We entered Austria during the night, after our German feast on board. The next morning was again gloomy and overcast and the inevitable rain. Our included tour was in the town of Melk. We were driven to the highest point, overlooking the river and the town, to Melk Abbey, a UNESCO Heritage site. After alighting from the bus we walked down 60 steps and through some beautiful gardens to the Abbey courtyard. This had been a Benedictine abbey for centuries. It now houses a museum and a school still run by religious staff. We were not permitted to take photos inside but could of the splendid buildings, beautifully restored. Where we were taken was mainly set up as a museum, starting with a room concerning St Benedict and the rules of his order. Our guide described ... read more

The last few days we have been cruising down the Rhine and Main rivers. Now we enter the Main Canal, built to join the Rhine and Danube. We have stopped at some lovely German cities and towns and enjoyed the sights and sounds but the summer has deserted us. We have had some sunshine but the temperature has only been in the low 20s and we have had lots of rain. On Thursday, we had an interesting glass blowing demonstration on board the ship and then in the afternoon we were bussed to the small town of Miltenberg. Here we had a tour of the main areas and admired the wooden buildings.We stopped for a wine at one of the many outdoor cafes although the showers returned then back to the ship. That evening there was ... read more

On Saturday we woke early but waited until about 9-30 before setting out. Fletcher wanted to go to the Olympic stadium from 1928. We caught a train from the nearby Metro station into Centraal. Once there we sought directions from an attendant who told us which stop was closest to the place. It was back to the train and an eight stop voyage to the right place We alighted there and followed signs which led us to the stadium. It was not a very imposing facade and we were not able to enter as they were setting up for the Opening Ceremony of the World Gymnastics Championships which was on the next day. At least we can say we visited it. From there we caught a tram back into Central but got off just before and ... read more

Back in 2020 we had paid for a River cruise just before Lockdown. We decided to use this and combine it with the World Athletics Championships for a 6 week sojourn in Europe. We left on Tuesday morning from Adelaide on a flight to Sydney. We discovered when checking in that we had been upgraded, not to Business as requested but to Premium Economy. Winning!! After a 3 hour stay in the Qantas Club, we boarded our A380 for the flight to Singapore. The seats were very comfortable and the service and food were so much better than cattle class. A 2 hour stopover in the Lounge and then it was a 13 hour flight to Heathrow. I actually got some sleep!!. Once off the plane we were quickly through customs but had a long wait ... read more

On Wednesday, 24th, we anchored in Darwin Harbour, at the Waterfront Wharf. We were able to disembark the ship and walked along the walkway , past Stokes warf to the lovely Waterfront precinct and up into the city. Fletcher wanted to find a bank to get some cash, so we wandered along the Mall and eventually found the ANZ bank. It was already warm with a hotter day to follow. We found a taxi which took us to the Aviation Museum near Darwin Airport. We had missed this last time we were here in 2020. The main attraction here is the B-52 bomber which takes up the whole of the enormous hangar. It looks like the mother hen with all the other planes nestled under its wings. I Ihad not realised how big it is. There ... read more