At Sea 10-9-08

10/9/2008 At Sea
Well its back to the exercise room. I did eleven miles on the exercise bikes, plus weights plus a mile on the promenade deck. I have now instructed many people on the use of the ship’s scale.

I went to the lecture on Roratonga, Cook Islands. It seems that many of the islanders moved to New Zealand. There is a monument to the people who left. Most of the people return at least once in their lifetime to see the monument and return to their roots. The Roratongans love to eat. They tell a story about a young boy going through the hair cutting ceremony. This is a right of passage here. The extended family is invited and the meal preparation takes three days. Fourteen pigs are cooked to serve 300 people. It takes 5 minutes to clear the table because besides eating, the guests take home food for the extended family that wasn’t able to come to the dinner.

I also went to a lecture on the famous Tahitian Black Pearl. Almost all pearls are now farm raised or cultured. Even so they are still raised in the sea water. Long stands of rope are attached to oysters. It takes several years for a pearl to grow. The Chinese pearls are gown in fresh water. The Chinese and Japanese pearls are shades of white and cream. The Tahitian Black Pearl comes in 26 colors ranging from the hard to find gold/champagne through variations of blue & green to black. Care of the pearl takes into account their origin. Pearls should not be kept in plastic or airtight containers or a safe. Instead they should be in the air and wiped with a damp cloth and dried with a soft cloth.

We have a four wheel drive adventure tomorrow.
As of Thursday evening we are halfway. We’ve gone 5,000 and have 5,000 miles to go.