YAP ISLAND, MICRONESIA

YAP ISLAND, MICRONESIA

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

 

Yap Island is one of four of the Federated States of Micronesia. They were a UN Trust but they received their independence in 1979. Yap was discovered by the Portuguese in the 1500’s.

 

They are overseen as a free association of the United States. They use U.S. currency but also have their own currency Rai, and their children can go to school for free in the U.S. We found a Post Office that is run as a U.S. Post Office.  It even has a zip code of 96943.  For all our Postal friends you will have to look that up and see if that is assigned to Yap.  We sent a post card to ourselves from there as we didn’t have everyone’s address when we were out for a walk.

 

They speak English and Yapese. In the four islands there are 106,487 people and it encompasses 271 square miles. The average income is $3,000 a year per family.  Their crops are black pepper, cassava and coconuts. They have to import everything and they do import from the U.S. I was so glad to find Safeguard body soap in their grocery store as I only brought one bar and I was almost out.

 

For centuries, the Yap people have used large limestone round stones with a hole in the middle as currency. I’m attaching a picture.  They got the limestone from one of the other islands and made it round and put the hole in it. The hole was so they could put it on a pole to carry it. They put it in a canoe or flat boat and hauled it to Yap Island. At first they were small like the ones in the picture but then they started making them bigger to denote increased value.  They would pick out a piece of land and then put this piece of currency at the front of it and then it was theirs forever. Everyone knew who put it there and it was told to all generations. In later years the stones became huge.

 

This island is one of the top dive locations in the world. They have Manta Rays that reach twenty feet across in width.  We were told when going into the town of Colonia that it was very immodest to show the thigh of a woman’s leg so no one could wear short shorts.  But it was OK to go topless as that was the custom here. I don’t think anyone from the ship did that.

 

 

This island saw fierce fighting during WWII. One of the local men making the canoe in the picture said the island was occupied by the Japanese.

Making a canoe the traditional way out of mahogany

Canoe in the harbor

Tom and Sandy with Yap money stones

Yap Post Office with Zip Code 96943

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MADANG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

MADANG, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

FEBRUARY 21, 2014

 

Madang is a coastal town of 46,000 people on the Bismark Sea.  It was settled first in 1871 by a Russian Naturalist from Sydney, Australia. Then Germans came and settled the region but left because of the tropical diseases. Then Australians came to the area. It was occupied by the Japanese during WWII.  There were Coast Watchers, both military and natives, which remained behind enemy lines and reported enemy movements that were instrumental in helping with allied success. There is a light house WWII memorial dedicated to the Coast Watchers. 

 

On tour we were taken to Bilbil Village, known for its clay pottery.  We had a demonstration of clay pot making with sand and mud which are put over a fire to harden.  The process is lengthy and labor intensive. They use the pots for trading with inland villages and off shore islands along the North Shore. While we were there a number of villagers performed a “sing-sing” dance for us dressed in their traditional attire. Some of the women were bare chested as is their custom.

 

We heard the reason there are so many people, especially men, sitting under the trees all day is there is 65% unemployment.  When we asked how they survive we were told the village they belong to takes care of them. That seems to be the same in all the countries we have visited. If someone has a job they give some of their pay to the village.

Village children

Village dancers in traditional dress or undress

Dancer's headpiece are teeth from a dead dog (I asked) 

and chest bones are from a pig.

Bayan tree

Coast Watchers War Memorial Lighthouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ALOTAU, PAPUA, NEW GUINEA

ALOTAU, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

FEBRUARY 19, 2014

 

The island of Papua New Guinea became independent in 1975.  It has 6,064,515 people and 178,704 square miles. At one time the people were cannibals. They pick and grind beetle nuts and eat them which makes a red stain around their mouth which does not come off. Also, some of them blacken their teeth for beauty.

 

Alotau, Milne Bay, is a shipping port which has a history in World War II. It was vital to the course of the Pacific War and was fought between the Australian Army units and Japanese invading forces from August 25 to September 7, 1942. The battle resulted in the first defeat of the Japanese land forces in the Pacific War.

 

The people of the island seem to be the poorest of any of the islands we have visited. There was no evidence of hotels or tourism. This is the first time a Holland American ship had docked here. The people were friendly and curious about us. It is very warm here and the people seem to just sit around under the trees and we didn’t see much activity.

Newspaper man sold Tom a newspaper. He had red mouth.

Tom at the Shopping Center.

Tom at the war memorial with our ship in background.

