This entry will actually assume you've already read the earlier one about this trip and try not to reduplicate things, so if there's seeming gaps its because its in the earlier entry.

September 2nd - Having finally arrived in the Dominican Republic the day before, we spent the morning taking it easy around the hotel. We booked our hotel and my ( Read more... )

    Cristina and I had planned a dream vacation to Cancun. But our dreams of Mayan pyramids turned out to be pyramids of sand. They would be obliterated by a wave of circumstance, sweeping Cristina away from me like a piece of driftwood in the tide, requiring me to go madly dashing across the Caribbean after her. Here's the story ( Read more... )

   I almost forgot to mention I was in Fiji again. What has life come to when you can neglect to mention you were in Fiji again?

I also neglected to mention I was in Panama. I was in Panama.


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( Previously )


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( What came before   It's a beautiful sunny morning in the Dominican Republic. The woman sitting across from us at the outdoor table hands me a pen and with a broad smile tells me "I just need you to sign right here." I look over at Cristina, but she looks at me with a blank expression, her large brown eyes expressing a zenful lack of guidance, ( Read more... )

( Background )


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   My flight was at 23:40 on Tuesday, so I had all day to get ready, which was plenty of time, but also I had a lot of random errands to do beforehand so I felt pretty anxious and stressed all day .. as is usual before a big trip ( Read more... )

Saturday, February 24th, 2018 - We awoke to the first rainy day of our whole week in Tasmania. People say "it's cold!" down in Tasmania and allege the weather is much worse, but from my brief experience, we had a solid week of lovely sunny days in Tasmania whereas at home in Victoria I don't think we've had more than three days of sunny weather in ( Read more... )

Saturday, February 23rd, 1856 - the small schooner comes into the cove and luffs up, the small experienced crew needing just a few gestures from the captain for directions. Amidships the prisoners are lined up on deck, their chains clanking, under the supervision of red coated soldiers. The forested hills surrounding the cove are starkly beautiful ( Read more... )