Make new friends … We’re back in the USA. It’s been quite a trip. We’ve made many new friends, from many places (I’ve counted over 50 countries). Most are appalled by what’s happening in our country, but don’t hold us personally responsible. We were always clear on who we were politically and it often put […]
French Polynesia (Tahiti)
This will be this journey’s last post from a non-US (foreign) land. In reality, it’s coming from the middle of the Pacific ocean. Tomorrow we land in Honolulu. We spent two days in Tahiti, the first on the island of Tahiti, and the second on Moorea, a neighboring island. Papeete Papeete (Pah-pee-ate-ay) is the capital, […]
Blown Away by Auckland
Hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones are identical storms—rotating systems with winds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph)—named differently based on where they form. In our case, Tropical Storm 98P, starting around Vanuatu and moving south, became either Typhoon or Cyclone Tam. It was supposed to weaken as it headed south toward the Tasman Sea (between […]
Mount Maunganui
We had an uneventful 3 sea days on the way to New Zealand. We spent the time learning the new ship, which in our opinion has a bizarre layout. We are told that it is common for “Princess” ships to have a deck plan where one needs to walk up a deck, than down a […]
Sydney
We are sorry we didn’t have more time in Sydney. We really liked it, at least the parts we saw. Given the timing of our ship arriving and leaving, we only had one full day. We stayed at the Marriott, (thank you Howard and Jody who gave us a Friends and Family certificate), that was […]
Celebrity Solstice
Dharmaniṣṭhuya. In Kannada, a Dravidic language spoken by forty-four million people in India, the relief of the downhill slope. The sensation an exhausted walker has when they come to a downward stretch of the path. — Gómez-Jurado, Juan. White King: A Novel (Antonia Scott Book 3) (p. 241). St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. We […]
Ellen’s Postcard From Sydney
Hello everyone, we have made it to Sydney, Australia ! We haven’t had internet the last two weeks on the ship so no posts, but hopefully one soon. We’ve done a lot since Singapore. In all honesty though, we are both getting tired of being tourists. Sydney is beautiful but we may not tour it […]
Singapore – End of the Road, Start of the Sea
Tonight will be the last night that we sleep in a “land-base” hotel. Tomorrow we board the Celebrity Solstice for a 13 night cruise to Sydney, Australia. We will not have internet access while at sea, and may have it at port, depending. We will be stopping in Bali, Darwin, Port Douglas, and Airlie Beach […]
Continue reading Singapore – End of the Road, Start of the Sea
Melaka
The above picture is a Melakan trishaw. I guess it’s a matter of taste, but I find them rather fun. At night they are all lit up. We’re staying at “The Sterling Boutique Hotel,” which is a more imposing name than hotel. It’s not terrible, just not imposing. It is also a nice location, near […]
KL
Kuala Lumpur is a city of 2 million in the city proper. It is one of the densest cities in the world, certainly if judging by the number of high-rise apartments. The metro area is closer to 8 million. This explains the vast number of high-rise office buildings, and the extreme building boom. We booked […]