We had no schedule for the day until the 3:15pm BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win), didn't want to spend too much time eating (we had a big dinner plans) and the weather largely prevented a desire to sit outside, even on the covered Promenade Deck, so we found ourselves with a lot of time on our hands, which was a really wonderful feeling.
I got G's attention after breakfast long enough to discuss cruising plans for the rest of this winter and then even talked about next winter's plans, and we now have something very tentative in place that I won't bother sharing because it will change ten times before we actually leave home. I guess I was feeling fairly directionless regarding 2016-17, and we've now reached a consensus about what we might want to do, and, more importantly, about what we don't want to do.
I also sorted through the paperwork in our 'cordian folder (so named by McGee, who also coined the words 'harious' and 'noculars' and now we don't think of them any other way in our house) and was able to throw away a good portion of it, now that our side trips are complete.
We are pulling out the last of the extra supplies we purchased at the Hilo, Hawaii WalMart on Day 7 of our cruise, and it's been a wonder to see those supplies dwindle down. I can't tell you how nice it has been to not spend one second of our vacation time foraging for things we need. You haven't heard about trips to Carrefour or Champion, or read of pleas for help to passengers coming on board the Pacific Princess in the near future. We have everything we need to last us until we return home, even if we were to be delayed a few weeks. Not that we will be. (Have I mentioned we will be home for Christmas? I know I have, but have I mentioned it lately?)
We passed the island of Makatea very closely today, adding a little excitement to our late morning. The 300 foot sea cliffs are something to see, and we were close enough even without 'noculars to watch the waves crash against them, sending plumes of water shooting upwards. We remembered Makatea from our travels last year; it is the island where phosphate was mined for decades until 1966 and is now home to just a handful of people.
I must have felt like I needed to do something constructive before lunch, because I accompanied G to ring toss at 11:30am and we both won Princess carabiners. Unfortunately, that must have used up our luck for the day (see below about the BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win)).
We went to lunch in the Club Restaurant but ate lightly. G had a dessert followed by a dessert, and I had the grilled chicken salad. At 1:45pm, wearing a fleece pullover and carrying a pool towel for backup, I went to the Cabaret Lounge to listen to Douglas Pearson's lecture on Polynesian Life and Culture (I'd not seen this one since last year) while G went to a hot tub to warm up. This ship on sea days is freezing! It didn't help that the day had turned grey and rainy, and, if one didn't know we were cruising in paradise, it was easy to believe, looking out the windows, that it was a cold fall day at home.
Finally it was 3:15pm and time for the BIG!!!!!! $500 Treasure Hunt Drawing*!!! (*must be present to win), and we won NOTHING! Four cruises down, we have only two more chances to prevail on this. G is ever hopeful, and I remain a very good wife by always being present in the event my name is called.
Then, since the day had been so exhausting, we retired to our cabin where G started to watch Tora! Tora! Tora! (I think we already know how that one turns out), but ended up napping while I...did not. However, I was surprised to see, out of our porthole, another tiny, low island off the starboard side of the ship. According to the map channel on our cabin TV, this was the island of Mataiva, which then sent me checking my French Polynesia guidebooks for more information. Like Rangiroa, it is part of the Tuamotu Archipelago, is 50 sq. kilometers, has a population of 204, receives three Air Tahiti flights weekly, has no banks and three guest houses. It also has a 12-million ton phosphate deposit under the lagoon. The locals want it to stay there, and have been fighting attempts to have it mined.
It was not even 5pm at that time, and we were nearly at Rangiroa already. Apparently we will be sailing in circles again overnight, cruising through Tiputa Pass into the Rangiroa Lagoon tomorrow around 7am tomorrow.
Tonight was the first formal night of this cruise, but we opted to skip it by eating in the steakhouse instead. We both dressed in the same manner we would for an MTP lunch, dressier than normal but not too. By 6pm we were starving, and very much looking forward to our dinner. It was a feast: lobster cake for me and beef carpaccio for G; black and blue onion soup for both of us; and filet mignons...8 oz for me and 10 oz. for G, accompanied by a bottle of Veuve Cliquot champagne. We forced ourselves to eat at least a little of our desserts, the chocolate peanut butter 50th anniversary dessert for G and the lemon meringue tart for me (and there was white chocolate in there somewhere, too, and that's always a good thing). Service by Jaime, assisted by headwaiter Ilio and Assistant Maitre d' George was flawless. What a wonderful evening!
It was already dark outside when we arrived for dinner, but we watched as rain poured down the sloped back windows on the ship, not boding well for our day in Rangiroa tomorrow. No matter. We are feeling entirely unmotivated tonight, even skipping the first performance of the new cast in production show Cinematastic. Whatever the weather tomorrow, we will deal with it. As G pointed out over dinner, we still have exactly one month of Pacific Princess cruising left to enjoy; a few clouds can't dampen our contentment with all that to look forward to. (And then...have I mentioned we will be home for Christmas?)
Life is good. :-)
