We booked three more cruises while on the ship with lots of extra perks…Off the ship in Tauranga…Photos!

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Our ship, the Celebrity Solstice looked huge while docked at the Port of Tauranga, New Zealand.

Booking cruises while aboard ship definitely has perks often unknown to passengers until they decide to investigate. Although this is only our 12th cruise, many passengers we’ve met have been on dozens of cruises over the years with considerably more experience than us. 

Those passengers have learned the ins and outs of saving the maximum number of dollars while gaining the maximum number of perks offered by the cruise lines. The more we cruise, the more savvy we’ve become in taking advantage of every possible benefit.

While on this cruise we booked three additional cruises, although we may not ever go on these specific cruises.  For that reason, we won’t list the details and itineraries at this time.  Should we decide to follow through on them, we’ll post the details at that time.

We stopped at a local park as we walked to the center of town in Tauranga, New Zealand located on the North Island where we’ll be living.

However, as explained by the “sales staff” in the Future Cruise Sales Office aboard the ship, if we book these cruises now, the perks we receive are fully transferable to any other Celebrity cruise, we may choose to book in the future with no time limits or constraints as to when we may use them or which routes we may choose to explore. This is a huge benefit.

Booking these same cruises through our usual Vacations to Go rep, doesn’t allow us the magnitude of these perks which are only offered while on the ship. And yet, our VTG rep will receive full commission credit for any cruises we book on the ship which, based on the good service we’ve received over the years with VTG, it’s important to us. 

Plus, our rep at VTG will continue to handle when and if we decide to transfer these perks by moving them to a new cruise and canceling the prior booked cruise(s). 

The bay in Tauranga.
The only “catch” is that the cancellation/transfer must be made 75 days prior to the sail date when the final payment is due and automatically billed to our credit card on file. Canceling after full payment results in hefty penalties, which we’d never incurred.

Yesterday, while I was busy posting Tom visited the Future Cruise Sales Office to review each of our upcoming Celebrity cruises to determine if re-booking was a benefit. The only existing booking which proved beneficial to change was the Alaskan cruise, at this time. That may change in the future when we’re aboard another cruise.  This same policy applies to Royal Caribbean cruises, all under the same corporate umbrella.

For us, this could be a “paperwork” nightmare. But, with our spreadsheet with all the information detailed and documented and further noted on our online calendar with reminders, it’s relatively easy. 

Tom spotted this street rod and suggested this photo.  Note the license plate.

For the average traveler booking one or two cruises, it’s a breeze. As of today, we have nine future cruises booked over the next 26 months all with Celebrity and Royal Caribbean except the one upcoming Mekong River cruise (Viking lines) next summer. 

Now, this sounds like a tremendous amount of cruises but considering we moved every three months, plus the fact that use cruising as a means of transportation when possible, it’s not so alarming.

Sure, we wish we’d never have to deal with airports, overweight baggage and long lines and could cruise everywhere we’d like to travel. It’s just not possible when there are only so many routes that cruise ships navigate throughout the world. 

Cruise passengers, other tourists, and locals filled the busy Tauranga, New Zealand streets.

Each of the three cruises we booked in the past several days have offered amazing perks. One of the three cruises we booked in a replacement to the Alaskan cruise on May 17, 2017 we’d already booked. By making a second booking on the same exact cruise in a different cabin number, we’re able to acquire more perks. 

Once we arrive on land and contact our rep at VTG, she’ll cancel the first Alaskan cruise and transfer the new booking to the cabin number we originally booked. The staff on the ship can’t do the cancellation from the ship, suggesting we do it directly with our usual rep. Maneuvering this seemingly complicated process got us more perks on the nine-day Alaskan cruise including:

1. Classic Beverage Packages, for two: Valued at US $59 per person, per day for the nine-day cruise, totaling US $1062
2. Unlimited Internet Package for two (no sharing required): Valued at US $488
3. Onboard credit of US $150 which can be applied to the mandatory tips required at US $12.95 per person, per day totaling US $234. (We could have chosen a perk to include full payment of the tips, but these other above packages gave us more “bang for the buck.”

On our prior booking for this particular cruise we only had one perk, not the above three perks as follows:
1. Classic Beverage Packages, for two: Valued at US $59 per person, per day for the nine-day cruise, totaling US $1062

By booking onboard, we’ve saved US $638. We’re still going on the same exact cruise with the same exact balcony cabin class. It’s certainly worth the time and effort.

After a long and delightful walk through the town of Tauranga, we sat on a park bench enjoying the beach on a sunny day.

As for the other two cruises we booked, we were able to pay a minimum deposit of only US $200 for the two of us with similar perks on each cruise, as above stated, transferable to any future Celebrity cruise. The fact that the two other cruises don’t meet our itinerary and criteria, is irrelevant. They’ll eventually be transferred long before the final payment dates.

We realize this information may be boring to many of our readers who don’t cruise or have little interest in cruising. For this, we apologize. But, as we’ve always attempted, if we can save our readers who do cruise a little money here and there, we’re more than happy to do so.

If any of our readers have questions we can answer regarding this, please comment at the end of this post and we’ll promptly reply sharing our suggestions with all of our readers.

Today is our final full day aboard ship. We’d booked a small group tour with four other passengers to go sightseeing in Bay of Islands, New Zealand but Tom is getting a sore throat. Not wanting to infect the four other passengers in the charter van we decided to pay our share of NZ $170, US $110 and not go. 

The rocks at the shore were covered in a wire mesh to prevent erosion.  The seagulls are so used to people, this one didn’t flinch when I took the photo.

The four other passengers appreciated our willingness to cover our share to avoid them paying more when last night we delivered the NZ $170 to one of their cabins. As it turned out, this morning another couple took our spot and we got our NZ $170 back! Safari luck! 

Now, let’s hope Tom’s sore throat dissipates over the next few days. As always, many passengers are coughing and sneezing with colds, common on cruises. He can handle a cold and actually feels quite fine otherwise. The fact that its pouring rain today certainly doesn’t leave us disappointed that we aren’t going on the mostly outdoor tour.

This afternoon, we’ll pack, leaving out clothing and toiletries for tonight and tomorrow since our bags will be collected this evening. We’ll keep our carry on bags with our most valuable items, in our possession as always, including the yellow Costco bag, the computer bag and the wheeling cart to hold it all.

We’ve been assigned a disembarkation time of 7:00 am tomorrow although there’s a degree of flexibility in getting off a little later if we choose. We’ll play it by ear with nary a concern. By 9:00 or 10:00 am all the passengers will have disembarked as the ship prepares for the next load of 2850 passengers embarking in Auckland, New Zealand on the reverse of this cruise.

Today, we’ll prepare tomorrow’s “final expenses” post including our cruise fare, the included perks and the final bill we received for extras not included in the fare which will automatically be uploaded a bit earlier than the posts over the term of this 14 day cruise.

Thanks to all of our readers for cruising along with us. We thoroughly enjoyed the journey with all of YOU at our sides!

Photo from one year ago today, January 18, 2015:

View from our veranda in Princeville Kauai where we lived for four months. We enjoyed every moment on the exquisite island for its beauty, the Laysan Albatross, “Birdie” and for all the wonderful people we met and the lifelong friends we made. We love and miss you all! For more details, please click here.

Romance at sea…A night to remember…

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Last night, in the Martini Ice Bar on dress-up night.

Often the most memorable of occasions are those which we don’t plan or anticipate. Last night, was such a night, one we’ll always remember as special and meaningful.

