Melanesia Odyssey

I have to start with an apology to my viewers/readers. This blog entry is going on six months late. But I have been busy doing things other than traveling and taking photographs. And as you will see from the rest of the blog and the nine collections of photos, there was a great deal of time spent in selecting, editing, and posting the collections and this blog. I will try to catch up with my next adventure. Spoiler alert, it is a week long river cruise in the Northwest of the United States. Stay tuned.

In February of 2026, we flew to Sydney, Australia and embarked on the MS Riviera. We had just left her in Japan, a few months before. We arrived to a rainy, grey day in Sydney, and we didn't have much time to explore. Fortunately, we have been to Sydney before. Besides, we had almost 40 days to explore the East and Northern parts of Australia, Indonesia, and most of Melanesia. We would return to Sydney before taking the long flights home. The map above shows the route we took and the layout of the geography. 

It is hard to summarize such a diverse trip. We visited First World cities, such as Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns, and Darwin. We also visited a couple of small towns on Australia's Northeast Coast, like Cookstown and Airlie Beach. We visited dramatic natural wonders like the Great Barrier Reef, Komodo Island, and the wilds of Timor and Paupa New Guinea. Our two stops in Bali showed us why Bali is such a draw for those with an interest in Eastern culture and philosophy. World War II was a focus in many of the ports, such as Darwin, Papua New Guinea, The Solomons, New Caledonia, and Vanuatu (formerly called the New Hebrides). Much of the trip outside Australia reinforced our understanding of the tremendous diversity of wealth and cultures. In many places, the Greater West has abandoned these countries and peoples, something that some Asian countries are trying to exploit. As always, we met many wonderful people who generously shared their time, knowledge and images to make this trip a success. 

Because this was such a long trip with so many countries and ports, I have created separate collections for Australia, Bali, Fiji, Komodo, New Caledonia, Paupa New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and West Timor. Below, you will find a thumbnail picture for each collection which will take you to the collection. Click on the photo and it will take you to the collection. If you'd prefer, you can always go to the home page and click on the collections there. Please enjoy!