Friday morning just before 1am I flew out on another adventure in my teaching life. Initially I flew to Southbank TAFE Thursday morning to pick up my laptop, chat with Bev who has just come back and get what I need to teach in Jinan for the next 9 weeks. My expectations were that I would be in a small city with no westerners but able to cope based on my previous 12 weeks that I had spent in Shanghai in 2008/2009. I only received my Cathy Pacific boarding pass at Brisbane airport, and was told to go to the transfer desk in Hongkong to collect my next one. CP also booked my luggage all the way to Jinan but asked me to make it less than 23kgs, so I loaded the pack back up the ... read more

A sea day today and the "Pacific Daily" informs us that we are on a south westerly course across the Basin de Nouvelle-Caledonie, going across the Lord Howe Rise before passing south of Capella Bank during the night. Quite smooth sailing, certainly not like our first 2 days but not entirely calm either. Currently we are traveling at 17 knots course 230* Have you ever played Trivial Pursuit before breakfast? I have today, hard to get the brain working adequately at that hour, but due to the lack of numbers we all won prizes and managed to get another stubby cooler to replace the one we lost. A leisurely breakfast followed and it's going to be tough not to be waited on hand and foot in a couple of days when we arrive in Sydney. More ... read more

A sea day sailing from the top of Vanuatu to New Caledonia.Sea days involve the crew in major entertainment with all venues and all types of activities on offer. Shopping with the incentive of 1 for $20 and 3 for $30 with the brand Bijoux Terner brought the bargain hunters out. I managed to get some of my next lot of Christmas shopping done. We played cards and scrabble together over a great coffee in Charlie's and enjoyed a game of croquet, challenging with a rolling ship, tennis ball and limited space. The crew hosted Murder Mysteries performed like an old fashioned radio show with music clues, they are a diverse bunch and the dancers double up as many things. Tonight's show in the Marquee was a Magician/Comedian another great show, followed by Karaoke and Pop-stars. ... read more

Wala Island is a small island paradise in the north east of Vanuatu. It has 323 inhabitants who make a living out of the copra and cocoa crops as well as some beef cattle which are mostly on other nearby islands. Tourism is an add on with 3 or more cruise boats a week anchoring off the 150 foot deep water anchorage only 500 metres off the island. Many of the people today came from the nearby island of Malekula to assist with the various tourism opportunities. The people are called Small Nambas named after the penis leaf sheath that was traditional wear. The island had a tradition of cannibalism due to its isolation from the outside world and talking to a man today he said in his grandfathers time (he was 45) it was still ... read more

There are many themed nights on board and this was NUmber 1, with a show and dress ups by crew and passengers... read more