What to see & do in Guam Micronesia - Lucy Williams Global

Guam is a beautiful tropical island full of lush green palm trees, plants and colourful exotic flowers. One side of the island is surrounded by the Philippine Sea and the other side the harsh Pacific Ocean and it is a US territory.

This was the eighth port on the world cruise. When we arrived, as Guam is a US territory we had to go through US immigration which was strange as we are so far away from US mainland! After waiting in line and getting my passport stamped it was time to go on tour and explore.

It a tropical island so it is warm usually between 22C to 30C, but it was overcast the day were there and every time we got off the tour bus to started raining! So, it was quite pleasant after visiting Rabaul that was so hot and humid.

Guam History

Guam is the largest island in Micronesia and is home to the largest US military base outside of the US mainland. It has been a US territory since 1898 after the Spanish-American War and Guam was ceded to the US by Spain.

During World War II in 1941 Guam was captured by Japan, the same day Pearl Harbour was attacked. Then in 1944, the Americans secured Guam back after bombing Guam and 55,000 US troops sent there to attack the Japanese to claim back their territory.

We visited the Pacific National Historic Park – Asan Point which was the battleground where the US invaded Guam in 1944 during World War II. There were warning signs if you find an old bomb, grenade or shell to report them, move away and do not touch it as they can still go off and kill you.

Tens of thousands of bombs, grenades and shells fell on Guam during World War II and many were not found and disposed of so they can still be found today. We also visited the memorial site for all the people who died in the war from Guam, it was so sad to see all the names, it wiped out families.

 

Old Customs

The earliest settlers in Guam were the Chamorro in 1500BC, believed to of migrated from Indonesia.  We visited the Gef Pa’go Chamorro Village where the Chamorro customs are preserved.

We saw demonstrations of how they made sea salt, coconut candy, coconut oil and weaving palm tree leaves to make baskets.

All these customs were demonstrated in the traditional thatched huts that gave us an insight into what pre-World War II Guam looked like. The sea salt is still made today and used by the US military.

Two Lovers Point

Later in the day, we went to Two Lovers Point which is north of Tumon Bay. There is a tall statue of the entwined lovers.

Behind the statue, you can walk up the staircase to be right on top of the limestone cliff overlooking the turquoise reef one side and the other side the beach with all the big hotels, the view was stunning.

The story was that two young Chamorro lovers united for the last time, then jumped off this cliff. They were being hunted down by a Spanish captain who had been promised the girl in marriage.

The story has been saved in time and you have Two Lovers Point. For all you romantics, there was a wall of hearts padlocked to the wire with love messages.

We saw the Old Spanish Bridge that survived WWII and stopped at Fort Saint Agueda to see the remaining original cannons from 1800.  We drove through the shopping district and hotel area of Tumon Bay.

Guam is a destination for mainly Japanese tourists to buy tax and duty-free goods. There were all the designer shops; Dior, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Tiffany’s, Cartier, Hermes, Bulgari, Burberry, etc. Also, there is a big K-Mart and Ross.

It was an interesting day and I have now seen Guam! We are now sailing to Kaohsiung, Taiwan which is another new place for me to explore.

ESSENTIAL INFO

  • Weather: 24*C – 34*C
  • Language: English and Chamorro
  • Currency: US Dollar

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Guam. Please share on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest so your friends and family can read too. Sharing is caring!

Have you been to Guam? What did you do?

Happy Travels

Love Lucy

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What to See & Do in Guam Micronesia - Lucy Williams Global

 

Vocanoes & coconut oil in Rabaul Papua New Guinea - Lucy Williams Global

Rabaul in Papua New Guinea was our next port of call on the world cruise. My tour of Rabaul was very interesting seeing volcanoes and visiting a volcanological observatory. Visiting a coconut oil factory and seeing a World War II bunker and learning about the local culture.

If you like it hot this is the place for you! It never cools down and every month it is over 30*C. I thought I was going to melt, but I had a great day visiting the area.

