Tag: 2026
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The Flat Friends Start Touring Japan…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Japan #okinawa The Flat Friends’ first port in Japan was on the island of Okinawa. Our fellow passengers were amazed by the island’s unique history. Before 1879, Okinawa was part of an independent nation called the Ryukyu Kingdom. It became a Japanese prefecture about 147 years ago. For 27 years after World War…
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Continuing Our Taipei Tour — It’s Temple Time
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #taipei The next time the bus stopped we walked around to visit two different places. First was Bao-An Temple, a Taoist temple to the God of Medicine: Baosheng Dadi. We visited on a national holiday. Families were at the temple, lighting incense (sticks that release a scented smoke) and saying prayers. Many come…
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The Flat Friends Sailed North Around Taiwan…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #taiwan From Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in the South, our ship sailed around the west side of the island, to the northern port city of Keelung. A 30 minute bus ride from the port city of Keelung is Taipei. The Taipei-Keelung “metroplex” (a huge area that combines both cities) is home to around 7 million…
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A Festival of Lights Celebration At Sea With The Flat Friends…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #themeparty #hal The Festival of Lights Party onboard was a fun celebration where everyone (both passengers and officers) were encouraged to wear clothing that represented a culture from around the world. Some wore native dress from their home country. Others wore wonderful outfits they bought in one of the ports we have visited…
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The Flat Friends Discover Taiwan!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #taiwan Taiwan is a little bigger in size than the state of Maryland. (Almost the size of Maryland and Delaware together.) However, Taiwan has a population of 23 million, that’s almost three times as many people as the 7.4 million people who live in Maryland and Delaware combined. That’s a lot of words…
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More From Hong Kong, The Cable Car, and Po Lin Monastery…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #hongkong Flat Halena was drawn to a fountain with water lilies in bloom. As beautiful as the flowers were in the moment (photos on the left) she was instantly imagining them as works of art like on the right! Their vibrant colors popping off the page, at the fountain the flowers seemed to…
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The Flat Friends Ride The Hong Kong Cable Car
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #hongkong The Flat Friends have had a lot of fun on cable cars and sky rails this trip, so when we saw there was one in Hong Kong we had to sign up! Another chance at a bird’s eye view! This ride had several added bits of fun—like the car transitioning (moving) between…
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In Macau the Flat Friends found an interesting mix of Portuguese and Chinese culture.
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #macau The A-Ma Temple has the classic swooping roofline so often seen in pictures of Asian countries. After our visit to the temple we drove by a Las Vegas style area, with golden hotels and casinos competing for our attention. Several times we got confused, trying to figure out if we were looking…
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Next Port: Hong Kong
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #hongkong #macau Next Tour: Macau (1 hour ferry ride away) Hong Kong and Macau have some very important things in common. They are both listed as SAR China. Special Administrative Region. This is a mouthful of words that means nearly 30 years ago they returned to China’s control from the countries that had…
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More From The Flat Friends Day In Ha Long Bay, Vietnam…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #vietnam Flat Hal had heard buildings in Asia look different than at home, but seeing them was really special. Sloping roofs arc up to points, with fancy decorations, allowing the temple buildings to stand apart from the modern office buildings around them. Flat Halena wandered around, discovering the flowers that grow on the…
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In Hạ Long We Focused On History And A Natural Wonder…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #vietnam Việt Nam translates from the Vietnamese language as “people (or tribe) of the South”. Of the tribes of Imperial China, they were the southern tribe. The Vietnamese people broke away from China and united as one nation. Then the French came—their history has many periods of conflict, and fights to remain united…
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Da Nang Was More Than We Imagined.
