Easter Island, Chile to Pitcairn Island

Thrilled that we managed to make the call at Easter Island yesterday, we are tootling along on a very dull, completely overcast and rainy day in the South Pacific. On the bright side, the wind and seas have abated, making it a more comfortable passage, without the rolling and pitching previously experienced. With Easter Island now behind us, we can start correcting the clox to our time zone, so we had the first  hour back last night since before Cartagena. However, still steaming west, it will take a few days to get back to normal sunrise/sunset times, with meridian altitude at high noon.

Temperature: High 20C/68F, Low 16C/61F

Wind/Weather: NW’ly at 12 to 15kts with low swell about 5’. Overcast with heavy rain, at times.

Sunrise/Sunset: 07:58/19:26

Clox: Z-6 (back 1 hr last night)

Navigation

Throughout the day, Sea Princess maintained a W’ly course through the Pacific Ocean, at a speed of 17 knots, towards our destination of Pitcairn Island. Since nobody goes ashore on Pitcairn Island, I don’t consider it a port of call, more of a destination.

Activities

Last night we noted in the Princess Patter, a note requesting no walking or jogging on the Promenade Deck before 07:00; whereas, previous notes only requested no jogging. Well to no surprise, the fwd end of the Promenade Deck is blocked off, so we can only walk around the after 2/3 of the deck. Obviously somebody in cabins below is complaining, as even the seamen are not permitted on the deck to complete the regular wash down. The next thing is the music in the Wheelhouse Bar will have to stop at 8 pm. If you book a cabin below the Wheelhouse Bar and Promenade Deck you need to expect some noise, it is part of life at sea, along with the ship creaking and groaning in a seaway and cabin doors slamming. Surrounded by cabins, we also hear footsteps above and cupboards, drawers and balcony doors closing, but that is normal for life upon the high seas, or in any hotel. Needless to say, I have no idea how far I walked for slightly over an hour and a half. On return to the cabin, I started work on the hundreds of photographs taken yesterday on Easter Island.

Once Judi was awake we headed down to the restaurant for breakfast, which was a disaster. The reheated porridge I requested was delivered almost stone cold and the well done, almost burned toast was just warm bread. Judi’s pancakes eventually melted the butter, but were no more than lukewarm. Glad to see the galley has resorted to their usual standard of serving cold food.

After breakfast we grabbed the laptops and headed down to Razzmatazz to work on blog posts and photographs, but it was hosting a church service, so we continued through to Vista Lounge. Zumba was just starting with Kim the Deputy Cruise Director, who took over from Sarah, when she left suddenly in Manta. The music is completely different, being more of a booming base, rather than the light and lively salsa/latino music preferred by Sarah. Kim also wears a microphone and is constantly belting out instructions. Just sitting there was giving us a headache, so we returned to Razzmatazz, as the church service was over. I got yesterday’s blog post written and posted, and started on the first few photographs from yesterday. Needless to say I haven’t attended Zumba since Kim took over.

Next up was a presentation by singer Trevor Knight titled,”The Wisdom of Horses”. It was billed as international horseman and whisperer, presents inspiring tales of courage, endurance and devotion; an insight into the world of the horse. Intrigued by the description, as we have never experienced anything similar, we thought it worthy of checking out. Wow, it was simply spectacular. Trevor commenced with his dual dreams of singing and being a cowboy, while growing up in a London suburb. After a few years in the States he returned to UK, but fancied a year long trip to Australia, on arrival signing up for the then equivalent to Australia has talent, winning the contest. This gained him recognition and regular work, eventually being offered a 3-month contract in the Snowy Mountains. He remained during the off-season, gaining various day jobs until offered employment on a cattle ranch, where he attained his second childhood dream of being a cowboy. On the ranch, only about half the wild horses were tamed, or broken and he thought there had to be better methods, so he became a horse owner, trainer and endurance competitor. He related some amazing and heart felt stories of his experiences with horses, all told from the heart without the use of script or cheat sheets. During one race, he told a story of how he was pushing too hard, resulting in him coming off his horse, as it also fell, thumping his back on a rock. Somehow he got back on the horse and quickly passed out, but the horse managed to keep him on her back and completed the remaining 20+ miles of the race. At the finish line, still unconscious, it took 3 people to get him off the horse and into intensive care, where the doctor advised he had about 1 hour to live, due to massive blood loss from internal injuries. The next day the horse could not walk and the vet found a couple of broken bones, so while saving his life the previous day, the horse must have been in agony. Both fortunately recovered and spent many additional years together, before the old girl passed away peacefully in his arms. His final story is of a special young horse and a blind lady he met on a cruise. The lady wanted to ride a horse, but not one of the special events for the blind, she wanted to ride normally. He invited her to his farm and immediately the blind lady and his young horse forged a special bond. Shortly to purchase rural property, she will soon have the young horse to look after and ride daily. He closed with a film outlining his last story of the blind lady and young horse, with footage of their first and subsequent meetings. Leaving the theatre, after his presentation, few, if any, did NOT have tears streaming down their face.

Off to lunch, we sat with another couple and a single lady, who all attended the horse lecture. Of course, the conversation centred around the presentation we just left, with everyone in agreement it was excellent and we will attend his next 2 instalments. For lunch, I had fish, which was well cooked and served reasonably warm, unfortunately the potatoes and broccoli were stone cold. After lunch, with nothing of interest on the schedule, we returned to the cabin, where I got to work on yesterday’s photographs.

Everyone was present at dinner this evening, which was actually one of the best aboard, so far. I had the pan fried filet of sole, which was cooked perfectly and served warm. Even the potatoes and vegetables were cooked and served warm. Judi and most of the others had the lamb chops, which this time were much more tender than the previous offering.After dinner, most of us attended the show, with another performance from the excellent singer Davidia. 

As another day closes, we bid you farewell, till tomorrow and hope for fair skies and following seas.