Vict0riann

Our new PCC mentioned on one phone call that she had noticed that our account was marked "Do not Upgrade" - I guess done by our previous PCC. We had her remove that!

The news this evening was that we have experienced high winds, ferries cancelled, etc.

Good morning, Dailyites. Sounds like a good day, no minestrone here. I might open a tin for Pat but I am not a fan of soups. Sorry about your beautiful cat, you'll miss her, @Crazy For Cats, but what a wonderful way to go! Every pet we've had I've been the one who has had to make that awful decision and take the animal to the vet the last time. We had neighbours in Virginia who had a little dog they had rescued and didn't know how old he was - he loved left-over shepherd's pie and one day they found him lying dead with his head in his empty dish - I'm sure there was a smile on his face! We had rain and lots of wind during the night, the paper says the reservoir is at 84%, but after this storm I imagine/hope it will be at 90%! We sprang a leak in one of our skylights and will have to get on to the strata to get that seen to. It had a leak when we moved in and was repaired once, Hopefully it will just need re-caulking. We are threatened with a deep freeze and the possibility of snow in the coming days, so, @VMax1700, warn your DS! We were in Corinto and took a tour to Leon with Jacqui, I remember the heat, but Jacqui had such a great group on that roll call, and the tour was interesting, there was lunch with dancing and we had a lot of fun. I mentioned in the previous Daily when Corinto was the port that someone sitting on the steps of the cathedral offered me $100 for the umbrella I was using as a sun shade - no way I was giving that up! Arenal Volcano? seen from the van. There was a map! The cathedral Inside was cooler We visited the market, too

Good morning, Dailyites, another Monday here... It is finally raining hard, but we are threatened with wind and snow later in the week. I will be happy to just stay indoors if that happens. I had chicken for us and a piece of fish out for DD last night when she said she would go and get fish and chips from a place near where we used to live which is reputed to be the best in Victoria, so I immediately agreed, and we will have the defrosted chicken and fish today. Later this month we will compare the fish and chips with a place nearer where we are now, which claims to be the best in Victoria... Hope all goes well with Roy, and no aftereffects, except good ones! I will be having two "bumps" removed next week, which the dermatologist says are squamous cell carcinomas. One is on the back of my right hand which I seem to be continually bumping so it is sore. The other is on my left wrist, so gets in the way of my watch. I'm looking forward to getting rid of them both! I have already primed the household that I will have to keep the areas dry, so I won't be washing dishes. I wonder how long that will last! We have been to Napier, on a driving trip in NZ, I remember enjoying the Art Deco streets, but they interfered with them by shading the sidewalks.

I wanted to add my bit to the Antarctic saga! When we visited South Georgia, the beaches were littered with "weaners" - young elephant seal pups which had been weaned and whose mothers had left them behind to head out to sea again to mate. The poor (not-so-little) pups were very curious and looking for love in all the wrong places. We were not allowed to approach them, but if they came close to us, we were allowed to stay still, and of course the official guides could do what they wanted! (Guide in red jacket - not us!) Of course, once they got to full size, you wouldn't want to go near. One big guy decided he was in love with one of our zodiacs, and had to be persuaded to move away.

Well, now it's afternoon, so Good day, Dailyites! I hope Paul has a great cruise, and that Roy doesn't find it too difficult tomorrow. Thanks for all the other news, always something interesting going on. On our way to church this morning, there was a dead deer by the side of the road. It is cloudy today, but I don't think it's going to rain. It's pretty cold, something like Ireland, @VMax1700, but going to get colder, so warn your DS! We have been to Tunis twice except once we couldn't dock, so only visited Carthage and Sidi BouSaid, the beautiful museum, carpet shops and souk once. In the market one of the vendors offered us 300 camels for our red-headed daughter. We decided it was a good deal but they wouldn't let us take the camels back on the ship (not service camels....), so we kept her. She made a big purchase of a carpet in one of the shops and didn't have enough cash to pay, so the vendor went back to the ship with us, and she got money on board and took it back out to him. He had let her take the carpet on with her, so she could have just not gone back out, he was very trusting! We really enjoyed what we saw of Tunisia. Ancient Carthage Underground water supply for the baths The museum had beautiful mosaics Sidi Bousaid - a blue and white village, kind of like Santorini, with an Arab flair In the souk Carpets!

Thanks, all. Fun sailaway - 3 nice toots from NA.

That's my Covid ship, but we are booked on her again in 2025... I don't hold it against her.

