Tuesday, November 26th ....

Fun can be found in observing one's fellow-man and delight abounds in analysing him.. That's a pseudo-quote; I just made it up but it does sum up one of the joys of cruising. Humanity is a motley collection of individuals and cruising seems to release some inhibitions and many people show their true colours.

One of the people in this afternoon's quiz was certainly one of those. The quizmaster warned us that some of the questions could be tricky. 'My maiden name's Trickey,' this woman called out, 'and my initial is 'B'. I couldn't wait to get married and I chose a man called Earley. '

"You must have a hundred stories about that,' said the quizmaster. 'Oh, don't start her,' said her husband.

Later in the quiz, we were asked, 'How many bones in the human vertebra?' The answer is 26 but Mrs B Earley informed us loudly that she has an extra one, and so do all her sons. 'Does anyone else want to share secrets about their bodies?' asked the QM.

It's 3pm and we've just arrived in Auckland. It's a bit overcast but we might go off for a stroll. We sail at 10pm but we'll come back quickly to enjoy the ship when there are only a few other passengers.