Day 53 4th March 2011

We lost an hour during the night so are currently at GMT+12 or 12 hours in front of the UK. This led to us waking up rather late this morning but that was also caused by the rough weather. So that the ship is rocking and rolling a good deal. In other words we were rocked to sleep last night. The poor weather has continued throughout today with a lot of surf and large waves. The ship handles the motion quite well but you can still feel it. During by 13 laps of the deck I did a good deal of zigging and zagging so that I assume I walked a lot further than my normal 4 miles. There were very few people outside just the hardy minority reading or embroidering under a blanket. When the weather sends everyone indoors the place can feel very crowded.

We have been to two talks today. The first was by Richard Carrick on Australia. He was the High Commissioner to Australia and he gave a very good presentation on the first 110 years of the country’s life with many cricket analogies. The second was by Peter Hobday who was a journalist on the Today programme. He was very amusing and interesting in a talk about spin doctors and spinning. This evening is the Captain’s welcome party for passengers joining the ship in Australia. A few hundred got off and a few hundred got on so there are some new faces around the Aurora. We often don’t go to these events since they can get very crowded but tonight we have decide to grace it with an appearance.

Tomorrow the ship is going to sail into Milford Sound, a fjord on the South Island of New Zealand. A local specialist commentator is coming on board to explain what we are viewing as we cruise up the inlet. The aim is to visit some others if time permits so that we get an introduction to the wilderness areas of the South Island. This is one of the most unspoilt areas in the world. We are hoping to see some wildlife during the trip including seals and whales.

The next five days after Milford Sound are hectic with five stops and for New Zealand immigration we have to carry our passports ashore. This is the only place that we had to do this since leaving Southampton.