My Trips

Rather than take the excursions, I met a friend for coffee and walked around the city myself. 5.5 miles of walking did a lot for my steps.

The Busselton trip was for 2 wine tastings and a meal. Neither disappointed. Our first stop was at Canal Rocks which "essentially an open air museum of the geological features and rocks of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste ridge, which you can experience while surrounded by the powerful forces of wind and water that have helped shape them." Then it was off to Clairault Streicker winery in the Margaret River region, which the wine connoisseurs on board say is the best wine producing reg

The Albany stop was interesting as we went to two different locations. First we stopped at a place called The Gap & Natural Bridge. Platforms at both The Gap and Natural Bridge provided views of the Southern Ocean and the coast from Bald Head to West Cape Howe. At the Gap we were about 120 ft above the water. We then traveled to Albany's Historic Whaling Station. We learned all about whaling and the dismembering of the whales for commercial sales. The station ceased operation

Ugly day for a trip around the archipelago. Saw some Australian Sea Lions, New Zealand sea lions, and eagles. We traveled the areas of Cull Island, Woody island, Paisley Island and Charley Island. I found it too cold to walk into the area near the pier and just wanted a hot shower as the weather forecast called for it to clear up which it never did.

Starlink internet on a ship is absolute garbage. Sorry for the limited pictures, when we dock on Thursday I will use my 5G on my phone to upload pictures. On Sunday the crew did one of their big shows, basically a musical review and it was good. The Social Director who takes the Singles to dinner as a group is a dancer in the show. Monday we arrived to overcast skies and sprinkles in Melbourne and after letting 84 people depart my excursion was next off the ship. At 7:45 AM.

April 2 and 3 were sea days. The 2nd was rainy and cold, the third was sunshiny and warm enough to sit outside. I found a nice spot in the aft lounge to read and watch a TV show while it was cold. The next day I read at the pool and had a Woodford bourbon tasting in the afternoon. The first two days on the cruise I played trivia. I played alone the first day just to see what it was like and if it was like some online sites, I did not wat to embarrass myself in front of others

Woke up early and got to the meeting location for the tour I wanted which had been sold out. Every company has rules that make sense to them, but to me, not so much. So yesterday I was waitlisted, that list vanishes the night before. So now I had to get put on the stand-by list at the check in location. Someone canceled that morning and I got on the trip. Took the tender to a small dock and then a boat to Russell (Maori native name Korokareka). While on board they took our lu

I slept for an amazing number of hours. Repacked my carry on and left for the Queens Wharf dock to wait in line to get on the ship. Showed all my documentation, and was 1 visa short. My notes said I couldn't apply for my Indonesia visa until 48 hours beforehand. The desk said they would take care of it. OK. I got on board and went to lunch on the pool deck. Finally my room was available and unpacked. At 6:45 pm there was a gathering of singles. A small group of 5, the assista

Made it. In the future when we don't remember the TSA government shutdown of 2026, there were 4 hours delays getting to the gate. So I arrived at 10AM for a 4:50 PM flight from ATL to LAX. I checked my passport and bag with Delta, and made it through security in 12 minutes. Yep, Spent 5 hours in the Delta lounge. I hate First class on a 737-900. Yes, seats are bigger, but the food is not as good as European airlines. I made it to LAX early and in what can only be luck, the wa

MAR 31 TUE AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND 7:00 PM APR 01 WED BAY OF ISLANDS, NEW ZEALAND 8:00 AM 4:00 PM APR 02 THU CRUISING THE TASMAN SEA APR 03 FRI CRUISING THE TASMAN SEA APR 04 SAT SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA 10:00 AM 7:00 PM APR 05 SUN CRUISING THE BASS STRAIT APR 06 MON MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA 7:00 AM 3:00 PM APR 07 TUE CRUISING THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT APR 08 WED CRUISING THE GREAT AUSTRALIAN BIGHT APR 09 THU ESPERANCE, AUSTRALIA 12:30 PM 8:30 PM APR 10 FRI ALBANY, AUSTRALIA 11:0