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #vietnam #danang A big city, with a harbor packed full of little fishing boats. In the garden, we met kind, thoughtful people — once again we were reminded that as we travel we see new things, and we see familiar things (and flowers). If we are lucky, we share a magical moment with…
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Inspired By The World Around Us, And Our Photography Of It…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #vietnam #art Flat Hal loves taking photos of the places we visit. It is a fun way to capture memories. As the saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words” (or can tell an entire story without a single word.) Flat Halena has been trying to create art from our pictures. Technology…
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Ba Na Hills Is An Amazing Treat An Hour From Da Nang, Vietnam…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #vietnam From Da Nang the Flat Friends ventured almost an hour away from the port to Bà Nà Hills where a company called SunWorld has set up a resort and amusement park. We had a very limited time in port, just over 5 hours, which gave us less than three hours at Bà…
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The Flat Friends Discover Vietnam…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Vietnam For almost 70 years the French Colony of Indochina existed in Southeast Asia. The Flat Friends have only ever known Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam on the map, but the generations before them have seen the borders in this part of the world shift, and the names change—even as the native people remained…
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More Beautiful Birds From Our Visit to Bird Paradise in Singapore…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #singapore #birdparadise Lory Loft is an aviary full of colorful birds! Our long held wish to photograph a bird with dazzling colors wasn’t just met, it was exceeded while we were at Bird Paradise. Flat Hal was amazed that birds with bright red feathers could blend in with the trees, while Flat Halena was shocked how close to us…
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Singapore’s Bird Paradise
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #singapore #birdparadise As the name suggests, Bird Paradise is a haven for bird lovers. Winged Sanctuary has smaller cages, with only two or three types of birds in each—we saw amazing Hornbills in this area! Unfortunately the enclosures prevented photos. From there we went to Penguins cove for a snack and a visit…
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Walking Around the Night Safari in Singapore
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #singapore #nightsafari We realized early in our walk around the park that “active at night” isn’t the same as “awake when we walk by.” Both leopards were napping when we visited, but WOW, we can’t imagine sleeping in a tree with our limbs dangling down around the branch! One trail connected to the next, making…
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Night Safari in Singapore with the Flat Friends
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #singapore #nightsafari Night Safari in Singapore is one of the excursions the Flat Friends have been looking forward to since early in our voyage. This is a wildlife park full of animals that are active at night (nocturnal) and rest during the day. These are the animals we often hear about, but don’t…
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The Flat Friends Discover Singapore, A City-State
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Singapore Singapore is an amazing place. Home to six million people it is a city-state, which is a fancy way of saying the entire country is really one big city. Athens and Rome were city-states, hundreds of years ago. There are basically three city-states in the world, each famous for different reasons. Monaco—famous…
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Do You Dream Of Sailing The Seven Seas?
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #7seas #geography The Flat Friends love sea days! We can play games, relax—and look up the answers to any questions that have popped into our heads! We sailed out of Bali in the Lombok Strait, to the Bali Sea. Now we are in the Java Sea headed north to the equator and Singapore.…
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Exploring What Makes Indonesia Unique…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Indonesia The Flat Friends visited just 2 of the 17,000 islands that make up the country of Indonesia! (Bali & Komodo) Even though they only saw a small part of this giant archipelago (a big chain of islands), they learned so much. A group of local dancers performed on our ship. They wore…
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The Flat Friends Saw The Tide Come In!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #indonesia #tide The Flat Friends often hear about the tide, but it’s rare to see the change so clearly! Top: At low tide, the water disappears and leaves ‘mud flats’ behind. Middle: As the water creeps back in, you can see two big rocks near the center. Bottom: At high tide, the rocks…
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It Turns Out Bali And Bali Hai Are Not The Same Place
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #bali #indonesia Flat Halena was a little disappointed to discover when we arrived at Benoa, Bali, that we were not visiting the mythical Bali Ha’i. Instead, we arrived at a very real place, full of its own culture and wonders. Even if it didn’t inspire James Michener, it did us! Flat Hal wore…
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Komodo Island was one of the most anticipated stops on our trip.
