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World Cruise

December 2014 - June 2015
A 181-day adventure by Jim and Nancy Read more
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  • 78footprints
  • 35countries
  • 181days
  • 149photos
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  • 40.7kmiles
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  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 33

    Rangiroa, French Polynesia

    January 16, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Today we are in Rangiroa. A beautiful atoll in the Tautamous Island chain. The atoll is so big you can't see the other side from sea level. There are a couple passes into the central lagoon. They are fairly short but the current moves through there at up to 6 knots or so. During the afternoon while the current was flowing out of the lagoon and the waves from the ocean were meeting them there were probably 4-5 foot standing waves across the entire center of the pass. The dolphins were just jumping and playing in the waves like a bunch of kids. Fortunately the current slowed before we left but we still flew out of there like crazy. I would have been pretty nervous about bringing our little boat through all that rough water and the seas were pretty calm today.
    The snorkeling was nice along the inner beach with lots of little coral heads full of fish and stingrays traveling all over the area.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 33

    Moorea, French Polynesia

    January 16, 2015 in French Polynesia ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    This has to be the most beautiful island I have ever seen. It is the definition of a South Pacific Island. Maybe Bora Bora will be better but it will take some effort. We pulled in through a very small opening in the reef and settled into a bay with steep sheer green cliffs rising straight up. The land was so lush. We taxied over to a little hotel beach on the Tahiti side of the island and everyone agreed it was some of the best snorkeling anywhere. We had great weather all morning and then the rains came hard and socked the whole side of the island in. Not a big deal though as it is hot and the rain feels kind of good and it dries almost as soon as you step inside so it didn't do much to our mood since we were through snorkeling and needed to find a place to eat anyway. We ate the hotel and it wasn't near as expensive as some people make it out to be. It could have been that our expectations were so high that reality was better then our imaginations. We came back home are napping watching it rain. You can't even see those beautiful mountains that were so pretty when we came in.
    Tonight we are going over the Papeete, Tahiti. Just 11 miles or so away. It will be our first overnight port and we are looking forward to see what a Friday night on the town will be like.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
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    Day 34

    Papeete, Tahiti

    January 17, 2015 in French Polynesia ⋅ 🌬 27 °C

    We finally got the rain that was due us for coming in the rainy season. Still Tahiti was a beautiful island and even the rain couldn't dampen the experience. We went to the local market in the morning and had a great time. The rain let up and we walked the town in the afternoon. They have a great waterfront walking park. The town was closing down on saturday afternoon but some shops were still open and you we got a great baguette for 53 cents so how can you pass that up. We didn't think bread got better then the fresh baked stuff we have on the ship but this was definitely better. Nancy found some black pearl earrings she needed so that made the trek even more productive. As you can see the girls are getting right into the spirit of Polynesia.
    We had a great dinner and left Tahiti bound for Bora Bora.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 35

    Bora Bora

    January 18, 2015 in French Polynesia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    The seas were rough last night with the rain storm coming through and we were weaving all over the halls. I swear it was not the Silver Spirit's we were drinking. :-)
    The morning found us coming into the bay in Bora Bora in bright sunlight. We were still rocking and not many people were out on the walking track as usual so I suspect some had a rough night. We were up bright and early though and glad we didn't miss the beautiful entrance. The picture is not great due to the sun but it was very dramatic.
    We rented bikes and rode down to the southern tip of the island to a great public beach. We couldn't bring ourselves from leaving the comfort of the little tiki bar and getting in the water though because it was so peaceful and pleasant just looking out at the wonderful blue lagoon and the beautiful surrounding islands (the motus). There were those great hotels with the little huts out over the water dotted all around the island that were incredibly expensive but the island itself has really remained fairly rustic and we could see why it is a favorite of the hollywood stars. They can probably get away civilization and still have some pretty pleasant places to go and things to do.
    It surpassed Moorea as our favorite island so far    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
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    1
    Day 38

    At Sea

    January 21, 2015, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    We lose a day tonight as we cross the international dateline. We have been moving steadily west which means we "fall back" an hour every few days. This makes the days keep getting longer as we find ourselves getting up very early as we change but the night stuff still starts late so I guess it is a great way to acclimatize. We are now about 6 hours behind home. No jet lag for us on this trip. :-)
    The good part of losing a day is that we really wanted to have a day where we didn't eat too much or drink too much. We now know what day that is going to be, January 21. I am hoping we will be able to have at least one more before we get home. :-)
    As you can see from one of the photos we eat pretty good here. This is from what was called a Lunch and Learn. The chef prepared lunch for about 20 people right there in front of us and explained what he was doing and everything while he made the three courses that passes for a "light" lunch on this ship. The photo is of a smoked salmon appetizer that we are definitely making when we get home. I am not suspecting it will look like this on the plate though.
    We also had a really cool show from some performers from Nuku Hiva. They are a group that is trying to keep the native dances, language and songs alive and they came on board in the evening and put on a great show. Not as gentle as Hawaii and Tahiti hulas but more like a cross between the New Zealand war dances and the traditional hula dance.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 40

