The days seem to be rolling by all too quickly. Hard to imagine we are about halfway through the Grand Voyage. Today's temperature was much more tolerable compared to a few days ago when we were roasting. It was 77 degrees this morning with only 60% humidity. The winds were 20 mph and the skies had broken clouds according to the weather channel.
We are beginning to see some flying fish, although their numbers are low. Even a small flock of sea birds were spotted flying over the waves. Speaking of waves, the swells are measuring around 6 feet, but it sure feels like much higher than that. During the late evening, it began to become rough and it lasted throughout the night. According to Captain Rens, we are slowly escaping the cyclone conditions as we rapidly head southwest. We still have over 900 nautical miles to reach Auckland.
Now that it is certain we will be docking a day early in Auckland, we were advised to complete the forms required by New Zealand today and not wait until 24 hours prior to our visit. Those with cell phones could do this form with the use of a QR code. We were given a flyer to complete this information on our computer. Following the directions, it was going OK until we reached the part about the address of the pier we will be docked at. The front desk folks had given us the incorrect info to type in for an address, so we couldn't go any further with the first application. Finally we called and we were given the correct address. It worked. So the second time we completed the questionnaire, it went smoother. This was supposed to take 10 minutes a person. But in order to get it correct, it took almost an hour. In the end, it was accepted and should be added to our passport numbers along with the New Zealand visas we got before we left home. The only sad thing is that we wished we had more ports to see in New Zealand instead of just 2 ports in three days.
This morning we spent an hour at the Seaview Pool and enjoyed sitting back there. It had cooled down a whole lot, although we still drank three glasses of lemonade served by Ramon. Then we indulged with two Cannonball burgers from the Dive-In, which were very good for a change. We still are not big fans of their French fries, but one order between the two of us was plenty.
Going for a 5:30pm walk around the promenade did not last long since the deck crew were just starting to do some deep cleaning out there. The doors to the deck had been roped off, except the one we went out of. Honestly, it was still too rough to walk a straight line.
Dinner was good with a coconut-crusted shrimp appetizer, a Caesar salad, another jumbo shrimp cocktail and one Caesar salad. Tonight's hot soup was minestrone, so one of us ordered that. I would have been happy with two bowls of this delicious soup and skip the main course. But we both ordered one huli-huli chicken dish and the other had the veal and sage meatballs. Except for a few bites, we cleaned the plates. Dessert looked tempting, but we passed on it.
The entertainment this evening was the comedian Simon Palomares with "All in the Family" comedy referring to teenage kids, aging parents, and dogs. But he was funny.
A few more sea days and we will be docking in Auckland.
Bill & Mary Ann
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