Pacific paradise

Monday 17th
Clocks back an hour, but sunrise still not until 8.00. A more cloudy day but temperature supposedly 22 degrees (apart from the windy side of the ship). What I'd describe as a standard sea day, brightened by my twin, Mark's birthday.

In the afternoon we had a Machu Picchu cocktail party and sadly the usual happened - the greedy got up to 8 drinks and the polite ones, nothing. I think it says a lot about the culture of some (happily a minority) of our passengers - hell, they'd paid over $2,000 each for the excursion, so you wouldn't think they were needy.

Happier times with a gathering in the Wheelhouse Bar where a number of friends gathered to celebrate our birthdays before dinner.  We (all of us) took over the dancefloor and certainly made our presence known. The band even played a special "Happy Birthday" to Mark & me.

Tuesday 18th
Clocks back again as we rush along to meet the International Date Line next week. At least it is now light at 7.00 and the sea is calm, so looking good for another day of relaxing after such a busy 3 months ☺☺☺

A lot of socialising but that's about it. Temperature up to mid 20s but had cooled down in the afternoon with a solid cloud base and we are now experiencing a lazy south pacific swell. Captain anticipates this building overnight with an increase in wind too. All makes for an interesting rendezvous with the people of Pitcairn Island tomorrow morning.

Apology (of sorts):  In my previous blog on Easter Island I referred to the fee charged to visit the National Parks.  Surprise surprise, today our account was refunded the fee as they'd changed their mind again......... So, sorry to malign the Chilean government, but I understand there is still conflict between them and the indigenous people.

Wednesday 19th
Much brighter this morning, as yet another hour back overnight. As expected, the sea is a bit choppy and overcast, but quite warm. We arrived at Pitcairn Island just before 10.00 and the Mayor & about 30 locals came out in the longboat. They brought their goods onboard and set up stalls on deck 12.

His Worship & Captain Kent did the formal gift exchange and declared the markets open. A real bunfight, unfortunately spoiled by the odd shower passing through. The stalls each had a sign indicating the owner, so there were plenty of "Christians" about and I was delighted to see that one stall belonged to "Len Brown". Is it too much to hope that he has escaped to a life of solitude??? 

Pitcairn is a pretty desolate hilly place and only a small part appears to be habitable. It was a pleasant surprise to see quite a number of whales close to shore/ship (it may be that there were only a couple, but they kept surfacing in different spots).

The visitors packed up and returned ashore just before 2.00 as the wind picked up to around 60+kts. The ship actually used it's bow thruster to keep the longboat alongside. It looked a pretty hairy ride back to shore for the locals!  After a quick whizz around much of the island, we continued our journey westward to Tahiti.

Thursday 20th
Less waves, same large swell, overcast with odd showers but quite mild. Oh yes, yet another sea day and everything that goes with it.

Friday 21st
Another hour's sleep in this morning (these 25 hour days are becoming too frequent). This is the last sea day for a couple of days, so making the most of it with the usual activities. The sea has calmed and skies are clearing, so it is looking good for Tahiti tomorrow. But that's another story.