Went to Joshua Tree to say goodbye to a troubled friend. It was one of his favorite places and it was more beautiful than we had ever seen it.

Not sure why this page keeps popping up. Need to find out how to delete a page but while we are having breakfast in Paris I guess I will mention that it is pretty awful spending 36 hours in the Philly airport.

We arrived pretty much on time. \240Would have been early if we didn’t have to circle the airport for a while. \240I was concerned about our luggage making it to the next flight. Silly me. We boarded the plane and were getting settled in our pods when they told us we had to get off as there was a mechanical problem. They were trying to repair it or get a different plane. A little while later - they are fixing the plane and our new departure time is 3:15 am. \240Lots of fun in the Philly airport after 10. Nothing open. \240They brought us basic sandwiches, eventually the pilots came back to check out the plane. At 3:30 the flight is cancelled and you have 250 people trying to rebook flights. Craziness ensued. \240We were told we would be getting an e-mail, we had already been rebooked. \240Never got an e-mail so Lindsay called. \240British airways and yes, we had business class seats.

Heading on our first big trip with Journo - a gift from my son and daughter-in-law. \240Back to Paris and beyond! Just this week was a horrible fire at Notre Dam. It will be very sad to see this destruction, but as always just excited to explore the world.

Okay - so it is Wednesday morning. It has been a little busy. \240Got to Paris Monday afternoon. Not much time to do anything. \240Took a walk to Place des Voges. It was wall to wall with people - still a holiday for Easter Monday.

So Tuesday, we picked up the rental car at Gare de Lyon. Of course that cannot be without pain. We had prepaid for the reservation and we were picking it up a day late. \240About an hour later we finally have a car and the address programmed in to the GPS. It is definitely easier than my car. \240Of course, we still made errors but including a big one when we were near the house that took us 20-30 kilometers out of our way. \240But anyway, our lunch stop although further off the A6 than we hoped was a cool little stop and you could have spent the day exploring all the historic sites. \240All we had time for was the cathedral.

So always a day behind. Yesterday we went to visit Mike’s friend’s house in Macon - Jean Louis and his wife Jacqueline. Mike worked with him at Rossignol years ago. Very nice. As \240the French do - the table was set with munchies to have with champagne or wine but everyone chose champagne. \240We chatted and then took off for lunch. Jean Louis had planned to take us out on his boat and dock at the restaurant but the weather was changing. It started pouring right when we got to the restaurant. We had a lovely lunch at Restaurant du Pont. Crazy flamboyant waiter. I had menu du jour that consisted of a salad, fish and a lemon tart. \240After lunch we decided to head back. Mike and Suzie stayed to meet up with his daughter and they also went to the Abbey in County but we were done. Just came back to the house and went for a hike around town. We had some rain later but not too bad.

Okay on to yesterday. Maybe I can catch up today. I wrote one time in my other journal....On Thursday, we finally got baguettes and croissants from the bakery on the square. It was supposed to pour rain so we decided to try the hike that I had found on line and brought the directions. \240It starts right from the other square. Wasn’t sure if I was going to go but I started out and decided why not. If I get wet, I get wet. Glad I went - we went past tons of the most expensive grapes in the world, climbed a hillside, saw villages in the distance, went through a little hamlet, saw lots of wildflowers. \240Very fun. And somehow we did the whole thing before the rain started

Okay. So finally up to date. Well, at least after I finish this. \240Today we went with everyone- Mike’s car adjusts to fit 7 - to Lyon - almost a 2 hour drive so this whole thing was our event for the day. We met up with one of Suzie’s friends who used to live in Brooklyn. She and her husband retired and moved to Lyon 18 months ago. \240Very interesting and nice people. \240They took us to this great Bouchon for lunch. The owner was quite a character so considering this was basically what we did for the for day, it was really fun.

It really is April 27. Only issue is I can’t add my photos till tomorrow as they take a while to download. We went to Pommard today and walked around till our tasting time. Unfortunately the chateau was under scaffolding. But we did a little tour. We tried to stay out to discuss the terroir but along with the rain it was very windy. \240Lea, our guide, was nice but her English was not the best and then we had a Romanian couple join us and he keep asking the same questions in different ways over and over and we had lunch reservations at Le Montrachet. \240The wines were very good and she offered us seconds(!) but we had to get to lunch.

Very nice at Le Montrachet. We had the April menu for 32€. \240Nice little amuse bouch with 4 little bites and then !wonton with mushrooms with mushroom broth. I had the asparagus entree, with candied trout for my main. \240And mango vinegrette for dessert. Super yummy. Kept thinking the bill sounded cheap and after I looked at it later - they didn’t charge us for the wine. Whoopsie! Bonus - so they eased the pain of the wine I bought at Pommard.

After lunch we walked to Meursault and made reservations for a wine tasting tomorrow. Cute village with more to do than Puligny-Montrachet. Only issue was it started pouring rain and super windy. \240We decided we had to call Mike and see if he could possibly bail us out, it was a 2.5 mile walk back. With the stars aligned they were just coming back from Dijon and were 5 minutes away. Merci. Snacks and munchies for dinner. Tim, Renee and I went to Le Montrachet for a glass of wine later in the evening and then off to bed. \240

So a day late once again, but since it was our last night in Burgundy - it was hard to find time to write.

We started off after breakfast and decided to do another walk. \240This time to Chassagne-Montrachet. It was about 3.4 miles. Of course, as it has been on the whole time in Burgundy, if we start walking it starts raining. It rained off and on but it was. A nice easy walk to another cute little village. Spent a little time wandering the streets. Lots of cyclists out and some other walkers.

After the walk, it is of course, time for lunch. So a quick pit stop at house and we load in to Mike’s car and it is off to Meursault. Park in the square and off to find a place for lunch. Wound up back by the church at Les Arts. They put us in a back room. Nice menu. I just had beef borgounge. It took quite a while to get our plats - all the guys had entrees so they were fine but I was pretty hungry by the time I got my food. The beef was round and it was really good, but I was expecting lots of mushrooms and onions with it but it came with noodles. We had to rush out to make our 2 o’clock appointment at Chateau de Meresault. But we got there in plenty of time. Had to wait for them to reopen at 2. Great tour. Our tour guide Alex was great, spoke very good English and was not interrupted by the same questions over a and over like the day before. Still couldn’t go in to the Chateau - it hasn’t been occupied in decades and they are first restoring it. Fabulous wines in the wine tasting. \240Bought 1 to have with our last nights dinner and 2 to bring to Paris.

Back to the house and our last dinner together. Suzie, Tim and Mike tried to use up all th leftovers and they did a great job. We did have fabulous asparagus and artichokes they had gotten the day before at a market but also some pasta with leftover tomatoes, etc. Very nice evening with some great wines and good company.

On our way back to Paris!

Did pretty well on the drive till we got back in the city and we had to backtrack several times. Also drove through the Europcar garage as we couldn’t see the signs for Enterprise. But all in all - just a few tense moments. We were both starving by the time we made it to the hotel. We were hoping to go to Les Cafe des Chats, but they were closed so we wound up at the Cafe Industrie which was packed for lunch and still good and reasonable. Came back to the room after and unpacked before heading out for a walk. Disappointed as we didn’t make reservations for the walk through Van Gogh exhibit and it is sold out till Friday but today was just a stroll past the Notre Dame, past our old haunts till we passed enough time to go to L’Huitre Regis for 2 dozen oysters and some goat cheese. \240Cool little spot - only 8 tables.

Hanging out in the room. Didn’t sleep well last night so definitely need some sleep.

Another rich full day. Breakfast then off to get 3 day Metro passes. Easy and quick. \240Went out to the Montparnasse area to get tickets for the catacombs. \240After being in line for 30 minutes, we decided to skip it and check out the cemetery. \240Not as good as Pere Lachaise or the one we went to outside London but we were looking to kill time till lunch.

