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November 19 Joe's an Ginger's LogWednesday, November 19, 2008. 170 people have viewed this log since its inception. While it has been very satisfying to communicate with friends and relatives through this medium it contains precious memories for Virginia and me. One of these is of the island of Maui. We. enjoyed lunch on the Lido deck (8) yesterday. Outside our window we could see many small boats, a beach and volcanic mountains undulating in the background as eons of lava sheets spread themselves across the landscape. I do not have any pictures because I completed my DVD yesterday. With Robert, our computer expert's help, I am quite proud of it.
By the time we get to San Diego we will have completed 21,200 nautical miles.
Good bye.
November 17 Joe's and Ginger's LogTuesday, November 18, 2008. Today is Ginger's birthday. She is holding up remarkably well. We took a bus trip around Oahu and saw the city as well. Hawaii looks like the United States will look in the 21st century. The mixture has produced beautiful women and fine looking men. We had lunch at a lovely hotel on the beach. You will see the beach in the pictures with a swimming pool. Honolulu is a city of 900,000. It sits on an island which is 600 square miles. It is the perfect place for electric cars since people can't go great distances. People travel from one island to another by plane or boat. The ferries are equipped to carry cars.
While waiting on line at the digital computer room I heard some interesting pieces of information. The ship has a brig. One passenger was put ashore for punching a crew member in a dispute. He paid his own way home. Along with assorted bruises, sprains and broken bones five people have died their bodies have been put in the freezer between the flowers and the filet mignon.
My DVD is done, thanks to Robert, our computer specialist. We are looking at it while I write this. We are very pleased with the result.
At dinner tonight Ginger was presented with a birthday cake and "Happy Birthday" in Indonesian.
November 14 Joe's and Ginger's LogFriday, November 14, 2008. We have sailed over 18,000 nautical miles since we left Seatle. I believe we will reach 22,000 nautical miles when we arrive in San Diego on November 23. I am told a nautical mile is nearly one and an eighth of a land mile. Thus we shall have travelled close to the circumference of the globe.
Cruise ships seem to have dropped midnight displays. Instead, we had a glorious feast with ice carvings, ginger bread houses, and food decorated in all ways imaginable. The crush of people taking pictures and getting into eat was a bit much. I was not pleased with yesterday's pictures and hope these are better.
In a day and a half we will be in Hawaii. These are an archipelogo some 1500 miles long. Hawaii is at the eastern end and is 2300 miles from the California. Midway Island is almost at the far western end. The islands that dot the Pacific Ocean (which is three billion years old) have three sources: some, like Samoa,were detached from a continent; others are made of coral reefs; but, the Hawaiian Islands are the tops of volcanoes. In fact, the main island is still growing territorially. Except for one small island the Hawaiian Islands are further from other lands than any other place on earth. We are in the midst of that vastness now. The azzure blue water is beautiful.
We received two blog messages from my cousin Frank Celentano. Anthony and Joseph sent e-mails.
November 13 Joe's and Ginger's LogThursday, November 13, 2008. We are in the open ocean one third of the way to Hawaii. The seas are quite rough and the ship is rocking. We enjoyed a lunch with some interesting guests, two lawyers (one a holocaust survivor) and the other a Greek Orthodox priest.
At about 11 a.m. we crossed the equator and a ceremony involving Father Neptune was held around the pool on deck 8 (the Lido Deck). I hope the pictures accompanying this will give some of the 'flavor' of the festivities.
After 8 weeks on the cruise I have not gained a pound. It is, for me, quite a victory because the desserts, if they are as delicious as they look, must be incredibly delightful.
Fred Bunt sent a message on my web page. These are always a joy to receive. All else is quiet and these are a relaxing few days.
Goodbye, for now.
November 11 Joe's and Ginger's LogSecond Tuesday, November 11, 2008 (We crossed the International Dateline early this morning.)
