Outer Banks, North Carolina - June 22-27, 2009

We flew down to join Joni Starr and Bill Bock for their June 26th wedding on the beach. Lots of family together in an 11 bedroom house on the beach. Great weather, great time and lovely wedding. Tim played "A Kiss to Build A Dream On" as the processional and recessional.

We enjoyed the "Lost Colony" production on Roanoke Island one evening and took Madison and Jocelyn to the Wright Brothers National Monument.

Tim flew from Norfolk to Houston (met Jeff and Dennis & Brian Howe there) and on to Portland, OR for 4 rounds of golf at Bandon Dunes. They'll stay with our cousins Bev & George Drury the last night before flying home on July 2nd.

Tim to France for D-Day Commemoration

Tim left today with the Holland American Legion Band for Normandy, France where they will play 5 concerts on June 6th and 7th in commemoration of the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Besides France, the band will travel to Belgium, Luxemborg and The Netherlands where they'll join a Dutch band for several joint concerts. The band returns on June 13th.

FURTHER TRAVELS

Since we’re getting old and can no longer remember when we were where …..we’ll continue adding to the blog just to keep a record for ourselves. We’ll add more detail when taking major trips so we can continue to keep in touch.
March 2 – March 6, 2009 Springfield, Illinois – Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Driving trip: Checked out Shipshewana, IN, the University of Illinois and the Sousa Archives in Champagne-Urbana on the way to Springfield. Home via Bloomington, IN and Indianapolis.
March 7 – March 12, 2009 Cocoa Beach, FloridaJoined Lyn & Don Johnson in their time-share condo. The guys golfed while the gals went to the pool. Spent a day touring the Kennedy Space Center.

Bon Jour (There is a very strong French connection in Morocco) Two business issues: 1. today is a momentous occasion. Our eldest granddaughter, Madison becomes a teenager. Happy birthday, Madi. We love you and look forward to seeing you this weekend. 2. We are going to attempt to post the video of Lynda’s star turn at elephant polo. Some of our family has all ready raised doubts as to the validity of this event. Marrakech has been an exciting last day for our adventure. We had a bit of a history/culture tour this morning. Because of the Moorish influence, which we had already seen on our trip to Spain last year, that part of the trip was a bit boring. However, this afternoon was very exciting. We went to the souks, we would call them markets, this afternoon. We wish there was some way to bring you the sounds and smells of the souk. The aroma from the shops selling spices was incredible. We spent a lot of time buying gifts for family and ourselves. We had a guide with us who helped us negotiate prices(actually he was one of the guards who has been with us since we got to Moraco). It was all very exciting and great fun. Tonight we have a farewell cocktail party and buffet and then a very early morning departure for home. We are ready. This will be our last blog posting. We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it. By writing for this blog, we have been forced to crystallize our feelings about each of the segments of our trips. The very nature of this trip has intensified our reactions to what we have seen. Many of the sights have been awe inspiring beyond our wildest imaginations. Unfortunately, there have also been sights along the way that have been heart wrenching. But that is the joy of travel and why we love it. We look forward to seeing all of you in person and sharing our experiences in as much detail as you would like. We definitely recommend an expedition with National Geographic and hope there is one in your future. Tim and Lynda

