unwanted passengers

GREETING PARTY

As I looked out this morning, there were birds (sea gulls?) coasting on the air wakes from the ship all around us. We’d see them in front swooping down and up; on the side through the port hole. But they also left little “gifts”. And big amounts of it! On the deck AND the windows because the wind blows it back.

When we came back from our morning runs, the crew had already cleaned everything up and low and behold, our welcoming party, not to be deterred, had replaced all those gifts with new ones!

Destination talk

This was about Rabaul and Papua New Guinea. We’ve been to both before and some of the photos brought back some memories of previous visits.

Then the Captain was back with more stories of the war in the Coral Sea which is where we are now.

The water is such a wonderful medium blue; the skies filled with fluffy clouds and a bright sun, and the surface is almost glass like. Ed thinks he saw some kind of sea creature popping up now and then this morning but I could never make it out.

Trivia

Again we came in second to two teams who tied. It wasn’t the most horrific trivia we’ve had mercifully and it was fun in the end.

Lunch

Several folks at the table with whom we’ve had lunch before (lunch is open seating). The two elderly ladies were again present. When you try to strike up a conversation with the quieter of the two, the other immediately takes over the conversation. So I’m making it my goal to try to focus on her more in table conversation and see what happens.

The birds

When we returned, the sightings are even funnier. The birds have totally taken over the flag pole and the flag/light lines from the top of the ship to the flag pole. What do you call a congregation of sea gulls? The alpha guy is always at the top of course. And the “gifts” are now spreading more widely on the front of the ship as more join the meeting on those flag lines. It is actually very funny.

Equator

We are getting closer and closer with the attendant hot sun and temperatures never mind the humidity.

Stowaways

We have illegal immigrants hitching a ride on board: non-paying passengers no less. And the clean up after them is never-ending. I’m talking about the sea gulls of course the numbers of which seemed to increase as the day wore on. No window near wind or at an angle was spared their “gifts”. The staff seemed to always be cleaning up after them.

And then they simply disappeared. Maybe they got a better offer…or sensed another ship somewhere within flying distance.

Entertainment

3 male singers as a group and they were delightful. They are all from Australia and will be doing a show again tomorrow night before they leave us at Rabaul in another day.

Photos

Tonight’s photos were casual ones. And speaking of photos, Ed got a great one of our illegal immigrants earlier today.

AND now that Ed got iTunes downloaded onto the laptop, thanks to the help and generosity of those young men at Hilton in Cairns, we have now backed up our Apple devices. So if one disappears or is damaged, we are covered.