our awesome world adventure

Bar Harbor was once a summer playground for the very rich and famous. They built mansions here for summer holidays. As we sailed in we saw numbers of them. This one perched below Cadillac Mountain.

We hired a car and went to the gorgeous Acadia National Park. We passed by beautiful mountain lakes …

… and pink granite coastline …

…and walked in the forest and found this cove. The sound of the waves rolling the round granite rocks below …

We drove up Cadillac Mountain. At the top we found parking chaos and couldn’t stop, but on each side we had spectacular (and weren’t we lucky with the day!) views … one side down over the little town …

… and the other … looking west forever …

You can’t come to Maine and not have fresh lobster … so we returned the car, came into town and had a very late lunch …

After lunch we started to walk along the lovely seafront, but Jan got restless for the nearby shopping.

So Jan went shopping and I walked the town … found some very posh real estate …

… and some classic New England homes …

… along the bustling main street … full of American (school) holiday makers …

Back down to the waterfront where the famously big tide change had uncovered the flats across to Bar Island … goodness knows what they were all looking for in the mud?

This pier, on top of which we’d had lunch, was now very high and dry. A tide shift of 3+ metres, I reckon.

Jan didn’t spend much after all, and I found her waiting patiently at the tender pier …

And so off we sailed, past this classic friend of the seaman.

We woke early … goodness, lets hope we’ll get to see something!

The fog cleared. We shuttled to town. We walked miles.

We started at the old Quincey Markets on the Boston Freedom Trail.

Pretty quiet here before 10am …

… then followed the Trail past lots of historically significant Meeting Houses. Boston is, of course, a very key city in American history … the Tea Party, Paul Revere, and all that stuff …

… gee they must have had lotsa meetings in those days …

… then up to the current meeting house – Massachusetts State.

… it looms over the Boston Common. Lots happening here in the holidays …

… but this little chap was undeterred by the commotion of a rock concert.

Then we went into the beautifully groomed Public Garden.

What? … another statue of George W?

Then across the street to wander what must be one of the best residental streets in the world – Commonwealth Avenue …

Then to Newbury Street … very up-market here … but the lunch was excellent and inexpensive, considering …

Up to Beacon Hill … home to more fabulous old “brownstones”

Back through the downtown area for a bit of shopping and Starbucks wi-fi … we found these locals pretending to be old Brits …

Boston is one of the few places on this trip that we can both say we’ve “done” before. But it was just as fabulous this time. A city a bit like Sydney, one to be comfortable in.

Ya just can’t do Noo Yawk in a cupla hundred words and 20 photos, so here’s some more …

On sunday night we went to the Top of the Rock (with 500 or more others) …

Let the images speak …

It was fun …

That’s the new Freedom Tower reflecting the sunset in the distance.

Next morning, and we’re off on the bus again. This time down-town.

Past the Empire State …

And the stunning Flat Iron building …

Along jammed streets …

… past endless pretty, old buildings (this one clad in cast iron!)

Hop off at the Brooklyn Bridge and walk to the middle … (thinking of the tens of thousands who escaped across here on 9/11)

Then to the heart of downtown … past City Hall (you can’t beat it, or get in to it! – (see below)) … and past the ornate F W Woolworth building.

… and so, to the bustling World Trade Center. Two of the planned seven new buildings are open for business …

… and the memorial is certainly quite magnificent …

Time for a break at O’Hara’s Pub … (right adjacent to the WTC, it took major damage on 9/11).

Then to Wall Street …

Hmmmm … the throbbing heart of the free world of capital, and you’re not allowed near the NYSE … fences, bollards, cops and security everywhere … WTF?

I wonder would George W approve? He was inaugurated first President right here.

Then a key Noo Yawk highlight for me … a NY Reuben from a genuine NY deli … YUM … (Jan, who doesn’t like them usually, ate most of my share!)

Lotsa souvenirs to buy, then back on the bus.

