Cruise through History Itinerary 14, Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands, on sale now!

December 29, 2020

The tenth release in the Cruise through History© storybook series, Itinerary 14 Australia, New Zealand and Pacific Islands is now available in print and e-book.

Cruise through History stories are for fun reading, before you take a cruise, or when dreaming of travel. The stories are all well-researched, true, and so entertaining. History in school was never like this. The stories introduce travelers to characters, who make ports of the world special.

Once again the stories are distilled from hundreds of source materials, mined for fun facts of sailors, artists and colorful characters, who bequeathed the landscape of cities, monuments and legends, waiting for visitors on a typical cruise itinerary. Accompanied by hundreds of photos and original art, stories go beyond guide books to take readers down streets to memorable places.

Itinerary 14 of Cruise through History’s latest release includes tales found in ports of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. In this collection are tales of explorers, who mapped Australia, New Zealand and Polynesia, and of the indigenous peoples they encountered. Follow Able Tasman in Tasmania and James Cook as he stops along routes in New Zealand and Australia. Infamous Captain William Bligh has his own story in this collection. Contrary to Hollywood movies, Bligh is heroic in real history. He came to Polynesia to collect breadfruit, a fool’s errand for slave-owning Englishmen, and a mission made infamous in the Mutiny on the Bounty. Bligh lived through the mutiny, on the force of will and excellent skills as a mariner, to become part of history in Australia, as governor of New South Wales. In the final story in this Itinerary, follow the Bounty mutineers to Pitcairn Island, for an unsolved mystery. Did Fletcher Christian end his days, on an island in the middle of the South Pacific, or in Portsmouth, England, home of the Royal Navy, which traversed the seas hunting for him?

Rapa Nui Ahu Akivi

In each port, indigenous people are part of the ongoing story, integral to history and future of each place. Endearing is the Aboriginal Heart of Australia, told in Songlines, the literal dots of cultural understanding. In New Zealand, the Maori are Strong and Resilient, through times of the Treaty of Waitangi and its ambiguous translation. In New Zealand, the Treaty began a war, rather than came at its conclusion. The story here, is the evolution of Maori and European co-existence from the incident at Wairu, that led from War to a New, New Zealand of today.    

In Polynesia, experience the Island Gods, never fully vanquished when the French colonized French Polynesia. The story of the French in French Polynesia is an ode to the lack of virtue in colonization and to the leadership of Polynesian kings and queens. Paul Gauguin sought primitive people in Tahiti, yet found a complex culture, through whom he channeled his passion in art. The story of Bora Bora is a short story of party-loving Arioi warriors of ancient history, to Operation Bobcat in World War II, and the continuous party at Bloody Mary’s today.

On Easter Island, learn secrets of Walking Moai and the Rapa Nui people for whom stone giants protected their mana. Then sail on the Mana, the schooner of Katherine Routledge, who spent more than a year on Easter Island, prior to World War I, documenting genealogies of the remnants of Rapa Nui people. Routledge began a personal adventure in science, which brought world-wide attention to the importance of preserving Rapa Nui culture, through the emerging field of ethnography. The contributions of Routledge enhanced regard for women in science.

All Cruise through History itineraries offer stories of ports to enhance the lure and fun of shore excursions. In Australia, begin in Sydney, by going deep into the streetscape, where Sydney is More than a Harbor. Then venture into the notorious King’s Cross section of Sydney, where Characters of King’s Cross include two women gang mavens, artists, the muse for Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and the unsolved mystery of the disappearance of a woman, whose crusade to preserve historic neighborhoods ended in her death.

Travel around Australia to Marvelous Melbourne, built by new wealth of a gold rush and sustained today by an environment devoted to the arts. In Hobart, Tasmania, visit Port Arthur for the story of the Transportation Era in Australia. Not all emigres from Europe were transportees. In Adelaide, Hahndorf is A Little Bit of Germany in South Australia. The Wild West of Australia lives on in Fremantle, home of the World Heritage Site Transportation Era prison and a streetscape of territorial pubs, cafés and coffee bars. Broome, an outpost of pearl divers, is the ideal location for mystery stories Of Pearls and Poets. History of Darwin was made by flyers of double winged and single engine aircraft. Then Darwin became famous as a port in the airplane race of the century. End the Australia tour with Independent Queenslanders of Brisbane. Brisbane, begun as a Transportation Era prison site, grew into a desirable, multicultural city.

Port Arthur Prison in Tasmania

In New Zealand, port stories begin with Wine and Coffee in Auckland. Wander streets of Auckland from its beginnings at the port, up streets in time to the town hall, now an orchestra venue. Napier and Christchurch, New Zealand were devastated by earthquakes. In Napier the story is regrowth as an Art Deco gem in the southern hemisphere. Christchurch is Rising amidst recent leveling of its Gothic Revival core, with a spirit of regeneration that is inspiring.

Turn to New Zealand literature in Wellington and Dunedin. In Wellington Girl meet Katherine Mansfield, outrageous in life and inspiring writers forever after. Although she lived in Europe and England, her stories are set in emotions of Wellington, which makes her a favorite daughter of the city today. Dunedin is a Little Bit of Scotland in New Zealand. Founded by Scots, hallmark of the city is a statue of Robert Burns on the city center, at the beginning of a writers’ walk, inspiration to modern writers of literary prizes. In Dunedin visit a Scottish castle and wander streets of Scottish architecture, so far from Scotland.

Dunedin Eailway Station

All the stories entertain readers, read as a group, or to prepare for a port visit. As adult travelers, fill in history never taught in school, with all the drama and intrigue. Read and enjoy!

Cruise through History storybooks in print and e-book are found at amazon.com.

 

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