Author Archives: Holly

About Holly

fiber person - knitter, spinner, weaver who spent 33 years being a military officer to fund the above. And home. And family. Sewing and quilting projects are also in the stash. After living again in Heidelberg after retiring (finally) from the U.S. Army May 2011, we moved to the US ~ Dec 2015. Something about being over 65 and access to health care. It also might have had to do with finding a buyer for our house. Allegedly this will provide me a home base in the same country as our four adult children, all of whom I adore, so that I can drive them totally insane. Considerations of time to knit down the stash…(right, and if you believe that…) and spin and .... There is now actually enough time to do a bit of consulting, editing. Even more amazing - we have only one household again. As long as everyone understands that I still, 40 years into our marriage, don't do kitchens or bathrooms. For that matter, not being a golden retriever, I don't do slippers or newspapers either. I don’t miss either the military or full-time clinical practice. Limiting my public health/travel med/consulting and lecturing to “when I feel like it” has let me happily spend my pension cruising, stash enhancing (oops), arguing with the DH about where we are going to travel next and book buying. Life is good!

Darwin, NT, Australia

The last time I was in Darwin was 1 Nov 2013 – so just over 10 years ago. Since this is our first stop in Australia there was just the small matter of having to clear immigration as well as … Continue reading

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A sea like glass

I don’t remember many times when I have cruised on an ocean that is this flat. Hardly a ripple, easy to see fish, and dolphins pacing the ship for short sprints before veering off on their own business. The Sunrise … Continue reading

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Dili, East Timor

I had read a warning in a 2021 blog about the lack of Wifi in East Timor but had naively thought things would be upgraded in 2023. Not really, and my iPhone wasn’t really happy with the 3G connection. Like … Continue reading

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Kupang

Right before sunrise, and the sun just over the horizon. Still in Indonesia. Kupang is the southern most city in Indonesia and located in Timor.  It is not a city that often sees cruise ship traffic. The port is well … Continue reading

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Mostly Tin roofs

Today we are in Waingapu – another one of the Indonesian cities on an island (whose name is escaping me at present but will be filled in if I can located it.SUMBA! ) The ship was offering limited (like ONE) … Continue reading

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and to Komodo as well

at the end of my day This is the second stop on this leg and a repeat from the previous cruise. I literally missed the boat on going snorkeling. One of those (there are 60 of us) who are holdovers … Continue reading

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Back to Lombok

After leaving Bali yesterday, our ship headed back toward Lombok. Both today and tomorrow are repeat ports for those of us on back-to-back cruises. This morning I checked in again with one of our local experts at the coffee station. … Continue reading

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Bali -> Cairnes

  Sunday, November 26 Benoa, Bali, Indonesia 6:00pm Monday, November 27 Lombok, Indonesia 7:00am 3:00pm Tuesday, November 28 Komodo, Indonesia 1:00pm 6:00pm Wednesday, November 29 Waingapu, East Sumba 7:00am 3:00pm Thursday, November 30 Kupang, Indonesia 8:00am 5:00pm Friday, December 1 … Continue reading

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Lombok

We docked at 1300 I am electing to make this a rather quiet day. The terminal is nowhere near downtown so there is nothing walkable. Plus the temperatures and humidity are falling into the not fun categories.  We waited till … Continue reading

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Komodo National Park

Obviously the thing to do in Loh Liang, Indonesia is a walk through the Komodo National Park. It would be totally foolish to not see Komodo Dragons while here. Right? World’s largest lizard and all of that. Also what should … Continue reading

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Makassar, Indonesia

According to the advanced information – we were to arrive in port at 0600 and leave at 1600. Somewhere along the line, the departure time was moved up a couple of hours. Added to the hot & humid was the … Continue reading

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Sea Day 2/2

(sunrise is before 0600 in case you are wondering) – go to the blog post if you want to enjoy these.   Having two relaxing days in a row is not unusual for my average cruise. It certainly is for … Continue reading

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Sea Day 1/2

Today is a sea day, cruising along on a surface that is almost flat. We have significantly slowed since last night and our forward motion feels almost as smooth as glass. I am seeing people in the various lounges whom … Continue reading

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Orangutans & Sun Bears

Sunrise just after 0600 and interesting islands that we passed. We docked today in the commercial port belonging to Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia. Located about 4 miles from the city, we were warned ahead of time that taking a tour or … Continue reading

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Galley tour

Which is not the same as touring a sailing galley from the 1600s. Since the offer was on the daily program, I signed us up. Free- what is not to like? In case it wasn’t completely obvious, this is a … Continue reading

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Puerto Princesa

And yes, we are still in the Philippines,  The name derives from Spanish Influence. It is our last port. And no, it is not anywhere near the earthquake in the region that hit yesterday afternoon. I checked in with the … Continue reading

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Coron/Busuanga Island, Philippines

Coron is the town located on Busuanga Island if I understand it correctly. Cashews are a main agricultural product both for local consumption and for export. Like many other islands, the main road seems to go around the island. According … Continue reading

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Boracay, Philippines

According to all the literature we received ahead of time – this particular island (and location) is most known for vacations/beaches/watersports. After suffering over use, there was a government shut down in 2019 for clean up and major discussions on … Continue reading

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Philippine National Museum

This is an addendum to the regular post and has only a limited email distro. This wasn’t all that long a day, but I had pretty much wiped out after walking around and three floors of the museum. I had … Continue reading

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Manila, Philippines

We sailed into Manila’s South Harbor this morning shortly after 0900 and were along side the pier at close to 1000. Disembarking was a bit delayed (performance by a local group – the dancers doing men’s parts were excellent, those … Continue reading

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