Arcadia at Guam.

The view from my cabin window this morning - very uplifting start to the day!

Good Day and Greetings from Guam.

After four sea days everyone is ready for the shore! Not so straight forward here as we have a lot of formalities to complete. Guam is a tiny, coral-fringed island situated between Hawaii and the Philippines. Guam is a Territory of the United States; therefore we have to comply with their requirements, which means a face to face Immigration Inspection for all passengers and crew.

This began at 0730 hours and a very busy day for all departments on board the ship. We also had an Inspection from the US Coastguard and a Safety Drill was carried out. There is a huge American military presence here. Guam is one of the most important military bases in the Pacific, The Headquarters of the U.S. Far East Strategic Air Command is based here at Andersen Air Force base and there is a lot of naval activity around Apra Harbour and the naval Headquarters is at Nimitz Hill. The Island's US Naval presence makes it the most cosmopolitan and energetic island in Micronesia. The Capital is Hagatna (Agana). Guam is 3,005 miles north of Sydney! The island is just 32 miles north to south and between 4 and 8 miles wide. Ferdinand Magellan discovered Guam in 1521. Since then the islanders have welcomed the Spanish, Portuguese, Americans, Japanese and many cultural groups originating from Asia who now make up the present day population of 145,000.

Due to the high security in this Naval port all buses come in with the luggage doors open - and you can see right thought the bus. This is to make sure there in no one else in the bus apart from the driver.

Petrina and Mario get to grips with Passport distribution. All passengers and all crew were inspected. Thankfully the Authorities sent lots of Inspectors for which we are very grateful.

Arcadia alongside. You will see one of our life rafts inflated for training purposes. This attracted a lot of interest from our passengers!

Security from shore side is high - lots of 'men in black' watching every move. Not the most glamorous of terminals..............!

Here is Graham's report from his touring ashore -

We went to Asan Beach where my thoughts turned to the scene that would have been all action back in 1944. Today there is a prominent memorial to all the US military who lost their lives in the battle to free Guam from the grip of the Japanese. The island sits on what is known as the Mariana Trench and there is nowhere in the world with a deeper sea base than around here, a sort of Grand Canyon in the ocean. At a lookout over the ocean we saw another reminder of the war here as we read the names of just a few of the dead that have been inscribed into tablets of bronze. There is another plaque here commemorating some of the local people who died during the Pearl harbour attack.

In Hagatna one of the most prominent buildings is the cathedral where Pope John Paul visited and today there is a permanent reminder of that momentous visit with his statue set aside. Strangely enough it rotates during the day, a little like a children’s roundabout!!

However, there are also remains of some of the structures from the Spanish era, sadly these were damaged badly during the battle to free the island in 1944. Whilst here in Hagatna our passengers shopped a little in the local shops, perhaps the thought of buying a new fancy dress outfit came to mind.

Thanks Graham for all your support with the blog!

Next stop Japan! Nagasaki.

Hope you are having a good week wherever you are.

Bye for now,

James.

'Find common ground'