    Nukuaalofa, Tonga

    January 23, 2015 in Tonga ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    We kayaked out to one of the beautiful little islands in the surrounding reef of Nukua'alofa Tonga called Pangaimotu. This is the perfect little cruisers hangout. It has a great bar and good anchorage and pretty beaches. The town itself was also nice. The market was very large and had a lot of great local crafts. Since tourism is not that big a deal on the island most of the shops were for the local people. It was very pleasant and the locals were friendly and most spoke English so you could get around easily enough. It is not an island I would really have any interest in going back to unless I was on my own boat but it was good to see.
    We found out yesterday from the captain that we escaped Tahiti in the nick of time. If you remember I said we had some bad weather the night we left but it smoothed out by morning in Bora Bora. That bad weather turned into a tropical storm and eventually became the first cyclone of the season. It is not chasing us though so no worries here. It is calm and sunny and pretty perfect and we should have a good sail to Noumea, New Caledonia tonight. I don't have any pictures to post because we are getting really jaded to the physical beauty around us and we don't even pull the camera out any more. I think Jeff has some though so I will try to get some up later.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    1
    Day 44

    Noumea, New Caledonia

    January 27, 2015 in New Caledonia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    We are now in the bustling metropolis of Noumea. Actually it really is a bustling metropolis. New Caledonia mines most of the nickel in the world so they are a very rich island. The downtown is very pretty and the shops and restaurants are plentiful. We unfortunately were there on a Monday which seems to be their day for all the tourist stuff to be closed so the museums and the aquarium were all closed up. We walked over the a great little beach called Lemon Bay or Baie des Citron as they call it here. We went past some very modern marinas full of boats of all sizes and shapes. The bay the cruise ship came into was filled with cruising boats. I suspect this must be a little off the main cyclone path for there to be so many cruisers during the season but I haven't checked that out.
    We did a little shopping along the way. I needed a new light weight shirt for sun protection and found a great little sporting goods store that had Columbia stuff that was just a little more expensive then REI in the states. Jeff needed a full length skin to keep him from burning during snorkeling and found it at another dive shop just off the main "Chinatown" in the downtown area. The snorkeling was great just by swimming off the beach to the coral outcroppings.
    The island is huge and I can see this would be a fun island to explore more in-depth. We should come back when we have more time. The nice thing about cruising on a ship is you don't stay too long in any one place so that the ones you don't like much are left without too much of a bad taste and the ones you really like you are left wanting to come back again.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 46

    Sydney, New South Wales

    January 29, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We spent the night bouncing up and down in 15 to 20 foot seas with 40+ knots of wind getting into Sydney. As soon as we crossed the headlands the seas calmed and we were met with one of the most beautiful harbors in the world. The city sits on a hill at around the corner and as you wind your way around the turns of the bay the city reveals itself slowly until you finally see the iconic Opera House and bridge with the sun shining on them. We couldn't have had a more pleasant entrance to Sydney. The boat is docked past the bridge overlooking the Darling Harbor side and we have to take a short shuttle bus ride to the city center. We went in and started our tour of the city by walking the Botanical Gardens starting at the Opera House and walking up to Hyde park and then around the city back to the Rocks. We found a great little place to get a beer and a burger on the roof of pub in the Rocks overlooking the harbor. Later we had a harbor tour and then dinner at the Opera House with an aboriginal welcome dance followed by the opera "Tosca". It was quite fun. The Opera House has the english translation of the words on a screen above the stage so it turned out to be fascinating and very beautiful to hear as well as fun to actually understand what was going on. We had a similar setup in St. Petersburg, Russia when we went to see Madame Butterfly there but the translation was in Russian so we were no better off then listening to the Italian. :-)
    Back to the ship at night. I will post another for tomorrow since we are there another day and have lots of pictures.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 47

    Sydney, New South Wales

    January 30, 2015 in Australia ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Second day at Sydney and we were exhausted from walking yesterday. We figured we walked about 12 miles on the VivoFit bracelets that Jeff and Ali have. Today it was off the Manly on the north end of the harbor to the beach there. The ferry from the main terminal "Circular Quay" was about $13 dollars round trip. Manly is a great little town/community that is on a bay with a large beach and a lot of little beaches around the larger inlet. The surf was really up from the gale force winds out in the ocean so the surfers were having a great time and it was very dramatic. We walked up the headlands in the National Park and got lost on the trail and finally found our way to the campus of a small college that used to be some prominent persons house in the area. We wondered the grounds and then down into town to eat at some natural food bar. We are so used to the small portions on the ship that we can barely eat a meal even when we split it when we go out. The dinner that we had at the Opera House was catered by one of the local area restaurants and was way to much food for us.
    The ferry ride back from Manly turned into a amusement park ride. The waves coming into the entrance were coming in straight from the ocean and hitting an outgoing current and standing up very tall. We had a two deck ferry and the at one point we turned into the waves and they were much higher then the boat. We got launched over one of the waves and everyone on board screamed just like a roller coaster as the boat came crashing back down into the face of the wave. Water didn't quite get into the upper deck where we were but I don't think anyone could have been standing on the outside deck below us.
    Rest of the day was spent walking the downtown and then having a fantastic dinner before we got the the worst of the waves. It looks to be a bad one tonight.    Read more

  • Jim and Nancy KleinschmidtWorld Cruise
    Day 48

    At Sea

    January 31, 2015, Tasman Sea ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    I was right. It was a bad one last night. 20 foot seas directly ahead and 40+ knot winds meant that we were holding onto the walls to get around. We decided that the better solution was just to drink heavily and then we didn't really know if we were staggering because of the boat or the drink. It seemed to work. No one got sick and we made it to bed and as of now no one has fallen off the bed yet. We were out briefly but laying down seems to be the most stable position so at least until lunch that seems to be the plan.Read more

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