That house so tall and stark and bare, Stands for all of them out there, Without that house and friendly light Would mean a ship is lost this night. To see the light flash thro the rain, Means Old Lucifer has lost again. The wind it howls along the shore To freeze them all, both […]
We sailed from Ras Al Khaimah for Dubai, which was a very short ‘voyage’ of about 112 km (70 miles) or about four hours at a very economical speed. Dubai Creek in the 1960’s. As you see the creek was too small for a deep sea ship to use, so we anchored off the coast once […]
Speed like the wind can not be seen, but unlike the wind you don’t feel speed. Our Paris taxi had been ordered for 6.00 am on our departure day and it was a pleasure to see it pull up on the stroke of six, for the twenty-minute drive to Gare de Lyon. As I mentioned in the […]
In 1991 Puerto Aisén was the main port of the area along the Aysén Fjord, but from August to October in 1991 Mount Hudson erupted. The ash and erosion reduced the depth of the navigational part of the port, so the port had to be moved closer to the coast, where Puerto Chacabucco now stands. The ship […]
Unlike Christmas in the northern hemisphere, Christmas for us is the height of summer. It is the time to have our meals outside as often as possible, time for warm evenings to stretch an evening meal in to darkness, before switching on the garden lights.. The BBQ on the right near the fence – Table […]
Our driver arrived five minute early, I do love efficiency, and at 3.00 am we had the fastest drive ever to the airport, which was just over twenty minutes instead of the normal 45 minutes. Check-in went smoothly and our bags checked through to Rome. We were given vouchers for a hotel near Dubai airport, Le […]
My new ship MV Juna, launched in 1951, 7583 gt, and built for Federal Steam Navigation Co. under the name of MV Cornwall. She was prone to engine trouble and had been in Sydney for extensive repairs after which she was transferred to British India Steam Navigation Co and renamed MV Juna in August of 1967. I […]
Before we emigrated to Australia we lived in a small town (small for the UK) of about 11,000 people called Congleton, which is in Cheshire. During the time we lived there we took part in the celebrations for the town’s 700 th anniversary. I worked shifts for BOAC (later British Airways) at Manchester Airport, which […]
We stayed at Tanunda, which is a small town in the Barossa Valley, and obviously the first thing everyone wants to do in the Barossa Valley is visit a vineyard and our accommodation was within walking distance to at least three. We had one full day so we had to make the most of it […]
Our driver arrived five minute early, I do love efficiency, and at 3.00 am we had the fastest drive ever to the airport, which was just over twenty minutes instead of the normal 45 minutes. Check-in went smoothly and our bags checked through to Rome. We were given vouchers for a hotel near Dubai airport, Le […]
It was getting close to Christmas 1981 so what to do about a staff Christmas party? Christmas in Australia is our summertime, so we would not be interested in a log fire, hot mead and Ho Ho Ho.Ideas were bounced around from restaurants (very expensive) to a cash outlay to allow the staff to do […]
On arrival in Vienna we took a taxi from the station to our hotel– Hotel Beethoven which was about a 30 minute ride for a nine kilometer trip , due to negotiate a number of one-way streets and the traffic was heavier than expected. On arrival at the hotel we were greeted in the reception area […]
Check the pronunciation of Budapest – it ends as ‘pesht’ not ‘pest’. On arrival at Budapest station from Prague we had to buy our onward tickets to Vienna. I’d tried to buy them over the internet, but Hungary’s rail system would not allow this to happen. We found the office for international tickets and entered, […]
We sailed from Bombay (now Mumbai) for Muscat (which is in Oman), and we planned for a few changes. The first officer was due to leave us when we arrived in Dubai, and the second officer would be moved up to first, and I was to be the second officer – all very temporary, but […]