Home safe and sound, happy kitties at our feet

Courtesy of our new friends Julie and Trevor, we had quite the grand tour of Auckland the three days we were in town, so writing about New Zealand will have to be ex post facto (and will have to wait until some sleep, as we literally just got home a few minutes ago!

Our kitties are happily snuggled up with us and we're all off to get some much needed sleep. THANKS (BIG THANKS) to our neighbors the Matulewskis for taking care of the cats while we're gone!

Tomorrow (Saturday) Jim will be off (assuming all is OK with the Gintners) to pick up the dogs, and then at long last the household will be complete again.

What an amazing trip this has been! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Backtrack: more on cruise and getting to NZ

Dick here. The second formal night (our last dinner on ship) was very pleasant. Everyone seemed in a looser mood and seemed to realize that it was in many ways the last night together. Lots of e-mail addresses were exchanged with promises to send pictures. I think we could go into the NYC tour business in the future.

Even thought we spent a long weekend on Moorea at the beginning of the trip it was fun to revisit in a totally different situation. [JIM: The Belvidere overlook was spectacular!]



We had a major confusion and hassle getting back to the ship. We had told the ship that we were disembarking when we got to Tahiti that evening. When we got back on board from our Moorea tour the identification machine rejected us and security would not let us board the ship! Apparently they had crossed us off the passenger roster in the morning rather than the evening! We had to go through a whole rigamarole before we became legitimate again.

[JIM: We were able to get a group shot of the trivia regulars who showed up pretty faithfully all the 10 days of our cruise. It was a very nice - and smart - group of people. Trivia seems to be somewhat popular here in NZ as I write this. The flights between Auckland and Wellington on Air NZ had trivia questions running on the TV the entire time (except when the travel safety video - a major digression worth another posting - was playing).



After dinner we got off the ship in Tahiti to catch a 2:00 AM flight to Auckland, New Zealand. [JIM: Ugh!] We had to wait almost an hour for our transfer limo but finally got to the airport and then on the plane to New Zealand. Got to Auckland (after losing a day by crossing the International Date Line) JUST in time to get our plane to Wellington. Being in a wheel chair helped here. They gave us a lot of extra consideration.

Getting to Wellington was a real shock. It was cold, rainy and windy, and after the tropical weather we had been enjoying, I was convinced I was not going to like it. Our friends Barb and Art and their daughter Lucy met us at the airport, which I didn't expect. Pleasant surprise! They have a really efficient bus system and we caught one from the airport almost to their apartment. Wellington has a lovely harbor and it being the day after Guy Fawkes Day there were still lots of fireworks going off around the harbor. We had dinner at a fish restaurant right on the harbor.

The next day the weather improved considerably as did my impressions of Wellington. We went touring around on city buses. Wellington has a really vital downtown. It is the national capital as well as having a few universities which adds to the city's vitality.

I have been really out of shape with the after effects from my surgery. Walking has been a problem but is exactly what I need to do. So when we were not riding a bus we were walking but stopping every few blocks to let me sit and rest my back and right leg. I was being pushed a little by my 'buddies' but again, it was the thing to do and as the time has progressed so has my back and leg.

After a year-long search and many failed deals, Barb and Art have a house under contract. We went by to see it on Sunday after church services and were quite impressed with its neighborhood and views. I noted that they would have a dedicated guest
room!

The next day we later had a ride on the city cable car and then a walk (downhill) through the botanical gardens where we had lunch. [JIM: Dick's photos added for your viewing pleasure]

Downtown Wellington (can't believe how clean everything is! no litterbugs in Wellington)


The cable car that runs from the Lambton Quay to the top of the Botanical Gardens. A popular mode of transportation as well as tourist attraction.