Past Battery Point Park … still a shambles after Hurricane Sandy (how many years ago was that?) and past the Towers again.

Back in mid-town we got a bit distracted walking back to the ship … but that’s another whole story in itself … suffice to say we eventually rushed and got a NY taxi cab and were last but one back on the ship for night time sail away …

How good was that? … methinks highlight number 2 … WOW

We arrived at the Narrows Bridge, the entrance to New York harbour, about 9:30 on a beautiful warm Sunday. The new Freedom Tower glistening in the distance.

Past her ladyship …

Past downtown …

and then up to mid-town …

we docked early at about noon and EVERYone hit the ship’s buffet … nose bags flying – utter chaos!

We walked up to Times Square and found our open top bus for a tour of up-town. Through Times Square …

… this is a very flash video “billboard” … brilliant bright images in full daylight!

Jan’s jaw beginning to drop!

Past familiar NY icons … like Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center, Sax 5th Ave and St Patricks, Radio City Music Hall.

In 6th Ave we wondered if anyone needed a taxi?

Then past Central Park …

… down the west side past some amazing and enormous apartment buildings …

Then up in to Harlem …

… which is now gentrifying in a big way …

… and has a couple of amazing churches … this is St John the Divine which is just huge …

Back at the Plaza Hotel on Central Park South ..

… Jan wanted a carriage ride …

so off we went through busy Central Park. Just the ticket for a sunny Sunday afternoon (and to celebrate Steph’s happy day!).

We peered back at the mansions on Park Ave peering at us …

We then wandered down 5th Avenue towards Times Square again, past all the flagship brands stores … name the BRAND, and it’s here! … And, we didn’t go inside a single one!

By the time we reached Times Square it was pumping … crazies everywhere!

Can you find Jan in this photo?

We retreated to a nearby Irish Pub before our appointed time to go to the Top of the Rock (see next post)

And after a tiring and fabulous day, walked back to the ship Past Times Square again …

Norfolk is a massive commercial port, sort of on/in the Chesapeake Bay, and has the biggest Navy Base in the world … these are just some of well over 50 naval vessels we saw lying about as we came into port …

We met up with Ann and Bettie, new friends from the first sector of this cruise. They live hereabouts. Our mission (impossible!) was to see the historic towns of Jamestown, Yorktown and Williamsburg in a few hours.

First Yorktown, where we went first to a brand new museum (with the flags of the 13 colonies) …

… complete with an excellent replica early settler’s village/farm …

… and a statue of George W … no, not him … Washington!

… then into the delightful little town of Yorktown, where we saw lots of houses like this. The tree is Crepe Myrtle. We saw hundreds of them … everywhere.

… through the National Park for miles along this Parkway to Jamestown.

Jamestown is claimed by Virginians to be the first settlement, by Europeans, of America in 1607. We went to another splendid Museum here to see …

… a replica Indian village of the time.

… replicas of the 3 ships the first 107 settlers arrived in.

… and a replica of their Fort …

This chap was demonstrating old muskets.

No doubt about it, the Americans do this show and tell stuff brilliantly.

And so on to Williamsburg. What a knockout! The whole town beautifully restored and maintained. The images speak for themselves.

Queen Elizabeth has stayed at this magnificent old country hotel! (So have Ann and Bettie …)

And of course, Jan introduced herself to some of the locals.

Finally Ann whisked us through the Mariners Museum. (Her late husband was a great supporter and benefactor.) 20 minutes doesn’t do justice to a place like this, set in spectacular grounds and housing exhibits like these models, one would need hours to properly enjoy Mariners.

For a great day, we can’t thank Ann and Bettie enough!

For the first (and maybe only time) on this adventure, Jan and I chose something different. I wanted to see the Kennedy Space Center. Jan had no interest in rockets.

So off I went in a huge Kennedy Space Center tour bus (of which >100!!) for a tour. KSC is a bit like Disneyland, with rockets, but if you just focus on the science and history and ignore the razz, it was fun.