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #komodoisland #indonesia Komodo Island was one of the most anticipated stops on our trip. Not just the Flat Friends, but countless other guests were eagerly looking forward to seeing a Komodo Dragon in person. There are only about 3,000 Dragons left in existence, and we were going to their home, as tolerated guests—so…
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The Flat Friends Are Looking Ahead To Komodo Island And Bali
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Bali #komodoisland #indonesia Today we are sailing towards Komodo Island. When the Captain announced where we were in his daily new briefing over the public address system the name he gave for the sea didn’t match our map. This is the same Captain we had for part of our Pole to Pole adventure.…
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Learning About Australia— Its States And Territories
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #Australia The Top End of the Northern Territory has a lush, green, tropical environment. The rest of the territory might also get a lot of rain in the wet season, but it is mostly desert, and red rock. Looking at our path sailing around Australia: For countless generations—long before European ships arrived—First Nations…
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We met some amazing feathered friends at the Territory Wildlife Park!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #wildlife #australia The Emu might be the tallest bird on this page, but the Jabiru (Black-necked Stork) has the longest legs! There is a lot to enjoy on an adventure at a wildlife park or sanctuary. The Territory Wildlife Park outside Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia concentrates on animals found in…
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Different Countries Have Different Ways Of Governing… Let’s Learn About Where We’ve Been!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #government Another sea day, another chance to dig up answers to what’s on our minds. This time the Flat Friends decided to try and learn a little about the governments of the countries we have been visiting. (Flat Hal visited Ecuador and Peru last year, so he included them while we were looking…
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The Flat Friends Wanted To Learn About The Māori and Aboriginal Peoples…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #maori #aboriginal While we were in New Zealand the Flat Friends heard a little about the Māori. The Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of mainland New Zealand (Aotearoa). When we got to Australia we began hearing about the Aboriginal people. They are the diverse indigenous peoples of mainland Australia and its islands,…
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The Flat Friends Are Sailing The Coast Of Australia…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #australia The Flat Friends are moving between seas, through the Torres Strait as we sail Australia’s coast from Sydney to Darwin.
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Flat Halena Gives Flat Hal Some Postcard Writing Ideas…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #postcard Today’s sea day conversation was a little different, Flat Hal was bemoaning how hard it can be to think of what to write on postcards when we are on shore and want to send a message home. Flat Halena suggested we make some pretend postcards from our photos, and practice. The Flat…
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Did The Flat Friends Sail The Great Barrier Reef?
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #greatbarrierreef #australia While Flat Hal and Flat Halena were spending a day on the Kuranda Scenic Railway and the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway, friends and fellow passengers went snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Barrier Reef is the only living thing satellites can see from space! It is the world’s largest coral…
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A Scenic Railway In Cairns, Australia…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #cairns #australia Cairns, Queensland, Australia offered the Flat Friends another opportunity to ride a scenic railway! From the Freshwater Station up through the Wet Tropics Rainforest and Barron Gorge National Forest we travelled for almost an hour and a half on the scenic railway up (literally up) to Kuranda. Kuranda is a welcoming…
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More Animals Of The Billabong…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #billabong #australia The word billabong has its roots in an aboriginal word, with many believing the original term bilabaŋ means “a watercourse that runs only after rain”, another way of saying floodwaters. A lush, green area forms, with fresh water for animals to drink, and trees for birds to nest in. The Flat…
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Townsville, Queensland, Australia — 200,000 people call this city in Northern Australia home!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #townsville #australia We had a lot of choices for how we could spend our day in Townsville, but once the Flat Friends heard about Billabong Sanctuary their decision was made. Could anything be more fun, and interesting than seeing the animals that call this land home? First up was making sure we understood…
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The Flat Friends have tried to compile a list of the waterways we have traveled so far.
Periodically, the Flat Friends try to visualize where we have been so far. This time, as we looked at the map we found ourselves wondering how many oceans and seas we have sailed. How many rivers? We are trying to compile a list of the waterways we have traveled so far… can you help? #flathal…
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What If South Was “Up” Instead Of North?
