Our 7th annual Legacy Genealogy Cruise has concluded. We all had the time of our lives. I'm now trying to recover from a couple of new syndromes I picked up: 1) a severe case of desynchronosis (jet lag), 2) an even more serious case of I-sure-enjoyed-not-making-my-own-food-or-cleaning-up-after-myself, and 3) the "I ate too much good food and didn't exercise enough" syndrome. However, after 2 1/2 days of being home now, I have lost 7 pounds. It's not so hard going back to work though because I absolutely love what I do.

Whilst (a new word for me) in Australia and New Zealand, we saw kangaroos, kiwis, the Mauri Haka, waterfalls splashing into the sea, and even a few whales. My wife and I climbed Mt. Maunganui, toured the Cadburry Chocolate Factory (where I discovered new taste buds), explored the Gloworm caves, danced, read, slept, and have I mentioned - we ate lots of food?

While (I just can't get used to the word 'whilst') teaching classes and speaking with our Legacy cruisers (about 2/3 were from Australia and New Zealand) I learned that "I" was the one with the strong accent. And I loved hearing the Aussies welcome me with a "g'day mate". They really say that - I thought it was just something they said in the movies. Anyways, I grew to love the people in our group, especially those from "down under" - they are such a warm, friendly people. My favorite part of the entire cruise was the Legacy classes. We were able to add about 4 1/2 hours of additional instruction, including personal one-on-one sessions. Two of our cruisers, Jan Gow and Wayne Anderson, gave brilliant (another of my new favorite words) classes on various aspects of genealogy technology. My favorite class was Wayne's serendipity stories, which concluded with others in the group sharing their own serendipity experiences.

So...it is back to work for the Legacy development team. We have some great things planned for the near and not-so-near future. Happy Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) to everyone in the U.S. this week. Below are just a few of the 249 pictures I took.

The Fiordlands had hundreds of waterfalls spilling into the sea. This was the most beautiful part of the trip.

Haka is a traditional dance of the Māori in New Zealand.

I couldn't resist taking pictures of New Zealand cemeteries.

Our ship - the Sun Princess.

 

My wife and I on the 2nd formal night:

If you look really closely, and with a little imagination, you can see the tip of the whale we saw during dinner. Good thing I got it on video - nobody believed me....

Here's a picture of some of our cruisers in class:

I guess I should conclude this article now. Our 8th annual Legacy Genealogy Cruise is just 10 months and 5 days away. We hope to see you next September as we cruise New England and eastern Canada.