February 6, 2024

We’re back to sailing on a lake.  Final sea day for a while.  Several of our new friends will be leaving in two days when we reach Aukland.  And we will gain some new cruisers.  We met a couple today that are getting off in Aukland and rejoining us in Tiawan. 

I have to tell you about some very special friends we have.  Tim sent me an email this morning explaining that he and David did a security check on our house yesterdY, and everything looked great, WOW, thanks.  He went on to tell me that Kim had given David a key to our house, and he thought it would be a good idea to walk through the house and make sure we didn’t leave anything on.  WOW another great idea, I thought.  Well, they ended their security tour at my bourbon closet.  They poured themselves a healthy pour of one of my top shelf bourbons and sat down to devise a plan for future security checks.  After a couple more pours, they settled on a schedule of at least once a week on an afternoon, always a different day and time in case anyone was “casing the Joint”.  They also said that it shouldn’t be just them each time, that they should bring others with them each time to do these security checks because they might see something Tim and David missed.  David also checked our mailbox and brought in the mail for us.  With the plan in place, they locked up our house and left.  I responded and asked if they washed the glasses, to which the reply was no, we kept them as mementos.  I am so lucky; most people don’t ever get great friends like I do.  (the names have been changed to protect their real identities).

As you all know, we are coming home early because of the unrest in the Red Sea.  A couple of days ago, we got an email that Seabourn had booked our return flights.  We couldn’t open it. So yesterday we went to see Rosa who is in charge of the logistics.  She pulled up our flights and we were booked on KLM.  We were flying from Singapore to Amsterdam, then to PORTLAND.  Kim immediately objected, saying why are they flying us all the way around the world to get home.  And on top of that we weren’t flying until the third, but we get off the ship on the second and they made no hotel reservations stating that we would have to make our own reservations and pay for it.  We showed Rosa that there was a Singapore Airlines flight that left Singapore at 9 AM on the second and flew straight to Seattle.  That’s what we wanted booked on.  When we got back to the room, I told Kim that they were never going to do that flight because it was twice as expensive as the one they chose.  I sent an email to Bonnie at Great Escapes Travel explaining all of this to her.  She called the Seattle Headquarters of Seabourn Monday morning and was somehow able to convince them to put us on that Singapore flight.  We got the last two business class seats, so we are not sitting together, but it really doesn’t matter as once you get into your little “cocoon”, you are isolated from other passengers.  BOOM, ZAP, WOW. We are very happy now.

I have pretty much established a daily routine (Kim calls it a habit).  I get up at, oh I guess that doesn’t matter to you.  Check my emails and respond to the ones that need a response, then sit out on our veranda.  At noon, Kim heads for Trivia and I head to the pool.  It’s always great people watching, and again, truth is always better than comedy.  At the table next to me were 4 retired gay doctors.  Two were Psychologists and I didn’t catch what the others were.  Their stories from their careers were hilarious!  One said he had a colleague that was a gynecologist and a psychiatrist.  What an interesting combination.  As one said he’s a comprehensive Doctor, he deals with your head and your tail.  Funny guys for sure.    

Tomorrow we are in Waitangi Warf, Bay of Islands , New Zealand.  Today February 6 was celebrated as the signing of the Treaty of Waingi, between the Maori people and the British Crown in 1840, it’s their Independence Day, a national holiday. 

We are tendering tomorrow, so ear plugs are a must. 

Tonight’s photo was taken by me sitting on my bed looking out to the veranda and beyond.

Hope you enjoyed, more later.