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #map #geography #history North is “UP” or the top on maps because it has been agreed upon, and we need consistency to help maps be useful. That doesn’t mean north is better, or the South is under it. In 1979 an Australian published a map he had been working on since he was…
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The Flat Friends LOVED the music of Australia…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #music #australia Kids – Great Aussie Songs as discovered on YouTube Ten Thousand Miles AwayBound for Botany BayThe Wild Colonial BoyWaltzing MatildaTie Me Kangaroo Down SportAlong The Road To GundagaiWith My Swag On My ShoulderClick Go The ShearsI Still Call Australia HomeI Am AustralianAdvance Australia Fair Kids the world over learn our home…
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The Flat Friends Visited Sydney, Australia
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #sydney #australia Sydney is the biggest city in Australia, with approximately 5.25 million calling it home. That’s almost the same number of people as call the entire country of New Zealand home! The harbor in Sydney is one of its real highlights. We sailed in too early for it to be considered bright…
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There are definite similarities and differences between these neighboring Island Nations
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #australia #newzealand Our guide in New Zealand referred to his homeland as a nation of farmers who are almost all comfortable on a boat. A country that once had 50 million sheep now has a mere 25 million sheep! Australia was built on mining and some say its economy (how the people earn…
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Taking A Moment To Get To Know The Flags Of Australia And New Zealand…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #flags #newzealand #australia We don’t have to know what the symbols on a country’s flag mean to recognize and appreciate the flag. However, someone (usually a lot of people) worked hard to design each flag—it was a major class project for them (with “class” being “country” here.). Let’s take a moment to understand…
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International Waters — the common heritage of all humanity
The deep blue waters of the Earth are important to all of us, so no one person owns them. #flathal #flatstanleyproject @#internationalwaters When we first sail out of a port it feels pretty obvious we are in their waters. We are within sight of land, often local residents are out on their boats, fishing, and…
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The Flat Friends tried to imagine what their trip would look like if their passport had been stamped at every port.
Real passport stamps are in the language of the country stamping your passport… English for the United States, French for France, etc. We made these stamps for our trip, so the languages aren’t always right, but we tried. What languages do you see in the stamps? For which countries? Does this glossary help you understand…
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The Flat Friends are Australia bound!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #australia Do you know why some of the first Europeans moved to Australia? Hint: it wasn’t by choice! They created a culture known for kindness, humor, and funny songs called “bush ballads”
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Flat Hal & Flat Halena’s New Zealand Bird Spotter Checklist
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #birds #ornithology Keep this checklist handy as you look back through the journal! Can you identify all the birds that Flat Hal and Flat Halena spotted on their New Zealand adventure? [ ] Sparrow – An “immigrant” bird that originally came all the way from Europe! [ ] Blackbird – Another European traveler…
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Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #waitangi, #newzealand New Zealand has a population of just over 5 million people—nearly one third of whom live in the Auckland area. Less than 9,000 people live in Bay of Islands, where the Flat Friends made our second stop in New Zealand. Waitangi, the community our tenders brought us into, has a population…
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2026 — A Lunar Eclipse
#FlatHal #FlatStanleyProject #LunarEclipse After we sailed from Auckland, on our way to Waitangi, Bay of Islands, New Zealand, the Flat Friends stayed up as late as they could and tried to take some photos of the lunar eclipse. The Earth slid between the sun and moon, and around the world people tried to get pictures…
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Weta Workshop — Where Movie Magic And Movie Monsters Feel Real
#flathal #wetaworkshop #newzealand From the moment we arrived at Wētā Workshop the tone was set… we followed colorful footprints left by monsters up to where our tour began beneath glowing bubbles near the ceiling! The Flat Friends were a little uneasy when our guide said we were going to be out to work as interns.…
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Neither Flat Hal nor Flat Halena has been to New Zealand before!
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #newzealand Our arrival in Auckland (a day early thanks to cyclone Urmil) started with a chance to walk around the city center (downtown)/ central business district or CBD as the locals call it. Auckland is a great city for walking! We were amazed how many intersections let us go diagonal across the street.…
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The Flat Friends Are Looking At The Map…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #cruising #southamerica Appreciating where we have been, the waterways we have sailed, and some of the amazing discoveries we have made. The Flat Friends have been having a lot of fun trying to understand the international dateline, but it was a real brain bender when a friend explained there is a period each…
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Dodging a Tropical Storm at Sea
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #tropicalstorm #tonga The Flat Friends made an art challenge out of trying to visualize where the storm we are avoiding is… and why we are avoiding it. 12 meter waves are more than our cruise ship can handle—now we are trying to imagine Captain Cook, or Captain Bligh facing seas like that! We…
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Sea Day Discoveries…
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #internationaldateline Sea days can be a fun time to look back at where we have already been, as well as looking forward to where we are going. Flat Hal and Flat Halena each have friends and family back home who want to know they are staying safe and healthy as we travel. There…
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Have you ever read a time travel story?
