A terrible night sleep-wise, with a blocked nose and a thick head. (Who said I was a thickhead?) Anyway, not much I could do about it but thought I may as well have a go at the Nurofen Cold & Flu tablets, only to find we only had two! I think it might have helped ease the discomfort a wee bit.
As mentioned earlier, now on the 52 diet which I have heard is very good. So a couple of fasting days now with a minimal calorie intake. That meant no cooked breakfast – not even the sausage rolls, no chocolate croissant, not even a hunk or three of pineapple - or even coffee. Times really are grim. Just a cup of hot water and lemon, with a dob of honey
I even excused myself from the Shed, not wanting to infect my fellow shedders and needing a bit of cabin time. Paula was with the girls at their regular haunt down on deck five, scoffing doughnuts no doubt, that are not available on deck 14 where we meet.
I rallied a wee bit and took both our instruments down to a slightly later trivia, as we had a ukulele meet straight after. The others wouldn’t sit with me, so I sat on my own, with my own score sheet and made up a team of 1 – ‘The Outcast’. For scoring purposes, only and because I am a team player, I did help them of course, to a massive 11/20, which was what I got anyway!
Having lost our tutor Salomon, the Ukulele players met, as there are so many instruments in private hands, but Jamie from the Cruise Staff was there to issue instruments for those who were without.
Mike, Tony and Paul, basically organised the printing of more song-sheets and also led the group, very successfully I might add.
Afterwards, we ditched our gear and headed up once more to the buffet. Showing admirable restraint, I limited myself to a bowl of soup and a bread roll. Not easy when you know just how much good food is up there.
Some blog catch-ups, even the assembling of some stuff to be packed away (yes, that time approaches fast), skipping afternoon trivia, then to the early show at 6pm, (formal night again) where staffer Jamie had yet another show, in the theatre. A great performance again.
Typical Jamie one-liner. Whilst singing, comes to the front of the stage and shook a couple of hands, kissed a couple of ladies, played for a guy - who grabbed him, gave him a big hug, and without really messing up his song, “Ooooh you smell nice. Have you been jogging?” His final song was an all action, “Remember Me?”, the Johnny Tillotson number, that apparently Spike Milligan thought was the same as “Ghost Riders in The Sky”… He sang it as though he were cowboy galloping on a horse. Quite a visual performance and very physical, ending the night with a cartwheel this time.
On to the Vista lounge for the Captain’s Circle drinks - and meet the new Captain Diego Parrera, who spoke very well. So well, we were a couple of minutes late for 7:45pm dinner. Somehow, the camera setting wheel got moved so the pics taken were terrible, but I did manage to rescue the one of ourselves with Dave and Sandy
Once again, showing that famous restraint at dinner, just a small baked pasta dish as a starter and the three delicious, but small, slices of Chateaubriand. I left the veg… Hey, I needed the iron...
I did manage the after dinner coffee, which I must say, I don’t really enjoy that much – only marginally better than a withdrawal headache.
Fairly early to bed.
Day 63 – At sea of course
It rained! Holy moley. We haven’t had bad weather for what seems like ages now. At least on a sea day it doesn’t matter too much – other than the buffet is a bit crowded despite a latish breakfast. Day 2 of the 52 diet, another fasting day and still feeling terrible, but this time, I did have three or four pieces of fresh pineapple with the lemon and honey drink. Those who know me well know that in NZ, I normally start the day, whether it is 6am, 7am or 8am, with nothing more than cider vinegar and honey in hot water, with a brunch and dinner about 6pm. On board ship, that routine just doesn’t work at all, as the 7:45pm dinner is late, but a huge part of our enjoyment of the cruise, especially on this one.
So, excuses again for skipping shed and I maintained my isolation at trivia, with 13/20.
We opted out of the Pacific Circler’s lunch at 11:45 for obvious reasons but did make the 1pm ukulele group. Four or five new pieces issued and a couple were beyond me either because the writing was too small, or there were chords I couldn’t manage in a hurry, even if I did know them.
Late lunch and both soups were watery or broth type, so I opted to make a sandwich. Big mistake. They cut the sourdough bread so thick and it is so chewy, plus my choice of filling wasn’t the best, so I left most of the crusts… To fend of the caffeine withdrawal headache, a Timms coffee bag sufficed.
Within my calorie limited day, I did manage to squeeze in a NZ Natural ice cream – well, the berry sorbet. Good for the throat.
Evening meal, just the soup and picked the prawns out of the main, leaving the rice.
There was a Hawaiian deck party after dinner – but my Hawaiian shirt wasn’t back from the laundry! Bad timing. Marie’s headwear needed fumigating as she was scratching away. The live band were a bit too noisy anyway, so we retired for the night, but others were having fun. The dance options were somewhat limited by the Jamaican/Hawaiian beat anyway.
Three more sea days on this leg as we steam towards Papeete, Tahiti. That always conjures up pictures of an idyllic, exotic, tropical island doesn’t it. In fact, Papeete is far from idyllic or exotic, certainly downtown. One of the grubbiest downtown areas of any stop. It has colour and life, but…
No comments:
Post a Comment