Dear friends, A map below for a quick recap. My last story was about Port Lockroy, with its museum, post office and penguins. That same afternoon we steamed south-west along the coast of the peninsula and through the Lemaire Channel. Both Sarah and I stayed up on the front deck for several hours as we [...]
Dear friends, Another day in the South and plenty to keep us on our toes at Port Lockroy, which comprises Jougla Point and Goudier Island, both of which are home to numerous nesting gentoo penguins. On the rocks between the water and the mountains, nesting penguins. Gentoo penguins are ground-nesting birds, making rudimentary nests from [...]
Dear friends, And so we embarked on a truly marvellous adventure with Quark Expeditions on the M/V Ocean Endeavour, captained by Dmytro Ashanin, with a crew of some 100 to cater for all our needs while on-board and an expedition team of 29 to provide pertinent information and guidance throughout the trip. Although the ship [...]
Dear friends, The last part of my North American tour was over the border into Canada, to Quebec to be more precise, and to Bromont to be really exact! I visited my friends Andree and Denis here in the summer two years ago to help celebrate their wedding and what a pleasure to visit again [...]
Dear friends, I have long wanted to see the fall colours in Vermont and it turns out that I was there at the optimum time to glory in those remarkable colours and bright landscapes. How great to have my friend Lois who lives near Duxbury, between Montpelier and Burlington, to take me through some stunning [...]
Dear friends, It's amazing what you can fit into a week if you are with energetic and generous friends. Rada and Steve have a beautiful house right on the shore of Lake Champlain in Upper New York State, and although I am not generally an early riser, getting up before six am to view the [...]
Dear friends, Such a lovely week in around Washington DC, staying with my friend Betsy, a colleague from my Geneva days, and meeting up with others from my past, the Ethiopian artist Wasihun (see my most recent journal entry), with Carroll who was UNICEF rep in Myanmar when I worked there for the International Red [...]
Dear Friends, Sometimes it seems as though there is some kind of magic in the air, and Tuesday was one such day for me and for Wasihun Asnake Mengsta. We met first in Geneva in 1991, and now 28 years later we meet again in Washington DC. With Wasihun in his apartment with one of [...]
Dear friends, Some more from my visit to Tasmania last month. From Hobart, it is an easy day trip across to the SE Coast and down the Tasman Peninsula to the Port Arthur Historic site, with some interesting natural features along the coast. We were told by friends to visit Pirates Bay, the Blowhole, the [...]
Dear friends, Last month I spent a short week with my friend Verity in Tasmania and what a great few days it was too. I am sure that none of you need be reminded that Tasmania is the island state of Australia and lies off the coast almost directly south of Melbourne across Bass Strait. The [...]