8/3 – Day 12: Djupivogur, Iceland

            My main plan today was to find a place where I could get wifi, and snuggle in to study for most of the day.  However, I did want to spend a couple hours exploring this nice little port. We tendered into town on this chilly day.  I would compare Djupivogur to some of the small bush towns of Alaska.  There were no taxis to be found here.  We were hoping to find a local to take us around town and show us what’s what, however were unable to.  Instead, we took to the town on foot.  The “grass” here is spongy and tundra-like.  We walked through the little tourist information building, went through a handicraft shop, and then to “the” grocery store.  We visited the old town church, wrote some postcards and dropped them at the post office.  Then, we ended up at the hotel in town to use their wifi for the day.  I was able to get started on some of the research for my project for my group counseling class, and we used Skype to make some phone calls home.

The "town" map

Nice wildflowers in bloom

My folks on a park bench

The old church

Our ship in the background

A gentleman's "rock garden...a town highlight (if that tells you anything).

A boat in the harbor

8/1 - Day 10: Reykjavik, Iceland

            Today was a wonderful day.  We had been to Reykjavik once before on a cruise ship, so we knew a bit of what to expect.  One of those things that we did know was not to pay the $200 for the all-day Golden Circle tour that the ship was offering.  We took our time in the morning, exploring the city on a hop-on-hop-off bus tour.  This was quite nice and relaxing.  Then, at 12:30 p.m. we boarded a Golden Circle Direct tour that was 5 hours, and only $70.  Iceland is such a richly beautiful country, that is very volcanic in nature.  A “Golden Circle” tour takes its participants by bus to three locations: a geo-thermal field of active geysers, Gulfoss waterfall, and Thingervield National Park.  This is a loop trip (hence a “circle”) for which the farthest place from the city is Gulfoss, which literally means “Golden Falls” because of the legend of gold being found at the ends of rainbows which often grace the spray from the falls. 

            Gulfoss is a wide multi-level waterfall that could be considered large size, if Niagra Falls was an extra-large.  It is beautiful and powerful.  From here we also got a view of Iceland’s 2^nd largest glacier.  The second stop was a geyser field where we were able to see the geysers named “Geysir” and “Stroker.”  Geysir erupts a few times daily, which we were not privileged to see, and is the namesake of our English word geyser, which is the only Icelandic word found in the English language.  Stroker erupts fairly consistently every 5 to 20 minutes, and we were able to see it spout numerous times.  Stroker is the Icelandic word for a butter churner.  That was fun.  I really enjoyed watching the pool of water move around, and trying to predict when it would blow.  Then after it blew, it left a large empty hole, which would quickly fill back up with water. 

            The last stop of our Golden Circle tour was Thingervield National Park.  This park has been designated a UNESCO world heritage site, and is where the North American and European tectonic plates meet, creative some deep and wide crevices in the Earth’s surface, which is impressive to see, but not where you would want to be during an earthquake.  All in all, it was a wonderful day in Iceland, and I am very much looking forward to our other Icelandic ports, to which I have not yet been.  Blessings to you, my friends, and thinks for being interested enough in my life to follow my travel blog.

City View from the Pearlan

My folks at the Pearlan

The Pearlan

Gulfoss

My folks at Gulfoss

The geyser field

Strokker spouting off behind me

Strokker

The empty geyser hole refilling after eruption

My mother and Strokker

The crevise where the North American and European techtonic plates meet

Thingervield National Park

Me at Thingervield

The crevise

Anyone want a whale steak?

The viking boat art sculpture

Our boat, the Maasdam, crossed paths with the Prisendam

Yahhhh!  I finally recieved my luggage.

Day 6 - 7/30 - Cruising Prince Christian Sund, the southern tip of Greenland

            Today we woke up to icebergs everywhere.  We made our way over toward the entrance to Prince Christian Sund.  Unfortunately, after sending an aerial scout, we received word that the entrance was blocked with ice today, and that we would not be able to pass through.  However, we were able to spend about 4 hours, slowly making our way through the water amidst lots and lots of pieces of floating ice.  We were also fortunate to be able to see a plethora of seals sunning themselves and playing around the icebergs.  My folks and I played a game of Scrabble up in the “Crow’s Nest” while we slowly navigated out of the floating ice…didn’t want to have a Titanic repeat.  :-)

Day 5 - 7/29/11 - Qaqortoq, Greenland

         Today, we added a new country to our list.  In fact, I learned that it is considered a North American country.  Although working toward gaining their independence, they are currently a territory of Denmark.  Greenland is amazingly beautiful!  Once again, I was reminded of Alaska.  In fact, the native inhabitants of Qaqortoq are Inuit, which is the same group of people that are more commonly (although not so politically correct) referred to as Eskimos, which are also found in Alaska.  This town is the 4^th largest in Greenland, with a population of 3500.  Most people who live here, don’t have cars, as there’s only about 10 miles of roads.  The town actually stretches no more than 2 miles in any direction. 