Petra and Egypt

Greetings-
We have just completed two grueling days of travel going to Petra, Jordon and Luxor and Cairo, Egypt. We are both exhausted, but, as with every other day on this trip we would not have missed these sights.
Petra, Jordan was a major trade and commerce center from 1000 B.C. to 1000 A.D. You may be able to tell from the pictures that Petra had natural defenses and the 30,000 inhabitants were more interested in making money than war. What a concept! Today, besides being one of the new 7 wonders of the world, Petra is famous for the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Tim wanted to ride a horse down into Petra with his Indiana Jones hat and whip with the wonderful John Williams score soaring to a crescendo as Tim arrives at the Treasury. We actually walked in. Most of the tombs, etc. were carved out of the sandstone. Those buildings or tombs that were built rather than carved were destroyed by earthquakes over the years. The entire walk into Petra was three miles long. The only way out was the way we went in. Of course, it was uphill going back. We opted to do half of the return trip on camels. You get on the camel while it is kneeling down. The tricky part is hanging on as the camel gets up. It was a reasonably comfortable ride although neither of us would want to cross the desert on a camel. Our camels were very nice. Neither one spit at us although they did make some rude sounds.
We flew back to Luxor, Egypt last night and joined the rest of our group for our gala farewell dinner. Everyone rode in horse drawn carriages to the Luxor Temple for a very magical evening. We wandered around the grounds sipping champagne while a harpist played and then sat down in a gold lame lined tent for a sumptuous dinner accompanied by a string quartet.
This morning we were up bright and early (4:30 a.m.) to fly to Cairo. We had an hour long lecture by Zahri Hawass, the head of the Department of Antiquities in Egypt and also an explorer in residence with the National Geographic Society. He gave a fascinating lecture about all of the archeological work being done around the pyramids and the Sphinx. We then visited the Pyramids and the Sphinx. As with the other sites we visited, such as Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal, the size of the Pyramids was overwhelming. It is awfully easy to think that with our modern technology we can do anything and everything better than anyone before us. Not true. These guys several thousand years ago were pretty smart. They did have one advantage over us. They did not have to deal with union contracts!
We are flying toward Marrakech, our last stop before coming home. We will try to get a final blog posting out tomorrow night.
Tim and Lynda

Africa

Jambo (hello in Massai, we think)
We are flying from Kilimanjaro to Luxor and then on to Jordon. Internet service in Tanzania was not good. We were fortunate to get out an e-mail to our blog master, Jilayne, explaining that we would not be able to post a blog until this weekend. We have no idea when you will get this blog but you will be getting two for the price of one. What a bargain!

Yesterday in Tanzania is probably in the top three experiences of this trip for both of us. We left our lodge at 8:00 in the morning and headed into the crater. Ngorongoro Crater is a volcanic crater that is 2.3 million years old. Our lodge was on the rim of the crater at 7800 feet altitude. The floor of the crater is 2000 feet below the rim and encompasses 125 square miles. It took us over 20 minutes to get to the crater floor. Tim, impatient as always, bugged the driver of our jeep that we had been on the road for 20 minutes and had not seen an animal. Within a couple of minutes we encountered a bunch of Zebra’s. For the next 4 hours we did not go 15 minutes without seeing new animals. Our first sightings were Zebra’s followed by Cape Buffalo, Thompson and Grant gazelles, Wildebeest and warthogs. Soon after we saw a hyena right next to the road eating it’s kill. Actually, it was probably some other animal’s kill. Nearby were two different kinds of Jackals hoping for leftovers! Next we drove through a troop of Baboons. These are actually quite dangerous members of the ape family and have been known to kill Leopards. Soon after we came up to several other jeeps parked on the road. There were two Lions in the brush next to a small river. We watched for 5 minutes or so as they pretty much just lay there, occasionally looking in our direction. All of the other jeeps moved on but we stayed put watching. Our patience was rewarded as both Lions got up and walked out onto the plain. We watched them for another 10 minutes until they finally disappeared back down in the brush. Before lunch we had three more encounter s with lions. One of them was exciting because a lioness and a cape buffalo were staring each other down. The cape buffalo is about the only animal in the crater that the lions will not tangle with. Another high point of the morning was going to a small spring fed pond where there must have been at least 50 hippopotamus. There were also 5 male elephants at the edge of the pond. In the crater the young male elephants and the females and baby elephants live on the edge of the crater where there is plenty of food. Only the old males live in the crater itself. These “retired” elephants, as our guide put it, were about 50 years old, had large tusks and were much larger than the Indian elephants we had ridden in Asia. We had a box lunch picnic in a wooded area in the crater where we had to constantly shoo away monkeys that were trying to steal our food. After lunch we had the two most impressive sightings of the day. First we came across two lionesses nursing five cubs. This was occurring no more than 20 feet from our jeep. We could literally reach out and touch them. The lions were oblivious to our presence. We must have spent 30 minutes watching. The next big sighting was a black rhinoceros with a baby rhino. The term baby rhino is used loosely. Unlike the baby panda and lion cubs, there was nothing cuddly about the baby rhino.