#flathal #timetravel #marktwain There are lots of really famous ones, but one of our favorites is A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. It mixes the fun of time travel with the “magic” of Camelot. There are some fun movies inspired by Mark Twain’s book, like A Knight in Camelot with Whoopi Goldberg, or A…
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Adventure! Sometimes Adventure Means Adapting and Changing Plans…
#flathal #tonga #tropicalstorm Today, the Captain announced we are adjusting our course to avoid a tropical storm. While we could get to Tonga, we would be hit by 30-foot waves leaving, because of the storm by Fiji! Fiji is approximately 500 miles from Tonga, which sounds like a long way to the Flat Friends. However,…
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Nim’s Island — Our Next Flat Friends Book Club Destination!
#flathal #nimsisland #bookclub Flat Hal and Flat Halena wanted the next book they read to feel like it took place on one of the islands we visited. Nim’s Island has something very special in common with Pitcairn Island— Nim’s family calls it home, but they don’t have lots of neighbors. They aren’t part of a…
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SOLAS — Safety Of Life At Sea
#flatstanleyproject #flathal #SOLAS At the beginning of every cruise, and once every 30 days after that on epic voyages, passengers take a few minutes to review safety procedures. On some cruises most of the information is shared through a video, like the ones airlines show at the beginning of a flight. At least once every…
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A return visit to Bora Bora for the Flat Friends!
#flathal #borabora #tahiti #frenchpolynesia The Flat Friends really enjoyed walking around Vaitape (the community around the tender port where a small boat brought us ashore from our anchored cruise ship) on our own last time we came to Bora Bora. We strolled at our own pace, stopping anywhere we wanted, as often as we wished…
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Moorea, French Polynesia offered something for everyone.
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #moorea #frenchpolynesia After 50 days of traveling together, the shipboard community has developed friendships and routines. Each evening, fellow passengers share photos from their day. Thanks to our friends we have seen dolphins spinning in the air, and underwater wonderlands visited by the snorkeling excursions. Today we shared our photos of the amazing…
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Flat Friends read Jack and the Geniuses: At the Bottom of the World by Bill Nye and Gregory Mone in Book Club
#flathal #flatstanleyproject #billnye Flat Halena found this library book, and Flat Hal agrees it was a great book club choice! Kids not only have a fun life, but they go on an adventure to Antarctica. So much fun to read a book that took place (in part) where we recently traveled!
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But, where in the world are the Flat Friends?
#flathal #pitcairn #marktwain Flat Hal and Flat Halena feel like they are in the middle of the South Pacific Ocean, seemingly a million miles from anywhere, but that can’t be true. No matter how far away “civilization” (other communities) feel like they are, surely there are other noteworthy landmasses within reach, right? Living on such…
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The Flat Friends Saw Pitcairn Island
#pitcairn #flathal As much as things change, some things stay the same — supplies have always been brought in to Bounty Bay, and still have to be taken up the Hill of Difficulty to the community of Adamstown. The residents now have quad bikes, and machines to go up a concrete paved road, but the…
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Pitcairn Island Greeted The Flat Friends With A Dynamic Sunrise
#pitcairn #flathal Our visit to Adamstown, Pitcairn Island is an unusual one. Instead of passengers going ashore, more than half the local population (28 people) came onboard our ship! Imagine how our 1,000 passengers would have overwhelmed this community of 44 people — 6 of whom are government representatives, not residents. They set up tables…
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Most Readers Don’t Know Tom Sawyer Went Abroad!
Mark Twain captured the magic of youth, particularly the antics of boys discovering the world at large, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Much of the world considers the two books to be for young adults, but Mark Twain actually said he wrote them for adults. There is joy,…
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A Little Easter Island Reading…
Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has captured the imagination of the Flat Friends, just like it has for millions of other people around the world. Its remote location means we have sea days before our next port. Sea days are proving to be a great time to find answers, and dig deeper into the history of…
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Easter Island = Rapa Nui, Chile… Learn Something New Every Day
A Moai Statue stood sentinel over the tender pier where we first arrived on Rapa Nui — like it was waiting to greet us! The Rapa Nui say the Moai were carved to honor someone (a chief or leader) who had died. The Moai were set up on a platform, looking out over the clan,…
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4 days in a row at sea? Where are the Flat Friends going?
