Day 37 15th February 2011

It is a hot, bright and clear day with temperatures in the 80s. It is now GMT-9 so we are 9 hours behind the UK. We went to the Valentine Dinner at Café Boudreaux last night. Chris got a paper rose made by one of the waiters and some balloons to tie to her power chair.  It was an excellent meal with outstanding service as you come to expect on the ship.

I was in the cybercafé at 7.30am this morning since there are continuing problems gaining access to the Internet. We apparently rely on satellites that move across the Pacific and since we are in a remote area few of them go across therefore we have intermittent and poor connections. Anyway it was fine for 30 minutes and then became very slow so I came away.

It is Chris’s birthday today and Edward and Peter both telephoned her. It was again wonderful to hear their voices. It also feels miraculous that you can be contacted on your mobile in the middle of the ocean. It makes no difference that I understand the technology that makes it work. It is still astonishing. After the calls we spent most of morning sitting on the balcony enjoying the warmth and reading. I did my daily march around the deck for 13 laps but the heat made it hard work to complete. This afternoon we went to two different talks:

1. An interview with Richard Digance

2. Tim Wonnacott spoke about selling Nelson and Napoleon memorabilia 

Both were interesting and Tim got a huge audience of over 600 people since every seat was taken.

Tonight we are going to listen to the singers from the ships own company sing Andrew Lloyd Webber songs and then have dinner. The waiters will again sing happy birthday to Chris and we will have cake and Champagne.