September 30, 2007 - Cruise to Australia - Port #2 - Hilo, Hawaii

Aloha!

Hawaii brought us to another great port of call. While the morning arrival brought us rain showers, double rainbows arching over the ship brought lots of oohs and aahs.

As quickly as we disembarked the ship we headed for a Helicopter Tour of the volcano. Even with cloud cover and rain showers the volcano provided us clear views of brilliant orange lava flows and smoke from the burning brush and trees.

Nancy, of course, managed to snap photos of almost every bloomig orchid on the island.

September 25, 2007 - Cruise to Australia - Port #1 - San Francisco

We had an absolutely spectacular day in San Francisco. Skies were clear and the temperature was crisp - just right for walking. We got such a rush cruising under the Golden Gate Bridge! Gliding under this massive structure on such a tall ship provided us an incredible experience. We knew the ship would clear the bridge, but it was certainly a optical illusion. The 50' clearance looked a lot closer to 10' at best. It was great - an awesome experience we'll not soon forget!

When we departed Seattle we encountered strong ocean currents that managed to delay our arrival in San Fran a couple of hours. Any disappointments from the late arrival though were soon forgotten as the day was glorious. We lunched at the Farmer's Market while enjoying all the gorgeous displays of cut flowers, hanging baskets, amazing displays of fruits and vegetables, gourmet cheeses, wine and olive oil.

Port #1 - Terrific! It was so gorgeous - we could not have asked for a more enjoyable day.

Alaska Photos and Stores are Coming!

I Think I Need A Bigger Boat!