The people were so friendly and the children were consistently saying hello, hello, hello! It was very nice and refreshing, as we all know that does not happen everywhere in the world.

Only eight cruise ships a year go to Rabaul and tourism has not really recovered from 1994, when the last volcano eruption happened. It was once a popular scuba diving spot.

Rabaul is made up of many volcanoes that overlie or overlap each other and Rabaul is referred to by volcanologists as a volcanic complex, which means its structure is complicated.

In 1937, Rabaul was destroyed by two volcano eruptions. Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted and killed 507 people.

In 1994 the same volcanoes erupted and devastated the town again, destroying the airport and covering most of the town with heavy ash fall. Only 5 people were killed as the town had been ready to evacuation since 1983 as this was when the volcanoes started to heat up.

The 1994 eruption can still be seen all around Rabaul, as there is ash all over the place. We were taken to the bubbling beach where you could see the volcano Tavurvur and there was volcanic ash everywhere not sand.

This was also where the airport was before the last eruption. It has now been rebuilt 50km further away.

The bubbling beach is a natural hot spring heated by an underwater volcanic vent. Our tour guide told me the local people boil eggs in the hot spring for 2 minutes! The bubbling beach was a small area of boiling hot water bubbling away with steam coming off.

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We visited the Volcanological Observatory that closely monitors 14 active volcanoes and 23 dormant volcanoes. It was full of computers monitoring the volcanoes and other measuring devices.

The view outside of the observatory was beautiful as we were high on the mountain overlooking Simpson Harbour. We could see the ship docked and the volcanoes in the distance smoking away.

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During World War II the Japanese took control of Rabaul and it became the main base of the Japanese military and navy activity in the South Pacific.

While we were there we saw a bunker, the ‘Ratshole’ which was a tunnel built by the Japanese, a gunner and the wreck of a Japanese aeroplane that had crashed during the war.

We visited a coconut oil factory this was quite a new business in Rabaul. They only produce for Papua New Guinea currently, but they are about to start exporting internationally soon.

It was interesting to see how they get the oil from the coconut. There are a lot of coconuts in Rabaul, so a good business to start.

The people were very friendly, they don’t have much but they are very happy. Most of the people had blond hair and black skin and a lot of them had red mouths because they chew red beetles! Our guide told us it is an aphrodisiac!

They have shell money that is called cowrie shells that they put on a string. They use this shell money to buy within their community. They also have a real currency too, to buy things outside of the community.

I found Rabaul very interesting, it is amazing how people survive with very little, but they are probably the happiest people I have seen.

We get so caught up with having the latest phone, buying the latest fashions, eating what is in or healthy this year and we are not always happy.

Sometimes if you do not have much and you do not know what is available you are a lot happier as you just enjoy life for what it is.

What to Wear

It is very hot and humid, so I recommend you wear loose comfortable clothing, flat shoes, a hat and sunglasses.

It is very hot so wear a high sun factor to protect your skin and cover yourself with insect repellent as it is s Zika virus zone.

ESSENTIAL INFO

  • Weather: Humid, year-round 30*C
  • Language: Hiri Motu, Hiri Motu and English
  • Currency: Papua New Guinean Kina/ US Dollars are accepted

I hope you have enjoyed reading about Rabaul, please share on Facebook, Twitter or Pinterest so your friends and family can read too. Sharing is caring!

Have you been to Rabual? What would you recommend doing?

Happy Travels

Love Lucy x

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Vocanoes & coconut oil in Rabaul Papua New Guinea - Lucy Williams Global

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What to do in Cairns Australia if you love Koalas and Kangaroos!

What to do in Cairns Australia if you love Koalas and Kangaroos? Go to the RainForeStation Nature Park in Kuranda.

It is 30 minutes from Cairns (www.rainforest.com.au) and if you are following me on Instagram or Facebook, you would have seen my photos with a kangaroo and koala.

