The Day the World Changed...

There has been numerous key dates over the years (or decades, and in reality centuries) which have been defining, and have changed the course of history, or life as people know it. … wars, fires, plagues, assassinations, accidents, deaths and so on. Everyone has their own “key dates” for various reasons. But for me, 14 March 2020 is that day. Why this date? Well I was on a cruise ship with a whole bunch of geniemates, on the way to Tasmania as part of the Unlock the Past genealogy cruise. But, again why? Well, it was the day that the captain of the Pacific Aria ship advised passengers, that 3 days into our 8 day cruise, we would not be going to Tasmania as planned, but instead heading straight back to Adelaide (where the ship came from). This was due to all P&O cruise ships “pausing” their operations as a precautionary measure in regards to the Coronavirus. Of course I’d heard of the Coronavirus before then, it had been in the news. But it wasn’t BIG news. But with each passing day, it certainly became so. While it began in China back in December 2019, it had reached Australia. The numbers of those infected kept rising. The deaths started happening. So the cruise ships stopped. The planes cut flights. State borders were closed. Mandatory 14 day quarantine was introduced. Pubs, clubs, gyms, even playgrounds were closed and so on. The world HAD changed … all just within a few days. “Self isolation” and “social distancing” became the new key words. Pretty much every country in the world is faced with this pandemic. But when it gets to your own country, your own area, it really hits home. Prior to leaving...

14th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 6-8 Friends, Canada, Chainmail and Martinis...

Now for the last installment of my Alaska cruise reports. With squirrels, icebergs, seals, an aurora, and a whale already sighted on the trip, who knew what else was to come? Wednesday – 12 September 2018 (at Sea) Wednesday was a sea day, which means a whole day of talks scheduled. And as often happens at conference, there were some tough choices to be made as to what to go to. But the eight I made it to were: – My Ancestor was a 19th Century Goldminer: Don’t Rule it Out (Kae Lewis) – Begotten by Fornication (Helen Smith) – Caring for your Family Archives (Shauna Hicks) – Madness, Mania and Melancholia: The Mental Health of our Ancestors (Janet Few) – Seven Habits of Highly Effective Genealogists (Pat Richley-Erickson) – Beyond Just Indexes: Why We Should Check Source Records (Rosemary Kopittke) – Software Your Never Knew (Ed Thompson) – Are You Related to Royalty? (Caroline Gurney) It was a long day, and a lot to take in, and I admit that by the afternoon I wasn’t taking as many notes as I did in the morning, as weariness had set in. So I must check the speakers handouts for those. The evening began with a very special presentation by Mia Bennett who represented the Society of Genealogists (London), in presenting Cyndi Ingle with her Prince Michael of Kent Award for her contribution towards genealogy. You can read more about the award and how seriously awesome it is here. It was a fabulous presentation, and one which had Cyndi and few others shedding a few tears. As it was streamed live on Facebook, you can watch the presentation here if you wish. But I don’t think you’ll find a person...

14th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 4-5 Paw Chocolates, Icebergs, a Whale and an Aurora...

Continuing on my report of the Unlock the Past Alaska cruise … and we’re up to day 4, and there was more exciting happenings! Monday – 10 September 2018 (Skagway, Alaska, USA) It was another super stunning weather day with blue skies all round. I heard a fellow cruiser say that they never expected to get sunburnt in Alaska … but they did! We docked at Skagway early and those on tours made their way off. Many went on long train rides which certainly was one way to see the place. I didn’t have any tour booked, so wandered ashore, then took a shuttle bus to the town for a walk around with my mum. To say that this town looks like it’s out of a western movie is an understatement. It really, truly does! You can totally imagine gun fights happening in the streets. Well I can anyway! One thing that fascinated me was the painted rocks near where we docked. They were painted with a ship name, and usually the captain and often a date. So there’s me thinking what a fabulous (but rather unusual), genealogical source they would be. Proof that your seaman captain was here at that date! Now if I could just find one that related to my seaman ancestor dating back to the early 1900s! Hmmmm. Anyway the town of Skagway was full of little shops, most selling jewellery (despite what the vintage sign outside said – obviously they were just for looks). I did find a little store selling chocolates, and each variant was a different “paw” type. I bought a few but then remembered I wasn’t meant to bring food back on board, so had to eat them quickly! As it was...

14th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 1-3 Embarking, Glaciers, a Squirrel, and a Saloon...

The Unlockthe Past Alaska cruise was one I’d been looking forward to for a long time as Alaska was a place I’d never been to (and in reality probably won’t get back to again). But everyone who’s done an Alaskan cruise said how totally fabulous it was. So it sounded a great place to visit. Add in a genealogy conference and we had 7 nights, 17 speakers, 45 talks, and great places to see along the way! Sounds awesome. This cruise started in Seattle,Washington, USA, the went up through the Inside Passage to Juneau, Alaska, then Skagway, Alaska, before heading back and sailing through the Tracy Arm Fjord, stopping at Victoria, Canada and then back to Seattle. There was certainly plenty to see, which means plenty to write about. So let me take you on the cruise … Friday – 7 September 2018 (Seattle, Washington, USA) Embarkation day, so we (note: by ‘we’ I mean the UTP organising team) got down to the port as early as we could which was good and bad. Good to be there early, but bad as it was crazy with people, as three three ships had arrived in that morning with passengers leaving, and who knows how many thousands of passengers arriving to go on them. Anyway we were onboard the “Explorer of the Seas” before lunchtime, and made our way to the Conference Room down on deck 2, and set up the registration desk for the UTP cruisers. So throughout the day people from ‘our group’ could come and collect their name tag, lanyard, program book and other bits-and-pieces. And after the compulsory lifeboat drill, the ship left at 4pm, and while it was a grey day in Seattle, the rain did hold...

