Crossing The Line - again

Getting there gradually

Between the Islands

Overview

Exotic names

Rocky Ponds corkage $15 please!

Commodore enjoyed that

Eager crowds

Sector Chart Southern hemisphere

After the party

Whose steering that course?

King Neptune

Kiss the fish!

Sector Chart - Northern hemisphere

Mermaids

Pollywogs to Shellbacks

Tropical rain

Don't blame me!

Back over The Equator into the Northern Hemisphere by permission of Neptune and his entourage with much sludging of the guilty Pollywogs! Made a right mess of the pool too as they all washed off - the Commodore seemed to enjoy it.

Making steady progress Northwest over the Pacific to cover the huge distance to Guam – you begin to realise just how big is this Ocean, the entire land area of the Earth would fit onto its surface. Today we have sighted a couple of small volcanic islands where the sea is relatively shallow but tomorrow we will cross the Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, where the sea is the deepest on Earth at over 6 miles  - although the dolphins don’t seem to notice!

The Americans run Guam and you can see how much they welcome tourism by the number of forms we need to fill in on arrival (despite the ESTA arrangements which suffice for the US itself) and the personal interviews we all have to do when we get there – more queuing.

By night we will say goodbye to the Southern Cross and look out for The Plough instead – whether we will go far enough South again later to see the Cross as we go round Thailand will be interesting.

We have had some very interesting talks this week, from eating bugs to discovering the creatures of the deep oceans and the causes and effects of Tsunamis, via the filming of ‘The Lost land of the Tiger’ in Bhutan and an introduction to plate tectonics and volcanoes. Just out of interest, the ship’s company and guests are expected to produce 14.7 tonnes of excrement between Sydney and Osaka - according to our bug expert!

Looking forward to getting ashore and then to Japan – we have some interesting tours there, even if it will be cooler.