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 […]

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 […]

Day 2 in Sydney                                                                    Feb 17 2016 4pm Another lovely day in Sydney – weather was breezy, sunny, dry and warm.   We left the ship early, and took a short tour of Sydney’s Rocks District. This is the area near Sydney Harbour where the “First Fleet” landed in 1788; 11 ships carrying 776 prisoners (male […]

Sydney, Aus (“Oz”)                                         Tuesday Feb 16, 2016 6:30 pm Well, we made it to Australia, the place we wanted to see so much, and the reason we are on this cruise. We arrived this morning […]

New Caledonia                                                          Sat. Feb 13, 2016 4pm local time Yesterday and today we visited 2 islands that are part of New Caledonia (NC has 4 large islands and many smaller ones). NC was discovered by the Brits but later became a French territory. (Caledonia was the old name for Scotland, hence the New Caledonia name.) […]

Just a note about cannibalism, in case you are interested.  Our guide in Fiji told  us that the reason cannibalism was practiced in Fiji was because of the belief that if you did not consume the person you wanted to kill (your rival or enemy), that person’s spirit  would just be transferred to his sibling, […]

Lautoka, Fiji                                                                Feb 9, 2016 5pm local time Today is a day that justifies a trip half way round the globe – it has been beautiful, informative and interesting, and eye-opening. We have seen how old and different parts of the world and cultures co-exist with new and familiar ones, all on one island. Dawn […]