Australia

Flew New York-San Francisco-Hawaii-Fiji-Auckland-Melbourne for a mind-bending three days (including International Dateline), toured Australia to Canberra, Sydney, Alice Springs, Ayres Rock, and King's Canyon; then to Tasmania for Hobart and the Frontier Spirit, now the Bremen, for a 24-day trip to Macquarie, the Balleny Islands; Italian, New Zealand, Australian, and US bases around McMurdo Sound (ashore maybe 24 hours in the 24 days); then up to Campbell and Auckland Islands (extraordinary penguins, seals, birds, marine life in each of these places) on the way to Invercargill on the southern tip of New Zealand, sharing the suites of a married photographer-couple who let me sleep on their sofas in their living rooms (and later let me share their Resting Cloud sailing ship on a 28-day trip to the Galapagos and Ecuador that same year, and a 30-day trip around southern Africa the next year) at Milford Sound and Mt. Cook, and I went myself to Christchurch, Wellington, and Rotarua northward to Auckland for the tedious return to the United States, spending two Tuesdays in Hawaii, again thanks to the International Dateline.

Fly NYC-LA-Papeete. Board Aranui: 2 days to Takapoto in the Tuamotus, 2 days to Ua Pu in the Marquesas, then to Nuku Hiva, Hiva Oa, Fatu Hiva, back to Hiva Oa, Ua Huka, Nuku Hiva for 9 days in the Marquesas. 2 days to Rangiroa in the Tuamotus, then fly to Moorea 7 days. Fly to Easter Island 3 days. Fly to Papeete 1 day, Bora Bora 2 days, Fiji (Suva and Nadi) 6 days, Rarotonga 4 days, visit Aitutaki, fly Rarotonga-LA-Denver-NYC.

TUE,3/9: Suva car-tour, Nausori market, Nasilai Village by boat for lunch and lots of kava. Suva Museum and Botanical Gardens. Free mimosas for working 4th engine. Disappointing sunset, Scrabble loss, good Yacht Club Polynesian dinner.