Helen and I are leaving on a trip leaving East from Boston traveling to many places around the world and returning to Boston from the west on February 25. We first visit all of the seven Emirates in the United Arab Emirates, and then spend a day in Oman. Then we fly to the Philippines, where we only spend one night and a full day, then on to Papua New Guinea where we will spend 5 hours in Port Moresby, restricted to the airport because of a surprise visa problem.
Then we fly to the Solomon Islands to Guadalcanal to start a 10 day cruise through the Solomons, Vanuatu, and Fiji. We end our trip by continuing to fly east towards Los Angeles and finally home to Boston on February 25.
My Latest Posts
- Day 19, Eliot, MaineThis post is from our second February 25, 2024 in a row. We’ve reached home in Eliot, Maine after a very, very long day of travel. It’s good to be home, but what an exciting adventure it was! Around the world in 19 days, 7 new countries. The expedition staff on the Orion prepared thisContinue reading “Day 19, Eliot, Maine”
- Day 18 Nadi, FijiThis from February 25, 2024. We were off the ship this morning by 9 o’clock according to plan. All of those of us leaving the ship today which were most of us were taken on a bus tour of this part of the big island of Fiji we first visited a High Point that gaveContinue reading “Day 18 Nadi, Fiji”
- Day 17 Beqa, FijiThis post is from February 24, 2024. We woke up this morning to pouring rain lightning and thunder. We waited and waited for the weather to clear so our dive leaders could go out in the Zodiacs and assess the planned dive site. The weather took longer than expected to clear and they did notContinue reading “Day 17 Beqa, Fiji”
- Day 16 Suva, FijiThis post is from Friday, February 23, 2024. Because of all the bad weather and sailing through rough seas at slow speed, our ship did not actually reach our destination, Suva, Fiji until about 3:30 this afternoon. We were able to disembark at about 4:30 and quickly board bus for a 45 minute drive toContinue reading “Day 16 Suva, Fiji”
- Day 15 At SeaThis post is from February 22, 2024. Today was spent with the realities of being on a small ship in the middle of a huge rough ocean all day long with no land in sight. The rough seas were bothering a lot of the passengers today and activities on board were limited. Helen enjoyed aContinue reading “Day 15 At Sea”
- Day 14 Tanna, VanuatuThis post is from February 21, 2024. The seas were rougher this morning. The captain chose to not anchor and just use the automatic positioning system to keep the ship in position during the loading of the Zodiacs, as there was less current sweeping against the Zodiacs during loading that way. Most passengers went ashoreContinue reading “Day 14 Tanna, Vanuatu”
- Day 13 Port Vila, VanuatuThis post is from February 20, 2024. Helen and I never actually went on land today, even though our ship was anchored until around 4:30pm. The non-SCUBA divers took Zodiacs to shore around 8:30am for a land tour of the capital city of Vanuatu, Port Vila. It was about an hour’s drive overland from theContinue reading “Day 13 Port Vila, Vanuatu”
- Day 12 Ambryn, VanuatuThis post is from February 19, 2024. Today we had the extraordinary privilege of watching a ceremony that is rooted in the history of this part of Melanesia. It takes National Geographic and Lindblad and enormous amount of time to build up the trust with the local people to allow our small group to beContinue reading “Day 12 Ambryn, Vanuatu”
- Day 11 Espiritu Santo, VanuatuThis post is from February 18, 2024. We got up early this morning at 7 o’clock to leave on our 830 boat to dive on a the gigantic Coolidge wreck. Visit this link to see more details about this very large World War II American troop transport that was grounded after hitting an American mine:Continue reading “Day 11 Espiritu Santo, Vanuatu”
- Day 10 Somewhere in the Coral SeaThis post is from February 17, 2024. Today we spent entirely at sea as we cruise from the Solomon Islands to the island nation of Vanuatu. We had two lectures from expedition specialists today. The one this morning was from an anthropologist named Shirley Campbell who discussed the peopling of the South Pacific that tookContinue reading “Day 10 Somewhere in the Coral Sea”
Mr. And Mrs. Tarman Go ‘Round The World 2024 
Sounds exciting! You are a WWll buff! My Dad was Third marine Division and my Father in law was First Marine Division! Real heroes! 😊
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Real heroes, indeed. You must be proud.
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Nice posts! Thanks for sharing. My only experience with Fiji was over 25 years ago. The plane I was on ran short on fuel. So they made a pitstop, we stayed in our seats, but they still felt it necessary to spray the cabin/passengers for bugs… I’d say you and Helen had a way better experience!
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