We flew with KLM’s Boeing 777-300ER (ER = Extended range) from Buenos Aires to Santiago in Chile, so as to connect with the Qantas B 747 to Sydney. All went well until we reached the Andes when I realised that I’d left my camera in the overhead bag, and I was sitting in the centre […]
There comes a time when all this gender neutral rubbish has to be laughed out of sight. We now have ‘neutral’ Mother’s Day cards, so that a very small minority are not ‘offended’. How about the rest of who might be offended? What happened to the child celebrating their own mother’s special day? In the […]
After leaving Nuddea I was asked to attend an interview in London. I was a little apprehensive because I thought it was because of the near closing of Liverpool docks, when I asked a crane driver not to rip the bottom out of the cargo. It wasn’t, it was to tell me that I was […]
American Samoa is the only area south of the Equator controlled by the USA, not counting the Antarctic. The above is the flag of American Samoa and Pag Pago (pro Pango Pango) is the capital, which is located on the island of Tutuila. The US had been interested in this part of Samoa from as […]
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 […]
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 […]
The mall was HUGE – with waterfalls, ice ring, aquarium, its own souk, and 1200 hundred shops that made us feel over whelmed (well they overwhelm me!). Electric baby chairs – place the child in the seat, switch it on, and it rocks back and forth with a very similar movement as it would have felt […]
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 […]
The emblem of Kuwait Kuwait is about 277 miles north of Dammam, or a short seventeen hour voyage, but far enough away for the weather to have changed for the worse. We arrived off Kuwait at night during a wild storm with high winds and dashing rain that hammered on the bridge windows. The clear […]
The holiday has started for some . . . the beginning of another cruise for us. In addition to our normal duties on board, plus ferrying passengers ashore in the lifeboats, we were expected to help entertain the students in the afternoons, during sea days. Most afternoons were free for the students, lessons being held […]
The holiday has started for some . . . the beginning of another cruise for us. In addition to our normal duties on board, plus ferrying passengers ashore in the lifeboats, we were expected to help entertain the students in the afternoons, during sea days. Most afternoons were free for the students, lessons being held […]
The area on the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand is known as Marlborough Sounds, which consists of a number of ancient, drowned valleys. One of the main bodies of water is called Queen Charlotte Sounds and it is this Sound that we entered to make our way to Picton. It was […]
James Brooke (29th April 1803 – 11 June 1868) The picture is from a painting by Sir Francis Grant in 1847 Sarawak, the name brings forth ideas of head hunters and ‘daring do’ from comics that I read in the 1950’s. Little did I know that one day I would sail up the Sarawak River to the town […]
Catherine’s Palace at Peterhof (Petergof is the Russian spelling) It was a warm day and I didn’t envy the staff in their period costumes. The picture shows the north side of the palace, or what was called the carriage courtyard. The palace originated in 1717 by command of Catherine 1 of Russia. If you like […]
