Penguin Feathers

February 2 2008; lots of sun and blue sky and the wind has picked up.

There is no time to have a holiday on this cruise! Breakfast and whish off to a lecture, but before that to the tour office to try to book tickets for a shore tour or two. Slightly late for the lecture on Antarctica sea life and birds. Back to the tour office to confirm a few things and then see one of the tour lecturers to find out about seeing penguins on the Falkland Islands. Gee, I need a coffee but it is almost lunch and then there is another lecture. Maybe I will sneak my book into the lecture! Back to the tour office to confirm another trip. Did I tell you I bought some Tango music? I only get to hear the first song every time I set up the disc someone taps on the door and it is time to go somewhere else or do something else.

The sun is trying to come out and make the sky blue. I am still in shorts and short sleeves, but if I do not turn the air conditioning down I will have to change soon.

We learned that birds do not follow ships very often as they are more ecologically minded and do not throw out food scraps or jettison their holding tanks. Birds prefer fishing boats to cruisers.

Tomorrow we start watching for sea creatures—seals, whales, penguins and birds There are Orca whales down here; maybe the Canucks should have its home ice on Antarctica. They could probably beat the penguins every game!

Penguins get a new coat of feathers once a year and the old coat looks pretty shabby by the end of the year. Penguins need to preen all the time to release the oils that make them water proof. These amazing creatures can also dive to 3000 feet when fishing.

We are on a cruise that is almost seniors. The entertainment is suited to seniors, but we do not get prunes with every meal. There is one child about 2 years old on this boat. So do you remember these songs: Chapel deep in the valley where Jimmy Brown was born; Fever by Peggy Lee; Patti Page singing Tennesee Waltz; the Maguire Sisters; Magic Moments; Maltilda (take me money and run Venezeula). The four youngsters did a great job.

I am still working on the picture uploading. I am required to tick a box saying the pictures are mine, but the damned box has disappeared from my screen. Wayne and Dale get Julie working on that problem; thanks.

After dinner we head for the casino and then the evening show. After the show we drift back to the casino to lose more money!

We can start looking for penguins now and will definitely see some when we land on the Falkland Islands.

Our picks of the day: Chris won $11.25 on the slots; Patsy and Marg agree that it was the penguin talk in the afternoon; For me, it was my nice snooze around high noon.

Cheers; the ships rocking tonight! Terry