WWII War Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

CAIRNES, AUSTRALIA

CAIRNS, AUSTRALIA

FEBRUARY 17, 2014

Captain Cook discovered Cairns in 1770 but nothing was done with it because of the heat and the crocodiles. But in 1876 gold was discovered in the mountains south west of the area so it was decided by Britain to develop the area to service the gold fields. The great claim to fame is it in on the Great Barrier Reef.  We had to pick up a Pilot in Sydney to ride with us all the way to New Guinea to guide us through the Reef.  It is hundreds of miles (2000 kilometers) long and has been growing for hundreds of years.

 

Cairns has a temperature of 75 degrees year round and has a rainy season November through May and receives over one meter of rain. Sugar Cane is their main crop.  They have Box jelly fish in the water during the summer months and they are very poisonous so people cannot swim during that time.  

They have a World Heritage Park Rain Forest. We took a Skyrail for 5 miles over the top of the rain forest.  We had two stops to take pictures.

 

 In 1928 The Royal Flying Doctor Service was started.  Australia is so vast and people live so far apart this service will fly to pick up patients and get them to a hospital from the Outback.

Sandy getting on the Skyrail car

Looking over the city from the Skyrail

Stopping part way up for pictures

Over the top of the rain forest

 

 

 

 

 

 

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA

FEBRUARY 14, 2014

 

In 1823 Governor Brisbane of Sydney sent out a party to the north to find some remote land to make a new penal colony for the worst of the convicts.  The site that was named Brisbane seemed idea.  It was on a very winding river and it could be colonized on each side of the river.  The penal colony was in existence from 1823-1842.  After that it was open land to free settlers. There are now four million people living in Brisbane. 

 

It is in the State of Queensland and is its capital, a different one than Sydney, which was New South Wales. The bad thing about living on the river is they have had some very bad floods in 1893, 1974, and 2011.

 

In 1927 a man found two Koalas that had been abused so he nursed them back to health and decided to start a Koala Sanctuary so they don’t become extinct. They have expanded it to include barn animals, sheep dogs, birds of prey, snakes, crocodiles, platypus, kangaroos, and Tasmanian devils.

 

 The highlight of my day was when I got to hold a Koala bear. His name was Bagel and he was 11 years old.  They are so sweet. He was hungry when he got to me so his handler gave him some eucalyptus leaves which are the only thing they will eat. They sleep about 20 hours a day and wake up to find food to eat.  They are really slow and sluggish and they sleep in trees. They have their babies in a pouch like the kangaroo.

Bagel was hungry and his handler had to give him some

eucalyptus leaves to while I held him.

Bagel is happy eating his leaves.

The Brisbane River winds through the city.

View of the city from above.

 

 

 

 

 

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

FEBRUARY 11, 2014

 

Sydney was discovered when Captain Cook sailed in in 1770 and claimed it for Britain. Nothing was done with it until Britain wanted a place to send their convicts. In January 28,1788 (they celebrate this every year as Australia Day) the First Fleet of eleven ships arrived carrying convicts, sea farers, and military. Our guide told us an interesting fact.  She said people were getting interested in genealogy and were tracing their ancestors back to those ships. Some were not so happy when they traced their lineage to the convicts.

 

Sydney is a clean, modern, and a beautiful city.  It has about four and a half million people and there is about 24 and half million people in all of Australia. There are a great number of Chinese people here that came over in 1860 to work in the Gold rush. They have a Costco here but not a Walmart!

 

The Aboriginal people, it has been determined, have been here for about 60,000 years. They practiced birth control and inter-breeding through tribal law. When the Europeans came they did not view them as people.  They gave them alcohol to control them. The Aboriginal people have a gene that cannot take alcohol.  Afterwards, they killed them and almost wiped them out.  It was not until 1968 before they were recognized as people by law instead of flora and fauna. It seems now the Australians are trying to help them preserve their heritage and their art.

 

The Opera House is beautiful structure.  We were lucky enough to get a tour through it. In 1955 there was a world-wide competition for design. A Danish architect, Jon Utzon, won.  New South Wales, the State Sydney is in, had a budget of 10 million.  The design was so radical but they did not have the plans on how to build the building.  It was finally finished in 1973 for 102 million and it was dedicated by Queen Elizabeth. The cost overrun was paid by having a lottery. The wonderful cover over the Opera House is 1,056,000 off white and buff ceramic tiles made in Sweden. There are two separate halls, one for opera and ballet, and the other for all other venues. When we toured we got to see and hear the symphony practicing and in the other we saw the stage set for a production of the opera “Carman”. 

 

We got to go to the Featherdale Wildlife Park.  We saw such things as crocodiles, echidnas, pelicans, dingos, the Tasmanian devil was hiding, and Koalas.  I got to pet a Koala. I looked at him and he looked at me and I fell in love. 

Sydney Opera House as we sailed in. It was early morning.

Ceramic tiles covering the Opera House.

Opera House and Sydney Harbor Bridge.

I wanted to take him home!

