Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Australia Calls
Sunday, February 15
Windy and cloudy today. They close the open decks on 5th and 10th. Two more at sea days till Tasmania, which was populated when there was a land bridge to Australia.(It is a state of Australia.) About 13,000 years of isolation, however, has resulted in striking differences between the two aboriginal cultures, they say. After church we have to line up to have our passports checked and turn in questionnaires to Australian security officers who came on at Auckland. We’ve been participating in a trivia session before choir on at sea days; it’s fun! They serve a wonderful brunch in the dining room on Sundays; we get seated with Estelle Harris. What a hoot! We nap a little in the pm as our choir is LAST on the program for the passenger talent show beginning at 10:15 pm! The show was really pretty good, especially one woman who did torchy songs from WWI, a guy who did stand-up routine about cruise situations, and a man who recited “the Cremation of Sam McGee.
Monday, February 16
Lovely, cool, calm day for our morning walk. We have breakfast on the fantail, then a trivia session before choir. We’ll take a short break from practice till after Sydney when the new people (about 100) come on board. Nigel West gives us his final talk on “Garbo,” the code name of a spy instrumental in convincing the Germans to fortify the wrong spot for D-Day. This saved thousands of lives and turned the tide of WWII. Tonight is a formal night (which we have agreed we will not be involved in), so we have dinner in our cabin and watch “The Duchess”—very entertaining! We turn in early as our trip into Burnie Tasmania will begin just after 8 am.
Tuesday, February 17
Burnie Tasmania -We are embarking on a new plan. Between lectures, choir practice, on board entertainment ,eating three times a day, recovering from shore excursions, four-mile walks on deck and yoga. It was decided that I would take over the blogging. You will probably notice a different style. I hope it is as good as Sue’s. All the ports of call have had very interesting, well informed and friendly folks showing us the sites. But so far the people of Burnie have rolled out the red carpet like nobody else has. The city prepared a special flyer just for our ship on points of interest and shopping. The mayor greeted us at the bottom of the gangway as we arrived, special free of charge busses shuttled us back and forth from town with three stops of interest on the way. People were stationed at those various stops to help us with any of the odd things that would come up in a strange town, and a bagpipe band serenaded us as we were leaving port. Our adventure for the day was a trip to Wings Wildlife Park. It is located in the heart of traditional farm country. The farm economy has been consolidated into three huge farms with the smaller ones finding other things to do. Sound familiar!! The owners of the park just quit milking to run the park full time. It was rustic but very charming and full of many healthy looking animals. All the animals we have seen in the books from down under--wombats, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, emus, kookaburras Tasmanian devils and nasty snakes. Economy is on the down side of some paper plants, a huge chocolate business and farming. Tourism in many countries has been the focus for new dollars. Trying at the same time to minimize the impact on the environment.
Wednesday, February 18
A day at sea. Time to visit and get to know our fellow passengers more. The people from England have been perceived as stogy and dry. From what we have seen they are exactly opposite of that. Very funny and engaging. The sea is acting up today. With great swells slamming into the bulk heads. Sounding like thunder. I’m kind of enjoying it.Sue is not happy at all. We listen to a great classic piano performance in the lounge and then duck in our room to ride out the storm.
Thursday, February 19
Sidney Australia -Sue I are going in different directions today because she doesn’t like tram rides off a cliff. The tram took me 1000 feet into the Jamison Valley to see the remnants of a late 1800’s coal mine. Also a series of board walks that coursed its way thru the rain forest. As if on cue it rained on us for about 20 minutes. Our next stop was at the Featherdale Wildlife Park. It was like every page of Thayer’s birds of the southern hemisphere coming to life. Some of everything we had seen before plus the cute Fairy penguin, dingoes, and a 14 foot crocodile. Sounded and felt like we were in a jungle somewhere. Kangaroos and emus milling around amongst the visitors. Our bus driver was in charge of transportation for the 2000 Olympics. So he took us on a surprise side trip into the heart of the main venues. Still quite spectacular even after 8 years. They seem to use a lot of cable support in their architecture. It covers over 600 hectares. Ha, anybody know how much that is? The Sidney harbor is supposed to be the most beautiful in the world and I believe it. Everybody walks and looks in good shape. Large open air bistros crowd the waterfront. It is alive with the sounds of music and people. For a large city the air is clean and there are no slums. Sue took a tour around the city to see the highlights. Sidney has had the foresight to preserve and renovate its early architecture. The Harbor has 86 miles of beautiful and restored coastline. They still have Woolworth’s here and a drop-in drug center where drugs with clean needles can legally be obtained along with counseling. Golfing and sailing are huge leisure time activities. Along with rugby and cricket. Sidney had its start around 1776 with the delivery of prisoners from England to ease overcrowding. We end the day sailing out past the famous clam shell orchestra hall and under the equally famous bridge in the early evening with the cities twinkling lights bidding us adieu.
Friday, February 20
A day at sea. Very interesting lecture on the voyages of Captain James Cook. The first segment of the trip is complete. About 100 passengers got off and 100 new ones got on at Sidney. The roll of the ship lulls us to sleep at night, like being in a large hammock. We have met a German couple from Cologne. They are thinking about spending their winters in Florida. Very nice and quite rich. Their most memorable trip was a train ride one month long from Moscow to Beijing on the Czar’s train. He said everyone should take that trip once in their lives. Ya surrre!! You bet!!
Saturday, February 21
Brisbane Australia- Our 38th day at sea and our 12th port. I’m starting to notice my profile is starting to bulge. Maybe I will have to cut down deserts from 3 to 1 and my meals from 3 to 1. Today Sue and I strike out for the largest sub-tropical rainforest in the southern hemisphere. By the way Happy Birthday to Braden. The big one zero. We miss everyone and won’t be home soon. The Lamington National Park has 160 km of walking tracts that we call trails and New Zealanders call tramps. The Park boasts a cable-strung boardwalk 100 feet off the ground that goes thru the canopy of the forest that has over 40 different species of trees. Also a turkey that scratches the ground looking for grubs and in the process makes the park grounds look like pigs have gone thru and rooted everything up. They have a beautiful wild crimson parrot that will sit on your shoulders and head. The third generation of O’Reillys are running a eco lodge in the center of the park where we had a Aussie barbecue lunch of kangaroo stirfry and other goodies. These folks just finished a 43 million dollar eco condo development in the park. On our return we saw wild kangaroos on grassy slopes like we see deer in Wisconsin. Our last stop was a O’Reillys vineyard for some wine-tasting. It was located in a turn of the century Queensland style home of the first O’Reillys. Queensland style is the entire home being built on poles anywhere from 2 to 6 feet off the ground. It was done to keep snakes, termites and water out, provide for some extra cooling, and in a lot of cases a place to store more junk. The people here are a little more laid back. The economy is still doing quite well. Almost all of their power is from hydro.