In the botanical garden:


This photo does not do justice to the size of the ferns:



At the Te Papa Tongarewa museum in Wellington, a Maori marae (temple/meeting house):



On our way to the airport Tuesday morning, a quick shot in front of the Cuban embassy (much more open/approachable than the US embassy, alas):

chez Lucy, Barb and Art in Wellington

We arrived yesterday (a bit sleepy) in Wellington and are now staying with our friends Lucy, Barb and Art. It is a strange feeling to leave one place late Thursday evening and arrive on Saturday morning. (Actually, we had 2 hours of Friday as our flight didn't officially leave until 01:50 am Friday morning).

We had a bit of a cold blast waiting for us, a shock to our spoiled systems, but had a very nice afternoon and dinner celebrating several bits of good news for the family Howe/Protin. And we slept (deliciously). I (Jim) have a cold coming on that I am grateful was staved off for the cruise (no dives for me otherwise), but hopefully a couple days taking it easy will do the trick.

Wellington is a very nice city, reminds us somewhat of Vancouver and SF. It was ranked as the coolest small capital in the world by the 2010 Lonely Planet guide (a fact the city is quite "chuffed" about). Barb, Art and Lucy live in the diplomatic area, so we walk by the US and Cuban embassies on our way to/from the bus stop. Public transportation is very good here.

we lied! one more set

Even More Photos

Final set of pics before we disembark (wahhhhh!!!!! can't we put this trip into reverse?????)

More photos

Jim with our Bora Bora 4x4 tour guide



Does Dick look happy or what? 4x4 Tour Bora Bora.



Belvidere Lookout, Moorea. The bay on the left is Opunohu Bay, the bay on the right is Cook Bay (named after Captain Cook). We were moored in Opunohu Bay.



Nice photo of Opunohu Bay!

Bora Bora and Moorea pics

Some photos for your viewing pleasure -- burning up the internet minutes!


Approach to Bora Bora ...





A good omen!



4x4 tour - yes the water is this blue (and this many shades of blue!)

Bora Bora no bore

This morning we arrived at Bora Bora. It really is beautiful. I am spending a morning on ship while Jim goes for a dive. I am pleased he is getting to do all of these dives. I wish I had persisted and gotten certified. It would be nice to share the experience. In the afternoon we both went ashore and did a little shopping for gifts and then had a beer. There is a lot of traffic here but then there is basically only one road. The weather is a lot more humid and a little uncomfortable. [ JIM: It is probably less humid in the austral winter months. I did two dives in the morning. The first was in an area that had sharks, mostly smaller ones though there were a couple lemon sharks (#10 on the most dangerous list!). It was pretty exciting from start to finish -- I saw a shark below me as soon as I hit the water. They got as close as 5 yards from us, but we weren't trying to swim toward them and they were not really interested in us. (Fortunately.) ]

I've been taking pictures of the wild dogs that are everywhere. They are very sad to look at and appear kind of mangy. The females obviously have had a zillion litters. We have seen them running off with a land crab, a mango and a bit of bagette. I always have a feeling that dogs, no matter what their situation, have a particular and strong affinity for humans. I realize they are hoping for a bit of food but if you look at them at all they will come over to you. I have yet to see anyone give them anything to eat.

Next day:

We took a tour in a four wheel drive vehicle into the hills. It was hairy (downright thrilling!) in spots (i.e. just like real off-road driving) but the views from higher up were beautiful, and we got to see guns put in place by the US during WW-II to protect the Bora Bora harbor and plan runway strip. Our guide, a local Polynesian woman, was fun with a great sense of humor.

Tonight is the second and last formal night. I have mixed feeling about formal nights. It is a nice tradition but adds complications to packing. It was one thing in days gone by when you shipped a steamer trunk on ahead directly to the ship. But having to fly several legs on airplanes with the bloody luggage with all the extra stuff needed, well........ We also, as second time passengers on Princess, have the Captain's cocktail party tonight. We will go only because several people we have become friendly with will be there. It will be nice to spend more time with them. [Jim: And became yet another marketing opportunity. They recognized the passengers on board with the most "Princess" days, and the winning couple had over 600 days ... Not between them, but 600 days each! Wow, even spread out over 25 years, that's almost a month at sea per year. There is a woman who seems to live on the ship (and has a picture hung in the lobby identifying her as the "Godmother" of the ship), and she has taken herself out of the running, as she has over 11 years worth of days. Beggars the imagination! ]


We are now sailing to Moorea. The seas are a little heavier than any time in the past but it isn't uncomfortable.

