In September of 1967 I was a twenty three year old Third Officer on a cargo ship. She was ordered by the Ministry of War Transport in 1945, but was delivered to the company, for which I worked, due to the war ending. When I sailed in her she was twenty two years old (one […]

Church on the Spilled Blood . . . Tsar Alexander II was assassinated in March 1881 by a bomb., which was thrown at his carriage. Since becoming the Tsar he’d been progressively changing Russia by freeing the serfs, who were virtual slaves of the land owners. He updated the military and the judiciary and made […]

Sail Away It gave me a very nice feeling to sail under the Red Duster once more, even if I was only a passenger. I took the picture of the ensign when we were in Noumea. The P & O ship ‘Pacific Jewel’ is registered in London. She was launched in 1989 for Princess Line and […]

Yorkeys Knob George Lawson was from Yorkshire in the UK but by 1886 he was a well-known as a beche-de-mer (sea cucumbers, but aka sea slug) fisherman. During the off-fishing season he farmed a plot of land on a area known as the Knob where he raised pumpkins, sweet potatoes and paddy melons, which 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 […]

Willis Island 450 klm (or 280 miles) east of Cairns lies Willis Island which we visited at a distance. We were not allowed ashore. The island is an Australian weather out post, which is well outside the Great Barrier Reef, and is the only permanently inhabited island in the Coral Sea Territory. It is about […]

Eventually I was back at Funafuti airport waiting for the plane to Suva, which is the capital of Fiji. Large international airlines use Nadi, but as my aircraft would be a propeller aircraft our destination would be Suva. The airline that was supposed to fly us (fourteen passengers) failed to arrive, so a substitute had […]

Ushuaia on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, is considered the most southerly city in the world – also known as the end of the world. We arrived in Ushusia at 6.00 pm and immediately went alongside. We were all looking forward to the excursion the next day, which was a trip on the End of […]

I’d been out East for just over a year and the Company decided that I should start making my way home. I signed off the Chanda (black & white picture above) and made my way to a hotel in Karachi  called the Beach Luxury Hotel. This hotel was much better than the Bristol Hotel in […]

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 […]

What do people think of when they hear of a mutiny? Perhaps cinema’s effort to re-enact a mutiny helps us to think of – the mutiny on HMS Bounty, in April 1789 might come to mind. . or would it be the Indian Mutiny of 1857. . or a later mutiny aboard the Russian battleship […]

We sail from Sydney at 4.00 pm on Sunday (5th Feb) for a thirteen night cruise to New Zealand – land of the long white cloud. We will visit, Bay of Islands Auckland Tauranga Napier Wellington Akaroa Dunedin We will then sail around the southern tip of New Zealand to cruise the Fiordland National Park on […]

Golden Princess Seven of us are off on a short cruise next week to Tasmania, a place that neither Maureen or I have visited. The cruise is just a week, and for us it is a taste of the Apple Isle, which might convince us to return later for a driving holiday. Tasmania’s coat of […]

During the Corona Virus lock down, I decided to do a spot of Spring cleaning of my study. All went well at the beginning until I started to find things that I’d forgotten about, so of course I welcomed the distraction by checking out my own bits & pieces, which I had not seen for […]