86 Countries and Still Counting: Monday, February 24, 2020 - Day 52, Avatiu, Rarotonga, Cook Islands

Here I am, sitting on the ship, gazing longingly at Rarotonga. It is a hot day (88 and humid), with thunderstorms predicted. There are some good sized swells so while the tendering has gone more quickly than usual today I was still too afraid of falling (and landing on a helpless crew member) to risk it.

Luckily, I spent several weeks here a few years ago so while I'm disappointed I couldn't make it to shore, it probably saved me money in pearl purchases. I do not need any pearls. But they're so pretty! I will be going on shore in a few days in Tonga - a new country!

Since I have no exciting port news to report, here are just some random thoughts, experiences and photos. Thanks for reading.

Rode in the elevator yesterday with a gentleman, in his 80's, wearing a speedo and "muscle" shirt. I've run into him before. He's friendly, outgoing and a bit eccentric. Later, while I was chatting with the person in charge of Guest Services she got a horrified look on her face. I turned around and Speedo guy was strolling by. I would not want the job of having to assist people in their fashion choices. I give the guy props for wearing what makes him happy. I just wish he would limit that attire to the pool area. Or use a robe.
Speaking of elevators, this morning I was on an elevator with several people. One man had his back to the woman behind him. They appeared to be 80'ish. She wrapped her arms around him and started nuzzling his neck. So sweet. I asked if they'd just met in the Lido. Lots of laughs when he turned around and introduced himself to the nuzzler.
As usual yesterday, not all the elevators were working. I spend most of my time moving from deck one to deck five to decks eight and nine so I see a lot of elevators. Don't even start about how I should use the stairs. Have you not noticed all the photos of desserts? Or the size of my butt?

Anyway, as a few of us were waiting for the elevator we had a discussion of things we want HAL to change on the ship. First was elevators. Second, one woman said she wanted sharper forks. Too hard to spear lettuce leaves. Another said the lettuce leaves were too big. Yup, we are seriously spoiled when we focus on tine sharpness. We all had a good laugh and agreed that while there is always room for improvement, we're having a great time.
One more elevator story. Yesterday only 2 of the four elevators in one bank were working so things were slow. Partly because of passengers. I was in the elevator going from deck 9 to deck 1. At 5, a couple started to get on, discussing where they were going. They held the door for a couple of minutes. He pressed floors 4 and 3. Then they stepped off, still discussing where they were going. BTW, I don't believe they ever noticed there were already two people in the elevator. When the doors closed and we headed to unwanted stops we just shrugged and sighed. On the other hand, I am still loving the majority of men who insist on "ladies first".
Rumors are flying about our itinerary. You may have heard about the Westerdam. They were quarantined and are still not able to carry passengers. They recently cancelled the next four voyages on that ship. Crew and passengers on this ship are assuming that HAL doesn't want to risk anyone getting sick. Or going to a port that precludes us from subsequent ports. Some crew are speculating that we'll skip our ports in Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Maldives and maybe more. Can't wait to hear the revised schedule. I'd HATE to be working at HAL in Seattle as they work through this.
We're pregnant! No, not me, although a guy did rub my shoulders for a minute yesterday. Nope, one of my cabin stewards called his wife from Tahiti. She told him she's pregnant with their first baby. He's very excited and showed me the photo of the sonogram she sent him.

The next day I told him I had a dream about him and his baby. In my dream I asked him the word for "father" in Indonesian. In the dream he said "Yeah". Silly but that's how dreams are. But Fathur, the other cabin steward said "That's the word. In Indonesian, "aye-yeah" is the word for Father and we just say "yeah". Seriously? Asep, the dad-to-be said his baby will call him "papi" which is the word introduced by the Dutch to Indonesia.
Have I mentioned how many retired teachers I've met on board? Lots! I had a very nice conversation about the Canadian education system and pensions the other day. Imagine a pension with a COLA each year.
So many people coming back on the ship complaining about the horrible heat and humidity. I guess they've never been to Florida in July.
And now, some photos. Crappy photos but they're what I have. Sorry!

Breakfast. Cantaloupe, watermelon, iced tea and a shot of muesli.

Lunch. Brownie cheesecake. In my defense look at the size of the raspberry. It was a very small slice.

The following photos are views of Avatiu, the capital city of the Cook Islands.

You're looking at the view from my cabin window. They're hoisting up one of the tenders (not sure why since we still have a couple of hours of tendering to go) up past my window. You're seeing the bottom of the tender at the top of the window and the island in the bottom half. And my bed.

Tides out!

The next few photos are of a piece of art in the Explorers Cafe. It's a mixed media collage - kind of a fantasy 3-D construction. I find them fascinating and some day want to learn to make them. I think I'll start with 2 D.