After an incredible seven hours on the floor of the crater we drove up to the rim and visited a Massai village. It was on one hand extremely interesting to see but on another level a bit disturbing. We felt that some of what we saw was staged and not really how the tribe lived. We actually had a chance to go into one of the huts. It was tiny, dark, no lights, and very cramped. We also visited their school for 3 & 4 year-olds. They recited our alphabet and numbers for us. Their teacher was a 15 year-old Massai girl. We would have loved to spend another day in Tanzania. There were other places we could go to see different animals than we saw in the crater.
Our next posting will have details about Egypt.
Tim and Lynda

India

Greetings from someplace over India- Mon/Tues/Weds. 1/11-13/09

Yesterday was a very strange day. To review, we originally were to fly from Chengdu, China to Agra, India, visit the Taj Mahal, and then fly onto Jaipur, India. Because of luggage problems in China we flew directly to Jaipur. Our accommodations were in a former Palace of the King of Jaipur. You can imagine that it was unbelievably beautiful. Through yeoman work by the National Geographic staff, yesterday morning, after a brief tour of Jaipur, we flew back to Agra to visit the Taj and then returned by plane to Jaipur. During the morning tour we were amazed at the squalor and very poor conditions of the people we saw. If anything, the conditions in Agra were .even worse. Despite the incredible beauty of the Taj Mahal, by the time we returned to Jaipur we were both quite depressed.

We gave serious consideration to skipping the evening festivities and just eating in our room. We were glad we did not. We bused to a 400 acre estate owned by a distant relative of a former King of Jaipur. We were greeted by camels, elephants and a bagpipe band. After drinks, a bit of shopping, and the men all being fitted with turbans, the elephant polo began. There were three matches with two teams of 4 elephants each, the first team to score two goals being the winner. Tim played in a very undistinguished manner in the first game. Lynda played in the third game and was the hit of the night. She scored both of her team’s goals in their 2-1 victory. The media voted her the number one star. You can watch a video of her scoring one of her goals. Notice the very impressive Henrik Zetterburg pose with her mallet after her score. The elephant polo was followed by a delicious buffet and then dancing. The wonderful evening lifted our depression and saved the day for us.

Despite the excitement of the evening we were reminded of a very important social lesson yesterday. Those in the world who are very well off must never forget about the less fortunate in society. From now on, whenever we see a picture of the Taj Mahal, we will also remember what is occurring 100 yards from the entrance to this magnificent edifice.
Tim and Lynda

Editor's note: Mom & Dad sent this to me from Jordan. They were having trouble deciphering the Arabic instructions and have not been able to send the aforementioned elephant polo video. We'll all have to use our imaginations for now! Jilayne

Africa

I had a short email from Mom & Dad today. Apparently Africa isn't the easiest place to find internet access, so it will probably be the weekend before they can post again. They did say there will be several postings once they can upload them, including video of "elephant polo" with a special guest player!
Only other thing I know is that they went on their safari today and were able to see lionesses (?) nursing their cubs from 15 feet away.
Their adventures continue!
Jilayne

Pandas

Greetings from somewhere over Asia-
We just left China and are headed for India. We had a problem with baggage at the airport in Chengdu resulting in us departing about an hour late. That means we will not be able to go to the Taj Mahal tonight. Our expedition leader is hoping to work out details so we can go in the morning. It would be a major disappointment not to see the Taj. This is the first hiccup we have had on our trip.
There were two highlights to the trip in China since we last blogged. Yesterday, for lunch, we went to a local restaurant that specializes in dumplings, what we call dim sum. We had 13 different dumplings, all of them delicious. It was again served on a large lazy susan. We were particularly taken with the walnut dumplings. Much to our chagrin, we discovered after serving our daughter-in-law, Heather, chop suey the first three times she and Jeff came to our house that she doesn’t like Chinese food. We couldn’t help but wonder if she might like dumplings. Heather – there may be a dumpling dinner in your future. While in China we ate nothing that even remotely resembled chop suey. It was wonderful.
The second highlight was this morning when we visited the National Panda Research and Breeding Station. There are 69 giant pandas at the research station including the eight five month old cubs we saw. It was an incredible experience. We have seen pandas in zoos but this was nothing like that. We were able to see the pandas up close and they were very active. We’ve posted a 30 second video of pandas playing on a slide. Hopefully you can click on the image and watch the video. Obviously, as you can tell from the picture, the other highlight was having our picture taken with a panda. It is a real panda, weighing about 100 pounds. A keeper was constantly putting honey on the panda’s paws to keep it distracted from what was going on. We had to make a fairly substantial cash donation to the Panda Research Center in order to have our picture taken with the panda, but as the MasterCard commercial says, a picture taken holding a panda is priceless. An aside to our grand children – yes, the panda was terrible cuddly.
Our first impression of China was not particularly positive, but as we look back on our time in China we conclude that it was an experience we will not soon forget and one that we would not have missed. (Editorial comment: Tim seems to have conveniently forgotten our stop at a brocade factory this morning – quite amazing to see the hand weaving and to have a chance to shop. We got to the airport about an hour before the group that went to Tibet –the 13 of us really enjoyed our time with the cabin crew and the extremely good service that 11 crew can give to 13 passengers!)
Tim and Lynda

