After 32c and sunshine yesterday we awoke to pouring rain this morning and although it stopped raining it remained cloudy for the rest of the day apart from a very few sunny spells. Not a problem for me as I had my hair done this morning, we had a wine tasting this afternoon and World Voyage cocktail party this evening.

The Captain explained that as we passed between Western Samoa and American Samoa this morning the port side was on Wednesday and the starboard side was on Thursday for two hours.

He also talked of the superstition that sailors have about not setting sail on a Friday as it was unlucky.  The Admiralty tried to dispel this myth by building the keel on a Friday, called the ship HMS Friday, had a Captain called Friday and sailed on a Friday. Sadly they were never heard from again!

Formal evening tonight so we went down to the ballroom after dinner. It's lovely watching people who can actually dance!

Saturday 18th Feb-Nuku 'Alofa, Tonga
....or maybe not!
We awoke to the noise and juddering of the ship trying trying to dock. Sadly, due to high winds, and a long time spent trying to manoeuvre her in safely the Captain decided to abort our visit. The winds were due to increase so even if he had managed to we'd have even more problems trying to get out. We were really disappointed as this is one of the islands that we hadn't visited before. Safety first though.

We are now on our way to Auckland which should take two days and hopefully we'll be able to find somewhere that we can dock earlier.