March 6 and 7

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Thursday, March 06, 2008
Today we were in Noumea, New Caledonia. We docked about 7:00am and it did take awhile for the ship to be cleared by immigration. We had not chosen a shore excursion as we had at one time thought about doing a scuba dive trip. When I got burned on my leg I knew I did not want to put it in salt water and it is a good thing we decided not to go because the weather was overcast, with just a few sprinkles. The weather had been overcast here for about 3 weeks - they said they had horrible weather - and so the water was probably pretty cloudy, so visibility would be low. We got off the ship and wandered around the town but we had wanted to go to the maritime museum but it was closed until March 10th. In the terminal are all the people trying to sell their junk, and also a couple of tour groups. We decided to take a one hour tour, for $15 US. It took us to the highlights and made two stops for photos. It was just the amount of time and money we wanted to see. We returned to the ship in time for lunch. The show tonight was a comedian and sound affects guy - Kirby St. Romain (he said to remember him as being a vacuum cleaner and Catholic lettuce). He actually was on American Bandstand with a top 30 hit song in 1963 at age 20. He gave up the recording business and now does work as a comedian and sounds effects guy and doing impressions. He was very funny and we all had a good time as he gave us the first line of a song and we had to sing (as an audience) the second line - he didn’t (or didn’t try) to stump us. I guess the key is that I would go see him again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHARON!

Friday, March 07, 2008
Today was a sea day as we now head for Honiara, Guadalcanal. I began by going to the Sit and Be Fit class and was pleasantly surprised that it was more than just doing a couple of stretches up and out. After that was a pastry demonstration by the Exec Chef and Pastry Chef. It was a lot of fun to watch - and afterward sample. The chef showed how to make a basket weave design on a cake. He made tempered chocolate for making designs out of - chocolate swirls, dragons, etc. Then he made almond brittle (YUM!) and some marzipan roses. Next was the Explorations Speakers Series with Colonel David Horner talking on, “Decisive Battles of 1942 Coral Sea, Midway, Guadalcanal and Kokoda Track. It is interesting to have it given from the point of view of an Australian - don’t get me wrong - he is not wrong, just different viewpoint. The show tonight was very good with pianist Amy Abler. She was incredible - playing every type of music you can think of, okay just about. She is both a concert pianist as well as a conductor. Very exciting playing.

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Comments

[Marshall and Pam]

Exciting
I think that this is so exciting to read as you go. I have tried to read it to Ethan but he doesn't sit still long enough to hear it all. More than likely not any pictures to look at. I am interested to hear what Dad thinks about all the history things. We really do enjoy hearing about the trip as you all go along. Thank you for taking the time to blog...Talk to you soon. Marshall