Our Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Timeline 1722: Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen became the first European to make recorded contact with the island! Because his ships arrived on Easter Sunday (April 5th), he cleverly (?) named the island “Paasch-Eyland” (Easter Island). He reported seeing great statues standing (Moai) and the inhabitants living their lives. 1774: Famous…
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Ferdinand Magellan and The Age of Discovery!
Flat Hal and Flat Halena feel like time travelers bouncing around time. Events make a lot more sense in order, so let’s slow down a moment. Ferdinand Magellan — 1520 — Discovered Magellan’s Straits between the Atlantic and the Pacific. (He saw a species of Penguin, named Magellanic for him!) HMS Beagle — 1831 to…
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The Flat Friends have been making stickers for the first segment of our grand adventure.
(As a side note: the Flat Friends had a lot of fun sharing the stickers we designed with our fellow passengers! Everyone enjoyed having a fun way to remember the amazing places we visited.)
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Ernest Shackleton did NOT reach the South Pole First
#flathal #ErnestShackleton #Antarctica He did NOT achieve his goal of walking across the frozen continent. It would be easy to look at his four expeditions and see where he fell short. But remember, he didn’t just a take journey or go on a grand adventure. He might have had fun along the way, but he…
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Sailing away from San Antonio, Chile… Where To Next?
The Flat Friends were already planning to do a little cabin organizing as we sail from San Antonio, Chile, even before the wind kicked up and delayed our departure. We are going to have four days in a row at sea, on a nice big ship, with over 1,000 other people. Imagine what it was…
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Flat Hal and Our Journals… Reflecting on San Antonio, Chile
#flathal #Chile #SanAntonio Charles Darwin famously kept journals while traveling aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin’s journals were more focused than ours, Flat Hal and his friends are curious about almost everything we encounter! Today in San Antonio, Chile, Flat Hal was excited to share with Flat Halena what he discovered about Tetrapods last year. When…
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Beaufort Wind Force Scale
Agreement On The Meaning Of Words Gives Them Strength In the early 1800s a man named Francis Beaufort understood this better than many. He and Charles Darwin were both on the HMS Beagle making discoveries. While Darwin was recording animals never before recorded, or named, by Europeans, Beaufort was creating a standardized language for sailors…
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On such an exciting journey it can be hard to fit everything on our minds into a single entry…
…we try to stay focused, and share the adventure the best we can. Here’s a special milestone moment from our San Antonio port call. Flat Hal and Flat Halena are pausing for a moment as we sail towards San Antonio For over a month the Flat Friends, along with just over 1,000 other passengers have…
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Puerto Montt, Another Port The Flat Fellas Photographed Last Year
Puerto Montt is a tender port. A place where the big ship stays at anchor, and smaller boats, called tenders, transport groups of passengers back and forth to shore. Some passengers really enjoy these little boats because they offer a chance to be down on the water, and feel the motion of the ocean. Others…
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Flat Hal Photographed Punta Arenas in 2025
Flat Hal thought an easy day on our ship might be fun when we docked in a city (Punta Arenas) that he and Flat Stanley explored together last year. Initially, Flat Halena thought staying onboard would be restful and calm, but as the day progressed we began to understand why weather can be such an…
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Flat Hal Sailed the Beagle Channel!
Sailing the Beagle Channel was amazing. Some of the surrounding mountains reach over 3,000 feet, and here we were, looking up at them from sea level. On our return to the city the Flat Friends decided to walk around before returning to the ship. In Ushuaia two monuments stood out as ways to get a…
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Ushuaia, Argentina, A Wildlife Tour At The End Of The World
Ushuaia has been nicknamed Fin Del Mundo, the end of the world, because of how far south it is in South America. For many, this community on the Beagle Channel serves as a last stop before departing for Antarctica. For the Flat Friends it was a return to civilization, and a chance to discover a…
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A Well Timed Day At Sea
At home, the weekend comes after five days of school, unless there is a holiday or something special, it is predictable. A routine we know, and can pace ourselves for — but when we travel sometimes we have four amazing, full days in a row, other times we get an easy day after each day…
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The Flat Friends Final Day Of Scenic Cruising In Antarctica Was A Huge Success!
