Into the Pacific

Day 82 - 21 August - at sea
Nice to have a couple of days at sea after the busy shore days.  We are flying along at over 20kts, battling the Gulf Stream but I must say that the water is a lovely deep blue.  Unfortunately it is punctuated with a lot of orange seaweed or algae, but this is common in these areas.  We have officially entered the Caribbean,  after sailing within 15 miles of Cuba earlier this morning.  We have to believe the Captain about this, as the haze on the horizon did not allow us to see land.

Day 83 - 22 August - at sea
Another hour back overnight and a bit cloudy, although temperature is in the early 20s.  The sea has quite a bit of movement and the "bags" are back out on the stairwells,  something we haven't seen for quite a while.   Still steaming at almost 20kts and the Captain is certain we'll reach Limon on time tomorrow morning.  Almost forgot, another formal tonight - thankfully my shirt came back from the laundry last night.

A bit of good news from the Captain in his midday announcement.   The ship had been inspected by American Health Department people in Miami, as are all cruise ships in American waters, and Sea Princess achieved 100%.  This was the first time that she has reached this standard and apparently it is pretty unique for a 20 year old vessel.  To celebrate,  the Captain put on a BBQ on the back of Deck 14 *for staff only* - passengers were not able to use the facilities while the party went on.  

Day 84 - 23 August - Limon, Costa Rica
Although yet another (temporary) hour back, we still had to get up at 5.30 as we have room service breakfast arriving at 6.30 and have to assemble for our excursion at 7.30.  Just as we enter port the clouds turn to rain - quite heavily.  Fortunately by the time we get off the ship it has stopped.  There are around 50 on our tour and most thankfully they have split us into 2 groups (both buses & boats).  Oh yes, I haven't said yet, but we are exploring the Tortugero Canal, to see (hopefully) wildlife along the waterways.

The bus trip out took around 40 minutes and we were surprised to see that just around the corner there is another port - much larger than where we are berthed.  The township was uninspiring and did not encourage us to visit later.  The canal  interlinks with the natural waterways to provide access to inland areas & up the coast.   After a quick comfort stop, as there are no facilities on the boats, we boarded our pontoon boats.  As I mentioned, there were only 25 or so on each boat, which usually holds 3 or 4 times that number.  This enabled all of us to get a good view on both sides of the water.  Oh yes, it had a full roof to protect us from the rain, which continued for about half the cruise.

During our 90 minute cruise, we saw lots of different birdlife, mostly small birds, but also a number of waders along with sloths, various monkeys, iguanas, bats & some tiny frogs.   Unfortunately my photos were not very inspiring, particularly given the weather conditions, size of the birds (I'd been expecting big birds, not finch types) and the excellent natural camouflage. 

Can you see it?

A bird - where?

This one is a Sloth!

The usual tropical rainforest plants including bananas and decorative plants were in abundance.  At least our 2 boats went along slowly and our driver & guide were excellent at sighting and pointing out the wildlife, which quite frankly I would not have spotted.  Some other tourist boats seemed to be using the canals as a speedboat course.   

After disembarking we enjoyed (complimentary) iced tea along with fresh local pineapple & banana.  The best & sweetest I've tasted in a long, long time.  It was then back to the ship and time for a late morning coffee.  As we sit in our stateroom,  we are overlooking a banana boat unloading empty containers & at the same time loading an endless supply of large containers, containing Chiquita bananas (yes, a whole container ship of bananas).  Who knows, we may be eating them when we get back home.

A lot of bananas

Day 85 - 24 August - Panama Canal
We were woken early morning by flashes of lightning & heavy thunder.  Fortunately it didn't last long and by the time I got up it was just cloudy.  We were approaching the port of Colon, our last glimpse of the Carribean before we head into the locks and through to the Pacific.  You may recall that yesterday I mentioned the extra hour we got was temporary, so yes, an hour forward today!

It wasn't until after breakfast that we entered the first lock & the "mules" hooked up to the ship.  As we approached the end of the lock, somehow the mule's communications must have broken down, as we scrapped heavily along the wall of the lock (there goes a couple of hundred litres of white paint!).  We also noticed a large flock of crow type birds by the workshops causing quite a commotion on the mown grass - turned out they were fighting over/eating a 1 metre long snake.

