Overnight, there was little or no improvement in the weather
as we continued west south-west under gray skies, intermittent rain squalls,
and moderate sea swells. Not the
brochure description of cruising the Central Pacific.
J was up at 6:30am and did his 30-minute, no-dog walk,
followed by cappuccino and conversation in the 0bservation Lounge with John,
our Trivia team partner. At about 7:45am,
it was back to the suite to wake up E, ready or not, and to go to breakfast. During the day, on offer were the usual,
passenger diversions (lectures, bridge, games) and, in the evening, live
entertainment. Also available were the
usual number of opportunities to overeat.
That evening was the Captain’s Welcome Cocktail Reception
which required the “Full Monty” (as the Brits say) and evening gowns. Our participation could have been avoided,
except that E wanted to attend the Artist of the Silversea, our resident
entertainment company, singing arias from well-known operas. Think “Nessun Dorma,” etc. It was well done, and enjoyable. J only slept through about one-fourth of it.
January 19, 2013 off Rarotonga, Cook Islands and en route to
Bay of Islands, New Zealand – Was that Rarotonga we just sailed past?
On deck for his morning walk, J watched the approach to
Rarotonga. Since there is no bay to act
as a harbor on Rarotonga, the Silver Whisper had to anchor in the roadstead off
Avarua’s small boat harbor and tender passengers ashore. It soon became apparent that the swell would
keep the ship from anchoring and from safely operating tenders. (It is hard to get seniors, canes, walkers,
and wheel chairs embarked on a tender
when six-foot-plus swells are running.)
At about 8:00am, the Captain announced that we could not
anchor and operate tenders, given the current sea state. There was a collective sigh of
disappointment. Many passengers had been
looking forward to visiting Rarotonga -- why, we are not entirely sure, because
Cook Island does not seem to be that different from the islands of French
Polynesia, which we had just visited the last several days. Passengers were hoping for clear, sunny
skies, and no squalls. The weather was better
than the previous several days – blue skies and few clouds. Probably, if we had gotten ashore, the
weather would have changed. Shore visits
are a chance to get very cold and wet; or, if you are really unlucky, get hit
on the head by a falling coconut! To
date, weather pessimism reigns supreme on this cruise.
Rarotonga, Cook
Islands from Seaward
The longer you have been at sea, the better land appears. From this distance, swells are invisible.
Another View of
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
This is about as close as we approached to land. Visible surf.
Avarua Village,
Rarotonga, Cook Islands
There was a post office here that J wanted to visit. Too bad!
Goodbye Rarotonga
We are bound for New
Zealand.
The highlight of the day was a
wonderful Italian dinner in La Terrazza with Tracy and Jon. Jon is the Destination Lecturer on the ports
we visit, and Tracy is a member of our Trivia team. It was an evening of excellent Italian food
and stimulating conversation. After
dinner, classical pianist, Gregory Kinda, treated us to a concert of mostly
Chopin. A wonderful evening, making up
to some degree for a missed visit to Rarotonga.
January 20 to 23, 2013 en route to Bay of Islands, New
Zealand – Water, Water Everywhere
The next three days at sea, en route to the Bay of Islands,
passed very uneventfully. The daily
routine was well established: J up at
6:30am, walk and coffee; E up at 8:00am, breakfast. The rest of the day was lectures, reading, games,
and entertainment. A few more days and
it would have become boring. The weather
remained cloudy, and squally, with occasional rain showers. Swells were moderate, but always with
us. No smooth sailing.
Notice that three days were taken up by the transit, not four
days as the January 20 to 23 in the header would indicate. That is because somewhere west of the Cook
Islands, we crossed the International Date Line (IDL) east to west and lost a
day. Since we will not cross the IDL
west to east on this voyage, the day never will be recovered.
On the evening of January 23, there was visible excitement
among the passengers. Our arrival at the
next port was eagerly anticipated; also, there was support for better, even if
cooler, weather than we had since departing Los Angeles. (We were sailing further south, away from the
tropics into temperate climes.) Everyone,
passengers and crew, wanted off the ship, the sooner the better, and we all were
looking forward to anchoring at 9:00am the next morning in Bay of Islands.
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