We arrived on the dock at 10:00 a.m. in Cairns (pronounced Cans) to sunny and 85 degree temperatures. We had arranged with HAL to go out on a Tropical Rain Forest and Aboriginal Adventure that was scheduled to last five hours. It gave us a little experience of the Aboriginal culture, wildlife along with a chance for an amphibious vehicle ride in an old WWII DUCK. We watched a little didgeridoo demonstration from five of the local tribesman and then headed out fo...

Hamilton Island is the largest inhabited island of the Whitsunday Islands in Queensland. It's positioned 551 miles north of Brisbane and 318 miles south of Cairns (Cans). It was also a big surprise island for us. I’m pretty sure that there is lots and lots of money on this island of about 1,400 people. There are NO cars anywhere, but it makes up for it with the amount of four-seater golf "buggies" that are everywhere. You actually need to be careful cross...

We've arrived in Brisbane after traveling 543 nautical miles from Sydney. It's 61 degrees F under sunny skies in the City of Bridges. I thought I'd give you just a little history for those who are interested regarding this bustling metropolis. It's the capital and most lived in city in the Australian state of Queensland, and the third most populous city in Australia. Australia is about the same land mass as the entire United States, so you can appreciate just h...

Today is our last day in Sydney before heading out to sea. We had dinner with everybody on Wednesday night at Caffe Roma in Kings Cross. It was real nice to get reconnected to everybody. Jean and Renetta took the 2 1/2 train ride out to the Blue Mountains north of Sydney for the day. The girls had a little excitement on the return trip. Apparently they were in a "quiet car" and there was a young couple that got extremely agitated because a couple of people were ...

We arrived at Vancouver airport at 1:00 p.m. PST and departed on-time at 4:00 p.m. Little did we know what we would feel like twenty-eight hours later. I want to thank Irene and Les for their assitance getting to the airport, we are truly thankful for the help. I just hope you be careful on that trip to Whistler in my little baby. In any event, we boarded our B787, a plane in Los Angeles, a great, new plane capable of a 560 mph cruising speed and one that can hol...