Big toots! Low and gruff.

Haha! Now I mentioned it, it's behaving better!

Finally! I was getting ready to give up. My PTZ screen keeps freezing - anyone else? It was okay to begin with, but only lasts a few minutes now.

Is that paddleboat a tour?

Apex has to get out of the way before NA can move...

I just see a dot for SP, the others all have ship shapes - I wonder if that is telling us something?

3:13 and I don't see any movement... but I guess Sky Princess is around the corner.

Good morning, Dailyites, and thank you to all for my daily news! I'd eat the pizza, but I don't know that I would make it.... So sorry, @Norseh2o, about the loss of your DM, I remember how difficult that time was. Not much good news from here, but we are muddling along. The reservoir has reached 82%, normally we are at 100% by the end of November. But of course the population is growing, and everyone uses water. We need a lot more rain. But the sun is shining! Go away, sunshine...

Bon voyage!🥂

If a ship has Tamarind, we always have our first dinner on board there., it's our favourite.

Happy Mew Year to all of us! And Happy Anniversary to @RMLincoln, and Happy Birthday to Sam. We visited Casablanca on the Maasdam on the Atlantic Adventurer - what a great cruise, 42 days out of and back to FLL I would love to do it again. We took a ship's tour to Marrakesh, and had a fancy lunch included at a big hotel. In those days I didn't know about food porn, so no pictures... We had a great roll call on that cruise too, everyone took turns organizing tours, so no one had to do it all. I organized a couple, Gibraltar and Taormina, I think. We had three vans full! Just a couple as we drove through Casablanca, and very interesting scenery on the way to Marrakesh. In Marrakesh we visited a number of palaces and the main square. Good luck to have storks nesting on your roof!

Happy New Year to all rabbits, and all the Dailyites! I don't know what we will eat today, and although we don't have sweet potatoes in the house, I did send the recipe to DD, as she has the air fryer in the garage. I have only been in Tokyo airport, but my parents honeymooned in Japan. I am hoping that the earthquakes in Japan do not foreshadow activity in all the Ring of Fire. We have had a few minor earthquakes around here in the past few weeks.

Just popping in quick to wish all a Happy New Year! See you in 2024.🧨

Pat lived in India as a child, and then worked there for many years (off and on; we lived in Virginia), and he loved the people. Calcutta was his favourite! I went with him twice to Calcutta, Delhi, etc., and I'm sorry to say that the developing world is not for me any more. In Calcutta, there is a divided highway from the airport into town. Both sides of the highway have two-way traffic, except where people have built shrines in the middle of the road. Just amazing! Even Naples is more orderly, and that's saying something.

A couple more notes about Port Blair. We had originally booked a HAL shorex, which was a tour of PB, then a ferry to another "resort" island, however that was cancelled a few days before we arrived as the ferry had sunk, with passengers. Eek! It could have been us. The other shorex that HAL put on was to the highlight of PB - the prison, We walked there, but did not enter. The prison

Good morning, Dailyites! I'm wishing for better things for all in 2024. And peace. Am I the only one, again, who has been to Port Blair? I don't recommend it. After our visit there on Volendam, we transited the Straits of Malacca, where we were warned of piracy in the area and what we should do if we were attacked. We were to go to our staterooms, and sit on the floor, leaning against an inside wall. There was special equipment put out on the decks to scare pirates away with loud noises, and crew patrolled the deck watching for approaching small boats. We took a shuttle into the town which was an adventure in itself. The sidewalks in the town were individually constructed by each shopowner and some were dirt, some wood, and some concrete. And some had steps up or down so it was complete chaos. Others on the ship took a cab to a resort far away from the town, and said the beach was lovely. But they were very late back to the ship (couldn't find transport), and caused great confusion. This was the only port where I have ever been physically searched (in a curtained booth, by a woman) before returning to the ship. I don't know what they thought I was going to take from their island! We had had a lot of difficulty getting Indian visas before the cruise, and I think everyone on the ship recommended HAL omit Port Blair from future cruises! Beach on the way into town Local transport The local ladies were colourful RNB might enjoy.... These were on the decks when we left, some sort of pirate deterrent

Good morning, Dailyites! Am I the only one who has visited Malacca? (On Volendam, in 2014 - 10 years ago!) We had 28 days in the Far East with DD, and Pat's DS and DBIL. It was an adventure. Transportation - but mainly we just walked around. DD found a tree to hug It was all very colourful, preparing for New Year celebrations. Very hot!