30th January 2015

It was another good night’s sleep. I suppose it must be the gentle movement of the ship, simulating the rocking of a crib, that creates the perfect conditions for slumber. Perhaps when we get home, we should consider moving our bed out to the pool and onto a raft to replicate the same effect. On reflection, though, our cabin doesn’t have to contend with falling leaves or bird splatter, perhaps not such a great idea after all!

Breakfast was once again in the Sapphire, where we met a completely new set of passengers, again all Australian, and notably older than us, but all well-travelled (where are the 150 Brits on board?) During our conversation, I mentioned a passage I’d come across in the Sydney Arts Museum, which read: “Life is a book; not to travel is to read only one page.” They all agreed it was spot on.

At 10 am, with some trepidation, we attended a lecture on ‘Body Language’. We needn’t have worried; it was fantastic. Not only was it informative, but also entertaining and, at times, quite disconcerting. Trying to sit still for an hour without exhibiting some of the gestures/postures/facial expressions being discussed was a real challenge (I’ve never seen Sue sit so still before!). We’ve decided to attend the rest of the lectures in the series.

Afterwards, I headed to the gym and, much to my feet’s displeasure, pushed myself hard on the running machine, which left my right foot complaining. I finished off with some time on the rowing machine. If the ship goes down, at least I’ll have had some practice. Sue attended a ‘Scrapbook Workshop’ but left early, finding it less stimulating than expected, and after all, she is on holiday.

Lunch was once again in the Sapphire, though this time we bypassed the waiter service in favour of the buffet table. I found myself seated with eight Aussie women, and of course, Sue. The conversation was naturally lively, with me taking a fair bit of rib-tickling. At 2 pm, we made our way down to Deck 2, where there’s a full-size ice rink, the only one at sea, which is completely bonkers. Aside from offering the chance to skate, the rink also hosts superb ice shows, as we witnessed today. To our surprise, the large cast of skaters were all medallists from various world competitions, and it was clear they were incredibly skilled. Sue had queued up at 9 am this morning to get tickets; despite there being five shows during the cruise, because seating is limited. The performances were truly impressive, with some of the dancing being absolutely stunning.

Sue spent the rest of the afternoon on deck, settling in with her book, while I took a nap to rest my foot.

We changed into casual clothes for an early dinner, as we were eager to catch the ‘Australian Beatles‘ tribute band in the large theatre beforehand. They were marvellous. Having never seen the Beatles live, their performance felt as authentic as could be. In the first half, they performed the early songs in classic teddy boy suits, and in the second half, they donned the iconic Sgt. Pepper outfits. Singing along to ‘Hey Jude’ was an unforgettable experience.

After the evening meal, we made our way to the café on Deck 5 for coffee before heading back to the theatre at 10:45 pm for an adult comedy show by the Turkish comedian Habib, whom we’d seen a few days ago. His material was very risqué, and some of it went over our heads, but it was great fun and filled with plenty of laughs. I also learned that “sick” is used as a positive phrase, meaning “good”, strange, but interesting!

We finally hit the sack just after midnight.