My, my, my. Only walked 7 1/2 miles today. Slowed down for our anniversary! 21 years. Mayday! Mayday! A true May Day in Paris with protests and riots that we managed to miss although we saw a lot of police presence - flanks of motorcycles and row after row of police vans. \240Linds had already looked up planned Metro closures and mapped out keeping us away from the action. We went to Montmartre to Sacre Coer. Didn’t go in. It was packed and we had been on our first visit so we just wandered around. Went into the Dali museum/gallery and then walked to the area with the last vineyard in Paris and where we went to for the wine festival when we came that first time together.

Then it was off to Montparnasse where I guess a lot of the craziness went on, but not where we were. Lindsay told me to look less like a capitalist.

Hard to do that when you are going to a fabulous lunch. Some of the most amazing food I have had in some time. Every course was beautiful and had so many layers of flavor. I was so excited when I had the steak tartare I forgot to take a photo.

Typing a placeholder to edit on the plane tomorrow. Too tired to write tonight plus I think screen time might keep me awake.

Well, of course we wound up with a messed up flight again due to our first plane being several hours late. We ended up on BA again with a short jaunt to London and then the nonstop back to San Diego. No complaints there but you end up off on your day since once again, it is not going according to plan. The good news was all those flights were on time and Heathrow BA lounges are very nice and like a home base for us.

Our last day in Paris was just another day of wandering which was fine. It was rainy off and on again. \240We started off in the morning at the market that is every Thursday and Saturday in the park that runs along Richard Lenoir. I didn’t get great pictures but it was an all inclusive market - not just food like most we had been to before. Laughing that you could just decide to rent a place and buy everything to move right in.

And we’re off. First leg of our journey - San Diego to Phoenix. \240Excited to finally be going to Iceland. Should be a fun trip. 7 of us - Linds, Matthew, Christine, Drew, Debbie and Luc. Obviously much more to follow!

Here in Jersey for the last 2 days. Leaving this evening for our adventure. The Forray family should have gotten there this morning. A few photos from the last few days - including a beardless Matthew. Christine had never seen him without a beard before.

Here we are in Reykjavik! No problems with Uber or flight. Working on trying to stay awake to get in the proper sleep pattern. Surprised Drew in the breakfast room and we all barged in on the Hotel breakfast. \240Then we headed out for a walk with Drew in tow. Debbie and Luc had to get ready to as they were going riding on Icelandic horses. \240We covered quite a bit of downtown. It is isn’t that big. There are only 220,000 people in the city. But then Christine noticed my ankle was swollen so now I am resting with my foot up, ice pack and trying not to fall asleep! But here are some photos from our morning walk.

What a fabulous day! Seems like we have been here for weeks already we saw so much. The guys went and got our rental cars this morning. Was hoping they would be there at 8:30 but they didn’t show til 9 so it was after when we got on the road. Got to Thingvellir fairly easily. Stunning place. We hiked to waterfalls, saw salmon, an old church - just breathtaking scenery. Then we had to leave for lunch as we had reservations at 1:30. \240That was when the fun the fun started happening. \240The GPS kept routing us to this closed road. \240It got to be very confusing - we became afraid to trust anything but the map as the smaller roads might be closed. \240We had to call to change our reservation to 2:30 and fix all the various GPS devices. \240The road we finally did take the 355 had almost everything we saw in the previsit driving video with Elfish - changing road terrain, one lane bridges and blind corners. \240We finally made it to Fridheimar Farms and it was amazing. Lunch in the giant tomato greenhouse where they grow all the tomatoes for Iceland -370 tons. Our waitress who was French gave us the whole spiel and it was so funny when she was explaining that they used geothermal energy for the greenhouse because if they didn’t it would cost a shit ton of money. Drew called her on it and we teased her about it a little bit but it was pretty funny. She said she learned to speak English in Australia and they used the word a lot. The restaurant and food was amazing. I just had the tomato soup with bread and a tomato beer that was quite good. \240We also passed around a tomato cheesecake that was pretty wonderful too, I think it was a good stop and something a little bit different.

From there we backtracked to Geysir and Gullfoss. \240Did Gullfoss first. \240A pretty amazing waterfall. We spent about an hour there and then headed off to Geysir. \240Just an easy off road stop. \240The Geysir was pretty amazing. It only took between 3-5 minutes before it would erupt. \240So we stayed there for at least 7-8. Every so often there would be one that was just a little one and everyone would laugh but we saw several that must have gone 40-50 feet.

Lots of rain in to Selfoss and only had a little glitch right near the hotel. Our room is lovely with a view of the river, a bridge and a church. Had some drinks and a little dinner and then a planning session for tomorrow in our room.

So somehow I still managed to get behind. Maybe because the days are so busy....today was our first slow day. Driving in rain and fog. So not many pictures and glad to be at our hotel for 2 nights.

So the 24th started off at The Lava Centre. \240Nice exhibit video of past volcanos and then an interactive exhibit about types of volcanos. Expensive gift shop where Luc wanted a $1200 coat and we bought a $14 magnet!

Then it was off to Seljasfoss. \240A beautiful waterfall that you can walk behind. \240I decided to skip that part and made it as far as the side. There was another hidden waterfall that everyone walked to but I walked 2/3 of the way and passed several unhidden ones. \240Turns out “the Mountain” was there filming a commercial or at least doing photos for an energy drink he is promoting. So I missed that part. Next stop Reynisfjara and the black sand beaches. Beautiful cliffs and caves with basalt columns like Devils Postpile. \240The waves are scary and it is posted all over to stay away from the water as there are lots of rogue waves. \240Walking around one of the bends - lo and behold, it’s “the Mountain” filming at another location. \240So I got to see him after all.

We spent the night at Magma Hotel. An upgrade from our original hotel. It was a great place. All separate little bungalows with a wall of windows and glass doors facing a lake of glacial water that comes from a stream that runs under the lava field. \240Only problem was we brought food and they didn’t like that. \240They did have a restaurant but I don’t even know if it would hold all the people that were staying there. We had stopped at grocery stores 2 days and bought things for lunches and dinner that night. It is amazingly expensive for food. I think we might spend as much for food as we did for the tour. \240Anyway, I think we cleaned it all up pretty well.

The next morning after a lovely breakfast at the hotel we we went to Bieber Canyon....the canyon where Justin Bieber filmed a video and was then so overrun with tourists that they had to shut it down. \240Trampling all over ancient moss to get a selfie. \240Looked pretty good now and it was incredibly beautiful. I think the dragons flew the canyon in a GoT episode also.

From there it was off to Svartifoss. We all split up and Linds, Luc and I did the waterfall hike and everyone else went toward the glacier. I came back down but Linds and Luc did an extended hike toward the glacier. Lunch was in the parking lot before another hour long ride to Diamond Beach. \240Did I mention it was raining off and on all day (and every day we have been here)? We had somewhat dried off from the Biebs hike, it had been pretty nice at the waterfall but it dumped again at the Beach and we had to put on wet flotation suits over our already wet clothes and coats, etc. Our Zodiac driver Attly was nice. And we saw some incredible icebergs. See the photos. We had dinner at a fabulous restaurant in Höfn that specialized in langoustine.

We spent the night at a nice basic guesthouse and were up and running this morning as it was a long driving day and as we drove through the rain and fog we realized we should just not try to stop as we had originally planned as it was just too far to go. We’ve given up seeing Dettifoss as it just takes us too far out of our way.

Yikes what a crazy busy day. Starting with cow side breakfast then venturing up to Krafla where it was so foggy we just had to skip it. \240We wound up heading to our second choice which was Dimmorgbur.

