Beyond The Maple Tree

On our second day in Greenland, we arrived in Qaqortoq (pronounced "Kakotok"), a city of 3,000 people in south Greenland. We woke up to a beautiful view of all the colorful houses on the cliffs and some icebergs. 

Since it’s a small port, we had a few minutes tender from the boat to the town. After a quick walk around the port, we decided to exit the town and walk around the lake. It was an easy and enjoyable hike surrounded by tundra scenery. We did not do the entire lake, we just walked around 3.5 km before turning back. 

After our hike, we decided to split up: Dom climbed to a viewpoint overlooking the city, while Jen ventured closer to one of the icebergs to get a great photo. A few hours later, we reunited back on the boat to enjoy some drinks and share our adventures.

We only had one stop in Greenland. However, to get there, the ship passed through the "Prins Christian Sund." This is a narrow strait that separates the mainland from the Cape Farewell Archipelago. It does not have any historical significance, but it is known for its landscapes, cliffs, and glaciers. It was nice, indeed.

We entered the strait around 2 PM in a lot of fog, but soon the fog lifted, and we could see the beautiful scenery. We encountered some drizzle later along the coast, but it was short-lived, and we continued to enjoy the views. We exited the main sound around 7 PM, but it took a few more hours before we made it back to the open sea.

From Akureyri, our ship made its way to Isafjordur on the northwest coast of Iceland. There, we woke up to a magnificent scene: a little town surrounded by mountains.

From the boat, we enjoyed the picturesque view of the mountains and 'Thor's Seat,' a depression in the mountain where you could imagine Thor sitting.

Though the day was overcast and drizzly, we spent our time walking around town and exploring a scenic trail to the north, which offered a nice view of the town and its stunning surroundings.

Our first port of call on our artic cruise was Akureyri, Iceland. Originally, we were supposed to spend 2 half-days in Akureyri. However, due to a big storm hitting Reykjavik, the captain decided to stay an extra night in Akureyri and skip Reykjavik. This turned out to be a great decision as it allowed us to rent a car and explore the countryside. 

Before embarking on our driving adventure, we spent our first half-day walking around Akureyri. There isn't much to see here, but there are a few cute buildings and a small botanical garden.

Additionally, they like to put knitted monsters on their trash cans and giant trolls in the streets.

On our second day, we took our expensive car rental (approximately $300 CAD) and set out on an adventure. 

Our first stop was Godafoss. The name means "Waterfall of the Gods" and it originates from the legend that in 1000 AD, Iceland's transition from paganism to Christianity was marked by casting Norse idols into Godafoss.

We then made our way to Lake Mytval, where we stopped at two spots to admire the lake and the rock formations. 

We had been warned that there were many bugs, but did not realize there were that many. Luckily, we were equipped with the super bug-protecting head nets that we had purchased for $1 - the best buy ever.

Next, we did a quick stop at a hot spring. We didn't jump in due to time constraints and the high price tags (the adult price was around ~$70 CAD).

Not far away, we then stopped at Hverir. This is a geothermal area in Iceland, known for its bubbling mud pools, hissing steam vents, and vibrant sulfuric landscapes.

30 minutes later, we made our last big stop at Dettifoss and Selfoss waterfalls. Dettifoss is a colossal waterfall renowned as Europe's most powerful waterfall. A small 1 km walk from the parking lot and you are at the fall. You can get really close to it and appreciate the power of the water. Another kilometer walk upriver takes you to see the sister fall, Selfoss.

On the way back, we took the coastal road and we made some small stops to stretch our legs and enjoy the scenery.

One of the things we appreciated about our ride, is that the journey is as impressive as the attractions themselves. We got to experience so many different landscapes in just one day of driving. 

After 29 days, we finally arrived in Sydney, Australia.  While having our last buffet breakfast, we enjoyed a 5-star view of Sydney Harbour and the Opera House, before lining up to disembark the boat.

In Sydney, we spent 2 days exploring the city proper and 3 days doing day trips around. 

Sydney is a beautiful city with so many things to see while walking around: The Opera House and Darling Harbour, China Town, The Royal Botanical Garden and all the roads and neighbourhoods in between.

One funny thing that happened was that when we were in Calgary booking our hotel for Sydney, we forgot about the date differences between Australia and Canada so we accidentally booked our stay at East Sydney Hotel for 1 day too early!  

The hotel wasn't able to shift our stay by 1 day because they were full on the last day so we ended up booking 2 additional nights at Maze Backpackers.  This worked out nicely because when we checked out, the hostel receptionist gave us a great tip:

"If you have a lot of time before your flight, you can take the train from Sydney Central Station to Mascot Station - the station just before the airport.  From there, it’s just a 1.5km walk to the airport domestic terminal, and the fare only costs $2.65 instead of $18 because you don’t have to pay the airport surcharge”

So that’s what we did.. sidewalks, crosswalks, and flat all the way!  Getting really great travel tips, is one of the awesome benefits that we've noticed about staying at hostels instead of hotels!  

