Two years ago, when we sailed in the Diamond Princess from Sydney to Singapore we celebrated Easter during the cruise. In that year Good Friday was the 25 th March and Easter Day 27th March. History repeated itself and once again we celebrated Easter during a cruise, on the same ship. In 2016 we were […]
Blackman’s Swamp in 1870 We had five nights in Cowra and planned to have three nights at Blackman’s Swamp. We left Cowra on Friday, but after we received a phone call that Maureen was booked into hospital on Tuesday we decided to cut our visit to Blackman’s Swamp to just two nights. Just to make […]
Ceylon did not become Sri Lanka until 1972. The country has had a chequered history, from the Portuguese arriving in 1505, followed by the Dutch, when the king of Sri Lanka signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company, in the hope that the Dutch would get rid of the Portuguese. It was during […]
Manchester Ship Canal in the early 1900’s. Over the years Manchester had a number airports, the first being built near the Manchester Ship Canal, and it was called Trafford Park Aerodrome. It opened in 1911 and closed in 1918. This was followed by Alexandra Park Aerodrome, which can be seen below. Manchester’s second airport 1918 […]
” we had the satisfaction of finding the finest harbour in the world, in which a thousand sail of the line may ride in the most perfect security…” — Governor Arthur Phillip, 15 May 1788. Today we know it as Sydney Harbour – the above picture shows North Head as we sail in to the harbour […]
I thought I’d drop a line about our experience at Kuala Lumpur airport if you are considering staying in KL for a few days. On arrival at KLIA should you use the KLIAEkspres train or a taxi? Air-conditioned and comfortable – all announcements are in English as well as Malay. It depends on how many […]
I thought I’d drop a line about our experience at Kuala Lumpur airport if you are considering staying in KL for a few days. On arrival at KLIA should you use the KLIAEkspres train or a taxi? Air-conditioned and comfortable – all announcements are in English as well as Malay. It depends on how many […]
Blackman’s Swamp in 1870 We had five nights in Cowra and planned to have three nights at Blackman’s Swamp. We left Cowra on Friday, but after we received a phone call that Maureen was booked into hospital on Tuesday we decided to cut our visit to Blackman’s Swamp to just two nights. Just to make […]
I thought I’d drop a line about our experience at Kuala Lumpur airport if you are considering staying in KL for a few days. On arrival at KLIA should you use the KLIAEkspres train or a taxi? Air-conditioned and comfortable – all announcements are in English as well as Malay. It depends on how many […]
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky In October 2022 it will be sixty years since I first went to sea. I had eight days to pack and join my first ship, did I have everything . . . I had only been to Woodside station once […]
I think that the background of Skypak makes quite an interesting story. The seeds of the Company started in Japan, by two Australians. One had arrived in Japan as a member of the Australian occupying forces after the defeat of Japan and had remained after the formal end of the occupation in 1952. His command […]
Ceylon did not become Sri Lanka until 1972. The country has had a chequered history, from the Portuguese arriving in 1505, followed by the Dutch, when the king of Sri Lanka signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company, in the hope that the Dutch would get rid of the Portuguese. It was during […]
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 […]
Canowindra During our stay in Cowra we visited other towns and one was Canowindra. On the day we visited it was quiet, but if we had picked April instead of March, we would have experienced an international balloon challenge. The above was copied from the advert for the balloon meet. It was a lovely day, […]
