A quiet sea day

Our wake as we travelled past Peru's coastline

I think word has got through to the tour guides that they have to get us back to the ship when instructed. We made it back with 15 minutes to spare yesterday. I get that they want to give us our money’s worth and they believe the ship won’t go without us. Not the case, as we already know. Being in the desert had been tiring and draining and something of a sensory overload. It was warm with a gentle breeze in places, but we were constantly being warned about the UV. So naturally, we piled the sun protection on, only for the fine sand and dust to stick to us. So, after we set sail, a lovely hot bath was the order of the evening. As we left the northernmost part of Chile, we immediately travelled along the coast of Peru. Not surprisingly, it looked pretty identical. I felt the need to ponder our time in Chile. The positives were they were hugely friendly and welcoming, but the downside is they really need to sort out their road safety.

After our substantial lunch, we didn’t feel the need for a meal in the evening and just had fruit Steevan had previously delivered and the canapés he brings around every evening. I finally admitted defeat and went to bed at 9pm, given we were losing an hour this was early for me.

We woke to that sort of sky colour that is the same as the sea colour and it takes a while to work out where the differentiator is. We were still along the Peruvian coastline, hugging the land. There was a coastal mist on the lower part of the hills, so the peaks of the hills loomed up from the mist making it quite eerie. I started the day rather slow and feeling somewhat queasy from yesterday. I didn’t know if it was the sun, the food at Codpa, lack of quality sleep or as Nick thought, I might simply be hungry, not having eaten last night. 

Having not done any exercise for what felt like an age, I stumbled through my workout routine. I was rewarded with a pod of dolphins swimming by, which felt a good reason for a little breather. I wasn’t convinced my queasiness was down to being hungry, so just had some toast and fruit. 

We agreed maybe a walk around the deck would sort us out. The fact we were being overtaken by so many people today, rather than being the ones doing the overtaking, made us acknowledge we were both slightly below par. Nick said he wasn’t 100% either. We had a super catch-up with Nick and Sue. Catching up with their news and plans. It’s lovely and reassuring having these catch-ups when the Internet allows. 

Our fun facts today are that we’ve steamed 294 nautical miles since leaving Arica yesterday evening to noon today at an average speed of 15 knots. That leaves us 289 nautical miles before we reach our technical stop over at Callao tomorrow morning. Last night we turned the clocks back another hour and tonight to go back a further hour to get us on to Peruvian time. Today we’ve had temperatures of 23 to 25 degrees, with sea temperatures of 20 degrees.

Queasiness continued, so I thought maybe putting my sea sickness bands on might help, even though the sea was virtually flat calm. A plain lunch didn’t solve matters, so I decided there was nothing else for it but to try some sleep. 

Hallelujah! That helped. No snory bloke, just the sound of the sea and an hour’s snooze. I would have liked to have joined Nick with his activities but felt anything to help keep the bags away from my eyes would benefit all. Nick went off to the theatre to an Alan Ayckbourn play. 

Then it was “twoof” time. My roots had to be sorted. What Gabs, you’re not a real blonde? Sadly not. The salon on board is probably the best location in the world. By this afternoon it was beautifully sunny and as I sat down to be done, I enjoyed another show of a large pod of dolphins. The hairdressing experience was average outcome for excessive charge…I think you get my drift. I’ll sort it tomorrow, but thankfully the greys are gone and the blonde is back. A very handsome chap arrived in the salon thankfully after the part where you look like a deranged scarecrow and then it was synchronised haircuts. 

Back to our cabin for a swift change for this evening and then off to cash in our free glass of pop from P&O. Yes, we along with a number of other guests were invited to the Whitewall gallery to witness a grand reveal of a work of art. We have only once bought from Whitewall and those who know our home well will know our piece by David Rees, “Forgiven”. When Nick and I view art, it’s only bought when we both have the same reaction to the piece and that piece did it (and still does) for us. Sadly, the average art displayed in your average Whitewall isn’t our drop. 

Entertainment from the Whitewall Manager

Still, we had our thimble full of pop and were entertained. We were polite and viewed the revealed masterpiece and indeed if it had been something we’d loved, we can always make space for art at home, but it was just along the lines of all the other stuff they display. 

Tonight is a simple meal in the restaurant and I’m hoping for a bit of pasta, or something equally uneventful.