HaPpY NeW YeAr 2013
from MaRtIn!
My year began at sea between South and North Island New Zealand aboard the Spirit of Adventure. After stops at Wellington and Tauranga I flew home from Auckland. You can read all about my marvellous antipodean cruise on my web site.
In January I visited my father in St. Osyth for four days before flying out to Barbados for Amazon and Caribbean back-to-back cruises. The highlight of Brazil was the Boi Bumba festival in Parintins, whilst the best tour in the Caribbean was the scenic railway ride on St. Kitts.
In March I did my first cruise on an all-suite, all-inclusive Seabourn ship as a port lecturer. They flew me out to Florida and then we sailed back across the Atlantic and the Med to Monte Carlo in the height of luxury. At the end of the month I had a lovely weekend cycling and walking with my friend Mark in London.
In April I did three Titanic cruises back-to-back. The highlight of the first was the new Titanic exhibition in Belfast; of the second was the two full days in New York City and of the third was the day on the millionaires’ island of Martha’s Vineyard.
In May I visited my father again and then we dog sat for my brother and sister-in-law in Harlow, before I took him on a 9 night cruise around the British Isles which he enjoyed. On our return he signed the tenancy agreement for his new sheltered accommodation in Harlow. This gives him his own one bedroom flat in a block with 24 hour nursing cover and a hot lunch every day. I finally got home after doing 918 miles in my car and double that on the cruise ship!
In June I went on an arctic convoy commemoration cruise to the White Sea of Russia. The highlight was the Solovetsky fortified monastery. I saw my father on my return and again in July before staying with my old college friend Ruth in a Norfolk cottage. My next cruise was to Spitzbergen when I had to do the work of four people on the Saga Ruby! I again stayed with Mark in Dulwich before setting out for an Icelandic cruise which flew me back from Reykjavik.
In September I brought my father down to Poole for an eight day holiday which he enjoyed. I then had to attend an Open University briefing in Milton Keynes for my new course T802 (the Technology MSc) which is replacing my old course M801 (the Computing MSc). So I now have three students to supervise! At the end of the month I was dog sitting in Harlow again and helping my father settle into his new flat. I had no cruises in October so I was able to catch up with the dentist, the optician, the roof repairer, the boiler man etc.
In November I had my second cruise as a port lecturer on a Seabourn ship cruising the Aegean Sea. They flew me out to Istanbul and then back from Athens after another week of luxury. The highpoint was my first visit to the ancient city of Ephesus. After two days at home I flew out to Costa Rica for a cruise from the Pacific to the Atlantic via the Panama Canal and the Caribbean Sea.
In December after visiting my father again, I cruised off to the Eastern Med for Christmas and the New Year. Of course you can read all about my marvellous cruises on my web site.