Month: January 2018

Preview of the next trip

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It is now just two weeks until we set off again. This will be for three months, hopefully, winter will be over by the time we return.

For any of you who wish to follow us I have created an annotated map. You can use it now to preview our intended path. Here is the link. MAP You can also find the map at any time by visiting the menu item at the top of the page labeled “Map – Australia Trip 2018“. You will not always see it in the email but clicking on the email should launch your web browser and display the web page.

I’d appreciate hearing from some of you before I travel about your experience using the map. As you might appreciate, internet access time is sometimes at a premium when traveling so if anything needs fixing I would like to do it now.

Thanks in advance.

“Every hundred feet the world changes” 

― Roberto Bolaño

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An apology and some information

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At the end of each new post there is a Leave a reply  link which has not been working correctly. If you attempted to reply to a post using this link it simply refused to perform the task. For this I am sorry.

It should now be repaired so please feel free to make use of it. You can, of course, contact me by return email but when you make use of the  Leave a reply  link other readers have the opportunity to read your comments. Once a post has received a reply the  Leave a reply  message is replaced by  1 Reply and the count increases with each response. However, clicking on Reply will allow a new response to be posted.

Just be aware that the first time you leave a reply I must “approve” your message. Once your first message has been approved (usually within a day) any subsequent message from you will be automatically approved and attached to the post.

One other detail, you must perform some simple arithmetic before a reply will be accepted just to prove you are a person. Unfortunately, there are a few individuals who create robot programs that search the internet for journals or blogs and automatically post nuisance messages.

I hope I have not confused anyone too much. Should you find any other problems please let me know by email.

Thanks for reading along.

…The First Voyage Ends

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The Our final sea day features passenger performances of hula and ukulele. “Tiki Dave” teaches ukulele to hundreds of eager passengers and Leialoha, his wife, teaches hula to a similar group.

They also perform together as Elua featuring Hawaiian music.
The ship was very quiet New Year’s morning. There are usually dozens of people picking up morning coffee but this morning only me and a couple of others. The dining room was also quite empty for breakfast.
The day featured a rehearsal and performance of the hula dancers and ukulele players. A good show, as always.


The evening featured one of the best illusionists we’ve seen in quite a while and, of course, some time on the dance floor.

A January 2 visit to Ensenada, we call it packing day. Packing went reasonably well with only one article on the missing-in-action list.
Today is quite comfortable so we went out on deck and encountered a couple with whom we have been sharing the dance floor. It turns out that we will again be sailing together March 2 on the Diamond Princess cruise from Sydney to Tasmania. Another small world story.
The Harbor Seals still frequent the rocks around our berth. The port also seems to be a bit more people friendly. This is also the first time we have shared a port with another ship.

The evening finds us saying goodbyes to our new cruise friends. Many will be home before our flight leaves LAX. Others, returning to other continents will still be in the air when we arrive home. Wednesday morning we will disembark at 8:45 AM after that it’s over to Air Canada.

Bye until February.

… And New Beginnings…

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I’m starting this on New Year’s Eve. Preparations are underway for midnight on the ship. However, we can begin celebrations at 4 PM since there will be a recognition of the Zero Meridian New Year.


We shall see if I can include a picture of the balloons dropping at midnight ship time.
The “Brits” on board just celebrated with their homeland.

The next event is dinner on the last formal evening and the menu included lobster.
We spent the last evening of 2017 watching the show “Born to Dance” and actually dancing. We did say welcome to 2018 and the balloon drop.

Happy 2018 to all.