achievement with tunnels, trestle bridges and many creek crossings.

After dinner Malcolm watched a Gold Medal Magician make things appear and disappear inexplicably.

DAY 178 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 18 - JUNEAU

This morning we spent a slow trip cruising through the rain in the inside passage.  We passed beautiful cliffs where there were waterfalls flowing down every 50 meters or so.  We docked in Juneau, the capital of Alaska, at 1pm.  There is no road into this town.

We walked into town and visited some of the gift/souvenir shops where they were keen to unload goods before closing for winter next week.

The Volendam departed at 10pm to continue on to Skagway.

DAY 177 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 17 - FULL DAY OF SAILING

We attended the scheduled talks today.  They were certainly not up to the standard on the QM2.  The first talk outlined where we would be stopping and what tours we might choose to buy.  The second talk told us where to shop and told us we needed to buy new diamonds and other precious stones.

We have had interesting conversations with our meal companions.  We went to the Big Singing and Dancing Show tonight, which was called Northern Lights and was of a good standard.  The Captain announced how many people came from various countries and there were 472 Australians;  the biggest of any.

DAY 176 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 16 - NORTH TO ALASKA

We checked out of the Rosedale Hotel at 11am and caught a taxi straight to Canada Place where we joined the queue for passing through American Border Control.  They had to inspect the clasp for Malcolm's cummerbund because it was made of metal, but they did not confiscate it.  Holland America registered our credit card and gave us our room keys and when we embarked, we were only a few steps from our room when we boarded the ship at 12:15.

The room is very similar to what we had on QM2, except we have no fridge.  We have a window above our double bed that opens onto the walking deck.  We can only see the ocean at an angle because there is a bulkhead opposite there.

A paddlewheel pleasure boat came near us.

We had lunch in the Lido Buffet and and rested until the compulsory safety muster at 4:15.  We reserved dinner in the Rotterdam restaurant at 5:30 where we met Jan and Ian and John and Sharon, all from Vancouver area.

We watched from the deck on a lovely cool evening then studied the entertainment and shore excursion options.

DAY 175 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 15 - BACK TO VANCOUVER

Our time on land is nearly over, so we retraced our steps.  Taxi to the Bus Depot and Shuttle Bus across the water to downtown Vancouver.

We managed to walk the six blocks to our Rosedale Hotel with all our luggage and settled into our last hotel of the trip.  We paid $214 for a "suite", but it was only marginally better than the Scotsman which was $110.

Malcolm had a haircut and shave for $27 carried out by Eva from Iraq, and that will last till home.  This van outside the Barber Shop carried a surprising brand name.

It was VW.

Our last restaurant dinner was at the PHO Vietnamese and was very enjoyable.

DAY 174 MONDAY SEPTEMBER 14 - A WALK AROUND THE AREA

Today was our last day on the Island, so we crossed busy Gorge Road and walked downhill to a quiet area of townhouses and gardens.

At the waterfront we found a canoe shed and a long wooden bridge for use by pedestrians and cyclists.

Are these bird boxes?

We had our first full restaurant meal since we left the train in Vancouver at the Golden Gate Chinese and we watched Jarryd Hayne play his first game for the SF49ers.

DAY 173 SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 13 - BUTCHART GARDENS

Many people had told us we must visit the Butchart Gardens while on Vancouver Island, so today was the day.  We had received clear advice from the Visitors' Centre, as most people use a Tour Company or rent a car.  We were armed with our $5 all-day bus pass and the No. 75 timetable and only needed to walk 200 meters to the nearest bus stop.  The trip took 40 minutes each way and we were able to sit, thanks to generous young people on the way there.

It took 15 minutes to buy tickets and put them through the inefficient electronic gate system.  A million people visit here each year so you would think they would be ready for a steady flow.

The Gardens are over 100 years old and cover 55 acres, centring on a limestone quarry which served a cement factory.  The first area we encountered had many beds of multi-coloured flowers which were almost overpowering in the afternoon sun.  

As we headed towards the Sunken Garden and Fountain we passed into a forest of very old looking trees.  The lookout area gave us another colourful display of flowers and an hypnotic random pattern of water from the Ross fountain.

Several times we were forced to admit the presence of our friend lantana was appropriate.

We headed back to the northern section, passing Totem Poles and the concert shell stage.  The dahlias were attracting a lot of people as well as at least five varieties of bees.

The tiny fountain of sturgeons was quite beautiful as we passed into the extensive Japanese Garden.  At the northern end was a surprise in the form of a large bay called Butchart Cove.

As usual the Japanese plan was peaceful and relaxing.  It included a "boar scarer" banging a bamboo pipe on a stone every few seconds.

We continued through the Italian Garden, the Rose Garden and the Mediterranean Garden to complete a two and a half hour amble.  Well worth the effort.

DAY 172 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 12 - LOVELY OLD TOWN

Every city has a different system of payment for the buses, so we asked for help and loaded up on the correct coins before crossing the road and taking the number 11 into town.