Sunday, February 22
Day at sea. Church in the morning and a good long walk .Got in on a great lecture about being a sea pilot not a harbor pilot. There are only a few in the world. They assist the captain in negotiating the 1200 miles of the east coast where the reef exists. For you history and sailing expedition buffs we heard a great story about one of the best-James Cook. He is like what the Beatles were to Rock and Roll. He had a very unfortunate demise though and your assignment for tomorrow is to look it up and see what it was. Our new music for the choir includes an ABBA number. O boy, O boy. Sue got all the s’s and blanks and kicked my butt in scrabble. I pouted and went to bed.
Monday, February 23
Day at sea. Cloudy and rainy. Very humid –We will do our walking tonight. Sue is setting up to help a Slovenian lady with her English .Sue and I invited to help celebrate a German shipmates 80th birthday with his Finnish wife. Great lecture on the real Captain Bligh--the great navigator and compassionate governor of Sydney Australia.
Tuesday February 24
Happy Birthday to me. What a fun place to turn 64. After a last minute change in shore excursions-[always nice to have a little excitement first thing in the morning], we are off to Kuranda, a little mountain top tourist community. It started out as an alternate life-style settlement, nice way of saying –Old Hippy Town from the 60’s. This is the start of a train ride through 15 tunnels and many bridges next to the Barron River gorge. We are traveling into the Barron River National Park and its tropical rainforests. That trip ends at the thunderous Barron River Falls. Can’t wait to show the pics. Sue had a quick bottle of 4XXXX beer to fortify her for the trip down the mountain on the Skyrail over the world heritage rainforest. Dangling on a cable hundreds of feet over the jungle wasn’t her idea of a dream come true but she warmed up to it after awhile and thought it was a grand adventure. We were treated to a wonderful local ethnic buffet at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Center. We watched a high tech story of the creation of the world from the aboriginal perspective; next we were treated to a aboriginal musical of sorts Dancing singing and playing instruments [the didgeridoo and sticks].They also put on a fire-making demo the old fashioned way--rubbing two sticks together and it worked. The last part of our day was to go out in a large field and got a lesson on throwing a boomerang. Sue did better than me. Boohoo!! On the way home we learned how the locals need to be careful of crocs after floods because the high water brings them inland where they get stranded when the waters recede. About a person a month gets eaten here. That’s what I’m looking for. I got some beer for Sue in town. At dinner my wife had some of the bubbly and cake arranged for my birthday. Then the waiters and table mates all broke into a rousing song.
Windy and cloudy today. They close the open decks on 5th and 10th. Two more at sea days till Tasmania, which was populated when there was a land bridge to Australia.(It is a state of Australia.) About 13,000 years of isolation, however, has resulted in striking differences between the two aboriginal cultures, they say. After church we have to line up to have our passports checked and turn in questionnaires to Australian security officers who came on at Auckland. We’ve been participating in a trivia session before choir on at sea days; it’s fun! They serve a wonderful brunch in the dining room on Sundays; we get seated with Estelle Harris. What a hoot! We nap a little in the pm as our choir is LAST on the program for the passenger talent show beginning at 10:15 pm! The show was really pretty good, especially one woman who did torchy songs from WWI, a guy who did stand-up routine about cruise situations, and a man who recited “the Cremation of Sam McGee.
Monday, February 16
Lovely, cool, calm day for our morning walk. We have breakfast on the fantail, then a trivia session before choir. We’ll take a short break from practice till after Sydney when the new people (about 100) come on board. Nigel West gives us his final talk on “Garbo,” the code name of a spy instrumental in convincing the Germans to fortify the wrong spot for D-Day. This saved thousands of lives and turned the tide of WWII. Tonight is a formal night (which we have agreed we will not be involved in), so we have dinner in our cabin and watch “The Duchess”—very entertaining! We turn in early as our trip into Burnie Tasmania will begin just after 8 am.
Tuesday, February 17
Burnie Tasmania -We are embarking on a new plan. Between lectures, choir practice, on board entertainment ,eating three times a day, recovering from shore excursions, four-mile walks on deck and yoga. It was decided that I would take over the blogging. You will probably notice a different style. I hope it is as good as Sue’s. All the ports of call have had very interesting, well informed and friendly folks showing us the sites. But so far the people of Burnie have rolled out the red carpet like nobody else has. The city prepared a special flyer just for our ship on points of interest and shopping. The mayor greeted us at the bottom of the gangway as we arrived, special free of charge busses shuttled us back and forth from town with three stops of interest on the way. People were stationed at those various stops to help us with any of the odd things that would come up in a strange town, and a bagpipe band serenaded us as we were leaving port. Our adventure for the day was a trip to Wings Wildlife Park. It is located in the heart of traditional farm country. The farm economy has been consolidated into three huge farms with the smaller ones finding other things to do. Sound familiar!! The owners of the park just quit milking to run the park full time. It was rustic but very charming and full of many healthy looking animals. All the animals we have seen in the books from down under--wombats, koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, emus, kookaburras Tasmanian devils and nasty snakes. Economy is on the down side of some paper plants, a huge chocolate business and farming. Tourism in many countries has been the focus for new dollars. Trying at the same time to minimize the impact on the environment.
Wednesday, February 18
A day at sea. Time to visit and get to know our fellow passengers more. The people from England have been perceived as stogy and dry. From what we have seen they are exactly opposite of that. Very funny and engaging. The sea is acting up today. With great swells slamming into the bulk heads. Sounding like thunder. I’m kind of enjoying it.Sue is not happy at all. We listen to a great classic piano performance in the lounge and then duck in our room to ride out the storm.
