Almost…but not quite

Day 49/138 2022/2023 Viking Neptune World Cruise. A rough sea day on the Tasman sea.

And a not so balmy 56F or 13C today! Yikes! This is definitely not a warm day in the Southern Hemisphere! Luckily I bought a comfy leisure track suit get up in Auckland at Farmer’s Department Store to wear around the ship on days like today. I would liken today’s outfit for Canadians to a big comfy Roots sweatshirt and Roots cozy, fleecy track pants! My go to in Canada when its cold and I don’t feel like dressing up. Perfect for a night in by the fire, with a glass of wine, warm blanket and Netflix on the tv.…and of course Richard too!

The wind swells were high again today at noon when the Captain made his daily announcement at 6-7 metres or 19 feet to 23 feet! Yikes. It is really difficult to walk around the ship with the swaying, but it seems to be lessening a bit this afternoon as I ‘m writing the blog.

We gained another hour last night, so we are now 17 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time back home. I think we will also gain another hour tonight because we know that Australia is still one hour time difference from us. Trying to figure out the time difference to keep in touch with people back home is frankly quite difficult right now. I actually had my girlfriend wish me a good night’s sleep today, when it was morning here and I was finishing yesterday’s blog! Crazy!

Both of us did’t get moving too quickly this morning because of the rocking and rolling ship, but we did make it up to Team Trivia in the Explorer’s Lounge on Deck 7 to save some spots by 11:30am. Our team did awesome today! We almost tied for first! We were 1 point off tying for first, so we are definitely improving! We also knew one of the answers that would have given us a tie for first, but we didn’t write it down. This Trivia sure drives us crazy, but it is a lot of fun too and its a point in the day where 5 or 6 of us all come together for a quick catch up and to learn the latest ship’s gossip and scuttlebutt! ”Did you hear….?” “I heard….!” “I think we are…” Etc.

Today I was reminded at Team Trivia by Sharon to fill out our ‘Australian Incoming Passenger Cards’ which have to be processed when we enter Tasmania, Australia on Saturday. We had the cards delivered to our stateroom a couple of weeks ago, and of course neat freak Richard filed them away in a ‘safe place’ so that they wouldn’t be out on the desk for me to fill in. So during Trivia I must have reminded Richard three times, to please find the Australian Incoming Passenger Cards when he went back to our Stateroom.

Art class today was Day 2 of completing our Valentine’s Day cards and since this card is for Richard, he can’t see it, and neither can you, because if I post a photo of it on the blog, it will not be a surprise for Valentines Day! I have gone a bit of different direction on this card, making it a bit of a multimedia card, instead of straight water colours. I think it has turned out ok and you’ll see it soon enough. Deb, our art teacher advised us today that on February 14th we would be having another Art Exhibition of the new works that we have created since Auckland, and we can also enter one piece from our previous works of art, that we feel is our best piece of work. Interesting. I will have to pull out my previous works and see which I feel is the best.

At 4:30pm today we had our Port Talk for Tasmania, Australia. While Tasmania is still another sea day away we had to be briefed for the process that will take place in Tasmania as we will need to meet Australian Immigration Officers in person on the Neptune, before we can enter Australia. The Immigration Officers will be in the Star Theatre and because we do not have a scheduled Viking excursion, our time to meet the Officers will be at 9am on Saturday. I spent part of yesterday researching what we will be doing for the morning in Tasmania and I’m excited for the afternoon as well, but can’t share what that is yet, but it should be pretty cool.

Cruise Director Bruce reminded us to write a 4 line poem for Valentine’s Day which will be featured somehow on Valentine’s Day either in the Viking Daily, or somewhere on the ship. I hadn’t written anything until Bruce reminded us after the port talk today, so I got busy and wrote three short four line poems and we will drop them at guest services to see if they will be featured on Valentine’s Day.

It definitely feels like a lazy day at sea today but I guess that’s ok after all of the days in a row of excitement in New Zealand. We’ve got a lecture tonight for our entertainment with Guest Lecturer Mr. Russell Lee entitled “The Godfather- The Story Behind the Blockbuster”. Now if there ever was a fitting lecture for Richard, this would be it! I think he has probably seen The Godfather 50+ times! Whenever I am out for the evening or was previously away on business, Richard would flip through the TV guide and find that one of the Godfather movies was on, and he would watch it. When I asked him what he did while I was away he would say “I watched The Godfather….!” I would just shake my head. Its like when your child wants to watch the same Disney movie over and over and over again, even though they know all of the lines! He never tires of The Godfather movies, so at least tonight’s lecture will be very informative, entertaining and give him another reason to watch The Godfather the next time he sees it on tv. I will make sure I’m not home that night!

I think we will also go and try our hand tonight at Cruise Director’s ‘Bruce’s Brain Busters’ at 8pm. Just as we think we are doing well in Team Trivia, we then attend Bruce’s Brain Busters and he puts us right back in our place. Its a humbling experience not even getting a passing grade at Brain Busters, but its amazing how much we are learning through these trivial experiences!

Let’s hope the seas calm down for us tonight and tomorrow, as we sail on towards Tasmania, so we can be a bit more active tomorrow, instead of worrying about walking and falling over, which a few people have done today. Better to sit still and relax, than risk an injury!