A day much like yesterday in terms of weather and empty seascape. We found a place on deck and sunbathed and read all morning. I finished a great book on the legacy of Roman Britain. The afternoon art project was a scene from Valparaiso of houses grouped around the bay and on top of the hills with a funicular link. Better than yesterday. Went to the am-dram rehearsal. Had one heart-stopping moment when one of our little foursome didn't arrive and it l...

Warm, sun and cloud sea day with little wind but a long rolling swell, visible from the decks. This part of the Eastern Pacific is an empty vast wilderness of water with nothing to stop the waves in their progress. Just the odd rock or tiny islet here and there, and then nothing else, all the way to Easter Island, 3 days steam due west…. Again it makes me reflect on the bravery of the old maritime explorers. Our only comparable adventure is space, and we do...

Our first in a long line of sea days all the way to Tahiti. Breakfast up top. And - heavenly start - devilled kidneys were on! The day cannot start better….. The sun was back so we found a place on one of the rear terraces and stretched out with our Kindles. I went off at 10 to sign in for Camera Club which I am going to pursue on this sector (next 3 weeks or so). The photography department hold seminars on different camera techniques and run photo co...

We awoke as we arrived in Valparaiso, the largest port of Chile, and a large city spread over a number of very steep hills. Buildings crowd upwards, linked to the lower levels by funiculars, stairs and escalators. Not the most attractive city we have seen, but pleasant and colourful, worth exploring. We had no intentions for the day really beyond a bit of light exploring and finding a free, fast internet connection and a place to make cheap internationa...