Tuesday 18 January 2011 – Straits of Magellan

THE GOOD WEATHER FAIRY

Eighteen months ago I spent a month in Tuscany and the Greek Isles. The only time it rained was when I needed an excuse to avoid what I was doing and engage in a little retail therapy. Light showers in Siena sent me into the shops and I ended up with three red leather bags from that trip.

Last June I spent a month in the US, including a 14 night Alaskan cruise on the Amsterdam. On the first day at dinner I told my tablemates to expect fine weather. The next evening as we departed our first port of call the Captain announced that in all the time he had cruised in Alaska, he had never had a day in Ketchikan where it hadn’t rained – until that day. We did have showers during the voyage but never when I was out of my cabin. I had fellow passengers thanking me for my presence by the end of the cruise!

Skip forward to this trip and we have been blessed with extraordinarily great weather. Clear blue skies in the Falklands, each day in Antarctica and the Valley of the Glaciers yesterday is rarely heard of, plus very calm seas most of the voyage. (The rain in Iguazu was before the actual cruise began.)  And to top it off, this evening we cruised up to the Amelia Glacier. I took a photo leading up to the glacier then rushed up to the Sky Deck to get a photo of the glacier itself, and would you believe it but the sun came out and lit it up and a rainbow appeared. Coincidence? I think not!



This is a colour photo - not B&W - but the lighting caught my eye





Amelia Glacier



Anyway, I’m available for bookings for world cruises, grand voyages, weddings, christenings, etc.!

Otherwise, today has been pretty laid back as it was an unexpected sea day. The usual activities of lectures, cooking demonstrations, dance classes, movies, digital workshops, etc were offered but I found quiet places to read around the ship and just enjoyed the free time.

I have booked a tour into the Northern Patagonian countryside out of Puerto Chacabuco on Thursday as there doesn’t appear much to do dockside in the small fishing village. I have been assured by the Shore Excursion staff that this would offer the best photo opportunities.

The only other thing of note today is that the Veendam was expecting more supplies in either Ushuaia yesterday or Punta Arenas today but they didn’t show. We have run out of milk, yogurt and this evening there were no salad vegetables and the only cooked vegetables available in the Lido were spinach and potatoes – no carrots, beans, etc. With limited dairy products, desserts are therefore becoming limited in choice. With our next main port of call Puerto Montt on Friday, any vegetarians must be starting to feel a little desperate. As long as they don’t run out of the really good chocolate I shouldn’t be reduced to gnawing my arm off by the end of the week.