Yesterday was a crazy driving day. \240We stopped at one place to see the Eggs of Merry Bay, which with the cold and rain were maybe not worth a photo stop. Drew and Deb went on the route the tour company told us not to take so everyone was on their own for the day and we agreed to just meet at our next stop. \240We did have a great lunch at the place we stopped for lunch.

So today as stated ended up being at Dimmulborgir after a grocery stop for lunch supplies. This area and the second stop where we had lunch were Wildling Army Camp scenes in GoT. \240Then we went to Hverfjall. Steep climb up the hill and super windy and cold. I opted not to hike whole crater rim but ended up barely being back before the rest of the crew was. After that, we definitely needed a break. Which was convenient as we had tickets for Myvatn Nature Baths. Lindsay opted out but the rest of us enjoyed it. Sure wish we had more time to try out more of the geothermal spas. It was very soothing and relaxing. One of the couples we met was from Carlsbad.

After the spa, we walked from the farm to Daddi’s for pizza. Not a bad place and definitely cheaper than the farm restaurant.

Just falling further behind....

Another day with lots of driving - the 28th. Our first stop though was Godafoss. Gee, another spectacular waterfall. It is considered the most beautiful in Iceland. \240Who decides these things? \240From there we went to Siglufjordhur. Supposed to be a great lunch stop. \240Nothing was open. \240No signs. Just not open. We went to the bakery and they suggested the places we had already been to. So we just ate at the bakery and it was really good. \240Not fish and chips but good none the less. One of the clerks was Irish and she was telling us as that as expensive as Iceland is at least she could afford to buy a flat which she would never be able to afford in Dublin. \240Interesting.

After lunch we ended up deciding once again to just head to our next stop. \240Everything seems to be 90 minutes to 2 hours away. \240Plus we wanted to scope out our next location as we had clear skies and the solar activity level for the area was supposed to be level 5. \240(But we don’t talk about level 5). \240When we got to Hoffstadir Guesthouse no one was around so we had to call for someone to meet us and give us keys. \240As we were checking in, the guy told us that they were doing a round up of Icelandic horses in Holar. Like the sheep, the horses free roam all summer and throughout the fall different areas hold round ups so there is one every weekend. \240He said it would be over by 5 o’clock so Linds stayed and I decided to stay with him - \240thinking of all the distances when we have gone someplace, figuring we would get there and it would be over. \240Lindsay and I went for a walk to the church that was over the road past a large field. \240Turns out it was closer than what I realized - wasn’t reading the map well and Drew, Deb, Matthew and Christine caught the drunken (as promised) end to the round up and got some incredible photos.

This guesthouse appeared to be brand new - at least ours were. I think they had older ones but we were in the ones that were similar to Magma Hotel but not quite as nice. I don’t think they were really quite done as they had cables hanging for potential tv’s, some rooms had some storage and tea kettles, etc., some didn’t I do like that style of room though. \240The views are so nice with floor to ceiling windows.

We made dinner reservations for the hotel after we arrived since we certainly didn’t have many other options. \240We were in the middle of no where! But the restaurant was \240supposed to be quite good and the menu was definitely interesting. We had a great evening! Befriended the waitress, Marianna - a Portuguese playwright. She was quite the kick. Fortunately, the restaurant wasn’t super busy (off season plus the roundup?) as she spent most of the night talking to us. \240The food was excellent, decent wine and the excitement of hopefully seeing the Northern Lights had us in great moods. BTW the head chef/owner of the guesthouse was apparently at the roundup. \240He and a friend came in in all their gear and took a lot of wine for their enjoyment.

And ta-da - finally we had Northern Lights. So amazing! The photos actually bring out more of the colors than what the naked eye can see, but it is amazing to see all the swirling lights. Once over head we had white tinged with red in a swirling double helix. All of the trip was deemed a success at that point.

I am getting further and further behind. \240Just need to sit down with my photos and our Nordic Visitor guide when I get home. No sense stressing over it.

Exactly. So let’s start with the 29th and the long bumpy road to Snuffalufagus (Snaerellsnes) peninsula. How bout another waterfall and a nice lunch by the water like we were trying to have the day before. \240We could see whales spouting from the restaurant and the food was good. Yes, fish and chips! Then it was a crazy drive on what is a main road but it is gravel and dirt and holes and one lane bridges and blind corners, blind hills....Since all the roads are bad we decide to go to the shark museum to see where they make fermented shark. \240Basically the story is that you don’t want to know about this. \240It is a fish that they desperately had to come up with a way to make the meat less disgusting and poisonous. They used to bury it for 6 months. Matthew’s comment was that he now knows what a urinal cake tastes like. Yum, right?

After that we cut across the peninsula to get to our next stop - Arnarstapi. Great place to just get out and walk. Lots of basalt cliffs, great views and another great Icelandic guest house room. Dinner was at a little spot near the hotel where we got ready for another night of Aurora activity.

Guess I should start with our morning hike before leaving the peninsula and the crazy windy volcano that we managed to hike the rim. \240For our last dinner with the Forray’s we went for Icelandic hotdogs. \240Hotdogs made with lamb and beef. \240The evening ended in our room trying to consume the last of the alcohol - which we really worked hard to accomplish.

Who would ever guess as we were enjoying our time in Iceland September 2019, how fucked the world would be in a few months. So almost 3 years later, here we are finally back out in the world. Covid, a move to Reno and 2 new hips later - finally slowly getting back to travel. Trip to the Oregon coast and Portland with Tim and Renee. Staying in a condo overlooking the ocean. Supposed to rain most of the time but who cares?! Happy to see new things once again.

Thought I wrote something yesterday but I guess I forgot to save it. \240Thanks to COVID, there has been a long dry spell of travel. \240Who would have guessed that almost 3 years would pass before life would get back to semi-normal? We’ve moved to Nevada, I’ve had both hip replaced. \240There’s been a lot of boring days, lots of time to watch large amounts of TV, etc.,but hopefully things are getting better. \240We are in Lincoln City Oregon with Renee and Tim. Looks to be a rainy week but hopefully we can salvage something out of it. \240Just nice to see new scenery. \240

Lazing around this evening. It was a very cold and rainy day. \240Went to Newport for lunch at Local Ocean. \240Really great food. \240I had manchengo halibut. Walked a little bit on the boardwalk but too windy, so we went to even windier places like Yaquina Head Lighthouse and Devil’s Punchbowl. \240Finally supposed to get nice weather tomorrow!

Here we are at the Reno airport waiting for our day of travel. Lots of travel ahead. We actually just got back from San Diego on the 11th. Weather was scourching there but made it to 2 Aztec and Caver games. First games both sucked and second - we are victorious! Cancelled several meetings with friends due to weather but saw most people we were trying to see. Worried about sister Gloria but just have to hope for the best.

But here we are waiting to begin our adventure. Covid sure put a damper or rather complete halt to travel. Lots to squeeze in now. - more later.

It is almost 9 pm. Spent the day in planes and Phoenix to finally make it to LAX. Our flight to Fiji leaves at midnight. Long day. At least we are finally in a lounge and enjoying wine and okay food and peace and quiet. Somehow, first class domestic travel on American Airlines is not enough to gain access to the lounge in Phoenix.

Hopefully will get some sleep on the plane and arrive in beautiful Fiji early am on the 15th - crossing over the dateline don’t you know.

So no sleep on the plane so I was a bit of a zombie all day. We made it through customs although one thing we brought for the Kessel’s looked like a bomb. They only cared about the dried fruit which we had declared on our forms.

Then it was off to our hotel. Not 1.5 miles away as advertised unless you are a crow. The place is a little shabby- rooms were pretty awful but they have a restaurant and a cute tropical area. Anyway, we get there and no we don’t need to do Covid testing - guess we made a donation to Fiji. Then Lindsay realizes he left his backpack in the cab. Do we remember the cab #? The driver’s name? No and no. \240So Lindsay runs out to the street to see if the guy is still there. No but the hotel driver knows who he is and his cab, so he takes Linds to the airport and lo and behold, the guy is just picking up a fare and the backpack is still there. Crisis averted.

