Australia! Difficult to believe we are actually in Australia. We have been to so many amazing places already and here we are getting towards the furthest point from home and very nearly halfway into the 97 days. And back to the English speaking world (well, sort of) and developed economy. And heat, lots of it. Generally reckoned to be around 34C today, that is well in to the 90s for us. Not much breeze, not much shade, but surprisingly quite green with trees, gra...

There had been some confusion prior to arrival as to which precise location on Bali we would be disembarking and whether it would be dockside or by tender. P&O mushroom management once again prevailed and at seemingly the last moment Cap'n Bob gave us 24 hrs notice that we would be anchoring off shore at Benoa with a 2-3 mile tender link to shore, but we all enjoy the excitement of tendering soo...... much. Couple of quick emails to our pre-arranged guide, Mu...

We made an early start today to explore Bandar Seri Begawan, the capital of Brunei. Hardly a capital in terms of size but certainly in terms of opulent buildings testifying to the wealth of this tiny country. Bruneians enjoy one of the highest GDP in the world and do not pay any income tax. The area is famous for the world's largest water villages, home to around 30,000 people, where all buildings are built on wooden stilts out into the Brunei river and known as...

As we sailed northwards towards Hong Kong the it had been getting noticeably cooler, not surprising really, from being virtually on the Equator we are now getting back towards 20 degrees North. Nothing like the weather being experienced back home. We had attempted our weekly FaceTime with everybody and been surprised to find all four gleefully answering at once. Heavy snow closing roads across the Lincolnshire Wolds had caused Matt and the boys to abandon their ...

Ho Chi Min City, formerly Saigon, has had a chequered history since the French captured it in 1859. They were defeated in May 1954 after the Indo China War. The country was divided into 2 and this led to the Vietnam War and U.S. military involvement, which has been well documented over the years. The war ended when a North Vietnamese tank smashed thought the gates of the Presidential Palace in Saigon in April 1975. North and South Vietnam became one country aga...