Lovely morning by the pool, reading in the sun. During the course of the morning we had a couple of short, very sharp downpours of rain. Then, the black clouds would clear and we'd be back to blue skies again. Also, there was a swell that we could not detect but the swimming pool could! So the water was really swishing from end to end and cascading into the "catchment" pools. It was like being in quite a rough sea. Weird but rather invigorating. In art...

Today we traversed the equator again passing back into the northern hemisphere. It felt like we were in equatorial climes as well: blisteringly hot, little wind, hardly a ripple on the sea. As per usual, just endless empty sea in all directions. Not a ship in sight all day. We sunbathed all morning, reading our books and swimming as has become our habit these last few hot days. We are both brown as berries but still having to be careful. It would be eas...

The 19th March at last!! A quiet sea day. We are still in the hot belt, placid seas, hot sun…. Absolutely nothing to be seen on any horizon. No ships, land, seabirds….. just a big empty sea. No doubt it will be like this for the next five days till we reach Honolulu. This emptiness seems to be a feature of the Pacific and we have observed it since leaving Valparaiso weeks ago. Very different from the Mediterranean, the Channel, or even the Atlantic whe...

And hotter still! The sea was like a millpond today, very unusual from what we have seen of the Pacific. Even when there is no wind, there is often swell. But not today! We secured our loungers beside the Riviera pool and settled in with our books. It was great to be just a couple of steps from the pool for frequent coolers. At lunchtime our pool became ship central as there was a large bbq and cocktail party centred around it. Normally, these would...

Wednesday 18th March once again! Woke up just as we were coming into the tremendous natural harbour of Pago Pago, American Samoa. A large horseshoe bay surrounded on three sides by towering mountainous hills, thickly clad in green…. Green everywhere. Colourful houses nestling on the slopes and around the water's edge. Nothing very big. The ship docked at the head of the bay where the small town was centred. We came out of the dock and headed left to...