The rest of the day is spent lounging watching sports. Short walks on the beach and trying to catch up on sleep.

Next morning bright and early on the 30 minute flight to Suva to meet up with the Nogal crew. A little panicked on the way to the Yacht Club as our messages that we are on our way won’t go through. And it turns out to be a longer drive than our flight there. When we finally pull up Shauna has called Lindsay and they had already brought the dingy over. Shauna and Rob are actually leaving the boat and heading back to Nadi. We load up all gear and head to the boat. So we meet Kira’s friends Maude and Gigi. And get under way after a brief interlude. We set out for Maluma Bay. We are the only sailboat in the area, but there are small skiffs and a village. Also an abandoned resort. After we anchor we go check out the resort. Sort of creepy. Not sure if some of the villagers live in the abandoned buildings, but some of the vegetation looks groomed. Others are kind of wild. There are still items in the gift shop, the days activities on a chalkboard, beautiful tables and chairs, some art work on the walls. It so peaceful here except for the sound of thousand of birds in the distance. Oops, later that evening we find out it is thousands of bats. Everyone pitches in and we have a lovely dinner. Grilled steak, chicken fried rice and salad. It was a beautiful evening. Woke up this morning to a light rain and a beautiful rainbow.

Found out from the villagers - Lalatiki is the name of the resort. It was closed due to Covid. They also said that it was owned by Americans. Obviously a huge loss for their village as the women have no place to sell their crafts and the resort positions are gone.

Yep. 4:48 am. On watch for anchor slippage. But more on that later.

Yesterday morning we went back to the village by the abandoned resort for savusavu (?) where we presented the village leader with kava and some things for the children. We did not drink any kava at this ceremony. The women brought out their wares for sale - something I hadn’t thought of but I guess that is their only source of income. All I had was American $ which they were fine with so Kellie bought a traditional fork and I bought a wall hanging for $20.

After we got back we got ready to head to Beqa (pronounced Benga) Resort where Rob, Kira and Gigi wanted to sign up for shark dives and all of us were going to go to a firewalker ceremony. We went over to the resort in the afternoon and planned out lunches and dinners as you have to order things a day in advance as they have to order their groceries every morning. The diving gang got signed up for their dives and we saw a video of the shark dives. We went to the bar after and had some delicious samosas and a few beers. Lindsay had a foufou drink along with some beers. They even let us use their pool. Everyone here in Fiji is very friendly. They always tell you their name and ask you yours and they remember it. After our swim, we had Kira bring us to the boat while the girls spent the rest of the afternoon on the shore. As we saw dark clouds in the distance from 2 different sides of the boat Rob and Kellie started checking wind websites and found that the weather is supposed to be turning till Wednesday. So they had to research a new option for us to anchor from the storm. One option was to go back to the sheltered cove we were in last night or this Pearl Resort that has a sheltered anchorage but we can only make the passage at 2 pm. Kellie spent a long time on the phone with them and it seems like it will work. Bonus is that there are things to do there (once I get some sleep!). Now we just hope the resort here will be okay with us canceling our meals and dives.

Last night, Kira, Maude and Gigi made us dinner with lemon caper chicken, roasted garlic and a salad. We played a card game after that.

I am sure today will be bring new adventures and the good news is that our radius distance hasn’t changed to a crisis level and the wind gusts are below 20 knots although as I was typing we just got up to 19.

Been at the dock at the Pearl Resort in Pacific Harbor for 2 nights now and probably here for 2 more. In a channel of a river and nice and calm with the wind howling around us. Our first afternoon here we walked to this artist village which was basically a bust. Another place shutdown due to Covid for the most part. Had lunch and dinner at the Resort which was nice.

Haven’t been swimming yet as the wind is always howling. Well, I did take a dip in the water trying to get off the boat at the dock. How embarrassing! This Kiwi dude came over to help and wanted to pull me out but he wasn’t a young guy and I was afraid I’d pull him in as I had nothing to hang on to. Linds got Kira to put out the swim steps and I got back on the boat. The dock crew came over and repositioned the boat so it was further up the dock and you can move the fender to bring it in. What a klutz!

Moses the dock master has gotten us fresh water, ice, had our trash taken away and had a guy come and take us out yesterday to a waterfall, home store, vodaphone kiosk and the market. We stocked up on booze and groceries but the meat didn’t look that great. Kira and the girls went to a nicer waterfall and went rafting over rapids. But walking through the farm to get to this waterfall was interesting.

Last night we went to dinner at the Establishment just outside the resort property. It was okay but it was nice to have a dinner with the girls. They are all very bright and have amazing futures ahead of them I’m sure. This morning Rob, Kira and Gigi are off on a shark dive.

Hope it’s not so windy as I’d really like to get a swim in.

Under sail. Amazing photos and videos of Rob, Kira and Gigi’s shark dive. Gigi was absolutely giddy all day. Linds and I did a beach walk - about 1.5 miles to a rock outcropping after we helped Kellie clean the boat. Went to dinner at the Pearl and just had some appetizers as we had large lunches at the Skinny Bean. (Very good). The kokoda at the Pearl was really good last night.

It has pretty much rained every day and last night was no exception. In fact? It sounded like someone kept dumping tubs of water on our hatch. Another very little sleep night.

In the morning Linds and I did another walk starting out in the rain. Figured it was wise as we were going to be sailing all evening and into tomorrow morning. It was slightly less windy and when we got to the rock outcropping we found little sand dollars. It was hard to find 4 that were in good shape but we did. The girls were happy we thought of them and added them to their collections.

We did another run to Skinny Bean for lunch before coming back and prepping the boat. We filled up the water tank, bottles of drinking water and making sure things were ready for departure. Moses came to help us and made the whole thing fairly easy for Kellie, but it was pretty tense. Kellie is pretty amazing to say the least. I on the other hand am a klutz. I did terrible on my turn at the helm and was pretty stressed. There was no air and I was sweating like a pig. Then Lindsay noticed the green ship triangle on the charts and it was all hands alert and we went to autopilot to get past the vessel and look out for the lights of the ship. The seas were pretty choppy so I felt a little nauseous even though I only had pasta and was happy to finally make it to bed and get some sleep. Been having weird dreams when I’ve slept - all about Lindsay leaving me.

This morning Lindsay was on watch and of course crushed it. Denarau is our next stop to have some repairs completed. Passed a big tanker that was carrying hazardous materials.

Adventures continue.

Still at Denatau. We were docked the first night next to mega yachts. I was saying when we were in Burgundy we hiked amoung millions of dollars of grapes, now we’re between hundreds of millions dollars of boats. There is one that is the Big Fish that is just monsterous and it is so ugly. It looks like an office building or maybe just like it was made out of grey legos.

I have been feeling the beat since we got here. It has been so hot and lack of sleep and all the tension of docking etc.

Still in Denarau waiting for the motor for the anchor. Supposed to be fixed and they are coming to install this morning. Then we can take off so hope they are quick. Yesterday we went to Cardo’s for breakfast. I had a “famous bacon and egg roll” with a hot sauce made with “famous”Fijian bongo chiles. The diver came and installed new parts under the boat. Kellie and I booked manicure appointments and the guys decided to hang in case the part was ready. There was a guy and his wife getting pedicures and they were using a tool that looked like my Microplane cheese grater - not once, but twice. It was so gross. Came back to the boat though with the good news that the part was fixed. We went back ashore so we could shower and then stopped by the Cantina for some beers. Turns out it was the Australian Football League championship. The place filled up with Aussies and they even had a projector along with all the tv’s. It was fun being there with them except most of not all we’re rooting for Sydney and Geelong was crushing them. \240Started to sprinkle so we pretty much left after the first quarter. Went to the Kwikimart to get some more supplies. The girls were going to make risotto but didn’t really know how to make it so Lindsay and I took that over and I think they were okay with it. Considering we were making risotto for 7, it came out great. Even Rob who said he didn’t like risotto ate several helpings. Nice dinner with lots of reminiscing of Kira and the boys when they were young.