Xi'an China

Good Sunday Morning from Xi’an, China-
Very important first order of business – Happy Birthday to our lovely granddaughter, Jocelyn. Have a good day, Jocey; we miss you.
What a strange and interesting country China is. We have heard it described as being “gray” and that is an apt description. There really is no color. There has been a layer of smog hovering over Xi’an the entire time we have been here. The locals call it fog, but, trust us, its smog. There is also a layer of dust over everything. Even the green leaves on the trees and shrubs have a layer of dust that mutes the color. It is cold here in Xi’an, upper 30’s, lower 40’s, so all the people have on winter coats. They are all black or gray. The only color comes from the large signs on the buildings. They are bright red and blue. In addition, Xi’an is in the midst of preparations to celebrate the Chinese New Year on January 25, and those decorations are very vivid colors. National Geographic has again put us up in a luxurious hotel. The staff of the hotel as well as the people we have encountered outside the hotel have been very efficient but also very reserved.
Xi’an is one of the oldest and, at one time, the most powerful cities in China. Early in its history it was the home of the great Emporer dynasties of China. Today, with over 8 million inhabitants, it is still a very important city in the central part of China.
Yesterday morning we visited the site of the terra-cotta warriors. There are over 8000 of these warriors that were built in 200 B.C. by the emperor Qin. He wanted this army to guard him in the afterlife so when he died he was buried along with the soldiers. They were not discovered until 1974 (yes, that is the right date, 1974) when a farmer accidentally found them while drilling a new well for water. They are amazing. The face of each warrior is different just like a real life army would be. We hope you can see the detail in the pictures. (Try double clicking on a picture to enlarge it.) Like many of the sites we have seen on this trip, words cannot adequately describe what we have seen.
After leaving the soldiers we had lunch at a local restaurant. We were the only foreigners in the place. Only 12 people on our tour chose to go to China, everyone else is in Tibet, so the 12 of us (plus a National Geographic staffer & 2 local guides) sat around a large round table with a huge lazy susan in the middle. A wide variety of dishes of food was place on the lazy susan and that is how we were served; sort of a buffet where the buffet comes to you instead of you going to the buffet. The food was interesting and delicious and, of course, we ate with chop sticks. (It is 6:45 in the morning and for the second morning in a row we are hearing martial music being played over loud speakers outside the hotel) Back to lunch. As we were going in the restaurant we went past a family with a small boy, 3 or 4 years old, who had obviously never seen Americans because he was pointing at us and laughing quite uncontrollably.
After lunch we went to the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the oldest pagoda in Xi’an. The pagoda itself is no longer used but there were several beautiful Buddhist shrines on the grounds as well as very peaceful gardens. Because apartments are so small in China the only pets people have are birds and they take the birds for walks in their bird cages. There were bird cages hanging all over the grounds at the pagoda. We had a good laugh when we noticed a couple of the cages hanging in the trees had cats in them!
Before returning to our hotel we stopped at the city wall that separates the center of Xi’an from the rest of the city. The wall is approximately 45 feet wide on top and 55 feet wide on the bottom. Now it is a lovely place to walk. When it was built it surrounded and separated the “Forbidden City” where the Emperor lived from the rest of the city and the ramparts at the top of the wall were used to defend the “Forbidden City”
After a wonderful dinner of Peking duck we went to a performance of music and dance from the Tang dynasty (600 A.D.-900 A.D.) There was a 25 piece orchestra that played for the singers and dancers. All of the instruments date from that period of time and most are no longer played except in this particular performance. In stark contrast to everything else we saw yesterday, the costumes were very colorful. (See picture above). It was a wonderful way to end our first day in China.
We have two more days left in China, including a visit to the National Panda research center that we will report on later.
Tim and Lynda

