Why Postcards from the edge – it is not in homage to Carrie Fisher but a reference to a conversation with a fellow traveller who observed wistfully that he had travelled the world but only ever seen its edge.  This is one of the drawbacks of sea journeys, the ability to be everywhere and nowhere almost simultaneously.

I avoid conversation at breakfast.  There are three types on this ship:  Type 1 – the very old whose main conversation is operations, hospitals and medication;  Type 2 – the worldly wise who have been everywhere, know everything and are impressed by nothing; Type 3 – the miserable old sods who don’t want to talk – that’s me.  A true example of a Type 2 conversation (in a John Major voice) – We won’t be getting off at New York, been there before and didn’t like it.   This begs many questions, not least, why are you on this ship and which singular aspect of the rich tapestry that is New York put you off the whole.

Saint John is a fine enough place with a long immigrant history like all of the large eastern seaboard ports .  It is also famous for Reversing Falls, a quite unusual natural phenomenon; the powerful rising tide forces the waters of the Saint John River to flow upstream through a rocky gorge.  Unfortunately, to fully appreciate what is happening you would have to stand there all day.

As we arrive at Halifax the sun is bright upon a shining sea:

Wait a minute, its stopped raining
Guys are swimming, guys are sailing
Playing baseball, gee that’s bedda
Mudder, Fadder kindly disregard this letter