Colleen McEwen

MrsMac

Colleen McEwen

I love travelling and have done as much as I can over the 68 years of my life. Since retiring from teaching in 2012 I have been able to do even more and have enjoyed the diverse landscapes, cities, peoples and places I have visited. My travels have taken me to every continent and to over 87 countries.
I also love sharing my experiences by writing and uploading photos so others can perhaps be inspired to follow in my footsteps or to just go out and explore this wonderful planet on which we all live. I am also happy that I have found another blog site where this can occur after my original host, Travelpod closed down.
TP PROFILE

Former TravelPod Member: mrsmac

Joined: March 18th, 2008
From: Adelaide lives in Adelaide,Australia
Favorite Music: Beatles. Queen, any good rock and roll
Languages: English and a small amount of French
Bucket List: Travel to as many countries as I can.
Profession: Teacher/now retired

Life is what happens to you while you're making other plans

Final adventures

Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London May 8th 2024

Our choir concert

MrsMac

After we left Lisbon we had a 2 day voyage to London. On the Friday most of the day was taken up by rehearsals and the final choir concert. We had had an extra practice after we had left Lisbon on the Thursday, so Friday morning at 11am we did the final rehearsal. We were not sounding too bad!! We did a sound check in the Palladium, then had lunch and at 2-30 were back for the show. As before, the Ukulele band went first. I liked their name, A Band on Ship!! Then we joined them to sing We'll meet again. Then it was our turn. I sat in the second row as the weather was not good and the ship was rolling. Overall we did well. The song we were most worried about, The ... read more

Last days

Europe May 4th 2024

Portuguese fort

MrsMac

Our last two ports of call were Casablanca and Lisbon. We reached Casablanca on April 30th after 3 days at sea. It was a lovely day with bright sunshine and warm weather. We were booked on a bus tour as we did not want to walk too far as I have been having problems with my back. We left the ship after lunch and headed off into the city. The last time we were here, seven years ago, we had toured the huge Hassan 11 mosque and driven along the beach front. This time we got to see a lot more. We drove into the city past the old Portuguese fort and our first stop was a brief one outside Rick's Cafe, made famous in the movie. Then it was on to the mosque. This is ... read more

Cabo Verde

Africa » Cape Verde » São Vicente » Mindelo April 27th 2024

Beatles, Here Comes the Sun

MrsMac

We left Brazil on the 20th and then headed north. We had 5 days at sea. During this time we continued with the quizzes, having moderate success and I kept going to choir rehearsals. In between there was food, drinks and music. However, 2 significant events took place. On the 23rd the whole ship celebrated St George's Day. Our trivia that day was around famous Georges while it was formal night with very British food.The concert was celebrating famous British artists such as the Beatles and David Bowie. The dancers and singers were very good. On the 25th, they held a special service for Anzac Day, not at dawn, but they did it very well. Most of the senior members of the crew attended and the resident vicar conducted a respectful ceremony. They even gave out ... read more

Brilliant Brazil

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro April 21st 2024

Approaching Rio de Janeiro

MrsMac

We have just sailed out of Brazilian waters having spent a week here. We made three stops, Rio, Salvador and Recife. We had visited Rio twice before but the others were new to us. The saga of visiting Brazil though started before we got to Kenya. We were asked if we had Brazilian Visas and we said no. I had checked the website and none were needed for Australians. However, they had brought in a new rule that Americans, Canadians and Australians all must have one if they arrived after April 10th. We were stopping on the 15th. We had to buy an internet package and tried to follow instructions but gave up. Eventually, we sought the help of the crew and one of the Cruise consultants helped us through it. We had to get photos ... read more

Sea days and a disappointment

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro April 15th 2024

Tristan de Cunha

MrsMac

We left Cape Town a week ago, sailing into the South Atlantic. Our destination was to be Tristan de Cunha, the most remote island in the world. I had been looking forward to landing here as very few ships stop there and it would be a unique experience. We had some rougher weather on the way but everyone was hoping all would be well when we got there as we had to tender to shore. Meanwhile our routine of three quizzes a day, choir practice, dinner with our table and much reading, eating and drinking continued. We won some ,we lost some but we now have a team of 6 including three Poms which helps with the British bias in the questions . We reached Tristan but much to everyone's disappointment the sea was too choppy ... read more

Cape Town

Africa April 8th 2024

The assembled choir

MrsMac

We had two days at sea after Durban before we reached Cape Town. The highlight of this time was our choir concert. When we embarked at Fremantle I joined the passenger choir. Since then we had been learning some songs to get ready for a concert. There are quite a number in the choir but we thoroughly enjoy our daily practices with Thiagos, a Brazilian, who has a fabulous voice and is choir master. The day before we reached Cape Town we assembled for a rehearsal at 12 and then a sound check in the Palladium Theatre. We were joining with the large group who have been learning to play the ukulele. Then at 2-30 the concert began. First the ukulele players went through their repertoire, then we joined with them to sing and play Can ... read more

African Adventures

Africa » South Africa » KwaZulu-Natal » Durban April 5th 2024

Crossed tusks, symbol of Mombasa

MrsMac

Our first stop on Mainland Africa was Mombasa in Kenya. That marked the 95th country I have visited. We had an overnight stay here to allow some passengers to go to a Safari park. We stayed in the city. On the first morning we went on a ship tour to see some of the sights of the city. Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and Fletcher says it is much like Nairobi except for the number of tuk-tuks in the streets. Our first stop was on the main road to view the large crossed tusks which is the symbol of the city. Then we were taken to a local Hindu temple. There is a very large Indian population here. This temple had some very gruesome paintings on the walls depicting the horrible punishments which ... read more

Around the Indian Ocean

Africa » Seychelles » Mahé March 25th 2024

Male

MrsMac

On March 20th we arrived in Male, capital of the Maldives. When we were here 8 years ago we discovered that this was not a very attractive place being the main city with only a small artificial beach. So we decided to do one of the ship's tours to an outer resort. In the morning we stayed on board, and had our first quiz win!! Then after a quick lunch we headed down to the tender to motor to the port from where we would start our tour. The sea was calm and it was a calm and comfortable ride to shore. We then waited a while to board a speedboat which then took us out to a man made island, to Crossroads Marina. It was a hot day but as we arrived the place looked ... read more

Gorgeous Galle

Asia » Sri Lanka » Southern Province » Galle March 20th 2024

Old Dutch church

MrsMac

We arrived in Colombo on Monday. As we had visited before we had booked the ship excursion to Galle. Having watched the cricket from there we had noticed the old fort next to the cricket ground. It was an all day trip. We started with a 2 hour bus trip through the Sri Lankan country side. Very green with white temples scattered around, it was an interesting trip. Once we arrived in Galle we drove to the fort. As we entered Galle we passed an picturesque beach where there were many small fishing boats, and fishermen selling their wares on the side of the road.Our guide said they do business there because it costs too much to have a stall in the fish market. Then we drove to the fort.This was a very busy place with ... read more

Phuket

Asia » Thailand » South-West Thailand » Phuket March 19th 2024

Cape Prom Thep

MrsMac

On March 24th we arrived in Phuket. As we had been there before we thought we would go on one of the excursions to see more. We chose Highlights of Phuket. We drove first to the southern most part of the island, Cape Prom Thep. It was a very hot day but the views from the cliff top were stunning. We walked to the top of the promontory where there is an elephant shrine. People leave statues of elephants here to ensure good luck. Fletcher would have loved to steal one or two!! A little further on was a statue of a local general and further still an unusual looking lighthouse. The statue also had small devotional figures left there by locals.An interesting place , but we were glad to return to the bus and the ... read more

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