The issue with the web site has been dealt with. Whew. My web hosts have been very helpful. Ron and I are landing in Auckland, New Zealand, in a few hours. We will get busy and catch up on our blog as we have time. In the meantime, here is a picture I did of…

Today, day 23, we reached Pitcairn Island.  It is the last British overseas territory in the Pacific.  It is just one of four volcanic islands that comprises the Pitcairn Islands group. There are no usable landing sites for us on the island so there were no excursions. You probably would never have heard of Pitcairn…

We finally arrived at Easter Island after 5 relaxing days at sea.  As the island has no docking facilities we have to take a Tender to the port if we are to visit the island.  Our Captain told us that loading the transfer boats would be a hit or miss operation due to the ocean…

It takes five days to travel from the Chilean coast to our next stop, Easter Island.  Luckily, the waters were calm so seasickness was not an issue at all.  The days went by quickly with all of the activities on ship.  Paul painted everyday, started ukulele lessons, and even joined a passenger group called the…

Today we made our last South American stop before we turn west into the South Pacific.   Arica is one of Chile’s largest ports and was the major port for shipping silver and gold mined in Bolivia to Spain when it was part of the Spanish empire.   We started our tour by visiting the…

Today, there is a cancer fund-raising walk called “On Deck for a Cause” that occurs simultaneously on all Holland America Ships. Since this began, the line has been able to raise close to $6 million dollars for cancer research. The funds go to six different international cancer organizations. This is a non-competitive 5K walk (11…

Today was our second day in Lima and today’s excursion was entitled “Market To Table: A Taste Of Peru”.  We started with a visit to one of the local farmer’s markets (called “Minka”).  It consisted of two huge buildings each capable of holding up to 3,174 people.  However I don’t think you’d want to be…

We arrived at the port of Callao, a commercial port (as opposed to a recreational port) which meant that a visit to Lima began with an hour-long bus drive.  The bus was comfortable, however, and our guide used the time to set the stage for our visit.  Lima is the fourth largest city in Peru…

Salaverry, Peru, is the port town for the city of Trujillo.  Trujillo is the capital of the La Libertad region of Peru.  Conquistador Diego de Almagro founded the city in November 1534, calling it Trujillo of New Castile after Trujillo, the home city of Conquistador/conqueror Francisco Pizarro.  With the assistance of Simón Bolívar in the…

Sea days have a pretty typical pattern.  Paul eats breakfast by 8:00 a.m. because he gets to the 9:00 a.m. watercolor class by 8:30 a.m. to get set up.  An early project was one based on a Mola tapestry.  It was a simple painting task to get everyone familiar with painting.  Some people’s art was…