Today we went on an excursion to Santa Monica where we enjoyed strolling around, stopping for brunch and visiting the pier before moving on to Beverly Hills where we strolled up and down the ridiculously ostentatious Rodeo Drive and the surrounding area. The best part of the day however, without…

The vast city of Los Angeles covers an area of approximately 470 sq miles, with the greater Los Angeles urban area covering a staggering 2281 sq miles, and with an estimated population of 18.1 million. It is the second largest metropolitan area in the United States after New York, and…

Disclaimer: This diary entry details gripes and petty niggles which can only be described as ‘first world problems’. However, it is with full awareness of the fact that we know we are very lucky to be on this voyage that we choose to grumble anyway! 😉All extended periods of travel…

Birthplace of Barack Obama, Herman Melville, Robert Louis Stevenson and Bruno Mars, Honolulu is the capital and most populous city of the United States state of Hawaii. A large high-rise city, Honolulu has a population of approximately 1 million people. Located 2350 miles off the coast of California, Honolulu is…

Some fun facts about the vast Pacific Ocean We are currently crossing the Pacific Ocean, a journey which, by powered cruise ship, is going to take 17 days (14 of which are sea days). The distance from Sydney to Los Angeles is a daunting 7,000 miles – even making the…

Fiji is an archipelago nation of 330 islands in the south Pacific, lying approximately 1300 miles north east of New Zealand. The total population is roughly 930,000, the majority of whom live on either Viti Levu or Vanua Levu. Today Queen Anne docked at the port of Suva on the…

Vanuatu is a country in the south Pacific Ocean consisting of approximately 83 islands spread over some 1300 km. Most of the islands are not close together and weather and sea conditions can make travel between them very difficult. This creates challenges for those members of the population who do…