Is it possible for a couple, together 25 years, constantly in each other’s presence 24 hours a day without any time apart, to find romance especially living a life as complex as ours?

The answer is a resounding “yes!” Last night was hardly the first time and will hardly be the last. Without forethought or active speculation, we each may contemplate the following points from time to time:

1. How do we manage to keep the spark alive in a long-term relationship?
2. Is keeping the romance intact necessary for happiness?

In response to the first question, we consider the facts that all couples have their own unique dynamic. Some thrive on chaos, disharmony, and ultimately making up and others flourish in a state of calm and consistency.  Then, there are all of those in between.

The Martini Ice Bar has an ice-covered bar top intended to keep drinks cold.

For us, the mix of an occasional visit by Mr. Overly Grumpy (rarely directed at me specifically) and my Ms. Overly Bubbly (always lurking), seems to create enough tension to make the relationship challenging and exciting, never knowing for sure what the day will bring. 

The lack of knowing moment by moment exactly what to expect has a magical way of presenting opportunities for lively banter, playfulness, including hilarious name-calling and frequent laughter precipitated by our own foibles and occasional self-deprecation.

Humility plays a big role for us, but oddly, it’s coupled with a keen sense of confidence while feeling secure, safe, and revered.  Trust is omnipresent, never faltering. How do relationships survive without trust? They don’t.

In response to the second question; many couples say they are utterly happy without romance. I’d assume, most often, they are couples who never made romance a priority early on in the relationship. Many lifelong partnerships are happily maintained without romance with only an occasional celebratory situation bringing it back into the forefront.

For us, the eyes locking across the room while we’re at a social occasion has always made our hearts flutter.  Tom, who swears he’s not romantic, has a side few others can detect, where he makes “overly romantic” me know I made the right choice in my remaining-years-of-life love and companion.

For me, romance is not about the occasional bouquet of flowers or a gift, wrapped in pink tissue in a “Victoria’s Secret” bag. It has nothing to do with a candlelit dinner with a crisp white linen tablecloth, fine dinnerware, and a fancy meal. 

Patricia, the lovely woman we met last night at the bar traveling with her 18-year-old daughter.

It has everything to do with a state of mind encompassed in finding your partner appealing both in both their imperfect physical state of being and their imperfect mental state of being, whatever that may be and however that may fluctuate as the years waft by and everything changes.

Can we love and accept the wrinkles and belly fat wrought by age and lifestyle and still see the beauty and handsomeness of what appealed to us in the first place so long ago? If yes, that’s romantic in itself. 

From this perspective, last night we found ourselves late in getting to dinner on “lobster night” after engaging in a lengthy fabulous conversation with a delightful woman we met from Costa Rica (where we’ll be living for three months in 21 months), at the Ice Bar on Deck 4, our usual hangout before heading to usual reservation-free dinner (never wanting to feel pinned down to a specific time).

Realizing we should arrange a reservation for the lobster night, the only available times were 5:30 or 8:45 pm.  We chose the latter, preferring not to dine so early in the evening.  (I’d actually had a light breakfast anticipating a late meal knowing food wouldn’t arrive until 9:15 or later).

After considerable fun at the bar, we said goodbye and headed to check-in for the reservation at 8:30, hoping to get in a little earlier. Given a pager, it was impossible to get a “shared” table so we decided to wait for the beeper.

My dinner last night; a Cobb Salad with chicken and two lobster tails.

By 9:00 pm, we were seated as the only patrons at a table for seven. As always, in consideration of others, we decided to wait to order until the table was full. Our usual playfulness and banter had started between us while at the bar, if not earlier in the day.

As we sat alone at that table with not another person or couple seeking a shared table entering the restaurant after us, we finally resigned ourselves along with our wonderful waiter Kundeep, that we should order dinner and proceed with the evening. 

From there, the fun between us escalated, the compliments flew back and forth, the knee grabbing under the table elicited fits of laughter, all the while holding hands, staring dreamily into each other’s eyes. I don’t drink alcohol and Tom had very few cocktails. It wasn’t alcohol talking. It was happiness. It was love. It was romance.

We hardly noticed our food although it seemed to disappear off our plates. The cruise line’s head food manager stopped by to say hello and giggled when he asked if we were newlyweds and we answered that we’d been together almost 25 years but are happier now than ever, in this life we live.

Tom’s dinner last night of Beef Wellington and lobster tail with veggies.

Our wonderful waiter gabbed with us. The hostess that oversees my food stopped by along with several other staff members and managers, perhaps noting we were alone at the big table needing some attention. We didn’t. We appreciated it nonetheless. 

The hours whizzed by and finally, it was time to leave. It was late and we decided to head back to our cabin, unable to wipe the coy smiles off our faces. No one ever joined us at our table. We didn’t care.

This morning, renewed and refreshed after a great night’s sleep, we still can’t stop smiling. Perhaps, the special evening further reminded us of how lucky we are, how blessed we are, and how much we appreciate each other and this peculiar life we live. 

It’s ironic that one of the most fun evenings we’ve had aboard the ship was spent alone at dinner together, reveling in this gift we’ve been given to enjoy our lives, fully engaged in the moment and…in the next moment to come. Who could ask for more?

For today, with only two days to disembarkation, once again we’re enjoying every moment left on the ship with the same enthusiasm we expect we’ll be feeling in a few days living in our new home in the Taranaki Region of New Zealand. Life is good. And, at times, life is romantic.

Darn, I should have saved this story for Valentine’s Day which is four weeks from today! Then again, we don’t need a Hallmark-inspired day to make us happy!

Photo from one year ago today, January 17, 2015:

We were excited to arrive in Kauai, Hawaii for a four-month stay in Princeville. Little did we know how much we’d love the island with a robust social life thanks to our new friend Richard Turner, whom we met only a few days after arrival. For more details, please click here.

How do we handle tonight’s dress up night?…Old dress-up photo with Tom in a tuxedo!…

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This photo was taken in 2000 at a formal dinner we’d been invited to by Ruth and Bruce Dayton when I worked at the Marsh (5 years). We sat with them at the US $10,000 a plate charity event (they paid for our plates!) Recently, Bruce passed away. He was a kind and generous man who will be missed by many.

Tonight is a “dress-up” night. Long ago, we parted with all of our dress-up clothing, unable to continue to haul a sport coat, dress pants or suit, tie and dress shirts for Tom with dresses, jewelry and heels for me. With only one suitcase of clothing for each of us, carrying anything dressy is impossible.

As time goes on in this casual world, more and more cruise ships are getting away from dress-up nights instead of sticking to the “smart casual” concept for all the nights, during which “designer” jeans are accepted with nice shirts and tops.

However, no one is prohibited from entering the dining room, specialty restaurants in wearing “smart casual” on “dress-up nights.” We no longer dread dress-up nights, although we’re unable to do so with our limited clothing contained in each of our single suitcases with clothing.

The Michael Kors store aboard the ship.  These handbags range from US $400 on up. Since I don’t own a handbag this store is of no interest.

Tonight, we’ll ask a passenger to take our photo wearing the few options we have for such an occasion, which we’ll post tomorrow. Some passengers still wear evening gowns, diamond jewels, and tuxedos. 

Others wear lots of costume jewelry and fancy outfits that aren’t necessarily in the formal wear category but serve the purposes. We’ll even spot a few passengers still wearing blue jeans and casual short sleeve shirts. 