[JIM: Hard to believe we've finished the penultimate day. Dick and I both wish we could turn around and do the trip in reverse. Getting late now, but we have minutes to burn still, so will try to write about Bora Bora and our experiences tomorrow ]

Rockin' on Rangiroa and Raiatea

Jim here, with Dick supplying his comments and bon mots.

Today is an "at sea" day, which means that Princess sets a very full schedule of on-ship activities, so we've been on the go pretty much all day, and it's only now at 6 pm that I'm relaxing on the balcony listening to the waves go by while the sun sets in the distance, a gently cool breeze blowing. In other words, heaven! Too bad that AT&T Research can't solve its space problems by getting a set up like this - I guarantee we'd all be very happily productive and in no rush to "leave the office" :-)

Yesterday at Rangiroa was fascinating. This place is really CUT OFF from the rest of the world; felt this even more so than we did on Huahine. While Huahine was lush, this island is bare and dry, with only coconut and breadfruit as food-bearing plants, and a landscape that is all sand and coral fragments. So the sense of isolation is even more keen.

The lagoon at Rangiroa was advertized as spectacular with sea creatures and did not disappoint. Dolphins came and played with the tenders that took us off the ship, and our two excursions (we took a glass bottom boat tour in the morning, and I had a scuba dive in the afternoon) provided lots to see.

The boat tour was fun - amazing how a few tuna fish heads and baguette ends stimulated mass feeding frenzies! It was amazing what a quick job the fish did on that fish head. Neither one of us has a delicate stomach, fortunately, and Dick got some surprisingly good photos considering he was taking them thru the glass at the bottom of the boat.

I was really lucky with the afternoon dive. I had talked a fellow passenger, Noel from Kentucky, who is quite an experienced diver and a very "hail well met" fellow, into joining me. He has his own gear, including a computer to keep track of his nitrogen levels, etc. (More on that later.) Fortunately for me (and hopefully for you too), he has a dive camera and very kindly copied the photos onto a flash drive for me so that I could upload them for you!

I was hoping the dive would be a "ride the rip current" dive thru the main channel connecting the lagoon to the ocean (and to which the Frommers guidebook gave a high recommendation: "but not for the weak-hearted!") As it turned out, the afternoon tides didn't make that dive feasible, so we did a 25m dive off the outer coast where dolphins, turtles and sharks were known to be. I had much better luck equalizing pressure in my ears this time around, and so was feeling a lot more confident.

The thrilling moment came pretty quickly and had us dive a bit deeper than originally planned: two dolphins adopted us and not only let us make hand contact, but literally "danced" with us for over 10 minutes, standing on their tails so noses pointed straight up, bobbing up and down or swimming around us, but staying very still while we petted/stroked their skin. They seemed to like it and were certainly in no hurry to leave. Magical experience.
Unfortunately the excitement and added depth had me zip thru the air in my tank.