Cambodia

The duck always quacks twice at night! (Forgive me, but that is an inside joke for Jil and Jeff)
We rode an elephant this morning!!! It was so cool. I also had the opportunity to feed an elephant. Hopefully, we have pictures of these events to post on the blog. This all occurred at Angkor Wat.
Cambodia has been fascinating. It is a country of major contrasts. On one hand we are staying in a five star hotel where every one of our comforts is dealt with at the mere mention of a need. On the other hand we passed abject poverty on our way into Siem Reap from the airport and we have been inundated with people trying to sell us postcards, guide books, etc. The country side scenery is beautiful. We are thoroughly enjoying our experience here.
This morning we visited Angkor Wat. It was every bit as impressive as Machu Picchu. Lynda and I have been discussing which we were more impressed with without coming to a consensus of opinion. Angkor Wat was originally built by the Hindus but was taken over by the Buddhists. It was abandoned maybe 300 years ago when the kings that had it built moved to Phnom Penh. It was not rediscovered until the mid 19th century. Nature had taken its toll. During the Khemer Rouge communist regime of late 20th century more damage was caused by bombing during the Civil War. Everywhere we looked there were Buddhist shrines, all of them very ornate and there were many Buddhist monks wandering around. I’m convinced they were there to present photo ops for the tourists. As with Machu Picchu, the sheer magnitude of the temple and the fact that it was constructed almost 900 years ago is overwhelming.
This afternoon we are visiting another part of Angkor Wat. The temple we are visiting this afternoon was where part of “Tomb Raider” with Angelina Jolie was filmed. I’m assuming we will not see Ms. Jolie while we are there. We will report more later.
We have returned from our afternoon sojourn. As I surmised, no Angelina Jolie. The temple we saw this afternoon is in a considerable state of disrepair. Nature is the main culprit. The trees have so overtaken the walls and buildings that to take the trees down would cause the structure to collapse. Hopefully, there is a picture that shows these mammoth roots.
It has been a long and exciting day. Tonight we have a cocktail party and buffet dinner outside by the pool. There will also be local traditional entertainment. Tomorrow we fly to China.
Tim and Lynda