No tee shirts with words or shorts are allowed at dinner in the main dining areas, nor are flip flops, which neither of us owns. At breakfast, it’s more casual in the dining rooms and upstairs in the buffet, the Oceanview Café, anything goes except robes and swimsuits.

In our old lives, getting dressed up would have been a thrill where now, it doesn’t phase us at all, nor do we feel out of place among all of the other passengers dressed in formal attire.

The men’s Nautica store had nothing that appealed to Tom although he liked this brand name in our old lives.

As much as I enjoyed clothing in my old life with every closet in the house filled with seasonal items, my single bag suits me just fine. On the other hand, Tom has never been a “clothes horse” with no interest in shopping, although he takes special care to look good on each occasion.

As we wander along with the decks where the shops are located I keep an eye out to purchase a new watch when they’ll have the “two for one” sale close to the last day. Today, a big sale was promoted, but after checking the “bigger sale” has yet to begin. 

I definitely need a few new clothing items but have a hard time finding pants, long enough for my long legs, the equivalent of men’s 35 inches (.89 meter) inseam. 

Most women worldwide aren’t as tall as I am, and it’s problematic finding pants. Other than the two pairs of blue jeans I ordered once in the past three-plus years from the US. Also, I’d like to purchase a few warmer shirts and sweaters, disposing of other older items in their place. 

Another store with relatively high-priced merchandise.

I’ve been feeling cold arriving on this ship. With five more upcoming cruises around Australia and the South Pacific, slightly warmer clothing may be advisable. I don’t own a single warm top other than two jackets which I don’t want to wear indoors day and night.

As for today, a sea day, we’re totally content sitting here in the Café al Bacio, watching a glass auction (they blow glass on the ship) sipping coffee and tea as we wrap up today’s post. As mentioned earlier, it takes almost an hour for four or five photos to upload aboard the ship with the slow wifi resulting in keeping the number of photos at a minimum.

We found the above photo of us on Dropbox (a cloud) where Tom had scanned and stored all of our old photos before we left Minnesota. We’re thrilled to be able to reference old photos.

That’s it for today, folks. We’ll be back tomorrow with dress-up night photos of us in our smart casual and hopefully others in formal wear. It’s lobster night and we’re looking forward to it.

Be happy.  Be well!

Photo from one year ago today, January 16, 2015:

Notice Tom’s red face and forehead from too much sun on Tuesday when visiting with the new neighbors the prior day. This is the lobby of the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel where we stayed overnight before our flight to Kauai. For more details, please click here.

Four days until the cruise ends…Fun coincidence!…Exchange rate shocker!…More of Tom’s food photos…

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The shore in Akaroa.

Last night at dinner at a “sharing” table for 10, we sat next to a lovely retired couple from New Zealand.  Ironically, they’ll be our “neighbors” when we live in the Taranaki region in New Zealand less than 2 km, 1.24 miles from our new vacation home for the upcoming three months.

What a great resource we discovered in Audrey and Trevor! They even knew our landlord as alpaca farmers.  They, too had been sheep farmers before retiring a few years ago. 

We had a fabulous time discussing the endless options available in the area for shopping, farmer’s markets, grass fed meat suppliers, and fish markets. We couldn’t have been more thrilled to meet this couple.

View of the residential area on Akaroa, New Zealand.

Once we arrive at our new home in four days, the owners will further educate us as to the many nearby conveniences, all within a 20-minute drive, along with our research, for the availability of restaurants, sights to visit, a fitness center, and a dentist for Tom’s bad tooth which is no longer problematic (for now).

I’ve fully recovered from the annoying cough and cold I’d caught on the plane. Luckily, it never impeded any of the activities aboard the ship and we’ve had an over-the-top experience.

Having been on this same ship, Celebrity Solstice in September 2014, we feel right at home, easily finding our way around the good-sized (not huge) vessel that carries 2850 passengers and 1250 crew and is 1033 feet, 315 meters long. 

Passengers on a sailboat ride in the bay.

On March 1, 2017, we’ll be cruising on this same ship for 12 days from Sydney to Sydney that visits a new country (to us) we’ve yet to visit in the South Pacific. Then again, on May 17, 2017, we’ll board this ship for the fourth time to sail from Vancouver to Seattle for an inside passage Alaskan cruise. 

Once we’re done with the Alaskan cruise, we’ll rent a car in Seattle and begin to make our way to Minnesota to visit family where we’ll stay for at least a month. When we booked our several remaining cruises, getting to Minnesota seemed a long time away.  And yet now, it’s a mere 16 plus months. Yep, “time flies when you’re having fun!

Soon, we’ll start preparing the directions for the five-plus-hour drive from Auckland to New Plymouth, NZ, (population 68,900) the closest city to our new location. Once we arrive in New Plymouth we’ll stop for groceries and supplies before arriving at the house. 

According to Audrey and Trevor, it’s only a 20-minute drive from New Plymouth to the house. We’ll certainly appreciate the close proximity to shopping and other conveniences and also the abundance of available products after living in Fiji for four months.

Tom’s burger lunch a few days ago by the pool. It’s been too cool and windy to use the ship’s pool.

Yesterday afternoon, I visited the “guest services” desk to inquire as to converting AU $500, USD $349 to New Zealand dollars. Checking online for the current (changing daily) exchange rate, we were well aware that an even conversion rate would be AU $500 to NZ $539. OK. That’s fine.

Asking the “guest services” how many NZ dollars they’d give us by handing over the AU $500, US $349, NZ $539 after checking their computer they explained they’d give us NZ $416! 

In other words, the fee for handling the transaction was outrageous costing us NZ $123, AU $114, US $86.  I walked away empty-handed returning the AU $500 to Tom’s wallet. There was no way we’d suffer such a loss for money exchange. 

We knew cruise ships generally gouged passengers to exchange money, having never asked for an exchange on our prior 11 cruises. We’ve always waited until we arrived at our destination to use an ATM, most often away from the port or airport where exchange rates are typically poor compared to an ATM in a small town or village.

Once we have the rental car in our possession we’ll find an ATM. What an eye-opener! With several trips scheduled to return to Sydney including a 40-day stay in 2017, we’ll easily use the Aussie cash. 

Tom went for the big time yesterday, eating these two plates of food, one hotdog, and one burger. I’ve stuck to one meal a day (dinner) after I found I just couldn’t eat twice a day, feeling too full for dinner, if I had breakfast. (The blue cast in this photo if due to a reflection from the blue glass windows on the ship).

Luckily, when we were leaving Fiji we used the last of our Fiji dollars and small change when we paid with cash and credit card for our overweight baggage. It makes no sense to be carrying leftover cash from numerous countries we visit. 

Other than our leftover AU $500 dollars, some US dollars, and Euros, we’ve used all of the other cash we accumulated along the way except for $1100 Kenyan Schillings, worth a paltry US $10.74. 

Today, our ship is docked in Wellington, NZ where we’ll return when we tour the South Island in March or April, the suggested months to see the most greenery. 

For now, we’re as content as we could be, living in the moment, enjoying every last day on the ship. 


Photo from one year ago today, January 15, 2015:

One year ago today, Tom captured this unusual moon photo the evening before we left the Big Island after the family visit ended. For the final expenses for the holiday gathering, please click here.

Curiosity about our lives from many passengers we meet…How could this life come to a quick end?

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Knox Church is a notable building in Dunedin, New Zealand. It houses the city’s second Presbyterian congregation and is the city’s largest church of any denomination.

As we’ve mentioned many times, people are exceedingly friendly on cruises, to a point that one would have to be a total recluse not to frequently engage in conversation with other passengers on a consistent basis.