A Day and a Conference in Seattle...

Tuesday the 4th of September was the longest day ever (well for me anyway). I was up at about 3am, ready for a 6am flight – and my long trip to the US for my latest adventure began. After after 3 plane flights, bad food, and no sleep, 30 or so hours later, I was at my hotel in Seattle, USA. By this time it’s Tuesday mid-afternoon and a lovely blue sky day, much to my amazement … as my only prior knowledge of Seattle (other than that’s where Nirvana were from), was that ‘it ALWAYS rains’. I must say that I’m very impressed that I was proved wrong. Anyway I was there primarily for Unlock the Past’s Alaska cruise, which I will report on in a later post, but prior to the cruise I had two days in Seattle. So in this post I’m writing about that. Wednesday 5 September 2018 This was my “free” day. A day to sleep (which I reckon I needed), or a day to tourist. I opted for a bit of both. A quiet morning at the hotel, followed  by some touristing courtesy of the hop-on-hop-off bus in the afternoon – and another perfect weather day. While the bus has 18 stops or so I want to show you just 2 places I saw – the Space Needle and the Chihuly Glass Garden and Exhibition. Both were certainly something worth seeing. While I dd take plenty of photos, I found videos of both, which shows the scale of them far better than my pics do.  If you want to see more of the Glass Garden, click here for a longer video. For more on the Space Needle, check out this link. After...

2 Months Until Alaska … Are you Ready?...

The months are flying by, and there’s now just two months until we set sail on Unlock the Past’s 14th cruise to Alaska.  61 days allowing for the timezone changes. If you need proof … check my countdown app … So after flying to Seattle, Washington, USA and having a full-on genealogy seminar the day before … we’ll be boarding on the 7th of September. Myself and all the other geneacruisers then get 7 fun-filled days of genealogy learning combined with seeing the incredible sights that Alaska has to offer. Don’t you think that’s an awesome combination? The itinerary takes us from Seattle, to the Inside Passage, to Juneau, Skagway, and Tracy Arm, then to Victoria, Canada before we head back to Seattle. The ship we’re cruising on is the magnificent Explorer of the Seas from Royal Caribbean. Great ship, and great conference room facilities. So we have a great ship, great itinerary, and trust me it’ll be a great conference as the range of conference presenters is incredible. THE PRESENTERS Susan Brook (USA) – Chasing Your Ancestors Dick Eastman (USA) – Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter Dr Janet Few (England) – The History Interpreter Dr Maurice Gleeson (England) – DNA and Family Tree Research Jan Gow (New Zealand) – Hooked on Genealogy Tours Caroline Gurney (England) – Historical Research Services Shauna Hicks (Australia) – Shauna Hicks History Enterprises Cyndi Ingle (USA) – Cyndi’s List Eric Kopittke (Australia) – German Family Matters Rosemary Kopittke (Australia) – Rosemary Kopittke Genealogy Kae Lewis (USA / New Zealand) – Goldrush Online Mike Murray (Australia) – Time Trackers Michelle Patient (New Zealand) – The Patient Genie Pat Richley-Erickson (USA) – Dear Myrtle Teri Schaller (USA) – History Speaks, a division of Mile High Transcripts...

14th Unlock the Past Cruise: Alaska – 8 Months Away...

I’ll admit it. I’m a genealogy cruise fan (aka geneacruiser). I’ve been on 5 already with Unlock the Past cruises, and have cruised around Australia, the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Scandinavia and the Baltic, and the UK. Not only have I seen some amazing places along the way, I’ve also learnt so much from the speakers onboard, and made many new friends as well. All in all, they are a whole lot of fun. Anyway this year I’m off to Alaska on what is Unlock the Past’s 14th cruise. And I’m just a little bit excited? Can you tell? I’ve even got a countdown app on my phone … and it tells me that as of today, there’s just 8 months to go. So what’s a genealogy cruise? Or more to the point I should say what’s an Unlock the Past genealogy cruise? Well, essentially it’s a genealogy conference on board a cruise ship. So just like a regular cruise you get your comfy room, meals included, entertainment onboard, and you get to sightsee along the way, but with a genealogy cruise, during the seas days you can attend a genealogy conference onboard, which sounds perfect to me. They have a whole schedule of talks planned, and you simply pick and choose any you’re interested in, and you can read, swim (ok, maybe not swim on a Winter-time Alaska cruise), chitchat over coffee with friends or whatever else the rest of the time. No pressure. And if you are travelling with non-genie family or friends, there is plenty of ships activities that can keep them amused while you’re busy conferencing with many of the world’s best. So the details …  WHEN: 7-14 September 2018 ITINERARY: Seattle, USA > Inside...

