To all my friends I wish you the happiest and healthiest Christmas ever. I am so sorry I have not been in touch for so long but as most of you know I have been on the run all of 2008 and in my last newsletter I covered my travels from the beginning of the year to August. During that time I travelled to Hong Kong, Vietnam and Bali before the Grand Prix trip which took us through the Mediterranean and the highlight of viewing the Monaco Grand Prix from the balcony of the Metropole Hotel in May. In July I travelled to Perth and then cruised from Broome to Darwin, spending the weekend in my old home town for the Darwin Cup Festival. Pictures of these trips are found on our website and in the VIF section (password "friends") but now on to recent adventures.........

click on images to enlarge.

Costa Rica to Papeete on Silver Shadow

In September flew to Singapore and on to Los Angeles for a brief stopover before flying to Costa Rica to join the Silver Shadow on her long journey to Papeete. This took nearly 4 weeks and we travelled down the coast of South America to Valparaiso visiting some great spots in Equador, Peru and Chile along the way. We then continued across the Pacific to Tahiti and were supposed to stop in Easter Island and Pitcairn Island but were unable to do so - this ended up with a lovely 13 days at sea with nothing to do but eat and drink (more kilos!!!) and I clocked up my 350 days as a paid guest on Silversea and was awarded a free cruise!!! It was good to get off the ship in Moorea and Bora Bora and once again we headed back to Bloody Marys for a memorable lunch. On this trip I was joined by great friends and clients Norma Parker and Gaby Cantor and John Rundle from Adelaide, Col Williamson from Sydney and Roy Newell from Melbourne as well as having the company of Christina Hewitt from Florida for the first part of the journey

 

click on images to enlarge.

Auckland to Sydney on Volendam

After a brief stay at home in November flew to Auckland with a group of 14 friends and enjoyed a real holiday as we visited Napier, Wellington, Picton, Christchurch, Dunedin and Milford Sound before crossing the Tasman to Burnie and Melbourne.

Friends included Elwyn Butler from Queensland, Jan Grice from Darwin, Col Williamson from Sydney and from Adelaide - Tony and Kathryn Woodcock, Andrea and David Gordon, Warren and Aime Bowers, Lee Cooke, Maree Harvey and Noel Schell.

As Elwyn and I shared a large deluxe suite we had many cocktail parties (and speeches - above) and enjoyed special events such as the chef's dinner on board. At the end of the trip I stayed on in Sydney to do a computer course and was only back in the office for a week or so before Christmas.

The times I have spent in the office during the last couple of months have been hard as we have had to cancel several tours including our Antarctic Adventure Tour which was due to depart in February next. Due to the slowdown all staff including myself will be taking quite a bit of leave but there are still a couple of opportunities to get together in 2009.

So here it is Christmas Eve and I am alone in the office trying desperately to get this newsletter off before I head off again tomorrow.

I am flying to Sydney to do the True North Sydney Rocks Cruise again and watch the start of the Sydney to Hobart. Will also be repeating the New Years cruise on Sydney Harbour on New Years Eve and catching up with friends Vicki and Paul Brown, Rob and Nat Paterson and Col Williamson. I will be back at the beginning of January for a week in the office then taking four weeks leave. My friend Andrew Robley is flying to Adelaide for a weeks visit before we both head to Sydney to join the Silver Whisper on her journey to New Guinea and the Philippines.

I still have two tours that I will definitely be hosting in 2009 as these tours are well booked with regular clients and friends joining me on two exceptional holidays.

The first is the Grand Prix tour in May including two week Mediterranean Cruise with lunch on the balcony of the Metropole Hotel to watch the Monaco Grand Prix again. The cruise itinerary next year is even better than last year taking in Turkey and Greece and finishing in Athens. Space still available for this trip of a lifetime!!!!

The second is a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest in October on a Tauck Tour - the best river cruising in the world with our special inclusions of open bar and wine with meals as well as all touring. This departs in October and we still have two cabins left for sale.

In January 2010 I will be hosting our first trip to Antarctica on Silversea's new expedition vessel, the PRICE ALBERT II. This is guaranteed as hosted and includes travel from Buenos Aires. We are also looking at adding a pre cruise visit to Hong Kong and San Francisco and the brochure for this tour will be released early next year.

Apart from these three journeys I am going to enjoy some "me" time. I have started renovations on my apartment and it is looking great so hopefully I will get more time to enjoy it in 2009.

I send my love to you all and hope that 2009 gets better than the last few months. I am not even touching on how our lives and investments have been so greatly affected by economic factors as we are all in the same boat but being the eternal optimist I know things will get better.

Your friend,
Lyn