October 28, 2024
Oh how I love SEA DAYS!
Our SEA DAYS have been few and far between of late and I really needed some down time. I love the SHIP'S SPA - the massages are fantastic; this time I also had a facial! The second SEA DAY I had a pedicure and a haircut. Both SEA DAYS I got to play tons of pickleball, and our group of players has really grown. We do lots of rotating and elimination play - so lots of people can play at varying levels and everyone still having a good time. It also helps that we have comfy deck furniture to await our turn, along with good music and an open bar. Life is pretty amazing!!
Another great day exploring the South Pacific ! Today as soon as our ship docked in Honiara , and we were cleared by customs, I was off with 9 other residents, to get in 2 small speed boats and head out to Simon's Nature Reserve in the Solomon Islands . It was about an hour long ride across the Iron Bottom Sound but so worth it to experience this special place!
Fun fact - Papua New Guinea is the most linguistically diverse country in the World! It is estimated that there are at least 826 Papuan languages. Some are spoken by just a handful of people, while others by 100,000. (Thanks - Basia & Wikipedia for sharing this information).
Tully is a small sugar mill town about 2 hours south of Cairns and we traveled here with a group of about 20 other residents to go white water rafting in the Tully River at the Gorge in the National Park. It is the beginning of the wet season and the river was running at a high level, so the rapids were class 4 out of 5. We had some trepidation, but were excited for the adventure! OMG so much FUN!!