Cruising with Alan

Beyond occasional patches of floating sargassum seaweed, there is nothing but the sea. At our current location, it plunges more than three miles below us and stretches out well beyond the crystal-clear horizon. The vastness is breath-taking.

It’s now Monday and we’ve been at sea since last Tuesday. There are plenty of things to do, lectures, entertainment and games etc., also I’ve joined the choir so we are practicing every day and the time is passing quickly. Yesterday I met a fellow passenger who is keen to form a shanty singing group…

An early morning sailing into Rio can be a wonderful experience so I was up at 5am to catch the Brazilian sunrise.

The temperature reached 37 degrees that day but our guide for the evening felt it was comfortable after last year when they had a month when the temperature didn’t fall below 40 degrees! We were on our way to watch the sunset from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.

Ilhabela is a beautiful island off the coast of Brazil. The sugar plantations that once covered its hillsides have long-since reverted to natural rainforest and it has become a desirable residence for the wealthy, and a popular tourist location. Our ship is small enough to navigate the channel and then anchor off-shore with it’s tenders…

On Saturday I went birdwatching in Uruguay. You might be surprised to hear that, and yes, I was a bit surprised at myself too, but there I was with a coachload of twitchers heading out into the Uruguayan countryside. But what an experience it was. In addition to enjoying the delightful scenery, I soon succumbed…

My main event in Buenos Aires was ‘An Evening at the Tango’ with three friends from our dinner table, Ruth, Christine and Dave. Our evening included a three course meal, a tango spectacular and all the wine you could drink. It was just brilliant. The dancing display, the food and wine, and the music played…

I would rate my time in the Atacama desert among the most enjoyable experiences in my life. It was amazing. There were ten of us, eleven with the tours manager, William. We left the ship at Ponta Arenas in Patagonia on Friday and, after two flights, we reached Santiago in time to check in to…

On Saturday morning we set out to visit the Chaxa Lagoon, a scenic location and rich feeding ground for flamingos and other animals. Travelling along the straight desert roads we occasionally saw guanacos, one of the two varieties of wild camelids that roam freely in the area. The others are vicuña and It is from…

El Tatio Beneath a starry sky, we left the hotel at 5:30 a.m. on Sunday. We were driven hard and fast up steep mountain tracks to reach our destination before sunrise. Unlike the smooth main roads, the rough mountain tracks shook our bones and with my face close to the window, I could feel the…

Alexander Selkirk was a Royal Navy officer who spent four years and four months as a lone castaway (1704–1709) after being marooned by his captain on the uninhabited Más a Tierra island. This was at his request as he believed the ship was unseaworthy. He had judged correctly as the ship soon foundered. After his…

We arrived at Easter Island as planned on Wednesday morning. The weather was fine with a slight breeze, but the sea swell was a cause for concern. We watched large waves crashing onto the rocks along the shoreline. This was not a good sign. Suddenly, with a booming bang, the ship shuddered. This happened several…

Pitcairn Island is part of the Pitcairn group of islands, the only British Overseas Territory in the South Pacific. With just 35 to 40 permanent residents—most of whom are descendants of nine HMS Bounty mutineers and twelve Tahitian women—it is located 430 miles from it’s nearest inhabited island. The island’s facilities are too small to…

It’s the wet season in French Polynesia and storms, even cyclones are not uncommon. A day earlier they had experienced damagingly high winds and very heavy rain but, fortunately for us, the weather had improved. People wear a flower behind one ear to signal that they are married or engaged and the other that they…

The far-off Bora Bora has a mystical appearance and it reminded me of Bali Hai in the film South Pacific. I almost expected ‘Bloody Mary’ to be there to greet us as we arrived on Wednesday morning. Sadly she was not, but later we would be entertained by some equally fascinating local characters. We boarded…

Announcement on Tuesday evening: A heavy sea swell forecast for Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on Friday preventing safe tendering operations. Our planned visit there on Friday had been cancelled. Instead we would visit the island of Raiatea on Thursday, where a suitable quayside will enable our ship to dock safely. I fancied a kayaking…

Three years ago a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga caused catastrophic damage, with homes destroyed and many communities covered in a thick layer of ash. The port area, where we docked, in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, was badly damaged when the tsunami hit. My destination that day was the Oholei beach resort, a small…

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…