First off, in case you may not know it, the island of Tasmania is one of the states of Australia. Just like Minnesota is one of the United States. So, same money, postage, language, etc., as the mainland of Australia. Nisswa School: I haven't seen a Tasmanian Devil, but our lecturer says they are carnivorous, so I guess I am glad I haven't run into any! The crossing from Sydney to Burnie was the roughest we've had it. The ship creaked all night long. I came down with a horrible cold (headache, sore throat, cough, the works) so felt pretty miserable and wasn't able to go on the eight hour bus tour that was going inland to Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake, one of Australia's National Parks. I had really been looking forward to seeing what ... read more

What a joy to visit Brisbane! The city must 90% new in the past 25 years. All gleaming, new, fascinating architecture, sparkling clean streets and cars, and even a Target. But a Target without a drug store department...how weird is that? Apparently some deal they made with the pharmacies here in order to open in Australia. Mom and I went to "The World's Largest Koala Sanctuary" yesterday. We saw about 50 of them, but didn't opt for the rip-off cost of having our pictures taken with them. I felt sorry for the poor things being hugged by all those strangers when all they really wanted to do was sleep. Also saw kangaroos and kookaburros. Again, a very hot and sweaty day. The people I've spoken with in the shops here are the friendliest we've run into. ... read more

We crossed the International Dateline so we are now (I think) 18 hours ahead of you at home. We lost Tuesday completely, but are making it up one hour at a time as we move westward around the globe. Always nice to get that extra hour a couple of times a week. Yesterday we were in Tonga, the first flat island we have visited. Unlike the others which were volcanic and, therefore, mountainous, Tonga is a huge coral reef and flat as a pancake. It is extremely lush and beautiful, but a terrible mess. Rusted out cars all over the place as well as rusted out boats littering the bay. Garbage everywhere and almost every house looked like it was ready to fall down. It is more of a case of not caring than being poor. ... read more

Hello Everybody! I've been enjoying myself too much to write. We had eight days at sea...all of them perfectly calm. In fact, we haven't had even a slightly rough day yet. Here's a sample day on board: 8:00 Get up and have breakfast, either Continental delivered to the cabin, or a full breakfast (with cloth tablecloths and napkins and waiter service) in the dining room. 9:45 Attend lecture about future ports. 10:30 Find deck chairs (what they call sunbeds) on the promenade deck. Sit and read. doze, chat. 11:00 Go get a mug of tea and return to deck chairs for more of the above. 12:00 Go to the dining room for a three course lunch. 1:00 Reclaim deck chairs. Chat, read, doze until 4:00. 4:00 grab a mug of tea and go the Classical Music ... read more

I still haven't found a WiFi spot to download any pictures, but hope to soon. Sunday we were in Antigua where I went on a zipline canopy tour across a beautiful jungle valley. It was breathtaking. Nine different lines across the valley stretching from tree to tree, each progressively longer than the last, and a finish that dropped straight down 30 feet. I was a sweaty mess by the time I climbed back to the top -- especially with 25 lbs. of gear on me. Monday we were at sea again. But yesterday we were in Curacao, a lovely Dutch island. The buildings that line the harbor would be at home in Holland. Each is painted a different color -- even better than downtown Nisswa! I didn't go on a specific tour there, but walked awound ... read more