Here beginneth week 8!

It’s not Trinidad it’s Tobago but my stupid app doesn’t recognise it as a place! Today we went on an island and folklore tour. We were picked up in minibuses and taken first to Fort King George. This is a quite well preserved place. There was an arsenal, a water collection facility and some amazing views. Then we went to Fort St. James, which is nowhere as well preserved as King George. There was a view of the bay and lots of fishing boats. These boats seem to be roosting places for pelicans. Lots of pelicans.

Close by the fort was the famous Betty Stiven mystery tombstone. The inscription reads ‘She was a mother without knowing it and a wife without letting her husband know it, except by her kind indulgences to him’. The first part is easy as she died in childbirth. No one knows the meaning of the second part.

We then stopped at a golf course and a hotel. We had a beer in each. Our final stop was at a Hall for a folklore show. It was hot, crowded and noisy. The show was OK, but nothing to write home about.

Whilst in the queue to get back on board we saw Lynda. Her arm is in a sling and she was a bit pale but otherwise seemed OK. As we walked by the ship to the gangway, we could see some of the damage sustained from our passage through the Panama Canal. On the way out we had passed a man from Lloyd’s who was assessing the damage.

When we were sat by the Crystal Pool it started to rain gently. We moved under the canopy and Bob came along. We were chatting to him and they closed the roof. I missed it but Barbara saw it. When I got back to the cabin, Barbara had already showered and changed. I decided it was gin o’clock. I made Barb a vodka & bitter lemon and my G&T. Amazingly we’ve both killed our individual litres of spirits. Not bad planning.

The Stouts and the Drakes had an early dinner because they wanted to see the early show. The four of us were going to the late show. It’s the only Headliners show I’ve not seen. It’s been created by Ruthie Henshall and is called ‘Echoes In The Night’. It’s set just after the second war and is nominally a spy thriller. After Yvonne’s report the others decided to go to bed instead. Which was a shame because people, Linda in particular, are always complaining about the old music (up to and including the 60’s and 70’s) in the shows and played around the ship. The oldest song in this show was Thriller. Having said that, all the music was played in the big band style. I quite enjoyed the show.

In the Horizon tonight it says that Aurora is going adults only from 2019. As the new ship is joining in 2020, I think that means Oriana is leaving the fleet sometime in the next couple of years. I’m so glad I’m taking a cruise on her in June.