Indonesia                                             Saturday Feb 27, 2016 6pm local time Well, we’ve officially entered Indonesia, and we’re sad to leave Oz behind (especially since my favorite advertisement is from Oz, for flip-flops called “Slappas”).   We’ve […]

As we left Hamilton Island setting sail for Darwin, the ship’s captain married a young couple at sea. As pictures were being taken after the ceremony, the bride indicated that she would like some of the photos to show the gorgeous sunset in the background. At first this appeared to pose a bit of a […]

Food, Glorious Food!                                                                                               February 27, 2016 I was able to take a short tour of the main kitchen for the ship (tours of various places are offered to guests when time permits), and thought you might enjoy some of what I learned. The ship holds 1,000 passengers, and crew of 655. The staff of the […]

Just in case you wonder why there are no posts from Thursday Island, it’s because we couldn’t stop there on our way to Darwin.   The sea was a bit rough, so the tender boats could not safely ferry people to the island. And plans for Bali and Shanghai have changed; we will have less […]

Darwin, AUS                                    Friday, Feb 26, 2016 (2 pm local time) Yesterday we visited Darwin, at the “Top End” of Australia. Darwin’s proximity to Asia and its position at the top of the outback country give it a very […]

Sunday in the Whitsunday Islands, AUS                Feb. 21, 2016 Early this morning our ship anchored in the Whitsunday Islands, off the northeastern coast of Australia, and we took a smaller boat from Hamilton Island to explore the Whitsunday passage. This area is magnificent, and it’s hard to find the words to describe how this small […]

We are anchored off Hamilton Island, one of the 74 islands that make up the Whitsunday chain. Along the way we have done a lot of sightseeing in Sydney, in Brisbane, and sailing around Hamilton Island. Here are some photos. Joe

Brisbane, AUS (“Brizzy” to the locals) Feb. 19, 2016 We visited Brisbane yesterday, and saw another penal colony success story, a’ la Sydney. Brisbane is north of Sydney, still on Australia’s east coast, and it’s about half the population of Sydney (approx. 2 million, vs. 4 million in Sydney). It’s got a beautiful wide river […]