A strange, bright light appeared in the sky. Some call it the "sun".
It was still cold and windy, but at least we could see blue sky. Plus a wonderful cloud that looked like Laputa, the floating city in Miyazaki's film of the same name.
(Emma and I are huge Miyazaki fans. As are all imaginative, people with excellent aesthetic tastes.)
Over breakfast we met a couple from Nevada, two elderly ladies from Edinburgh, and two middle-aged women from Southern California. One of the Southern Californian women was Sue, the highly-suggestible volunteer from last night's hypnotism show. She confirmed that she wasn't a plant, and really did perceive the various suggestions Steve Bayner planted.
We crossed the International Date Line at 10.45am, wiping out the rest of our Wednesday and most of Thursday morning. I love watching the confusion on the faces of people who try to figure out where the day "went".
Today's highlight was a spa treatment in the Lotus Spa. Emma had a facial, I had a 75 minute deep tissue massage.
The laws of physics work differently on a cruise ship. Somehow Mary Grace, a 50 kg Filipina, was able to apply something on the order of 150 kg of pressure to my back, shoulders and legs.
I now understand why the spa is on Deck 15. A tiny bit more pressure and she would have punched me through the massage table, and at least two or three decks. If the spa was on Deck 1 or 2 a tiny slip and I'd puncture the hull.
It was exactly what I needed. I was able to sleep with many of the aches and tension I've had since popping a few disks out of whack in my spine a couple months ago.
Back in our stateroom we risked sitting on our balcony. It was too cold to stay there for long, but it was long enough to spot another whale. It's hard to gauge sizes, but given the size of the spout, and the length of the whale as it half-breeched, it appeared to be a big one.
In the afternoon I finally persuaded Emma to join me in the hot tub. She'd barely slipped into the water before she exclaimed, "this is great! Why didn't you talk me into these earlier?"
"I tried," I answered. "But you just didn't listen."
While soaking the officer of the watch announced we were passing a pod of dolphins on the port side. We popped out of the tub, and I suggested we take the short cut across the pool area. She grabbed her towel, and then went the long way around.
I arrived at the window in time to see the dolphins, but Emma didn't. When I explained how I arrived so quickly she asked why I didn't tell her about the short cut.
"I did," I said. "But you just didn't listen."
At dinner we ran into a Canadian couple, Carol and Wayne, who invited us to their cabin the following night for a glass or two of wine, and then to join them for dinner. Should be fun.
We caught a bit of the music trivia, Emma knowing pretty much every '50s and '60s band and song title (I managed to pick one she didn't know), and we had a nightcap in the Wheelhouse Bar. We met a very entertaining couple from LA who had a passion for dancing, and heard all about the knock-down drag-out fights they had several years ago before he finally agreed to take the lessons.
Pretty much it, really. I don't think we're anywhere near our target on the Adventure! scale, to say nothing of Danger! Need to lift our game tomorrow.
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