Thursday, February 19
Sidney Australia -Sue I are going in different directions today because she doesn’t like tram rides off a cliff. The tram took me 1000 feet into the Jamison Valley to see the remnants of a late 1800’s coal mine. Also a series of board walks that coursed its way thru the rain forest. As if on cue it rained on us for about 20 minutes. Our next stop was at the Featherdale Wildlife Park. It was like every page of Thayer’s birds of the southern hemisphere coming to life. Some of everything we had seen before plus the cute Fairy penguin, dingoes, and a 14 foot crocodile. Sounded and felt like we were in a jungle somewhere. Kangaroos and emus milling around amongst the visitors. Our bus driver was in charge of transportation for the 2000 Olympics. So he took us on a surprise side trip into the heart of the main venues. Still quite spectacular even after 8 years. They seem to use a lot of cable support in their architecture. It covers over 600 hectares. Ha, anybody know how much that is? The Sidney harbor is supposed to be the most beautiful in the world and I believe it. Everybody walks and looks in good shape. Large open air bistros crowd the waterfront. It is alive with the sounds of music and people. For a large city the air is clean and there are no slums. Sue took a tour around the city to see the highlights. Sidney has had the foresight to preserve and renovate its early architecture. The Harbor has 86 miles of beautiful and restored coastline. They still have Woolworth’s here and a drop-in drug center where drugs with clean needles can legally be obtained along with counseling. Golfing and sailing are huge leisure time activities. Along with rugby and cricket. Sidney had its start around 1776 with the delivery of prisoners from England to ease overcrowding. We end the day sailing out past the famous clam shell orchestra hall and under the equally famous bridge in the early evening with the cities twinkling lights bidding us adieu.
Friday, February 20
A day at sea. Very interesting lecture on the voyages of Captain James Cook. The first segment of the trip is complete. About 100 passengers got off and 100 new ones got on at Sidney. The roll of the ship lulls us to sleep at night, like being in a large hammock. We have met a German couple from Cologne. They are thinking about spending their winters in Florida. Very nice and quite rich. Their most memorable trip was a train ride one month long from Moscow to Beijing on the Czar’s train. He said everyone should take that trip once in their lives. Ya surrre!! You bet!!
Saturday, February 21
Brisbane Australia- Our 38th day at sea and our 12th port. I’m starting to notice my profile is starting to bulge. Maybe I will have to cut down deserts from 3 to 1 and my meals from 3 to 1. Today Sue and I strike out for the largest sub-tropical rainforest in the southern hemisphere. By the way Happy Birthday to Braden. The big one zero. We miss everyone and won’t be home soon. The Lamington National Park has 160 km of walking tracts that we call trails and New Zealanders call tramps. The Park boasts a cable-strung boardwalk 100 feet off the ground that goes thru the canopy of the forest that has over 40 different species of trees. Also a turkey that scratches the ground looking for grubs and in the process makes the park grounds look like pigs have gone thru and rooted everything up. They have a beautiful wild crimson parrot that will sit on your shoulders and head. The third generation of O’Reillys are running a eco lodge in the center of the park where we had a Aussie barbecue lunch of kangaroo stirfry and other goodies. These folks just finished a 43 million dollar eco condo development in the park. On our return we saw wild kangaroos on grassy slopes like we see deer in Wisconsin. Our last stop was a O’Reillys vineyard for some wine-tasting. It was located in a turn of the century Queensland style home of the first O’Reillys. Queensland style is the entire home being built on poles anywhere from 2 to 6 feet off the ground. It was done to keep snakes, termites and water out, provide for some extra cooling, and in a lot of cases a place to store more junk. The people here are a little more laid back. The economy is still doing quite well. Almost all of their power is from hydro.
Sunday, February 22
Day at sea. Church in the morning and a good long walk .Got in on a great lecture about being a sea pilot not a harbor pilot. There are only a few in the world. They assist the captain in negotiating the 1200 miles of the east coast where the reef exists. For you history and sailing expedition buffs we heard a great story about one of the best-James Cook. He is like what the Beatles were to Rock and Roll. He had a very unfortunate demise though and your assignment for tomorrow is to look it up and see what it was. Our new music for the choir includes an ABBA number. O boy, O boy. Sue got all the s’s and blanks and kicked my butt in scrabble. I pouted and went to bed.
Monday, February 23
Day at sea. Cloudy and rainy. Very humid –We will do our walking tonight. Sue is setting up to help a Slovenian lady with her English .Sue and I invited to help celebrate a German shipmates 80th birthday with his Finnish wife. Great lecture on the real Captain Bligh--the great navigator and compassionate governor of Sydney Australia.
Tuesday February 24
Happy Birthday to me. What a fun place to turn 64. After a last minute change in shore excursions-[always nice to have a little excitement first thing in the morning], we are off to Kuranda, a little mountain top tourist community. It started out as an alternate life-style settlement, nice way of saying –Old Hippy Town from the 60’s. This is the start of a train ride through 15 tunnels and many bridges next to the Barron River gorge. We are traveling into the Barron River National Park and its tropical rainforests. That trip ends at the thunderous Barron River Falls. Can’t wait to show the pics. Sue had a quick bottle of 4XXXX beer to fortify her for the trip down the mountain on the Skyrail over the world heritage rainforest. Dangling on a cable hundreds of feet over the jungle wasn’t her idea of a dream come true but she warmed up to it after awhile and thought it was a grand adventure. We were treated to a wonderful local ethnic buffet at the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Center. We watched a high tech story of the creation of the world from the aboriginal perspective; next we were treated to a aboriginal musical of sorts Dancing singing and playing instruments [the didgeridoo and sticks].They also put on a fire-making demo the old fashioned way--rubbing two sticks together and it worked. The last part of our day was to go out in a large field and got a lesson on throwing a boomerang. Sue did better than me. Boohoo!! On the way home we learned how the locals need to be careful of crocs after floods because the high water brings them inland where they get stranded when the waters recede. About a person a month gets eaten here. That’s what I’m looking for. I got some beer for Sue in town. At dinner my wife had some of the bubbly and cake arranged for my birthday. Then the waiters and table mates all broke into a rousing song.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Heading: Down Under
Wednesday, February 11
So where did Tuesday go? Can’t quite figure that one out! Got a couple certificates that we crossed the International Dateline in exchange tho! Had a wonderful walk this am. The sun was just coming up (6:30 am), the sky was partly cloudy and there was a cool breeze. It was so refreshing—just like a walk at home. Lecture time was by Estelle Harris who played George’s mom on “Seinfeld.” She talked about how she got the job, and her first episode. It was the only one that won an Emmy—the “master of my domain” one, which began with her catching George ----- with Glamour magazine—remember? What fun! David Crathorne, our choir director, has set us up for two performances—a concert Friday afternoon and two songs for the passenger talent show, whenever that will be (soon). I rush back from lunch to try to catch “Whale Rider” on the tv. I catch most of it, but really need to find this video when we get home. I add some pictures to the blog, do a little reading after dinner and to bed. (I must give the cruise line credit—they have wonderful entertainment each evening --musicals, comedians, magic shows, etc.-- I’m just ready for relaxing by the time dinner is finished. Ron goes sometimes but thankfully he doesn’t pressure me to go. What a nice man I hooked up with.)
