Live from explorer--otaru Japan to Guam Sept 19-Sept 30

[drron29]

Signing on.Yes disappointing that we have missed some islands but the time in Chichijima was just fantastic.A beautiful place.Unfortunately very difficult to get to.Very friendly and they do understand a lot of English.

Had a drink at the Heart Rock Café.Just had to.

I am organising my photos and will start a report on our time on the cruise and the days in Japan before it.Have been doing a lot of work offline and nearly ready to go.

So sorry to Rachel for this hijack.

[patnlcc]

Looking forward to your posts, Ron. Have thoroughly enjoyed Rachel's too.

[5waldos]

....Had a drink at the Heart Rock Café.Just had to.

 

 

And I have to ask- typo/spell check error or another great English is a foreign language sign error? Whichever I like. It.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[RachelG]

No worries re hijacking dr Ron. I am anxiously awaiting your photos.

 

Heart rock cafe is not a typo or mis translation. There is a rock at the entrance to the harbor called heart rock.

 

September 25, 2014--Chichi-jima Japan

 

After a good sleep as we were docked at Chichi-jima, we awoke to a nice sunny day with temps in the low 80's, but a good breeze.

 

In the morning, various tours were offered, a walking tour around the village, a minibus tour of the island, and a hiking tour. We of course did the hiking. We climbed on a good path up and up to a Shinto shrine, through some WWII tunnels, and up to a ridge which overlooked the bay. It was warm, so a lot of sweating, but the breeze cooled us so it was not too uncomfortable.

 

After the hike, George and I took a walk through the town. We love to check out grocery stores wherever we go, so that was top on the list. They had the most amazing array of ramen noodles I have ever seen. Also a wide variety of chips. We bought some BBQ ones to munch on, but they were unlike any BBQ chip I have ever tasted. More a smoke flavor, not bad, just not what we expected.

 

There is a nice beach right in town, so we decided to go back to the ship to change and go swimming. Perfect clear turquoise water and quite a few fish.

 

Sail away was at lunch time, and a group of drummers performed for us. They were actually very good.

 

Lazy afternoon. We saw lots of seabirds dive bombing for fish and a school of dolphins swam beside us for quite a while, jumping up out of the water right beside our window. There were beautiful looking islands on one side. George is already wanting to return to explore more.

[jpalbny]

RachelG, enjoying your posts and descriptions of the cruise. Wish we were there with all of you!

 

There is a Sweetheart Rock on Lana'i but no café there... The Four Seasons next door should take a hint and open a (Sweet) Heart Rock Café of their own!

[RachelG]

September 26, 2014--at sea

 

Sometime during the night, about 1 am, we passed Iwo Jima. Ships are not allowed to stop there, but I do wish it had been during the daytime so I could at least said that I had seen the island from a distance.

 

The sun is out today and it is not windy, but there is a lot of swell due to the storm we are skirting around. Not much to do except exercise, read, or nap.

 

There was a nice platter of sushi and sashimi at lunch time, plus saki for those who want it.

 

In the afternoon, the seas calmed a bit, so I was able to walk out on the deck. And there was a nice lecture on fish communication. We did not do as well at trivia, coming in 3rd.

 

Tonight is the Venician society party and dinner. The party is for all those who have sailed silversea before. On this cruise, that is the vast majority of those onboard.

[RachelG]

September 27, 2014

 

We had to set the clocks ahead one hour last evening, but not a problem since today is another sea day.

 

Intermittently sunny then overcast and temps in the 80s with a light breeze. Still some swell, but the seas are significantly calmer than yesterday.

 

There were a couple of lectures, crew safety drill. Trivia consisted of all questions pertaining to WD40. No team did very well.

 

Hopefully we will make it to Pagan by in the morning and weather will cooperate. The map on the tv looks promising. Multiple sea days on this ship are pretty boring. I was planning on 2, as per the published itinerary, which would have been ok. We have missed 3 ports. Do not want to miss any more.

 

We had a delicious dinner at Hot Rocks, the outside pool deck at night. For some reason, it was much better than when we were on Spirit, perhaps because we are in a more tropical area, but it was just great fun. We had surf and turf, lobster and steak, outstanding.

[patnlcc]

Have just heard on the bbc news that a volcano has erupted in Japan. Hope you folks are all safe.

[RachelG]

We are fine. Saw some pictures of the eruption on the BBC.

[RachelG]

September 28, 2014-Pagan, Northern Mariana Islands

 

Bright and early at 7:00, the captain came on and announced we were at Pagan and that zodiacs were being sent out. A nice sunny day with a little haze. We are in a fairly protected harbor called Turtle Beach. There is no dock here, so it was a wet landing. The swell was pretty right as you got to the beach, and a few people got soaked. I made it off unscathed.

 

Pagan is a volcanic island with 2 volcanos, one of which is still quite active. It belches up steam and a little ash almost all the time, and there are fairly recent lava flows. Only somewhere between 7 and 15 people live on the island (depending on who you ask) along with about 300 cows, a herd of goats, some chickens, and several dogs. We were greeted by all of these. The islanders were very welcoming and seemed happy to have us visit.

 

There were 3 different walks offered of varying difficulty, or you could just explore on your own. George and I took off to see the old airfield which had a recent lava flow through the middle. There were some shot down Japanese planes, Japanese bunkers and pillboxes, and George found a old piece of unexploded ordinance.

 

It was very hot and humid, so we were pretty much soaked when it started raining. The rain actually didn't last too long, and since we were already wet, we didn't really care. Plus it cut down on the flies, which were everywhere.

