27th November 2007 (Mark 2) - At Sea

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Our second November 27th was spent cruising from Suva in Fiji to Alofi in Niue (see map). Nothing much of consequence happens on the high seas (unless you are in Antarctica!). M went to the craft class and made a card. D went to see the movie Deja Vous.

The masterpieces that have been created in the Art Classes were put on display on deck 5. Dinner was dreadful and afterwards there was a show with comedian Jon Bell.

We both received certificates, signed by the Captain, stating that we had crossed the International Date Line (IDL). The IDL is an imaginary line of demarcation on the surface of the Earth that runs from the North Pole to the South Pole and demarcates the change of one calendar day to the next. It passes through the middle of the pacific Ocean, roughly following the 180° line of longitude but it does deviate in order to pass around some territories and island groups.

In much of this area, the IDL follows the 165° W Meridian. This means that Samoa, Tokelau, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and New Zealand's Kermadec Islands and Chatham Islands are all west of the IDL and have the same date. American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Niue and French Polynesia are east of the IDL and are one day behind. The IDL then bends southwest to return to 180°. It follows that meridian until reaching Antarctica, which has multiple time zones. Interestingly, the IDL is not drawn into Antarctica on most maps.

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