There are countless areas where sharing a table is necessary, if not encouraged, which in doing so results in conversation no more than seconds after we’re seated. 

The only time of day we’re seated by ourselves is in the Café al Bacio, drinking coffee and tea, sitting at an ergonomically correct table and chairs for two while we prepare the day’s post.

A view of the village.

That’s not to say we avoid socializing while working on the post. Many people we’ve met and others that have seen us seated at this table, morning after morning, have stopped to talk inquiring as to what we’re doing here each day. 

We never mind stopping what we’re doing to chat. As a result, we’ve uploaded most posts later in the day than when we’re living somewhere for a period of time. 

Need I say how much fun it has been to interact so freely with many passengers from all over the world aboard this ship? We’ve handed out dozens of our business cards and look forward to hearing from them with suggestions for our travels when we visit places where they reside and places they’ve traveled.

Homes close to the ocean in Dunedin, New Zealand.

During these delightful conversations as we all share our stories, Tom often interjects that when my health returned after changing my diet, we decided to travel while we can. Who knows? It could change in a day. I could wake up tomorrow morning and not be able to walk and be in excruciating pain as I was, almost five years ago. 

After all, my dear sister Susan with the same inflammatory disease, four years my senior, has been lying in bed unable to walk for the past 10 years. That could be me and would have been having I not made this huge change in 2011. 

It was three months after changing my diet, the awful pain subsided and only a few months later, we decided to travel the world.  Who knew how long we’d have before it returned, making it impossible for me to carry on, putting a fast end to our world travels? 

Early morning view to Akaroa, New Zealand. We’ll return on our own to many of these quaint towns over the next three months. At present we’re planning a few overnight trips to tour both the North and South islands.

This single fact has motivated us to travel, Tom’s idea, not mine. I’d have never asked him to do this, although many of our family and friends assume it was my idea.  We never dreamed of traveling the world. 

All Tom cared to experience was traversing through the Panama Canal which we accomplished in January 2013 on a cruise from San Diego to Belize. My dream was Africa. Now with these glorious experiences behind us, we hunger for more, as good health continues, for as long as we’re gifted with this blessing. 

See how easy it is for me to avoid taking a single bite of food not allowed on my way of eating? The motivation is powerful and unwavering…food or happiness? I choose happiness over food every single day and have yet since 2011, taking one bite of any item not included in my way of eating. Why take the risk? 

Reflection of the ship on the sea as we anchored in Akaroa.  A 20-minute tender boat ride is required to go ashore.

As Tom often explains, “Touch a hot stove, burn yourself and you’ll never touch that hot stove again!” A simple premise but it easily explains it all. 

Thus, as we continue to meet people who usually inquiry as to what motivated us to leave everything we knew and loved behind, he jumps in with this explanation which often precipitates many questions as to what I eat and don’t eat and ultimately what conditions I have.

When I explain the condition is not gone but that I simply don’t experience the accompanying pain they get it.  We never forget for one hour, one day how fortunate we are and how humbled we are for the gift of having this opportunity to see the world for as long as we can.

While many passengers were off the ship on tours, we stayed on board when the crew had a mandatory emergency drill as shown in these photos.

Now, 39 months later, we’ve seen so much. On the other hand, we’ve seen so little with oceans of opportunities facing us in the near and distant future. We don’t worry about what we’ll do if the pain returns and we can’t carry on. We have no doubt, we’ll figure it out when the time comes.

Yes, dear readers, one day, you’ll open this post and you’ll see we can no longer continue.  But, for now, we’re like two 20-year-olds, having the time of our lives, feeling wonderful, tightly wrapped in each other’s arms, hoping and praying for one more day. This is the story we share.

Be well.

Photo from one year ago today, January 14, 2015:

This photo of the snorkeler was somewhat confusing.  Could they have been conducting some type of research?  For details, please click here.

We’ve reached the first of three fiords in New Zealand… Milford Sound…Photos!

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Milford Sound, New Zealand, although cloudy and rainy was an extraordinary place to see including the rainbow.

The anticipation we’re feeling over reaching the beautiful country of New Zealand is indescribable. With many Kiwi passengers and experienced travelers in our midst aboard this ship extolling the virtues of this country, we’re reeling with excitement.

This morning’s flurry of activity with everyone racing to the decks by 7:30 am to witness our entry into the first of three New Zealand fiords we’ll visit today, Milford Sound, loaded up with cameras, iPads, and cell phones in hand on a cool, windy day.

The sun peeked out for a moment, enhancing the scenery.

Milford Sound is described as follows:

“Milford Sound (Māori: Piopiotahi) is a fiord in the southwest of New Zealand‘s South Island, within Fiordland National Park, Piopiotahi (Milford Sound) Marine Reserve, and the Te Wahipounamu World Heritage site. It has been judged the world’s top travel destination in an international survey (the 2008 Travelers’ Choice Destinations Awards by TripAdvisor) and is acclaimed as New Zealand’s most famous tourist destination. Rudyard Kipling had previously called it the eighth Wonder of the World.”

There are numerous waterfalls in the sounds.

As the day continues, we’ll travel through two more major fiords, Doubtful Sound and Dusky Sound, for which we’ll share new photos tomorrow.  As has been typical this past year in our travels, it was cloudy and raining for most of the 90 minutes we sailed through this breathtaking area.

Inclement weather or not, we’re grateful to see these amazing sites, especially when we caught a glimpse of a rainbow and a large pod of Bottlenose dolphins. As often, my photo-taking skills aren’t quite perfected enough to get the quality shots of active marine life although I continue to try. In part, I think I get so excited seeing wildlife, I can barely hold the camera!

We wore long sleeve safari shirts with jeans, the warmest we’ve dressed since we were in Vancouver in September 2014.

And here we are again, after breakfast, back out to the open sea, situated in the Café al Bacio, sipping on hot beverages, content as we can be. We find sitting in this “Starbucks” type café an excellent spot to work on our site and meet new people.

Last night’s dinner with two English couples was as entertaining and fun as always. One of the couples actually lives in the village of Highclere where the popular TV series, Downton Abbey is filmed in the exquisite castle which we visited in August 2014. How fun it was to hear about their lives in the countryside in England!

At each meal, we meet new people, occasionally encountering a couple from a past meal reveling in the good time we had last time around, embracing the new meal together with enthusiasm. 

The time is flying as we’re now only one week from disembarking in Auckland, New Zealand to make our way via rental car to our new home for the next three months. 

Lots of clouds and a ray of sunlight.

We imagine that when most passengers are facing a cruise at the halfway point there’s a certain sense of disappointment anticipating that soon it will all end. We’re grateful that we don’t bear any significant disappointment in it coming to an end when the next leg of our journey will be equally as interesting and meaningful. 

We can’t help but feel a bit of disappointment that we won’t be able to chat with new people at every meal, easily enjoying the friendly companionship. Then, again, we’ve made new friends aboard the ship with whom we’ll surely stay in touch.

Posting has been difficult during this cruise due to our inability to upload more than a few photos each day. The Internet staff has explained that using the wifi mainly works for Facebook and a few email messages. We’re pleased to have been able to do as much as we have as we continue to make every effort to upload more photos each day.

What a view!

I suppose part of the difficulty is taking the time to complete a single post when people frequently stop by to chat. To avoid being rude, I stop looking at my laptop while we chat. Picking it back up 20 minutes later often results in my losing my momentum and flow. 