Expedition Amenities

Expedition Amenities –
As we fly from Australia to Cambodia I’ll summarize some of the services we’ve been experiencing on the trip. While this is truly an expedition and not a vacation I don’t think it could be much better organized or luxurious.
Baggage – we don’t worry about it. Depending on the country our bags are waiting for us when we get through immigration and we take them through customs and leave them on the other side. When we get to our hotel our bags are in our room already. Several countries have allowed group customs both in and out so we don’t have to touch our bags at all. The strangest entry requirement we’ve experienced has been in Samoa and again in Australia – after landing the plane is sprayed inside with a disinfectant – the crew gives us damp washcloths to hold over our faces but assure us that the spray is not harmful to humans.
All immigration forms are filled out for us except for our signature and in a couple of cases a few questions that the staff cannot do for us.
When we board the plane we go directly to our assigned seats and frequently find a gift on the arm rest – such things as: folding bags for souvenirs, polo shirts, National Geographic hats, key chains from the country we’re leaving, etc.
Once we’re seated hot towels are handed out for those who want them. Drinks are served (anything from champagne to orange juice) and glasses collected again before takeoff. Once airborne, depending on the time, printed menus are passed out and the chef goes over the options for the next meal. Orders are taken, and before dinner drinks and canapés are served. When our first tray arrives our tray table is covered with a black napkin as a tablecloth before the tray is placed on it. The tray has a rectangular salad plate front center, cloth napkin on the right with the silverware inside, a cheese plate on the left and a dessert on the back left. Wine and water glasses, salt & pepper shakers, sometimes a favor, etc. are on the tray too. The entrée is served later and is always hot. The food is delicious although Tim is ready for a peanut butter sandwich!
During lunch (we’ve just had 1 or 2 dinners on board) we also usually listen to a lecture by one of the staff. Today it was the National Geographic photographer, Jim Richardson, talking about how to film the local culture to really understand the daily life of the people. That was followed by a NG film on Angkor Wat showing the history and the discovery by western man of the city. Other “lectures” have included Johan Reinhard talking about high-altitude archaeology, usually with pictures of his expeditions. We’ve also listened to a history of the National Geographic Society, geography quizzes, the doctor reminding us about when to take the malaria meds, what to expect at high altitudes, etc., etc. All pretty interesting stuff and much of it helpful for where we’re headed next.
Have we mentioned for those of you interested in the plane that this is just the 3rd flight with new leather seats, TV screens, etc. All of the bathrooms on the plane have linen hand towels and fresh flowers for each flight. In our center arm rest there are two plugs for us to charge all of our laptops, phones, Ipods, etc. We don’t have wi-fi on the plane and we’ve had problems connecting in a number of places. I think, thanks to Rob and Jil sending instructions, that I now can post more pictures and not take so much time.
After lunch coffee, tea, hot chocolate and liquors are served. No wonder most of the group is asleep right now!
After this flight to Cambodia our assigned seats change. We’ve been in row 14 on the left of the plane and we will be moved to row 5 on the right side. The crew moves all of our belongings after we leave the plane today. The idea is to move folks around so they get to know more of their fellow travelers. Plus, we’ve been over the wing so I’ll be glad to get in front of the wing for the last half of the trip.
When we disembark there is usually separate immigration and customs lines for our group and our local tour folks are waiting for us as we come out of customs. We go directly to our buses and usually see something before going to our hotel. That way the baggage is in the rooms and the hospitality table set up. We get our room keys from the NG staff; have welcoming juices, etc. available and a chance to go to our rooms for a few minutes at least.
We haven’t gone into a room yet where there hasn’t been a welcoming gift along with the daily schedule for the next day. In Samoa there were flowers on our bed with tipi mats and colorful skirt lengths for us both. Other items have included a CD of local music, silver picture frames, a stone bowl and local art, etc. Good thing we were given extra souvenir bags! We’re leaving all of those items and our own purchases (not much so far) on the plane so we don’t have to worry about customs or having more items in our room than we can handle.
The rooms have all been great. The last two nights in Australia we had a 2 bedroom apartment (very modern) with washer & dryer – much appreciated – and our front patio sloped directly into a lagoon pool. Tim swam the first night but after we both snorkeled yesterday we didn’t go in last night.
Oh – a couple of other things we didn’t know until we left D.C. As we enter each country we are given about $10 in local currency – twice in woven/cloth bags from the country and other times in envelopes. There are also always 2 stamped postcards in our room and any cards we buy ourselves are just handed to the staff and they add postage and mail them. Last night was our first “dine around” – we could choose one of 4 restaurants in Port Douglas and were bused from the hotel and given vouchers for about $65 U.S. each for our dinner. It was a nice change from hotels dinners and more than adequate for a very nice meal.
Hopefully you get the idea of how we’re living. Everything is first class plus. Most of us, however, are having trouble remembering what day it is and we’re all confused about what time it is back home now that we’ve crossed the International Date Line. We know we’re a day ahead of you but figuring out your time is tricky.
Hope this gives you a feel for how we’re spending our non-sightseeing time. Today when we land in Siem Reap we’ve chosen to go with the part of the group that will go to the market. We’re expecting real culture shock for the rest of the trip as we haven’t been in Asian, African or Middle-Eastern cultures before.
Oh – and there has been an itinerary change for us. Once we arrive in China we’ll go to Xi’an for 2 nights and then to Chengdu to meet the rest of the group for 1 night. The original itinerary had us spending a night in Chengdu, then to Xi’an for a night and back to Chengdu for another night. When we got to D.C. we were told they realized that didn’t make much sense so they changed it around – sounds much better to us.
Thanks for all your comments on the blog – we’re not trying to respond to them but want you to know it’s nice to hear from you.
Lynda and Tim

