19th July

Sea Day Cloudy with some sea fog and rain Temp 22c Moderate Sea.

On some nights at dinner our waiters come around offering various speciality coffees like Irish or Jamaican etc. at extra charge of course. No one on our table ever buys one but last night I said as we had just left Ireland I would have one and Ian joined me. We had an Irish Coffee which was very nice however I had broken one of both Betty’s and my rules  “No Coffee after 4pm” because it keeps us awake. Last night I went to sleep OK but at 2am I was wide awake and could not get back to sleep. I downloaded the Heraldsun onto my iPad at 5am. That will be the last special coffee I will have at this time. Something that is unusual for me I slept for a couple of hour this afternoon.

This morning Ian and I went to another lecture by Graham Burns this time about his time protecting Geoff Hoon the Defence secretary 1999-2005. He called it “Hoon or Buffoon” He went on to explain why he had this title and some of the stupid decisions he made which reminded me of some of our politicians. This lecture was not quite as entertaining as his others but he has promised a lighter one tomorrow, which will probably be his last as I think he is getting off in New York. I had a short look at the “3 hour only On-board Outlet Sale” and Betty had a longer look but neither of us bought anything.

At lunch today in the Horizon Court there was an “Extravaganza Pastry Buffet” It started at 11.30am so Betty went up there then to photograph the offerings before they got wrecked. I try to include a couple of photos she took. WE met Coral for lunch at 12.30pm after she had been to her Bridge lesson and we sat with Pam who we shared a dinner table with on our last world cruise. Pam is an expert on Candy Crush so tomorrow we are going to get some tips.

In the afternoon Bev & Betty went to the Fashion Show to view the latest collection of Joseph Ribkoff clothes modelled by some fellow passengers. Bev bought a top for $190 but when she got it to her cabin she found it did not fit properly so she returned. As noted previously I had a sleep. At 4.30pm in the Princess Theatre Chris Watkins, violin player and David Crathorne, who normally plays piano in the Atrium at night gave a concert entitled “Brahms to Broadway”. They only decided to give this concert last night and had very little rehearsal but they played a wide range of music to a packed theatre. Very entertaining! After dinner we went to the Vista Lounge for the Production Show “Country Jam” which was a high energy show of country music and dancing. Coral left at the end of the show to rush down to the Princess Theatre to Travis Turpin’s show.