Another grey, wet, windy, hot tropical day. The sea was absolutely heaving although either we have totally got our sea-legs now, or the ship just rides it all out so well. We did walk drunkenly when moving around but no motion sickness feelings at all.

Went to the morning art class and today we painted an orchid. I was incredibly pleased with mine and it is a mark of how much James has helped me that I can now paint some more delicate subjects. We have another exhibition coming up and this one will definitely go in.

After lunch we found a quiet place to sit and study our scripts. Bob was a bit nervous because today we were performing the play for the other group. Anyway, our group met up for a read through first at 3:15 and then we did a run through in the Nightclub using our props and trying out the blocking on the studio stage there. The good news is that we have been given The Playhouse for our performance on the 24th….. The run through went pretty well. Bob did incredibly well, he can be very pleased with himself. Got quite a few laughs from our small audience which hopefully bodes well for the real thing. So, now we have another run through tomorrow (preceded by our own private rehearsal) and then the day after, a technical in the theatre followed by the performance.

The sea just got rougher and rougher as the day went on. During the early evening the Captain came on and said that it was now very rough outside with extremely strong winds and rain and that the open decks were being closed for safety reasons but that there was nothing to worry about. He said we were in a very severe squall which was worse than the weather forecast had predicted. Anyway, a fair bit of pitching and a few "jars" and "judders" but nothing too drastic. Aurora was built for ocean passages and weathers it better than the more modern large ships with massive superstructures. They rock and roll a lot more.

Took some of my photos along and entered them into the sector photo competition. They will be exhibited with the other entrants tomorrow and then results the day after. Not expecting anything but it will be interesting to get some personal feedback.

We went to see the film Jersey Boys tonight which is the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. Really enjoyable and great music. I didn't even know some of the songs originated with the Four Seasons. Very feel good film.

So tonight we cross the International Date line. What a strange thing this is. Today we have been 11 hours behind London and it is Saturday 21st February. When we wake up in the morning, we will have lost Sunday 22nd February and it will be Monday 23rd February and we'll be 13 hours ahead of UK time. This has produced some oddities on board. About 10 people have a birthday on the 22nd and will therefore miss it totally. The ship produced a special daily programme (we get one every night for the next day) for The Day That Never Was. Quite funny. It advertises such unlikely events as Pole Dancing Classes, Naked Mud Wrestling for the Over 85s, Free Drinks all Day, etc etc….