March 27, 2026

ADELAIDE the capital of South Australia is known as the "City of Churches " and is a hub for festivals, food and wine, situated  between the Gulf of St. Vincent and the Mount Lofty Ranges. It was founded in 1836 and named for Queen Adelaide.  They used excellent city master planning, that still holds today, and makes it so welcoming. The City is completely surrounded by protected park lands and contains four large parks within it's boundaries. The City streets form a perfect grid, running from the mountains to the sea and extend out through the park lands, to allow easy flow inand out of the suburbs. 


Above is the view of the City of Adelaide and the surrounding park lands from atop Mount Lofty Summit.

We wanted to cover a lot of the out lying areas around Adelaide today, so we signed up for a Viator tour for the best of South Australia. Surprisingly we were the only ones from the Ship on the tour and it was nice to spend the day with 2 other couples, who were Australians from other States, here on vacation exploring. Our guide Peter was super knowledgable and chatty. The tour loop took about 4 hours driving time, but it was spaced out over 9 hours, with plenty of time at 4 different stops to explore. Our first stop was at the summit of Mount Lofty, where there is a historic obelisk or column erected to celebrate Matthew Flinders discovery of the summit.

SAIGON, VIETNAM - INTERNATIONAL DAY OF PEACE EVENT

By Pat Patrick • September 21, 2026
I joined in with 49 other Ship Residents to attend an event the next day at The Vietnam War Remnants Museum also known as The Museum for Peace. This was put together by our residents as part of our ongoing efforts with the Ship's Odyssey Rotary Club and our Global Flagship of Peace initiative.

HO CHI MING CITY, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • September 21, 2026
HO CHI MING CITY or SAIGON was our last port in Vietnam . The downtown area was an hour away from the Port , so most of us got Hotel rooms in town, as prices were so reasonable. Sadly, it was a rainy four days, but that kept temperatures moderate and we could still get out and do most things. We stayed in district #1 as most of the City highlights are in this area along with the nightlife. Traffic is very busy in the City, especially motorbikes. Crossing the streets needs to be done with intent and quickly as there are very few traffic lights or stop signs.

SHIP SHENANIGANS - CLUE PARTY

By Pat Patrick • September 16, 2026
It's never a dull Sea Day on the Odyssey! We have such creative residents, that are always coming up with new ideas to entertain ourselves and have a good time. This plot was the calculating of Eddie and Michelle - a Game of Clue! The rules were simple - find the party venue at 8:30 pm, come dressed as a character, weapon or room from the game and solve the mystery of who stole the Ship's bell.