Why don't ships have seatbelts!

Yesterday was a day at sea. Ray did acupuncture. I enjoyed the sauna and spa. Our friends Jon and Charlie went to the kitchen tour. They met the person who’s sole job is to crack eggs. Apparently he cracks them 9 at a time. Like 4000 a day. Apparently they’ve tried using machines to do it, but get too many shell piece fragment in things, so they hired this guy full time. I can’t imagine doing nothing but that all day. And of course career wise he has no eggs-it strategy (that one was for Anne Luther-Sander). LOL!

Had a very nice dinner and then enjoyed the comedian showcase. Atlantis always brings a number of entertainers on board, including several comics. It was a good laugh. They each did a short segment and then they will have their own show later in the week. We went to a couple of parties and then turned in for the evening.
Sleep, however, proved to be somewhat difficult. The boat had been a bit bumpy all day, but overnight we encountered rough seas – 8 to 12 feet. Apparently there’s the remnants of a cyclone near by. During the day it was fun to watch everyone try to deal with the unsteady boat. It wasn’t clear who was drunk and who was just trying to get sea legs! Ray and I did a 2 mile walk around the deck and when we would cross either the bow or stern there was this odd feeling of weightlessness or extra gravity depending on the motion of the boat.

It’s one thing to be in an aircraft in a seatbelt during rough air (which I abhor) . It’s another to be tossed about while lying in bed trying to sleep and to be awakened every 10 to 30 minutes feeling like you needed to hold on to something so you didn’t get thrown out of bed. Kinda reminded me of some scene from a Jerry Lewis movie or something. Funny, but not very restful.

Today we’re in Wellington, which is the capital of New Zealand. It’s located at the south end of the north island. We ended up not getting a packaged tour for this port – the one we wanted was sold out. However, it’s supposed to be quite a walkable city – and it turns out we’re arriving early (12 Noon rather than 3pm) so we have most of the day there. Since we didn’t sleep too well, I’m kinda glad we don’t have a fixed schedule. They have the only cable car in the southern hemisphere which takes you up and over the city which is where I think we will start. The weather is supposed to clear up and there is a botanic garden near by which I’m hoping to get to. Cuba Street is supposed to have lots of cool shops and the like, so I’m sure we’ll stop there as well.

Actually, ever as I write this the weather has started to clear. It was very foggy and rainy yesterday – but as we’ve moved closer to Wellington this morning the clouds have cleared and it’s going to be a sunny day. Cooler than we expected (like in the 65 degree range), but still better than Indiana! The New Zealand coastline is quite beautiful to cruise past. Picture attached.