Day 1 Louella found Hollywood
Day 2 - In Santa Barbara, Oprah did not answer the door
Day 3 - 7 Very rough seas going to Hawaii. People were walking like drunk sailors down the hallway. Dishes and glasses were rolling off tables.
Our shower door was opening and banging close in the middle of the night, so Louella came up with a MacGyver fix to keep the door closed using dental floss.
We arrived in LA on January 4th and started the cruise on January 6th. We took some tours while in LA.
Day 8 - Arrived in Kauai Hawaii where Jurassic Park was filmed but could not find any dinosaurs.
Day 9 - Arrived in Honolulu. Not my favorite city with tall hotels and many shopping malls, but the beaches are nice. All that I can say is Book 'EM Danno!
On day 3 of the 5 day sea journey to French Polynesia, we crossed the equator, but I never saw the red line.
Day 15 - On Saturday it was overcast in the morning at Bora Bora but from the balcony we could see the volcano in the clouds. We took the Glass Boat tour in the rain where you could view the fish in the coral reef.
French Polynesia consists of 188 islands. We will be visiting 3 islands; Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti.
Day 16 - On Sunday we arrived in another small island Moorea in French Polynesia. Another tropical rain forest. We took another boat ride including Captain Cook bay. I can not tell one small island from another
Tahiti Paradise ??
Day 17 - We arrived in the Tahiti capital Papeete at night expecting a lush paradise such as Moorea. Instead we saw a large airport and many buildings and houses on the hills.
On the tour we also visited several parks and gardens. Left photo shows the tree whose leaves are used to build thatched roofs that can last up to 10 years. Right photo shows the famous island gardenia flower.
Tahiti is famous for its black pearls. The black color of the pearl is completely natural and is the result of the very dark pigment secreted by the special black-lipped oyster found in French Polynesia. We were told that many pearls being sold in the city were fake, so we will check Amazon.
On a city tour we visited a Market Center that sold local items such as perfume, vanilla and thatch woven items such as hats and hand bags.
Tahiti has natural black sand beaches that unfortunately we were not able to visit.
On board in the ship theater, a troop of Tahiti dancers performed their native dance. I was far away with big heads in front of me, so not a good picture.
Day 21 - We entered the Twilight Zone where Friday January 26th never existed. Went to bed on Thursday 25th and woke up Saturday 27th? We crossed the International Date Line.
Our next stop is Hawaii
Our next stop is French Polynesia