Hi everyone!
Now that our travels are over, I’m starting a Volcano Video blog. Here I’ll write about any lava adventures we may have (yesterday, for example), highlights of other active volcanoes around the world, interesting volcano tidbits and the occasional quiz with prizes. Hopefully it’ll be fun for me and for any readers. Come check out:
http://volcanovideo.wordpress.com
Enjoy!
-Cheryl and crew
Too bad we can’t get off! The seas have been smooth and we’ve been having a good time – and a slightly melancholy time – saying goodbye. There have been lots of parties all around. Ken and I gave a public lecture on Hawaii (followed by a dance party in the faculty lounge!) and yesterday I talked for about an hour to the LifeLongLearners about what to do on the Big Island. Tonight we’re supposed to contribute to the Hilo Pre-Port meeting for everybody. I’m running out of things to say.
We’re having an appreciation party tonight for all the volunteers who helped out with the children’s program and the kids are putting on a little play beforehand. Jack and the Beanstalk, set in New York. Both Emma and Mara play two roles. Emma has a great time being both Jack and the strange old man selling magic beans. She does it with great gusto.
I’ve added some photos and a few last entries for China and Taiwan.
Can’t believe we’ll be home tomorrow!!!
Hi, just a quick note to say that I’ve posted a couple days of our China trip on their proper days (mar 27 and 28), so you might have to scroll down a bit. Will put more up tomorrow, if the ship’s internet allows. Seas are currently moderate to ugh, exams are rapidly approaching, and everyone is getting tired of the food, though they really do try for variety!
Have I mentioned how much we love the crew of this ship? They are wonderful. Remarkably friendly and helpful.
-c
We had a great time in Taiwan, though it was pretty cold the first two days. Beautiful the day we had to leave, though. Figures. Had a two-family adventure, heading off south to Hualien by train. Details to come! We have 11 days at sea until we reach Hawaii, so I should have some time to do some writing.
Today we spent most of the morning hanging out offshore of Ishigaki-jima island (I think) at the southern tip of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan. This was a politically necessary stop before going on to Taiwan. Alas, we could not get off the ship, just admire the lovely green volcanic islands, white sand beaches and hotels. Turns out we spent more time here than originally intended: we hooked something on a propeller (fishing net, buoy line?) and it took a while to get us free. Japan Coast Guard ship circled us all day. After Diego Garcia this doesn’t make anyone blink.
It is now 3pm and we are on our way. Should reach Taiwan tonight and hopefully be off ship in the morning. Our last stop before Hawaii! I can’t believe it. We are planning a few days in a nice hotel near Taroko Gorge National Park, a supposedly beautiful area (it’s only a coincidence that an amusement park is nearby). We shall see! Everything is kind of last minute – we didn’t know anything about Taiwan, really. Hopefully it will be warmer than Mainland China.
Last night Ken and I had a “special occasions” formal dinner with John and Juliana, in honor of my almost-birthday. Delicious and great fun, though I ate way too much. We also had a little get-together in Juliana’s cabin, which is even smaller than ours. Very friendly. Along with some of the other faculty down in our corridor, we’re calling ourselves the “4th Floor Odds.” We’ve decided that this whole experience is a bit like glorified summer camp.
The kids groused a bit about missing the fancy dinner, but got to go treat themselves to another pool deck dinner, then buy popcorn and watch a movie. Not so bad.
OK, looks like I never got back to post again. It took us two days (rough seas) to get to Hong Kong and from there we took off on a big trip to Xi’an to see the famous terracotta warriors and then to Beijing to see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, plus lots more. It was a great trip – definitely touristy – then we flew to Shanghai to meet the ship again. Only got one day there before we left. China is an amazing place. Will probably have much to say on the matter!
Headed out early to see what we could see of Shanghai before our departure, now that we had our properly stamped copy of our passports to show. Julia (an extremely nice person who works in the Dean’s office) was heading out, too, and guided us toward the Bund area. I guess food and shopping was mostly our agenda for the day. We were heading for the Nanjing Road area, which we’d been told was where we could find food of all types. Walking along the waterfront was very nice – they have plazas and tree-lined walkways and small shops. We even found a tourist office, though they were out of English maps and gave us wrong directions. Mara wore her sparkly black shoes, which I hadn’t noticed until we were well off the ship. She was doomed to blisters, of course.
We eventually found Nanjing Road and started down it. It was mostly higher-end shops and indoor malls (we didn’t recognize them as malls at first). A few blocks down the road turns into a pedestrian mall. Pleasant, but crowded. We investigated several restaurants, looking for something interesting, but eventually I gave in and we went to Pizza Hut. That turned out to be surprisingly interesting as it is. Kind of fancy. Two floors, a full menu, with appetizers, soups and salads, main courses (beef filet?), smoothies, beer and wine, and lots of desserts. Oh, and pizza, too. The pizza was familiar, at least. The frozen mocha drink was quite nice.
We wandered around a little more after lunch, but were rapidly running out of time. I had hoped to go across the river to the skyscrapers, since the kids have never been up one, but didn’t make it. Ended up in some little discount store spending our last yuan on little souvenirs (and remote-controlled helicopters). Caught a taxi back to the pier and lined up to get back on ship. Enjoyed watching the lights of Shanghai – especially the Bund – as we sailed off that evening.
