Overnight the storm subsided and, as we entered the Cook Strait, all was calm. We arrived at Wellington, NZ’s capital and smallest in the world  sited within a volcanic caldera with many bays formed by differential erosion. Houses have been upon the less steep slopes of the crater but partially hidden by the dense forest. […]

We were informed yesterday today’s visit to Napier was cancelled because of a forthcoming storm system with high winds and seas that prevent tendering from the ship to shore. At breakfast time from our room it was not particularly bumpy and the waves looked rather large, but when on Deck 2 and eating breakfast we

Overnight we travelled to Tuaranga in the Rotorua region. This is an ‘elderly’ hotspot where the magma is close to the surface but volcanic eruptions are infrequent, though earthquakes are more common. Here hot springs and hydrogen sulphide-loaded steam, geysers and mud pools are common. The area has been the home of Māori people for

Boarding formalities for the cruise started for us at 12 noon after the ship Noordam had arrived and was ready to receive passengers. We are in Stateroom 10002, i.e. Deck 10 out of 12 and room 002 at the front, port side. Safety features and evacuation procedures have just finished (3:00 p.m.) and we are

Yesterday on the bus exploration we passed a Denny’s restaurant. So at 09:00 we were there for an American breakfast. It is at a junction like in New York and beneath the Sky Tower. At 328m it is the tallest structure in the Southern hemisphere. It rises from the ground shaped like a Russian rocket

After checking in at our waterfront hotel we spent the morning on a bus touring the city. We took in the city centre and some of its volcanoes, now covered with parkland. Mount Eden is the city’s highest volcanic cone (196m). Within the volcano was a traditional fortified Māori village. From here there are views

Today was a getting there day. Our flight to Auckland, New Zealand, was another of 11 ½ hours that followed a Great Circle rote flying via Jakarta, to the northwest of Australia. The bulk of the flight was the crossing of Australia from the mining areas of Western Australia, the Great Sandy Desert, Adelaide, Canberra

Today’s bus tour took us to three key areas related to the communities that settled in the region before British colonialisation. First we visited ‘Little India’. This has Singapore’s oldest structures with Hindu gods watching over the area. The Sultan Mosque in the ‘Arab’ area is a blend of Persian, Moorish and Turkish design. W.e

We took the Hop-on Hop-off bus tour around the city. We conducted this 8 years ago and today we witnessed continued expansion of the city on reclaimed land. There are more high-rise buildings, but the past is still preserved and in many places incorporated into modern developments.

On the transfer from the airport to the hotel the temperature had already reached 25C. At lunch we ate at an Indian restaurant on the Boat Quay. Here for centuries trade with India and China had been conducted through settlements along the Malacca Straits by the Portuguese, Dutch and later the British. The evidence of