cruise itinerary

It looks like the link to the cruise itinerary isn't working, so I am going to write out theWHOLE thing for you (don"t ya feel lucky?)- I wrote this all out ahead of time and it was all lined up perfectly, but wouldn't format here, sorry. I hope you can still read it....

SAT 26sep Seattle depart 5pm
SUN 27SEP Vancouver 7am 5pm
MON 28SEP at sea
TUES 29SEP at sea
WED 30SEP Long Beach 7am 5pm
Thur 1OCT at sea
FRI 2OCT at sea
SAT 3OCT at sea
SUN 4OCT at sea
MON 5OCT at sea
TUES 6OCT at sea
WED 7OCT NUKU HIVA 8am 5pm MARQUESAS
THURS 8OCT at sea
FRI 9OCT PAPEETE 10am 5am (sat)
SAT 10OCT MOOREA 8am 5am
SUN 11OCT BORA BORA 8am overnight
MON 12OCT BORA BORA 6pm
TUES 13OCT RAIATEA 8am 5pm
WED 14OCT at sea
THURS 15OCT RAROTONGA 8am 5pm COOK ISLANDS
FRI 16OCT at sea
SAT 17OCT PAGO PAGO 8am 5pm AM. SAMOA (this could change)
SUN 18OCT at sea
MON 19OCT crossing dateline
TUES 20OCT SUVA 8am 5pm FIJI
WED 21OCT at sea
THURS 22OCT PORT VILA 8am 5pm VANUATU
FRI 23OCT at sea
SAT 24OCT at sea
SUN 25OCT CAIRNS 5pm overnight
MON 26OCT CAIRNS 5pm AUSTRALIA (great barrier reef)
TUES 27OCT at sea
WED 28OCT at sea
THURS 29OCT BRISBANE 8am 5pm AUSTRALIA
FRI 30OCT at sea
SAT 31OCT SYDNEY 7am
SUN 1NOV SYDNEY
MON 2NOV SYDNEY 5pm
TUES 3NOV at sea
WED 4NOV MELBOURNE 7am 6pm AUSTRALIA
THURS 5NOV at sea
FRI 6NOV HOBART 7am 6pm TASMANIA
SAT 7NOV at sea
SUN 8NOV at sea
MON 9NOV MILFORD SOUND 7am 8am (dropping passengers for shore trips)TUES 10NOV DUNEDIN 7am 6pm NEW ZEALAND
WED 11NOV CHRISTCHURCH 7am 10pm NZ
THURS 12NOV WELLINGTON 8am 6pm NZ
FRI 13NOV NAPIER 7am 2pm NZ
SAT 14NOV TAURANGA 8am 5pm NZ
SUN 15NOV AUCKLAND 7am 8pm NZ
MON 16NOV BAY OF ISLES 8am 5pm NZ
TUES 17NOV at sea
WED 18NOV at sea
THURS 19NOV NUKU' ALOFA 8am 5pm TONGA
FRI 20NOV at sea
FRI 20NOV APIA 7am 4pm WESTERN SAMOA
FRI 20NOV cross dateline
SAT 21NOV at sea
SUN 22NOV cross equator
MON 23NOV at sea
TUES 24NOV at sea
WED 25NOV KONA 10am 6pm HAWAII
THURS 26NOV HONOLULU 7am 6pm HAWAII
FRI 27NOV HILO 7am 4pm HAWAII
SAT 28NOV at sea
SUN 29NOV at sea
MON 30NOV at sea
TUES 1DEC at sea
WED 2DEC LOS ANGELES 7am

Lifeboat Drill

Everyone must attend a lifeboat drill - just in case....

Here is TK prepared for any emergency!

VANCOUVER

We got to spend Sunday in Vancouver. It is such a beautiful city. Very clean and cosmopolitan. We took a tour on the BIG BUS and got off in this area where there were shops and a farmer's market. Street performers were everywhere, fresh flowers, fruits and veggies, meats and cheeses, coffees, etc. It was very festive. We ate the best soup and (I had french onion with this layered kind of breat baked right on top of the bowl, I should have taken a picture!).

There were lots of sailboats, cool old buildings and churches, bridges and lots of GREEN. We went to a rose garden in a park where there was a couple getting married - and it was such a beautiful sunny day.

Here are some pictures of TK (Tiny Kona) in various places. I love the pier in Vancouver, so I tried to get a picture with her in front of the ship and the 'sails' from the 'Canada Place' building where we were docked. More people got on the ship here.

Seattle/Embarkation

TK and I met mom in Seattle. We needed a night and morning of powershopping to get things together before embarking the cruise ship. We ended up at the car rental place to return the car with 4 LARGE bags, 4 medium bags and numerous shopping bags in addition to my new sewing machine. Lucky for us, a very nice cabbie (i think his name was Ahmed) loaded everything into a TOYOTA COLROLLA and we were off to the pier! During the drive I got a (missed) call from the Holland America people, wondering where we were... come on guys, I got there almost 2 HOURS early! We were quite happy to get rid of all of our stuff and breeze right through to the gangway though. WE MADE IT! WOOHOO!

BIGFOOT?

On my way out of Astoria, I was behind this truck. I didn't know that's where bigfoot hailed from...

Tiny Kona in Astoria

Ok friends... I am still trying to figure this blogging thing out - so please be patient with me. The pictures were posted with no commentary, so I will provide that right now!
We took a little detour, Tiny Kona and I, to the cute little town of Astoria, Oregon, to visit Jill and Jocelyn (daughter and grand daughter) for a few days.
Here is a quick summary of the pictures...
Tiny Kona and I climbed to the top of the Astoria Column, so she posed in front of the HUGE bridge that crosses the Columbia River. I think there were 110 steps to the top of the column and the views were incredible! That is Washington, just over the bridge.
The column is very interesting, with stories of explorers and facts and dates swirling around the outside, all the way to the top. The 2nd picture is taken from the bottom looking up at the column. You should Wikipedia it!
Being near the water, we made sure to have some tasty fish and chips, right off the boat! This little dive served up food from the old boat called the 'bowpicker' that is now a restaurant, now just sitting in a lot. It was yummy.
Since the ocean is so close, we went over to the coast, to 'Shipwreck Beach' and took a picture of TK in front of the rusted out hull of an unfortunate vessell.... doesn't look ANYTHING like the ship I'm on!
It was a great 3 days in Oregon! It is so beautiful there. I advise ALL to visit.

Tiny Kona In Astoria