As we approached the Cook Islands, the seas were roiling and
the skies were a mixture of ominously dark clouds and patches of blue. We were hopeful that all would go well, and
we were up early, ready to head ashore by tender for our scheduled excursion. However, our past experience here told us
that this was one of those ports where we’d have a 50-50 chance of getting
in. In 2009 we managed, but those who
had mobility issues were encouraged not to try the tender ride.
As we began breakfast, Captain Mercer came on with an
announcement. The ship had attempted to
find a location that would suffice for a safe tender operation, but the waters
would have none of that! After our
wild-mouse ride ashore and back at Easter Island, we were not eager for another
such experience, and the captain said that the conditions were much worse here,
with swells coming from different directions in addition to high winds.
So we set sail, reluctantly waving good-bye to one of our
favorite South Pacific islands, but glad that we didn’t have to make the
decision to risk life and limb to get ashore.
Captain Jonathan contacted the Auckland authorities to see if we would
be able to arrive sooner than scheduled, and happily both Auckland and Seattle
approved an early arrival on the evening of February 5th rather than
the morning of the 6th. We eagerly
anticipate an extra evening in Auckland, New Zealand as it is a large and
interesting city with an excellent port location. We just wish our friends Carole and Conrad
could be with us, but they had to cancel the cruise for medical reasons. Carole was born in Auckland and had so been
looking forward to visiting it on this cruise!
Instead they will be crossing fingers for a chance to get out of Ottawa
and head for Dunedin, FL, instead.
Carole and Conrad, we are thinking of you as we head for New
Zealand!
The day we should have been in Rarotonga found us sailing on
extremely rough seas! Sea-calm (like
Dramamine) was the order of the day for me!
All part of the adventure!
The first day out of Bora Bora was a formal night (French
theme to go along with French Polynesia).
We arrived at dinner to find that our dining steward was absent due to
minor surgery, so several assistant stewards were working frantically to fill
in for him. You certainly can’t easily
replace dining stewards, and it was very evident as the assistant stewards made
the valiant attempt to get our food to the proper tables and to the proper people. It certainly does help when there is one
steward and one assistant steward assigned to tables, but HAL has changed their
practice of assigning one assistant steward to each steward. Under normal circumstances, things flow
smoothly with this new system, but throw in the glitch of a missing steward,
and it is very obvious that this was not a change for the better!
This is our fourth time crossing the Pacific on the
Amsterdam, and each time we are struck by the vastness of this amazing
ocean! Covering 1/3 the surface of the
Earth, it is truly immense, and we often wonder what mysteries lie beneath us
as we sail these waters. As we headed
southwestward from Rarotonga, the ocean depths became deeper and deeper; at
times we have had more than three miles of water slipping beneath our
hull!
The days at sea have been very active. The two Explorations lecturers on this
segment have been historians, and their perspectives have been extremely
interesting! One makes us wish that we were still teaching
because we’ve learned so much useful information from him! The entertainment continues to be excellent; the
other night we had an incredible pianist who took us on a trip around the world
as he played music from 19 different countries in a nonstop 55-minute musical piece,
and the following night the outstanding Celtic Tenors had us mesmerized with
their beautiful harmonic voices.
On February 2nd/3rd we crossed the
International Dateline. Since it zigzags
from North to South Pole, we actually crossed it at 172°. The ship opted to eliminate February 2nd,
meaning that we missed Saturday, which of course is Groundhog Day! (Does that mean that because the groundhog
couldn’t make an appearance and therefore couldn’t see his shadow, that there
will be an early spring at home? We hope
so for the sake of those friends who are ready for winter to be over!) I couldn’t help but think that if I were working,
I wouldn’t much appreciate missing a Saturday!
Super Bowl Sunday became Super Bowl Monday for us. We are currently 20 hours ahead of Chicago
time, which means that the Super Bowl will be live for us in the afternoon of
Monday the 4th. We aren’t big
into the Super Bowl since our two favorite teams (the Bills and the Bears) are
not participating, so we decided to opt for the movie of the day, We Are Marshall, the story of an entire college
football team that was killed in a plane crash. Interestingly, two of our
good friends from the ship are retired graduate professors who taught at
Marshall, though the tragedy occurred before they worked there.
After nearly six days at sea, we are eager to arrive in one
of our favorite countries, New Zealand!
BT
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