Author: Edward Thorpe

An apology and some information

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At the end of each new post there is a Leave a reply  link which has not been working correctly. If you attempted to reply to a post using this link it simply refused to perform the task. For this I am sorry.

It should now be repaired so please feel free to make use of it. You can, of course, contact me by return email but when you make use of the  Leave a reply  link other readers have the opportunity to read your comments. Once a post has received a reply the  Leave a reply  message is replaced by  1 Reply and the count increases with each response. However, clicking on Reply will allow a new response to be posted.

Just be aware that the first time you leave a reply I must “approve” your message. Once your first message has been approved (usually within a day) any subsequent message from you will be automatically approved and attached to the post.

One other detail, you must perform some simple arithmetic before a reply will be accepted just to prove you are a person. Unfortunately, there are a few individuals who create robot programs that search the internet for journals or blogs and automatically post nuisance messages.

I hope I have not confused anyone too much. Should you find any other problems please let me know by email.

Thanks for reading along.

Photos and video

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With the Christmas and New Years cruise complete we returned home to frigid temperatures but, mercifully, no snow.  Since returning I have uploaded photos. While onboard I did an initial upload of a few low resolution images but the high resolution images were too taxing for the shipboard wifi so I decided to wait until now when I could place captions on each photo and replace the lo-res images. Since we did only one tour while away this album does not really show much of the islands, sorry.

In this post I have included several short videos below and this link to the complete Photo Album.

Champagne Waterfall – a shipboard tradition

Santa Arrives for the young children.

There were about 500 children and teens on this cruise

“There be whales Captain”

I did not bring any long range cameras with me so this is just proof of the existence of humpback whales. There were many whales and several calves in the shallow waters around Maui.

Leialoha’s Hula class – “Hawaiian Lullaby”

During sea days, Leialoha teaches several hulas to willing passengers. On the final day they perform in the main theatre.

Hula and Ukelele “I Wanna Go Back to My Little Grass Shack”

Leialoha’s husband, “Tiki Dave” teaches ukulele to willing passengers and they too perform solo and as accompaniment for the hula dancers.

More Hula and Ukelele “Aloha Oye”

This was the finale performance.

Spontaneous hula breakout in the Wheelhouse lounge.

“I Wanna Go Back to My Little Grass Shack” (clip)

While Leialoha and “Tiki Dave” entertained in the Wheelhouse lounge several of the hula dancers ran out to do a spontaneous performance.

This concludes posts for this tour. We have no dates yet for future tours, however, you’ll find them here when they happen.

————————— Aloha and mahalo for following along ————————–

 

Finally traveling again

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Well now, it has been 14 months since this journal was active while we did a road trip to Newfoundland and Labrador but we are about to venture out again. In a few days we will be off to Los Angeles where we will board the Star Princess for a cruise to Hawaii and back. Apparently it is none too soon as today we have snow falling.

Christmas day will occur while we are at sea before we arrive in Hawaii to make four stops. New Years eve will occur just after we depart our last island port. We shall see what we can find to post while away.

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Ottawa from the River

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Parliament from Ottawa River

Parliament from Ottawa River

We arrived home as scheduled on September 29 driving through rain, sometimes heavy, from Ottawa to Oshawa. We stopped in Cobourg for dinner with Doug and Joan which gave us some time to catchup. It was nearly 10 PM when we arrived home which was ready to receive us thanks to Gary.

Before leaving Ottawa we managed to get a river cruise before the rain began. Actually, there was one shower while we were on the boat. There were seven tourists on a boat capable of handling about 75 but a young woman from Burlington did a great job of narrating the trip.

The rain had subsided by the time we returned to the dock so we worked to Sparks Street for a quick lunch then back to the car to leave the Capital. As we passed the capital buildings Wellington Street was filled with tractors, farmers apparently protesting.

This will be the final post from this trip and the Journal will fall silent until our next excursion. Clearly we could not do everything at every stop but I suppose that leaves room for another visit.

Here are a few photos from the last day.

Rideau Canal

Rideau Canal

Rideau Falls

Rideau Falls

Start of Autumn Colour

Start of Autumn Colour

Ottawa River Panorama

Ottawa River Panorama