For four days it has seemed like something amazing was just waiting to be discovered just outside our cruise ship. We sailed among whales… truly among them! They were on all sides of us, several everywhere we looked! Penguins raced alongside the ship, and posed for pictures on shore. We sailed near icebergs that seemed…
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The Sun Set And The Snow Moon Appeared!
Flat Hal and Flat Halena were really confused as they were taking pictures. Sunset was easy enough to recognize, and it was fun trying to capture the golden hues of the setting sun around the stark, frozen landscape of Antarctica. But less than an hour after the put away their cameras it looked the sun…
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The Flat Friends Watched An Iceberg Calving
Flat Hal and Flat Halena stepped out on deck to see if the sun was setting. It was 9 at night, and the sky was starting to change colors. An iceberg that seemed as big as a building caught our attention, so we decided to photograph it. Suddenly a loud cracking sound startled us. A…
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Flat Hal and Flat Halena ExperiencedSummer Snow Flurries In Antarctica!
Being told it is summer doesn’t make it feel like summer, no matter how many games we play. No matter how many feet of snow and ice we see, stacked up across countless miles, it is still hard to believe the Flat Friends have come to Antarctica. But somehow, it all began to feel real…
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Scenic Sailing in Antarctica
Overnight our ship seemed to aimlessly meander through an area we had sailed during the day. In reality this was part of the “safety first” motto aboard. The ship returned to water it had “scouted” during the day. The bridge officers knew of any hazards, how much ice was present in the water, and made…
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Photographing Whales in Antarctica!
Flat Hal and Flat Halena made a game out of seeing who could get the most interesting photo of one of the whales. At one point we thought we counted five swimming near the ship! We tried to get one blowing. We decided just because the human eye can see something doesn’t mean the camera…
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The Flat Friends Almost Missed The Penguin Colony!
It seems like the bright white bellies, and bold black backsides of penguins would make them easy to see, but Mother Nature knows what it is doing! These animals are able to blend in to the rocks, and water. At first glance it was hard to believe we had arrived at a much anticipated stop…
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The Flat Friends Are Ready To Begin Their Antarctica Sailing Adventure!
Flat Hal Returns To Antarctica With A Friend! Some experiences are so amazing the moment you get home you want to share it with your friends. Flat Hal had so much fun visiting Antarctica with Flat Stanley he couldn’t wait to share it with Flat Halena. Our first day it was foggy, and really hard…
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The Flat Friends Returned To (Port) Stanley And Our Ship
It was another three hours by 4×4 back to the ship… the majority of that time spent bumping along the trail and chatting with our guide and fellow travelers. Our visit was the end of January and Flat Halena was shocked the schools were just reopening after summer break! It never occurred to her that…
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The Flat Friends Picnicked Near A Penguin Colony!