Thursday, February 12
Auckland, New Zealand, today! I am excited to be getting off the ship. Little cool and partly cloudy—50% chance of rain they say as we breakfast on the fantail. We board our bus at 9 am after going thru THREE security checkpoints. (There is pretty tight security at all the ports.) There is a beautiful, long, red, wrought iron fence all along Quay Street, the street that parallels the port—Captain Cook’s Gate. During the drive thru town, the driver tells us Auckland has 1.5 million of the 4.5 million residents in New Zealand (consists of a north and a south island). It is on the north island, as is the capital, Wellington. One in three residents has a boat! It is a very clean, safe city. There are many imposing skyscrapers, but the most impressive is the Skytower, much like Seattle. (The New Zealand flag consists of a blue background with the Union Jack in the upper left corner and four stars representing the Southern Cross—a constellation we don’t see in the Northern Hemisphere.) We are on our way to a sheep ranch. The rural area is very hilly, mostly small houses and ranches with cows and/or sheep; there are also large forests for lumber. This area is sub-tropical, very damp, so most of the structures are stone, tin or steel. The “ranch” we go to has beautiful mown lawns and a brand new brick house with terra cotta floors—clean, cool and airy. They have a lovely extensive garden; I see plants like home—moss roses, carnations, babies’ breath, impatiens, fuchsia, rose bushes—but everything’s bigger. They don’t have to start over every spring! They have little fallow deer for “petes” (pets); they come from the wild where they are hunted; there are lots of them as they don’t have any natural predators. The hostess, Barbara, and her friends served us a huge buffet with lamb off the “barbie” and boysenberry cheesecake and pavlova for dessert. After lunch and a little native beer (Steinlager) and wine, a sheep shearer came and showed his handiwork. It was a lovely stop at Haumoana Farm (means sea breeze) on the Kaupara Peninsula. The driver took us a different way back to the ship over a new bridge that was really needed—traffic is pretty heavy. We see a very interesting tree design along the freeway sound barriers, and three great bays on the north island (and their estuaries filled with mangroves) where most of the natives lived before the Europeans came. The driver took us on a little tour thru the dock areas where the America’s Cup Race begins; there are hundreds of sailboats and a multi-level parking garage FOR BOATS. When we got back we took a little walking tour downtown to buy postcards, stamps, shave cream and batteries. We saw a beautiful mosaic by the red fence about the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace ship that was sunk by French intelligence (also an oxymoron), because it was demonstrating against the French detonation of a nuclear device on a South Sea island in 1985. In 1995 the French ceased nuclear testing. In the evening there was a wonderful presentation by a Maori group, “Haka, the Legend,” with short sticks, long sticks, poi (rocks wrapped and tied to the ends of ties) and hand held weapons. The music was great!
Friday, February 13
We enter the Tasman Sea (between New Zealand and Australia) today after the Captain cruises the shore of the north island of New Zealand. It becomes pretty rough by midday. It is hard to balance in yoga, and even harder to stand and practice at choir two hours later. We both enjoy Nigel West’s lecture, “Espionage in the Pacific.” He shares three stories: interception of info on the attack on Midway Island in WWII; the secret of Johnson Island where US weapons of mass destruction are neutralized; and the Russian sub that went down by Hawaii with a missile door open. We manage to stay upright for our choir presentation –good turn-out! Then the “Tasman Rollercoaster” sends us to our cabin for the night. We order in and watch “Hancock” before bed.
Saturday, February 14—Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ron got me an eco-watch—neat. Not quite as rough as yesterday, but still tricky for choir practice on the top deck! Another great presentation by Estelle Harris about her early career in plays and commercials (east coast), then sitcoms and movies (west coast), and another Nigel West lecture: “James Bond—Fact or Fiction” after lunch. Then I get a surprise—my poem wins second prize in a Valentine’s Day contest! I get a medal and a travel alarm with a spot for my special Valentine’s picture. Nice lamb stew for dinner and to bed. Here’s the poem:
FOR CAMERON—Valentine’s Day 2009
Tears on my pillow on Valentine’s Day--
My special Valentine’s far, far away.
Six little teeth in his lop-sided smiles,
Memories come to me over the miles.
His head on my should, his hand on my face,
I feel it, separated by time and space.
Toddling to me in unsteady path,
Into the sink for a slippery bath!
Calling me “mama” like grandbabies do,
My special Valentine’s not even two.
The sweetest thoughts a Gram ever had,
Maybe this Valentine’s won’t be so bad.
Sunday, February 15
Windy and cloudy today. They close the open decks on 5th and 10th. Two more at sea days till Tasmania, which was populated when there was a land bridge to Australia. About 13,000 years of isolation, however, has resulted in striking differences between the two aboriginal cultures, they say. After church we have to line up to have our passports checked and turn in questionnaires to Australian security officers who came on at Auckland. We’ve been participating in a trivia session before choir on at sea days; it’s fun! They serve a wonderful brunch in the dining room on Sundays; we get seated with Estelle Harris. What a hoot! We nap a little in the pm as our choir is LAST on the program for the passenger talent show beginning at 10:15 pm! The show was really pretty good, especially one woman who did torchy songs from WWI, a guy who did stand-up routine about cruise situations, and a man who recited “the Cremation of Sam McGee.
Monday, February 16
Lovely, cool, calm day for our morning walk. We have breakfast on the fantail, then a trivia session before choir. We’ll take a short break from practice till after Sydney when the new people (about 100) come on board. Nigel West gives us his final talk on “Garbo,” the code name of a spy instrumental in convincing the Germans to fortify the wrong spot for D-Day. This saved thousands of lives and turned the tide of WWII. Tonight is a formal night (which we have agreed we will not be involved in), so we have dinner in our cabin and watch “The Duchess”—very entertaining! We turn in early as our trip into Burnie Tasmania will begin just after 8 am.
