Reflections We're home again and it's just as I feared. I'm having trouble adjusting to 'normal' life. Lyn and Cheryl picked us up from the ship, after having to wait for us for a couple of hours due to the disorganised disembarkation procedures. I was so glad that they did because we'd accumulated so much during the voyage that we had, not two, but three trolleys piled high with bags. A worker had pushed one trolley to the door for us and Lyn was there to t...

Life on board the MV Dawn Princess I love days at sea. There are so many things of interest to do and it's shamelessly self-indulgent. Let me outline a typical day. It starts on the eve of the day. After dinner and the evening entertainment, you return to your cabin, or 'stateroom' as cabins are called these days, to find your bed turned down, chocolates on your pillow, fresh towels at the ready and the Princess Patter lying on the bed. The Patter, as we ...

Apia, Western Samoa. Samoa is a place that I've long since wished to see because of its association with Robert Louis Stevenson so I was quite excited about our visit, even though it was sadly the penultimate port, apart from Sydney, of our grand voyage around the world. After our disappointment in the beaches of Papeete and in Bora Bora about not being able to swim, our dreams of an idyllic day on a palm fringed beach in the tropics might be about to be reali...

Bora Bora Beautiful Bora Bora! We were woken as we usually are when coming into a tender port by the loud grating sounds of the anchor chain being played out. I climbed out of bed sleepily to have a look at our latest destination. What absolute beauty! Turquoise water, crystal clear, fringed by a reef spurting white foam high into the air. The island itself was palm covered with some habitation at the water's edge. Bora Bora is the archetypical tropical island...

Papeete After 5 relaxing days at sea we arrived in Papeete. It bore no resemblance to the city we'd visited in 1967 on our way to England except for the market which is still there in the centre of town. We dressed in our swimmers for a day at the beach. There were vans with drivers for hire but the eight of us intended to hire a car so we could drive ourselves around. That way we could find a beach at which to spend the day without having to worry about th...