Today saw the start of the journey home. At 16:10 we caught the first of two flights over the next 24 hours to get us initially, to Singapore. The first flight was on board a Singapore Airlines A380 Jumbo, brought out of retirement to service this busy route. We departed northwards and therefore had great […]

More good progress was made overnight on a flat, calm sea. At 12:30 a.m. we rendezvoused with the pilot at South Head, the outer entrance to Sydney Harbour. By 01:00 we were on approach and slowly passed Potts Point, the Opera House and under the Harbour Bridge at what was then low tide. At 07:00

Today is our final day at sea. Overnight we made good progress on a flat calm sea, towards Sydney. All morning were 10 miles off the southeast coast of Australia. Linear developments of small towns along the narrow coastal strip, backed by low mountains, were visible from our cabin. Later, we passed large cliff-like deposits

We arrived in Melbourne (Wominjeka) at sunrise, docking at the Cruise Terminal at Port Melbourne, southwest of the city centre and visible after opening the curtains. We went ‘walkabout’ in the area around the massive Flinders Street Railway Station. We discovered the most amazing Art Nouveau and Deco buildings, preserved and still used amongst the

Today was a getting there day. At breakfast time we were making good progress with a push from the southwesterly winds and a moderate sea, with Tasmania off the port side. Later in the morning we passed through a channel between Flinders Island and the mainland. The wind was now Force 7 as we passed

Tasmania is another product of the breakup of the ancient Gondwanaland continent. We saw the evidence of the breakaway of New Zealand from Australia but here in Tasmania the island broke away along with Antarctica as individual landmasses, which is why the island has more in common geologically with Antarctica. Glaciation has been a major

After another quiet night on the Tasman Sea we awoke at 08:00 to find us in a light swell and still heading west to Hobart. Later in the morning the cloud built and by the afternoon the wind was from the north and rain was in the air. At 7:30 p.m. the Captain informed us

Overnight we made good progress on the two-day journey to Tasmania. Today is a day-at-sea and started with a slight chop and sunshine which continued through the afternoon. The day ended with calmer seas and a dramatic sunset.

At 08:30 we were off the entrance to Dusky Sound fjord in the southwest of South Island. Here westerly winds are forced to rise over the mountains so rainfall is plentiful and they are covered with temperate ‘rainforest’ of red and mountain beech trees. We have left the original landmass of NZ – the breakaway

We docked at 07:00 alongside the containers in Port Chalmers, about 10 miles away from Dunedin and for a change in a landscape dominated by sedimentary rocks with the intrusion of a few volcanoes and some big volcanic activity. Colloquially known as the ‘Edinburgh of the South’ by the Scots who moved here from 1848