So where did Tuesday go? Can’t quite figure that one out! Got a couple certificates that we crossed the International Dateline in exchange tho! Had a wonderful walk this am. The sun was just coming up (6:30 am), the sky was partly cloudy and there was a cool breeze. It was so refreshing—just like a walk at home. Lecture time was by Estelle Harris who played George’s mom on “Seinfeld.” She talked about how she got the job, and her first episode. It was the only one that won an Emmy—the “master of my domain” one, which began with her catching George ----- with Glamour magazine—remember? What fun! David Crathorne, our choir director, has set us up for two performances—a concert Friday afternoon and two songs for the passenger talent show, whenever that will be (soon). I rush back from lunch to try to catch “Whale Rider” on the tv. I catch most of it, but really need to find this video when we get home. I add some pictures to the blog, do a little reading after dinner and to bed. (I must give the cruise line credit—they have wonderful entertainment each evening --musicals, comedians, magic shows, etc.-- I’m just ready for relaxing by the time dinner is finished. Ron goes sometimes but thankfully he doesn’t pressure me to go. What a nice man I hooked up with.)
Thursday, February 12
Auckland, New Zealand, today! I am excited to be getting off the ship. Little cool and partly cloudy—50% chance of rain they say as we breakfast on the fantail. We board our bus at 9 am after going thru THREE security checkpoints. (There is pretty tight security at all the ports.) There is a beautiful, long, red, wrought iron fence all along Quay Street, the street that parallels the port—Captain Cook’s Gate. During the drive thru town, the driver tells us Auckland has 1.5 million of the 4.5 million residents in New Zealand (consists of a north and a south island). It is on the north island, as is the capital, Wellington. One in three residents has a boat! It is a very clean, safe city. There are many imposing skyscrapers, but the most impressive is the Skytower, much like Seattle. (The New Zealand flag consists of a blue background with the Union Jack in the upper left corner and four stars representing the Southern Cross—a constellation we don’t see in the Northern Hemisphere.) We are on our way to a sheep ranch. The rural area is very hilly, mostly small houses and ranches with cows and/or sheep; there are also large forests for lumber. This area is sub-tropical, very damp, so most of the structures are stone, tin or steel. The “ranch” we go to has beautiful mown lawns and a brand new brick house with terra cotta floors—clean, cool and airy. They have a lovely extensive garden; I see plants like home—moss roses, carnations, babies’ breath, impatiens, fuchsia, rose bushes—but everything’s bigger. They don’t have to start over every spring! They have little fallow deer for “petes” (pets); they come from the wild where they are hunted; there are lots of them as they don’t have any natural predators. The hostess, Barbara, and her friends served us a huge buffet with lamb off the “barbie” and boysenberry cheesecake and pavlova for dessert. After lunch and a little native beer (Steinlager) and wine, a sheep shearer came and showed his handiwork. It was a lovely stop at Haumoana Farm (means sea breeze) on the Kaupara Peninsula. The driver took us a different way back to the ship over a new bridge that was really needed—traffic is pretty heavy. We see a very interesting tree design along the freeway sound barriers, and three great bays on the north island (and their estuaries filled with mangroves) where most of the natives lived before the Europeans came. The driver took us on a little tour thru the dock areas where the America’s Cup Race begins; there are hundreds of sailboats and a multi-level parking garage FOR BOATS. When we got back we took a little walking tour downtown to buy postcards, stamps, shave cream and batteries. We saw a beautiful mosaic by the red fence about the Rainbow Warrior, the Greenpeace ship that was sunk by French intelligence (also an oxymoron), because it was demonstrating against the French detonation of a nuclear device on a South Sea island in 1985. In 1995 the French ceased nuclear testing. In the evening there was a wonderful presentation by a Maori group, “Haka, the Legend,” with short sticks, long sticks, poi (rocks wrapped and tied to the ends of ties) and hand held weapons. The music was great!
Friday, February 13
We enter the Tasman Sea (between New Zealand and Australia) today after the Captain cruises the shore of the north island of New Zealand. It becomes pretty rough by midday. It is hard to balance in yoga, and even harder to stand and practice at choir two hours later. We both enjoy Nigel West’s lecture, “Espionage in the Pacific.” He shares three stories: interception of info on the attack on Midway Island in WWII; the secret of Johnson Island where US weapons of mass destruction are neutralized; and the Russian sub that went down by Hawaii with a missile door open. We manage to stay upright for our choir presentation –good turn-out! Then the “Tasman Rollercoaster” sends us to our cabin for the night. We order in and watch “Hancock” before bed.
Saturday, February 14—Happy Valentine’s Day!
Ron got me an eco-watch—neat. Not quite as rough as yesterday, but still tricky for choir practice on the top deck! Another great presentation by Estelle Harris about her early career in plays and commercials (east coast), then sitcoms and movies (west coast), and another Nigel West lecture: “James Bond—Fact or Fiction” after lunch. Then I get a surprise—my poem wins second prize in a Valentine’s Day contest! I get a medal and a travel alarm with a spot for my special Valentine’s picture. Nice lamb stew for dinner and to bed. Here’s the poem:
FOR CAMERON—Valentine’s Day 2009
Tears on my pillow on Valentine’s Day--
My special Valentine’s far, far away.
Six little teeth in his lop-sided smiles,
Memories come to me over the miles.
His head on my should, his hand on my face,
I feel it, separated by time and space.
Toddling to me in unsteady path,
Into the sink for a slippery bath!
Calling me “mama” like grandbabies do,
My special Valentine’s not even two.
The sweetest thoughts a Gram ever had,
Maybe this Valentine’s won’t be so bad.
Sunday, February 15
Windy and cloudy today. They close the open decks on 5th and 10th. Two more at sea days till Tasmania, which was populated when there was a land bridge to Australia. About 13,000 years of isolation, however, has resulted in striking differences between the two aboriginal cultures, they say. After church we have to line up to have our passports checked and turn in questionnaires to Australian security officers who came on at Auckland. We’ve been participating in a trivia session before choir on at sea days; it’s fun! They serve a wonderful brunch in the dining room on Sundays; we get seated with Estelle Harris. What a hoot! We nap a little in the pm as our choir is LAST on the program for the passenger talent show beginning at 10:15 pm! The show was really pretty good, especially one woman who did torchy songs from WWI, a guy who did stand-up routine about cruise situations, and a man who recited “the Cremation of Sam McGee.