This is the rocket garden! The left hand specimen is Mercury used by Alan Shepherd for the first American manned “space” flight (12 minutes I think) in 1961. The capsule on top is about the size of a small spa bath.

Meanwhile jan is boarding a different kind of transport. She’s going ‘gator hunting …

Off they go …

Hair pinned back … ear protection mandatory!

Then I was on to another (inside the Center) bus, past the rocket assembly building (well over 100 metres high) …

Past the main launch pad …

… and on to the Apollo 11 building … “Mercury isn’t a rocket, THIS is a rocket!”

This is the front of stage 1, and the engine exhausts of stage 2.

Meanwhile Jan’s slowing down … there might be ‘gators here …

Sure enough, there’s two!

The Apollo building is massive. Here’s the control room used for Apollo 1 …

… and here’s the actual capsule from Apollo 14 (I think?)

Back on the bus, I was off to see Atlantis, one of the space shuttles. This one went up 33 times to the International Space Station.

Lots of fun for the kids here. Looks like Ben Lillywhite at the controls! Yikes!

Time for Jan to go into the bayou to hunt for more ‘gators …

Isn’t it beautiful in here?

No ‘gators in there …

… but another little guy here on the way back to base …

So we both had a great time … with photos with the “locals” to prove it!

So as we sail out of this totally artificial harbour we can see some Space Center builings on the flat horizon … we’re off to Norfolk, VA

We pulled into the 8 berth “cruising capital of the world” before sunrise (not another cruise ship in sight!). More than 90% of passengers getting off here … and we had to change cabin. So lots to do before we could get off, including of course, entering the USA for the third time …

… Hmmmm … officialdom, security, and law enforcement with a gun on the hip, is certainly big in the “land of the free” …

Anyhow, we eventually got going. A mile walk over the bridge to Big Bus Hop On/Off Central Station … off we go …

First a tour of the city …

… and past some fancy real estate in Coconut Grove, and Coral Gables, where …

… we came upon the iconic Biltmore Hotel … old, huge, glamorous, set in the middle of a golf course … probably costs a fortune to stay there!

… through Little Havana where the primary language is Spanish. Here, a cigar factory, of which there apparently used to be lots.

… and the Freedom Tower … so called because thousands of Cuban refugees were held and “processed” here (right in the city! … take note, Mr Abbott!) after Castro took over in 1959.

Back to Central Station, change busses, across the causeways …

… to Miami Beach …

The beach is huge … wide, and endlessly long … but not exactly the greatest for swimming???

What is more fun is Ocean Drive. Here, 3 of many American icons!

Part driving, part walking we traversed its length … after a destructive hurricane in 1926, Miami Beach was re-built. Result … hundreds and hundreds of Art Deco hotels and apartment buildings just everywhere you look.

Same in the streets back off the beachfront …

It was so much fun just wandering around, taking it all in.

Also time for a haircut for me and pedicure for Jan, and a dose of Starbucks … the coffee is only just, but the wi-fi is excellent … not sure how their business would go if ever they turned the wi-fi off??

Back to the pier past some of the residential islands … houses and boats “bigger than Texas” …

Then with 600+ newbies on board we set off leaving this thunderhead over the Everglades to do its thing.

After bouncing across the Caribbean through the night, the sea calmed. We sailed into the vast Cartegena Bay mid morning. Past a pair of old Spanish forts guarding the entrance.

An hour later we approached the city. This part (the sea on the other side) surprisingly thriving and modern.

On to the waiting bus for a guided tour.

First to Castillo San Felipe, a monster fort finished after 35 years in 1657.

It glowers over the old city. You can see the city wall across the water.

We climbed to the top level in the hot sun.

Jan checked out the sentry box …

… and the old guns.

It’s actually quite hard to get the idea of the scale of it from these shots.

We also went into some of the cool tunnels. I guess it’s an absolute maze in there …

Then down, and in to the old city. First to this garrison that forms part of the city wall (the sea in the background) …

… opposite, this handsome building.

