Tag Archives: cruise

December 22, 2014 · 5:35 am

Viti Levu, Fiji — First Stop Lautoku

Today I’m back to my normal Monday-Wednesday-Friday blog schedule, and I’ve returned to the topic of our Sydney-to-Seattle cruise earlier this year. But in keeping with this week’s holiday spirit I’m also running repeats on Tuesday and Thursday of my ever-popular holiday humor tales. Tuesday I’ll bring to you If Edgar Allan Poe had ‘Written A Christmas Carol.’ Thursday you’ll find here a repeat of the sequel to that tale with my follow-up A Spillane Christmas Carol.

Lautoka Sugar Mill

Our ship made two stops of the Fiji island of Viti Levu. The first was the sugar mill town of Lautoka, also known locally as “Sugar City.” The mill you see above was founded in 1903.

Lautoka

Ursula and I had been to Fiji before, but the previous time back in the 1990s we arrived into Nadi International Airport and spent most of our time at various resorts. The research on this previous trip formed the basis for the fictional island resort of Vai Kai in my mystery novel Decisions. But, I digress. Nearby our dock was this island, which I believe is Vio:

Vio Island . . . I think!

Once off the ship we made our way to the massive Lautoka Market. Here you can buy everything from fresh produce to souvenirs to local island crafts.

Lautoka Market

After the market it was time to snag a bus and head downtown. Lautoka is a very colorful little city with many neat little shops and other sights.

Lautoka

Lautoka Colors

Lautoka Jame Masjid (Mosque)

Street life and people watching are also fun here.

Lautoka Street Scene

And here are a few more sights in and around Lautoku:

Lautoka

We ended the day with a beautiful Fijian sunset as we made our way to the other side of the island:

Viti Levu Sunset

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as cruise, Fiji, Lautoka, MS Oosterdam, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel, travel photography, Viti Levu

September 15, 2014 · 5:35 am

Bah Hahbah — It’s in Maine

Bar Harbor, Maine

Or is it “Bar Harbor?” We’re down to our last seven blog posts on the Montreal-to-Boston run aboard Holland America’s MS Maasdam. Over these last seven posts we’ll explore Bar Harbor, Maine; the Mount Desert Island portion of the Acadia National Park; and see images of the charmingly unique Egg Rock Light guarding ships in Frenchman Bay.

MS Maasdam

We anchored off the coast of Mount Desert Island on Friday, June 6, and from there we tendered into the town of Bar Harbor. Mount Desert, by the way, is the sixth largest island in the Lower Forty-Eight (the Contiguous United States), and Bar Harbor is that once famous summertime destination of the rich and famous — John D. Rockefeller; J. P. Morgan (No, not Jaye P. Morgan. The other J. P. Morgan — John Pierpont); Cornelius Vanderbilt; and a man to whose wealth I have personally contributed on several occasions — the late, great William “Bill” Ruger.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Today you’re seeing images of Bar Harbor, a picturesque town that offers myriad photographic opportunities with a historic quaintness that begs for some artistic post-processing for a more vintage look.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Bibliography:

Bar Harbor: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Harbor,_Maine
Mount Desert Island: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Desert_Island
Cornelius Vanderbilt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Vanderbilt
William B. Ruger: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_B._Ruger
P. Morgan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._P._Morgan
John D. Rockefeller: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_D._Rockefeller
Holland America: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland_America_Line
MS Maasdam: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Maasdam

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Filed under Photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

Tagged as Bar Harbor, cruise, Holland America, Maasdam, Maine, photography, R. Doug Wicker, travel

August 13, 2014 · 5:35 am

Touring Charlottetown

Charlottetown Panorama

Welcome to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Dunstan’s Basilica is located at 45 Great George Street, just a short stroll from the port and our ship, Holland America’s MS Maasdam. As you can see from the photos below the exterior doesn’t come close to even hinting what treasures you’ll find inside.

St. Dunstan’s Basilica

We left the Basilica and continued on our way through Charlottetown. Almost immediately I came upon one of my favorite old English sports cars, the GT6 made by the Triumph Motor Company. The GT6 was a fastback, six-cylinder version of the Triumph Spitfire roadster. The version shown here appears to be the Mark II version, called the GT6+ in the U.S.