Counting Down to Geneacruising Alaska in 2018...

What’s better than a cruise? A genealogy cruise of course. Well, it is in my opinion anyway, and I’m already looking forward to my next one … Alaska. In September 2018 (7 September 2018 to be exact), Unlock the Past’s Alaska cruise will leave from the docks at Seattle, USA, and head up the coast for a 7 day cruise to Alaska and back. I have seen some amazing places on previous cruises, but I’ve not been to Alaska. But everyone who has, tells me it is absolutely incredible, so I’m looking forward to it. But then combine the amazing scenery with a phenomenal ship that has everything catered for, and a genealogy conference with world-class speakers … what’s not to love? So yes, I’m counting down! WHEN: 7-14 September 2018 ITINERARY: Seattle, USA > Inside Passage, Canada > Juneau, USA > Skagway, USA > Tracy Arm, USA > Victoria, Canada > Seattle, USA SHIP: Royal Caribbean’s Explorer of the Seas  COST: from AU$1471 (approx US$1100, GB£870) and includes all onboard accommodation, standard meals, taxes, gratuities and conference cost. PRESENTERS: Chris Paton (Scotland) Dick Eastman (USA), Dr Janet Few (England) Jan Gow (New Zealand) Caroline Gurney (England) Shauna Hicks (Australia) Cyndi Ingle (USA) Eric Kopittke (Australia) Rosemary Kopittke (Australia) Mike Murray (Australia) Mile High Transcripts (USA) Michelle Patient (New Zealand) Pat Richley-Erickson (aka Dear Myrtle) (USA) Helen Smith (Australia) … and more still the be announced! So apart from the awesome group of speakers, and meeting with a great bunch of other genealogists, there are still further benefits of genealogy cruising: – there are no meals to prepare (not even mentioning the incredible buffets on offer) – no housekeeping (your room is tidied everyday by cruise staff) – and you...

10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 15-19 Koalas, Dolphins and a Helicopter...

The last few days of the cruise involved a stop at Adelaide, followed by three full days of talks as we sailed to Fremantle. So lets get into it … Day 15 – Adelaide (Sunday 28 February 2016) Our stop in Adelaide, which is my hometown, was one of touristing. Mr Lonetester picked myself, Judy Russell and Helen Smith up from the port and we went off for the day. After driving through the city of Adelaide to show Judy why Adelaide is called “the city of Churches” we headed for the hills, and went to the Gorge Wildlife Park at Cudlee Creek. It’s a small wildlife park, but there is still so much to see (and photograph). Before leaving there I did have to make sure that Judy hadn’t put either the adorable baby wallaby or koala in her backpack. I know she desperately wanted to!! Our second stop was lunch at Billy Baxter’s which had great food and was conveniently located in the same shopping centre as Haigh’s Chocolates – which was a MUST VISIT place for Helen. And since she’s deprived of Haigh’s stores in Queensland, she stocked up. As Judy is missing her kitty’s, we did a quick stop at my house as I have four furbabies. Two of them reluctantly decided to show their face, and Judy got to pat them, so she was happy. The last stop of our whistlestop outing was a quick visit to my shop (Gould Genealogy & History). Afterall how could you be a genealogist, come to South Oz, and not visit our store? Lovely weather. Lovely company. It was a great day out. And the day finished with Louis Kessler giving us a beginners guide to Jewish genealogy. As this wasn’t...

10th Unlock the Past Cruise: Days 12-14 Genealogy, Friends and More Genealogy...

In case you haven’t gathered from my previous posts, geneacruising (aka genealogy conferencing onboard a cruise ship) is a whole lot of fun. You get to see great places, you get to make wonderful new friends, and you get to do a whole lot of learning – to the point where no some are already wanting to go home and restart researching, they’re so enthused. And that’s without mentioning that the food is there for you, your room is tidied twice a day, and the laundry service (although expensive) is invaluable. So let me continue with my reporting on the 10th cruise for you … Day 12 – at Sea (Thursday 25 February 2016) The second half of Day 12 for me was spent in the Conference room. After walking out on lunch at the Silk Harvest Restaurant, I grabbed a snack and headed straight for the Conference room, and sat in on the next six talks that were scheduled for the rest of the day: – Document analysis workshop part 1 (Helen Smith) – Document analysis workshop part 2 (Helen Smith) – DNA and the golden rule: the law and ethics of genetic genealogy (Judy G. Russell) – Online trends in family history (Shauna Hicks) – Future Unlock the Past cruises (Alan Phillips) – Asylum records: a place to look for missing ancestors (Shauna Hicks) Louis Kessler was scheduled to do two talks today, but due to feeling unwell, so they were rescheduled and will be heard later on the cruise. Helen’s talks on document analysis went indepth showing all the information that you can (and should be) gleaning from various records. Too often people simply looks for the names in the middle, and miss the many other...