Ship’s Log
Tuesday, November 15, 2005
5:30 AM
Approaching Nuku Hiva
Iles Marquises
77.6 degrees
Showers in the area
Speed 16 K
Heading 204.7
8 39’32”S
139 50’ 10” W
We moved our clocks back ½ hour last night. (odd time zone yes?)

After six days at sea you can feel the excitement of nearing land. Last night most of the passengers and crew were in a celebratory mood. These sea days are wonderful, but the islands await!

The tour desk has done a consistent job of warning passengers not to expect too much from the island tour operators. Their daily program note Having said that, they hope we won’t be too surprised at the variety of 4wheel drive vehicles that will be used for the upcountry tour.

This is our fourth visit to Nuku Hiva so I haven’t planned to take a tour. I can honestly say I’ve been there done that. But I will tender in to take a leisurely walk along the waterfront. As always, I’ll stop to visit the church and a small store. I also plan to stop at the post office to buy a simm card for my cell phone. Haven’t talked to home for a week, and it will be nice to check in.

There is also usually a small handicrafts market near the pier so perhaps I’ll find something interesting to bring back. I haven’t done all of my Christmas shopping yet!

Yesterday we attended the American Express cocktail party – at 11:30 AM! We were all a little surprised at the time...but yes, they had us drinking before noon. Whatever trepidation we had at the start disappeared about as quickly as the first Bloody Mary. It was a nice chance to make new friends and we asked Laura (our onboard cruise consultant) about the Tier Rewards Program. Evidently the home office is still tinkering with the details and now they say it will be announced sometime early NEXT year! So hold your hats, there’s no news yet. Of course everyone around us was hoping a different perk – from free laundry and dry cleaning services to free upgrades or internet service. At this point I’m not sure we have enough days to get anything more than a couple of free drinks, but time will tell.

One of the features that I always enjoy during our sea days are the Enrichment Lectures. Thus far we’ve been educated and entertained by several very interesting individuals. While I haven’t attended all of them, I’ve particularly enjoyed Oceanographer, Robert C. Clark. On almost any voyage to the South Pacific the topic of Captain Cook will be discussed. And on each of our trips to this part of the world I become more intrigued and have started to do some reading about Cook’s 3 voyages of exploration. We’ve also had discussions of the endemic flora and fauna, as well as the history of navigational skill and tools, and some of the history of Polynesian people. It’s almost like being back in college with a great field trip thrown in!

Well, I can now see the rugged cliffs of the island, so it’s time to sign off. I’ll try to write more later.