Monday, February 16
Lovely, cool, calm day for our morning walk. We have breakfast on the fantail, then a trivia session before choir. We’ll take a short break from practice till after Sydney when the new people (about 100) come on board. Nigel West gives us his final talk on “Garbo,” the code name of a spy instrumental in convincing the Germans to fortify the wrong spot for D-Day. This saved thousands of lives and turned the tide of WWII. Tonight is a formal night (which we have agreed we will not be involved in), so we have dinner in our cabin and watch “The Duchess”—very entertaining! We turn in early as our trip into Burnie Tasmania will begin just after 8 am.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Pictures from Polynesia
Greetings All! Miss you! The photos I posted today are: the guide for the excursion to Rarotonga, the black sand beach (Lafayette) in Tahiti and one of the residents from Picairn who came for supplies. We are NOT in Kansas anymore!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Polynesian Adventures
Sunday, February 1
Big day today! We’ll have a talk about Pitcairn Island (the Mutiny on the Bounty story!) Then we’ll sail around the island for pictures. Red alert is on because of the rotavirus, so the islanders (48 in all, representing nine families descended from the mutineers and the Polynesians they brought with them) will not come aboard; they are too isolated to take a chance. They will come along side for supplies however. The water is so blue here, tidi-bowl blue! The island is part of New Zealand which gives them aid for their grade school and the doctor on the island. The children have to go elsewhere for high school and college. We actually get the Superbowl here! Ron has a great time watching it in the theater-area even if his team doesn’t win.
Monday, February 2
Happy Groundhog’s Day—hope the groundhog didn’t see his shadow where you are! He surely would see it here! I spend the day on the pool deck reading. We are very careful about the sun—it is fierce here! Ron attends a lecture about our ship and its navigation system. There is a lecture in the afternoon about Polynesian native culture which is very similar throughout the South Pacific. There are three cast—the chiefs, the kahunas (priests) and the rest of the clan members. Sex is pretty open as extended families live in the same large hut. It is taboo to have sex with children before puberty, but they play at it. Once they have their rites of passage, they are considered adults. Sex is encouraged with several partners, since pregnancy is believed to occur only by having sex with the same person repeatedly—or if a demi-god hovers over a female. The birth of girls is good since they will have the responsibility to care care of aged parents. If no girl is born by the third or fourth child, this boy will be raised and clothed as a girl, an umu. The chiefs are permitted to have sex with anyone over puberty, including the umus. I leave dinner early to catch the navigation lecture on the tv, then go up on the track and do my walk after sunset. It is a beautiful evening—reminds me of Hawaii.
Tuesday, February 3
There is a station on the tv that shows our heading, miles traveled and the current weather; we’ve gone 4808 miles so far. This will be our last day at sea before Tahiti! I wimp out after 20 minutes on the track. It’s just too hot at 7 am! Ron does 4 mi—what an animal. When we go to breakfast we are allowed to serve ourselves—a sure sign the red alert is over. Last day at sea before Tahiti; I go to a lecture on black pearls which Tahiti is famous for. They put a small piece of shell under the mantle of the oyster, then hang them from long ropes in the sea. Indonesia has gold-colored pearls and Japan raises white ones in cages. We play trivia with two nice couples from the UK before choir practice. There is a lecture in the afternoon about the Polynesian migrations which began in Southeast Asia, and consisted of three waves in the early hundreds AD, each one beginning where the last on left off. This explains the similarities between groups located on isolated islands great distances apart—such as the fact that most all seem to be patriarchal with many more taboos for women than men. Polynesia is generally located if you draw a triangle from New Zealand to Hawaii to Easter Island and back to NZ. The natives were able to travel the great distances because they developed great rafts with outriggers and sails; they could hold hundreds of people and their supplies. There is a wonderful presentation in the theater tonight about “South Pacific,” Including a featurette of the making of the movie (with Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor) in Kauai, a bit of the Broadway play with Mary Martin and Enzio Panza, and a “60 Minutes” piece with Diane Sawyer interviewing James Michener on location where the original story was placed. Michener was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII and the location and people inspired his first book “Tales of the south Pacific” which launched his career as a novelist. Some of the themes in the book, the play and the film were very controversial for the 1950s—single American girl having an affair with a widowed Frenchman with half-Polynesian children, and an American serviceman’s affair with an Asian islander. There was much pressure to leave these storylines out. I loved it! I am pumped and get my two-mile walk in before bed.
Wednesday, February 4
I wake up early and head out for a cup of coffee on deck 9; we are just sailing round the end of Tahiti (404 sq. mi and 170,000 pop.) into Papeete harbor—very clean, green and busy! We go into Papeete a couple hours before our tour and pick up some postcards, a tank top and a Coke--$20—a bit pricy. It is going to be a hot day! Our tour is wonderful. Eight of us in the back of a 4-wheeler Jeep head thru town, then stop at the bay where Captain Cook first landed—a great view. Then on to the Papenoo River and inland to the crater at the river’s source. 300” of rain a year contributes to this large source of fresh water with trout and eels in it! (The guide fed the eels bread and they darted out on the bank to grab it!) We take a dip in a pool of the river (no eels!), and one of the guides dives from a vertical wall of rock into the pool. It’s a rough ride into this national park area, and Teva, our guide, makes several stops to show us African tulip tree, miconia (an invasive plant here), and Polynesian hibiscus; (the flowers start our cream-colored, turn pink, then fall off in one day; and the leaves were used by the natives to cook and serve food). The On our way to have a swim at Lafayette Beach, a black sand beach, we see a mango tree heavy with fruit, a frangipani tree (plumeria) and a man carrying a breadfruit (about the size of a green kittenball). We get into a traffic jam, get slowed down by fire engines and a re the last couple on the ship before she sails. I never want that to happen again! After dinner we see “The Bounty” with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins; it was filmed mainly on Moorea, across the water from Tahiti, and some on Pitcairn island!
Thursday, February 5
A day at sea before Rarotonga . The ocean is a bit rougher today, with some short showers. I manage to get our wet clothes from yesterday laundered—there’s a line!—while Ron has his walk. I have a great workout at yoga, then we catch two programs on Polynesian dance and Maori culture. Choir practice is so fun today. Ron finally figures out how to get a picture off the laptop and up to the photo shop.I win 30 min of internet time in a contest.
Friday, February 6 (Ron writes today!)
