At about 4am we passed between Sicily and Italy. The engines had slowed greatly and we took a pilot on board to get us through the very narrow Messina Straits. All morning we motored up the coastline and came past the Isle of Capri quite early, around 10am, so Tom and I went up on deck and watched our approach to Naples and the amazing tugs that manouvred the QE2 into our dock.

We had an early lunch and went ashore early so we could ring the girls, but the 6 phones were busy, and everyone was boarding the buses, so off we went to Pompeii. Our tour guide spoke broken English and was very slow so our elderly passengers could keep up. Luckily we had our own map from home so we did our own thing. We found the ampitheatre, the gymnasium, the large and small theatres and the gladiator's barracks, as well as so many other homes with courtyards, baths etc. The site is extensive and so much work is involved. The poor city had an earthquake in 62AD, then was covered in volcanic ash in 79AD. We had time also to look at souvenirs but nothing was worth buying. The postcards were $A1 each. A new battery for Shannon's camera was 60,000 lire = $A60!! So we didn't buy it. We came back to the wharf and crossed the road to a little Kodak shop where we bought the battery for 10,000 lire = $A10, and a 40 exposure film for my camera for 11,000 lire =$A11!!!

We walked up the street but it was narrow, the traffic was suicidal and little men kept trying to sell us "very nice watch"and following us, so we came back to the ship but stopped and rang Shannon along the way. It was 2.30am in Aust, 6.30pm Naples, but it was our only chance to phone. Poor Shimmy - still, we know they're fine and they know we are too!!

We were really tired after trudging around Pompeii all afternoon so after dinner we had a quick walk around the deck, it was so pretty but cold!!!