Not long after we left the dolphins, we came to a large sea turtle and I got to swim up close and take a look. But soon I was at beginning of the red zone and signaled our leader that I'd reached that point. (Not to alarm anyone - that only means that in a normal dive it would be time for me to start up - I was in no danger.) Anyway, she handed me her alternate air regulator and I borrowed some of her air while we saved what was left of mine for the ascent later. Connected, we drifted along a few minutes and took in some amazing, densely packed schools of fish, and then time to gradually come up. While I and two other divers in our group were surfaced, the leader and Noel stayed down for what seemed like a long time, and I was amazed (and a bit self-conscious) that there was such a difference between their air usage and mine! Oh well, guess experience teaches you all the ways to not consume air so quickly, I consoled myself in my thoughts. It turns out, however, that Noel had a bit of a problem. He had dived in the morning and while the original dive plan for the afternoon would have been OK re: his nitrogen limit, we'd spent too much time at deeper depth with the dolphins and his dive computer was telling him he needed to spend 25 minutes a few meters below the surface before he could come up. The problem? He didn't have 25 minutes of air (nor could our leader spare him enough). They stayed down as long as they could and then made the decision that the dive computer would leave a healthy enough margin for error that he'd be ok coming up earlier than the computer advised.

After the dive shop shuttled us back to the Princess tender pick-up point, we grabbed a beer from a little roadside stand and celebrated a wonderful dive (and I could keep an eye on him for symptoms of decompression sickness!). It turns out that his assessment of the computer's margin of error was indeed the case and he had no problems when I saw him later in the evening at dinner (and he graciously offered to put his photos on my flash).

We have a two-tank dive planned at Bora Bora, and I'm really excited that this trip is giving me so many opportunities to get back into scuba diving!

Dick here: I had a quieter day of course, but I continue to get more active and energetic with each day. Rangiroa is really out in the middle of nowhere in a really beautiful way. It has an incredible sense of peaceful isolation. I found myself wondering if I could live here. It is an atoll only. There is no mountain or hill. It is also enormous. The entire island of Tahiti could fit into the lagoon and you can't see the far side of the atoll since it is so far away.

The glass bottom boat was fun. The guides drove the local fish population crazy with the head of a fresh killed tuna. The most interesting sight was the eels who hide under rocks and dart out for a quick bite.

While Jim was having his wonderful experience dancing with dolphins I went to the lecture series on Polynesia that we have been attending. This guy is the greatest lecturer. His enthusiasm is enormous. He is totally disorganized and his lecture has a strong free association aspect. Everything reminds him of something else and he bounces around but always totally holds your attention. I wish he were leading tours on the islands.

We are eating too much! While the food is generally good the availability is very bad. I have stopped eating dessert after dinner though the waiter pushed a cherries jubilee on me last night. I fought valiantly but lost. Of course I need to put weight back on but would rather do it with a less rich diet.

We didn't win the trivia contest last night for the first time. Boo! [Jim: It was my fault - I was sure "The Sound of Music" was a 1967 movie, and so thought the 1965 Oscar-winning movie starring Julie Andrews was Mary Poppins! However, I did restore some honor by getting the answer to this question: What do a florist, a composer and a business planner have in common? Answer below]

We have met so many really nice people from all over the world. Especially New Zealanders.

Leaving Rangiroa to head for Raiatea we had a 'sea day' i.e. we were not in any port but were cruising. Sea days have a very relaxing sense to them. You don't have any shore excursions booked so you don't have any place you have to be. [Jim: But, there are so many activities, you may have just as full a day]

[Jim: answer to question: All make arrangements.]

Raiatea I opened an eye this morning and through the slight break in the drapes saw trees going by. We had slept in a little and were pulling into Raiatea.

We took a tour this morning in a 4 wheel drive Land Rover that took us into the islands central caldera which now is basically a large valley. We went to another vanilla plantation that seemed a little more authentic and heard a well done talk on the complexities of vanilla production. It really is a drawn out procedure.

We then went to what is considered the most sacred temple area in all of Polynesia: Taputapuatea. Try saying it :-). Temples here aren't enclosed but are open air platforms of stone with large flat stones placed on edge at one end. They apparently performed human sacrifices here at one point, usually young boys.

I particularly like Raiatea. If I were to live here, it is one of the islands I would consider along with Moorea. I don't want this vacation to end!!!

Princess Cruise So Far

Saturday, 10/30 6:43 am, Rangiroa:

Apologies first and foremost for radio silence - the last post from Dick was apparently only saved in draft form, so you are receiving it a couple days late.

