Partly sunny applied to the morning, but briefly. Then it turned partly cloudy, windy, and rough. The seas were confused and angry once again as we headed in a southwesterly direction on our way to Wellington. By the afternoon, the winds had increased to 54 knots, a gale force, according to the Captain. He warned that once we entered the Cook Straits between the North and South Islands, it would probably be rougher. Good thing that will occur during the late hours of the night.
We had a good laugh at breakfast when Gan, or waiter, served us what he called Greek yogurt. We call it yogurt soup, because it has the consistency of white latex paint. Now if we had ordered the plain vanilla yogurt made in Tahiti, it was much firmer. And to prove it, one of the guests we know came over with her glass of French yogurt, shook it, and said the equivalent of - eat your heart out. Then we all had a laugh. Tomorrow, we will order that yogurt instead, since it is a staple of our daily breakfast. The new shipment of fresh berries has kept us happy.
Walking on the lower promenade deck was challenging, because the ship would not stay still under our feet. And besides, it had turned rather cool. Very few people were outside today. Even those who have the new lanai rooms. This deck has been getting a lot of sprucing up with painting of the walls and the railings. Then in the bow of this deck, the crew has had the job of grinding all the paint off of the exhaust grates that you see in the ceiling and the walls. Quite a big project, however the smell of solvents and varnishes can be overpowering at times.
The Maori team is in full swing with a special performance in the Mainstage this afternoon. They happened to pass by us yesterday on deck nine (without the scary make-up) and invited us to watch the song, dance, and heritage show today. We were glad to see the black markings were not permanent as most of them are.
Now that we are getting closer to Australia, opals are the subject of talks and promotions for future sales. Even some good programs are on the TV about the mining of the precious stones. We seem to recall that in the “old days” only those with a birthday in the month of October could purchase and wear the opals. Guess that was a wives tale, right? Although we have heard stories about the stones separating when they dry out and become brittle.
It was too cold for a pool day, so we met with Barb at lunchtime. Always nice to have hot soup and ½ sandwich or small salad as well as great conversation. Once again, Barb and her trivia team won with a near perfect score. These guys are on a roll. Or they are just smart, as Barb would say.
Since the motion of the ocean increased this afternoon, we found it a great time to catch up on the computer work in our room. So many people we know have had accidental falls, getting injured, and embarrassed too. You never know when the ship will move sideways suddenly taking you by surprise. That is one big reason we choose to be on Dolphin deck for the stability.
We spent some time outside the Ocean Bar, working on the crossword puzzle and visiting with people. One of them happened to be Christel, who shared the exploits of their day in Tauranga yesterday. Henk and Christel love to get out on their bike for two, which doesn’t happen often enough. They made it across the bay, through the town of Tauranga, and off into the wetlands where all the birds were. With the nice weather yesterday, they had a fine ride and a great lunch away from the hustle and bustle of the ship.
At dinner, the three of us are finding the new menus items so different, we are opting for the everyday options. Barb tried a steak for the first time, and shared it with us. We agreed it wasn’t that bad, but really good. Both of us had the entrée salad with turkey. You can’t go wrong with that. Stopping to chat with Bill and Leta, they said in the morning, the posted menu had the cappuccino bombe on it for dessert. Planning on ordering it, they were surprised to see it was off the menu. Someone had made a mistake tonight, but we are certain it will reappear soon. So instead, they ordered a blackberry crisp, and had to wait 30 minutes for the chefs to make it fresh. Must have run out of them for the second seating. Sometimes that happens since the majority of folks eat early these days.
The entertainment tonight was supposed to be the Australian cast of the Vallies, a tribute to the Four Seasons & Frankie Valli. However, it was switched for tomorrow. We suspect some of them may have seasickness and/or the dance routine of the show could not be done. It would not be the first time that the performers “turned green”.
Tomorrow’s port is Wellington, a place we have not visited for some time now.
Bill & Mary Ann
