Saturday-Friday, January 6-12, 2018, LA to Taiohae, Nuku Hiva, French, Polynesia// Jan 11 equator crossing

-
Our cruise ship sailed at 5 PM January 5 from the San Pedro docks near LA.  We were seven sea days relaxing and sailing on a modern cruise ship heading to the French Polynesian Islands.





















Vessels have been sailing the indigo waters of the South Pacific since prehistoric times.  As far back as 3,000 BC, island tribes migrated or explored by long-distance canoe, spreading their cultures and their languages.  Throughout the 13th century, the Maori people made their way from their islands of origin here to New Zealand; their culture endures in that nation today.  Some 500 years later, French and Spanish ships traveled along these waters, claiming islands for their Crowns, delivering supplies and settlers and bolstering trade in spice and crops such as the breadfruit tree.  British explorer Captain James Cook also explored the South Pacific, famously discovering the group of islands that bear his name.

On January 11 we crossed the equator.  Although Diane and I had crossed the equator almost two years prior on our way to South Africa, the crossing was at 35,000 feet.  This time we crossed on the earth's surface, so we observed a crossing ceremony.  To see the important parts of the ceremony, look at these YouTube videos (pardon the quality of sound but there was quite a breeze picked up by our camera):

 https://youtu.be/rldOQMA-PxA

 https://youtu.be/JyRCYPz6b0I

 Yes, the captain of our cruise ship had never crossed the equator before January 11.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 6 - Meteora, Greece

-
Image
  The  Meteora ,   pronounced   [meˈteora]  is a   rock formation   in the regional unit of   Trikala , in   Thessaly ,   Greece , hosting one of the largest and most precipitously built complexes of   Eastern Orthodox   monasteries , second in importance only to   Mount Athos .   The six (of an original twenty-four) monasteries are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders that dominate the local area. Between the 13th and 14th centuries, the twenty-four monasteries were established atop the rocks.   Meteora is located near the town of   Kalabaka   at the northwestern edge of the   Plain of Thessaly   near the   Pineios   river and   Pindus Mountains . Meteora was added to the  UNESCO   World Heritage List  in 1988 because of the outstanding architecture and beauty of the complex, in addition to its religious and artistic significance. The n...
Read more

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 75 Mar 24, 2024,Colono, Shri Lanka, Colombo City by Tuk-Tuk

-
Image
We docked overnight at Colombo Sri Lanka ,  historically known as  Ceylon  and officially the  Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an  island country  in  South Asia . It lies in the  Indian Ocean , southwest of the  Bay of Bengal , separated from the  Indian peninsula  by the  Gulf of Mannar  and the  Palk Strait . It shares a  maritime border  with the  Maldives  in the southwest and  India  in the northwest. Sri Lanka has a population of approximately 22 million and is home to many cultures, languages and ethnicities. The  Sinhalese  people form the majority of the population, followed by the  Sri Lankan Tamils , who are the largest minority group and are concentrated in northern Sri Lanka; both groups have played an influential role in the island's history. Other long-established groups include the  Moors ,  Indian Tamils ,  Burghers ,  M...
Read more

Tolin's 2024 World Cruise blog posts, Day 39 Feb 17, 2024, Sydney, AU, Sydney Panorama

-
Image
  Sydney  is the capital city of the  state  of  New South Wales , and the most populous city in  Australia . Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds  Sydney Harbor  and extends about 50 miles from the  Pacific Ocean  in the east to the  Blue Mountains  in the west, and about 50 miles from the  Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park  and the  Hawkesbury River  in the north and north-west, to the  Royal National Park  and  Macarthur  in the south and south-west. Greater Sydney consists of 658 suburbs, spread across 33 local government areas. Residents of the city are colloquially known as "Sydneysiders." The estimated population in June 2022 was 5,297,089; the city is home to approximately 66% of the  state's  population. The city's nicknames include the "Emerald City" and the "Harbor City." Aboriginal Australians  have inhabited the Greater ...
Read more