March 19, 2026

TASMANIA has always had a meanacing sound to me, probably because of the famed Tasmania Devil!  So it was a nice surprise to find such a lovely, friendly place. Hobart is the capital of the island state, and is Australia's second oldest city, blending colonial history with dramatic natural scenery. The population of greater Hobart is roughly 250,000. The city sits between the sparkling Derwent River and the towering slopes of Mount Wellington, making for a picturesque waterfront.

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    Harbour view from atop Mount Welligton ( from web)

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    Mount Wellington on our way out of Harbour, with fog finally clearing

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    Odyssey in Port

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I was suppose to go on a bus excursion to the top of Mount Wellington when we arrived on the 16th of March, but the fog was so thick our bus driver changed the route, to take us to other city sights. We went to the top of two former signal lookouts, on either side of the the Tasmania Bridge, so we got a good view below the cloud cover of the whole harbour. The Tasmania Bridge now closes to traffic everytime a large freight vessel needs to pass by, due to an accident that occurred on January 5, 1975.  A bulk carrier vessel, the Lake Illawarra, collided with several bridge pylons causing the bridge deck to collapse onto the ship below and the river.Twelve people were killed, including seven crew on the Lake Illawarra and Hobart was cut off from it's eastern suburbs. The ship wreck still remains in the River today, as it was safer to leave it. The bonus of this excursion was we got to go the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens.

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I also enjoyed the Victorian architecture of the homes and buildings in the town.

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Pattaya, Thailand - My healthcare

By Pat Patrick • October 23, 2026
This Blog is more than a journal of my travels around the world, it's a major memory tool for me in documenting all the events along the way. You often ask me how we take care of medical things, as we travel non stop and today is a perfect example. A fellow resident had posted on one of our WhatsApp groups ( this is the main way we all- residents, crew and stateside support all communicate ) that she had an excellent contact for anyone looking to get medical appointments in the Pattaya / Bangkok area.

Off the Coast of PATTAYA, THAILAND

By Pat Patrick • October 20, 2026
Off the coast of Pattaya, Thailand a talented and dedicated group of residents, the Odyssey Troubadours , performed A Night of Broadway for the enjoyment of all the other residents and senior staff on board. The group of 20 performed, 15 Broadway songs that had some special Odyssey edits, personalizing them to our journey. We loved it ! Such a clever, talented and fun loving group. I was upfront and focused on getting candid pictures of the talented cast.

NONG NOOCH TROPICAL GARDENS, Pattaya, Thailand

By Pat Patrick • October 20, 2026
We were up for breakfast at 7 and then hired a private small tram to take us around the gardens, for an overview, because it came with a guide. Problem was, guide barely spoke English, so we had a hard time figuring out the history of this crazy place. Even with translate app his answers were questionable. Did it start as gardens? What's with all the statues? Is there a master plan? It seems to be growing with no real connections, that we could make out. Web & Chat GPT seem vague on details too! We had fun with it, finding more and more absurd things, until the heat won out!