After 5 days at blue Pacific Ocean today in the morning we reached port of Honolulu. The immigration control was very quick and soon we started the walk under the huge, shady trees to the palace of Queen Iolani. I was here several times, so no reason to pay 28 USD for one more entry:

But the park around the palace with great banyan trees always impress me. Then we vere walking to the hostoric churches and monuments. Do you remember king Kamehameha?

Hawaii has interesting history and folklore. Mild climate, tropical flowers and trees. And of course fantastic beaches. First on our route was modest Moana Beach – life guard is prasent, but no crowd at all:

If you will cross coastal park in the Moana Commercial Centre free wifi connection is waiting for you. Here I had a chance to check my mail. Thank you dear friends for your letters and messages! Now I will guide my companion to the famous Waikiki Beach. In the late evening we will be departing to San Francisco, where I will disembark the ship on 23rd April.

Aloha from blue Hawaii!!

On the route from Tahiti to Honolulu we crossed again the equator. The king Neptune arrived to give the permission to sail forward to the northern hemisphere:

We had a lot of fun, great music, dancers and newbies kissing ugly mahi-mahi fish:

I liked most unlimited ice cream and beaitiful sirens from Neptune’s Court:

I suffer only because I cannot smuggle the rum on Fiji (this port was cancelled) and the rum aboard is very expensive. I like this travel anyway…

Beautiful islan of Moorea is visible from Papeete. We sailed there during the night… I was surprised! I was severeal times to Moorea always arriving from Papeete by ferry. In the meantime they built little pier for tenders coming from the cruise ships but not in the ferry dock in Vaiare, but in the north of the island – at the entrance to Opuhonu Bay. That’s where our ship is anchoring.

At the tender pier tour organizers were waiting (50 USD for 2 hours trip) But I liked more Polynesians drummers and pretty dancers welcoming us here.

Local ladies in flower crowns were offering pareo, shells and other souvenirs. I decided not to stay here but to walk in the lush green scenery deep to the end of Opunohu Bay.

After more than an hour walk I reached completly new museum Fare Natura, where weak internet is available. Unfortunately clouds came in this moment covering the area with fogg and spraying us with litte, warm rain. We wanted to walk onward to Cook’s Bay but….

Morea is lovely. For me with its palm, breadfruits and tropical flowes is even nicer than Tahiti.

In the evening wie will sail north to Hawaii. It will be five full days in the ocean. Sorry, internet on the ship is very expensive so you can expect next message only from Honolulu. Maururu dear friends ! 🙂

It was hot and humid morning when I saw once again the green, clouded mountains of Tahiti.

We docked in the central Papeete – the capital of this island – just steps from the coastal promenade and marina where the famous Polish saillors: Teliga, Baranowski, Chojnowska-Liskiewicz once docked their yachts. When I disembarked the ship I noticed many changes: they built nice passenger terminal, full of souvenir stalls. On the pier a group of ladies was playing ukulele and singing for us:

in front of the terminal local ladies in crowns of flowers offered expensive tours to the well-known places on the coast of the islancharging 50 USD for 2,5 hours tour. I have been here many times, so why should I pay? I took a pleasant walk around the city, passing small catholic cathedral, enjoying tropical flowers and trees.

The visit to the municipal market was obligatory to see once again many lei (shell necklaces) and crowns made of tropical, natural flowers. They made them on the spot.

I came to the conclusion that Tahiti is more expensive than ever. In the supermarket a bottle of local rum costs equivalent of 26 dollars US – more than on the ship! Black pearls costs 200 USD and more. Only the price of the French baguette is reasonable: US 60 cents. No need to change currency to euro or USD – western cash is widely accepted. In the evening we will sail to the nearby island of Moorea. Greetings from Polynesia!

In the middle of the day bad news ariived from the bridge: Powerful cyclone is forming between Vanuatu and Fiji. Captain decided not to visit Suva on Fiji – we will be escaping to the east, sailing directly to Papeete

I have been introduced to the new poople on the ship. As a result I have been upgraded from my weak inside cabin to the balcony with the window. Lucky me!

On sea days the crew offer many kinds of entertainment. We had also a chance to meet our officers and ask the questions:

There are nice sunrise and sunsets in the ocean:

It was a hard night on the Australian train – the car of the 1st class was junk, with noisy ventilator switching on and off! That’s traveller’s destiny.

