Our port guide presented a talk all about Alotau and Madang, the upcoming ports in Papua New Guinea this morning. Few of the people we know have been to these places, so this will be an adventure. Two years ago, we made a stop in Port Moresby, where we took a tour to see a museum of the local tribes. It was a one room museum with a couple of basic displays of costuming and weaponry. But their main claim to fame was their art of pottery-making. We attended a demonstration where the ladies of the village mixed the clay, then hand-formed the many sizes of pots. A large firepit in the ground was where the pots were "fired", then dried in the sun for a spell. Very tedious work for these women. No men were involved in the process, since it was "women's" work. Nope, the men had the most fun, because they danced. Bedecked in feathers and armed with swords and knives and whatever, they put on quite a ceremonial show. We expect to see some of the same sites in both ports, although we have not booked a tour. It appears that most everything will be within walking distance.
There is only one guest speaker onboard right now.....the filmmaker and funny guy, Peter McGugan. We are hearing some mixed reviews concerning his talks. Perhaps his subject about African animals is more interesting today.
We sort of lucked out at the aft pool today, just missing a shower that had cleared the deck of sunbathers. The rain was brief, and when the skies cleared, the sun stayed out for a few hours. It was nice to relax and read as always.
We finished the afternoon, cooling off inside while watching a movie in our room. It was a Robert Redford flick from last year called All Is Lost. Not sure if it was the most appropriate movie to be shown about a man stranded out at sea, especially when we are on a ship in the middle of the Coral Sea. It had to be the strangest movie we have seen. It was a one man show with about a total of 10 words spoken for 1 3/4 hours. We are still trying to decide if the ending was a good one or not.
Dinner was good as usual. Sweet and sour breaded shrimp and sliced tenderloin were our entrees. The menus have been slightly repeated over the last six weeks, but it seems that something different appears everyday. An unusual one was the stuffed cabbage leaves with ground beef, which two of us at the table had ordered. They were huge. The Australian trout looked like breaded and fried salmon.
The entertainer this evening was a fellow by the name of Phoenix. His specialty is being a real life mentalist, the wonder from down under. We don't have a clue what the show will be about, but four of our tablemates promise to let us know tomorrow. That is, if they make it through the entire performance.