            Holland America had no organized tours today; it was more a time to just enjoy strolling around the pleasant town and interact with the people.  We got a taxi for about 30 minutes to drive us around town, including the three roads that go to viewpoints up on the hill.  The taxi driver spoke limited English, but the views we nice, and we got a quick overview of the town.  At 11:00, my mother and I took a walking tour of the town with a guide.  The highlights were the town fountain (the only fountain in Greenland), the local open-air market (where they sell things from turnips to seal meat), the church (Lutheran), and the “Stone and Man” art carvings that are in various locations around town.  After that, we met back up with my dad and took tour of “Great Greenland,” a tannery that prepares mass amounts of seal skins, which are mainly exported to China for use in clothing and accessories.  That was interesting. 

Day 4 - 7/26/2011 - Boone Bay, Woody Point, Newfoundland, Canada

            What a beautiful place!  Reminiscent of Alaska for me.  We joined up with another couple, and hired a private tour with a gentleman in a large SUV.  We spent about 5 hours driving, making frequent stops at vista points, through Gros Morne National Park.  The highlight for me, was seeing a large bald eagle perched in a tree above a still reflection pond.  That was a nice spotting, thanks to good ‘ole dad.  Also, seeing a group of about 15 sea kayakers, made me a tad bit jealous, and spurred on an interest for me to hopefully get into a boat sometime this trip.  After arriving back to Woody Point, we went to the town hall and watched some square dancers, and found us an internet spot to make some calls home.  Then, all aboard and we headed toward Greenland at 4:30 p.m.

7/26/11 - Day 3 - Cap-aux-Meules, isle de la Madeleine, Quebec, Canada

            My main goal was to find an internet café somewhere and do some studying and communicating online, and that happened.  So, I guess that is called success.  This French-speaking island, belonging to the province of Quebec, was quite lovely.  They seem to be a simple people, with colorful wooden houses.  Their beaches are supposed to have the best sand in the world, although I’m not sure what makes it so.  My folks and I rode the shuttle bus to the end of town, probably a mile and a half from the pier, to a shopping center.  After perusing for a bit at the “mall,” I headed back toward the ship on foot to nestle into a café that I had seen from the shuttle.   After spending a few hours there, I meandered back to the ship, while popping into shops along the way.  I was happy to pick up a bag of “All-Dressed” potato chips, one of my Canadian favorites.

Day 0 - 7/23/11 - Boston, Massachusetts, USA

            I arrived today about 1:45 p.m. from Athens, by way of an unplanned overnight in Paris.  Because of having to switch flights around, I arrived but my luggage did not.  All is well though; I have my carry-ons and my folks brought a bag up from Florida that I had pre-packed before I left for Athens.  I’m thinking that my bags will catch up to me in Reykjavik, Iceland, 9 days from now.  Our cruise director, Bruce, and travel guide, Barbara, are the same ones who were on our Asia/Australia Voyage, which provides us with a nice “at home” feeling. 

Athens, Greece (July 10-22, 2011): Studying Abroad with Liberty University's Graduate Studies Counseling Department

I spent two wonderful weeks taking 2 intensive classes for credit toward my Masters of Education, School Counseling degree.  I will update this entry at a later date, but for now will just have to say that it was an amazing experience, where God's presence was very evident. 

Day 70 - 12/2/10 - San Diego, CA

It is with a sense of bitter sweetness that we have arrived back in the good ole' U.S. of A.  The places we've visited and the people we've met along the way have produced a plethora of lifetime memories and a treasure of valuable experiences.  I have pictures and stories for anyone willing to sit with me over coffee (well, those of you who know me, know I won't be drinking any coffee) or the like to look and listen.  It truly has been a joy to share my journey with each of you via this blog.  It's also served to provide me with the necessary accountabilty to be (at least somewhat) disciplined in keeping a written record of my journey.  I know I have skipped a few ports (Hong Kong, Vietman, Thailand, Sydney, and Samoa are the ones that I recall).  It is my hope to "catch up" on those sometime within the next week before things become too distant to accurately remember.  If nothing else, I'll at least go back and post some pictures with captions of those ports to complete my travel blog.  So, you may have to go back and look for those if you're interested.  Also,I intend on doing a "reflections of the journey" post.  Blessings to each of you and may you have a "great day today and an even better day tomorrow!"