This was one of the best days for me as this was the first time I have ever seen, let alone touch a kangaroo or koala, but I didn’t want to touch the crocodiles!

The nature park is set in 100 acres of tropical rainforest and then surrounded by a world heritage listed rainforest that is one of Australia’s protected natural areas.

Within the park there were three sections to visit; experience the Aboriginal culture; the rainforest to explore by boarding a World War II army duck and the wildlife park to see Australian wildlife.

Aboriginal Culture

When we arrived we first saw the Aboriginal culture section which was good, as the heavens opened and it poured with rain and most of this was under cover!

We saw the Pamagirri Aboriginals playing the didgeridoo, spear throwing and how to throw a boomerang. I had a go but it didn’t go very far and it didn’t come back! I tried!

Then the Pamagirri Aboriginal Dancers performed a show with their traditional dances we saw the Mosquito Dance – to keep the mosquitos away, the warning dance – for when one tribe moves into another tribe’s area and few others, it was very entertaining. The men had on the traditional clothes and body painting.

Wildlife Park

Next was the wildlife park, the baby kangaroos and wallabies were jumping around freely and they were friendly.

I love animals (apart from cats, sorry if you are a cat lover!), but I’m always a little worried how they will react, especially wild animals.

Anyway, I managed to touch a kangaroo until it jumped away! I had to have my photo taken with a Koala.

The koala was fine with the people before me, when it was my turn the koala keeper told me to put my hands in an arch to hold the koala, she tried to put the koala on me, but the koala didn’t want me to hold her! After five more attempts, she let me hold her, I’m smiling in the photo but I was so nervous!

Also in the wildlife park, there were huge saltwater crocodiles and freshwater crocodiles, with a big sign warning you not get to close!

Tasmanian devils, they look nothing like the cartoon character! Wombats and a dingo. There was a snake section, but I’m not a fan so I didn’t go in!

After the mornings, fun activities, we had a BBQ lunch that was delicious and I got to try some Aboriginal sauces. Then after lunch we went for our tour of the rainforest in a World War II army duck.

Rainforest Tour in a World War II Army Duck

This was fun, I sat in the front with our driver/guide and I also helped by pulling the propeller lever!

An army duck is for land and water, if you haven’t seen one before, it is a cross between a boat and van.

We drove through the rainforest and then through the lake in the forest, we saw lots of different trees, plants, flowers and saw some butterflies.

Luckily it had stopped raining and the sun was shining again when we drove around, but the rain had cooled the temperature down so it was quite pleasant.

The RainForeStation Nature Park was fantastic and I recommend going to visit it if you are in the Cairns area.

I didn’t want to leave Australia, between Sydney and Cairns I had two amazing days, but the world cruise must go on and we are now sailing to Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.

I will keep you updated on my trip, if you have any questions, please contact me at lucywilliamsglobal@gmail.com or comment on my Facebook page Lucy Williams Global or Instagram @lucywilliamsglobal.

Essential Info

  • Weather: Summer 28 – 34*C and rain
  • Lanaguage: English
  • Currency: Australian Dollars
  • What to wear: Shorts, T-Shirt, closed shoes, hat, bring an umbrella and light rain jacket

  • Recommendation: Wear sunscreen and insect repellent and bring your camera.

All the recommended products are available from Amazon, as everything is under one roof and easy to order online.

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I hope you have enjoyed reading about the Cairns, please share on Facebook and Pinterest so your friends and family can read too. Sharing is caring!

Have you been to the Cairns? What would you recommend doing?

Happy Travels!

Love Lucy x

Bora Bora (4)

(L. Williams is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk, at no extra cost, to you).

What you must see if you only have 48 Hours in Hong Kong (1)

Sydney was fabulous, I enjoyed every minute there, apart from the heat as it was so hot and humidity made it very sticky, but what do I expect Australia is hot. The good part was there was not a cloud in the sky, so all my photos looked great!

