Australian Wooden Boat Festival. This boat festival is held every two years (except during Covid) in Hobart, Tasmania and this year it was held from the 10th to the 13th February. Our cruise ship arrived in Hobart of the morning of the 14th February and I was hoping to see various older sailing vessels leaving […]
The first train arrived in Parramatta on the 26th September 1855. The first steam train in Australia ran in 1854 from Melbourne to Port Melbourne and by the time of federation in 1901 the network had grown to over 20,000 kms (12,500 miles). Today in Thirlmere, about a thirty-minute drive from Mittagong is the largest […]
Our next port was Lyttleton, the gateway to Christchurch. Part of Lyttleton harbour We had visited Christchurch on our last trip via Akaroa, because Lyttleton port was still out of action due to the earthquake. When we booked this cruise we were hoping that we would visit Christchurch via Akaroa again because during our last […]
The last night of the cruise – don’t know how many balloons they go through in a year, because there is a big ‘bash’ at the end of every cruise. We’d left Akita and headed north east through the night and the following day, which was a sea day. During the night of the sea […]
Never mind clocks & watches and all that accurate stuff, when in Fiji one must get used to Fiji time . . . Just after sunrise we approached our berth at Suva, Fiji. Abel Tasman was the first European to sight Fiji in 1643, and this was followed by Captain Cook in 1770. It was […]
Our next port was Lyttleton, the gateway to Christchurch. Part of Lyttleton harbour We had visited Christchurch on our last trip via Akaroa, because Lyttleton port was still out of action due to the earthquake. When we booked this cruise we were hoping that we would visit Christchurch via Akaroa again because during our last […]
Arriving at Sakaiminato on the west coast of Japan. We arrived at 7.30 am, after an over night cruise from Busan in S. Korea Maureen and I had booked a ship’s tour that included a walk around a garden. We didn’t have any idea what type of garden. But first we were taken by coach […]
Madrid Station – was spotlessly clean, and very impressive. Our four nights in Barcelona just flew past, and on the final morning we were once again making our way to the railway station for the rail trip to Madrid. Once more we paid a little more for the extra room, but this time we were […]
I asked this lady’s permission to take her photograph. It was during a ‘formal’ evening on the Diamond Princess when a number of Japanese ladies dressed in the national dress of Japan. Our next port of call was Akita, which would be the last for Maureen & I, because we would leave the ship in […]
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! […]
We sailed from Bombay (now Mumbai) for Muscat (which is in Oman), and we planned for a few changes. The first officer was due to leave us when we arrived in Dubai, and the second officer would be moved up to first, and I was to be the second officer – all very temporary, but […]
The flag of Tonga. The red cross of the flag indicates Christianity, approximately 97 % of Tongans are Christian, the white is for purity and the red field is in memory of Christ’s blood shed at His crucifixion. The Kingdom of Tonga consists of 176 islands and the largest is Tongatapu and the capital Nuk’alofa […]
The red symbol is Nauru My next trip was to review our delivery agency in Nauru and two other Pacific Islands. To get to the other two islands I had to travel via Nauru, which under normal circumstances would not be a problem except that the Air Nauru service from Australia to Nauru was ‘intermittent’. […]
Madrid Station – was spotlessly clean, and very impressive. Our four nights in Barcelona just flew past, and on the final morning we were once again making our way to the railway station for the rail trip to Madrid. Once more we paid a little more for the extra room, but this time we were […]