The internet scene at the Moorea resort was expensive, so we only bought 30 mins time thinking that would be enough to upload pics and publish something Dick wrote - wrongly, I guess.
Now have bought a 100 min package from Princess for $50. Splurge!!

Jim here (though he'll turn over to Dick for some asides/editing which will mostly be in brackets { } comme ca) ... sitting on our balcony as we approach Rangiroa, the one atoll (island formed from coral reef that remains after the volcanic cone that formed the island has sunk back into the sea. Rangiroa's reefs circle a lagoon that is big enough to contain the entire island of Tahiti, meaning that in its prime Rangiroa must have been the largest of the French Polynesian islands. It is flat as a pancake, and basically the tree line is all you can see on approach.

Impressions about the general cruise environment so far:

-- Our cabin, particularly the balcony, is a bit more snug than we were imagining it would be, but it uses space cleverly and we were able to fully unpack and settle in.

-- The only disadvantage we've felt so far with the "small ship" experience is that we feel the motion of the ship a bit more than we did on Diamond Princess. Dick seems to recall feeling the sea on the Diamond Princess the first day of the Alaska trip when we were on somewhat unprotected waters {crossing the Bay of Alaska on the way to Glacier Bay}, but I don't recall being struck by the motion myself. We are certainly much more on open water on this cruise than the Alaska cruise.

-- Air temperature and water temperature have been staying pretty consistently at ~82ºF (just think of that - water temperature on open seas is 82ºF!!!). {I find it amazing that the air and the ocean are the same temperature} The sun seems to be rising at ~4:30 local time {not conducive to sleeping in!}, and boy do you feel it by the time 6 am comes around. My runs on land so far have all been a bit less time than I'd like due to the heat/humidity combination. The runs have been invaluable in helping me eliminate water from my ear that accumulated from the dive I took in Moorea, and in true "down to the wire" fashion, my ears feel fully clear today (Saturday), the day I'll dive in Rangiroa.

-- Like our last experience with Princess on the much larger Diamond Princess, this ship has been carved into lots of nice, intimate spaces.

-- Also similar to our last experience with Princess, there is a somewhat unrelenting series of "opportunities to enhance the cruising experience" (in other words, to spend more money){this drives me crazy!}, but there are also many different activities onboard to occupy time other than lounging on the balcony with a book or music. We've particularly been enjoying a lecturer on all things Polynesian. Douglas has a wonderful enthusiasm, if somewhat chaotic and stream-of-consciousness, and a far-flung set of interests, among which are birding, botany, astronomy, literature and history. He loves everything Polynesian. He is very good at challenging his audience to pay attention to all the little details and observations that can be made by paying attention to the scenery, the maps/charts for our cruise, the names of places and landmarks, etc. {He talks twice a day and has groupies who are there every day - including us}

We've also been enjoying the trivia contests, winning 3 of 3 so far :-) We've recruited 3 other people onto our team (2 Aussies and a Kiwi), who have proven invaluable in rounding us out. One of the funnier questions (which we did not answer correctly): Which country has the lowest birth rate? Answer a bit below ... see if you can reason the answer to this question out. I've also been playing a bit of bridge and am bewildered by the new bidding systems being used, though at last I know what a "Texas Transfer" is!

-- We are enjoying the standard dining option, which assigns you a fixed table/time. We are a table of eight and have met two nice couples from New Zealand and an American couple from Oregon, all of whom are pleasant dinner companions. {Last night was supposed to be "formal night" but they didn't enforce it very much. On our Alaska cruise we saw people, very irritated people, being turned away for being dressed informally, but not here}

Yesterday was an "at sea" day, i.e., no landfall. As a result we took advantage of many of the on board programs including those above. Tomorrow will also be an "at sea" day and the only other one we have.


