The advert was attractive for a weekend cruise that was classed as a ‘taster’ – a cruise that people might take to see if they would like cruising for their next holiday. The ship was Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Seas and we hadn’t sailed with Royal Caribbean before, although we have sailed with two […]
As I sat in the transit lounge at Tehran airport & scanned my ticket – it was a BOAC ticket, but the the airline was Qantas. As was the boarding pass The aircraft in 1968 was a B 707 /138, which had been modified by Qantas with a turbofan and they renamed their modified aircraft […]
To read too many books is harmful’ according to Mau Tse-Tung. Yokohama, in Tokyo Bay, was our first port of call of our Japanese coastal trip. If I thought Singapore and Hong Kong were foreign, Yokohama was really ‘foreign’ The people were different from Chinese, very friendly, but different. Fortunately at that time the exchange […]
In 1926 Aggie married Charles Grey When one reads the history of Samoa, particularly through the 1800s to the mid-1900s the list of characters that flowed in and around Apia, the capital of Samoa, would keep a Hollywood producer in work for years. Aggie grew up across the road from the International Hotel and one […]
Staircase to the Moon only happens at certain times of the year when the full moon rises and shines over the mud flats when the tide is low. During our recent visit to Broome we were fortunate to see this happen from the grounds of our accommodation. My camera is not the best, (a poor […]
Santiago is over 100 kms from the port of San Antonio, which is now the main cruise port for Chile. It used to be Valparaiso, but the unions became too troublesome so the Chilean government moved the main port to San Antonio, where they don’t seem to have the same labour problems. To get from […]
As soon as we had the required time living in Australia we applied for Australian citizenship in Melbourne. It was planned for us to take the oath and to attend a citizen ceremony until Skypak asked me to move to Sydney, which put an end to our citizenship plans in Melbourne. We had to start […]
I knew that I had made an impression with this fellow – as soon as he saw me, he turned his back . . . We were visiting the Koala Hospital in Port Macquarie, which is free to enter and all they ask is a donation to the work of looking after sick or injured […]
On our arrival in Lisbon I phoned the ‘greeter’ to let her know that we had arrived and that we were queuing for a taxi. As we reached the front of the queue I indicated that we required a large vehicle to accommodate four people and all our luggage. The vehicle assigned to us resulted in […]
About an hour and a half from Cowra is Parkes, so name after Henry Parkes in 1873 later Sir Henry Parkes. Sir Henry in the town centre of Parkes. Parkes is now famous for the radio telescope that is located just outside of the town. It was built in 1961, but only the basic structure […]
Dunera at Tilbury in the early 1960’s We sailed without any passengers from Tilbury (London) to Edinburgh in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, for a cruise of Scottish students to the Baltic. Our first port of call was Kristiansand on the southern tip of Norway. I did miss the heat of the Mediterranean, even […]
A quiet town with a very unusual historical link. We took a ship’s cruise, because I was unable to find a ‘walker’ guide. Another temple – Kehi Jingu Shrine, or as the locals call it “Kei-san,” I took the above photo, but as usual you couldn’t get a clear shot for the tourists :- o) This shot […]
Perhaps A Brief Encounter should have been the title of this blog. Celia Johnson & Trevor Howard in a 1945 romantic drama, which might have links to Punta del Este. A British lady, Margaret Elizabeth Douglas, was born in Punta del Este in 1918. Her mother was Anglo – Argentinian and her father was Canadian […]
Muscat means ‘anchorage’ in English, and it is obvious why it got that name being protected by a rocky island. The above photograph is from the internet – it was taken in 1970, two years after my visit. This is Muscat harbour in 1903, the fort that can be seen is the Al Jalali Fort. […]
