Today I fell into a river. Tricky thing to do when you’re on a cruise ship, but I managed it. Moments later, sat on a pink rock in the middle of the river I took off my shoes and watched a zombie stumble and also fall in the river. All of this is true. I’d […]

For the first time all trip, two consecutive days at sea. Yesterday there were occasional islands but sat in the sunshine for my morning coffee as we cross the sea between Australia and Papua New Guinea the only thing breaking the monotony of the waves are seabirds, skimming the surface as they follow the swell […]

It rained this morning. Sat on the after deck, coffee in one hand, printed news sheet in the other, I got wet. Ten minutes later I was dry again. I went back inside, didn’t want sunburn. That was the highlight of the day. I’d attended a talk on the Battle of the Coral Sea, a […]

Back at the ship they had a choice of pineapple or strawyberry ice cream. I went for the blend of the two, walked past the pool and caused a stampede into the Lido of people now wanting ice cream. Hopefully they avoided my classic mistake. Ice cream plus sunshine plus strong wind on a tenth […]

It was late before I slept, early when I awoke. I went hunting coffee at 8am, sat on the aft deck, feet on the railings, watching the wake of the ship. It was heavily overcast, thick dark clouds blocking the sun, the wind strong in my face even though we were sailing away from it. […]

Sweet blissful sleep. Only four hours on Thursday night so it wasn’t a surprise when I felt tired after dinner last night. It was a surprise to wake up after midnight, well over four hours of sleep later. More strange noises, another wardrobe with hangers in it, so I put them on the floor too. […]

Tick that one off the bucket list. Passing just 20 feet below Sydney Harbour Bridge, the aerials on the ship getting rather closer than that. I has photographs. I mean, I don’t have a bucket list, but if you do, add that one. That was the peak moment of the day. Maybe the only moment […]

Today was all about getting to Sydney. I took only one tiny detour and that was halfway through the five hour drive to stop for coffee. The ‘free breakfast’ at the hotel had been DIY instant coffee, DIY toast and cereal, so I’d skipped that to save time. Goulburn is what Australia does superbly: Small […]

It’s weird seeing Christmas decorations in warm bright weather. Even more comical is that Australians use snowflakes as decorations – paper ones, of course, the real thing is rare indeed at these temperatures. Australians continue to be friendly types, smiles from everybody, understanding when I don’t know which coins to use or they can’t handle […]