Coming the other way

After traversing the Gatun Lake for much of the afternoon, we reached Pedro Miguel locks around 3.30. Apparently there was a small crocodile, but on starboard side, so we didn't see it.  Otherwise the traverse went without incident and as usual the large grandstand at the end of Miraflores Locks (the last in the canal system) was full of cheering well wishers. We were proudly flying our NZ flag (in competition with our 2 Australian neighbours! ).

At last we entered into the Pacific Ocean,  but we were surprised and perhaps a little disappointed that it was dark by then and it was only just after 6.00.  I recall that the last time we went through it was brilliantly sunny.  In any event, the lights of the skyscrapers of Panama City provided a great backdrop.  To complete the day the lightning returned (sans thunder! ). 

Day 86 - 25 August - at sea
Another day, another thunderstorm.  Sometime around 4.00am we were woken again by a short & violent storm.  It must have been bigger than we thought as apparently the front part of Horizon Court was flooded this morning.  Talking of this morning, it was our *final* Passenger Safety assembly - thankfully.  It is not that I disagree with the need to reinforce emergency procedures, but to treat it as a joke by using a singing version based on "The Love Boat" is a bit much.

Generally an overcast day with a moderate swell as we head down the Colombian coast towards Ecuador tomorrow.  They did the King Neptune thing this afternoon, although we do not actually cross over into the southern hemisphere until just after midnight.  

Goodbye America

Day 78 - 17 August - Charleston
Arrived at 9.00 and off the ship before 10.00.  It is looking like a hot day and as we don't have a tour arranged we thought that we'd get going before it got too hot.  Well it already was, so we managed to find some some shade as we walked along the waterfront to Battery Park.  It was then a stroll up King Street, which has all the historic houses - beautifully maintained I must add.  Interesting that the street was lined with garden maintenance vehicles - old habits, no one does gardening  themselves. 

As usual coffee was calling, but as with New York, Americans do not seem to "do" the cafe scene.   Vivian enquired at a health shop and was pointed in the direction of either the hotel (which was the whole block), or just around the corner.  We elected to go around the corner to this great french cafe, Cafe Framboise, and yes the owners were French.  The pastries and cakes were to die for and the coffee was good too, but out of "to go" cups.

We had established that there was a free shuttle bus and thought that that would give us a better overview of the town.  Well, by the time we walked to the bus stop and waited 20 minutes for the bus we may as well have just kept walking.  The area we travelled through was uninspiring and nothing like the area we'd been through. 

It was only 10 minutes back along King Street to Market Street and thankfully many of the shops were airconditioned, with doors open!   The markets take up 3 blocks, running straight back to the ship.  Very crowded and there was nothing that we were at all interested in, so we exited halfway through and found a lovely bistro, where we indulged in traditional crabcakes and a glass of wine.  Suitably recharged, we made it back to the ship around 3.30.

We have been to Charleston before and did the "slave trade" thing and had no desire to repeat.  Funny thing is that I had a feeling that there was more of the town to see but today confirmed that it is pretty compact and what we've seen is as good as it gets.  Although we were the only ship in port, the place was packed with tourists - predominantly Americans on their short vacations.  Local entertainment by way of a 5 piece bluegrass band in the Princess Theatre before they were kicked off as we sailed away at 11.00.

Day 79 - 18 August - at sea
Another glorious day at sea, with the sea like a lake most of the day.  It is hot however and we are thankful for the breeze on our balcony.  It was also nice to be able to sleep in a bit, with bridge back to 1.15.

Day 80 - 19 August - Miami
Although we were all docked by 9.00, it was almost 10.00 before the local authorities gave us clearance to disembark.  Miami is touted as the world's biggest cruise ship base - I say base, rather than terminal, as there are numerous terminals for individual cruise companies.  While they can take 6 cruise ships nose to tail, we were only 3 today, with Norwegian & Carnival ships already berthed when we arrived.

