DON'T FORGET, TO READ THE FULL ACCOUNT OF MY TRAVELS WITH PHOTOGRAPHS YOU CLICK ON THE LADY WEARING THE FUNNY HAT ON THE SIDEBAR XXX
This is a typical day on board. Some mornings I start the day with hot tub, sauna and then
breakfast.
This morning I skipped the
hot tub and sauna to check emails.
After
breakfast I went to a lecture entitled “Paradise Undiscovered – Hawaii before
Cook”.
Very good.
The lecturer, Paul Escenfelder, reinforced
what we had already been hearing from our tour guides.
The Hawaiian islanders were also
self sufficient inasmuch as they had plentiful
supplies of food from the sea, wild fruits and vegetables and the Coconut tree to
providing shelter, transport (canoes), clothing and food.
Food was cooked in
fire pits by the men. The men and women
had separate fire pits because it was forbidden to cook or eat food together.
The men were permitted go into the women’s huts, but the women could not go
into the men’s. Consequently the men fished,
gathered and cooked all the food and took it to the women. This sounds like a very good lifestyle to me!
After this I went deck walking for 20 minutes, then played Trivia
and then walked the deck for another 20 minutes stopping along the way for
chats with various people that I’ve got to know.
Lunchtime! Then the
“Crossing of the Equator Ceremony”. This
was so funny. It takes the form of a
trial. One of “the accused” was tried
for causing “washing machine rage” having being seen using the machines
simultaneously on desks 5, 8, 9,10 and 11.
Another was tried for eating all day and causing havoc with the chef’s
budget etc. etc. Naturally, they were
all found guilty and, to appease King Neptune, had to be severely punished. The
pictures tell the story. But check out
King Neptune’s body! He takes the zumba
classes and a group of us sit and drool over him. I told him he had a great body and he laughed
and said “yes, Adam told me you had been saying that!” It’s great
being 71, you can get away with almost anything!
Then on to a lecture called “The Singers Singer” about Matt
Monro who was a very popular singer in the ‘60’s. The talk was given by his daughter Michele.
This was followed by dinner with Anne, Pat & Ed, then on
to the Darren Williams show. Now there IS
eye candy! He is an Aussie living in New
York and is a brilliant singer, entertainer and musician. By far the best act we have seen so far. Then
supper in the Horizon Buffet and bed. Whew.
I would also like to have done afternoon tea and I missed
another couple of trivia sessions because I simply ran out of time.
If I were inclined to I could also have gone to a juggling
work shop, the gym, listened to music at various venues throughout the day,
visited the library, shopped, swum, had cocktails and music with “Derringer”
(who every they are), gone to a Musical Concert starring the Josef Mezel Trio, gone ballroom dancing, watched 3
movies, listened to Rose Winters in Crooners Lounge in the evening or watched
her rehearse the choir in the morning, played poker, blackjack, or the one
armed bandits (called “pokies” in Australia), gone disco dancing, played bingo, watched the
Mr Sexy Legs competition, gone to the Crafters and Knitters Get-Together, joined
a group of “stock watchers” or a group
studying comparative religion and spirituality, or gone to the “Engineers get together”,
the “Gardeners get together”, the “Arts & crafts workshop” to study
calligraphy, dance classes or a seminar on how to increase your metabolism, played
backgammon, whist, canasta, pinochie, poker, bridge, paddle tennis, water volleyball,
watched TV all day and let’s not forget the Spa for full body treatment or the
hairdressers for a hair do! And, if I
had the need, I could have gone to a Jewish Sabbath Eve Service, an AA meeting
or a meeting of the gay and lesbian community! And then there is the singles
and solo traveller’s dinner, the Princess Pot Star qualifying heats etc.
etc. Phew!!!!