Sunday, November 9

Gorgeous quiet sea day. The photo shop on board is going to have a photo contest. I decided to enter one I took in Saigon of a local lunch cart and its proprietor and customer. Sometime after the 15th they will post the entries and passengers can vote. I decided against entering one of Uluru as I’m sure others from the tour will probably do so.

This evening’s bed animal made from towels is a scorpion...very apropos for November and an incipient birthday!

Monday, Noember 10

Suva, Fiji. I was last here on the Fair Princess 20 years ago, almost but not quite to the day! I slathered myself with bug repellent before going off on tour this morning because Fiji is currently having an outbreak of Dengue Fever...not something I wish to experience! Also, I have faithfully carried my (new, never unfurled from its little pouch) travel rain cape in my shore excursion bag since the trip began. Today I actually unfurled it, but didn’t put it on because the “no more than six drops of rain” magic still seemed to be working. At the end of the tour, it did rain on us as we walked along the dock to the gangway...more than 6 drops, but not enough to stop and put on the rain cape which was wadded into the shore bag. Now to get it folded up and pouched again...

Jill’s and my tour went to a place called the Pacific Harbor Arts Village. I had been there 20 years ago, and I must say that it has changed a good deal and gotten much more sophisticated. It now has shops and restaurants, and a covered section of bleacher seats for watching the performances, and no more snake photo ops. We saw a ritual of fire walking (actually, the Fijians step and stand still on white hot stones rather than walking across fire ashes and embers), and several traditional dances by groups of men and women. All quite colorful as you can see. This woman is wearing a skirt of tapa cloth which is made from the pounded bark of a tree (I think I remember that they usually use mulberry bark).

The bus ride to and from Pacific Harbor Arts Village was an adventure also. The bus itself wasn’t too bad. It wasn’t air conditioned, but the weather was cloudy and with open windows, it was cool enough. I am a bit dubious about whether it had any springs and/or suspension system, but the thorough jouncing we got could have been due to the road rather than the vehicle. The scenery is extremely lush and green, but impossible to photograph from the bus in motion. Every few minutes we would come to a little village which would have at least two and usually three speed humps to be bounced over slowly. Jill and I (and pretty much everyone else) were glad to get back to the ship that is firmly moored to the dock! I am now so used to places that drive on the left that I’m going to have to be careful when I get home!

I didn’t bring my Fijian water pistol from the last trip when ten or twelve us of acquired them to play a joke on our assistant waiter, but I didn’t feel the need to go hunt up another one. Our assistant waiter this time, Nusirwan, is very efficient and not a congenital joker as that one was.

Tuesday, November 11 (The first one)

At sea. Our trivia team actually tied for first place today, but lost on the tie-breaker. A nice change from being 2 points down from the winner.

All seven of us from our dining room table went to lunch at the Pinnacle Grill this afternoon as a “generic birthday” celebration. It was a lovely lunch, worth far more than the $10/person that they charge for lunch. Stan was all dolled up in his jacket and medals along with a poppy in his lapel for Armistice/Veterans’/Rememberance Day. He’d been to the service this morning (with champagne) and to the veterans’ gathering afterward (with more champagne). He presented a fine old Scottish blessing for us at the end of the meal in his best Scottish accent.

The weather today is quite warm and pretty uniformly overcast with occasional showers, so sunbathing is not on the agenda. (I did manage to get my rain cape folded and rolled small enough to fit back into its pouch...and I’m good at folding maps also!)