Day Seventy Eight: Heading for Gibraltar….

It may be a bit breezy and chilly outside but the drizzle that was evident when I crossed the Promenade Deck on my way to the Conservatory Restaurant has definitely stopped and our cabin is flooded with sunshine. Unfortunately the cabin is where we are pretty much confined to at the moment as sometime during the early hours the diarrhoea that was threatening Hilary a few days ago came on with a vengeance last night and as I sit writing this we are waiting for the nurse to arrive to assess her. We were supposed to go together this morning to clear UK Immigration but I have been the only one allowed out of the cabin to do so and while I was up there I asked about Hilary’s clearance and was told that it was up to the Immigration people as whether or not they will come to the cabin to see her.

Latest update is that the nurse has just been and that Hilary is definitely confined to the cabin for 24 hours, these people are dead scared of her bugs being spread around the ship and we have already had the sanitation squad in once and we understand that they will be back again later today. As I was writing this the ‘phone rang and it was Room Service asking what Hilary would like for lunch (nothing thank you) and advising that they would bring up a menu so that she could have her dinner sorted out for tonight. Hilary has been prescribed pills for the diarrhoea, two to be taken immediately and one each time that she “goes”; the only good thing in all of this is that it is all free! The ship is so concerned about tummy bugs that they feel being confined to the cabin is so restrictive that they don’t feel like charging you.

I know that you must feel a little depressed about the above news but actually Hilary is in pretty good spirits and to cheer you up I have posted some thumbnail photos taken the day before our wedding anniversary and some of you may be receiving full size ones as presents for the next five years as we have bought the copyright and have the photographer’s originals on disc. They cost a fortune….

Another update at 4.30pm and since I last blogged Hilary has spent most of the time asleep, she has tried to do the scrapbook and tried to read but pretty much to no avail. During the times that she has been awake she has been very lively but the awake periods don’t last for very long. The rushing to the loo seems to have slowed down and in fact she has had to take only one extra pill since this morning. In the meantime I have made the most of sitting in the cabin all day by getting another 2 hours of video tape downloaded onto the laptop and I have two more hours to go. The real task starts when we get home and I have to condense it all onto one DVD. The big disappointment for Hilary today is that they are showing Slum Dog Millionaire in the cinema for the first time tonight and we were hoping to see it together – looks like that we might have to buy the DVD when we get home and watch it there. Time for a cup of tea and I will give you another update later on tonight, we still have no idea what Immigration will do about looking at Hilary’s passport and we have joked that we might have to go round the world again if they won’t let her off at Southampton!

Tiz I. A bit sleepy from lack of sleep last night but otherwise just fine except that I am being treated like the totally unclean. I understand really as I was just the same with anyone at nursery who turned up with the liquid tummy! The soap has been reduced in size somewhat since I have become a Howard Hughes character! The scrapbook is almost up to date and the last batch of photos is at the photographers as we speak. I want to get it done so I have time to concentrate on the packing of all the stuff. We might need yet another bag to hold it all together while we travel home. The nurse is very nice and will phone me again in the morning to see that I had a good night and managed to sleep without any cramps. She apologised for the sanitation officer who arrived and proceeded to wash down the walls but refused to give me some disinfectant to clean the bathroom after I have used it during the day! No accounting for folk. Tomorrow is Sam’s birthday and I have been unable to arrange his special dinner with balloons and singing as they said to tell them the day before and I have been stuck in the cabin all day! As I write the coastline of Morocco is passing by – tomorrow we will be heading into the Bay of Biscay and we are all hoping that it will be just as gentle as it was on our way out to start our journey. After the last few days I will be glad to get home and have a rest! Sheila is in my thoughts, I hope that she is feeling better soon. Thank you everyone for remembering our wedding anniversary, it was lovely to get all the messages. Hey Sam, we saw the view from the diving pool area in Barcelona, it was wet and cold but we both thought that it would be stunning in the sunshine. Sharon, way to go girl, enjoy, relax and have fun. Right, that is it for now, take care, God bless.

Having problems with the internet connection again so I won’t try and post pictures tonight as they take connection time and I don’t want it to fail while I am posting; we are passing through a thunderstorm just off the tip of Portugal. While I was at dinner we saw Gibraltar going by on one side and Morocco on the other – neat! Hilary had some dinner and they will assess her again tomorrow morning and if OK she will be allowed out of the cabin. Ok connection good so I took a chance and posted 3 of the 6 pics. Goodnight.