Tasman Sea 1/3/2013

Signs of progressing age appear in unexpected ways. First, the AARP card that arrives in the mail at the age of 55; the graying or in someone's case, the loss of one's hair; the approaching inclusion in Medicare and now we can gauge how long we have been on this trip by when our pillboxes are empty. Yesterday, with three boxes empty, we knew twenty-one days had passed since we left home.  We refilled the boxes and are looking forward to what the next three weeks will hold in store for us.

This morning the captain compared the day to a nasty day in Scotland. We had fog, rolling water and no one ventured on deck to find out the temperature. The wind had died down and although we could still feel the motion of the ship, it was very manageable.

We have settled into our routine for days at sea.  Jon goes to bridge lessons and has appointments with his trainer. I work on my journal/blog entries, download my pictures and read up on the places we will visit in the upcoming segments of the trip. We receive the newspaper each day and have been reading about all that is going on at home. We are happy to be avoiding the cold weather in Minneapolis but in many respects think we would be better off taking a “news break” and not following the continued saga of the political circus in Washington. It seems to be never-ending.

This evening we attended an event for passengers who have traveled on Regent Seven Seas cruises for a total of 75 days or more.  Of the 700 people on-board, over 170 qualify for this category. We are traveling with a group that is primarily older and obviously well traveled. We have also found this to be one of the friendliest groups of passengers with whom we have cruised. 

We had dinner with a wonderful couple from Los Angeles that Jon met at bridge. Then off to bed, with the crossing of the Tasman Sea ending tomorrow when we arrive in New Zealand.