The garrison is now shops. Colourful, busy.

Even photo opportunities for money (… but not if you shoot from behind!)

Then we walked … for about 2 hours, part guided, part free …

Very few cars allowed in town, narrow streets, spectacular houses. Colour everywhere. Sophia Lazzari would be salivating … what a feast for the eye/camera …

Many churches of course …

… and the town square was pretty special (do ya like the reflection?)

Along the way we found a wall for Jan to lean on, and I found some coffee (not a good as Guatemala).

Cartegena … what a colourful treat …

Then back on board ship, another “treat”. Old Flokos announces that because the Caribbean is so rough, he’s going to change course, go around Cuba to the east, not west, meaning we miss our port call in Key West. Not to worry. Next port Miami will be on time. Despite the diversion we still had a very rough 24 hours, but now, north of Cuba, all is calm again.

We passed by Panama City in the early morning haze(?) …

… and pushed up the inlet towards the Panama Canal under the Bridge of the Americas … a flimsy looking version of the SHB, but much bigger than it looks when you get close up.

Then we approach the two channels of the Canal. Two steps up here. The red and white guy on the left is already rising higher than orange the one on the right, currently sitting on the first step.

Time for us to go in …

With a couple of hitch-hikers. The one on the left a boat full of happy Canal day tourists.

We eventually get pushed up to the second step. The gates open and we’re off across a little lake, following the other two ships, to the third and final step up.

In we go. Up we go. Then the gates open and we’re off … the Centennial bridge up ahead …

… along the Cut through the continental divide … dense tropical jungle close on both sides for nearly 20km …

… then to the vast Gatun Lake … it’s time for lunch in the ship’s Terrace Cafe …

We weave in and out of, and quite close to, pretty islands at a good clip …

… and get up quite close and personal to many ships going the other way.

Then to the Gatun Locks on the Caribbean side. Three steps back down to sea level (about 93 feet in total) … we line up in the right hand lane this time, with a pair of tugs (of which there appear to be dozens here).

We progress past the control room (never updated in 100 years), on the middle step.

By now our red and white friend has disappeared down the channel, and the orange one has just been set free …

Now it’s our turn to go, and we set off down the channel into the gloom closing in.

The gloom foreshadowed what turned out to be a very rough night at sea to come.

We’ve been accompanied in and out of ports by all manner of things … how appropriate that these guys shepherd us in to Costa Rica … flying, diving, “talking”, and fishing for miles.

The ship’s schedule was changed. We arrived late, at 2pm. The ship’s tour was cancelled! What? 4 hours of daylight to see Costa Rica!!! … What on earth were we to do???

The port town was reportedly a dump, we needed to get outta town …

Back to the drawing/planning board …

We found two young folk, Brett and Jess, from Sacramento, and Mum (Susie) and her daughter (Lauren) from Perth … “let’s go see what we can find on the pier” …

On the pier, we found “Victor Hugo” … (possibly a chip off the same block as “Neil Armstrong”!!!) He introduced us to old Gerado and a van (no a/c, but otherwise OK) … we were off …

The younger ones wanted to go on a forest canopy zip line they had heard about … and when we got there, I eyed it off and said “let’s do this too” … Jan agreed!

Walter (Freddy Mercury re-incarnated I’m sure) was one guide …

Matthew Taverner’s double, Frank, was the other … (green shirt talking to Jan) …

Off we went …

Zipping and swinging from tree to tree …

The views and the experience were just amazing.

We heard lots of macaws, and then saw a couple of pairs in the distance.

Down to the river. A metre long iguana scuttled away. But the crocodiles on the other bank just lay there. Can you see seven of them?

Then the treat for the day. 10 minutes watching this pair having supper.

Then Gerado took us to Villa Caletas for a drink and a famous view.

Then back to the ship well after dark, after the BEST day. Costa Rica looks just fabulous!