Our ship docked at Apia, the capital of Samoa. The people are brown skinned, goodlooking and extremely friendly. This is an abymally poor country with an unempoyment rate of 25% with the rest being minimally employed.
The highlight of the day was our visit to Robert Louis Stevenson's home. It a fairly large, rambling structure, on a rise in the ground, with a superb view of the ocean. It was here in 1894, at the age of 44, that Stevenson died of tuberculosis. He was, and is, much revered by the Samoans. He is buried a 45 minute walk above his home. While there I was reminded that my own father had tuberculosis in 1930. Pop survived that and lived to be nearly 89.
The law of the sea commands ships to come to the aid of ships in distress who either radio for help or wave a red flag. While in the Caribbean several years ago our cruise ship stopped to help a Nicaraguan fishing ship whose engine failed. The tender brought supplies and got the ship's motor going. Not long after leaving Apia, on our way to Honolulu, a red flag appeared on a small vessel. Our captain could not obtain radio contact so he turned our huge vessel around and sent out a tender. This occurred just after 5 p.m. Many folks stopped what they were doing, took out their cameras and rushed out on decked. I took some pictures of the ship and the tender. It turned out that it was some seaman's red shirt and that all was well. Enough 'excitement'!
November 10 Joe's and Ginger's Log Tuesday, November 11, 2008. We are on the high seas again approaching the International Date Line, which we are expected to do at 3 a.m. Tomorrow will also be Tuesday, November 11. At 11 a.m. today we stopped for a minute to remember the dead service men of many nations. The practice began with the armstice which ended World War I on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918. As a youngster my mother's stories about this event impressed me.
Our evenings are fairly simple but pleasant. We enjoy a glass of wine and dine with two other couples as we sail through beautiful seas. From 7 to 8 we listen to light classical music played by a young trio from Poland. After that we go to the big theater for any variety of acts and then to bed. There is no finer way to live or to travel.
Good bye for now. We will be in touch after our trip to Samoa tomorrow. November 09 Joe's and Ginger's Log Monday, November 10, 2008. We spent the day in Suva, the capital of Fiji. Surrounding islands and seas are spectacularly beautiful but the place is poverty stricken. I took pictures in the museum with an archeologist. They may be below.
We had an unfortunate incident aboard ship this morning when a lady died. When we first began our voyage a passenger had a stroke and was evacuated by a Canadian helicopter. Let us hope this is the last of this.
I wrote earlier about pirates. We attended an interesting lecture on this subject. Pirates attack the stern (rear) of the ship between 12 midnight and 6 a.m. Cruise ships have a security force which does not carry guns. Each ship is enveloped in an electronic web which sends signal to the navigation office when it is penetrated. High powered fire hoses flush the pirates into the sea. November 08 Joe's and inger's LogSunday, November 9, 2008. Another pleasant day at sea. We arrive in Fiji tomorrow. This Tuesday we will cross the International Dateline. This means that we will have two Tuesdays. Bettina Eulie could have a double birthday. Happy birthday to Bettina as well as
to Sue and Christine who have been celebating birthdays. Ginger will have a birthdayon November 18.
I formally discussed the Cariolus Effect. The Captain explained that the Earth's spinning causes the winds and the waves in the Northern Hemisphere to move in a clockwise direction (our weather system moves from the West) and does the reverse south of the equator.
I heard a good joke. A man from Texas said he was from a town called Wedlock, Texas. He was born a little out of Wedlock
Sixteen people have looked at this log today. Thank you and goodby. November 07 Joe's and Virginia's LogSaturday, November 8, 2008. Today was a very fine day. It was one of the highlights of this incredible voyage. We visited Noumea, the capital of New Caledonia, a French possession in Polynesia. We expected to see some tribal villagers living in primative conditions. Instead, we came upon a beautiful modern city of 100,000 people in a country(New Caledonia) of 250,000. These islands were named by Captain Cook, who came here in the 1770s, after Caledonia in Scotland. They became a colony of France in 1853. The city is surrounded by mountains and beaches. The temporature was 81 degrees and the views of mountains,beaches and water on all sides were most beautifull. American soldiers came here in February, 1942 to keep the islands from Japanese hands. New Caledonia's prosperity is based on its nickel mines (third in the world), coffee and tourism.
