Category: News from the Pacific

Today marks the end of the first cruise “Tahitian Treasures”, and we start off on our next cruise adventure “Great Barrier Reef”.

This night we celebrated “Sail Away Again”.

Today was our last sea day of the first cruise. Sydney here we come.

Tonight, we are celebrating our new host country, Australia.

Another Relaxing day at sea and our last Chic Night (formal night) of the first cruise.  Seas were a little rough today as the ship pitched and rolled.

And of course we had to celebrate Ducks (at least 1 night of this trip).

 

 

Today was our last day in the magically lush country of New Zealand. 

We found a local excursion that went to the Glow Worm Caves, Kauri Forest (this was a bush walk to a 500-year-old Kauri Tree – over 40’ in girth), Haruru Waterfalls, and the Hundertwasser Toilets.

Today we are in Auckland, New Zealand.  A beautiful modern city with the port directly in the city center.

Spectacular greenery in town.

Wonderful mix of architectural styles.

Once ashore the sightseeing and shopping commenced.  Some continued to explore the city even after others returned to the ship.  Lou walked to and through the Parnell section of town before returning to the ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today, we all spent our time together with our guide Steve.  We visited Pilot Bay, Omanu Beach, and the Mt Maunganui Coast.  Steve presented us with lots of narrative surrounding the interesting colonial and Māori history about this fertile and amiable region.

We also visited the Te Waiha Orchard, one of the orchards of the 30,000 acres of Kiwifruit that is grown in this area.

Our next stop was at McLaren Falls, where we saw a photogenic cascade, and then several of us took a 20-minute walk through New Zealand’s unique forests to a smaller waterfall for another photo opportunity.

Then we returned to Tauranga for a coffee break and a visit to the Elms Historic Homestead which is the original European mission house constructed in the 1800’s.

Tomorrow, we arrive in New Zealand.  

Tonight, we celebrate Aotearoa (the Māori name for New Zealand) and all its grand “kiwiness”.

 

 

Today the Sea Day is different and tonight, we celebrate crossing the dateline.  

Maybe king Neptune will grace us with a visit and formally mark this event.

 

We seemed to have misplaced today, if anybody knows where it is please return it to the group.  Thank you.

Yee Ha!   If it ain’t a bunch of folks who have hats but no cattle!

Another beautiful sea day, which means nothing new to see.  The ships clock got set back an hour.  We are now traveling in the least populated time zone in the world.  Even the islands IN this time zone mostly follow the time of another time zone in practice.

Back at sea!

Today was a great day for relaxing.  We passed by the Cook Islands. 

There was a beautiful rainbow this morning on the port side.

Today we celebrate how frigging Flamazing we all are. Hopefully we will all be in the pink without eating brine shrimp and red algae.

Today we visited the Island of Raiatea, French Polynesia.  The island of Raiatea is considered the spiritual homeland of the Polynesians.  We anchored ofshore and tendered to the Gare Maritime Du Port De Uturoa. 

Lou wanted her salt water swim as early as possible so Ted Jr and her skipped breakfast and grabbed the first tender. Lou was able to find a boat that would take passengers out to the Motu Ofetaro for swimming and snorkeling.  It was captained by Tyrone.

Tonight, we leave Raiatea at about 5pm.  The next few days are all at sea, so rest and relaxation is at the top of the list.

Today we docked in Papeete, Tahiti.

 

A quick shopping trip ensued for several of the group needing items that had broken or were forgotten. Donna and Lou were totally wiped out by the heat and humidity..

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We also visited the Musée De La Perle Robert Wan: A private museum dedicated to Tahitian pearls.

Lou went back out and did a little shopping before taking some pictures of the Edge from the port.

Our second day in Moorea.  The view of the ship from on high was fantastic. 

Today Russ and Gretchen went on a catamaran for snorkeling and Rum Punch, while the rest of the group went for a bus tour around the island.

The mountain used in the Movie South Pacific – “Bali Ha’i”

 

Cook’s Bay

We have arrived at our first port and are enjoying Moorea.

Ted Jr, Larry and Lou went to Tiahura Beach.  Where Lou swam in her beloved salt water for a couple hours and got attacked by some coral. After they had lunch at at O2 CoCo across from the beach. 

Ted Sr and Donna jumped into a 4×4 tour and saw the island sights.  Russ and Gretchen took a bus tour of the island.  

 

 

It’s Just Beachin’ Fun!

Tonight, we celebrate the sandy, sunny, briny beach.

