Even though Calcutta is a 170 km (100 miles) from the sea the river Hooghly is large and deep enough for deep sea ships to sail to Calcutta to load and discharge. The Company that I worked for began life in Calcutta in 1856 so it was not a surprise to see other BISNC (British […]
Dom Fernando II e Glória Picture from Lisbon web site. While in Lisbon we had one ‘damp’ day so we decided to experience Tram 28 – the oldest tram in Lisbon. When we arrived at the tram stop we were faced with a very long queue – many others had the same idea! Not wishing […]
We visited the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum, where we saw his embalmed body in a glass case. He died in 1969. His body (so we were told) is shipped to Moscow every year for the embalming fluids to be changed – the jokes at the time spoke of his annual Russian holiday. Queuing to get […]
Time just flew as I became involved with Skypak and the operation. I was pleased to note that I could call on at least fifteen different languages amongst the staff, so if I had a problem with any shipment overseas, I could take advantage of our time zone and speak to a customer, airline or […]
Puerto Montt is a town in southern Chile known as the gateway to the Andes. It began life quite late, not until 1853. For a ship’s tour of nearly eight hours the cost would be USD $169 per person, so it was research time to cut the cost. It wasn’t long before I found GV […]
We arrived safely in Moji, and when off duty, I was free to walk around the town. It was 1967 and the lack of English language signs was noticeable, considering that all of the other Japanese ports (about five or six) that I’d visited, had some western symbols, even if it was only a neon […]
The trip across the Great Australian Bight was uneventful even though this Bight has a reputation for bad weather. It was cool. but not cold and people till managed to swim in the ship’s pools. A quiet peaceful day followed by a very nice dinner and we were just in time for the evening show. […]
There comes a time when you have to drag yourself away from the staff who are selling books. Space at home becomes a problem, because we live in a small house. A school near where we live has an annual ‘Big Day Out’ – food stalls, fairground, homemade jams, hand made jewelry and of course BOOKS! […]
Thirty six hours after disembarking our first Baltic cruise students we embarked another full complement for our second cruise to the Baltic. For this cruise our first port of call was Stockholm; what a beautiful interesting city. We arrived off the coast of Stockholm during the night, and picked up our pilot and sailed quietly […]
Cast off, the voyage has started as we make our way from the dock area to the open sea. Some just like to sit in the spa, with little interest in our sailing, but that is their choice A pleasant warm day with clear sky, but not all are interested in the passing scenery. Even […]
Puerto Montt is a town in southern Chile known as the gateway to the Andes. It began life quite late, not until 1853. For a ship’s tour of nearly eight hours the cost would be USD $169 per person, so it was research time to cut the cost. It wasn’t long before I found GV […]
Life had become busy busy busy after I settled into working at Head Office in Sydney. The onboard courier system had expanded greatly. Each courier was obliged to collect their courier bags on arrival at the destination airport, and the bags were getting heavier as business expanded. Bags used to be around 10 to 15 […]
Why do trains have such a fascination? After reading From Russia with Love I knew that one day I would travel by train through Eastern Europe, if not along the same line as Mr Bond, but some where in Eastern Europe. Murder on the Orient Express – could I afford to travel with Agatha Christie […]
Upon sailing from Colombo we cleaned ship – the crew hosed down the decks and all rubbish was thrown overboard (well before it became un pc), the smell of the land fell away and we could unlock our windows and doors, we were free of petty thieving and the smell of industry, our destination was […]
