Day 36 - Friday 19th It’s sometime since we’ve wakened to a cold to and miserable morning. We put the heating on to have a shower and some breakfast. We were going to have a day at the beach before heading to the airport for our plane to Sydney, the last stage of our Australasian sojourn. We notice that the under-cover Antarctic Centre is near the airport so we head off there to get out the rain. It seems quite expensive at $NZ48 each plus car parking costs but we bite the bullet and go in. We’ve timed things well because [View Full Entry]

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Day 30 - Saturday 13th The weather forecast is for a warm and sunny day. We wake to an overcast sky and cool temperatures. We decide to have a drive-free day so it’s a late breakfast and a slow walk downtown. We pass Otago University. Crowds of undergraduates and their families attend the passing out ceremonies, mortar boards to the fore. The Otago Museum is nearby so we enter to check the displays. What a wonderful museum. We stay in for hours. There are so many informative exhibits covering people of the world, especially Polynesian peoples and their travels. There’s [View Full Entry]

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Day 25 - Monday 8th As the forecast stated, the weather is cloudy, rainy and much cooler this morning. It’s a pity because we intended travelling to Te Anau and Milford Sound. Our host Denise recommends that we take a hotel in Queenstown and a return bus trip from there that includes a boat trip in the Sound. She feels the driving involved will be too great. However, the arrangements complicate our thinking and we decide to drive to Te Anau, sorting out matters from there. If the weather improves, we’ll try Milford Sound the following day, if not we’ll head [View Full Entry]

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Day 20 - Wednesday 3rd It’s a pleasant morning, sunny and warm with some cloud. We head around Queen Charlotte Drive and Marlborough Sound to Nelson. The scenery is spectacular but Doreen doesn’t like the winding roads close to the edge of steep ravines, especially as the timber barriers seem too flimsy to save anything. We stop at a fantastic viewpoint near Havelock. David takes a walk to the summit through native bush but finds that he left the anti-midge cream in the hotel. Don’t panic! Fortunately, he gets the photos and didn’t get bitten so we survive for [View Full Entry]

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Day 13 - Wednesday 26th We opened the curtains to a fantastic morning and great views from our room across to the Waitangi Treaty Grounds and Bay of Islands. Norm knocks on the door and brings Sparky to bid us farewell. He’s a lovely little cat and immediately gives us a star showing outside the chalet. It’s a pity we can’t stay longer. So off we go but it’s down to Waitangi for the third time because the camcorder lost all the video taken yesterday. It’s a good job we have the still cameras. The dash south to Thames is memorable [View Full Entry]

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Day 6 - Wednesday 19th November We have an early start this morning, up at 5.00 to get organised and onward to the airport for 6.30. Our taxi driver is quietly courteous and efficient. Unfortunately, our high regard for Melbourne Airport immigration officers is completely undermined by their departure security officials; curt, lacking communication skills and unhelpful. The first official reprimands David for touching the person screener as he walks through. The next official demands to weigh our hand luggage. He questions David: “Have you a laptop in the case?” &ldqu [View Full Entry]

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Day 1 - 14th Our daughter Marie drove us to Glasgow Airport through showery weather, arriving around 11.30. The drop off point is now in the terminal’s multi-story car park opposite because of previous attempts to fire bomb it! Check-in was a doddle because we’d previously booked our seats on-line. No problem with security screening despite David’s walk-on case being full of laptop, cameras, external hard-disc drives, cables, transformers, power adaptors, toiletries ………. and just a few clothes. Following Emirates chaotic queuing arrangements, we de [View Full Entry]

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After a restful night in Ardtornish Bay we set off for Oban and our various transports home. A beautiful day with beautiful views. When the weather is good, there's no better place on Earth. Many thanks to Hannah, Mark Lindsay and Ylva of Northern Light Charters and all the new colleagues I met and our collective life on the ocean waves - Alda, Alma, Anne, Claire, Diana & John, Keith, Laurie, Margaret, Marion and Martin. [View Full Entry]

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Another early start as it was going to take us at least 12 hours to get to the Sound of Mull to be within easy reach of Oban. Not much to say except a big thanks you to Mark our skipper for getting us to St Kilda. Not many other craft managed that around then. The journey back through the Sound of Barra enabled me to revist sights experienced about three years ago when last visiting the Outer Hebrides. [View Full Entry]

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My slumber in a cabin near the bow of the boat was rudely cut short just after 6.00 hours as we hit the stormy west coast weather as we left the safety of Taransay Bay. For once I thought I'd be seasick as I clattered about trying to get some clothes on. Fortunately I struggled to the boat's stern where life was a little more stable. Although never calm, the weather eased as we moved closer to St Kilda, catching glimpses of common and white-beaked dolphins either side of the boat as the hills of Harris disappeared behind us. Slowly but [View Full Entry]

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