Friday

A very grey day today; it’s lunchtime and I’m annoyed with myself for missing the time on the program for “On Deck for the Cause”. We always did this walk to raise money for breast cancer. Oh well, it’s not good out there and my face has some wind burn from previous walks, so perhaps I wasn’t meant to do it this time! I bumped into one of the drummers at morning tea and asked him if they’ve thought of coming to Oz – he said yes, they’d like to, so I gave him my card and told him my church could offer them accommodation (let’s face it, my house would be big enough anyway!). So you never know....

We got our disembarkation documentation and luggage tags today. I’m set for late leaving between 9.00 and 9.15. I will be looking for my coach on the pier, leaving at 10.00am to Seattle. I’ve almost packed one suitcase and it won’t take long to do the rest after dinner tomorrow night.

I went to the Filipino Crew Show this afternoon: truly beautiful girls and lovely traditional costumes and dances. It’s such a gentle culture. They did the traditional dance with the two sticks where the men have to jump between them – very exciting. It was very moving to see how much they love their country and they must miss it terribly, being away from their families for so long. I followed that with a tech session on using the digital camera and picked up some nice hints. Then it was time to get ready for tonight’s formal dinner.

Tonight the waiters came and sang for John and Nancy for their 67^th wedding anniversary, so we got extra chocolate cake, which we really needed after our big dinner!

The seas over the past few hours have become much calmer.