Day Forty Six: Back in the Pacific

Well that was what the Captain told us during his noon announcement but looking at a map I am not sure that I believe it, he talked at great length about the mountains under the sea and the deep valleys that we are passing over, all of which should ensure a speedy crossing to Hong Kong. What he didn’t tell us was that there would be quite a swell during this crossing and I am having great difficulty with my touch typing as the keyboard is moving underneath me as I write.

One good thing during the night was that we had quite a downpour of rain and that has rid most of the decks of the volcanic ash that we picked up during our stay at Rabaul. The first of Hilary’s pictures that I have put up tonight shows how the ash settled all over the varnished hand rails and we did hear of one poor chap who leaned on it with his white shirt before he realised what he had done. Today has been much nicer and we have had sunshine and temperatures in the mid 80’s but we have not been out sunning ourselves. Instead we spent an hour this morning listening to Cherry talking about our stop in Nha Trang, Vietnam which will be the first stop after Hong Kong. We have a tour booked for that one where we hope to see some of the countryside that we have heard so much about and also to visit one of the schools where Hilary has some much needed pens and pencils to present to them, we were told before we came out that gifts such as these would be much appreciated as this part of Vietnam is very poor. Unfortunately we are only spending a half day here and we are going in by ship’s tender and knowing how slowly these operate it probably means that their will be few opportunities for shopping.

Most of the rest of our day was spent in the cabin while Hilary was busy catching up with her scrapbook and I finished the Sudoku – getting the hang of the easier ones now. We skipped lunch although I did open the bag of macadamia nuts that I bought in Australia and had an apple and one of the small packets of biscuits that P & O so thoughtfully provide – have to keep body and soul together somehow. Then it was off to see our Brummie detective Terry Brown and the time goes so quickly when he is talking, he concluded with a delightful story about the time he arrested both the murderer and the murdered person all in the space of a few hours. We talked to him afterwards to see if he had ever written a book about his exploits as we felt that he has so many stories they would make a great series of books similar to the Doctor in the House, or All Creatures Great and Small. He said that his only involvement was to pass on some anecdotes that had been used in the David Jason Frost TV series but that he has videos of his past lectures and that he might be able to dig into those for a book. I still think that he could sell well and I definitely plan to make his character part of Murder on the Oriana.

The only other action that I had today was to help our dinner companion Alison with her computer, she is getting better but still needs help with the basics such as moving from tab to tab to go from her email contact list to her inbox, sent box etc. Also she had never been told how to use the back and forward arrows on a website, little things like that seem to help her a lot and she writes everything that I tell her into a little notebook. Tonight is formal again so Hilary is titivating herself with a black sparkly top and black skirt and I will put on the black tux. It’s a good job that I have a white shirt on or if the lights go out people would never see us. Short blog tonight for as I say we haven’t done much to write about, I will sort out this picture for you and let Hilary add her pearls of wisdom. Tonight it is another Headliner repeat so will probably go to that, I can’t remember what the film is but it didn’t grab my attention.

Tiz I. First of all, before I forget. Jess, we should be off the ship by 10.00a.m. and could meet you outside the security area any time after that on Sunday, 1st March. Let us know when you might be able to get there. Now, the expected rain all day lasted until about 9.00am this morning. We only had two events that we wanted to go see so we decided to come back to the cabin so that I could get the scrapbook up to date as far as Sydney. Didn’t quite make it so it is done up to Auckland. Maybe tomorrow I will get to Sydney! Who knows what tomorrow will bring? It has been a very warm, sunny day but it has been nice to just relax and play with the glue and scissors. Oh, yes, I did cut Sam’s hair as ‘Grandpa had wings’ I had to use my sewing scissors, one has to use what is to hand, so he has a very modern ‘hacked off’ look which will be fine just as soon as he shampoos it and it settles down! You will see it in the next photograph that is taken – probably in Hong Kong. Hey ho. The ship shop had a ‘special’ on evening bags today so I went long to look – they are still quite expensive and none will hold two pairs of specs – now I ask you, what good is that! I think they need to think about the age and needs of their clients – we are all old and need glasses for this and glasses for that etc. Tonight is the second showing of the Headliners show. I am very happy that the last repeat performance included the boxing sequence which I just love. It’s a high energy, fast moving, great music section that just blows me away! I can die happy. We bought our Hong Kong money today so we are all set to go for afternoon tea at the famous posh hotel which overlooks the harbour with Jess. That is if we have time after our shopping. I want to buy some silk to cover some books and to have some for sewing. Sam might have a white dinner jacket made and I might have a dress or suit – depending on the time needed. We will wait to see what Jess will need! Well my time is up and Sam needs to get back on the computer. Take care, God Bless.

Just back from the Headliners and what more can I say about this group of artistes, they are the most hard working and talented bunch that you could wish for. One of the nice things that they do occasionally is to stand at the exits and receive thanks from the audience as they leave the show and tonight I spotted one of the singers who does the lead in the boxing routine “I’m Still Standing” so I was able to pass on our congratulations for this well choreographed routine. I am sitting in the CyberStudy with a couple shouting at their computer as they try to connect with Skype and it is most disconcerting when others are trying to type and I really want to go over there and tell them to shut up so I will post this and get the hell out of Dodge. Goodnight.