Here’s the map of our course fron Papeete to Honiara. Those that left the ship were flown to Sidney on a charter plane. Those that rmbarked were flown up from Sidney.
Sunset as we leave Soloman Islands
April 26, 2025
Honiara was the city we were docked at for a day and a half. It was also the end of a segment. So, 165 passengers left us. While 174 joined us. There are now 237 passengers aboard, that’s the most we have had this trip. This group is younger and love to party.
Here is the breakdown from the Tahiti to Soloman Island leg of our trip. Soloman Islands Guadalcanal, Nationality Breakdown; AUSTRIA 1, AUSTRALIA 26 ,BELGIUM 3, BRAZIL 1,CANADA 31, SWITZERLAND 4, GERMANY 10, DENMARK 2, SPAIN 2, UNITED KINGDOM 33, IRELAND 3, ICELAND 3, ITALY 3, JAPAN 1, LUXEMBOURG 1, MEXICO 5, NETHERLANDS 9, NEW ZEALAND 6, SINGAPORE 2. THAILAND 2, UNITED STATES 181
Fuel trucks pumped fuel for over 9 hours. It only took a few minutes to empty a truck. Next gas station is Darwin in 2 weeks.
The town was a disappointment, it was dirty, and poverty was obvious. This is the first time we have seen that on this trip. This area was instrumental in World Was II. The Japanese claimed the Islands and the United States took them back. It’s the sight of many famous Land, Sea and Air Battles.
The Market was quite amazing. It is clear that they can grow things easily.
Today is a sea day and then tomorrow we will be in Paupa New Guinea for a few days. More new places to see. I heard a quote from the stage the other night that went something like this “It is better to see a place once than to read about it a thousand times”. Never a truer statement as we travel to places that few have ever seen. This trip is exactly like and very opposite of our Northwest Passage trip a couple years ago. They are similar in that we stopped in tiny villages or uninhabited Islands and visited with the villagers that only see visiters once or twice a year, opposite in that its 84 degrees here instead of 24 degrees in the north. Both ships are class 5 ice breakers, but we haven’t seen a single iceberg this whole trip, LOL. We also haven’t seen must sea life on this trip either. Kim and I saw that one beak whale in Chile. Some saw a feeding frenzy of tuna a couple of days ago. We see flying fish all the time and a few birds. Oh yes, Kim’s lizard too.
That’s what traveling 17 knots per hour looks like. We are pushing a lot of water.
Is this some sort of I.Q. test? Funny it’s two different people on two different days in that same chair!
I understand the need to be competitive. I used to think I needed to win at everything. I would like to think that I have out grown that, but clearly some people never do. On sea days, there is team trivia. In the first leg, there was one outstanding team. We found out later that the Alpha male couple actually vetted their team members. Well, on the final sea day of that leg of the trip, they lost to the team that Kim was on. They thru a fit, really? It’s a game. Then remember the picture of the chocolote bunny display, it was Belguim chocolate by the way. Lupi, the cruise director, “hid” 100 paper eggs throught the ship on Saturday night. Well, one couple stole one of the big bunnies and told the hotel director they would give it back only if he told them where the eggs were hiden. They ended up finding 41 of the 100 eggs and thus were the winners. I guess they didn’t even consider how they spoiled the game for so many others.
More later……….
Hi Steve and Kim, I so enjoyed catching up on your adventure. Marvelous! I’ll drop you an email or text soon. PS: I loved the Easter Chocolate photo with the you know what in the background… yum!! Best, Joe