Big seas, great show and annoying music

The Headliners make a splash on stage on Aurora

Another feature of our wonderful internet is that, if the bathroom door is open, it doesn’t work. Seriously! Many’s the time either of us has shouted “Sorry,” as we went into the bathroom and interrupted a vital online transaction. And being online had been important as we hammered across the watery wastes at 20 knots with Vigo at 299 nautical miles away. The sea was rolling big style with lolloping great peaks and troughs making the ship sway from side to side and up and down. The south-westerly wind was blowing us north-eastwards and helping to create a following swell - apparently the only type of sea that Aurora doesn’t cope with very well. 

Recovering from all the excitement

A lively sea

Like so many other evenings in recent weeks, we were fairly tired even though we had not strayed far from our cabin. The view sailing by all day was just so exciting and I think we were both overwhelmed by the sights and sounds of the Panama Canal transit. We showered and went to Anderson’s for a glass of something nice and then on to the restaurant for another fairly mediocre dinner. Neither of us wanted what was on the menu and we felt we were getting dining room fatigue! It’s hard to raise enthusiasm for the food when it’s either overcooked or poorly presented … or both. However, we look to the positives: the plates are always hot (even when you have salad) and the portions are not huge. So, we headed back to our lovely cabin and stargazed on the balcony for some time and then had a read before turning in. 

All at sea with extreme ironing

A sea day today, so the morning dawned bright and early - around 7:30am, which is astonishingly early for us when we don’t have to get up - and we planned our activities. The day began with Gabrielle doing her exercises and me ensuring that Amy (her Personal Trainer) was aware that it was happening. Given the lack of equipment for this workout, Gabrielle resorted to two 500ml tins of water as weights and waved them around with determination and to great effect. As she normally uses two 5kg weights, this is rather letting her off easily!

Countdown to departure

With much less than a month to go before we board Aurora, we're already getting excited and trying to consider everything we'll need for 65 days away from home. You can't pack 65 pairs of undies and socks, but you can be ready to use on board laundry facilities by taking your own detergent. Equally, you do have to pack a range of clothes to accommodate everything from snow in Southampton to Equatorial heat and humidity, as well as yomping across the Falklands, pursued by penguins.