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A history & genealogy cruise is a chance to combine both a top class history & genealogy conference with a relaxing cruise. In March 2011 we held our inaugural cruise with around 240 booked. The response to this has been very positive over all.

Our next cruise is shaping up to be better.

For just a taster check out this video.

Here are the results of our 27th Unlock the Past poll - What Scottish counties do you have ancestors from - or research interests in? Votes were cast by 443 people. The results are summarised in the table below.

Almost everyone responding to the poll had Scottish ancestry - just 2.5% did not (very similar to the Irish poll result). The most common countries were Ayrshire, Lanarkshire and Midlothian with over 20% of the voters indicating they have research interests in those counties.

After a 6 hour wait at Brisbane airport, 2.5 hour plane ride to Adelaide, then 40 minute car ride, I finally made it home Saturday night at about 8pm. The shower kept moving the next day but otherwise I was fine with being back on dry land. (Please note: cruise ships have bathrooms that are nice but very compact, and if you're going to feel the ship's sway then it'll be in there. Whatever you do, hang on and don't close your eyes when having a shower.

We were back into the swing of things now that the off-shore touring was over. The Unlock the Past program ran all day, beginning at 8am and not really stopping until about 9pm. Different things cater for different people’s taste - there were the general forty-five minute talks for the entire 240 delegates, shorter sessions for 60 people, as well as table discussion groups for either lunch or tea (I have noticed that different generations or localities speak of dinner as either lunch or tea, so I’ll avoid the word entirely to save confusion).

Before rushing head-long into today’s events I must write about last night’s excitement. I stayed up until the ridiculous hour of 11pm to watch the ship pull out from Noumea. A little tugboat arrived at the rear of the ship at approximately 10.30pm, and subsequently put on a bit of a show, turning around in circles, meandering to and fro. I’m not sure whether the driver was bored or if there was method in their madness, but it occupied both their and my time waiting until the ship was ready. Finally the time obviously arrive at 10.45pm as the tug moved closer to the harbour.