Pago Pago / Sun Jan 27

Today we're in Pago Pago, American Samoa. It's located 1600 miles northeast of New Zealand and 2,200 miles southwest of Hawaii.

Pago Pago is pronounced 'Pango Pango.' It's the only urban center in American Samoa and it sits on Tutuila Island which is 52 square miles in size. The island is one of 5 volcanic islands and 2 atolls that make up American Samoa.

American Samoa is a U.S. territory considered to be an 'overseas possession.' People born in American Samoa are American Nationals with the right to live in the US but they're not American citizens unless one of their parents is.

Pago Pago's harbor is one of the world's largest natural harbors and it has the highest annual rainfall of any harbor in the world. There was a rain shower as we sailed into the harbor so we were greeted with a rainbow!

Then the sun came out.

We took a private tour of the island. Beautiful scenery! On the dock, we were greeted by Miss American Samoa (sorry didn't get a photo of her). Our tour bus was one of many highly decorated buses that families on the island use.

The people on the island are very religious and on Sundays they traditionally pray and sleep. Since we were there on a Sunday all businesses were closed. On our tour we stopped at a number of scenic spots and drove through several villages. Each village has a bell they ring at 6pm each day to announce prayer time. It also rings at 10pm as a curfew for those under age 18.

One of the main employers here is the Starkist Tuna cannery. About 3000 people work there.

We visited the office of the National Park of American Samoa. We were lucky the government shut down was over so it was open. It's the only National Park Service site south of the equator.

And yes, there is a McDonald's on the island!
Below are photos from our tour ....

Flower Pot Rock

Two of our tour guides telling us the story of Flower Pot Rock

The other day we received our certificates confirming that we crossed the equator. This is mine:

Now that we've left Pago Pago we have two days at sea before we arrive in Fiji. Tomorrow we cross the International Date Line so Mon Jan 28th just disappears!

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Dakar, Senegal / Wed Mar 27

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Busselton / Tue Feb 19

We tendered in Busselton, Australia today. Busselton is best known for the the Busselton Jetty which was built in 1865. It's more than a mile long and is the longest timber piled jetty in the southern hemisphere. At the end of the jetty is an underwater observatory. You can get to it by walking the length of the jetty or by taking the Jetty Train which looks like a Victorian locomotive but is powered by solar panels. We spent the day in Busselton with two other couples. We sat on the beach for a couple of hours then walked into town to explore. We met Walter who was quite the character. After that we had a snack at a local restaurant then took the train to the end of the jetty and toured the underwater observatory before walking back to the tender. Fun day!

Parting Thoughts and More ...

It didn’t take too long to re-enter our normal lives. Although I did miss having our linens changed daily, Larry was delighted to get back home so he could eat dinner wearing shorts (not long pants) ... which he couldn’t do on the ship. Because I get sea (and motion) sick I used the scopalomine patch on this cruise. Usually Bonine is enough but the cruise started in rough waters (crossing to Hawaii from LA) so I decided to use the patch. It worked really, really well with no side effects so I continued using it. When it was prescribed (by two different doctors) I asked each if using it for almost 3 months would be an issue and both said 'no.' Well, I should have done more research as it turns out you can get addicted and experience withdrawal .... and I did. I wasn't able to get off it until the 3rd time I tried and even then it took about 3 weeks to be free of all symptoms. After going online to find out how to withdraw, I saw that some people have much more trouble t

Opals and Romeos

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