So, if it’s been scattered, we apologize and will get back on track once we’re living in NZ as we begin an entirely new adventure after settling into our new house on the alpaca farm and start exploring both the north and south islands. 

We’ll return tomorrow with more photos of the two other “sounds” we sail to today. Back at you later. Happy day to all!

Photo from one year ago today, January 12, 2015:

Ironically, one year ago today, we booked another cruise on this same ship we’re on now, the Celebrity Solstice, for March 1, 2017. For more details on that upcoming cruise in 14 months, please click here. (Unable to enlarge photo).

Ship docked in Tasmania today…Great comment from a loyal reader…

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 Due to a poor signal aboard ship, we’re unable to post many photos each day. 
Last night at the show, Jane, Tom and Rob, our new Aussie friends.

Today, our ship has docked at the port in Hobart, Tasmania. With our upcoming three months on the island beginning in less than 11 months, we decided we’ll save touring this interesting location for that time.

We’ll have a rental car for the full period and can travel at our own pace as we choose. Besides, I’m still nursing a cold/virus I picked up on the flight to Sydney when the man sitting next to me sneezed and coughed during the entire flight. With the use of Tylenol and a nasal spray I’m nursing it, hoping to return to total health in a few days.
As much as we’d prefer not to whine about being ill, we feel it’s only fair to our readers to tell-it-like-it-is including the less than ideal periods we experience from time to time.  
On occasion, most of us get colds, flu, viruses, infections or injuries which regardless of our aggressive preventive measures we can’t seem to avoid. It’s life. Ups and downs. How foolish and unrealistic our site would be if we only shared the “up” times and not the “down” periods.
The thought of doing more today than lounging with a cup of hot tea was beyond me. Thank goodness I’m not sneezing and coughing during the day or I’d quarantine myself to the cabin. Now, as day four since the onset of these symptoms, I’m hoping I’m not contagious.
No flash photography was allowed during the performance, making these photos a bit dark.
Luckily, over the past five days, I haven’t felt so badly that we weren’t able to go to breakfast and dinner. Last night, we dined with new friends, Jane and Rob from Australia. After dinner, at 9:00 pm we all attended the Andy Joy show in the Solstice Theatre, who’s a talented and versatile musician and singer. 
When the show ended, we said good night (no handshakes, no hugs) and headed to our cabin where again I had a good night’s sleep, vital during periods of feeling less than ideal.
Now, with 80% of the passengers off the ship for one of many Tasmanian tours, we’re again quietly content to be lounging in the Café al Bacio coffee bar. We’re contemplating spending a little time at the pool once we’re done posting. 
Today is a mild, not humid, sunny day, a rarity in our lives over these past many months of living in outrageously hot and humid weather. As we move along on this cruise, we’re expecting cooler weather which we’ll fully embrace.

As our posts have continued over the years, we’ve had countless heartwarming experiences of hearing feedback from our readers. Often, they prefer to email rather than post a comment at the end of any day’s post. Some prefer anonymity while others find it quicker and easier to email rather than post a comment.  Either way is fine for us.

However, we suspect that many of our readers enjoy reading the comments of other readers, although they may not be comfortable posting their own comments. I can easily be a “lurker” never saying “boo” on another blog or website I may peruse regularly or on occasion.

Getting into the theatre at the last minute we had no choice but to take seats on the side, not center section.

Our reader, Amit, who stumbled upon us accidentally only a short time ago, has sent email and also posted a few comments. An email he sent a few days ago lingered in my mind that it may be of interest to our other readers. Here’s Amit’s email message sent on January 5, 2016:

“Hi, Jess,
 I have continued reading your blog with great interest and have gotten to the part where you visit the Namale resort to celebrate the third anniversary of your adventure with Tom. Belated congratulations on your new to me occasion. 
    
One of my Facebook friends from my only adventure in the last 25 years, a trip to Central Europe, posted about her upcoming trip to Australia and Fiji and asked for advice. I eagerly recommended your blog and have showed it to other friends, especially the 8 visitors in 1 day post from Marloth Park. 
It’s exciting to realize that I am only 2 months of posts away from your real-time adventures, on a new Pacific Cruise if I remember correctly. In the post I’m reading now you talk about the world map of your travels which I always open in another window when I read your blog. 
You talk about updating and correcting the map and I’d just like to make one minor observation. The map has a link to Borabora in New Guinea rather than Bora Bora in French Polynesia. It would be so exciting if you did get to New Guinea on a cruise. Maybe later. 
Thank you so much for all happiness you have given me with this blog. It makes me excited for my own travels in the future. I really would like to go to Morocco now, although just for a short trip. And I never even knew about your favorite place, Marloth Park.”
His message immediately inspired Tom to correct the map on our homepage. Tom, who handles the map, got to work to make the corrections. In our ongoing efforts to always present a realistic and accurate representation of every aspect of our lives of travel, we can’t express how much we appreciate Amit alerting us to the error. 
The performer was versatile, playing multiple instruments including the piano.
In the past, other readers have offered correction suggestions all of which we’ve taken seriously which we’ve immediately implement when applicable. We welcome suggestions provided they aren’t of a “bashing” or bullying nature. We’ve certainly had a few such comments we soon deleted to which we’ve seldom responded.
This is a positive and “happy” place for us to share our experiences. Yes, some days things go wrong or we’re “under the weather” but that doesn’t diminish the overall depth of the quality of our journey. It all a part of life which for all of us is rarely a constant stream of perfection and ease.
We wrote back to Amit, thanking him for sharing his thoughts with us, explaining that he started at the beginning to read from our first post in March 15, 2012 to the present, which he’s almost reached.  Perhaps, by the time he reads about himself here, he’ll be caught up.
Today’s post is #1257. Amit, that’s quite a commitment and we thank and commend you for tackling it and, for sharing it with your friends and for writing to us. 
As we strive to continue to grow our worldwide readership, sharing our web address with family and friends is so appreciated and meaningful to us. All you need to do is send them an email including this link:  www.worldwidewaftage.com
It will direct your friends to today’s newest post which changes daily as we continue to post 365 days a year…366 this year, a leap year.
That’s it for today, folks. We hope you have a wonderful day. We’ll be back tomorrow with more new photos as we continue to revel in our “boatload” of new friends and experiences!
Photo from one year ago today, January 9, 2015:
A map illustrating how the city of Hilo near the bay was wiped out from tsunamis over the years.  Notice the Lyman Museum name at the top of this page, which we’d also visited in December 2015 with the family. Click here for details.

We made it to Sydney!…What a city!…

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He’s so happy. Gosh, we love this life!  I took this photo in the rain when we found an overhang on the sidewalk on George St. in Sydney .
OK, my hat was lopsided, but it made it possible for me to take a few photos in the rain. Fashionable? No. Functional? Yep.

OK, here’s how it went. On Sunday afternoon, we checked in for our flight using a bad wifi signal, from Suva, Fiji to Sydney, Australia, a four-hour non-stop flight.

Our flight confirmation paper documents stated our flight on Monday, January 4th was at 11:15 am. We booked several flights in and around Fiji using a local travel agency while we were living in Trinity Beach, Australia last June to September. 

It was the first time we’d used a travel agency to book any of our travels, other than Vacationstogo.com which we use to book cruises, mainly for their great prices and service.

The first four flights were fine. Yesterday’s fifth flight was “confirmed” in writing for the above date and time. As soon as we were online at Fiji Airway’s site to check in on Sunday, there was no flight listed at 11:15 am as stated in our documents, only one flight at 8:35 am with the same flight number as indicated on the documents. 

