AT SEA, Tuesday, February 12th

Met Terence Stamp today. He's the handsome, white haired blue eyed actor that was the villan, General ZOD, in Superman II. He also played in Billy Bud and Limey. He was interviewed in the lounge and held a question and answer session. Gary and I had a short chat with him at breakfast. He seems very nice and unaffected.

AT SEA, Sunday, Frebuary 10, 2008

Another day at sea, we have two more before we reach Sydney. I just e-mailed Michael & Judy, our friends from Brisbane, and asked them to meet us at the boat at 9:30. The sea is a bit rough but not bad, certainly not nearly what it was before. We spent our time in Auckland in the hospital with Joyce and her husband, David. He had a specialist look at his eye. The doctor said it wasn't an emergency, but he should have it looked at in Sydney or some other port along the way. We all went back to the ship a lot happier than when we left.

AUCKLAND

In Auckland there are more boats per capita than any other city in the world, which is why it's known as the "City of Sails." It is also one of the cleanest and most peaceful and is New Zealand's main city. We won't dock until 6:00 this evening. The husband of my friend from high school, is having an eye problem. He will have to find a hospital as soon as we dock to have a doctor take a look. As we will only be there from around 7:00 PM to midnight, we are not certain a doctor will be located in time. They have packed a suitcase and may have to stay and catch up with the boat in Sydney. We are going with them, but will come back to the ship. You never know when up jumps the devil!

AT SEA, Friday, February 8, 2008

We crossed the International Dateline and went from Wednesday the 6th to Friday the 8th. We are now about 15 hours ahead of Chicago. Weather is still rough and they closed the gym. It's pretty cool and very windy. We won't reach Auckland until 5:00 PM due to our diverting in order to miss the cyclone. Also, we had to cut our speed way down, sometimes only doing 4 knots as there are 15-20 ft. waves. People have found fish on their balcony. Can you imagine that! They have cancelled all tours in Auckland.

AT SEA, Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Today is another sea day. The weather has been pretty rough due to the cyclone. It is about 200 miles behind us, however we are still feeling its effects. Many people are sick and unable to leave their cabin. I took 2 Bonine in the morning and feel just fine. By the way there is no tomorrow as we will cross the International Dateline.

AT SEA, 2/5/08

We have about 4 sea days before we reach Auckland. Today the ocean is a little rough and the pool is spilling onto the deck. The capatain just announced that there is a tropical cyclone on our route and we had to change course to the NW. The winds have become very strong and the sea is building. The motion is not terrible, but he expects it to last for at least 24 more hours. It is now 11:45 AM and they just placed a net over the pool and emptied the water. We were heading straight towards the cyclone. It hit American Samoa, Nuie Island and New Zealand where it did a lot of damage. We are seeing the effects with more than 50 knot winds and very high seas. The boat is pitching quite a bit but not causing any significant problems. The ocean is really upside down, but am not sick...yet. Took Bonine and am feeling OK. Lots of passengers ill.

I will have an update on Pitcairn shortly...much more to the story that we didn't know about until we left.

RAROTONGA, 2/3/08

What a surprise this island turned out to be! Rarotonga is the caital of the Cook Islands which lie in the center of the Polnesian triangle. It is the main island with a population of approximately 10,000 people. It is very mountainous and covered in jungle with luxurious ferns, trees and flowers. It is surrounded by a protective coral reef. Gary and I took a local shuttle to the most beautiful hotel, the Muri Beach Club. We were able to use their facilities and spent the entire day swimming. Their white sand beach was surrounded by the most breathtaking turquoise lagoon. Coconut palms were everywhere. This was truly the most gorgeous island of all. Sucba diving here is supposed to be some of the best in the world. Gary was going to dive, but the lagoon was so magnificent we didn't want to leave.

We ran into some friends from Australia, also on the ship, and we sat in the middle of the lagoon and talked ( too shallow to swim). Afterwards we had lunch in the hotel. The pool was enormous and completely deserted, We went for a swim before returning to the ship. Our friends rented a car so we went back with them. Rarotonga is truly a tropical paradise. Another day we will never forget.