Tasmania and Southeast Australia 2025

   Noordam arrived in Sydney ending the 14 day cruise and beginning the 28 day cruise. We stayed in the same stateroom.      What a disappointment this morning to see on the News that United States invaded Venezuela and captured President Maduro and his wife in early morning of January 3. The Delta Force raided Caracus. Maduro was indicted in New York on drug and weapons charges. The States will run Venezuela until transition to a new government. [In Sydney the time is 18 hours ahead of Washington D.C.]     We had breakfast in the dining room with three Australian women who are leaving the ship today. There are 142 passengers from this cruise staying on the ship for the next 28 day cruise like us.    We were off the ship just after 8 a.m. We had our “In Transit” cards with us, to be able to bypass the checkin line when we return to the ship. Across from the cruise terminal was a statue of William Bligh 1754 - 1817. William Bligh was a Royal N...

   We arrived in Eden, New South Wales, our final stop on our 14 day south east Australia and Tasmania Cruise before returning to Sydney tomorrow.      Eden is just an hour north of state border between Victoria and New South Wales located in Twofold Bay on the Sapphire Coast. Twofold Bay is the third-deepest natural harbour in the Southern Hemisphere and has a whaling history. Twofold Bay was named in 1798 by explorers Flinders and Bass. It is made up of two distinctive bights - Calle Calle Bay and Nullica Bay. The Eden Wharf is located in the protection of   Snug Cove.   Snug Cove was named by explorer surgeon George Bass in 1798 due to the shelter it offered within Twofold Bay. During spring (September to November) humpback whales enter the bay to feed and nurse their young on their way to Antarctica.     Eden was named after George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, the British Secretary of the Colonies, Baron Auckland.      News ...