 

 

 

  

 

NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA

NOUMEA, NEW CALEDONIA

FEBRUARY 7, 2014

 

New Caledonia is a territory of France.  It was a penal colony from 1864 until 1904.In 1870 there were twenty two thousand convicts sent from France.  There were also 400 women and 300 orphans.  The orphan boys were raised to be laborers and the girls were raised to marry and populate the island with the French. The convicts were used to build the town and the buildings are still being used today along with the new architecture. This is the best kept secret for the rich and famous. It is expensive to live here but a quiet crime free paradise. It is said to be the “Paris of the Pacific”.

 

It was an Allied Pacific Naval Base during WW II. The one thing that is different from the other places we have visited is it was not made from a volcano.  Many million years ago when the tectonic plate broke up the continents, New Caledonia broke off from Australia. It is an island 480 kilometers long and 90 kilometers wide. It is cigar shaped and 259 thousand people live here.   One hundred and sixty seven thousand people live in Noumea alone and there are twenty four thousand boats and yachts. They sail to New Zealand and Australia. They import 99% of their produce but they are third in the world for mining and exporting nickel.

 

During a tour of the city we were taken to a very French restaurant for wine and cheese.  It was very elegant.  We were glad we were not paying for a dinner there, though.

A tender from our ship.  It is how we have to go ashore sometimes when there is no port.

Noumea in the background. Notice the yachts. 

WWII gun.

 

 

 

LAUTOKA, FIJI

LAUTOKA, FIJI

FEBUARY 5, 2014

Fiji is comprised of 800 islands over 7,054 miles.  It was a British Republic up until 1970 when it gained its independence.  It has had a hard time governing itself and they have had a bloodless coup. It hurt tourism to the extent they have decided they have to have democratic elections. They made it a law that no one can make a coup.

They export bamboo, sandalwood, and sugar. There are many people from India that have come to work in the sugar farms.  We saw a beautiful Hindu temple.

 

The people of Fiji in the past have been cannibals.  I couldn’t find out when they stopped this practice.  It may not have been until John Wesley came to this island and started Methodist churches. They sell cannibal forks as souvenirs.  

There are a number of villages around the island. They are self-contained communities. They elect a Chief and he makes all the decisions for the village. Everyone who goes out to work brings a portion of his/her money to the chief to be used for the community. If a lady is widowed the community takes care of her. The elderly are cared for.  The system seems to work well. We went on a tour to visit a village. The young men and women performed a welcoming ceremony in their native language.  It was very impressive. The drinking of “Kava” was a part of it. Kava is made from a root. Tom said it tasted rather bitter. They said it was not alcohol but if you drank enough of it you were very happy. Tom had his picture taken with the village chief. He had given the chief the lime green bracelet he always wears and the chief was so happy. The Fiji people are larger and strong and their skin is very dark compared to other Polynesian people. 

Fiji does not have any pretty beaches, at least not on this island. They have a factory that makes furniture from coconut trees.  These people call the coconut tree “the tree of life” because they can use every bit of it for some purpose. 

 

Fiji countryside

Performing song for us

Tom with Village Chief

Tom and the guys

Village Chief's House

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

  

PAGO PAGO, AMERICAN SAMOA

PAGO PAGO (pronounced Pango Pango), AMERICAN SAMOA

1 FEBRUARY 2014

 

The Samoa Islands have been populated for 3,000 years, but known to the western world for little more than two centuries. The Samoan archipelago includes the US territory of American Samoa and the independent nation of Samoa (formerly Western Samoa). American Samoa, the only US territory south of the equator, consists of seven islands: five rugged, highly eroded volcanic islands and two coral atolls.  The land area totals 76 square miles.  Approximately 70,000 people live here, most on the main island of Tutuila where Pago Pago is located.

The people are the most friendly we have encountered.  They all wave at our tour bus in every village we encounter and they all smile at us.  They have round faces and round bodies.  Our female tour guide referred to her race as “fluffy”. They are lightly brown and have beautiful skin.

In February 1941 the Rose Atoll was made a Naval Defense Area by President Roosevelt. In July 1941 the first Samoa Battalion, U.S. Marine Corps Reserve was organized.  In January 1942 the island was fired on by a Japanese submarine. There was some damage and only minor injuries. The submarines hung around all during the war but there were no more encounters. The U.S. Navy ended it administration of American Samoa February 1951.

The citizens elect a Governor. He then appoints a person to the US House of Representatives to represent the Samoan people. 

 

                                        Beautiful water - no beach here

Our bus driver and guide

Cocoa Beans - When roasted and ground and put in water

they taste yummy!

