Days 69 & 70 - Coughs and splutters and varied trivia scores.

Probably the first time I’d slept past 6am for ages – but the cough reappeared as soon as I woke, so down to deck 5 yet again, with the book clutched under my arm.  Unfortunately, now it looks as though Paula has succumbed, so I am not exactly flavour of the month.  Dave was already down there as usual and Lily also joined us and by the time I got back to the cabin, Paula was at least awake.  Not particularly well, but awake and we did head up to the buffet.  No bananas, so a light continental breakfast of ham, cheese, onion and toast for me.

Just 5 of us at Shed.  At morning quiz, no Sandy (she misread the time…) or Paula - and even with one potential 12 point question, we didn’t even crack 20!  Oh dear.

We both made it to ukulele class and the group tried to select 5 tunes for yet another concert, the day before we hit Auckland.  I suppose that means we can’t pack the Hawaiian shirts just yet.

The lunch buffet had one of my favourite dishes of this trip – mushroom and leek ragout, so with some rice and some curried pumpkin, spinach soup and a BBQ chicken drumstick, a good lunch.

Paula played cards – and won again… She may not be invited back.

The early, pre-dinner show was a performer we hadn’t seen before.  Patrick Murray – a white American ventriloquist – with his female Jamaican dummy. This was a fresh and very funny performance indeed.  Probably the funniest of the cruise.  Apart from the very last part, about the snakes hissing in a pit, which we’d heard before, it was a very original performance - particularly so with the various ship jokes.

“What’s with a tender port at Bora Bora?  Can’t the Captain parallel park?”

After dinner, (pork rack) it was off to the late theatre show, with Australian high speed pianist, Ashley Carruthers.  A high energy show and apart from a spoken part at one stage, that possibly went on just a little too long for my liking, another really good performance.  He holds the Guinness World Record for speed.  This is not for playing ‘The Minute Waltz’ in 23 seconds, but the number of repeated single key hits, in a minute.  The previous world record was something like 450 or so and Ash now holds it at 497.  He loves the faster pieces and this means the repertoire is very much to my liking too. 

Our clocks go back another hour tonight.

The weather reports from home seem to be a bit grim, with tales of 90kph gusts and one or two power lines down, not too far from our place.

At the Captain’s Welcome a few night ago, he asked who liked smooth sailing and who liked it a bit rough – sailing that is.  He said there would probably be something for everyone in the coming days.  I suspect he was probably right.  At the moment, it is still smooth, so presumably, we still have the rough to come.

 

Day 70 - Paula’s voice gets stolen.

A fair night and somewhat surprisingly, the sinuses seemed to have cleared – until I got up…  I was up at 6am and managed to finish the Clive Cussler book after the cuppa and chocolate doughnut, but it was just a little too cool to sit outside, so I sat in the library.  As I put the paperback onto the paperback swap shelf, straight after I’d finished it, whilst scanning for anything interesting, a lady brought in a double Lee Child, 'Jack Reacher' book and said I’d probably like it.  So I took it.  I haven’t read too many Jack Reacher books but like many others, I can’t really see Tom Cruise as a 250lb, 6ft 5” ex-Military Policeman!  I think this is one of the earliest Jack Reacher stories, so I just hope I can finish the first before we get off and I have to pass it on.

Not so good for Paula who definitely wasn’t well.  She took Antihistamine, Panadol, Vocalzone, etc. in an effort to feel better.  I fetched her some porridge and a hot lemon and honey drink.  I just had a coffee – nothing to eat.  She stayed in bed.

At morning trivia, there was just Larraine, Bert and myself - the outcast, and we finished equal first.  If only we’d known the Roman God of war, which we should have done, we'd had a clear win.  As it was, a 3 way tiebreaker guessing the height of the Eiffel Tower – in metres.  One team gave it (probably correctly) in feet, and therefore ruled themselves out and we missed out to the other team, who seem to win most days, either morning or afternoon.

I did uke practice then brought Paula lunch – which she enjoyed.

I had yet another chicken curry and yet another chunk of fresh salmon.  I rarely go past the dishes I like!

Trivia was early at 3pm, but the whole team missed it.  We elected to not go to the dining room for dinner, but Paula got up for the early Vista show, Australian accordionist Ross Maio, who we’d seen at least twice before, but I still enjoyed it.  The orchestra was there, but they weren’t really required for most numbers, as this modern accordion is just like an electronic keyboard, with bird song, choir and dozens of other effects.

We grabbed a bite at the buffet with a light dish of baked cheese pasta, a slice of roast turkey and a coffee.

One of our favourite production shows has always been ‘The British Invasion’ and even though Paula still wasn’t 100%, we sat at the back of the theatre ready for a speedy exit if required.  It's a good show that seems to have been freshened up a bit, but it was certainly a slick production.  With just 2 production singers, a backing music track rather than the orchestra, there were a couple of numbers that really needed an extra voice.

Our clocks back 1 hour tonight - and a day forward - so we are then 100% back on NZ time.

That brings it all down to earth for us – time to start the packing in earnest, now that the last of the laundry has been returned.

We are now looking forward to being home, regardless of the weather, but from temperatures in the mid to high 20’s, we are going to plummet to mid to high teens very quickly indeed.  

*This may well be the last post from the ship, but if I get time, I’ll do the last two days and the disembarkation, maybe even a summary, before I head overseas again, just a few days later *