We were able to check-in thus affirming that somewhere along the way either the agency gave us the wrong information or the flight was changed and we weren’t notified. They had a record of our email and phone numbers for both Fiji and the US.

Immediately, we hustled to change our shuttle to Suva, Nasouri Airport from a 7:45 am pickup to a 5:15 am pickup which for us, is a bit challenging. Although we get up early most days, getting up at 4:15 and out the door, an hour later is not our thing.

No problem on the shuttle. They’d arrived at our door at 5:15 for the 90-minute drive to the airport. Hoping to arrive by 6:45 am, we’d have time to go through customs and immigration and an expected huge queue at the international flights when we realized it was the first Monday after the holidays and the tiny airport would be swamped

If we didn’t get checked in and dump our checked baggage by 8:05 am they’d literally “close” check-in and we’d miss the flight.

Awakening at 3:45 am, I bolted out of bed without the alarm on my phone never going off, and jumped in the shower, bleary-eyed after only about four fitful hours of sleep. Minutes later, Tom was awake and we dashed around the house, tidying up, closing our bags moving everything back to where it was when we arrived. 

When the driver appeared at 4:55 am we were ready to leave. Good timing.  Arriving any later we’d have had a problem at the tiny airport, which was more packed than we expected with mostly Fijians heading back to their homes in Australia. Oddly, we spotted only one person that appeared to be Caucasian among the hundreds waiting in line.  We were right at home. 

Taxidermy croc for sale in a shop window. My lower legs and feet are also shown in this photo. In the rain, I wasn’t particular about getting good shots.

(For some odd reason, wherever we may be, we always feel as if we belong. What’s the deal with that? The acceptance and welcoming we’ve received worldwide have been astounding).

When our turn popped up, we were hardly surprised to discover our luggage load was severely overweight. We didn’t have to step on the huge old-fashioned scale this time, only the bags.  We were presented with a bill over and above the already paid cost of the flight for FJD $936, USD $438! Even the rep winced when he told us how much it would be. 

Yesterday, we took the elevator to the hotel’s rooftop for a few photos in the rain. This was not our ship which hadn’t arrived yet.

At this point, we’ve come to accept that this is “the nature of the beast.” That’s why we love cruising so much (among other reasons)…no baggage fees. Sure, our readers may cringe and say, “Oh, I could get that load lightened enough to avoid excess fees.” 

Please, dear friends…walk in these shoes…these few pairs each, and see what you’d be willing to get dispose of. Not much. It’s bare-bones. I don’t own a bathrobe, a dress, or a bathing suit cover-up. Tom doesn’t own a suit coat, a pair of dress pants, or a robe either, which we both love wearing after a warm shower.

This is the Metcalfe Bond building.

We each have two pairs of jeans, several pairs of shorts, and a variety of tee shirts along with a few casual dressy shirts for dinner on cruises and otherwise. I have two lightweight casual skirts that I can dress up with one of two scarves and a belt. It’s truly bare-bones.

So…we pay the price, accepting the reality that we care enough that we look presentable in many situations with what we may have on hand. We’re not backpackers. We’ll never be backpackers. 

Finally, we were seated and buckled in on the fully packed 737 jet. Sitting next to me at the window was a man who had to weigh at least 400 pounds, 182 kilos, tall and burly. His thighs were the size of two of Tom’s. 

The Sydney Harbour Bridge. While taking this photo Tom suggested I zoom in for the people walking across the top of the bridge, as shown in today’s photos.

He occupied his seat and half of mine. I was in the middle, Tom on the aisle. Heavy breather. Poor guy was cramped. I did everything I could to contribute as much of my seat as possible to allow him to be somewhat comfortable. Instead, I was cramped and uncomfortable for the entire four hours sitting almost sideways on my seat. Tom offered to switch with me. I refused.

Instead of thinking about it, we played Gin. I wound up winning for Fiji. That helped. They served breakfast. I ate the scrambled eggs when they said were gluten-free but nothing else. It was fine. We were fine. There was no turbulence over the vast sea. A baby in the seat in front of us cried and fussed a lot.

Finally, we landed in Sydney. The plane had to wait 40 minutes for a gate. It was raining hard and we were glad there would be a “tube” instead of the usual steep metal steps outside the plane. It was worth the wait. We didn’t complain.

Brave souls, walking across the top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, known as the Bridge Climb. Please click here for details. This might be fun for those that don’t mind heights. 

We breezed through immigration and customs after a long wait for the bags. Once out the door, we grabbed a van and made our way to the hotel, the Old Holiday Inn, a very nice hotel with mixed reviews. Very close to the port of Sydney, we were happy. Free WiFi with a strong signal. 

Tom was chomping at the bit to watch the Vikings game which was live on Aussie TV.  The TV wouldn’t work, nor would the phone in order to report it.

Mr. Overly Grumpy himself reappeared as I dashed off to the front desk to report the two issues. In no time at all, a maintenance guy appeared in our room, removing the bad phone replacing it with another, and got the TV working. 

Tom was so worked up he had to take off his shirt. I never take my shirt off when I get worked up. It must be a guy thing.

Notice the cruise ship in the background.  Our ship hadn’t arrived yet but is certainly there now.  How exciting! This building only had the letters “ASN” listed on the building.

Soon, the game was on and he was happy again, with a bit of tail between his legs. I stayed unruffled but gloated a little over my (mostly) continuing “overly bubbly” demeanor, weird in its consistency. How could I not?

In essence, we balance each other. When I was fussing over the prospect of getting up so early after our oddly discovered flight time change, Tom was calm and cool, making every effort to ease my concern over the prospect of having a bad night’s sleep. When all was said and done, I was fine, certainly eased by his ongoing emotional support and reassurances.  We each had about four hours of sleep.

We needed a number of preventive items for the cruise, just in case, and had to find a nearby chemist and an ATM.  We needed hand sanitizer wipes, (we already have those for cleaning surfaces in the cabin and elsewhere), nasal spray (specifically for travelers to prevent infections which we’ll report back if that works), cough medicine with codeine like an ingredient legal in AU, Benedryl, a mascara (mine was empty), and a few other odds and ends.

Our ship has arrived!  Tom took this photo a few minutes ago when he went back up on the roof.  So close but so far away with our luggage.

After the chemist, a several-block walk in the pouring rain, with success in finding varying degrees of the list on my phone, we found an ATM. It wasn’t working. Tom was worried. I wasn’t. We went back to the room to call Wells Fargo to find out the problem with our debit cards. We’d already notified them where we’d be traveling over the next year.

Calling Wells Fargo on Skype, there was no problem with the card.  We had to find another machine. Tom headed out on his own leaving me in the room while he dashed back out in the rain.  Within 10 minutes he was back with a handful of Aussie dollars. He was happy now.

Sailboat entering the harbor.

Not wanting to go back out in the pouring rain, we dined in the hotel’s restaurant, a fixed price menu that proved perfect for me; Caesar salad minus croutons or dressing;  salmon filet and steamed broccoli and spinach with butter. Tom had leek onion soup, steak, potatoes, veggie, and rolls. He especially liked the roll. His cruise dining habits have begun. Lips zipped here.

Soon, we’ll be off to the ship. Tom had hoped we could walk our bags using carts to the port but the hotel doesn’t have carts or porters, plus we’re way too far away and also the pouring rain continues and there’s no way that makes sense. We’ll get a taxi to take us the distance of four or five long blocks.

Thanks, dear readers, for following us to Sydney and now onto the Celebrity Solstice. We hear the seas are rough!  Sounds exciting!