Oops - Tim with moai on Easter Island

Catching Up On Photos

G'day Mates -

G’day Mates-
There is a wonderful Arnold Palmer golf course in Northern Michigan called Shanty Creek. It has 17 great holes and one so-so hole. When the owners asked Arnold about the 2nd hole, the so-so one, Palmer said it was the only way he could get golfers from hole no.1 to hole no.3. That is sort of the feeling we have about Samoa. We had to spend the night somewhere between Easter Island and Australia and Samoa was it. We were there for less than 24 hours. All we saw was Robert Louis Stevenson’s home and the weather was crappy. We think we will ask for our money back! Actually the drive to RLS’s house was interesting. Its summer here and the flowers are in full bloom. It was Sunday when we were in Samoa. The only reason we know for sure that it was Sunday was because everyone was going to church. In the space of about 25 miles we went by at least 10 churches. All were full and, most interestingly, everyone was wearing white clothes. (Editorial from Lynda: I enjoyed Samoa – lush vegetation, beautiful flowers, and very family-orientated people. Would you believe most of the houses we went by had small cemeteries in their front yard where relatives are buried? Nice marble stones, etc).
We are at a lovely resort in Australia. We’re told it is the number one honeymoon spot in Australia. The manager hosted a wine tasting for us last night. It was a bit disappointing because Australian wines have a good reputation and these were not particularly exceptional. The wine tasting was followed by a barbeque. If your stomach can get a bit squeamish over certain foods you may want to skip the rest of this paragraph………There was marinated kangaroo on the buffet. Tim tried it. He reports that it was a bit bland in taste and a bit dry. Lynda reports that Tim seemed to have a bit more “hop” to his step after dinner!
After dinner we had a special celebrity guest. We had been teased about this earlier in the day so speculation was rampant with such names as Greg Norman, Russell Crowe, and Nicole Kidman thrown about. Turns out to have been a keeper from a nearby zoo with a Koala Bear. It was fun because we could get up close and pet the bear.
This morning we had an hour and a half boat ride out to a platform on the Great Barrier Reef. Seas were reasonably calm so the ride was uneventful for Tim. J We were there for four hours. We went on a half hour ride on a partly submerged boat. It’s hard to describe. Where we were sitting was below the surface of the sea and we had windows to look out on to the reef. This was absolutely breathtaking. Lynda spotted a small fish that was different from all the others. Our guide identified it as a species of shark that is unusual to see in the place and at that time. He assured us that if we were snorkeling and encountered this particular shark that we would not be in any danger. The shark was only about three feet long and the guide said sharks only attack things smaller than it. All in all very exciting. After this boat ride we went snorkeling. What an incredible experience. Watching the fish swim in and out of the coral was fascinating, as was observing the many different types of coral. We also spotted giant clams among the coral. Our guides told us that unlike what you see on TV or in the movies, these clams are there to act as a filtering system for the reef. After lunch, Tim went snorkeling a second time. We were on the platform for a total of 4 hours. It was a beautiful day.
Tonight, for the first time, we are not eating together as a group. We have a choice of four different restaurants in Port Douglas where we can go to eat. So we are going out with two other couples we’ve met. One couple is from Birmingham, Alabama where Mike is the CEO of the Alabama Children’s Hospital. He has met Nick Sabin. Tim has stories to tell. The other couple is from Pittsburgh. Should be fun. Tomorrow we fly to Cambodia. We anticipate this being a real culture shock for us.
We apologize for not including as many pictures as we had hoped. Internet service from hotel to hotel has been spotty. We will do the best we can to include more pictures.
Tim and Lynda

January 3, 2009

Iorana (That’s “Hello” in Easter Islandese)
Easter Island’s main claim to fame is its Moai, very large stone figures that all look the same. There are over 900 of the statues on the island with about half of them in one location: the quarry where they were carved. Most of the Moai were 15 to 20 feet tall and are estimated to weigh in the neighborhood of 2 or 3 tons. The quarry contained a special kind of rock that was easily carved because it was rather porous but then hardened so that they would last a long time. The moai were carved at the quarry and then transported over roads made of logs and erected on platforms that served as a kind of alter. Moais were thought to bring good “mana” or luck to the tribe that erected it. Many moai broke as they were being transported and were abandoned, the tribes believing that the moai breaking was a sign of bad luck. The 400 or so moai that remained in the quarry were there because they were either not finished or, for some reason, the tribe could not transport them. When finally erected, the moai always faced inland with their back to the ocean. Don’t ask why. The three archeologists who spent over 30 years on the island restoring and researching these moais who served as our guides did not know.