This is not a happy day—Sue woke up with the diarrhea today, felt obliged to call the doctor and was put on a 24-hour quarantine. She was devastated. As Murphy’s Law would have it, today is a shore excursion on a glass-bottomed boat to one of the Cook Islands—Rarotonga. I told her I would stay with her, but she said to and have fun (sort of). The seas were quite rough, but the Captain got the ship positioned so that we could safely get the tenders loaded and to shore. We took a nice bus ride around the island, stopping a lush lagoon. At that point we picked up snorkeling gear and piled into a glass-bottomed boat, about 20 to a boat. Traveled about 20 min to a part of the lagoon that had large silver clams about 14” in diameter, mantas, and a large variety of reef fish. The two local boys that were running the ship were very educated and full of energy, and tod us about their history and culture. Then we moved to a secluded part by the lagoon and the boys made us a great lunch the native way—fresh-cooked albacore tuna, fried bananas and onions with salads and buns. Then the boys put on a sarong-tying demonstration—for women and men; the men were instructed how to do the three-legged dance with a rock hanging down in the middle of their sarong—use your imagination! It was a real funny and informative presentation. The island people are famous for their friendliness. We also got an explanation about their tattoos—very family-oriented. This is a more lush island than Tahiti. The one boy gave us his e-mail and said there are bed and breakfasts that are very nice also. I forgot to take my wallet, so had to take a second trip to town to get some souvenirs and mail postcards. Sue was pretty bummed. She had only the one episode which is good, but still she missed the day trip. (I spent the day playing video games. I should have been working on the blog but I was too disappointed to accomplish anything!)
Saturday, February 7—Happy Birthday, Lannie!
Back to normal today. Several days at sea now before Auckland, Tasmania (Australia).
Ron attends a lecture, “Spying 101,” by a British agent while I catch up on my log. We will have choir practice at noon every day we are at sea. We’re going to do two songs in a passenger talent show, and a half-hour concert this week-end. I spend the better part of the afternoon watching “South Pacific” in the Cabaret Lounge. I don’t think I ever saw it before. I love the scenery on Kauai. Moorea was the inspiration for Bali Hai in the movie. I do my walk in the cool of the evening, then we watch “Mama Mia” before bed.
Sunday, February 8
The seas are pretty heavy today and it’s overcast. We try to stay busy. You need “sisu” on a day like this. We try to stay busy. A little coffee and orange juice before church, then a nice brunch in the dining room. We visit with a couple from Chicago (he reminds us of Tony Coletta) and a couple from Holland. The afternoon lecture is about the aboriginals of Australia. The presence of Europeans in Australia resulted in 90% of the aboriginals being wiped out—mainly by smallpox and relocation to unsuitable lands. They were nomadic in the most part, within their area called an “estate.” They were very connected to the land they inhabited, and relocation was devastating. By late afternoon the seas have calmed and dinner is very enjoyable. I have pot roast—just like home!
Monday, February 9—Happy Birthday, Aunt Shirley
This day at sea dawns bright with calm seas. We breakfast on the fantail again. The highlight of the morning is “On Deck for the Cure,” a 5k walk on the track to raise money for breast cancer research. It’s really hot by the time we finish—a cool shower before choir, lunch, then I spend time reading by the pool while Ron goes to another lecture by the British agent about the “Rainbow Warrior Incident”—the bombing of a Greenpeace ship by French intelligence because it was interfering with a planned French bomb test on a South Seas island. I spend the rest of the day in our cabin blogging. I order in a tuna sandwich for supper, but Ron goes to the Bistro for supper Then to the Cabaret Lounge for the night show. We cross the International Dateline tonight and lose a whole day. It will be Wednesday, February 11, when we wake up tomorrow. One more day at sea before Aukland.
Big day today! We’ll have a talk about Pitcairn Island (the Mutiny on the Bounty story!) Then we’ll sail around the island for pictures. Red alert is on because of the rotavirus, so the islanders (48 in all, representing nine families descended from the mutineers and the Polynesians they brought with them) will not come aboard; they are too isolated to take a chance. They will come along side for supplies however. The water is so blue here, tidi-bowl blue! The island is part of New Zealand which gives them aid for their grade school and the doctor on the island. The children have to go elsewhere for high school and college. We actually get the Superbowl here! Ron has a great time watching it in the theater-area even if his team doesn’t win.
Monday, February 2
Happy Groundhog’s Day—hope the groundhog didn’t see his shadow where you are! He surely would see it here! I spend the day on the pool deck reading. We are very careful about the sun—it is fierce here! Ron attends a lecture about our ship and its navigation system. There is a lecture in the afternoon about Polynesian native culture which is very similar throughout the South Pacific. There are three cast—the chiefs, the kahunas (priests) and the rest of the clan members. Sex is pretty open as extended families live in the same large hut. It is taboo to have sex with children before puberty, but they play at it. Once they have their rites of passage, they are considered adults. Sex is encouraged with several partners, since pregnancy is believed to occur only by having sex with the same person repeatedly—or if a demi-god hovers over a female. The birth of girls is good since they will have the responsibility to care care of aged parents. If no girl is born by the third or fourth child, this boy will be raised and clothed as a girl, an umu. The chiefs are permitted to have sex with anyone over puberty, including the umus. I leave dinner early to catch the navigation lecture on the tv, then go up on the track and do my walk after sunset. It is a beautiful evening—reminds me of Hawaii.
Tuesday, February 3
There is a station on the tv that shows our heading, miles traveled and the current weather; we’ve gone 4808 miles so far. This will be our last day at sea before Tahiti! I wimp out after 20 minutes on the track. It’s just too hot at 7 am! Ron does 4 mi—what an animal. When we go to breakfast we are allowed to serve ourselves—a sure sign the red alert is over. Last day at sea before Tahiti; I go to a lecture on black pearls which Tahiti is famous for. They put a small piece of shell under the mantle of the oyster, then hang them from long ropes in the sea. Indonesia has gold-colored pearls and Japan raises white ones in cages. We play trivia with two nice couples from the UK before choir practice. There is a lecture in the afternoon about the Polynesian migrations which began in Southeast Asia, and consisted of three waves in the early hundreds AD, each one beginning where the last on left off. This explains the similarities between groups located on isolated islands great distances apart—such as the fact that most all seem to be patriarchal with many more taboos for women than men. Polynesia is generally located if you draw a triangle from New Zealand to Hawaii to Easter Island and back to NZ. The natives were able to travel the great distances because they developed great rafts with outriggers and sails; they could hold hundreds of people and their supplies. There is a wonderful presentation in the theater tonight about “South Pacific,” Including a featurette of the making of the movie (with Rossano Brazzi and Mitzi Gaynor) in Kauai, a bit of the Broadway play with Mary Martin and Enzio Panza, and a “60 Minutes” piece with Diane Sawyer interviewing James Michener on location where the original story was placed. Michener was stationed in the South Pacific during WWII and the location and people inspired his first book “Tales of the south Pacific” which launched his career as a novelist. Some of the themes in the book, the play and the film were very controversial for the 1950s—single American girl having an affair with a widowed Frenchman with half-Polynesian children, and an American serviceman’s affair with an Asian islander. There was much pressure to leave these storylines out. I loved it! I am pumped and get my two-mile walk in before bed.