Photo from one year ago today, January 5, 2015:

Longs Drugs, permanently closed and boarded up due to pending lava flow on the Big Island, close to where we lived for six weeks. We’d shopped at this store the day they closed for some huge bargains but felt bad for the employees who’d be out of jobs.  For more details, please click here.

documentswriting that provides information (especially information of an official nature)More (Definitions, Synonyms, Translation)

We’re on the move!…Final expenses for four months on two Fijian islands, separately and combined…

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Sunset at the Uprising Resort in Pacific Harbour where we dined.

We’re on our way to Sydney today to spend one night in a hotel. While in the hotel Tom will watch the Minnesota Vikings game on his laptop while I work on the next day’s post. The following day we’ll board the Celebrity Solstice for a 14-day cruise, one of six cruises we’ve booked in the South Pacific, enabling us to circumvent Australia. (This doesn’t include the Mekong River cruise in July 2016).

By the time we board the final of these cruises, we’ll be on our way to the US in May 2017.  Upon arrival in Seattle we’ll head to Vancouver for a two-day stay, then board a nine-night Alaskan cruise. After that cruise, we’ll drive across the northern tier of the US to head to Minnesota for a visit. From there, we’ll fly to Nevada to visit more family members, renew our driver’s license and take care of a few business items. 

Then, on August 1st, we’ll make our way to the fabulous property, we booked in Costa Rica for a three months stay. Then…South America, here we come!  It’s all exciting to us, every single aspect including the time with family and friends.

Now, as we wrap up the four months we’ve spent in the Fiji islands, on both Vanua Levu and Viti Levu, the two largest of the 330 plus islands in the archipelago it’s time to wrap up the total expenses during this period. 

We’ve copied the figures for the first three months from the last day’s post in Savusavu as shown below. Further down, we’ve shown the expenses for the 28 days spent in Pacific Harbor. At the end of both of these, you’ll find the grand totals.

Bollywood Dancing at the Uprising Resort on a Saturday night.

Savusavu, Vanua Levu, Fiji
September 8, 2015 to December 6, 2015
88 days
Rent:      USD $6,000, FJD $12,832
Airfare:   USD $2,758, FJD $5,899  (This total includes five flights to get us here from Cairns, Australia and back to Sydney, Australia).
Food:      USD $2,293, FJD $4,904  (includes all groceries and household supplies)
Dining:    USD $165, FJD $353
Taxi:       USD $393, FJD $841
Tips:       USD $200, FJD $428
Postage:  USD $213, FJD $456
ATM fees:USD $234 FJD $500
Vodafone USD $495, FJD $1,059

Grand Total:  USD $12,751, FJD $27,271
Monthly Avg: USD$  4,250,  FJD $  9,090

Pacific Harbour, Viti Levu, Fiji
December 6, 2015 to January 4, 2016
28 days
Rent:      USD $2,800, FJD $5986
Airfare:   USD $0, FJD $0  (This total is included above in the cost of the five flights from Cairns, Australia, Fiji flights and back to Sydney, Australia on January 4th).
Excess Baggage Fees: USD $105 FJD $225
Food:       USD $667, FJD $1426  (includes all groceries and household supplies)
Dining:     USD $367, FJD $785
Taxi:        USD $177, FJD $378
Tips & Cleaning: USD $167, FJD $356
Postage:   USD $0 FJD $0
ATM fees: USD $17.50 FJD $37
Vodafone: USD $0, FJD $0  (Data was included in rental.  Hotspot we’d brought with us with many remaining gigs from Savusavu didn’t work well in Pacific Harbour).

Grand Total:  USD $ 4,300,  FJD $ 9,193
Monthly Avg:  USD$ 4,607 , FJD $ 9,849 (based on 30 days)

Fiji, four-month totals
Grand total:   USD $17,051 FJD $36,454
Monthly Avg:  USD $4,410  FJD $ 9,428 (based on a 30 days)
Daily Avg: USD $147 FJD $314 (actual cost per day for 116 days)

The vegetable stand where we purchased most of our produce during the 28-day stay.

We couldn’t be more pleased with these totals. Although it would cost considerably more to visit Fiji to stay in a resort/hotel at no less than USD $200, FJD $428 per day plus the cost of airfare, meals, tips, excursions, and transportation, an economically minded traveler preferring to stay in a hotel, could easily expect to spend an average of USD $571, FJD $1,021 per day.

For a two week holiday/vacation the cost may easily end up at a minimum of USD $8,000, FJD $17,105 which would not include shopping and miscellaneous expenses such as spa services, wifi fees, purchasing trinkets, excess baggage and fees for sports equipment. Of course, staying in vacation homes as we’ve done, considerably reduces the cost.

With many similar vacations requiring less travel time and lower expenses, many Americans and others may choose to travel to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, most of which are more readily accessible on shorter, less expensive flights.

Is Fiji worth a visit? We’ve enjoyed it very much under the circumstances by which we’ve traveled, arriving from Australia as opposed to traveling from the US and, in staying in vacation homes, purchasing groceries, using low cost taxi service as opposed to renting a car which is very expensive on most islands. 

For a luxury hotel experience, the cost will easily be two to three times or more than our estimates. As I prepare this post, Tom researched the cost of round trip flights from Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA to Fiji, staying on only the main island of Viti Levu. 

Papaya growing in the backyard reachable from the wraparound veranda.

With three layovers, the RT cost per person at today’s rates for next September (as an example since we arrived in September) is USD $1,784 FJD $3,814 per person, taking a total of 31.5 hours from takeoff to final landing providing there are no delays. 

This airfare was the lowest rate Tom could find, however there are shorter travels times at higher rates cutting the travel time by as much as 12 hours. Also, consideration must be made for an additional fare for a satisfactory return flight which can bump up the cost considerably. 

In all, for those traveling to Fiji from as far away as the US, it’s wise to consider almost three days of travel and recovery time. Plus, one must consider the loss of one day when arriving and then regaining the day should they commence their travel while crossing the International Dateline.

Whew!  For those with more time than two weeks, also visiting Australia, New Zealand, and other nearby countries, Fiji may make a lot more sense economically.

We have no regrets about visiting Fiji and are actually grateful for the experience. It further “toughened us” in being more tolerant with 10% of our time in power outages, near-constant heat and humidity, lots of mosquito bites, and the ants, many ants, many, many ants.

One must also consider the weather which while we’ve been living in Fiji has been cloudy and rainy no less than 80% of the total time. The rainy season in Fiji is as follows (which apparently has been higher this year per this chart):

Suva, Fiji Weather
Temperature (Fahrenheit)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High 86 86 86 84 82 80 79 79 80 81 83 85
Low 74 74 74 73 71 69 68 68 69 70 71 73
Average 80 80 80
78
 76 74 73 73 74 75 77 79
Temperature (Celsius)
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
High 30 30 30 29 28 27 26 26 27 27 28 29
Low 23 23 23 23 22 21 20 20 21 21 22 23
Average 27 27 27 26 24 23 23 23 23 24 25 26
Precipitation
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Inches 11 11 15 12 10 7 5 8 8 8 10 13
Centimeters 28 28 38 30 25 18 13 20 20 20 25 33
Precipitation Days
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Days 16 16 18 17 16 13 11 15 15 15 16 17
On the flip side, we’ve loved the local people we’ve met along the way, the availability of fresh organic food, the high level of friendliness, the beautiful scenery and the reasonable cost of living.


