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

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

Singapore and Penang

Asia » Malaysia March 14th 2024

Cable car

MrsMac

We arrived in Singapore on Monday after 2 days at sea. We had planned to go to Sentosa Island as I had not been there. We went to disembark at 10am but the queue to get off was very long so we returned to the cabin and tried again at 11am. This time the queue was even longer. We had a drink in the bar until the worst was over and joined the line at about 11-45. From there it took us 2 hours to make it through Immigration. What a waste of time. The captain said later he had written a letter of protest about it. When we finally emerged at nearly 2pm we bought tickets for the cable car. Fortunately it was only a short walk to the cable car station. We had a ... read more

Lombok and after

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Sengigi March 10th 2024

A musical greeting

MrsMac

An update on our visit to Lombok!! It was an hour's drive from our port to the beautiful beach at Seniggi. When we disembarked the ship we were greeted by a steel band and many stall holders selling souvenirs. A cacaphony of noise enveloped us. Lombok is less developed than its neighbouring island of Bali but has some great scenery. During our hour long bus trip to the beach we went through the capital city of Mataram and the old city of Ampenan. The streets were lined with stalls and shops, some very dilapidated while others were better maintained. It was Friday so the holy day on this mainly Muslim island. The mosques are abundant and are brightly painted. The main mode of transport is motor bike or scooter and helmets seem optional. Most had at ... read more

First days

Asia » Indonesia » Lombok » Sengigi March 8th 2024

Botanical Bar

MrsMac

I am writing this sipping a white wine looking out on a lovely beach on the island of Lombok. This is our first port of call and the first time I have got onto WiFi as the ship's connections are unreliable and very expensive. We left Fremantle on Sunday night and have spent 4 days at sea. Our days have consisted of the following Quizzes There are usually 3 quizzes each day. In the morning a 20 question general knowledge one, a 10 question themed quiz in the afternoon and just before dinner a combination 15 question one. So far they have been quite challenging. We did tie with 4 others once but have fallen just short. The other tables have up to 8 people and though we have been joined by a couple of others ... read more

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