South Pacific

We’ve been in the islands for the past couple cruises, and guess what I’ve discovered…

I miss winter. Oh my gosh. When I walked off the ship the air was so thick and hot that no matter what, you sweat instantly. I don’t know how some people manage to look cute in weather like this, but I am not one of those people. Snow would feel so nice right now.

We’ve had a busy cruise. My boyfriend, Jason, signed back on the ship on the 31st of January after a long vacation. He got three months at home! But I’m not jealous or anything. Not at all…

Anyway, he came back and had to get over a bit of jet lag. On the third day of the cruise we were in Noumea, New Caledonia, and we went to lunch with a couple guys from the band (Mickey-piano, and Sam-trombone). The place had free wifi, but when I got online I found out that my cat at home passed away. She lived a long life, but I’m still sad I wasn’t there.

The following day we tendered in Lifou, Loyalty Island. We use the tender boats to shuttle people to shore when the island doesn’t have a big enough dock for the ship. The week before I got off with my friend Blanche, and she showed me this cave you can climb down into and swim in a pool at the bottom. Jason and I ran off after tech run, and we made it down to the bottom of the cave before it was packed with too many people. I jumped in the water, which was wonderfully freezing, and Jason took pictures.

After Lifou, we went to Vila, Vanuatu. Apparently the thing to do there is the Cascade Waterfalls. We went in a group of people (Sam Trombone, Hannah Trumpet, Valerie and Chris, singers), and I’m glad we went. The cab ride took about half an hour to get to the falls, but when we got there we got to hike through the forest to get to the water. We had to cross a couple creeks first, so I ended up hiking barefoot most of the way. We climbed all the way up to the waterfalls, and then there are pools to swim in at the top. The water felt amazing! Plus, walking barefoot made me appreciate my shoes so much more than usual. Putting on my shoes felt like heaven.

Yesterday we tendered again in Champagne Bay. I didn’t get off last cruise, so I didn’t know what to do, but Sam Trombone suggested a shark tour. Hannah, Valerie, Jason and I got off with him, but there was so shark tour. The girls went back onboard, but Jason, Sam, and I walked the beach for a while. There were a ton of stalls where the islanders sell souvenirs, and we found a couple booths selling lobster. The had fresh caught lobsters alive in bowls, and Jason and I picked one, so they took it back and cooked it right on the beach. After the lobster was cooked, they helped open it up and served it with lime wrapped in a huge leaf. Delicious! We went back to the ship shortly after that.

In other ship news, we don’t have a production manager in the theater because of visa issues, so that’s thrown things around a bit as far as scheduling goes. The stage staff are working like crazy to learn the shows without the PM, but everything’s gone well so far. We have Tango Buenos Aires tonight, and this is my favorite show, so I’m excited! Plus we go to New Zealand next cruise! Cool weather again, hooray!