Tonga, we will miss you – by about 125 miles.

Over a month at sea – so far so good.  Upon departing Davuni we were supposed to sail directly to Tonga, another Fijian Island. However, according to the Captain, that course would have put us directly in the path of Typhoon Jasmine. That is something you don’t hear every day. The Houston area weather forecasts seldom mention Typhoon warnings.  It actually sounded kind of exciting, but the Captain seemed to feel the safety of the passengers and ship outweighed the possibility of me getting a good story about being jostled by Jasmine. So - we are now sailing nonstop to New Zealand and spending the extra day there, on the Bay of Islands. There has been some grumbling aboard about the change of itinerary. New Zealand was Courtney and Jim’s favorite destination on their honeymoon so I am anxious to see what they have to offer, besides sheep and Kiwis. As we head that way, the ocean has been a bit rough.  The Captain just reported 35 mile an hour winds with “ large swells” – that part was okay - but he could have left off the part about the sea depth here being over 5000 ft. Somehow in rough seas it is a comforting to think, even if it is a blatantly erroneous thought - that you might be able to touch bottom in a pinch. We really didn’t need the Captain’s “swell” report. You can always tell sea conditions just by watching the passengers ricocheting off walls as they lurch down the hallways. You have heard about walking like a drunken sailor, but under these sea conditions I have always wondered if a drunken sailor might just walk straight.  I suspected we would hit a little rougher seas skirting around the typhoon. That just means less people at the lunch buffet. There are a number of passengers for whom very much of a sea results in immediate barfing. It is as strange as when someone tosses their cookies or scrambled eggs, or whatever – they immediately cordon off a huge area around it! They come to clean it up completely hooded, gloved and with full hazmat looking gear. It looks as if they are getting ready to handle major toxic waste –which, admittedly it is pretty gross. You have never seen such a comprehensive sterilization process. The first time I saw it I thought Ebola or some deadly, highly contagious tropical disease had worked its way aboard ship in a banana crate. It seemed to me a bit extreme if someone had been just reacting negatively to high seas and their Lasagna dinner. The only thing I can think of is that they are afraid that, if it is indeed a virus, instead of just sea sickness that a virus could run through the whole ship.  Given the age of the passengers, I suppose that could mean we might end up having to “deep six” more than just February 11^th.