Not sure where we are headed today,?will depend on how long it takes them to install the anchor motor. More later. Calm waters this morning.

Changed plans again and heading towards a different island than we had talked about earlier. Hope there is a place to snorkel without too much difficulty.

Time to stop reading sad books - cried most of the way here. The Invisible Thread - need to remember to add it to my Goodreads.

A side note. I am such a klutz but Lindsay is killing it. I hope he does a passage with Rob some time. He picks up everything so easily. So smart - makes me wonder why he loves me but I know he does.

Rob looked up the the Geelong v Sydney score something like 112 to 58.

Sitting between two islands. Made it here yesterday afternoon. Beautiful spot. Greeted by black tipped reef sharks. 3 other boats anchored here. Went ashore with a bottle of wine. There was a crew member from another of the boats on shore. The girls ended up staying and partying with him a bit. We walked a little on the sand then sat on the isthmus to take in the view. Only the dingy was being flooded when we realized that we had to grab everything and run to try to get the dingy out of the water and bale the water out. We were covered in rough sand and Maude had to give my leg a shove to get me over the side of the dingy. We came back, rinsed off and had munchies while enjoying the view. Girls came back and made dinner - a shrimp teriyaki with rice and a wild spinach salad. Lindsay and my contribution was to peel all the shrimp. Good dinner and conversation. Watched fish swimming around under the boat lights and looked up at all the stars. You could see Jupiter, the Milky Way and so many constellations I am not familiar with. This morning is beautiful and we can see all these colors on this rocky hillside that we couldn’t see yesterday.

Sitting on the stern and we can hear the goats on the island.

Later - I was sitting on the steps, legs in the water looking at fish. Got my clothes all wet to cool off. Very hot today. Not feeling like going ashore as it was brutal being dragged back in the boat yesterday. I am not strong enough to pull myself over the sides of the dingy. Anyway, finally get up to head on in and I see this big boat coming at us. A little disconcerting to say the least. Turns out it is this big ship - the Fiji princess and we are hoping they only stop here for the day. They sent out dingies to take chairs to put in the shade and they are dropping people off in 2 different spots. Our population of 25 just went to 125 at least and growing. Now there is a large private yacht that just pulled up also. So much for own private Idaho.

So another lazy day yesterday. Read another book that I finished this morning - “In a Dark, Dark Wood”. We had an incredible sunset that kept changing- \240must have taken a dozen photos. This morning we are heading to Manta Ray Bay. Hope to go snorkeling with the mantas.

So that didn’t happen. We made it to Manta Bay but more anchoring issues. Kellie, Lindsay and the girls went to the spot where the Mantas are supposed to come through but the tide wasn’t high enough. They did snorkel and see lots of fish. Rob stayed back to watch the anchor and I stayed back because unless they are able to beach the dingy my hip doesn’t want to go above 90 degrees. Lindsay said even he thought it was difficult when they came back. I finally got in the water and we decided we would snorkel this morning when Lindsay wasn’t so tired and hopefully the current was a little less. We had heard there was a pizza oven at the resort. \240Kira called - pizza from 4-6 for Happy Hour, dinner from 6-8:30. Since not all of us can fit in the dinghy, we decided the girls could go enjoy Happy hour and we would stay on the boat for sundowner and to watch the anchor. The girls brought back pizza. It was okay. They just don’t seem to get it right in Fiji although most places make it. The girls were super giggly- lots of happy in their hour? \240And decided to make cookies about the same time we were ready for bed.

Thought I heard people up during the night and I did. No snorkeling and no diving. The anchor slipped several times during the night. So we need to head out and head to Waya to find a more protected anchorage. Guess we will see what today brings.

So I am hanging on the boat with the girls. Rob, Kellie and Lindsay went ashore to do savu-savu and hike to the waterfall and potentially Octopus Resort. Just concerned about getting back on the boat and potentially how hot it gets during the hike. Not exactly what I was hoping for during this trip but I really don’t want to be a problem and fainting would be a problem. I’m sure Rob and Kellie will be glad to see me go. Oh, well. It was nice to shower and finally wash my hair. I gave the shampoo to Lindsay every time we used the showers at Denarau. The second time I did find a bar of soap so I did sort of use that. Anyway reading and enjoying the view and drinking lots of water.

There are 2 large teeth/tusks sticking out of the hilltop. Looks like some place that could have religious ceremonies centered at it. Also a good dragon landing spot. Very peaceful here.

Still in the cove at Waya. Lazy days that run in to each other. Hung on the boat yesterday. Which was fine. My hip is still a little sore but this morning we took the dingy over to the island where the waterfall is supposed to be but it is all dried out or stagnant water. I did find an assortment of shells that were pretty good. Linds and I are probably hanging back while everyone goes to lunch ashore. There are plenty of leftovers as the girls cooked another great meal last night. Lemon basil chicken, couscous, roasted sweet potatoes, hummus and spinach salad. We played a weird card game called Presidents that Gigi was trying to teach us. I served 4 terms then called it quits. Just finished 2 games of cribbage reteaching Rob and Kellie how to play. Rob and Lindsay won both times. Boo. Long sail to Musket Cove tomorrow then we are off the boat on Saturday- heading home on Sunday.

Rough night last night. It was calm til all of a sudden it wasn’t. \240By the time the evening was over,I had puked 2x. We watched “Blue Lagoon” on the stern and that certainly didn’t help. Watching pitching seas while on the pitching seas was not a good option. I had first anchor watch and it was a struggle. I probably should have gone to bed and rested for a bit. The anchor took a dip on a different line on the chart and I was a little concerned but it wasn’t lower than the scribbles to left so I told Gigi to watch that when she came up for watch. Felt like I didn’t sleep at all but I thought that Rob and Gigi moved the boat so I guess I slept for a little while. Took a Bonine this morning - going to be a choppy all day sail. Then we have to get busy packing and get our berth ready for the next guests. Haven’t been able to reserve the ferry back to Nadi so hopefully that isn’t an issue. We fortunately have an extra day to work it out which Maude does not. She is on the flight we originally had back to LAX.

So sitting in Musket Cove Resort lobby with hours to kill waiting for our ferry to take us back to Port Denarau and then bus to the airport. Probably the nicest place we’ve been and haven’t been able to experience it much. We got in on the afternoon on the 30th. Ended up on a mooring ball as Kellie didn’t want to attempt docking in the right cove. Probably should have as it was the the calmest water out of the days we’ve been here. So the mooring ball has us too far out from the beach to access the snorkeling sites which are pretty much off shore. The girls go out then come pick us up and drop us off at the dock. Island Bar right there - bottles of wine, beers and salty characters. The guy next to Rob was from Chula Vista and sailing by himself. Definitely thought he was going to say he was from OB. Then another guy comes over - Kiwi who drank beer after beer. Collin , I think. We managed to go through 4 bottles of wine there then eventually made it to the Trader Cafe and got some dinner. Very casual, nothing like Sails - sort of an eclectic menu. I had a quinoa bowl with mahi-mahi. Back to the bar for Rob and we find out the girls had been out searching for one of the paddle boards that they had left at the beach and it floated away. Actually found it on another boat at the dingy dock. So then they had to take it to the boat and in the dark in choppy water. Kira came back to get us and all was well.