 

 

 

BORA BORA

BORA BORA, FRENCH POLYNESIA

29 JANUARY 2014

Bora Bora (means first born) was prepared by the US during WW II to be a south sea air strip, oil depot, sea plane base, and military supply. There were 5,000 Marines stationed here. War never came to the island and it was closed on June 2, 1946. The airstrip has been made into a commercial airport. From 1942 until 1960 it was the only airport in French Polynesia. There are four gun encampments half way up the mountain and 20-30 metal bunkers left around the island.  The guide told us the people still use them if a cyclone is coming to the area and they feel their home is not safe.

The first European to visit was CPT James Cook in 1777.  It is a small island with one road (20 miles) around it and has a population of 9,000. There is only one pass to get through the coral into the island. That’s why it was selected by the US Army during the war.

One of the nicest Hotels is the St Regis.  Nicole Kidman spent her honeymoon there at the cost of $10,000 a night.  Part of the “Mutiny on the Bounty” was filmed on Bora Bora.  Marlon Brando married a girl from Bora Bora during the filming.  She is still alive and lives in California.  She still has relatives on the island.

 Bora Bora has the little huts in the water for $2,000 a night.  Anyone for a vacation?

                                                     Grass Resort for $2,000 a night

                                         Bloody Marys - Famous Pub

                                                     Beautiful water
 

MOOREA

BAHIA D OPUNOHA, MOOREA

28 JANUARY 2014

 

Moorea (means yellow lizard) is a small island with one road all the way around – 39 miles.  There are 18,000 people.  CPT Samuel Wallis was the first European to visit the island in 1767.  CPT Cook visited in 1769 and again in 1777. In 1839 Charles Darwin described Moorea as picture in a frame when looking at it from Tahiti as it is an island with a coral reef all around it.

Part of the “Mutiny on the Bounty” with Mel Gibson was filmed here in 1984. Our guide had a small part in the picture he told us. They have many pineapple plantations on the island which they send out to make two thousand tons of pineapple juice a year. Their other products are tourism, black pearls, coconuts, and deep sea fish. They have an 18 hole golf course designed by Jack Nicholson.  It costs $90.00 to play the course.

Moorea does not have a downtown area.  It has 10 villages. They have no snakes on the island. The yellow lizards (geckoes) are welcome in the local houses as they eat bugs and mosquitoes. We were bothered by mosquitoes although we were not bitten. We were prepared with insect repellent.  We also are taking medicine to prevent malaria.  

Our ship could not get too close to the island as it was not deep enough.  We had to be taken in to shore in a ship’s tender.  This island was not as nice as Tahiti but it was secluded and the water is nice for swimming.  Many hotels have closed down during the recession but some new ones seem to be doing well. They do have the little round huts in the water that have a glass floor so you can watch the fish for $1,000 a night.

 

Beautiful Dancer

Highest volcano mountain in back

Resort huts $1,000 a night

Gauguin painting reproduction

 

 

 

  

 

TAHITI

We are now between American Samoa and Fiji but this is the first time I've had Internet in days so I'm going to try to catch up posting on the Blog.

PAPEETE, TAHITI, FRENCH POLYNESIA

27 JANUARY 2014 

Tahiti was first visited by a European when CPT Samuel Wallis and his ship sailed in from England in 1767. The Tahitians first sent out the beautiful girls in long boats to unnerve them then they pounded the ship with round balls – coconuts?? Needless, to say the islanders lost so England claimed ownership of the island.  England had one thing the islands didn’t have – metal. So they decided to get along. It remained a British territory until 1880 when a new island ruler was elected and he agreed to go under French rule and remains so up until day. The products of the society are agriculture, the beautiful black pearls, and tourism. They still rely heavily on subsidy from France. It is 65 miles around the island.

  The painter Gauguin, 1848-1903, came to Polynesia and painted.  We had a wonderful buffet lunch at the Gauguin Restaurant. The Gauguin Museum is under renovation and has been closed eight months. It has not had any originals in it.  I got to taste “breadfruit” we had heard so much about. It had been steamed and was very good. It can be fixed many ways we were told and our guide said it makes wonderful french fries.  

Our guide gave us a lovely little flower called a teria.  It is like a gardenia. We were told if we put it behind our left ear we were “taken” and behind our right ear means we are “looking”. We had a lot of fun with that!  

In 1960 Papeete got an International Airport and three years ago they got a hospital. But even though they now have the equipment they don’t have any doctors to do surgery. They only have two doctors.  If they have an emergency they have to fly the patient to New Zealand in 9 hours or to France which take 22 hours. Our guide admitted a lot of people didn’t make it. Health care and education are paid for by the citizens by France. 

Tahiti is the beautiful tropical paradise you would expect. The beaches are dark from the lava ash but the waters are beautiful.

Breadfruit

Our grass hut in the background

Waterfall