The terminal facilities are nonexistent,  with no tourist information, no maps, no shops, no shuttles.  We were a bit put out when we only found this out last night.  Clearly it is just an (dis) embarkation port and ships such as ours are a rarity.  Incidentally both the other ships had sailed before 5.00pm. Our thoughts were that we'd catch a cab and do Miami by taxi.

With a degree of luck (& good planning), we were with the first 100 or so to disembark and as we exited the terminal the Big Bus Co. were still selling Hoho tickets, including a shuttle back to the ship.   Although we had originally dismissed the idea, when we looked at the map we could see that this option would enable us to see everything we wanted - mainly the Vizcaya museum & Miami Beach, which are miles apart. 

There were 6 buses waiting at the terminal and fortunately the one we got on was doing the "red" route through Miami town (as I call it to differentiate from Miami Beach).   It was a bonus that it was Sunday, as traffic was not really an issue.  We had a drive through the various districts that make up the city - most of them have Cuban roots and it would be fair to say that these areas have not developed to the same extent as much the exclusive coastal areas we later went through.

Wynyard walk - street art area

Part way around the loop we got off at the Vizcaya Museum house & gardens.  We were the only ones from our bus to get off at this stop, so clearly most others planned to do the whole route.  The property is the remaining part of 180 acre farm and Viscaya was the winter estate of Chicago businessman James Deering.  The main house was built between 1914-15 inspired by Italian estates.  The formal gardens were added in 1922.  Being a seaside property on Biscayne Bay, it has seen its fair share of hurricanes. 

As a general comment, clearly Miami is very low-lying and *very* exposed to the elements, particularly hurricanes,  which have regularly devastated the area.  There is still evidence of the most recent Hurricane Gita, but to be fair they seem to accept these things and get right on rebuilding, even if they know that the next hurricane season (about now!) could reap devastation again.

As luck would have it, we only had to wait for less than 20 minutes until the next bus arrived.  So we completed the circuit through Coconut Grove (expensive) & Little Havana (more traditional Cuban), back to the depot in downtown Miami.  By now it was around midday and we had to wait another 20 minutes in the heat for the "blue" bus to Miami Beach. 

Going to Miami Beach involves traversing the causeway and bridge adjacent to the port.   I only comment on this as the wind in exposed areas was  extreme, but still the sun shone strongly.  South Beach was an eye opener,  with crowds thronging the cafe/bar area, causing massive traffic holdups.  This is also the area of the greatest number of Art Deco buildings in the world (according to them! ).  We were unable to see the waterfront from the bus however and had to wait for the first stop, a couple of blocks back (city rules).  

We walked back to the main road and had good lunch & a beer - they don't do wine here, just massive cocktails!  Oh yes, expensive, massive cocktails.  We were pretty well the only Europeans in the place and I must say that it was rocking and everyone was super friendly.  Concious of the time, we skipped across the road, through the beach activity area, through the sand dunes and onto the beach. Wow, white sand, sea (no surf) and people as far as the eye could see in both directions.  Of course most had rented chairs, umbrellas and little shade tents, so we just had to walk down through the throng to get to the water's edge.  

No, we didn't dip our toes in, which was just as well as we got back to our bus stop with less than 5 minutes until the bus arrived.   We completed the circuit,  heading north through the extensive/expensive hotel district until we turned around and followed the waterway towards the causeway.  This area overlooks the palatial estates of the rich & famous as well as their super boats.

Heading back to downtown Miami, I was keeping my eyes on the ever increasing black clouds and being aware of the inevitable afternoon rain!   We were really lucky, as none eventuated and we hit the main depot right on 5.00, which happened to be the time the shuttle took off for the ship (on the hour only 3.00 - 6.00).  It has certainly been our best experience of a Hoho and we achieved far more than what we had hoped to.

Day 81 - 20 August - Key West
We were due in at 9.00, but Captain came on the PA and reported that we'd be an hour late, due to the unusually strong Gulf Stream.  He had previously changed our departure time by 2 hours for the same reason, but obviously the current is actually even stronger than anticipated.  We had nothing planned for the day, but are aware of numerous transport options on shore.

