Days 16-19 Jan 21-24

Day 16 (Murky) Monday Jan 21
It was bright early, and Trisha & Hilary managed to see some flying fish, but it clouded over and we had a very sharp shower, although it is very warm. Trisha and I spent most of the morning loading her photos on to my PC, so I can use them in the future if I want to, and also write them to disk for her. Photography is her hobby, she has won prizes, so some of them are very good. She takes loads, she has about 17GB to back-up, it could take us the remaining month to do it!
I had to do the mundane task of my washing today, not easy despite the free laundrette, because of the number of people who want to use it. There is only one laundrette with about 12 washers, 2 of which weren’t working, not nearly enough for 1500+ people! Apparently the QV has one laundrette per deck and it still isn’t enough. Heard a story which is possibly true, possibly a ‘ship myth’. Someone washed one of her long formal dresses and left it in the washer while she went back to her cabin. When she came back it was gone, only to be seen that night being worn at the Ball! She challenged the wearer, ‘you’re wearing my dress’ only to be answered ‘prove it’! So you see, we are definitely a mini-community, complete with ‘thieves and vagabonds(probably)’.
Did very little this afternoon, we are all feeling tired (possibly the rocking motion of the ship?) and several of we ladies have swollen ankles and/or feet, we don’t know why. Makes dancing in high heels difficult to say the least. Neptunes Ball this evening, since we cross the Equator at 3 a.m. tomorrow, again didn’t dance, This evening rather depressed and getting cold feet about NZ. Had new plans from Ron in NZ, not really what I wanted but we’re getting there. I guess it’s inevitable that I will feel a little down sometimes, and I am missing home already, hopefully better tomorrow when I go to the ‘Crossing the Line’ ceremony.
Day 17 (Tango) Tuesday Jan 22
Thought it would be a good idea to go to the morning lecture on ‘Positive Psychology’ and it did help a bit. Despite what my children think, I believe I am a cautious optimist, rather than a pessimist! Optimists live longer apparently, so I had better try to be more positive in future.
12 noon and it was the ‘Crossing the Line’ ceremony, which involved all ‘Pollywogs’ (well, those who volunteered anyway) being wiped with a clammy salmon, covered in gunk, and then pushed into the swimming pool. A ‘pollywog’ is someone who hasn’t crossed the Equator on a ship before (it happened during last night at around 3 a.m). Of course that includes me, but given I have crossed it many times by plane I excused myself from the experience. It was fun to watch for a while, but there were 160 people in all so I got bored and went to the Tango lesson, which I really enjoyed. Am now writing the steps down so I can practise in private (no memory you see, must be my advanced age!).
An absolutely brilliant magician called Jamie Allen was the entertainment this evening, nobody went dancing because we all have swollen feet. Trisha got a gold pin for becoming a gold Cunard member, apparently we will all reach this exalted state once we get to Valparaiso (it’s determined by number of days). The one advantage, apart from discounts on future cruises which I can’t afford anyway, is 2 free hours internet time. Since I’ve just had to purchase 8 more hours for $167.95 this is very good news!
Day 18 (Warm) Wednesday Jan 23
And it is at last warm and balmy, particularly in the evening, even the wind isn’t so bad, I think we’ve slowed down a little. This morning I saw lots of flying fish, and blue-headed boobies trying to catch them. I also met Roger at last, who seems very nice but not my type, too fit! He runs round the deck several times a day, goes to the gym, & only has an apple and an orange for lunch! We all got our interim bills this morning, a bit of a shock for all of us I think, we’ve all spent too much. Fortunately this bill is actually distorted a bit because we have booked all our tours through to Auckland, except Tonga, where we may do stuff independently since there doesn’t seem that much to see.
Learnt the samba (again), very suitable since we are heading for Brazil. We have heard some scare stories about Salvador de Bahia, Trisha & Hilary met some people who have been before and they had armed guards for their walking tour. Lots of small boys snatching stuff and disappearing, Melanie has decided not to go ashore if it’s so unsafe.
The diva I missed the other night, Dorothy Bishop, and Kenny Martyn entertained us this evening, both brilliant. The standard of the entertainment is very high, I think I expected more shows done by the ship’s own singers and dancers, maybe that usually happens but not on this one.
Day 19 (Touring) Thursday Jan 24
The tours were all delayed this morning after we docked at 8 a.m. because the authorities were slow to check everything. We have all had to hand our passports in and then we just have to fill out forms, not sure if this will continue for the rest of the voyage, I think so. We all went on what was supposed to be a walking tour, which turned out to be a 2 hour coach ride too, mainly because the traffic was absolutely terrible, as bad as London. All the roads are being repaired in preparation for their ‘Carnival’. Salvador is a rather strange mixture of beautiful old buildings, some of which have been restored magnificently (San Francisco church being an example) and extremely run-down houses. It is obviously ‘on the up’, so somebody must be investing here, lots of new apartment blocks. We felt quite safe when walking, the scare stories must have been a long time ago, though there was a considerable armed police presence. There was a terrific drum band playing near the cathedral, so we all did the Samba to it, the other 3 will probably be on the Cunard video of the trip, since I was ‘otherwise engaged’ when that happened! Managed to buy some postcards and 2 small gifts for the grandchildren, I am trying to find something for them in each port.
We didn’t get back till nearly 3, but lunch was continued in the Lido for us all, must have been hard for the staff because then they immediately started afternoon tea. I finally paid my tax bill online, having sent the tax return from Barbados, hope I don’t get fined! The hotel apartment I was hoping to book in Auckland appears to be unavailable, but I will try another website tomorrow, it all takes so much time.
We watched the ‘sail-away’ (Trisha and Alan & Sylvia went to the Sail-Away party, which involved more dancing). Then we had champagne in the Funnel Bar (not been there before). It’s what this type of holiday is all about, great to relax in the warm evening air.
The Cunard singers and dancers put on a brilliant show this evening, we are wondering if they are flown from ship to ship and do the same show in each, because otherwise they are not doing a terrific amount, though each show is a considerable production effort. There is one more show before Sydney apparently.