Well, all is quiet this morning. I think that there could be quite a few sore heads after all the celebrations or commiserations of the games last night. As we sat in The Pantry eating breakfast Sam spotted a whale gliding through the water.

Today we visited Lifou. From the deck of the ship it looked amazing… in reality it did not disappoint. What an absolute jewel of a place. The waters were so crystal clear and such incredible colours. Just as we were about to board the tender to take us ashore I realised that I didn’t have my camera with me. What to do? Go back and get it and line up again or go ahead without it? Sam suggested that it may be good for me to do without it for a while… she doesn’t get it, does she? I decided to take her advice and to just enjoy the moment for what it was instead of seeing it through the lens of a camera. I have to admit that a couple of times during the nest few hours I was tempted to return to the ship to get it and it truly is a beautiful little place.

Sam went off happily to snorkel. I had a quick swim and then I found a lovely place back off the immediate beach under some palms to stretch out on my towel and have a lovely little meditation session. The birds were singing and flitting through treetops. What an idyllic setting. I had my book with me and between reading a few pages and looking out for Sam I occupied my time quite nicely. Eventually she came back in and yes, that person I saw right out there, further than anyone else had been her. The absolute delight was written all over her face… she had had a wonderful time and had seen some beautiful coral and interesting sea life. She decided that seeing as her head was pounding after just snorkelling that diving tomorrow is definitely out of the question.

We went for a stroll up through the little huts and checked out the markets. Everywhere we looked there were stalls offering hair braiding and massage. While Sam was buying us a coconut each I spotted a bbq with fish smoking on it. We decided that we would sample some local fare. Hmmm, not really our cup of tea… the coconut was beautiful, the rice with coconut sauce was pleasant, the fish was mediocre. There was a beautiful little kitten watching closely from across the table. As I continued to eat it snuck closer and closer. I offered it a small morsel of fish…whoosh… out came the claws as it swiped it from my fingers. Lucky it was a big enough piece that I didn’t get swiped myself. I put the food down on the ground for the kitten and no sooner than my plate hitting the ground did a dog swoop in and start guzzling it down. I put Sam’s plate over near the kitten and it proceeded to fill its tummy until it looked like a little grey ball.

As we made our way back to the tender the queue seemed to be getting longer and longer for boarding so Sam decided that she may as well have another swim. It is hard to drag her away from the water once she gets near it. A neck and shoulder massage kept me nicely occupied while she had another play in the water. I watched all the people wandering past with their hair neatly braided in rows. I wonder how many of them are prepared for the sunburn that they are in for down the now exposed rows of scalp…

Once back on board I enjoyed a lovely plate of salad and then we went off for a nana nap. Not long after getting comfortable there was an announcement from the captain that whales had been spotted near the boat. Sam was unwell enough that she didn’t bother to move. Of course, I grabbed my camera and made for the top deck… along with almost everyone aboard the ship. There was not a space available anywhere for me and my camera. Once the excitement died down the people started to move away. I was rewarded for my patience by several more sightings. A little far away to photograph however I still snapped away, in the hope that at least one of the shots would be worthwhile.

Dinner in The Waterfront this evening with a lovely couple from New Zealand for company. Once dinner was finished it was off to the spa for a Ladies Pamper evening… starting at 9pm! It was a lovely evening, starting with a body scrub exfoliation, moisturiser, hair treatments, face masks and exfoliation with 3 different saunas and a shower and then to finish off we had a glass of champagne while having a facial! Yes, we were well and truly ready for sleep by the time we were done.

Another day at sea done and dusted…