Arriving at Laem Chabang, which is the port for Bangkok, around 6.00 am, I rushed out with my trusty point and click camera. As I clicked the shutter my glasses fogged, as did the camera lens – I hadn’t allowed for the huge change in humidity from our air conditioned cabin to Thailand’s humidity even […]
Cowra is the only place in the world that has a Peace Bell and is not a major city. In 1951, Chiyoji Nakagawa, who at that time was a council member of the UN Association of Japan visited Paris at his own expense to observe the 6th General Assembly of the United Nations. He obtained […]
I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. John Masefield […]
Christmas comes but once and year that is the only time my wife & I eat turkey. Over the years we have experienced different ways of cooking the turkey so that it doesn’t dry out. The ‘must have Christmas turkey’ is a hangover from our time in the UK, before we emigrated. Our Australian friends […]
BOAC I joined BOAC in 1969 and in 1971 an Act of Parliament merged BOAC with BEA to take affect from 31 March 1974, which would create British Airways. The UK had joined the Common Market, as it was called then, in January 1973, so the merger of the two government-controlled airlines made sense. BOAC […]
Two days after Pearl Harbour the Japanese attacked and captured Tarawa in December 1941. The island became a fortress, buildings were knocked down and all the palm trees removed. The local population became slaves and were forced to create bunkers, an airstrip and concrete structures with metal spikes concreted into the coral reefs around the […]
The old part of Rostock (rebuilt after WW2) – the white piano was being played while we walked around and it was very pleasant to hear it in the background. The day was warm and the children seemed to be having great fun dodging the intermittent water fountains. Rostock was to be our last port […]
During the night of the cruise from the Bay of Islands to Tauranga I was woken around 2.00 am to the sound of the ship’s foghorn, which was set to sound every two minutes.In the ‘old days’ of the 1960’s when sailing in a cargo ship the officer of the watch would haul on a […]
Checked out of the hotel and a taxi to the mariner are to join Azamara Quest – taxi cost was $12 cheaper than our arrival taxi, due to not being in the rush hour. Check-in went smoothly and we were aboard the ship around 11.40 am even though boarding was not supposed to be until […]
It is fifty years since Richmal Crompton died at the age of 78 in 1969. Her original idea was to write stories of children for adults, but they ended up becoming favourites of the children instead, and still are today. Over 12 million copies of her books were sold in the UK, at the time […]
Checking in for our cruise was very easy – after checking -in we didn’t have to wait to board even though we had been warned that a wait would be required, but were told to pass through emigration and security and to board immediately. On entering our cabin (state room to be PC) we realised […]
The title of this blog is a dictate that is drummed in to authors – show the reader, don’t lecture the reader. A few years ago we were told that the e-book was overtaking the printed book in popularity – today I am not all that sure. I have an old adage that if I […]
In southern Scotland there is an area that used to be called Peebleshire, until 1975 when Scotland abolished counties as local government areas. Robert Barclay of Glasgow, founded an engineering & ship building company in 1818, and and over the years it grew in size. In 1875 he built the first four-masted, iron-hulled fully rigged […]
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 […]