In the Old Town a street was blocked off for a Festival of Street Chalk Art.  The registered artists were still setting out and many were using a grid to produce a magnified version of a picture they were using.

There was a big section for children to try their skill as well.

There were many interesting craft stalls and we bought some pieces.

A small stage was put up and a young man played various stringed instruments, occasionally accompanied by a didgeridoo!

The chalk designs were taking shape.

On the waterfront there was a statue of James Cook celebrating his visit here while searching for the western entrance to the Northwest Passage.

He is looking at the Fairmont Empress Hotel which is used as a directional landmark here. If you do not start from here to find your way somewhere you may be in trouble.

There were two large sailing boats used by a Christian group to train young people.  Their masts can be seen behind the statue.

There was an intriguing botanical statue of two Orcas, which most people were setting off to watch in the passage while they were here.

We wandered back up the main street till we found a number 11 bus stop and spent the afternoon recovering.

DAY 171 FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 11 - ON THE MEND

Another quiet day.  The only point of interest was a police interview with people in another unit.  There is no air conditioning so we have to open our window for some fresh air and that lets in traffic noise but it is quiet at night.

We are improving and Malcolm staggered around the block without any problem.  We will venture further tomorrow.

DAY 170 THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 10 - SLEEPING IT OFF

Lyn used the motel laundry to tide us over until the ship.  Within 50 meters there is a 24 hour minimart, a pizza shop, a Subway and a Tim Horton's.  What more do we need?  Oh, forgot to mention the Chinese Restaurant, Dry Cleaner and cash machine.

Malcolm spent the day admiring the paintwork on the walls and ceiling,  interspersed with the tiling job in the bathroom, but mostly snoozing.

This is the first day of the trip when nothing happened.

DAY 169 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 9 - END OF THE GROUP TOURS

This morning marked the end of our very expensive but very enjoyable trip across Canada from Halifax to Vancouver organised by Fresh Tracks.  We have six nights before we embark on the Volendam, so we have booked those nights in Victoria on Vancouver Island at the Scotsman's Motel, which boasts the best value in town.

We thought we could catch a taxi to the ferry wharf, but the receptionist at Century Plaza explained it was a 45 minute drive and organised tickets on Pacific Coaches  to Victoria.  We caught a taxi to the bus depot and the bus just drove on and off the ferry.  Another short taxi ride saw us settled into a very nice room complete with two double beds and a kitchen.  We need a 10 minute bus ride to go to Downtown, but at CAD110 per night this place is ideal.

Lyn has had the flu and now Malcolm has it so we had a quiet afternoon and will need to take it easy for a few days.  

DAY 168 TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 8 - VANCOUVER

We have an apartment with a separate bedroom and a full kitchen for two nights in Vancouver,  so we have plenty of space.

Today was our last tour organised by Fresh Tracks and once again it was a beauty.  Landsea Tours used a small bus to take 14 people out of town.  We were able to chat with the driver/guide and it did not take 5 minutes to get people on or off the bus as it does with 60 seat coaches.

The first stop was at a hatchery where there was a series of glass windows that allowed people to watch the salmon climbing a "fish ladder".

The tour continued on to Capilano Reserve (nothing to do with honey; it comes from a First Nation word for the area.)

There were some excellent totem poles here.

big  tourist attraction was the 120 meter long suspension bridge over the river.

At the middle of the bridge people stop to look down.

More interesting than the bridge was the beautiful unspoiled rainforest in the gorge which featured Douglas Fir trees up to 100 meters high.

In the Rockies these trees always had small trunks but here they were huge.

They had samples of "lumber" for Douglas Fir, which we call "oregon" and which we used for the rafters supporting our roof.  Then there was Western Red Cedar, which we used for all of our skirting, architraves, etc.

All of the walkways were made out of thick timbers which would cost a fortune in Australia.

There was a Cliff Walk that hung precariously out over the gorge.

This manmade waterfall would be perfect for our front yard.

The final stop was at Grouse Mountain, which involved a 900 meter lift in a gondola to get up to the top of the 1200 meter mountain.  It was less than 10C and very misty up there.  The view of Vancouver was completely hidden but the grizzly bears were just visible in the mist.

The bird show was restricted because the birds were not allowed to fly in the thick mist.  They showed us a grey horned owl, a bald eagle, a vulture and a peregrine falcon.

Three lumberjacks put on an hilarious show.  They did some minor chainsaw carving with more boasting than outcomes.  Someone must have done the permanent sculptures that lined the roads.

They demonstrated the art of running on a floating log to see who falls in the water first.

A third lumberjack showed he had no fear of heights by climbing up a 60 foot pole, then throwing down his equipment.  He performed stupidly dangerous feats up there which was very hard to watch.

To our relief he came down by sliding on one of the cable stays which was set up as a "zipline".

Back in Vancouver it was warm and sunny at 6pm when the tour ended.  Lyn had the flu and could not go on the tour.