The British heritage is still in Sydney and it has a mix of old and new buildings, it reminded me of London in a small way, that is probably why I loved it so much as it reminded me of home, just a lot hotter and sunnier and they drive on the left side of the road as we do in the UK.

We docked 30 minutes away from the city and the shuttle bus dropped us off by the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I walked along the waterfront until the Opera House, it is very easy to get around on foot.

The walk was lovely as there were sculptures of all the Chinese Zodiac signs on the way, for Chinese New Year. They really brighten the walk.

The best was outside the Opera House, there were two roosters, as it is the year of the Rooster. I got some photos of the zodiac signs see below.

The Opera House and the Harbour Bridge are the focus in the city as you can see them from every angle while on the waterfront or sailing in or out of the harbour and those are the places to have to have your photo taken in front of.

I met my friend that lives in Sydney that I met ten years ago, onboard and have not seen since. We had a great time catching up in the with some white wine in the Opera Bar on the waterfront by the Opera House and lunch in Searock Grill to have some fish and chips.

Then it was the sad time to go back to the ship and watch the sail away out of the harbour. I think this is one of the best sail away’s in the world, as we go under the Harbour Bridge that you think you are going to hit it, but of course, we go under! Then sailing past the beautiful Opera House with the sun setting.

My next stop is Cairns, Australia so I will be telling you all about my day there soon. If you have any questions, please contact me at lucywilliamsglobal@gmail.com or comment on my Facebook page Lucy Williams Global or Instagram @lucywilliamsglobal.

Happy travels!

Love Lucy x

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Sydney - Place Down Under!

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A Pink Champagne Day in Auckland New Zealand

In Auckland my day was about drinking pink champagne and eating seafood in the Harbourside Ocean Bar Grill. Which is located right on the waterfront very close to the cruise ship terminal.

Being a travelling wife is a great life, but you spend a lot of time on your own, so the days my husband can get off the ship are precious. You are probably throwing up now! LOL! Auckland was one of these days.

The food was fabulous, we had a seafood platter each which had mussels, clams, fried squid, sashimi, oysters and on the side a green salad and fries that we didn’t even touch as the platter was so huge and very filling.

We went to this Harbourside restaurant around eight years ago, and it was so good we wanted to go back.

The restaurant is very clean, fresh and modern with a full menu if seafood is not your thing they serve fish, meat and vegetarian dishes.

The wine menu is large, but we had pink champagne as it’s getting close to Valentine’s Day and we will be onboard at sea on the 14th.

The mussels were the biggest mussels I have ever eaten they were half the size of my hand, not like the little ones you eat in Europe or USA.

I had to cut them in half to eat them! The service was excellent, so if you fancy a treat go to the Harbourside Ocean Bar & Grill while in Auckland you will not be disappointed.

Later, in the day I went for a walk down Queen Street, which is the where all the shops are from Dior to Starbucks to the local Pharmacy. I walked to the end and it goes on for miles (well it seems!).

Auckland is a multi-cultural city with a heavy Asian influence. As I walked up Queen Street, there were Japanese, Chinese, Thai and Indonesian restaurants/bars/shops.

The day we were in Auckland the weather was cloudy and 20*C, I was going to go up the sky tower for the view, but as it was not a sunny day I gave it a miss, I will go next time, hopefully not in another eight years!

Essential Info

  • Weather: Summer 18*C -20*C
  • Language: English and Maori
  • Currency: New Zealand Dollar
  • What to wear: Jeans, T-Shirt, flats (as there is a lot of walking)

The next stop is Sydney, Australia. If you have any questions or would like me to write about something ship related please email me at lucywilliamsglobal@gmail.com or comment on my Facebook page Lucy Williams Global or Instagram @lucywilliamsglobal. I will be writing about soon what to pack for a cruise, how to be healthy on onboard and my essentials.

Happy Travels!

Love Lucy x

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A Pink Champagne Day in Auckland!

(L. Williams is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.co.uk, at no extra cost, to you).

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