With yet two more sea days, it is fine for us, as we can relax, but probably even less exciting for you as readers, than normal! (Not that the usual stuff in port is very exciting for you either, but who knows?)
After our success at the quiz the other afternoon, our morning team wasn’t able to repeat it, so after the usual mediocre showing, we headed for the atrium for coffee and a natter, first with Norm and Marion and then with Colin and Judy.
After catching up with the blog (this is written a day or two later, as you may well have realised by now), I managed to book flights to Sydney December, 10th , returning the 14th, as Dave and Marilyn had already booked, but they are going to see “The Lion King”. It took a fair bit of time - and cost way more than many of the specials but this was a good way to use up some air points/dollars.
Afternoon quiz was not to be a repeat win, but with two overall wins in 70 days, we feel that we have done pretty well, as there are certainly some very successful teams.
With M & M, we headed up to the buffet for a cuppa and our case, a snack, as we skipped lunch.
At dinner, we were without Ros again and also Col and Jude who were dining at the Sterling Steak house. Shame, as although it was an Asian menu, once again, the staff had arranged an additional prawn curry course for us!
As has become our new habit, a decent coffee with M & M again, before retiring fairly early and watching the movie I first thought was “Hitchcock”, but it turned out to be a movie about his obsession with Tippi Hendren. The movie “Hitchcock” is scheduled to be shown in a couple of night’s time.
We called it a day at about 11:25, but then had to add another hour as we move back towards our normal time zones, so I now have no idea where we are, other than somewhere between UK and NZ time.
Thursday September 19th
Just for a change, woke about 7am, but I went back to sleep again and we didn’t surface until nearer 9am, so our first call was the morning quiz at 9:45. Now for the first time with our morning team, we should have won, with a clear 1 point margin, but didn’t because the four ladies in our team, who had final charge of the pencil, changed “Neptune” (from Alex and I) to Jupiter – and lost us a point. Then when we (Alex and I) were adamant that it was indeed illegal, to wear bright pink hot pants in one Australian state, after midday on a Sunday, the ladies overruled us again… A moral victory for two of us, but it didn’t translate into much sought after prizes.
As we hadn’t breakfasted, we made do with a parfait and an OJ, then later, a 1pm coffee, instead of lunch. We returned to our cabin via deck 8, where the Ratcliffs and the Tullenors were playing their regular game of Canasta, a game neither of us are familiar with. Maybe after watching for a while, we now have a rough idea of the basics, I’d have to say that there are several rules we didn’t really grasp. I’ll stick to playing “Snap” against kids with a bad stutter.
Just for a change, we went to the Vista lounge for a show put on by the orchestra, though it wasn’t really too obvious from the promotion, that the lead, “Bleeding Gums Smithies” (where on earth did he get that name from?) was in fact the resident lead guitarist, Kiwi Matt. With a very polished performance on alto sax, electric guitar and even slide guitar, plus harmonica, this was a great show with good links, filling in relevant details. The singing was pretty good too. Although Muddy Waters was an influence on many British blues bands, most were probably unaware that it was jazz man Chris Barber who first brought Muddy Waters to the UK. There you go, yet another plug for my favourite band!
A good dinner with once again a favourite entrée – eggplant parmigiana (I must learn how to spell that with confidence, as the spell checker in Outlook doesn’t like it at all…)
Time for another dinner celebration, with M & M celebrating 49 years of wedded bliss, so we enjoyed a glass of very nice bubbly and then they had to do the traditional sprawl on the table pose for photographs. I don’t yet have a copy of the pics taken with the group and haven’t done a photo swap with the others for a while.
A coffee of course to round off the night, with a return for us to Salalah tomorrow. So, as that is the last port before Mumbai, we may well be a bit quiet with the blogs, as we may be dumped on the quayside to make our own way to either Columbo - or home, or, locked in the brig - along with a fair few others.
Had a one line email from brother Dave. “Congratulations on your Trivia win. Have informed press and TV so it may pay to lie low for a day or two.”
Thanks Dave.
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