Had a lovely day walking around Barcelona, down the Ramblas, through the pickpockets and into the outdoor markets. Here's mum in her element, chatting to shopkeepers.



We had a gentle sail through the Med, round Gibraltar, escorted by 2 destroyers.



If you enlarge the shore of Morocco, you can spot a helicopter launched from one of one of the destroyers.



Finally, here is mum in Cherbourg calling our taxi driver, Gillian. One short trip across the Channel tonight and our round the world adventure is over!

Here we are entering the Med after a rapid Suez transit.



Next is mum telling one of her great jokes on her birthday in Athens.



We decided to take the train into Rome and blundered into Vatican square, just 5 minutes before the Pope drove past us slowly, 6 feet away, in his pope-mobile! The night before the captain steered us half a mile from Stromboli which promptly decided to erupt twice in 20 minutes. Remember the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Gillian?



Today we had a lovely drive from Cannes along the coast of Provence and enjoyed a wine tasting at one of the biggest vineyards of the region.
Here's a picture of the ship at anchor shown through the handle of our carry-out bag!

Drove 2 hours across the desert to Cairo, where we saw the pyramids and the Sphinx with a sand storm thrown in for good measure at the end.



Next was a lovely sail up the Nile including a belly dace show. Spot the extras! Visited the Muhammad Ali mosque in Saladin's Citadel before driving back to Sokhna. We are just entering the Med following a seemingly more rapid than usual transit of the Suez canal. Next stop Athens on Monday.

We're just rounding the corner of Yemen, across from Somalia..........prime pirate territory. We have 2 destroyers, one with a helichopper flying around us, as well as a submarine somewhere.

Salalah in Oman was hot, sandy, and smelled of frankincense. Every second shop was an empty tailor's. Next stop the Nile and the pyramids.

Sailing about 5 miles of the Oman coast, rounding the corner to meet the pirates. Had a cool day in Dubai....only 92 instead of the summer 120! Can you name the ship in the first photo as we sailed into Dubai? The 2nd photo was taken in the Gold Souk, where all that glitters is gold.................or so we hope.

We are now en route for Dubai having traveled to HK, Laem Chabang in Thailand and Singapore.

Following a lazy day relaxing in the Thai seaside resort of Pattaya we had a more hectic walking day in Singapore. The first photo shows a game of cricket being played right in the middle of Singapore, beside City Hall with St Andres Cathedral in the background.



We next visited the famous Raffles Hotel where we met another couple from the ship and enjoyed a round of drinks and monkey nuts, which finish up traditionally all across the floor.

Cochin, India was next. We hired a tuk-tuk for 3 hours in the morning and visited the old part of the city. The second picture shows us pulling up a Chinese finishing net on the shore. In complete contrast we spent the afternoon in the luxurious Taq Hotel, swimming in its infinity pool and enjoying an Indian massage.
Catch up with everyone between Dubai and Oman.

Japan

Part of our overland tour of Japan, a fantastic country, Mt Fuji, bullet trains, castles, temples and these 2 restaurants in Kyoto with mum eating sashimi in one of them! Following a quick trip to Hong Kong, we are sailing smoothly towards Bangkok.

Leaving Milford Sound NZ

Leaving Milford Sound in NZ.

PICTURE?

We've tried to send a picture but not sure if it worked. Any ideas to our email will be gratefully accepted if anyone knows how.

4 great days in S NZ. We flew down to Milford Sound in a 9 seater.....only 10% of flights have operated this year because of dodgey weather. Spoke with the NZ cricket team before their match with India in Christchurch. Attended Cunard's Annual dinner in Sydney before setting sail to Japan. Enjoying calm in the Coral sea. We'll try to get pictures to you next time.

Had a lovely time on Pago Pago, Samoa, snorkelling on the reefs..........fantastic little blue fish! Just sailed past Tonga across the date-line (lost a day of our lives as Feb 20th disappeared into the ether!) en route for NZ in 2 days time.

Leave the ship for 4 days to explore the south island but get back in time in Sydney for the "grand Cunard ball" in the Convention Centre. Next stop is Japan.

All the best!

visited a pearl market in Honolulu. Openen 4 oysters..........one had 1ne pearl and the other 3 had twin pearls..........what's going on here!

on leaving Hawaii we passed 3 or 4 whales........amazing

just crossed the equator (again) en route to Pago Pago

for Jacqueline......we've just had what you've been looking for.....high seas and high winds.......but they've calmed down tonight

Aloha Ahiahi,

Sailed peacefully half the Pacific. Honolulu tomorrow followed by Pago Pago and then NZ, where spend 4 days on the south island. Poms mostly left in LA and Aussies have taken over.....a lively crowd.

Felix dia de los enamorados.

Here in Acapulco before setting off to LA and then Honolulu. The glaciers in the Beagle channel were awesome as was rounding Cape Horn. Could do with some of the ice here.

Hope Spurs at least draw tomorrow with Arsenal.

Trying again to get this to work, before our Spanish lesson. Hope everybody is doing well. Go United! but pleased to see Robbie Keane back at Spurs!

Trying again to make this work. Just left Peru, heading for Mexico. Sea has been kind so far. fantastic trip.

2 days to go

Trying new blog.