7:00 am - 41 17.34 S, 151 13.89 E , It is cold, mostly overcast, all is grey, over a steely dark sea. There is a strong swell... (without white caps... Just the swell). We are no longer in the protected channel between Austrailia and Taz... We are on the edge of the Roaring 40's... The place in the southern oceans, below 40 degrees south, north of Antarctica, but below South America, Africa, and Australia, where winds and storms can circle the globe, without land to affect the passage.
There is a strong sense of place, but beyond the sky and seas, and if we are very lucky a whale or two, not a place to sight see... Instead, our day will likely be consumed with reading, relaxing, and the occasional (possibly regular) trips to the dining room.
As usual, I start early, with coffee and crosont, only later collecting the wife for breakfast in the dining room.
The are starting to call for New Zealand immigration... New Zealand officials are on board... Meeting with all passengers face to face, and apparently inspecting our shoes, in preparation for our arrival in New Zealand tomorrow (of course, we don't get off tomorrow... Just cruise the fiords off the west coast of South Island, gritting off the boat will wait one more day...). Being warned, Tina and I have washed the bottoms of our shoes... With my old travel toothbrush (do not be concerned, I have a second)
We reported when our group was called... They confiscated our kangaroo and emu jerky (Sorry Google, No Jerky for you!) but passed our shoes and other treats... Who knew kangaroo jerky was banded in New Zealand?
It is now once again happy hour... This is also St. Patty's Day... Complete with green and white balloons and green decorations... They are serving corned beef in the dining room...
A quick note on blogging... This trip I ran into an unexpected road bump... Tanya (one of the sisters) got sick, potentially seriously sick.. As a result she flew home early, from Melbourne... I needed to suspend posting, until we knew she was safe at home, Barry and the kids knew, and we knew all was well...
Additionally, Internet on the ship sucks... it is slow and expensive. I have been writing the blog on my IPad... It is light, and therefor easy to carry... But I find that most of the time, it is best if I first send it to my windows laptop to edit before posting... It makes things a bit more complicated, which means more delays... With this post I am caught up for now... except for the dolphins on both the starboard and port sides of the ship... but that might be another post...
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