Another day at sea brought us further south, and graced us with cooler temperatures. The worst of the humidity seemed to be gone as well. It sure made for a much better walk after breakfast, although we were sailing through a series of passing showers early on. Eventually, we left the rain clouds behind us and we began seeing more blue skies. Even better than that, we began spotting birds. They were either shearwaters or small petrels. They are the fast-flying seabirds that sweep over the tops of the waves. Sooty brown or gray on the top, they have white underbellies which can been seen when they fly high. When they skim over the water, they are difficult to see as they blend perfectly. The further south we sailed, the more birds flanked the ship. Unlike the boobies, they stay far away from the ship. And because they are much smaller than the boobies, they do not seem to feed on the flying fish……they are too big for them.
Usually after our promenade deck walk, we take a ride up to deck 10 to walk up there. It is totally open to the wind, and always feels so good to cool down. This morning we happened to catch the last of the cornhole game being played between the Rolling Stone Lounge Band and some guests. Once they all left, we tried our hand at it. It looks easy, but guess what? It isn't. The best strategy is to wind up, close your eyes, and give the bean bag a throw. One of us actually landed one right in the hole that way. Total accident really. Shuffleboard is also on this side of deck 10, but we have only seen it used a few times. Opened to the sun, this wide deck can get extremely hot.
There were three lectures today beginning with a Q & A with Ian and Nyron . Then at 11am, Dr. Nocita lectured on sand, while Dr. Woodman spoke about both the New Zealand and Aussie languages. We sure wish these talks could be televised, but we know that will not happen. Only the first talk with Ian may be on TV since it probably dealt with port and tour info. While we are on the subject of tours, Captain Friso announced later in the day that some of the Auckland tours had been cancelled due to the recent flooding. No need to visit the front desk, as all of the excursions would be refunded to everyone's shipboard account.
For lunch we ordered excellent burgers from the dining room. They were hot with crispy French fries even when they were brought to us at 2pm. Dinner for the two of us was in the Pinnacle Grill this evening. It would be the first of ten complimentary dinners we get in there. These days our "freebies" only can be used for a regular meal….not a pop-up. That would exclude any Tamarind, Sel de Mer, cellar master, chef's table, and sommelier dinners.
We both enjoyed their wedge salad with the candied bacon on the side. Now there is a charge of $7 if you order an extra appetizer. The bacon is a special treat, and goes very well with that particular salad. For entrees, one of us had the halibut, and the other the 8 ounce filet mignon. Sharing a small baked potato was plenty. For dessert we ordered one crème brulee and the smallest Almost Baked Alaska they could find. There is no such thing as small with that dessert, but we managed to finish it off.
Looking forward to landing in Auckland tomorrow….no matter what the weather brings. It is a wonderful city to visit.
Bill & Mary Ann