We disembarked in empty Brisbane Roma Station at 5 am (but 4 am local time) Then we took a local train to be closer to the Cruise Terminal and shared the taxi with our new friends – they are from Arizona and are also boarding our ship.

We will embark “Luminosa” in the middle of the day. Then we will spend 3 days in the Pacific Ocean, sailing to Fiji. Please keep the fingers crossed for the weather, dear friends! 🙂

I decided to travel back from Sydney to Brisbane by train – just to give my companion wider scope of the country. In the middle of the route we decided to make stopover in the coastal resort town of Port Macquarie.

From the Wauchope station where we made a stop there are buses to the Port, who has big marina and some colonial charm.

We were walking long coastal promenade dotted by picturesque Norfolk Pines to the wide Oxley Beach. All over the way there are view points:

On the horizon , on the other side of the river I saw a long, long stretch of sand. It is great place for beach lovers!

City bus to the station was 15 min late – take it into account if you continue your trip by train.

11 years ago during my short stay in Sydney I met Michal – the traveller who later walked alone thousands kilometers in America and Australia. Great man! His solo expeditions are unmotorized! 11 years ago he invited me to stay at his home. Today I had a chance to meet him again. Memories…. We were talking about the achievements and our plans. Thank you Michal and good luck on your future trails!

When it was time to say goodbye I and my companion we walked to the Maritime Museum located in picturesque Pyrmont Bay with many interesting ships: there is huge destroyer and submarine, luxurry government yacht and replica of James Cook’s sailship “Endeavour”. From the museum you can take a great pictures of Sydney’s skyline:

“Endeavour” is a legend so I decided to have a picture in front of the replica of the ship, who did so many discoveries around the Pacific:

Leaving the museum we crossed the bay by Pyrmont Bridge entering Sydney’s CBD. Many skyscrapers were built recently here… We decided to take the lift (40 AUD pp) to the observation deck of Sydney Tower Eye. The whole tower is 309 m high, the deck is on the level of 250 m. There is a great 360 deg. view of the whole city. Panoramic windows are clean and it was clear, sunny day today to enjoy the landscape in full.

Above picture shows the tower from the ground. We returned to the hotel by foot. It is tome for rest – tomorrow we are taking the train back to Queensland!

It was lovely and interesting day! I was guiding my companion around Sydney. We went from the hotel to the Central Station then via Hyde Parks to CBD and to Circular Quay.

From ferry terminal the boat was just departing and sailing under the famous Harbour Bridge to Milsons Point for just 1 AUD. From this point there is picture-postcard view of the opera, bridge and CBD skyscrapers!

Then we climbed to the bridge and walked it end to end enjoying aerial view of the Sydney Opera House… Few people do it… We went down to the old Rocks Quarter, around the bay to the Opera building, with new views and crowd of tourists.

We returned home only at 3.30 pm for the late lunch and rest. I found in Sydney many new skyscrapers, but Harbour Bridge (opened in 1932) with opera nearby are still the icons of this giant (5,5 mln people) city.

At sunrise our ship was already sailing the waters of Brisbane River. Soon we docked at far-away cruise terminal and we were ready for disembarking. I said goodbye to the friendly crew members jocking: – Don’t cry! I will see you again on Thursday!

On the shore there wasn’t passport control, but they were collecting arrival cards. Luckily we were not selected for bio-security personal control (it is strictly forbidden to bring to Australia any food, plants or timber). Ufff….

It is shame: they don’t offer any bus transport to the airport from Brisbane cruise terminal. Yes, the taxis are waiting and they charge AUD 40+. I called Uber and they collected 31 AUD for two pax.

Flight to Sydney departed on time and they did not checked the weight or dimensions of cabin luggage at the gate (my pack have much more than 7 kgs). In Sydney I took tvo elevators to the underground level where is a train platform 1 to the city. You tap your credit card once at the entrance and again at exit – the ride to “Central” station costs only 1 AUD.

It is only 20 min walk from this station to our Hacienda Hotel. I started to talk to the young receptionist in Spanish. Uuuu… She didn’t know any single Spanish word! But the hotel is clean and inexpensive. Recommended!