 

When the rain shower cleared, we hiked down to one of the black sand beaches. George had a swim. The undertow was really strong, so I just waded with my feet in the water.

 

Zodiac ride back to the ship was refreshing. After lunch, we sailed around the island which is lush green, almost like Ireland, except for the volcano and intermittent lava flows.

 

Captain's farewell tonight. Delicious dinner with friends. The risotto with truffles was particularly good as was the red snapper.

[WesW]

Rachel & George, thanks again for taking time to share (well done) y'alls on board experience.

[RachelG]

September 29,2014--Saipan and Tinian

 

We sailed into Saipan harbor very early in the am. Everyone onboard had to have a face to face inspection to clear customs and immigration, but this went really quickly. By 8 am, we could disembark.

 

The choices for the day were an island tour by bus visiting numerous significant WWII sites and ending at the American WWII memorial and park or going by shuttle to the memorial then doing whatever you wanted. Micro Beach is right at the park, and we were told we could snorkel there.

 

Of course, George wanted to do the 2nd choice. The shuttle ran every 30 minutes. It was hazy and warm in the early morning, but with a pleasant breeze. The park is very nice with several memorials, both to the American military personnel who died, but also one to the local people who died. This one listed the ages as well as names. It was very sad to see many many babies and small children listed, often what appeared to be entire families.

 

The museum is small but well done. It told the history of the island and inhabitants prior to the war, then proceeded to the battle. I found it interesting that the local people were afraid of the Americans because the Japanese had told them that Americans were blood thirsty and evil. So when the battle was over, the people who had survived were hiding in caves and scared to come out.

 

The beach was not that great. Too much grass in the water and most of the sand was covered with seaweed.

 

We returned to the ship for lunch while sailing to Tinian. A bit of excitement during lunch. The wind had really picked up, and as we were turning out of the harbor, a big wave hit the side of the ship. Lots of crashing of plates and silverware. A big bowl of red cabbage salad went flying off the buffet, but everything was efficiently cleaned up.

 

In the afternoon, we arrived at Tinian, very close to Saipan but much less developed and a much smaller port. The beaches here are really beautiful though, wide with powdery white sand, perfect for walking, with very few people. And the snorkeling is excellent right from the beach. George pronounced it the best ever, which is high praise because we have been a lot of places for snorkeling.

 

There was a shuttle to and from Tochanga beach every 30 minutes. The other option was a bus tour of the island featuring North Field, the airstrip where Enola Gay took off, and a bunch other WWII sites.

 

After we returned from snorkeling, we faced the sad task of packing. There was a screening of the DVD of the voyage produced by Bruno, the ship photographer. He is really very talented.

[RachelG]

Up early as the announcement was made that the customs agents were onboard to clear the ship. At 8:15, the ship was cleared for disembarkation, and we were the 3rd couple off. Our friends, Jerry and Helen, were with us to meet our driver for an island tour before our afternoon flight. Suitcases were already offloaded and waiting.

 

We had a bit of a snafu as the port authorities were not letting drivers or taxis into the port itself. There was supposed to be a shuttle, but it was not there. So we had to drag our luggage a ways to the port entrance where our driver was waiting and trying to convince the authorities to let him in. Fortunately the walk was paved.

 

We had a good drive around the island stopping at several WWII sites and the museum. Lunch was at a local place right on the shore with fresh caught fish, very good. Then to the airport for our flight to Tokyo where we will spend the night before flying home in the am.

 

The trip has had some good stops and some big disappointments. The missed ports were especially bad. Though no one can control weather, the one missed due to the fisherman's union not letting us land could and should have been prevented. That should have all been worked out ahead of time.

 

The ship itself is in good condition with the exception of some worn carpeting on the stairs. Food was overall very good, though the salad bar at lunch could have used more variety. But I certainly did not go hungry. The crew is outstanding, one of the best, particularly the dining room and bar staff. They have your names and preferences memorized after the first day.

 

Internet access was much better than expected. I was able to online every day, with only a couple of failed tries.

 

It was a unique itinerary--jealous of those who are getting stay onboard and continue to more Micronesian islands.

[spinnaker2]

Thanks Rachel. I enjoyed your postings. Sorry about the missed ports. We had a similar experience on the Discoverer, and I felt that it could have been avoided as well.

Safe journey home.[emoji569]️

[RachelG]

An experiment in posting pics--sunset on Miyake-jima

[jpalbny]

Keep up the experimentation - I like the results! :)

[RachelG]

Perfect fruits in Sapporo

 

 

[RachelG]

Squid is very popular in Hakodate and you can find it just about anywhere. This is a store selling only dried squid snacks.

 

[RachelG]

George trying to decide between ice cream flavors. How about some squid ink? Yum.

[jpalbny]

George trying to decide between ice cream flavors. How about some squid ink? Yum.

 

Ew. Maybe in my pasta or risotto... But how was it?

[RachelG]

Ew. Maybe in my pasta or risotto... But how was it?

HAHA, he was too chicken to even try. He had plain vanilla. I don't do ice cream, but I would have given the wine flavor a try.

Now, a few more pics. I have to do this a bit at a time as I haven't figured out how to do it from my ipad, only from my desktop, so that is a bit limiting.

 

Giant Japanese crows in Hakodate.

[RachelG]

Our welcome committee in Miyake-jima. They were very welcoming, and one lady said there was even an article in the newspaper about our arrival and how they should be nice to us.

 

[RachelG]

George off on a wander through the lava on Miyake-jima

 

 

[RachelG]

The infamous volcano spewing out sulfur dioxide gas.

 

[RachelG]

Chichi-jima palm tree