Saturday, July 10 - At Sea

A day at sea! We sailed past Moorea in the morning on 8-10 foot seas. Bob and I had breakfast at la Veranda: eggs Benedict for me and a large minute steak and potatoes for RRZ.

Afterwards we went up to Deck 8 and joined Arnie & Anita reading and lounging on the deck. I had planned on swimming but the pool was empty as water would have sloshed out due to the rough seas. Ann went to an astronomy lecture and then joined Hilary and me for lunch at Le Grill - today German day, so we had bratwurst, sauerkraut and cole slaw with dill seed in a pretty strong, but warm, wind. We watched Tahiti pass slowly by.



Hilary went with me to the gym and helped me figure out the treadmill and biking machines so I can feel a bit better about eating so much! Then I took an hour nap after which Bob showed me that we had arrived at the edge of the path of totality- about 15 miles south of Tahiti Iti and 130 miles wide- so we should actually see the eclipse tomorrow!

The daily ship’s newsletter, which I finally started to read (it lists daily chess, bridge, book clubs, classes in Polynesian arts and crafts, piano players, etc), listed a lecture on the history and migration of the peoples of Polynesia by an Australian anthropologist, Mark Eddowes, at 4 pm, so I dashed into the shower and changed into evening clothes, and ran up to the Grand Salon for a really interesting talk on the latest DNA and linguistics evidence on the origin and migrations of the peoples of the south Pacific.

I wandered back up to Deck 8 and La Palette bar where I got a Campari and soda and joined Arnie & Anita and Hil & Ann for a drink before heading down to Deck 6 and La Boutique shop where champagne was offered and a black pearl pendant drawing was taking place at 6:30. Well, Hilary almost won as the cabin next to hers was drawn, but…

At seven the six of us from La Palette had a delicious dinner at L’Etoile: shrimp and cucumber roll. Indian soup, fresh pea soup. Sechwan chicken, lamb chops, lemon sorbet and banana boats! We all went to be early in order to be up bright and early for the big day! The first contact (when the moon cuts into the sun) occurs at 7:18 AM so we have to be up on deck with all 300 other passengers and jockeying for position! Very exciting!