Cruising with Alan

Approaching Sydney early on Monday morning, I recalled an unforgettable day in 2016 when Iris and I had just joined Fred Olsen’s ship, Black Watch. As we sailed out under the bridge and passed the Opera House, the band were playing, people danced on deck and the surrounding skyscrapers sparkled in the bright sunlight. In…

Our visit commenced with a boat cruise along the Yarra River. Melbourne Skydeck After the river tour we walked to the Skydeck tower. The tower has, at 285 metres, the highest observation deck in the Southern Hemisphere. The lift took just 38 seconds to reach it on the 88th floor. The views were amazing, unless…

Our visit to Tasmania was far too brief. It is an intriguing land of mostly wilderness, beautiful landscapes and an ideal climate with sufficient rain to maintain it’s lush greenness, but without over-doing it. We arrived in the delightful port of Hobart before sunrise and set out on a two hour road journey to Port…

Wednesday was undeniably one of the most memorable days so far! We arrived early at Albany’s delightful harbour and, after breakfast, made a short trip to Emu Point, where we met our host for the day, Jack, the captain of the Kalgan Queen. What followed was an absolutely captivating and entertaining voyage up the River…

We arrived in Fremantle, Perth’s port, on Friday from where I was taking the ferry across to Rottnest Island and where I was hoping to see a ‘quokka’ for which the island is famous. Salt lakes occupy a significant portion of the island’s landscape. While they add to the island’s charm, their very high salt…

We are sailing across the Indian Ocean on our way to Mauritius. The sea is calm, the sky is blue and the temperature outside is a very comfortable 24 degrees. This is the longest voyage for the whole cruise so I have decided to take the opportunity to add some photos that haven’t yet appeared…

Early on Sunday we arrived at Port Louis in Mauritius. The day started with a journey by road across the island to its west coast followed by a short boat trip out to the beautiful Île aux Cerfs. A battery powered boat took us out, past mangrove swamps, to the island. I thought the sea…

The photo above is of sunrise over a biofuel power plant next to the Reunion Island harbour. The dramatic start somehow seems appropriate for the day that followed. No lazing on the beach on this day. In complete contrast to Mauritius, Reunion has a rugged landscape with very high mountains and my challenge was a…

We were up very early that morning to start an intensive, yet amazing, five days in ‘darkest’ Africa. We had docked in the South African Port of Gqeberha, previously known as Port Elizabeth, from where we took a flight to Johannesburg, the ‘City of Gold’ and checked in at our very comfortable ’54 on Bath’…

Locally, the Victoria Falls is known as ‘Mosi-oa-Tuny’ whach translates to ‘The Smoke That Thunders’, a most appropriate name. As we approached the airport in Zimbabwe we could see the ‘smoke’ or rising cloud of water vapour in the distance (see above). We arrived and checked into the iconic Victoria Falls Hotel, a timeless gem…

We crossed from Zimbabwe to Botswana around mid-day and boarded 4 x 4 vehicles for the journey to the game lodge. A reminder of home was spotted, at the boarder checkpoint. A coach in ‘Cymru Coaches’ livery was parked in a compound. We guessed it to be a second-hand purchase for use by an African…

The second day began with a sudden jolt. I was in a very deep sleep, partly because I was worn out from the previous day’s activities and partly because I had almost certainly spent too long in the bar the night before. As my groggy senses slowly returned, my heart raced. I heard an unfamiliar…

While travelling through the reserve there were occasional reminders, such as the one in the above image, that it is indeed ‘wild’ and we were in the land of apex predators. On our final day, we had time for just one safari before flying to Cape Town to re-join Bolette and, for this, everyone could…

Lüderitz became part of the German Empire in 1883, beginning as a modest trading post. Its fortunes shifted dramatically in 1908 with the discovery of diamonds in the region, transforming it into a bustling boomtown almost overnight. These diamonds, carried into the desert by shifting sand dunes rather than embedded in local rock formations, were…

The Namib desert is about 1000 miles long and up to 100 miles wide and runs along the entire coast of Namibia. This trip was a high speed 4×4 tour of the desert dunes and a series of searches to find creatures that make this harsh environment their homes. The man in the images above…

Looking down the valley towards Jamestown St Helena is a small sub-tropical island in the South Atlantic. It is just six by ten miles, a British Overseas Territory and one of the remotest inhabited islands on Earth. It has fewer than 4,000 permanent residents. I found all of those I met remarkably friendly, helpful, and…

The Isle of Gorée On our approach to Dakar, we passed the Isle of Gorée, a site of profound historical significance. Once a hub during the transatlantic slave trade, it served as a collection point for the exportation of enslaved individuals. There were several fishing boats in the bay. One seemed to drive at our…

On Thursday, I journeyed by road to the summit of Cumbre Vieja, the towering volcano on La Palma. Rising to 2,426 metres, its peak is above the clouds, creating the perfect environment for the internationally funded astronomical telescopes there. In 2021 the volcano erupted. There were no fatalities, but over 3,000 properties were destroyed and…

Early Morning Sunshine as We Arrived in the Port at Funchal In Madeira, our final port of call before Southampton, I decided to do a levada walk. Levadas are the irrigation channels, or small canals, that bring water from the mountain springs to the dry farmland and residential areas, helping to make Madeira such a…

As we arrived, Southampton was gleaming in the early morning sunshine, so different to that cold damp January morning 106 days previously. I was looking forward to reuniting with the friends I had missed during my time away, yet there was sadness. The friendships forged on the cruise, along with the adventures, excitement and good…