Geo: -16.4958, 145.46720-22/02/09 At sea Temps Air 29°C Sea 27°C 20/02/09 We've just been informed by the captain that we're about to pass the German cruise liner the Europa which is on a 165 day world cruise, it's has the highest rating within it's companies fleet and is rated at 5 Star + a standard cabin for this current cruise was priced at £110,000, recession what recession? We took on a sea pilot at Darwin I didn't know there was such a thing, I thought pilots were pilots once you've had one so to speak they're all the same, apparently not, they're different to the normal pilots you sea in coastal waters, the ones you normally associates with ships entering ports and the like. Certain areas of the seas require the services of these guys who ... read more

Geo: 3.04306, 101.441Friday 13/02/09 Singapore Temps air 33°C Sea 29°C Once again because of our size we couldn't berth at the cruise terminal which was a real shame as it's right on the harbour front and so easy to just nip into town, with easy links to the MRT underground and bus links as well as some great shopping, although it's no where near as cheap as it used to be. We berthed at one of the largest container ports in southern Asia which meant a 20 minute shuttle bus ride to the harbour front, so it was only a minor inconvenience. We had planned to visit a little known rainforest which is approx. 8mls outside Singapore it's not high on most visitors' lists of places to visit, but we thought it'd be interesting. The information ... read more

Geo: 5.36365, 100.311Wednesday 11/02/09 Penang - Malaysia Temps air 32°C Sea 28°C Arrived 07:15 On face value there didn't seem much to do here so we originally decided to just meander through the town taking in the local atmosphere, but with the introduction of a 3 hr introduction to Georgetown tour it seemed like a good idea, and would still allow time to wander the local streets afterwards, so we booked up. Well what a mistaker to maker, the trip was boring with little to take in other than the local museum 45mins were allocated to look at a few exhibits which took all of 20 minutes so the entrance was cluttered with loads and loads of people awaiting the return of the coaches to take us to the next place of interest. This next stop ... read more

Geo: -20.2554, 57.5517Wednesday 04/02/09 Mauritius - Indian Ocean Temps air 27°C Sea 29°C Arrived 08:00 to a clear bright day, we've booked an all day island excursion taking in the Black Gorge, Chamarel waterfall and the coloured earths, no sooner had we started off then the weather closed in, with the tops of the peaks alternating between being visible and enveloped in cloud. Fortunately by the time we had reached the top the clouds had lifted sufficiently to view the dormant volcanic crater below us making for a good photographic opportunity, however looking back seawards the view overlooking the bay and the beautiful coral sea in the distance was rapidly being obliterated by the descending clouds which then unleashed its payload in a deluge, swamping everything and everybody not covered up, we were luck to only ... read more

Geo: -28.7863, 32.0966Saturday 30/01/09 Richards Bay - South Africa Temp Air 27°C Arrived 07:00 at what we're told is the largest coal loading facility in the southern hemisphere, seems a strange place to berth but it's able to accommodate larger vessels with ease and is closer to most of KwaZulu-Natal game reserves. The trains bring the coal from the mines approx. 200mls away and they're enormous some are over 2kms long, they're so long that they're not allowed to stop, they load and unload on the move and even drivers shift changes are carried out whilst moving, albeit slowly, the reason being that the engines cannot generate sufficient power to pull the vast amount of wagons from a standing start. We were told that the previous week they had a major derailment which they've only just ... read more