garrettnb

The last morning in Marrakech our guide who we would be spending the next 4 days with met us at our riad and lead us to where he had parked his Landcruiser - which we quickly dubbed our Japanese Camel. Our guide Ibrahim was only a few years older than us, apparently at least (more on this later), and was always ready with a joke which we started dishing out as well when the ice had been broken. Didnt take long until we had given the nickname Zlatan (Ibrahimovic) either. But I digress, on the first day Zlatan took us on a very long driving day, but luckily it had many stops to keep us entertained and stretch our legs. The day took us through the main mountain range of the country called the Atlas Mountains ... read more

Hello from Morocco! Adina and I are coming to you from our first country in Africa. After a very long travel day ending with a train in Marrakech and then making our way through the old quarter's twisting, weaving, and very confusing streets we managed to make it to our Riad. A riad is a kind of guest house with an interior courtyard. Part of the Islam faith is that you don't show outward wealth - so almost all of the buildings are as plain as can be on the outside but have immense tile mosaics, pools, terraced roof tops, and even plunge pools to escape the mid day heat. The old part of Marrakech - the Medina - is an absolute labyrinth of markets, shops, squares with markets, stalls, guys with monkeys, and even snake ... read more

This blog is a few months behind - but I honestly thought that I had written this blog sitting in the airport in Auckland. But anywhow - I left you while we were in the Tasman avoiding a storm heading to New Zealand. Having cancelled a few ports and added a few sea days the guests were very unhappy to say the least - from the bridge point of view the 5 sea days in a row were incredible. Almost like a short break in the middle of a contract. I wonder if this is what people who do proper ocean voyages constantly feel like at work... Stopping in Tauranga was a pretty neat port - there is a small mountain at the mouth of the harbour so when you sail into the city from the ... read more

Well it’s been some time since I posted – mostly because I’ve been extremely busy on the Radiance. But I have managed to get off the ship a few times and both see the sights and spend some time with some friends. One of the most exciting things on the Radiance is that nearly every cruise is different – it is also the reason why I as the nav officer am so busy. Our first 2 cruises took us to New Caledonia, some place I had never heard of. It’s a group of French islands 600 miles due east of Australia. The 2 cruises were both chartered – one being a rock music charter, the other directed to some older clientele (ancient) and focusing on classical music. The group of islands has 1 port with an ... read more

I keep saying I’m going to get around to typing up another blog but then… work, sleep, eating, ya know. Life gets in the way. When I do have time – getting off the ship is a high priority. I have managed to get off the ship a few times and time is still absolutely flying by. It’s strange to think that I have actually been gone for a third of this extremely long contract. Next cruise Adina comes cruising, and by the time that cruise is over a week later I’ll be in Sydney waiting to join the Radiance. Being on the 4-8 watch getting ashore is much easier –so I’ve been out in Sicily, Kusadasi – Turkey, and Naples as of late. The port of Messina is just a few kilometers from the Italian ... read more