Feb 27, 2012 - Back to Freeport

Monday Feb 27th I flew from Manchester to Chicago and from there to Miami and then on to Freeport. Everything went well and all the flights were on schedule. The only problem was that the short connection time in Chicago didn't allow me to recharge my laptop after the long transatlantic flight. However, I had a window seat and it was a beautiful clear day, so I amused myself by identifying all the landmarks between Chicago and Miami and taking many, many aerial views. All in all, I had a great time, but I was glad to be home and my doggies...

Jan 31, 2012 - Final preparations

The main reason for making an entry today is to get Freeport marked on the map. I'm just about ready, although I haven't packed as yet. I have sorted out a few piles of "possibles" which are now laid out on the spare room bed. I am really going to try hard to travel light this time, although it isn't easy as England is suffering a really cold spell at the moment. I will definitely need some winter woolies, But I think Ethiopia will be quite hot. So I will need two weeks worth of summer clothes as well. And of course, my camera equipment is...

Jan 6, 2011 - Preparations

Two more days! Will I ever be ready? I haven't even started to think about what to pack yet. There are all kinds of things to set up so that the business will run smoothly without me, but those are mostly done now. A friend and I are buying a new apartment as a rental unit and for many months nothing has happened. The lawyers have been trying to locate missing pieces of paper from previous sales, but now that it's least convenient, things are drawing to a close. Funds had to be placed where they could be accessed in my absence, Power of...

Mar 1, 2010 - Return Home

Another early start! This time for a 7.45 am check in at Heathrow. Fortunately, there were no traffic problems and I arrived in good time. Again, everything went according to schedule and I arrived in Freeport at 7.30 pm, this time minus one bag. It did arrive on the next flight and I collected it the next morning, but the problem was that it was the bag which contained the doggie gifts and after my trips away Chiller always checks my bags for his gift almost before he greets me. This time he had to wait a little longer for his new toys!

Feb 7, 2010 - Bahamas Cruise Vol III

Day 4—Great Stirrup Cay By the time we got up on this morning, the ship was at anchor near Norwegian Cruises’ private island. We had cruised about forty miles since leaving Nassau. We heard that the ship spent most of the night going in large circles. Great Stirrup Cay is part of the Barry Islands. We were between Nassau and Freeport—the latter being about sixty miles north of us. To get onto the island for a “day on the beach and in the water,” we climbed onto a tender boat and went about fifteen minutes from ship to beach. The tender...

Feb 6, 2010 - Bahamas Cruise Vol I

February 1-5, 2010 Several weeks ago our friends from SoCal, Tom & Mary, emailed us that they were going to be in Miami to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. A couple of weeks later we decided, “Why not join them on the cruise, if there’s space available and the price is right?” We figured that we wouldn’t ever fly into Miami and go on this cruise, but since we were already there, “Why not?” After going online at www.ncl.com (Norwegian Cruise Line), I found there were rooms available and the prices were OK. A week before the cruise, I booked...

Feb 2, 2010 - Long Overdue Trip

For a variety of reasons, I did no travelling last year, except for a trip to UK in March for dad's 90th birthday. After ten years of annual "Round the World" trips, plus other shorter trips in between, that's serious withdrawal. I leave tomorrow for England, from where I go to Morocco, a little later in the month, for a two-week tour. I'm excited about the trip but at the same time I'm very apprehensive about the new airline restrictions. The one carry-on bag rule makes it very difficult to carry camera equipment and my laptop plus I need...

Dec 19, 2009 - The Bahamas back to Fort Lauderdale

We spent our last morning in the Bahamas going on a bus tour of the island. We of course got taken to several chosen markets and businesses to patronize them with our business, but we also saw some interesting places. We saw "Millionaires' Row" where the wealthy folks have built homes. Behind one side of the road is the oceanfront, and behind the other side of the road is the canal inland. Some people had two homes opposite each other on the two sides of the road, so they could choose whether to have the beach or boat access at any given...

Aug 5, 2008 - Making Plans

Greetings! Today I received the final bit of information about my work camp. I feel bad saying that I am less than happy about the vagueness of the duties they will want me to perform. There are most definitely some that are more attractive than others. I'm trying to keep an open mind about the whole thing, after all if I'm washing dishes, I'm washing dishes in Italy right? Right!

Apr 27, 2008 - Trip to the Bahamas

We got up at 4:30am to be ready by 5am for the bus that would take us to Fort Lauderdale. You may ask why we were going to Fort Lauderdale. We made a spur of the moment decision to take a day cruise to the Bahamas!!! We went through customs; where the customs official asked what country was South Africa part of cos she couldn’t find SA on the system, eventually Steve said to her to try ZA and she was successful, so we boarded the ship which turned out as Steve described "a rust bucket". Breakfast was served as we boarded and then we were...

Feb 11, 2008 - The Journey Home

When I left on Monday morning, dad came with me again. The routing was Manchester to Heathrow and on to Miami. I had been really pleased that the slightly earlier flight time from Heathrow allowed a 4 pm connection in Miami. Previously, I have always arrived in Miami at four o’clock and had to wait until 8.30 pm for the flight to Freeport, which is hard after the long transatlantic flight. However, that wasn’t to be either. We took off a bit late from heathrow, arrived in Miami too late for the tight connection and had to be wait-listed...

Mar 16, 2007 - Eleutheran Adventurers

On Sunday 11 March we left Atlantis and headed out the new Providence west entrance, past the cruise boats and a very modern USN amphibious vessel. Besides sightseeing, this exit was chosen to maximize the fishing opportunity enroute Spanish Wells. The ride was not ideal and Melissa was a trooper considering her condition. Young Bill took charge of the two trolling rigs along the six hour transit. The first five were a disappointment as Dad tried to find the right course and still keep the girls from mutiny. At last, on the bank near Egg...