-- No complaints so far about the food, particularly now that Dick knows ice cream is to be had 3:30 - 4:15 pm :-) {Dick is going to opt for afternoon ice cream and pass on dessert after dinner} One nice change from our last cruise is that there is more international variety to the food, with decent vegetarian options as well as, so far, a series of very good fish dishes.

-- Answer to that trivia question re: the country with the lowest birth rate: We guessed China because of their "one child"policy, but thinking about that it doesn't make sense because even though it is only one child per couple, China is very traditional and most people will get married and have a child. Someone else then speculated one of the European Union countries, suggesting the Netherlands or Belgium. The answer, as it turns out, makes perfect sense: Vatican City. And yes, one would *hope* that the birth rate there is on the low side :-). {We always forget that Vatican City is a sovereign nation.}

-- We've enjoyed several shore excursions so far: we took a drive around Tahiti, a drive around Huahine and a "glass-bottom boat" tour in Rangiroa harbor. While Tahiti feels overall pretty modern and vibrant, Huahine and Rangiroa both strike one with an incredible sense of isolation, of remoteness. Lots of people living in these places effectively live at a subsistence level, which is not too difficult given the proliferation of coconut, breadfruit and transplants like mango, banana, sweet potato, pineapple as well as abundant fishing. When we were told our Huahine tour would include a "vanilla planation", I had thoughts of some Polynesian "Tara" with acres of vanilla bean vines being tended. The reality was a small simple little ranch house alongside the road with a large garden of vanilla beans { Large?? They had about two dozen plants and the store selling vanilla in every possible variation for too much money} and a tarp-covered vending area selling a few nicknacks. Unlike Mexico, say, there is not the same overwhelming profusion of tourist goods manufactured at "Tahiti Inc" that one sees over and over and over. Seems like most people pretty much do their own thing. {Most of the Polynesians make shell necklaces that they themselves sell on the docks or they resell 'aloha' shirts and fabrics.}

{ I was fascinated to see a mango tree -I've never seen one before- that was almost at large as the old oak tree behind our house.}



-- Health-wise we are both doing really well. Dick's energy levels have picked up significantly (lots of walking doing wonders for him!), and the 3 days in Moorea to recover from the trip were, in hindsight, as good an idea as we'd anticipated it would be when we planned the trip months ago. {Yeah..... I spent a significant amount of time stretched out in bed but looking out over the lagoon.} My only complaint was the water-in-the-ear business and some anxiety over whether I'd be able to scuba dive today in Rangiroa, and all seems well on that front. Taking a nap each day, getting moderate exercise each day, and enjoying a chance to catch up on reading (just finished "The Kite Runner" - highly recommended) and Sudoku is doing wonders for the psyche -- definitely feeling like I'm getting recharged! I so needed this trip, that's for sure.

Dick's Notes on Trip So Far

Dick here:

There is something otherworldly about a major airport at 3 AM. It almost seems a metaphor for hell. The most absolute blackness with a cacophony of lights that seem not to illuminate anything.

The flights were relatively pleasant though tedious. Six hours to LA on United and it was only two-thirds full. All of the middle seats were empty and so we had lots of room. The flight from LA to Tahiti was eight hours and the plane was literally only half full. Air Tahiti Nui is another experience in itself. The seating is more comfortable and further apart. I could actually stretch my legs out in front of me. They served a rather pleasant meal (imagine) and several snacks. All drinks were free including all alcohol! The flight attendants were very pleasant and very accommodating. This is not the flying experience I've become used to.

Landing in Papeete was smooth and being in a wheelchair made it even smoother. The people helping were very solicitous and I was given preference everywhere and moved to the front of every line. Oh the guilt!

We had an amusing little shock on arriving at our hotel. The bellhop came out to assist and all he had on was a sort of little sarong from the waist down and a pair of flip-flops. It turns out that this is rather standard here but coming from the Northeast in October ......

