Blue Book of Boats

During  a recent cruise on MV Amsterdam, a Canadian sailor claimed he had discovered a true “Fountain of Youth” amid a cluster of four small islands in the South Pacific which he recently visited. “I’ve discovered a true phenomenon,” he told Reuters. “You can take dead leaves, they come in contact with the water, they become full of life again. … Bugs or insects that are near death, come in contact with the water, they’ll fly away. It’s an amazing thing, very, very exciting.”"A frail old man could become so completely restored that he could resume “all manly exercises… take a new wife and beget more children.” Home at last, this Canadian is now hiring scientists to conduct an examination of the “legendary” water, but as of now, the fountain remains off limits to outside visitors.

See the above Before and After Photographs.

I am staying at the Swissotel in Sydney, Australia and spending time with Australian relatives.

Sydney is a beautiful city, prices are very high compared to Vancouver.

I am waiting for my flight home.  I had a wonderful adventure.  I am ready to come home.

Australia is well known for its opals, red fiery opals not seen anywhere else.

Laminated triplets (where a slice of opal is used and a laminate added) is less expensive,  while whole opal stones cost more.  Shopping for an expensive jewellery at cruise ship stops can be very high pressure.   Some women would prefer the leisure of time and shopping for different options.

The ship sails up the Brisbane River to the heart of the city. The last time I was here, in 1988, it struck me as a pretty but sleepy place with a lot of lovely Victorian era cottages. There has been simply tremendous development since then and Brisbane is now a vast modern metropolis. It has many tall buildings, parks and gardens, sophisticated culture, shopping malls and freeways. It looks affluent in an upper middle class way. I didn’t see any slums or signs of poverty, but not much sign of really high end wealth either. There are far fewer expensive cars like BMW and Mercedes than we see at home, and I saw only one Bentley.

We were picked up at the ship by a friend of Peggy and Mary, Aussie Dave, who they met on their Antarctic cruise. He is a tall, jovial guy with a bald head and a ready smile. He picks us up in a 1964 Holden Estate. It has about a million miles on it, but it is his daily driver.Later he tells me it has been restored twice, but it looks pretty original to me. Rough. It has 4X100 air conditioning. Roll down all four windows and drive 100 kmh. It works. Except the car is so old the speedo reads in miles.