Next morning everyone was up to change bedding,clean,pack and/or change berths. Kellie is very specific about how she wants the boat to look when guests arrive. Then we had to move the boat to he dock. Another hairy proposition that they hadn’t done before. After a tense half hour or so, we were docked with the island bar right behind the boat. Celebrated with breakfast at the cafe. Lindsay and I finally made the decision we were going to eat the cost of the place in Nadi and see if we could get at room at the resort and then take the ferry and straight to the airport. It was a great plan and still don’t regret it, but expected to get in our room by 1 and spend some time in the ocean and pool. But, Fiji time….we got n to our room at 3:30. So short pool swim and then hot showers - except no hot water. Linds ran to tell the front desk and then to the boat to tell Kellie, no hot water but the blow dryer did work. While we were waiting for Kellie do her hair, Linds and I were sitting outside and started seeing these little frogs hoping all over the grass. \240Went to dinner at Dicks, very close to our bungalow. It is a buffet style dinner lace, not usually a fan but they were roasting suckling pig in a pit with hard wood. Super yummy. Plus there was bonus entertainment.

It was nice getting together with the new guys on the boat - Marco, Mike and Grace plus Kira’s friend Joey.

Sleep was somewhat illusive. Lots of crazy loud birds and an upset stomach. Went to the buffet breakfast at Dick’s. Pretty good. Then went for a walk. Checked out - btw, our meals were included in our room rate. Just hanging waiting for our ferry. It is going to be ridiculous day. Be ready and wait, ready and wait. More from our airport wait.

On the ferry. Long lazy day. It is going to be so much longer. Anxious to get home now that we are on our way.

In Dallas waiting for our next flight. Been a wreck all week driving Lindsay crazy thinking once again this trip wasn’t going to happen..but here we are. \240Spent the night at the Atlantis so we were close to the airport and avoided getting down the hill from our house. \240Hope to have lots of photos and stories to share.

On our way to Punta Arenas. \240Been a few crazy days, but excited for the real adventure to begin. \240Would have liked to spend more time in Santiago but we did have a nice tour of the city. The Mandarin Orientel was a nice hotel but they seemed very disorganized for a hotel that appears to host various cruise tour groups on a regular basis. Service was slow and most workers were not bilingual. It actually didn’t occur to me to try to brush up on my Spanish as everywhere we travel they seem to immediately know we are American and speak English. \240Not sure if it is COVID related that it is a lot of new staff or what. \240I did lose it yesterday at lunch when we waited 45 minutes for a Caesar salad which we ordered specifically as it would be quick. \240We did get a bottle of wine out of the deal although that was another delay as the elevators were a little wonky. They seemed to only want to go up!

We did manage to make both tours yesterday. First was the artisan market. \240I bought some earrings and copper bracelets. Only small things as our suitcases are jam packed for the cruise. \240Winter things are not small.

We also did a city tour that made us wish we had had a little more time in Santiago. Looked like some nice restaurants and shops and it would have been fun to go to the wine region. We mostly walked around looking at the architecture and went to a small pre Colombian exhibition at the museum. Pretty interesting even though there was basically one room.

In the evening there was a reception to meet some of the staff and go over today’s itinerary. We met a few fellow travelers but not many - lots of people meet on the charter flight so they were chatting. Plenty of time to meet them over the next few weeks.

5 a.m. wake up call - yikes! But we had coffee and to go bags for breakfast. Supposed to be a 3 hour flight to Punta Arenas and then a bus tour til time to board the ship. \240Much more to follow I am sure!

City tour was exhausting yesterday. Although it was interesting, everyone was tired from the 5 am wake up. I felt sorry for our tour guide as people seldom had any questions and would wonder back to get on the boat. We went to see replicas of one of Shackleton’s boats and Darwin’s the Beagle. \240Went to a cool cemetery but it started raining so that cut our visit short and we didn’t spend nearly enough time there. That would have been the best place to kill some time. \240Oh, yeah - did I mention the wind? Another reason why everyone would retreat to the bus. \240They used to have ropes along the streets so you could grab on to continue down the street. \240Now they have metal railings. We also stopped at view points, the town center, etc. \240but everyone just wanted to get to the boat which wasn’t ready for boarding til 4. \240But, we were finally able to board and it is a beauty. \240Everything is so modern. \240A little disappointed with the size of our room. The one we had on the Explorer was larger and it might have been second tier. On here we were upgraded to a 3rd tier with a balcony. \240A minor complaint - the ship itself is pretty awesome. We had to do our safety drill shortly after arrival, then it was the introduction of staff, features, options, etc. \240Then dinner - some lovely salmon which I think I will be eating a lot of.

We signed up for our expedition groups and Lindsay chose Petral, which happened to be first to go out this morning. \240And we are signed up for the igloos which may or may not happen.

I must add this ship just cuts through the water - it is so smooth and quiet. \240I think I slept better last night than I have in months. \240Visited the bridge after breakfast. Space age stuff.

Today we went to Jackson Bay in Karukinka. Fairly far in the zodiacs, but dozens of elephant seals and a hike to a beautiful waterfall. Navigating through the driftwood was a little problematic, definitely mucky and when we got to the falls there was lots of scree. \240I should have not tried hiking up that. \240Had to kind of scoot down to a safer spot to stand. We were there for almost 3 hours. \240Came back to the ship and had a nice light lunch. We are now heading to Bahia Ainsworth where we hope to do a forest hike. Obviously much more to follow.

Afternoon was much easier. Shorter and less choppy zodiac ride to the shore. \240We could see Ainsworth glacier in the background. \240Landed at a beach that was covered with mossy pink plants. \240It looked red from our deck. Saw several birds. \240Our tour guide Jesse would play bird songs on his phone to try and bring birds close to us. \240The main gist of the hike though was to see beaver dams. \240Big ones. They are not native to the area. They were brought here to become a new industry. We saw a goose on her nest, a dead elephant seal, several types of birds and plants. \240After an easy ride back to the boat, I rushed through a shower and we made it up to the captain’s reception. Same guy and 2nd officer from the Orion.

Dinner was lamb loin for me and red snapper for Lindsay. \240Sat with a couple from Portland. \240Not anyone we would become friends with but they were nice enough. After dinner we went up to the ice lounge for an after dinner glass of port. Saw that the heaters were on outside so decided to check it out. \240Then we met some interesting people - Tobin and Lidia from Tuscon. Dieter and his girlfriend were a little odd. \240

Waiting to head out on the zodiacs to cruise around a fjord. We are in a very picturesque spot that they have never been in before. \240We were up on the bridge and it is always a plus to hear the captain get excited over the beauty of the place. We will just tool aroung in the zodiacs and not head ashore here. \240They are pretty much guaranteing we will get splashed. It is pretty choppy out there. Met Anita and Joan from MN at breakfast this morning.

Of course, I am behind already. \240Seems like it should be so easy but the days are pretty full. \240The zodiac cruise was nice and actually didn’t get splashed at all. \240Will leave the pictures to tell the story. \240The afternoon ended up being presentations.

Yesterday was all day bus ride from Porte Natales to Torres de Paine National Park. \240I went with the non hiking crowd. \240Linds opted for the hike. \240We stopped at many viewpoints for views of the blue towers and Sarmiento Lake which is enormous. One amazing view after the other. \240We stopped at a waterfall before lunch. It was a short but extremely windy walk. \240So Reno…. Beautiful.. no sense describing all these things. See the photos. \240We went to Villa Serrano. Beautiful, beautiful spot. \240Lunch was pretty good. \240Unfortunately I didn’t get a good piece of the bbq lamb. By the time we were leaving Lindsay’s bus showed up. \240Long ride back to the ship. \240Sat with some fun people for dinner including Anne this elderly woman from Australia who is quite the kick. \240She can be hard to understand between her accent and being a soft talker. She circumnavigated Antarctica in the 90’s on an ice breaker with tremendous waves and winds.

