Saturday, February 7, 2009

29th day

Now 10,576 nautical miles from New York. . . in the southern hemisphere [15 degrees 49.76S and 172 degrees 52.23 W] We today pass the International Date Line, which for our present latitude actually lies at 172 30W and not 180 W as is mainly the case. This adjustment is made to avoid dividing certain island groups which lie astride the 180 Meridian, incuding Fiji, Tonga, and New Zealand. Tomorrow - Sunday - will not occur here and we go directly to Monday when we arrive at Tonga. It was 83 degrees F this morning at 6, so you can guess what it will be at noon!

Western Samoa a great place to visit - friendly and scenic. Apparently they get only one or two cruise ships a year at Apia, so our visit was indeed welcome. Highlight of my tour was visiting the home of Robert Louis Stevenson and hearing about his relationship with the Samoan people. I'm posting new pictures this morning - later today you can probably see them at http://gallery.me.com/herrlk/10017.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Lois,
We're here at Mike & Beth's, and I used this opportunity to catch up on your blog. Sounds like a wonderful trip! What fun to check out the ship webcam, and your pictures are great. As we head back to Chicago, I'll be thinking of you in the warm weather.
Enjoy!
Fran & Jim

Unknown said...

Lois,
Fran & I have been enjoying ourselves walking on beach, attending a Gullah story telling lecture and eating oysters. We admire your courage and are a little jealous with you going on such a wonderful trip by your self. How are your room accommodations? It sounds like you are out and about the ship and enjoying the views at the top. What was the longest time at sea? I liked your thoughts about those who went by sea with out maps and a belief that the world was flat (or hopefully round).
Thank you for the card and the blog address.

Beth

Herrstory said...

Speaking of story-telling, Robert Louis Stevenson was known on Samoa as Tusitala - story-teller. Not much courage involved in this trip since every care is taken care of by Cunard. The room is quite comfortable and the storage space great - of course I'm just "1" in a space meant for "2." I have a private deck where I can sit out and watch the sea go by. I've always been a landlubber but I've learned to love the sea and enjoy watching it's many moods. I may write a book about the cruise - it is entirely possible for a loner to enjoy being on a vessel with 1980 other passengers and about 1000 crew members. The days fly by and I am never bored. So much to see and think about, or read, or write, or talk with others from all over the world when you want to. Entertainment when you want to attend, peace and quite when you want to contemplate. Pretty much a perfect environment for my journey.