Day 20 ~ Oops! & Odds & Ends on the Tasman Sea

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving. ~ Lao Tzu

Oops! I forgot to tell you what these items I saw at the Fiji Art Center were.

They are cannibal forks. A little plaque explains:

“Cannibalism was part of the ‘Viti’ Fijian religion and way of life. Eating utensils used during feasts were sacred and used only during religious rituals. These cannibal forks are specially carved from the sacred “vesi” ironwood by traditional woodcarvers from the Lau group of Isles.”

Think I’ll cross a visit to Lau off my bucket list…

Today started with a brief non-denominational church service in the Panorama Lounge. There is also a Sabbath service on Friday evenings for Jewish passengers. I appreciate the way Princess makes space for the spiritual needs of their guests.  

Our trivia team finished in 2^nd place again. We’ve consistently been in either 1^st or 2^nd place, which gives us, if not bragging rights, at least cause to not have to hang our heads. Unfortunately, we’ll be losing Reynald and Pierre, our super smart Canadians, at Sydney. It’s been fun getting to know them along with Mary and Brian. Looks like we’ll be forced to recruit replacements because a 6 person team is stronger than 4.

Choir started back up today. We’re preparing a little Aussie medley to sing as we sail under the harbor bridge on the 14^th. It’s supposed to be an early sail-in, so we’re all wearing our bath robes…with something on under them, of course. It can get windy on the pool deck!

Oscar and the chef at the Club Restaurant staged an incredible Sunday Brunch that ran from 10:30 AM – 1:30 PM.  I’ll let the photos do the talking…

Wacky carved veggies

The bread was as artful as the carved veggies.

After brunch, the DH signed us up to sing for the Passenger Talent Show on the 13^th.  We didn’t bring any music with us, so we’ll do ‘Of the Father’s Love Begotten,’ an a cappella duet we’ve sung together for years. It was either that or our rendition of ‘Jesus Loves Me.’

This afternoon we’re just lazing around reading and doing some light housekeeping. Herkimer 2’s backpack has a torn strap so I did a little mending. I have to give my friend Marcy a shout out for the travel sewing kit she gave me for the trip. I’ve used it twice already!

We’d been warned about the Tasman Sea, which, with the same modesty that makes South Dakotans call their mountains "Hills," the Aussies and Kiwis call "The Ditch." According to experienced cruisers, the crossing from NZ to Oz can be quite rough, but right now we have slight seas and blue skies for the 

first time in days. Lovely!

More soon…