Today we went through the White Narrows with a lot more people on the bridge watching. \240Beautiful spot but we had to change our morning excursion as the area we were supposed to have a zodiac ride but they decided it was too choppy so we travelled a little further for basically a beach walk. It was nice though. \240Saw some giant bees, lots of barnacles on limpid shells and some oystercatchers that I actually got a decent photo of.

Had a nice lunch but forgot that the World Cup is on and it is Argentina vs France. \240Since we are in Chile most on the ship is rooting for Argentina. \240They have a French Kir Royal or an Argentinian shandy at the bar.

Hopefully after the end of the game we will be at a spot to hike to the glacier and after dinner we will be staying in the igloo! \240More on that to follow.

On a side note, I am having a contest with our housekeeper as to the location of the stuffed penguin in our room. Many photos of our efforts over the days past and to come.

In the second half and still 2-0 Argentina.

Back from the hike to Bernal Glacier. We watched most of the second half of the match and the 1st extra time. \240Actually a pretty exciting match, but then it was our time to go to the glacier and we couldn’t miss that. \240There is a path that is pretty easy until you are close then it is not steep just lots of big and sometimes slippery rocks to negotiate through. \240Next time I will not listen to Cammy and take my trekking pole. Saw lots of interesting flowers along with the glacier. \240Spent about half an hour there and got on the zodiac with cups of warm spiced cranberry juice with some bourbon. \240Ahh, the Lindblad we know and love. \240Argentina won on penalty kicks per the staff. \240

Hanging out in the room. \240Supposed to meet at 5 for our briefing for the igloo, followed by the recap and dinner. \240

So tired. \240Not much sleep for me in the igloo. \240After dinner, we got some Manhattans from the bar then went to check it all out. \240Although it was very windy, managed to make it in to the jacuzzi and enjoy a beautiful view from the deck. \240Lindsay tried to sit out on the deck in our giant shawls but eventually gave up. The igloo itself wasn’t too cold and the hot water bottles were amazing. \240We had wool blankets also. \240Got another cocktail, then finished up with a bathroom run. \240Beautiful views passing by while we were wrapped up in bed. \240Unfortunately, I am not sure if I ever slept. I finally got up at 2 a.m. and went to the bathroom. While I was in there for 3 minutes either the boat or the weather itself went crazy. \240Hard time walking back to the igloo. \240Not sure I ever slept after that. \240The wind was howling through the air vents and annoyingly Lindsay slept through it all til about 6:30 in the morning. \240We had a wake up ordered for 7 when they brought us coffee and some pastries. Took a quick shower before breakfast then went to a spot were Magellan was supposed to have celebrating claiming the land for Spain. 2 years ago they put up a crucifix to celebrate 500 years since the event. It was slippery and rocky and just couldn’t get too excited about it. \240More worried about being tired and injuring myself doing something stupid. Sitting here trying to stay awake waiting for lunch.

The housekeeper is really upping her game with the penguin.

The afternoon ended up being a zodiac cruise. \240Too choppy for kayaks but it worked out pretty well. We were on with Kevin (the geologist) and Katie (the diver/marine biologist) so we went through kelp forests and I saw a moon jelly. Got some info about the geological aspects of the area and eventually we wound up being focused on birds. \240Saw cormorants, kelp gulls, skua, oystercatchers, terns, albatross and Andean condors. \240The condors were pretty awesome. Found a cliff where one had landed and sat there for a good portion of our trip. It soared over us several times so we really got to see the markings pretty well. It was a great afternoon. \240

Sat at a small table for 2 for dinner. \240We were both too tired for conversation and figured we should dine along. \240Brian and Luanne were at the table next to us so we did converse with them a little bit. \240Lindsay ordered some wines to be put aside for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. \240

When we got back to the room it was unbelievable warm on our balcony. \240Had to take off layers to be able to sit outside. \240The sun pretty intense. \240Tried watching “High Anxiety” but didn’t make it too long. \240

Today we are at Garibaldi glacier. Beautiful site after breakfast. \240The ship pulled fairly close and we got to hear the thundering sounds from deep inside the ice and saw it calve several times. \240They turned the ship around - it is truly amazing how fast this ship can do that - and now we are waiting for our turn to go kayaking.

Somehow I managed to not be totally horrible at kayaking but I am still nor good at it. \240Beautiful little cove we were in with waterfalls and a gorge with a river although we were not allowed to head down there. After lunch it we were on the bridge and the captain, Chilean pilots and expedition leader were discussing afternoon plans that had to be fairly quick as they had to make a stop somewhere for a medical issue. \240I think the Chilean pilots were also getting off as we are on our way to Antarctica. The captain and his crew got certificates for going through the Straits of Magellan. The whole journey down to our afternoon stop had glaciers and waterfalls. \240Very beautiful.

It was zodiacs to the shore, then an option for a long strenuous hike, a medium hike or beachcombing. Lindsay did the long hike that was out of my range. They had quite the climb to get up to the viewing area. I opted for the medium but did just a portion of that as it was pretty warm.

We had the Cook’s Nook dinner last dinner. \240It was pretty awesome. \240I have a copy of the menu and photos so the dishes so hopefully when we get home I can add them. After dinner we went out to the fire pit but the people that were sitting out there were bashing Lindblad for issues before the trip and it was such a downer after a wonderful dinner and conversation, we had to head back in. \240Had a nice conversation with a guy who had been on quite a few trips. \240

Happy 2nd summer solstice!

Well, we are in the Drake Passage and on our way to Antarctica. Slight swells, but not too bad. \240No sea sickness, but a little unsteady. Skipped the morning talks and went to the library. Lindsay wanted a nap so I went to the hot tub and sauna for a little while. No one there. \240A little surprised as this is sort of a free day. This afternoon we have to attend a briefing about Antarctica and then we have to decontaminate our gear that we will use on shore.

Sad to report that I think the penguin game is over but maybe we haven’t had the same housekeeping person. \240They are all small, Phillipino women wearing masks and you get a glimpse of them down the hall and that is about it.

Had a nice but lazy day. Lots of lectures. \240But always time for lunch and dinner. Penguin game might be back on…. Very tired all day so it was kind of tough getting around but people who probably slept all night and they weren’t doing any better. \240Even made it up for most of the 9 o’clock photo critique. \240Looking forward to Antarctica. We did have a beautiful sunset that Lindsay got photos of.

ANTARCTICA!!!!

Finally here. Started seeing bits of land all morning. Had 2 presentations photo related. Made a side trip for whales but mostly just water spouts with an occasional fin. \240Went up to the bridge and found we were delaying entering Deception Island so we wouldn’t disturb lunch. \240The decision was made to stop outside a restricted area with a chinstrap penguin colony to view while we were eating lunch then head in to the caldera for long or medium hikes or a historic tour. \240Turns out that is scratched due to winds and swell but we are going to zodiac around the penguin colony! We are unfortunately in the second group. I can hardly wait. Thousands of penguins all over the hillside, the beach and going up and down the trails. Mountainous trails. Also beautiful waterfalls. \240Maybe we will be lucky and it will stop raining by the time it is our turn on the zodiac. So excited to be Antarctic. 3 years of waiting.

Well, it did stop raining for our trip but still overcast and windy. \240Very hard to take photos. \240Deleted dozens. Never did get the cute chinstrap penguins porpoising in the water. \240But saw hundreds possibly thousands. \240Wasn’t easy to get a view of that either. \240

Early to bed last night. Good thing as we got a call over the intercom at 5 a.m. for a killer whale pod siting. \240I stayed in bed. \240Linds said there were about 20 and when he came down we could see a group of around 4 just off our balcony. \240They never really surfaced so no photos there either.