November 06 Joe's and Gingers LogSaturday, November 7, 2008. It is another pleasant day at sea. The winds blow quite hard here making walking on deck 3 very difficult. Virginia had her hair done so she is in good spirits. The doctor tested her blood and found her to be in good shape. In an hour we invited a nice couple to have a to with us in our cabin; then it is off to eat, entertainment and bed. Tomorrow we make our first visit to New Caledonia, which is French owned.
We continue to meet interesting people. At lunch we met Dana, an architecture historian from Canada. He worked for the Canadian government to preserve historical structures.
Piracy on the seas is rearing its ugly head. There is much piracy in the South China Seas and off the coast Africa. As they did in the 17th and 18th centuries the pirates are after ransom and cargo. An Australian professor just presented an excellent lecture of women pirates in history. They were as bloody as their male counterparts. For the historical minded among you we are in the Coral Sea where the naval battle that saved Australia from invasion by Japan was fought. November 05 Joe's and Ginger's LogWednesday, November 4, 2008. Fifty four years ago today I was mustered out of the United States Air Force.
We are in Sydney Harbour, Australia. Sydney was the first European Settlement in Australia. The First Fleet, transporting English convicts, arrived on these shores on January 26, 1788. The eldest convict was an 81- year old woman who was 'transported' for seven years for stealing an article of clothing. The youngest was a ten-year old boy who stole a loaf of bread. The 18 century English penal code was brutal.
Sydney Harbour is one of the most beautiful in the world. It has 150 miles of coastline which has been dramatically developed. We took a boat ride around the harbor today. It is also a great city to walk around. While dining on ship we look out upon a busy harbor, the world-famous opera house and an architecturally-interesting bridge. The city is very pretty and filled with life. The population of Sydney is just under four million, which means that nearly one out of five Australians live here.
Ginger and I enjoy good health. We miss family and friends but are enjoying ourlselves.
November 02 Joe's and Ginger's LogMonday, November 3, 2008. Another pleasant day . Some times I feel like Charles Darwin on the good ship 'Beagle' seeking scientific knowledge. When we sailed around Africa some years ago a passenger told me that when you flush the toilet in the Northern Hemisphere the water goes counter-clockwise and reverses itself below the equator. That, I find, is absolutely correct and is caused by the spinning of the earth. Its scientific name is the cariolus force. We heard two excellent lectures today and enjoyed a splendid lunch-time conversation. The picture with a man and his wife is that of Dr. Wolfe, who gives lectures on various places and people. The three men at our table, other than Joe, and from left to right are a geophysicist (oil), a mechanical engineer and an actor.
Joe's and Ginger'sLogSaturday, November 2, 2008. Sorry to start on a down note but our absentee ballots will not arrive in time. Others have received theirs and, after being filled out, were sent to Seattle. This election is crucial. Our Melbourne guide told us that when the U.S. buys from China, China buys raw material from Australia and the reverse is now happening. With the U.S. economy in a tail spin he wondered if he would have a job next year.
We are enjoying our visit to Australia. It is much like the U.S. with clean, modern cities. Some interesting facts: Because it is the oldest continent it has had no volcanoes for thousands of years and very few earthquake tremors. There are very few mountains and these are very well worn. Nearly all settlement is along the coast with the interior being desert.
Our tour today took us around the city, which is situated on a beautiful bay, and to the war memorial. The latter is a very moving tribute to Australia's war dead since 1900. Australia has fought alongside the U.S. in every war we have fought from W.W.I to today. In my judgment it is an under-appreciated ally.
It is 7p.m. and we are leaving Melbourne for Sidney, which we will reach on Tuesday.
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