Thursday 28th September, Friday 29th September & Saturday 30thSeptember 2023 Montreal, Canada Two sea days and then a full day at Montreal!! On the Thursday we started on our trip down the St Lawrence River. Plenty of gannets on the river and a massive amount of little brown birds ( as well as a falcon!!) still on the ship that we had ‘picked up’ in Charlottetown to keep us entertained. Friday was the best whale watching day as we were passing the Saguenay River which is where fresh water meets sea water and it stirs up a lot of sediment which is where the whales feed. Most of the hump back whales had started their migration south, apart from a few stragglers that we saw along with a load (about 20!!) Minke Whale. Also saw massive ... read more

Tuesday 26thSeptember 2023 Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island Captain announced whilst we were at dinner last night, that the reason we were late leaving Port in Sydney yesterday, was because we had dragged up another anchor!! This caused lots of laughter in the restaurant as we had lost an anchor on the other side of the ship, in the hurricane!! (Apparently, we could still sail with one anchor because of the stabilisers on the ship!!) Anyway,we didn’t have high hopes for Charlottetown as Prince Edward Island (PEI) is said to be very flat and the only thing worth doing was Anne of Green Gables Museum (which we weren’t doing!!) as she was born in Cavendish on the north coast! Decided to just have a wander on the Historical Red Route (as advised by Tourist Info!!) and duly ... read more

Thursday 21st September 2023 8.00hrs – Saturday 23rdSeptember 2023 19.00hrs St Johns, Newfoundland Boy was I glad to see land again, especially when we heard that some of the Bridge windows had smashed in the storm as well!! It seemed quite rough as we were approaching ‘The Narrows’ where we had a good view of Signal Hill and all the old houses that seemed to tumble down into the water, as well as the Cathedral and “The Rooms” high up on the hill!! ‘The Narrows’ is a small stretch of water that opens into the sheltered bay of St Johns. John Cabot discovered Newfoundland in 1497 and St John’s is the oldest Port in Canada but the first English fishing Captain to enter St Johns was ‘Admiral of the Harbour by Ancient Custom’ and Sir Humphrey ... read more

Faroe Islands Journey up to Tilbury was uneventful and we arrived about 2.30pm. Parked in JustPark and then got an Uber taxi to the docks (£13.50 roughly) Smooth boarding and first impression of the ship was good. Smallish- similar to the Holland America ship. 3 pin plug which makes the ship very English although the Captain said there were 28 Nationalities aboard! ( whether he was counting the crew as well I don’t know!!) They have ORCA on board looking for whales situated on Deck 10 (which has been locked by the Captain every time we have been down) otherwise they are on Deck 12. I especially like the Observatory on Deck 14. Anyway, the first two days were spent at sea and apart from going through the Pentland Frith (between Scotland mainland and the Orkneys ... read more

Sunday 7thMay 2023 SEATTLE We arrived in Seattle about 7.00am – very easy transfer, by taxi ($20.00 flat fee!!) to our hotel and we started exploring about 8.00am!! Of course, everything was shut, but we did manage to find our way to the Space Needle, which was about 10minute walk, and the Space Needle opened at 9.00am!! We weren’t quite their first customer but after a ‘different’ ride on a lift, on the OUTSIDE of the tower were treated to some wonderful views of Seattle and the Bay in glorious sunshine! Had a very short zoom meeting with Chris family from the top as well!! Looked at then revolving glass floor on the way down- Chris walked on it, I didn’t!! Wandered through the huge Park and then walked down to the waterfront and watch two ... read more