Day One Hundred Seventy- Three to Day One Hundred Seventy-Six June 26 to June 30

I would like to provide a brief description of our four seadays across the Atlantic Ocean after we left Belfast.

The first day the seas were rough and many passengers either stayed in their staterooms or spent time on the lower decks.

Second day of our sea crossing and the seas are not cooperating. Janice was up very early to take some Gravol (Canadian version for motion sickness) and put on her wrist bands. While walking around the ship I noticed sick bags placed throughout the ship and at every elevator door. I just carry on and luckily do not feel sick. Although the pool deck was opened, all the chairs were moved to one side, and all tied up. A net was also covering the pool. The swells are between 4-6 meters and just now (13:51) our whole stateroom shook.

Third day of the crossing blue skies greet us and the sea are calmer. We are not sure whether we are in the eye of the storm, or the storm has passed. Cruising west ominous grey skies are on the horizon.

On every seaday the captain provides weather and sea conditions at midday. Today he provided the following - the ship is sailing at 18 knots with depth under the keel of 2,000 meters. Ocean swells are two meters, air temperature 10C and 9C water temperature. It is long way from the 30C water temperature in Tahiti. We have travelled 1,055 nautical miles and have 795 nautical miles to reach our next destination of St. John's Newfoundland on July 1 at 07:00.

Fourth seaday the seas were calm and today was the ship building sea trials. This event allowed passengers to design ships with items that they find on the ship. A total of five boats entered the trials. The boats were judged on creativity and seaworthiness in the treacherous waters of the swimming pool. Each boat was required to carry twelve sodas on their vessel as well and all entries had to maneuver through the waters without sinking. A lot of laughs and no ships sank this time. The creativity of our fellow passengers was quite impressive.

The captain's midday briefing indicated that the ship is travelling at 18 knots, depth under the keel is 4,000 meters, the temperature is 13C while the sea temperature is 10C. Wind speed is 10 knots and ocean swells at 1.5 meters. We have travelled 1,512 nautical miles since Belfast and have 340 nautical miles left to reach our destination of St. John's at 07:00 July 1.

Did I say the foghorn is sounding what seems like every 30 seconds? The fog is thicker now and the foghorn is repeated more frequently.

Day One Hundred Seventy-Seven - July 1

Welcome to The Rock … Happy Canada Day

The Atlantic Overture Segment is nearing completion as is our cruise.

Presently, I am in Horizons (the room with a view on the Insignia). The time is 06:25 and land is peeking out through the clouds as I continue writing the blog.

Almost immediately Insignia leaves the fog and St. John's appears. Quickly I grab my camera to go on deck to take pictures of us entering the harbor. The light was just right for some excellent pictures. On the port side we passed a manned lighthouse where the couple come out to see the sail in.

Colorful wooden houses can be seen in the rocky cliffs surrounding St. John's.

We are planning a hike with Keith and Ilona to the top of Signal Hill National Historic Site and a visit to Signal Hill Tower. There should be excellent views overlooking the Atlantic during the hike.

The hike should take about 1.5 hours to complete. We have chosen the North Head Trail with its level of difficulty marked as strenuous and challenging. Several locals more familiar with the trail pass us during the climb.

When we start out it is sunny with a slight breeze but ¾ of an hour later the weather turns and the fog moves in. A portion of the trail is on loose rocky gravel with sheer drops to the rocks below. This is where Janice asks me if I want her hand for help. I say no but politely ask her to stop talking to me as I want to concentrate on the trail. At one point, I pull myself across a chain link hand over hand. Wooden stairs have also been installed on the trail in the steeper portions. As you can assume, I am not good with hiking close to high cliffs.

Nearing the top, the fog is thicker but we can see the white coats (ATW passengers) coming in the other direction on a ship tour. I am not sure how they will fare on the descent as there were a few passengers that were not that stable on their feet.

Once at the top we decided to take another path back to the city by visiting the village of Quidi Vidi. Here we stopped in at the brewing company for lunch of Cod and Chips. All non-Newfoundlanders known as mainlanders need to take a shot of screech.

Some of the pubs continue the tradition where the non-locals would take a shot of screech, recite a few words and then kiss the cod. We did not participate in any ceremony.

On our way back into the city we meet up with Janice's second cousin, Jacinda who is going to University here and we have a nice visit. After 6 months of being away it was nice to hug family. During the walk we notice many bars. In fact, St. John's has the highest concentration of bars per capita of all the major Canadian cities. We say our goodbyes and it is back on the ship for two more sea days before we reach New. York.

Back on board all ATWs meet at the Pool Deck for a group picture. I am not sure whether we will get a copy of it though.

I have a picture of our ship leaving St.John's and thank you to Geoff for providing this to me.

As quickly as we leave St John's harbor and the sunny skies, the fog moves back in. But it was still a fun Canada Day sail away party!

A Canada Day Night Party featuring the Insignia Show Band and Beaver Cupcakes was also held in the Horizons room after the show at 2215. It is too bad there are only a handful of Canadians on board the ship but those attending had a good time. The cupcakes were also very good and the two white Russians I had. Even though there were not that many Canadians on board, the crew went to a lot of trouble to host a Canadian night buffet with decorations, a huge Canada cake and Canada menu. We were very grateful for their effort.