Our 4x4s took us back down the hill and across the water to a beach, and an area with picnic tables. The drivers parked around the tables, blocking the wind, and encouraged us to bundle up and go photograph penguins while they set out lunch. (Hot soup, hot drinks and sandwiches.) Can you identify the…
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(Port) Stanley, Falkland Islands —- A Chance To See Penguins
Last year, Flat Hal and Flat Stanley saw Gentoo and King Penguins in the Falkland Islands. This year Flat Hal and Flat Halena signed up for a longer tour, in a 4×4 vehicle that went off road. It took them to see FIVE different kinds of penguins! Can you see the trail for our vehicles…
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The Flat Friends Explored Montevideo, Uruguay
Last year, Flat Hal, Flat Stanley, and some new friends from the cruise ship explored Montevideo together by foot. They walked as far as they could, or so it felt, then walked some more after having a good meal. This year the Flat Friends took a bus tour, and ventured further from the pier. Grapes…
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Sailing Into The Sunset
#flatstanley #flathal #geography #west The Flat Friends went forward on one of the upper decks tonight to take sunset pictures. It looked like we were sailing into the sunset — or aiming for it? Remembering our research about the stars, and Peter Pan, they got curious… if a ship points its bow towards the setting…
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Punta del Este, Uruguay
#flathal #flatstanley #uruguay #puntadeleste Flat Hal and Flat Halena are visiting a town that usually has 12,400 people. But today, there could be almost 450,000 people here! Why did everyone show up? Because it’s beach weather! Even though it is January, it is summer in Uruguay. Since we crossed the equator to the Southern Hemisphere,…
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Gatsby Night At Sea
#flathal #flatstanley #gatsby #fscottfitzgerald The party is named after a character named Jay Gatsby from a famous book. In the story, Mr. Gatsby was a man who wanted to get the attention of a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time. To try and get her to visit, he threw the biggest, shiniest, and…
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Another Sea Day Discovery
#flatstanley #flathal #phytoplankton A striking sunrise started off a pleasant, if somewhat bouncy day at sea. It was drizzling rain just 20 minutes before this picture, offering clouds for the sun’s rays to illuminate. Later in the day the Flat Friends noticed this portion of the ocean between Brazil and Uruguay has areas with a…
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Sailing Into Rio De Janeiro Is Simply Inspiring
#flatstanley #flathal A mix of modern & older buildings wait to greet the Flat Friends when we step ashore. Birds race around our ship as we sail in, escorting us to our dock, & high up, overlooking everything is a statue this remarkable community (& the world) came together to make. Nearly a hundred years…
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Two Days At Sea
#flathal #flatstanley The Flat Friends have been enjoying two days in a row at sea. At home, every weekend is different, the same is true of sea days. The easiest way to show how different they can be is the sunrise yesterday (a bit dark, moody and gloomy, above) compared to the sunrise today (vibrant,…
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Recife — A Second Visit For Flat Hal
#FlatHal #flatstanley Flat Hal and his pal Flat Stanley visited Recife, Brazil, less than a year ago, on this same cruise ship. Some of the same officers, staff and crew were aboard, so there have been a lot of familiar faces, and friends onboard. With a lot of exciting ports still ahead, the flat friends…
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Belém, the Gateway to the Amazon
#flathal #flatstanley Imagine a city so big it has tall skyscrapers, millions of people, and busy streets filled with cars—but it’s located right at the edge of the world’s largest rainforest! That city is Belém (pronounced beh-LEM), Brazil. Many people think the Amazon is just tiny villages and trees, but Belém is a huge city.…
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Where in the world are the Flat Friends on St Patrick’s Day?
We interrupt your regular distribution of journal pages for a real-time newsflash! The Flat Friends are traveling this year on St. Patrick’s Day. It might take a while, but eventually, you will find out how we got here! For now… HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY! There is no end of fun on a cruise ship! Today…
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Crossing the Equator!
Today the Flat Friends sailed from the Northern Hemisphere into the Southern, by gliding across an invisible line known as the equator! We made certificates to celebrate: By Royal Decree:To all Mermaids, Whales, Sharks, and Flying Fish of the Deep:Be it known that on this day, the vessel carrying Flat Hal and Flat Halena has…
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Canceled Port Call At Devil’s Island
#flathal #flatstanley Devils Island was originally a prison, off the coast of French Guiana. Now it is mostly jungle and ruins, with a small hotel at the top of the mountain. We were unable to visit because the island was having issues with their water supply… it wasn’t safe to drink! The Flat Friends couldn’t…
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Barbados: From Pirates to a Proud Nation! 🇧🇧
#flathal #flatstanley We’ve learned all about the pirates and privateers who used to sail these blue waters. But a lot has happened since those days of “Letters of Marque” and hidden treasure! Here is how Barbados became the amazing country it is today: Barbados TodayThe “Pirate’s Triangle” is now a place where people from all…
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Flat Stanley Went Home!!
#flathal #flatstanley Flat Hal had so much going on during his final 2025 adventure with Flat Stanley! Between preparing to say goodbye to his friend after nearly a year of travel and exploring new shores, his journal isn’t quite ready to be shared. It’s currently a collection of memories and pieces that still need to…