Wednesday, February 4
I wake up early and head out for a cup of coffee on deck 9; we are just sailing round the end of Tahiti (404 sq. mi and 170,000 pop.) into Papeete harbor—very clean, green and busy! We go into Papeete a couple hours before our tour and pick up some postcards, a tank top and a Coke--$20—a bit pricy. It is going to be a hot day! Our tour is wonderful. Eight of us in the back of a 4-wheeler Jeep head thru town, then stop at the bay where Captain Cook first landed—a great view. Then on to the Papenoo River and inland to the crater at the river’s source. 300” of rain a year contributes to this large source of fresh water with trout and eels in it! (The guide fed the eels bread and they darted out on the bank to grab it!) We take a dip in a pool of the river (no eels!), and one of the guides dives from a vertical wall of rock into the pool. It’s a rough ride into this national park area, and Teva, our guide, makes several stops to show us African tulip tree, miconia (an invasive plant here), and Polynesian hibiscus; (the flowers start our cream-colored, turn pink, then fall off in one day; and the leaves were used by the natives to cook and serve food). The On our way to have a swim at Lafayette Beach, a black sand beach, we see a mango tree heavy with fruit, a frangipani tree (plumeria) and a man carrying a breadfruit (about the size of a green kittenball). We get into a traffic jam, get slowed down by fire engines and a re the last couple on the ship before she sails. I never want that to happen again! After dinner we see “The Bounty” with Mel Gibson and Anthony Hopkins; it was filmed mainly on Moorea, across the water from Tahiti, and some on Pitcairn island!
Thursday, February 5
A day at sea before Rarotonga . The ocean is a bit rougher today, with some short showers. I manage to get our wet clothes from yesterday laundered—there’s a line!—while Ron has his walk. I have a great workout at yoga, then we catch two programs on Polynesian dance and Maori culture. Choir practice is so fun today. Ron finally figures out how to get a picture off the laptop and up to the photo shop.I win 30 min of internet time in a contest.
Friday, February 6 (Ron writes today!)
This is not a happy day—Sue woke up with the diarrhea today, felt obliged to call the doctor and was put on a 24-hour quarantine. She was devastated. As Murphy’s Law would have it, today is a shore excursion on a glass-bottomed boat to one of the Cook Islands—Rarotonga. I told her I would stay with her, but she said to and have fun (sort of). The seas were quite rough, but the Captain got the ship positioned so that we could safely get the tenders loaded and to shore. We took a nice bus ride around the island, stopping a lush lagoon. At that point we picked up snorkeling gear and piled into a glass-bottomed boat, about 20 to a boat. Traveled about 20 min to a part of the lagoon that had large silver clams about 14” in diameter, mantas, and a large variety of reef fish. The two local boys that were running the ship were very educated and full of energy, and tod us about their history and culture. Then we moved to a secluded part by the lagoon and the boys made us a great lunch the native way—fresh-cooked albacore tuna, fried bananas and onions with salads and buns. Then the boys put on a sarong-tying demonstration—for women and men; the men were instructed how to do the three-legged dance with a rock hanging down in the middle of their sarong—use your imagination! It was a real funny and informative presentation. The island people are famous for their friendliness. We also got an explanation about their tattoos—very family-oriented. This is a more lush island than Tahiti. The one boy gave us his e-mail and said there are bed and breakfasts that are very nice also. I forgot to take my wallet, so had to take a second trip to town to get some souvenirs and mail postcards. Sue was pretty bummed. She had only the one episode which is good, but still she missed the day trip. (I spent the day playing video games. I should have been working on the blog but I was too disappointed to accomplish anything!)
Saturday, February 7—Happy Birthday, Lannie!
Back to normal today. Several days at sea now before Auckland, Tasmania (Australia).
Ron attends a lecture, “Spying 101,” by a British agent while I catch up on my log. We will have choir practice at noon every day we are at sea. We’re going to do two songs in a passenger talent show, and a half-hour concert this week-end. I spend the better part of the afternoon watching “South Pacific” in the Cabaret Lounge. I don’t think I ever saw it before. I love the scenery on Kauai. Moorea was the inspiration for Bali Hai in the movie. I do my walk in the cool of the evening, then we watch “Mama Mia” before bed.
Sunday, February 8
The seas are pretty heavy today and it’s overcast. We try to stay busy. You need “sisu” on a day like this. We try to stay busy. A little coffee and orange juice before church, then a nice brunch in the dining room. We visit with a couple from Chicago (he reminds us of Tony Coletta) and a couple from Holland. The afternoon lecture is about the aboriginals of Australia. The presence of Europeans in Australia resulted in 90% of the aboriginals being wiped out—mainly by smallpox and relocation to unsuitable lands. They were nomadic in the most part, within their area called an “estate.” They were very connected to the land they inhabited, and relocation was devastating. By late afternoon the seas have calmed and dinner is very enjoyable. I have pot roast—just like home!
Monday, February 9—Happy Birthday, Aunt Shirley
This day at sea dawns bright with calm seas. We breakfast on the fantail again. The highlight of the morning is “On Deck for the Cure,” a 5k walk on the track to raise money for breast cancer research. It’s really hot by the time we finish—a cool shower before choir, lunch, then I spend time reading by the pool while Ron goes to another lecture by the British agent about the “Rainbow Warrior Incident”—the bombing of a Greenpeace ship by French intelligence because it was interfering with a planned French bomb test on a South Seas island. I spend the rest of the day in our cabin blogging. I order in a tuna sandwich for supper, but Ron goes to the Bistro for supper Then to the Cabaret Lounge for the night show. We cross the International Dateline tonight and lose a whole day. It will be Wednesday, February 11, when we wake up tomorrow. One more day at sea before Aukland.
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