Andy headed up to the Panorama Lounge early that morning. The day started with Beaked Whale sightings, followed by several humpback whales surfacing among the swells. Winds pushed close to 40 knots, and the seas bounced around enough that Zodiac cruises were cancelled for the morning. For a while we simply watched whales and waves […]
With a successful mission to Snow Hill behind us, the ship turned north toward the Antarctic Peninsula. Honestly, I had focused so intensely on Snow Hill that I barely looked at the rest of the itinerary. But the plan for the following day was stand up paddleboarding in Antarctica. Assuming the weather cooperated, of course. […]
How to spend a perfect week in the Cook Islands In late October, I found myself staring at a massively selfish problem: I was 200 credits short of retaining my platinum status on Qantas. With our 25th wedding anniversary just weeks away, it hit me—why not turn this milestone celebration into a status run? Two […]
When the Australian border reopening was announced, we immediately booked flights to visit my mom in the US, who we haven’t seen since November of 2019. About a month before departure, we got an email from Qantas about a flight schedule change. Not only did we now have a 16 hour layover in Los Angeles, […]