South Pacific Scenic Cruising

Our first adjusted day of South Pacific Scenic Cruising was amazing! Before we left home I wasn't sure what that would be. Just floating around on open water? We have plenty of those days for sure. But this was inside the reef surrounding Taha'a and Raiatea. The backdrop for much of the slow tour was Mount Otemanu, the peak of the Bora Bora volcano. Our elegant cruise ship is small enough to do this. And our Captain is skilled enough to be successful. Of course, Maritime Law requires a certified pilot to be allowed control. If there is anything you don't want to do, especially as a cruiseline, it is to accidently either be grounded or to damage a coral reef! Here we saw Raiatea, an island that was on our original schedule but was dropped early on because of their fear of the virus. Roratonga was added and later dropped for the same reason. That was too bad because it is in the Cook Islands. It would be one more cool pin to place on my map. The views were amazing. I loved the church resting behind a blue and white fence on the island. It lay parallel to the seashore. There are not a lot of beaches but the many shades of green foliage meet the deep blue of the sea and the turquoise of the reefs. We stayed on our verandah or close to a window all day. The scenery was breathtaking despite the grey skies. I cannot even imagine it under sunny skies! I may have to return. I am afraid that because of laptop failure you will have to review the picture pages I will post once I am home in February. I wish they were here. Feel free to send me your travel laptop recommendations. Thanks. We did have lunch next to the restaurant window with our new friends, thanks to Hue and Byung introducing by Facebook Messenger. It was very nice to have such elegant service of such delicious food while seeing islands sail past us. We only sat in for one lecture today. Dr. Sherry playing You Be The Judge. These talks are concerning who should own the stolen artifacts from historically significant places. Today was the Parthenon Marbles and the Balangiga Bells. Should the British Museum own and identify them as the Elgin Marbles? Should the Smithsonian have the Bells? Sherry gave us the mental tools required to determine these things. Explained the details and a vote was held. The passengers here were pretty evenly divided on what the most desireable the outcome should be. The other talks of interest were Patrick Goodness aabout Cannibals and Micheal Fuller on Body Art. These we watched in our cabin so we could also keep an eye on the scenery and after we were away from the reefs. I feel like we are in the Viking University of General Knowledge about all things that make the world good and interesting! The trip is, luckily, not as expensive as a college semester! At dinner several people commented that we were not as rowdy as usual. Is that a complimnet of or did they miss that about us? When I got to the Star Theater for the evening show Dan had my sparkling water with lime and ice waiting. He is, of course my favorite staff singer! The performance tonight was Master Ventriloquist Don Bryan and Noseworthy. Carol only lasted about ten minutes before she had heard enough. Helen and I and most of the audience laughed alot and appreciated his talent, especially when he was working with both Noseworthy and Lady Annie and his own voice as well. I popped into Torshavn for a little music. Carol was reading back in our cabin. I took my book and performed my favorite bedtime routine. A good book, a cup of tea and a hot bath for about a half hour. Slept like a baby last night. Soundly all through the night and woke up ready to go today for more scenic cruising. Not as many islands to see or as many reefs but a beautiful calmday of beautiful views and filled with so many sea day activities. I am relaxed and ready for a busy day on Bora Bora tomorrow. Good night for now!