So off the ship not long after 10.00 and there is no terminal here, just some booths selling tours & activities.  We are really berthed right in town, unlike Miami yesterday. All we were looking for was a map!  Eventually got a map from the Hoho trolley people, but baulked at the cost so headed down to the Conch train, who had a better product for us.  Not surprisingly the cost was more than quoted on the website before we left home 😐.  International tourists!!!

The little train trip through Key West took 90 minutes and we were very happy that we saw all the major attractions/buildings etc.  We also got to the southern most point of mainland USA - just 90 miles from Cuba.  We did not feel the need to get off at any time and in any event, the whole of the old town is very walkable-and many did just that.  Walked through lower Duval Street (main street), which is full of cafes/bars etc.  Good to see one entrepreneurial bar was flying both NZ & Aussie flags.

Carolines seemed a reasonable place, so we grabbed some (much cheaper) food & drink.  Vivian had fried prawns & I had a Cuban sandwich, followed by a shared Key Lime Pie - obviously we had to have the local dish.  After lunch, in the heat of the afternoon, we headed back but Vivian needed to buy a new diary.  She had found out that the pharmacy, a block away from the ship had stationery, so in we went.

We had been in a similar pharmacy in Charleston,  so knew that they stocked "everything", so in addition to the diary, we picked up a couple of bottles of wine.  Must be good for us, because we got them from the pharmacy!  The odd thing was that they had mainly NZ white wines, which even the Aussies were buying.  We topped up with reasonable Caifornian red however

Under our revised timetable we were scheduled to sail at 9.00, with all aboard at 8.30.  Well at 8.35 the Captain advised that we were still 3 passengers short.  Thankfully they turned up by 8.50 and it must have been the quickest ever pull up of the gangway,  as we pushed off exactly at 9.00.  So goodbye USA.

New York & beyond

Day 75 - 14 August - New York
DISASTER!  Somewhere between a New York yellow cab and the ship, I lost my tablet.  I am thankful that I'd posted the update to Halifax, but I will have to try and recollect what gems I had recorded on our sea day yesterday.  The real pain of loosing the tablet is that it had all sorts of travel "stuff"on it and various applications I use, which were not on Vivian's tablet - which thankfully I am now using.  Enough of self pity and back to the blog.

Yesterday was, as I have just said, a sea day.  It was a warm, but once again partially cloudy/foggy day.  As usual, Princess treated the day as the end of the cruise, so it was pretty uneventful.  

Today we actually berthed around 1.30am, but of course couldn't get off until we'd been through US Immigration.  Our early arrival is supposedly due to strong tidal flows in the Hudson river and the need to berth at slack tide.  Uhmm, funny that an Oceania ship berthed adjacent just after 7.00, so I reckon it was more that they couldn't handle 2 ships around the same time.   

We were scheduled to get off at 9.15, but we still had breakfast and made it through Immigration with ease well before 9.00. We have 2 days in New York and I had planned a couple of things - first we walked down to 34th street and walked the High Line.  This was the old elevated railway line through the meat packers district, which has been paved & planted out.  An interesting walk with hundreds (& hundreds) of others.  I think we were just about the only English speaking people - although this applied pretty well all day.  New York not only attracts thousands of visitors, but is hugely multicultural. 

When we came down from the line it was time for a coffee.  The first place we called at only had filter coffee but did recommend a cafe just down the road.  A great recommendation.  They actually had Flat Whites and a great blueberry muffin & scone.  Fuelled up we just walked outside & hailed a cab down to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal.  The ferries are free (yes, Free) and run every half hour and more frequently in peak hours.  The popularity of the ferry is that we sail past the Statue of Liberty - so lots of clicks.

Everyone has to disembark when we reach Staten Island, so we thought we'd take a wander around and were suitably unimpressed.  Dirty & unkempt all around.  Even their 9/11 memorial was a disgrace.  Needless to say that we headed back to the terminal for the return ferry pretty quickly.  This was the 1.30 sailing and was considerably less crowded than the 12.00 one over.  The weather was warm and slightly cloudy, but not the showers that we were prepared for.