We decided to join Jen’s parents on a 29 day cruise on Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas, from Vancouver to Sydney, Australia.  

Here are the stops that we did along the way:
First Leg (8 nights)
- Vancouver, Canada
- Seattle, USA
- 5 sea days
- Maui, USA (2 days)
- Honolulu, USA

Second Leg (20 nights)
- Honolulu, USA
- 5 sea days  - crossed the equator
- Moorea, French Polynesia (2 days)
- Papeete, French Polynesia
- 5 sea days - crossed the international dateline
- Napier, New Zealand
- Wellington, New Zealand
- Picton, New Zealand
- 2 sea days
- Sydney, Australia

Equatorial Crossing
If you have never sailed over the Equator before, you are known as a Pollywog.  Between Hawaii and French Polynesia, we crossed the equator and the cruise director performed an Equatorial baptism ceremony.    They poured some of Neptune's cold water from the Northern Hemisphere, and then hot water from the Southern Hemisphere, onto each Pollywog's head.  I guess we are now considered Shellbacks and even have some nice certificates to prove it 😂

"Equatorial baptism is an initiation ritual sometimes performed as a ship crosses the Equator, involving water baptism of passengers or crew who have never crossed the Equator before. The ceremony is sometimes explained as being an initiation into the court of King Neptune. Sailors who have already crossed the Equator are nicknamed Shellbacks. Those who have not crossed are nicknamed Pollywogs."

Dateline Crossing
Between French Polynesia and New Zealand, we crossed the international dateline.  For us, Saturday Oct. 22, 2022 was completely lost - it is an entire day in our lives that just never existed.  We went to bed on Friday Oct. 21st, and when we woke up the next morning, it was Sunday Oct 23rd 😃!

Activities

We enjoy sailing with Royal Caribbean because they have so many activities available to keep us occupied, particularly on the big Quantum or Oasis class boats.  Here are some of our highlights:

Picton was the last of our New Zealand stops.  

Since Jen and her parents were still in quarantine, Dom decided to go on a 12km round-trip hike out to "The Snout", to explore the peninsula.

As the boat departed Picton through the Marlborough Sounds, we saw some really great views of the coast.

Our stop in Wellington was rainy and cold.  Jen and her parents were sick, so Dom was the only one allowed to disembark.

He took it easy and visited the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum, the City Gallery, and wandered along the main streets. 

The Te Papa museum had a few interesting exhibits including a section on the First World War Gallipoli Campaign, with giant wax statues that were incredibly realistic! 

The City Gallery wasn't particularly interesting, however there was one interesting exhibit where you could watch "2001 Odyssey" and the "Thriller" music video with all of the people removed from the footage, because the artist wanted to explore the backgrounds of videos without the distraction of the people them 🤷‍♂️.

After another 5 days at sea, we arrived at our first stop in New Zealand - Napier. 

We rented a couple of bikes and headed South along the nicely maintained, coastal pathway. 

Over the 40km ride, we were rewarded with perfect riding weather and beautiful scenery.  We also saw the biggest asparagus and aloe plants ever!  😜

Napier is famous for its art deco architecture, so before heading back to the boat, we took a stroll down to main avenue and admired all the art-deco style buildings.

The capital city of Tahiti, Papeete, was our last stop in French Polynesia.  In the morning, we wandered around town to explore the local market, the cathedral, and strolled through the gardens at the Assemblee De La Polynesie Francaise.

After lunch, we took a tour of the island and stopped at 6 different sites: 

• Taharaa point 
• Venus Point
• Waterfalls of Faarumai
• Aarahoho blowhole
• Vaipahi garden 
• Maran Arahurahu 

The trip was about 5 hours long with quite a lot of driving.  Some of the sites were quick "instagram" stops and others were in areas that you could wander and explore a bit more.

The stop at the Aarahoho blowhole was particularly special.  When we arrived, we didn't see much to look at but fortunately we had a guide to point it out to us.  

When the waves crash into the rock-wall along the shore, the air is forced through a small tunnel that ends further up the shore.  Check out the video of Dom quickly discovering the impressive amount of wind pressure that comes out of the hole!

Every night, a bunch of food trucks gather in the square next to the cruise ship dock.  We took advantage of the opportunity to taste a local speciality called “poisson cru au lait de coco”, which translates to "raw fish with coconut milk".  The portion size was quite large so it was a good thing we shared.  The national dish is made of sushi-grade fish marinated in lime and fresh coconut milk - sounded so simple but it was SO fresh and delicious!  We would definitely have it again.