This morning when we really got up and dressed, you can see that we are definitely in Antarctica. Huge icebergs, small ones with Adélie penguins on ice floes and porpoising. Looking at the hillsides you can see what shrubs all over the hillside, with binoculars, you can see it is actually thousands of penguins. \240We have about an hour to kill before our group goes out. \240BTW we are at Devil Island.

PENGUINS! You couldn’t not see them. We were supposed to stay 15 feet away due to the avian flu, but every time you turned around there was another penguin. They said they thought the colony was anywhere from 50-100 thousand. Fun, fun morning. \240The main issue was icebergs calving. \240There was actually one that flipped over so they had to move the ship. \240It is so nice out that we actually had lunch on the deck.

Now we are on our way to Bald Head. \240Will see what the afternoon there brings.

The afternoon brought a hike on the continent of Antarctica. \240Saw Wedell seals, some mummified seals and \240nice view after an easy hike.

Had a fun evening. Went on the bridge and the Captain was telling us if we didn’t stay up to see the sunrise the whole trip was a waste. \240When we ran in to him again he said to get sleep as we had an exciting adventure in the morning. \240I finally got my chance to ask him if Jimmy White was still with Lindblad and in his way of looking at things, what he remembered was that we went further down a river in French Polynesia than anyone had gone before.

Merry Christmas! What a fun day. \240Definitely a wonderful day sailing through beautiful ice bergs. \240Our journey for today was to go to an ice floe and actually get out on the ice. It was amazing. \240Someone made a banner to hold for photographs so we took a group photo that came out great. Such a great experience. We were the first boat out for the second round and got right on the floe. \240Jackie was our driver and she was amazing. \240We went though dozens of beautiful icebergs. \240It was an amazing morning and the afternoon was more of the same as the ship went through the ice berg field. \240We did get to see some emperor penguins on an ice floe which they didn’t seem to think we would see on this trip. While we were looking at the penguins, I heard a weird call, which turned out to be humpback whales. \240Everyone got really excited about that as we got to see the tails.

The evening ended with a Philapeno buffet with suckling pig. \240Done early so the kitchen, housekeeping and all other mostly Phillapene staff could celebrate. We had nice bottle of Paul Hobbs Pinot set aside. \240Then after dinner it was movie night with a documentary about Shackleton that I had never seen before. \240Got really tired and came back to the room to watch in bed and Lindsay bought me these beautiful humpback earrings. \240I cried as I didn’t get anything for him and thought the trip was enough of a gift. \240

Such an amazing time. \240

Christmas Day!

Got to sleep in, if only I could have slept. Crazy. \240Had a buffet brunch around 10:30 to 12. \240After breakfast did a nice cruise again. \240This time with Sue. \240More beautiful ice bergs and we actually saw krill in the water which I had never seen before even though we have seen whales on all of Lindblad trips. We headed to another locale then got in line for the bar zodiac. Hot chocolate with Frangelico. \240Pretty tasty but then the call came out that there were whales basically back where we had spotted all the krill. \240We zoomed over and we did get to see the flukes of some humpbacks (like my new lucky earrings). Didn’t really try to get any photos as we got great ones on our Sea of Cortez trip. \240A fun day again. \240

Had a nice Xmas dinner with a bottle of Hall Cab that Lindsay purchased for dinner. \240I had pasta with a red mussel sauce and Caesar salad. After dinner was a talent show by the crew that was pretty entertaining. \240

First really cold day since Patagonia. Parked in Lemerie channel. \240Passed the Nat Geo Endurance on our way. \240We were supposed to take zodiacs to see the Wordie house but there was too much fast ice for the zodiacs to go through so they had a hike or zodiac cruise. \240Lindsay actually got to go inside the hut and got some great photos. \240I on the other hand got lousy photos as I couldn’t figure out what was going on with my phone. Half to three quarters were blurry. \240Bummed about that. \240We went past Verdansky Station which is run by Ukraine after purchasing it from the British some time back. \240It was formerly Faraday station where they first discovered the hole in the ozone. \240Saw lots of gentoo penguins even saw some chicks but of course, not on my photos…also still no porpoising penguin photos either.

Pizza buffet for lunch today. \240Waiting for the call.

A little confusing on the dates. \240Not sure what happened. It is the 28th and we are headed back to Patagonia. \240A little bumpy but the worst is coming up when we will hit 40 knot winds. \240Yesterday they jam packed it in with activities until it was time to book it to the Drake Passage.

We started out the morning at Paradise Bay with kayaking, then zodiac trips. There was an Argentinian Science Station there but no one was there so we were able to get off for another continental walk. \240It was Base Brown and the place was taken over by penguins and one Weddell seal. \240After we got back, it was polar plunge time. \240I had agonized over this for days. \240When I hadn’t been sleeping I could not have done it. \240I was trying zen thinking- calming thoughts. \240I wasn’t sure I wouldn’t decide not to at the last minute. I just wanted to go down to Base Camp and immediately jump in but that just doesn’t happen. \240We had to leave our robes and everything at our locker and stand in line at the open door. \240Brrr. \240Fortunately we were only about 16 back but when my time came I just wanted to get it over with. They told me smile and wave at the camera. I barely looked over and gave a little wave. \240I wanted to be as close to the platform as possible. \240God, it was cold. \240I think it must have been 5-10 degrees colder than the Artic plunge. \240We got badges this time but they didn’t have any set up with shots of schnapps and warm blueberry soup like we did before. \240It is amazing how quickly you warm up except your feet. \240Lunch was lively with everyone talking about their experiences. Quite a few of the staff went in including Captain Graeser, 2nd officer Johann, Sebastian

Oh boy, I get to start over. Everything I just typed disappeared.

Heading out on a rocky Drake Passage and it is supposed to get worse as the day wears on with 40 knot winds. We had a busy day yesterday trying to do as much as possible as we have 2 days of travel to get to port. \240The captain has travelled further east than we would normally pass to try to lessen the time dealing with the winds.

We started out the day at Paradise Harbor. We first went out in kayaks and paddled around icebergs. \240Then it was off in zodiacs to a continental landing at Base Brown - an Argentinian research station that was currently unoccupied except by penguins. Due to COVID you can’t go ashore if it is occupied. \240The penguins could care less about the humans invading, we just have to try and stay out of their way.

After these activities, it was polar plunge time. \240I had agonized over this when I wasn’t sleeping. I definitely couldn’t have done it then. But I felt like I could possibly do it. Really just wanted to be able to go down and immediately jump in which wasn’t going to happen. \240We had to leave our robes and things at our lockers and stand there getting chilled before we even got outside. I was determined to jump as close to the platform as possible. When they told me to smile and wave at the camera, I barely looked over and gave a little wave. \240I had to get in and get out quick. \240God, was it cold. \240Think it was 5-10 degrees colder than the Arctic. They didn’t have the nice schnapps shots or blueberry soup either. \240Your body does warm up fast but my feet were freezing. We did get little patches to commerate our plunge. \240A lot of the staff did the plunge also - the captain who did a flip in to the water, Johann, Sebastian, and several others. \240Lunch was lively with everyone discussing their experiences.

After lunch we were at Neko Harbour, another spot with lots of gentoo penguins along with a random chinstrap. \240There was a slushy walk up a hill but that was about it as you couldn’t stay on the beach as it was an active avalanche area which can create high waves on the shore. \240We actually heard and saw one that didn’t make it down to the shore. \240It looked like a snow waterfall. \240

Dinner was very entertaining with lots of whales and penguins swimming out the windows. \240The big show was actually seeing killer whales chasing pods of penguins. \240Everyone was cheering for the penguins.

We had an after dinner drink, then headed in to finish watching Princess Bride and get some sleep. \240

Woke up to the rocking boat but managed to go back to sleep til it was time for breakfast. \240Packed up some of my thing to get the clutter out of the room while watching presentations by Shelly and Kevin on the tv. \240