From Staten Island

A friendly fish in the terminal

A ferry!

Back on Manhatten, yet another cab all the way up to Metropolitan Museum, adjacent to Central Park.  It too was absolutely crowded.  As I commented with Halifax, it is summer holidays over here, so plenty of children and young people about.  We were enjoying the museum and were up on the 2nd floor,  which has a huge glass roof, when a great crash & flash and yes, that predicted rain arrived with a vengeance.   Fortunately, as a thunder storm, it moved off quickly, so by the time we exited the sun was back out.

Caught our final cab back to the ship and that was the end of the happy day 😢.  Much of the day remaining was then spent trying to get some sort of system out the chaos that I'd created.  

Day 76 - 15 August - New York
A hot day is predicted, so straight after breakfast we headed up to Times Square, which while not *so* chaotic as last time we were here (a weekend) it was crowded.  Just people-watched as we eventually wandered down to Macys, 10? blocks away.  Didn't shop and I don't think that Vivian was overly impressed.  Headed back looking for a coffee, but most, particularly the chain ones were hugely overcrowded and certainly no seating.

Found a small one on the shady (no, I am actually talking about the sun here!) side.  But, they don't do porcelain cups, just takeouts.  Vivian has an aversion to paper cups and was set to leave, but I said that we really need a drink, so we parked ourselves on a stool by the window.  The next surprising thing was that as I went to pay it was "No, we don't take cash - just cards".  With the price of the coffee, clearly all the overheads are loaded anyway, but good for their security.

Got back onboard by 12.30 and spent the next hour trying to get Room Service to answer.  Yes, regular readers, the familiar "all the new Elites ......".   I am delighted to say that when we did get to order, and when the food and green tea arrived, it was very nice sitting out on the balcony overlooking New York for the last time.    

We were scheduled to depart at 4.00, but shortly after that time a clearly ruffled Captain made a cabinwide announcement that the "authorities" had denied permission for our departure.  While not pre-empting the reasons, our waiter last evening told us that all the crew (except officers) had been denied shore leave due to concerns of "ship jumping".  Update from later, rumour has it that yes, one of the caberet singers was involved, however as there are fewer "non elites", the laundry gossip is unverifiable! 

Waiting, waiting

We eventually sailed around 8.00 after the "administration issues" were resolved.  A real pity for many who had been looking forward to the sights during sail away,  as it was dark - but the lights were apparently brilliant.  I was so pleased that we'd got plenty of photos on our Staten Island trip, plus when were in New York before.  So we just carried on eating dinner - the MDR was noticeably quieter with many electing to stay outdoors.

Day 77 -16 August - at sea
Yeah, it's my birthday!  We are fair flying along at 22kts on a glorious sunny morning with the sea like a lake.  As a surprise, we have a "champagne" breakfast on our balcony.  Vivian had also invited Marilyn & Ray and although they brought some additional room service breakfast,  there was so much food ......  As I have said, brilliant sun shone all morning & somehow (don't ask me how) Vivian even arranged for not 1 but 2 pods of dolphins to swim by. 😊😊😊

The Captain has also joined  in my celebrations by declaring a formal night tonight.  Well I say that as I can't think of any other reason.  Sadly my bubble was burst as there were 3 of us with birthdays on the 2nd seating in the traditional dining room.  When you think of it, with almost 2,000 passengers,  there is an average of over 5 per day.  Although I much prefer my original theory.  A good day thanks Vivian & friends.

Canada was great

Day 70 - 9 August  - Quebec 
Well we are here and once again we are tied up on the starboard side - hasn't anyone told the Captain that the "port" side is so named as that is the side which is tied to the shore.   So once again we have a view across the river to the predominantly residential area, plied with vehicular ferries.  As promised it is overcast and apparently it rained on our way up the river this morning.

It is a "do it ourselves" event as we are berthed right in the centre of the old town, which has two parts, lower & upper.  Apparently there are stairs up to the upper area, which is the more historic, being the only walled city north of Mexico (take note Mr Trump!).  The wall is some 400 years old, but unfortunately they are in the process of doing extensive restoration work and we were unable to get to see some areas.  But as usual I am ahead if myself.  The stairs are referred to as the "breakneck stairs" but there is an alternative - a funicular.  Unfortunately I did not have any Canadian dollars at this stage, so stairs it was.  It was actually a very pleasant walk and the stairs were not a great issue.

