Day 45: No Norfolk Island for Us

Monday, 20 February 2017
At Sea — South Pacific Ocean … En Route to Auckland

Stats @ Ship’s Time 3:30p (FJT) … UTC 3:30a (20 February)
Temp: 72.5F (22.5C)
Position: 32.36.52S / 172.27.24E

A journey is like marriage.
The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.
~ John Steinbeck ~

Today was to have been a tender port at Kingston on Norfolk Island … our first port of call in Australia even though this small speck of land is closer to New Zealand than it is to Ozzie land.

Frankly, knowing that the waters in the region are often turbulent, I didn’t have high hopes of making it ashore, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not sorry we missed our visit.  Deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, there is a lot of history on the island — from its days as a penal colony from 1788 to 1895, to the land being resettled by the descendants of the mutineers of HMS Bounty fame after they left Pitcairn Island.  Norfolk Island also boasts beautiful scenery, and I was looking forward to having that as a bonus to our day there.  Oh well … nothing I can do but hope that we will have better luck another time.

The problem, we were told by Captain B yesterday at noon, was the 6-foot (2m) swells that are expected to continue into today.  That’s not good for tendering operations.  The port authorities therefore canceled the call.  In consultation with Miami HQ, it’s been decided to press on to Auckland for an early arrival on the 21st instead of the 22nd, giving us an overnight there.  Not an even exchange IMHO, but the extra time will give us a chance to explore the city in more depth.

So here we are on the high seas, making headway towards Auckland.  According to the Captain’s noon announcement today, he expects to be alongside at our berth around 10:30a tomorrow morning.  I went to Peter Croyle’s destination lecture today and after listening to what he had to say, I think I have a plan for our extra day in the city.  But I’ll fill you in on that tomorrow.

In the meantime, we continue the “Battle of the Winds and Fumes” — such a shame because we have a gorgeous day at sea and I could have sat out on the veranda today if not for the smell.  So I have sought asylum in the lobby where there are no fumes to re-irritate my throat.  All parties who need to be involved in resolving the issue are aware of the problem.  All technical/mechanical measures that can be taken — short of a complete overhaul of the HVAC system — have been taken.  We thought the problem was resolved as we were fume-free for several days after crossing the International Date Line, but then the ship changed its heading and the winds shifted again.  Luckily, we still have the spare cabin where we slept for a couple of nights when the problem was particularly bad.  Unfortunately, we will lose that ‘sleeping room’ when we embark the passengers for the next segment as the ship is sold out … maybe even overbooked if the rumor mill is to be believed.  At this point, we are at the mercy of the shifting winds.

By the way, for those awaiting the 2019 RTW itinerary, it should be out very soon.  We got a sneak peek at it today.  It will be westbound like this year.  There are some differences from our current itinerary, but not enough to tempt us to book another RTW so soon.  That’s actually a good thing for us as I would like to keep 2019 open for other travel options.

I’m going to post this early as we are joining friends for dinner at the Polo Grill tonight.  More from Auckland tomorrow … maybe.

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