Cairns is a city on the northeastern coast of Australia and is often called the “Gateway To The Great Barrier Reef”.  It is also a major port for exporting sugar cane, gold and other metals, minerals and agricultural products from the local area. We’ve been cruising between the Reef and mainland Australia for the last…

As we travel up the eastern coast of Australia, we parallel the Great Barrier Reef.  This is the largest coral reef system in the world.  Townsville is a very nice city overlooked by Castle Hill.  Our tour took us up to the top of this hill, but the fog and a sudden rain shower limited…

Today’s excursion is “Discover The Blue Mountains”. The Blue Mountains are a range of mountains that begin about 30 miles west of Sydney.  The name Blue Mountains is derived from the blue tinge the range takes on when viewed from a distance. Due to their rugged nature it took many years before early settlers found…

Before we move on to Australia, I’d like to say that I was very impressed with New Zealand.  The people and country felt “young”.  If I were to consider moving to another country, New Zealand would be the first place.   After we left Picton, we sailed across the Tasman Sea for two days.  This…

Our fourth port in New Zealand was at the small town of Picton.   We boarded a bus and drove about 40 minutes to the wine vineyards for our excursion, The Wines of Marlborough.  New Zealand has become an important wine producing country.  Grape growing and wine making in New Zealand only began in the…

Ok…get out your NoDoze because this is going to be a long one! Let me backup a few days.  Since we left South America we’ve had Polynesian cultural ambassadors on board.  They taught classes in dancing, crafts such as necklace and bracelet making, and, taught Ukulele classes. They were scheduled to leave upon the ship…