Day 28 At Sea

A very good morning from Vista, deck 12—yes, the usual sunbed has been successfully claimed (some things in life remain reassuringly consistent). It’s currently dry, which already counts as a win. No sun just yet, but crucially, no rain either, so spirits are cautiously optimistic.

We gained another hour overnight, which is starting to play havoc with any sense of time. One minute we’re racing forward, the next we’re gently drifting back again. At the time of writing it’s 9:05am here, while back in the UK it’s 11:05pm yesterday… clear as mud, really.
Today is a sea day as we make our way toward the rather intriguingly named Mystery Island in Vanuatu. Apparently, you can walk around it in about 40 minutes—which sounds ideal for those of us who like the idea of exercise more than the actual commitment. There’s also a drift snorkelling excursion tomorrow that we might try to get onto, assuming we can summon the necessary energy.
For now, it’s a familiar routine: sunbed secured, Lorna off doing laps of the track like a seasoned athlete, and me bravely battling the keyboard trying to catch up on the blog (arguably the more strenuous of the two activities).

Now, I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, but after 28 days I still haven’t managed to upload a single video. Yesterday we were quietly hopeful, but with it being Good Friday most places were closed, and the few that were open had internet connections that can only be described as decorative. Not a single usable signal in sight.
So, apologies once again for the lack of videos. I rely on YouTube and Vimeo, both of which are blocked on the ship—yes, really, in this day and age. We also have Holafly global plans, but they’ve been about as useful as a chocolate teapot in this part of the world, as they don’t support many of the places we’ve been visiting.
That said, I’m fairly confident that if we don’t manage to sort it before then, Australia will come to the rescue and we’ll finally be able to get everything uploaded and up to date.

As for today—who knows. Sea days, of which there have been plenty, are a mixed bag. Some people find them blissfully relaxing, others start climbing the walls when there are many. Personally, I quite enjoy them. There’s no schedule, no rush, and no real commitments—other than the very important task of not missing breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and carefully timing the drinks allocation times.
Beyond that, the day is entirely your own… which, on balance, isn’t a bad way to spend it.
BTW there will be more images posted later today but the first image is of Lorna’s manicure from yesterdays visit to the spa she is very happy with it despite it taking over 2 hours to complete and a total of $152 she did have a voucher for $50 but still that is extortionate, my haircut was $58 still expensive but boy did i need it.

We decided to persevere and stay out despite the rain making several unwanted guest appearances and doing its best to dampen everyone’s spirits. Naturally, the most logical solution to that is… spirits. By the time we’d passed noon, the drinks were flowing nicely, and eventually we realised that even if the sun had come out, we’d probably still be sat on a sunbed under cover, in the shade, and just as warm—so really, what’s the difference?
The sun did eventually give us a brief reprieve, and we settled in properly. Lorna headed off for a poke bowl while I stayed put, still comfortably fuelled by a rather substantial breakfast. The rest of the afternoon was spent doing what sea days are best for—absolutely nothing of any consequence—until around 4:30pm when I suggested we try the mini golf.

That turned out to be a mistake.
We hauled all our gear up there and had a good laugh—mostly at my expense—as Lorna delivered a masterclass and beat me 52 to 55. And, naturally, this is a score that will now be mentioned at regular intervals over the coming days. Just to really drive the point home, we then played our version of Baggo… and yes, she beat me at that as well.
So she was very happy as we headed back to the room to get ready for tonight’s speciality dining at Toscana. I, on the other hand, am considering retiring from all competitive activities for the foreseeable future.