On the way we passed through an area of "building art" adjacent to the centre of the old lower town.  Having reached the upper town we thought we'd get to the Citadel, which also contains the Governor General's residence.   Thought that we were on the right track, but after half an hour along a lovely walkway (& heaps more stairs) I conceded defeat and we reversed our steps.  One of the most impressive sights (purportedly also the most photographed) is the Chateau Frontenac.  So I photographed it!

The Chateau

Along the boardwalk

Retracing our steps - ship in background 

It is at this stage that the extent of restoration work became more evident.  Still saw all the "touristy" sites and also got to exchange my Euros for C$ at a good rate.  Now I've got to spend them either here or Halifax.  As with the last 2 ports, Quebec is predominantly French, both spoken & written.  I found it a little strange as in most foreign places we've visited in the past (including China), English sub-titles have been the norm.  Perhaps I am showing a degree of English arrogance- sorry!

We were in an area with plenty of food & drink, but mainly fast-food outlets, or Irish Pubs (as you'd expect), but down a side street there was a nice cafe attached to one of the better old hotels.  Very good coffee and food for morning tea.  Just as we were ordering, who comes in but Margit & Jim.  I had joked to Jim as we were leaving the ship that we'd probably see them at coffee time.  But as we were finishing our coffee the heaven's opened.  Not many verandahs around either.  Fortunately I was carrying our light raincoats and also the rain had eased by the time we left the cafe.

Satisfied with our exploration of the upper town, we went back down the stairs and through the bustling retail areas of the lower part.  A lot more food & beverage and I must add that the sun was back out and it was becoming hot.  We continued walking back past the ship and on to the markets - mostly food & veggies.  We didn't think that the prices were much different to back home.  By now we've been walking for over 5 hours and black clouds are gathering again, so we retreated back to the ship about half an hour before the thunder & lightning. 

Quaint shops

Looking at the funicular

It is a pity we are in port until 11.00pm, not that I'd begrudge anyone the ability to enjoy the city, but that as with Saquenay yesterday, we don't get to enjoy the scenery on either sail in or sailaway.  I spoke too soon, the rainclouds all disappeared and it turned into a lovely late afternoon/evening.   

Once again with hindsight  we were extremely fortunate where we were docked as we were in the centre of the special festival entertainment (don't ask me what it was all about but we had 
•Acrobats (8.00 - 9.00) doing a major show, which we could see at least part of as they were immediately adjacent to the ship.  
•A rock/pop concert (9.00 - 10.00) a little in front of the ship and another concert on the far shore too.  
• An enormous fireworks display (10.00) from barge(s) in the middle of the river.

We ended up with prime views from our port balcony.  So prime, that the bigger fireworks felt as though they were aimed directly at us.  Before the fireworks we entertained ourselves watching the Police on their modified jet skis, controlling all the small leisure craft, as well as a couple of larger party boats that cruised up for the display.  It was really an evening to remember.  I did however feel sorry for the folkloric show in the theatre at the same time.

Day 71 - 10 August  - at sea 
Damn.  I have a bug and feel Yuck.  Hopefully it is just a 24 hour one, but I won't go into  details.  We are sailing down the St Lawrence river again and at least we can see land, although the river is now very wide and really looks more like a coastal view in the distance.  This evening, around 9.00, we had a medical evacuation by the Coastguard and we had to sit for a couple of hours until our medical team returned to the ship.  Although I had spent the day in bed & skipped dinner, I knew this as the stern thrusters were kept on for what seemed an eternity.  Usually they just use them when entering or leaving our berth, and when they do, the ship vibrates quite violently.

