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This morning we awoke to find ourselves at anchor in deep water off the village of Nathon on the island of Ko Samui. This inactive volcano is part of an island group on the Pacific Rim at the entrance to the Gulf of Thailand. In the past the island was important for its coconut industry

Today is our ‘day at sea’ as we sail past Malaysia on the South China Sea to our destination at daybreak tomorrow of the island Ko Samui, Thailand. This morning we had a tour of the galley where the food for 2000 guests and about 800 crew members is prepared. It was interesting that our

At lunchtime we embarked upon the Holland America Line ship Westerdam at Singapore’s Marina Bay Cruise Terminal which is very close to the city centre and affords great views of the city and port. Commercial ships were in line at anchor awaiting a space to load or unload in the dock complex. Twice during the

Today is Hop-On – Hop-Off Day. We rendezvoused with the bus outside Raffles Hotel and headed towards Marina Bay. This area is surrounded by so-called iconic Singapore sights such as The Marina Bay Sands Resort and the Singapore Flyer. We came across both of these yesterday but it was good to get up close. We

We have arrived in Singapore having travelled overnight on a Singapore Airlines Airbus A350-900 aeroplane. Our flight took us from Manchester to the Netherlands, Dussledorf (Germany), the Czech Republic, the full length of the Black Sea to overfly the Caspian Sea and Iran and later to the south of Kabul (Afghanistan). From here we crossed

Happy New Year! Look out shortly for news of our next adventure.  

After breakfast in the shadow of the CN Tower we explored the original city centre of Toronto. Here is Union Station where transcontinental passengers could break their journey at the Royal York Hotel (The Fairmont today). Along Yonge Street brownstone towers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were towered over by more modern

We made a record today by being at the front of the line for the opening of the day’s tours of the CN Tower. Built in 1976 on the former railway lands that supported the industries of Toronto, the CN Tower is named after the railway company that built it. It is a legacy of

Today we drove from Brockville to Toronto in our hire car and after leaving it in the Rental Lot walked around the corner to the Intercontinental Hotel. We have been very lucky as our room overlooks the lakeside and the CN Tower. We are literally at its foot.

We had an exploration of Southern Ontario today. We concentrated upon the Rideau River and its canal system which links Ottawa and the Ottawa River with the St. Lawrence at Kingston. Today this is used by pleasure craft but was originally built to ensure that Canadian products could be exported during times of civil unrest,