Today was such a great day for relaxing.  

Ted and Lou made Polynesian Friendship bracelets today.

Avast ye landlubbers, we be pirating whilst enjoying our vittles t’neet.

Ted Jr and Lou competed in ‘Street Curling’ and won!

The ‘X’ by Jove

Be aware that King Neptune might appear to question our fitness for crossing his domain.

This was a busy day as we crossed the equtor at 6:45 pm, but prepared for this momentous occasion by indoctrinating 3 polywogs into Shellbacks during the afternoon.

Polywog Dance

Polywog Slime.

Polywog Fish Kiss.

Gorgeous Mermaids.

Donna and Lou with Neptune.

The dinner was a celebration of the ocean as we dined under the jellyfish

Ted Jr and Lou at the Comedy Show

The comedy group

 

 

 

Tonight’s theme celebrates the ocean on which we sail, in which we swim, and about which we ponder.

 

Our first full day on the EDGE, and the first Evening Chic night.  These “Chic” nights are meant to replace the “formal” nights on other cruise lines.  Tonight’s theme is ‘Sparkles’ to celebrate all things bright and shiny, like all our personalities.

We finally got a Group Photo on Day 2 since we all boarded at different times on Day 1.

Celebrity’s X.

Day 2 Dinner Table (Table 111 in the Normandie Restaurant).

The most uncomfortable chairs but so comfortable after standing for too long.

Sunset Day 2.

Late night swim.

 

Boarding Day – Lou started exploring 

Lou in Eden Cafe looking out the back of the ship

Eden Cafe looking forward

Porthole Cabin 7302

After making Larry an Honorary Berquam all of the Berquam’s dined at the Bilbas Courtyard Grill in the Hale Koa.

Ted Sr, Donna, Larry, Russ, Gretchen, Lou, and Ted Jr

All are now in Honolulu, some are more tired than others 

After arrival, transport, and a quick shopping run (for confiscated or forgotten items), we settled in for dinner and a good nights sleep

 

 

 

The day that we are waiting for is finally here.

Up, showered, dressed, and ready to leave the house.

Finally at the gate.

Sr and Donna on the aircraft

Jr and Lou seated (for now).

Somene is complaining about the flight length (8 hours, 20 minutes).

The night before leaving, Lou is finallizing all of the luggage.  In the picture you can see that Ted Jr and Lou have 2 of everything.  Also there are 2 backpacks not shown.

As you can tell Lou definitely does not pack light.

With all of the luggage from Lou, Donna, Ted Sr, and Ted Jr the rental van was packed to capacity.

I am so excited. I’m getting all my crafting ideas all finished up.

 

We are just 2 weeks away from my dream vacation. We fly from Minneapolis with Delta Airlines on 30-Sep-2025 to Honolulu, Hawaii. Our First night will be in the Armed Forces Recreation Center Hotel (The Hale Koa) on Waikiki Beach. The following morning (01-Oct) we board the Celebrity Edge. The anticipation is mounting, and I am having trouble staying focused every day.

As I sit here wondering about everything that is going on I looked on my iPad and saw that the countdown is 68 days until the start of the dream vacation. I am not so far gone that I am packing yet, but I did count how many work weeks (Fr-Sa-Su-Mo) are left. Its 10 and I will be counting them each week.

 

It has been a struggle to get everything setup and ready. Some days I am not sure if it will ever get here.

30 Days on the Edge (an ultimate Vacation)

We are a changing group.  We start with seven and on day 33 we drop to a group of five.  Two of our party are continuing to New Zealand and back to Sydney.  The other five are visiting Sydney and then heading to Honolulu where we become a group of 11 as six additional family members will be joining us there.

Itinerary
Day	Where
1	Home to Honolulu
2	Honolulu, Hawaii – Embarkation
3 to 7	At Sea – Cross Equator – At Sea
8 to 9	Moorea, French Polynesia
10	Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia
11	Raiatea, French Polynesia
12 to 16	At Sea – Cross Dateline – At Sea
17	Tauranga, New Zeland
18	Auckland, New Zeland
19	Bay of Islands, New Zeland
20 to 21	At Sea
22	Sydney, Australia
23 to 24	At Sea
25	Airlie Beach, QLD, Australia
26	Cairns (Yorkey’s Knob), Australia
27	At Sea
28	Port Douglas, Australia
29 to 30	At Sea
31	Brisbane, Australia
32	At Sea
33-37	Sydney, Australia
38 to 45	Honolulu, Hawaii