Some of you may be aware of the story of the Birdman legend of Easter Island. There were many tribes on the island constantly battling for supremacy. At some point the warriors grew tired of the chiefs sending them into battle and staged a mutiny of sorts. There is a lovely little islet about a mile off of the main island where a particular breed of Pacific tern comes to breed. It was decided that each tribe would send a warrior to the island when the terns arrived and the first to return with a fertilized egg would be considered God and he and his tribe would rule for one year. We think that makes as much sense as our primary system for presidential elections. (Opps! Didn’t mean to get political in this blog).
The island had the feel of being in Hawaii although it was not nearly as lush as the Hawaiian Islands. There are only 4500 people on the island but they are fiercely loyal to the island. The ones we encountered were also very friendly.
One other interesting tidbit about Easter Island. Its airport has the longest runway in the Pacific. Why? Because the United States government built it as an alternate landing site for the space shuttle! Easter Island has several very nice paved roads because every 10 years we come in and rebuild the runway and Easter Island recycles the old pavement for its roads. Of course, NASA uses only the best pavement!!!
Again, thanks for the comments. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have. However, there is one exception to this: Bev – no more questions about the airplane – or comments about the fanny pack! We hate them but they sure are handy. Since everyone is wearing them – and carrying back packs we don’t feel too weird.
Iorana! (It’s like “aloha” – means both hello and good bye)
Tim and Lynda

Waiting . . . .

From Jilayne -

Today's the day Tim & Lynda (Mom & Dad) cross the international dateline. They left Samoa at noon local time on Sunday and arrive in Australia at 3:20 p.m. on Monday. Luckily, it's only 6 hours in the plane! We're all hoping they are busy typing their next post and resizing photos to share with us while they're in the air. I'm sure they'll find an internet connection in Australia - their Pacific "island hopping" hasn't been conducive to OUR enjoyment of their trip!

In the meantime, I've updated the world clock and added a subscription feed below the list of followers.

See you all at one of their upcoming travelogues!

Jilayne

January 1, 2009

Happy New Year!
We had assumed before we started this trip that we would have a couple of hours each night to download pictures off of our cameras, sort them, write our blog, etc., etc. Silly us! There is nothing normal in regard to the hours of our itinerary. The bottom line is that you will get a posting when we have time to do it.
As this is being typed we are winging our way over the Pacific Ocean towards Easter Island. We have completed two exhilarating but exhausting days in Peru. More on that later.
About our plane. We have first class seating from front to back. There are 11 cabin stewards for the 90 of us on this trip. The plane is owned by a British company so all of the crew members are British. Tim’s goal is to ask each of them before the trip is completed their town of origin. The service has been impeccable.
On Tuesday, we flew from Lima to Cusco. There we boarded a bus for an hour and a half ride to a little village where we transferred to a train that took us to the town at the base of Macchu Picchu. The scenery was wonderful. We immediately transferred to another bus that took us up to Macchu Picchu. We spent two hours there. Words cannot begin to describe this site. Even the pictures that you see do not do it justice. We left the next morning at 5:30 to go back to Macchu Picchu to watch the sunrise. When we arrived the entire site was enveloped in fog. We were trying to figure out why we had risen so early to see nothing. At 6:45 the fog began to lift and for the next 15 minutes we saw the most spectacular sights you can imagine. By 7:10 the whole area was once again enveloped in fog. We returned to Cusco yesterday afternoon. The New Year was celebrated with a five course dinner, champagne, and fireworks at midnight.
Altitude was a problem for both of us, particularly Tim. At 10,000 feet a brief walk leaves you panting. Climbing steps as we did at Macchu Picchu is exhausting.
Two items from Cusco that some of you may be interested in. There was a nativity scene in the town plaza. There were the usual human figures. The only animal present was a llama. We have no idea which of the animals that we associate with the nativity the llama replaced. We went inside the cathedral on the same plaza. There was a painting of the last supper that surprised us. All of the disciples had these looks of horror on their faces. We don’t know if this was because of the religious significance of the event or the fact that guinea pig was being served as the main entrée for the meal! Guinea pig is still a delicacy in Peru.
Hope all of you enjoyed your New Year celebrations. We have enjoyed reading your comments. Thanks. Looks like we may need to have multiple parties to accommodate everyone who wants to see the pictures of the pottery mentioned in our last posting.
The pilot just announced that he has permission to circle Easter Island a couple of times so we should have our cameras ready. Easter Island has the longest airstrip in the Pacific – NASA prepared it for a shuttle landing in the Pacific should it ever be needed. Tim and Lynda