Day 72 - 11 August  - at sea
Much better today, the sun is shining as we power along the last of the Gulf of St Lawrence and then into the Atlantic to Halifax and not an iceberg in sight (sorry in-house joke about why we missed Halifax on the 2015 WC).  The last formal for this sector tonight, but I'm sure we have another one next week!  As usual the parade of the Baked Alaska's takes place and we have noticed some changes over the years.  First it was replacing the real candles with battery powered ones and now the parade is of polystyrene replicas!!  Health & Safety rules again.

Oh dear, another day, another medi-evac.  Once again by Coastguard,  but this time it is in daylight, around 6.00pm just off Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.  It was after 9.00 before we sailed away, so obviously the medics had to escort the patient to hospital in Sydney and come back.  The Captain previously assured us that this event would not impact on our arrival in Halifax. 

Day 73 - 12 August  - Halifax
Yes, we did arrive on time and we had a good walk along the waterfront boardwalk as far as the City proper.  As we are not mall shoppers, we decided to skip the next few blocks and headed back home in search of a coffee.  Now although it is Sunday, clearly the locals are not cafe/brunch people.  Nothing seemed to be opening until either 11.00 or midday, and we need to be back in time for our afternoon excursion.  The boardwalk however was very popular walking spot with tourists and locals alike.  We were intrigued to see the fitness group on their exercycles on one of the smaller wharves.

See all that power

We were just about back to the ship when we came to the Farmers Market, and had a decent mug of organic coffee and organic blueberry muffin at of course an organic price.  But it was worth it.  Picked up some free WiFi, not that I need it, but our shipboard allowance expires in a couple of days and the next sector is much longer, so effective daily allowance is less.  Good opportunity to update my Google Maps for upcoming ports.

Our excursion is out to Peggys Cove, about an hours drive away.  As we've found out over the course of the cruise, if the assembly time is 1.20, then everyone is there by 1.05, so down we went through the terminal at 12.55 and there was already a queue of 40+.  I know this as we were #46 & 47 to get on our 50 seater bus.  There were in total 4 buses this afternoon (& the same for the morning excursions).  All went well until it was time to leave and our bus was the little (big) bus that couldn't!   No, it apparently refused to go into gear, so we sat and waited for 10 minutes and then it worked.

Our trip out to Peggys was through the centre of the peninsula, with not a great deal to see until we reached the coast.  One factor we were told about was the impact of the last ice age, when huge glaciers ran out far into the Atlantic Sea and on their way out and in the topsoil was scrapped away. This is most noticeable in the ever reducing height of the trees.  Peggys Cove and the surrounding area is almost devoid of vegetation, with the granite rock formations  being most spectacular. 

Clearly on a sunny, summer, Sunday we were not the only people visiting the cove.  Apart from various buses there were thousands of "locals" doing the same thing.  We had an hour of free time, so apart from the obligatory lighthouse photos, we wandered the wharf area and township - only 50 residents, but of course humming today.  The queue at the Lobster Roll shop was amazing, but we actually had a hotdog & cold drink at "Peggys Dogs", down by the water.  Surprisingly, one of the women running the outfit used to live in Christchurch, when her husband was flying with Air New Zealand. 

Queuing for lobster

Peggys Cove lighthouse

Harbour

Harbour

Shopping hot dogs

Relaxing

The trip back to Halifax was more scenic as we followed the coast up St Margarets Bay and there are many expensive homes built in this area (as well as the usual holiday homes).  We were back with 45 minutes to spare before sailaway and were   then serenaded by a lone piper on the wharf.  Nova Scotia (New Scotland) is very Scottish, but also the Irish & English formed the original settlers- our guide wore a kilt, even though his longer term heritage was Irish - it is a company requirement.  Dare I say it, but definitely no French seen or spoken here.

On our way back onboard, an Officer at the gangway told us that yet another passenger is being disembarked by ambulance, so that's 3 days in a row. We were all set for 6.00 departure, but once again the ship's gangway refused to go into storage before we took off, so an half hour delay.  It was a lovely evening for the sailout and we enjoyed the scenery for a change.  

The Captain has already told us that we will be doing maximum speed (20-22kts) to reach New York on Wednesday.  As always, the ship is treating this as the end of the cruise, but I think that I am over commenting by now.  A other bit of good news is that they give us back that hour again overnight.