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 […]

Two busy days in Sydney. Among other things, we toured the iconic Sydney Opera House. We visited an Australian wildlife reserve. And we walked along the Sydney Harbor on a walking tour of “The Rocks” a section of the city. Joe

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 […]

The waters got a bit rough last night. But the saloons stayed open. Maybe it had something to do with the Captain’s announcement that by leaving Fiji when we did we beat a Cyclone, complete with 60-foot waves, by 2-days. Anyway, here are some pictures of Birds we saw on Noumea, New Caledonia. (Sorry it’s […]

We are at sea headed for Sydney Australia, having left Noumea, New Caledonia where it is now Valentine’s day. So here are some pictures from Noumea, including some “Love Birds” for Valentine’s Day. Joe

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.) […]