As for the two houses we’ve lived in, by far, we’ve preferred the house here in Pacific Harbour with many more amenities, considerably larger with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a larger refrigerator, AC in the bedroom (which eventually we had to use), is in better overall condition with easy access to the pool outside the backdoor. As shown above, the rent differential was well worth it. 

For the link to this property, please click here. Susan, the owner, is a breeze to work with and extremely helpful.

The river bridge we crossed many times on our neighborhood walks.

Vinaka, Fiji. We’ve enjoyed our time in your country and although we doubt we’d ever return for a long  stay, we have good memories to carry in our hearts always.

Next time, we’ll “see” you, will be the post I’ll prepare for the following (Monday for some, Tuesdays for us) from our hotel in Sydney, Australia while Tom’s wrapped up the Minnesota Viking football game. Hopefully, the playoff games will be broadcast aboard the ship. Thanks to all of our readers for sharing Fiji with us! Stay tuned for lots more!

Photo from one year ago today, January 4, 2015:

One year ago today, we moved from the second house we rented back to the first house as the last of our family member left the Hawaiian Islands. Moving was time consuming and challenging and we were relieved to be settled with a remaining 10 days until we’d depart for Kauai for a remaining four months.  For more details, please click here.

One more day…Wrapping up the details…This and that…More favorite photos…

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Tom and I after dinner on his birthday when my clothes were dirty from my flying lobster tail landing in my lap.

Yesterday, I finished packing except for a few toiletries we’ll need today and tomorrow morning. Tom has waited to pack until today, but all of his clothes are neatly folded, button shirts plastic wrapped and stacked on the extra bed in his clothing bedroom.

Gee…its been nice for each of us to have one extra bedroom to store our clothing, making packing all the easier and more convenient. We’ve rarely made extra bedrooms a criterion in selecting vacation homes. If they have more than one bedroom, great. If not, we carry on.

When we originally planned our travels in 2012, we’d expected family and friends would visit from time to time. This hasn’t occurred much when we’ve been too far away in most cases. 

Tom’s sisters and brothers-in-law visited us early on in our travels in the vacation home in Henderson, Nevada, our kids and grandchildren visited the Big Island and my sister visited Kauai this past March. A few other visitor possibilities have arisen but unfortunately, we didn’t have enough space at the time.

Making three bedrooms or more a criteria would greatly reduce the opportunity to visit certain countries when prices for vacation homes may be higher in some locations due to demand with an overall higher cost of living.

We spent time with the honeymoon couple, Samantha and Danny at dinner. This photo was taken by our taxi driver after a dinner out at the Arts Village.

As a result, we’d chosen location and price as our top priorities, number of bedrooms as a matter of convenience, not a necessity. Since we plan almost two years out, if family or friends would like to visit, we’ll always know well in advance what’s booked in the future and if it will work.

This Pacific Harbour house has actually been one of our favorite houses as far as houses go, although we haven’t had a view other than exquisite vegetation which has been fine. The private pool has compensated for a lack of oceanview. On a few occasions, we’ve had both with more yet to come.

Anyway, on to this and that…many months ago when we lived in Trinity Beach Australia, we were contacted by a couple from the US, around our ages, who planned to travel the world for two years to then settle down. 

They’d asked lots of questions as to the feasibility and the particulars and we were happy to offer suggestions.  Tom had met them online at the popular cruisecritic.com and, we’ll be on the same cruise in two days, departing from Sydney. 

It’s not unusual to meet other passengers on cruisecritic.com well in advance of the cruise with plans to meet in person once on board the ship. At this point, we have three such meetings planned for this cruise, two separate groups for private excursions for six, a planned dinner, and of course, the couple traveling the world for two years who’s cabin in on our same deck.

Tom, on the night of his birthday for a fabulous dinner at the Pearl’s gourmet restaurant, Seduce, definitely deserved a five-star review.

As we chatted back and forth with Doreen for over a week via email we realizing writing was taking too much time, we decided to speak on Skype which worked much better. We covered a lot of ground. Our site has tons of information on the “how-to” of world travel from what we’ve learned over these past four years on continuing research. 

But, with over 1250 posts to date, searching through our archives for each entry is time-consuming, especially for the less experienced web users. We’re always happy to assist in any way we can. Of course, after these 39 months of travel, we still have a lot to learn but feel we have a handle on many areas of concern.

Last night, I heard from Doreen once again after a few month’s hiatus to hear they’ve been enjoying living in an apartment in Sydney and are busy packing for the cruise. We made a loose plan to meet in person at the first organized cruisecritic.com party which most likely will be held within 24 hours of boarding the ship. A notice will be posted in our cabin as to the dates and times of parties.

It’s from these events (as well as simply sitting about the ship) we usually have an opportunity to meet many other travelers, some on vacation/holiday only and others who travel frequently. 

This photo is so me…lots of disgusting looking seafood which I find delectable.

At times we hear of others who’ve sold everything, as we have and are traveling permanently like us, but we’ve yet to meet anyone, as yet, who has no home base. We’ve met many couples and individuals who’ve been traveling long term or to many locations over a period of years with a home base they return to from time to time. 

However, we often find tremendous enjoyment in meeting others who may not travel more frequently than once or twice a year or less. After all, there’s more to us and to them than travel. All of us have a diverse range of interests that has nothing to do with where we live or where we visit, providing many opportunities for engaging conversation and commonality.

Tonight, we’ve decided to dine in having “breakfast” for dinner using our remaining eggs, cheese, fresh mushrooms, onion, and tomatoes. Mainly, we’re motivated to dine in more due to the fact that we didn’t want to wear anything that may need washing other than the few casual items we’re wearing today, than in using any leftover items. 

Leaving tomorrow (Monday) at 7:45 am, and with rain today there’s no further opportunity for another load of laundry. Yesterday, with the sun out off and on, we managed a bit of pool and chaise lounge time. We both have a little tan base which will enable us to spend 40 minutes a day at the ship’s outdoor pool without the necessity of sunscreen.

(From considerable research over these years, we’ve discovered that the use of sunscreen prevents the absorption of Vitamin D. Only about 20 minutes on each side should be a small enough dose of sun to reduce the risks of skin cancer and yet add an excellent dose of the vital vitamin. More sun exposure may be risky, especially for fair-skinned individuals such as Tom).

This photo from Christmas Day at the Pearl is so “Tom,” who loves good meat and sweets.

Thanks to all of our readers for continuing to share in our ongoing journey over this past year when we’ve stayed in locations for longer periods than we may in the future; eight months in Hawaii and four months in Fiji.  During these longer stays, we’ve come to realize that future bookings will most likely not include four months in one location, except for one. 

The only country where we’ll live for four months is upcoming in Bali beginning in April when we’ll live in the same property two times, two months each, with a two-month break in between, all due to visa restrictions.  The property was irresistible, affordable with the ocean and a pool, and breaking it up into two segments should work well for us. More on that later.

After tomorrow’s post which will automatically upload while on our way to the Nausori Airport in Suva, which includes all of our expenses for both islands and a grand total for the four months we’ve spent in Fiji. The next morning you’ll see a post about our one-day stay in a hotel in Sydney with a few photos. From there, posts will be aboard ship and on the excursions, we’ve planned.

Happy day after the New Year’s celebrations and may those still working, may you have an easy and painless entry into the new year when heading back to work. 

Photo from one year ago today, January 3, 2015:

This sign served as a valuable warning to keep us and others from exploring beyond this point when we visited Lava Tree Park one year ago. For more details, please click here.