Author Archives: Serene

  We were given late checkout at the hotel so had a relaxing morning.  We weren’t very far from the pier, a 10-15 minute walk that we had done several times, but we opted for a taxi given our luggage.  … Continue reading →

On our way to Waitomo Caves and Hobbiton, our guide told us more about New Zealand. Although New Zealand is made of 600 islands, there are just two main ones: the North Island and the South Island.  Aukland is on … Continue reading →

We woke to our first full day in Auckland with my Apple Watch bouncing back-and-forth between Thursday, January 16 and Friday, January 17.  I left it to sort itself out and it eventually did. One of the things that always … Continue reading →

Our passports got stamped in and out of Tahiti. That doesn’t always happen since everything is computerized. We boarded another 787 Dreamliner for our 5 hour flight to Aukland that would cross the international date line.  Tahiti is 23 hours … Continue reading →

We ate a light breakfast because we had a morning food tour! The resort’s breakfast buffet is very well done.  Unfortunately, neither of the dinners we had at the same restaurant were good at all.  It was our working plan … Continue reading →

We knew rainy days were coming because our snorkel tour in Tahiti was canceled before we even left Phoenix.  It is the rainy season in French Polynesia.  We would have taken that into account if we were specifically coming here … Continue reading →

Our next big adventure is to experience another item on Randy’s bucket list – snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Before that, we have a few days in Tahiti,  a few days in Auckland, and a two week cruise.  … Continue reading →

Before our final day, we had our final night aboard the Treasure of Galapagos.  Our ten person crew joined us in their dress uniforms so we had a chance to say goodbye and give them a thank you tip. Victor … Continue reading →

North Seymour is a small, but important, island for seabirds and those who are interested in seabirds.  It is the primary destination in the Galapagos for birders. Frigates and blue footed boobies have nesting grounds on the island.  This boobie … Continue reading →

Overnight the captain had motored us towards our next activities on Santiago and Bartolomé Islands.  We generally enjoy sleeping to the movement of a boat so all was well. Our first activity of the day was a lava hike.  We … Continue reading →