Our ship docked at the Port of San Diego

    

Day 64 – 11/26/10 – Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A.

     Today, my royalties were split between Black Friday shopping and sightseeing.  Also, the fact that this was our first time back in the U.S. after more than two months away entered into the dynamics of the day.  It was nice to be able to make phone calls on our cell phones instead of on Skype, both to friends and to take care of business agendas.  Although, I loved the thought of sightseeing on the island of Oahu, I didn’t want to miss out completely on what has become my one day of the year to purchase electronics.  So, although we didn’t spend the whole day shopping, we did get a bit in before doing our sightseeing.

     We arrived in port at 7:00 a.m.  However, all passengers and crew had to go through a U.S. immigration before disembarking the vessel.  We had arranged to rent a car and go about the day on our own schedule.  We docked at the Aloha Tower and were off the ship about 8:30, with a 60-pound bag of books and papers in tow.  Enterprise picked us up at the Aloha Tower valet parking area and took us to get our rental car for the day.  I will say that it was a bit interesting to drive after not being behind the wheel for over two months.  It felt nice.  We headed down to the Alomoana shopping area. We got up to the 2^nd floor of the parking garage, and thought better of the idea.  Way to big and busy!  We headed out of town in the direction of Pearl Harbor.  On our way there, we stopped by Office Depot, Office Max, K-Mart, Target, and Wal-mart.  We also had a stop at the post office near the airport to ship out our 60 lbs. of media mail (papers and books that we brought with us and/or acquired along the way)…all for $23.

     Our shopping and stops put us into the middle of the afternoon to start our sightseeing.  We went to Pearl Harbor.  However, the boats out to the Arizona Memorial had closed before noon, due to strong winds.  So, we walked around the memorials and exhibits that were accessible.  I enjoyed being there and pondering the events of December 7, 1941.  After leaving, we made a quick stop by Hilo Hattie’s for some Hawaii touristy type shopping (those of you who have been will completely understand).  We then drove back past our ship as we headed to the other side of town to Waikiki Beach.  We arrived there late afternoon, just before sunset for some beautiful views of Diamond Head (a large non-active volcano) and the sailboats out on the water.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long because we had to get our rental car back before 6:00 p.m.  However, we did get a nice taste of beach life, with its surfers, volleyball players, sunbathers and strollers.  We packed up our purchases for the day and returned our rental car.  They dropped us back off by the ship.  My dad went back aboard while my mother and I strolled around the shops by the port for another hour and a half before boarding the ship for the last leg of our Voyage.

     It’s hard to believe that this trip will be over in less than a week.  It has truly been a wonderful adventure.  I’ve enjoyed the brief introduction to new places, people, and cultures.  And, I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to share this amazing experience with my folks.  Really, there’s no way to express in words how much I have thoroughly enjoyed this Asia, Australia, and South Pacific Grand Voyage.  It’s gone by so fast.  I had visions of being able to lots of reading and even some studying, but alas it just hasn’t happened, and that’s O.K.  Thanks so much for your willingness to allow me to share a little about my journey along the way.  I’m honored to have friends and family that care enough to invest some of their time into reading my blogs.  I’ve enjoyed sharing with you and even more so, have enjoyed the comments that I’ve received back from so many of you.  There were many times that those comments brought encouragement and much needed peer interaction from home.  I love you all.  Blessings, Karen

 

My folks with their fresh Hawaiian orchid leis

(which were given to us by our ship's staff upon arrival)

The lei is used as a welcome or a gift on special occasions. 

They can be purchased fresh at almost any grocery or convenience store.

Good Morning!  The Aloha Tower from our stateroom balcony

Pearl Harbor - The U.S.S. Bowfin in the foreground

The U.S.S. Missouri and the U.S.S. Arizona memorial in the background

The U.S.S. Bowfin

The U.S. flag flying at Pearl Harbor

people reflecting in the foreground and the Arizona memorial in the background

The recovered anchor from the sunken U.S.S. Arizona

View of Diamondhead, a dorment volcano, from Waikiki Beach

My mother at Waikiki Beach

Diamondhead in the background



Waikiki sunset

Good night!  The Aloha Tower from our stateroom balcony