We're Off Again - Our 2019 Cruises

We're off again!

This time it's a long stint away from Australia and will take us to a number of places to which we have never been and a couple of revisits.

Determined not to leave too much of an inheritance for the kids when we take that journey from which nobody returns, we're getting in our last few trips abroad while our bodies still work sufficiently well to lug baggage about, drive hire cars, climb stairs, drink pina coladas, and do all the other things tourists usually do - aging tourists that is.

The first cruise aboard Princess Cruises Sapphire Princess leaves from Singapore and after 37 days, docks at Southampton, UK. The map above shows it's trek.

Sapphire Princess

It will be of particular interest to visit Dubai, UAE and Salalah, Oman again to see how they have changed since we lived nearby at Al Ain. But, would you believe it, it's over a decade since we left Al Ain?

Time seems to go faster as you get older (and hair grows where you don't need it)  - it's not fair.

Before we head off from Singapore, we're going to Bangkok, Thailand for a week to have a look around. Christina has been there before, but not Robin. 

Initially, we were contemplating getting some dental work done at Bangkok, but having spoken to a couple of dentists in Australia, we're thinking we'll get the work done locally when we return. Robin has had several visits to a periodontist and has been asked to wait three months before getting anything done so the periodontist can see whether his intervention has worked and what future work needs doing. So, it's probably pointless getting work done overseas beforehand after already investing so much.

After arriving at Southampton, we have about a month before we take cruise number two from Southampton around the British Isles. The map below shows the trek.

We'll tour the southern parts of England we never got to during our previous two visits before joining the cruise. This time it's on Princess Cruises Crown Princess for 12 days.

On return to Southampton we fly to Bangkok and will probably spend a few more days there before flying to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

A friend from Alice Springs has just recently established the Mango Villa Guest House at Siem Reap so it would be an opportune time to stay with him and visit the Angkor Wat temple complex which we have been keen to see. Then it will be back to Bangkok and head home direct to Adelaide via Singapore Airlines.

It's a hard life retirement, but Robin is always mindful of this verse from his favourite poet, Omar Khayyam (The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam):

Ah, make the most of what we yet may spend,

Before we too into the Dust descend,

Dust into Dust, and under Dust to lie,

Sans Wine, sans Song, sans Singer; sans End!

Travels in Wonderlands

My dear wife Christina has been busy for the last couple of weeks booking hotels, air flights, and otherwise arranging our trip overseas for September to December. We will be visiting the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Turkey, France, Austria, Germany, the UK and Scotland and calling in to see some of our friends enroute.

As soon as we have everything finalised, I'll prepare an itinerary and post it online somewhere for friends to download. That way, if you are going to be home or near where we are, we may be able to get together.

There's a fair bit of arranging to do, but Chris is doing a top job as she does with everything she touches. She's one of those lucky people who seems to be able to do everything, also she does tell me occasionally that she can't make pavlova ... tough. Get over it I say.

This will probably be the last great trip we do and we will have a lovely house available for close friends who would like to spend three months at Alice Springs. All you'd have to do is make sure the watering system keeps going and the plants don't die. However, three months is a long time to spend at Alice Springs, you can see everything here in about two or three weeks. But, it would be a perfect opportunity to sit around and write your memoirs, recover from a broken heart, or something else that doesn't involve too much touring. Think about it.

Watch this space for the itinerary.

Robin