Papeete is what I imagine Honolulu was like before World War II but is still a tourist town with lots of shlock stuff for sale. We took a walk and had the worst ice cream I've ever had. Of course, ice cream is a measure of culture for me :-)

Saturday, midday, we took the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea and met a very original couple from Auckland, New Zealand, Julie and Trevor Skeller, with whom we had dinner Sunday and will again tonight. It will also be nice to have someone to say hello to when we get to Auckland. Julie is talking about plans to show us around Auckland which would be very nice. It is always nicer to see a place through a natives eyes.

Julie has the most extreme Kiwi accent I've ever heard. They take short e's and make them long. The color red is "reed" and at night one goes to "beed". It takes a little getting used to.















One of the other beauties of breakfast are the REAL croissants. This is, after all, a French territory.

This resort is very pleasant and quite beatuiful. I love our own little thatched hut with large balcony and king sized bed. The shower is about 7' square and has wonderful water flow. However the concept of 'manana' is here in spades. The Skellers sent us a fax yesterday morning. We didn't know about it until we spoke to them on the phone late in the afternoon. Jim called the front desk and asked if there was a fax for us. All they said was "yes, there was", period, end of sentence. Finally Jim asked them to bring it to the room, just on the principle that we should get what was sent to us even though we knew the contents of the fax. This is a 'luxury' resort. Another little irritation - the water at the hotel is not potable and they expect you to buy bottled water from them at a rather high rate. I noticed a few people going to the local store and bringing back a case of bottled water. In India and China every hotel provides each guest with a litre of bottled water every day. However these are minor irritations.

I have been taking it easy and am feeling better and more energetic every day but still have to be careful not to push myself. Jim has been able to go for runs and this morning took a bike ride. This afternoon he is going scuba diving to practice for the more serious diving he will do on some of the outer atolls.
I have to admit it bothers me that I'm not able to join him and share these experiences.

Except for that, this is the most wonderful experience. We are having a wonderful time together. There is a wonderful intimacy in this trip.


Later -

Tuesday night we sailed from Papeete for Huahine. Our first dinner on board was open seating (i.e. unassigned)and our table mates were very pleasant. Once of the nice thing about this smaller ship is that you get to meet people more easily. We have especially met quite a few New Zealanders.

Unfortunately we won't include photos for a while since the wi-fi on board ship is extremely expensive and ridiculously slow. Photographs take forever to upload and would use up all the time we had to buy. When we get to New Zealand we will include a bunch.

arrival!

Our flights went without a hitch, except for some confusion over the bagge weight rules at United.
Before I complain (this is Jim), let me first of all praise United to the skies for their program assisting travelers with limited mobility. They could not have been more attentive, personable or taken better care of Dick each leg of the journey, and there is no way he could have navigated the airports without this program. For all the times we may think the world is going to hell in a handbasket, it is refreshing to contemplate the extent to which people have gone to make it easier for people with disabilities to travel. (Not being disabled and having to live it day in/day out, I may be going out on a bit of limb by saying that, but certainly it was a terrific comfort for both of us to know Dick was being so well taken care of. I told him he needed to have surgery in advance of all our trips from now on :-) :-)

Both our flights were on schedule. Air Tahiti Nui is a special airline. After we watched the travel video, with one of the best choreographed demonstrations of where the exits were - ballet, almost - we were each given a fragrant white flower to put behind our hair, and the flight crew changed out of suit jackets to tropical shirts. Food and drink were wonderful, the flight was not overcroweded so everyone had room to stretch out, and they had a decent movie selection. More later....

JFK 3:15 am

We opted for the "humane" approach -- spend the night near JFK vs. limo at 2 am :-)
Going to be a looooooooong day! Not sure whether I want the movies on our flights to be interesting or not ....

The trip is on!

http://www.princess.com/find/itineraryDetails.do?voyageCode=1026&trade=H

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/rp/royal_bridgecam.html

We are so excited! About to do one of Dick's dream trips - 2 weeks in French Polynesia, 1 week in New Zealand!!!!!