We awoke to clear skies and by now the winds had eased and the sea was much calmer. Mid morning we had a lovely sail through the Messina Straits between Italy and Sicily. There was a good view of Mount Etna which was capped in snow and land on either side was never far away. We then sailed across the top of Sicily passing by a myriad of little islands along the way.
Captain Vago has just announced that we expect to be in Gibraltar at 1.30 and would not be leaving until 6.30. Surely that will be enough time for the M&S aficionados and duty free shoppers to stock up.
We arrived in Gibraltar bang on time just as Cunard's Queen Victoria was leaving. Just as well really since we were using the same berth. There was much sounding of whistles as the ships passed each other. We left disembarking for a while whilst the rush was on and then had a walk into town. Just before the Casemates we turned off into the Blue Quay area and what a contrast it is compared to the rest of Gibraltar. (Thanks to Cornmillgirl and her husband for the tip). It's a relatively new development of high rise flats, eateries and marina. There's also a 'block' of flats which look like a very modern ocean cruiser.
Next Day
A sea day today but nothing much of note apart from the ship slowing and circling to inspect a piece of wreckage. It was orange and looked like a canoe or a pontoon from a catamaran. However it was much too short to be either of these. Anyway the crew spent quite some time examining the find and decided it was probably part of a pedalo type boat which had been swept out to sea and, satisfied there was nobody attached to it we went on our way.
In the evening we went to Curzon Theatre to hear Roger Wright who may be better known as the original lead in Lion King. He was very professional and sang a variety of songs including one from The Lion King. After that we went down to Carmens where there was the Crew Show. Unfortunately it was impossible to get in which was a pity as we know how enjoyable this show is.
It beats me why P&O persist in showing this, plus the Headliners Queen and Abba shows in a show lounge which is not big enough to take those who want to see the shows. Many people go to the first show and then stay put (which they are perfectly entitled to do) but it means others can't then get in. The cynic in me says from P&O's perspective it means they make more money from drinks sales.
Last day at sea
Yesterday we were really pleased to meet Quizzical Bob. Frank Manning and I had devised all sorts of plans to find him but ultimately he managed to track us down.
The Bay of Biscay has been well behaved. There has been a bit of a roll and it has been overcast but conversation has now changed to 'Have you far to go?' And 'What time will you get back?'
In the morning we made good progress with our packing and had a very pleasant coffee with Frank Manning and his wife in Crow's Nest (what a lovely lounge that is) before we went down to The Playhouse to see Paddington Bear. I must admit I couldn't believe I had been talked into going but I actually enjoyed the film as did the rest in there if the laughter was anything to go by. Considering how depressing the last day can be it proved to be an afternoon well spent. By the time we got back to our cabin there were plenty of suitcases in the corridor underlining the fact the holiday was well and truly over.
The farewell show was an evening with Fogwell Flax who started off doing voices for Spitting Image. His impersonations were very amusing and very clever and something very different from the norm. Sadly the Headliners Queen show the other night had to be cancelled due to illness of one of the cast so we never saw them again.
And so the next day dawned and the sun was shining!!! It seemed to take ages for all the cases to be unloaded. By the time we had disembarked, collected our suitcases and sorted ourselves for the journey home it was 9.45. We stopped off at the Shell garage to top up with fuel and eventually reached home at 5.00 after a good journey with just a couple of hold ups on the A34.
It had been a great holiday. Aurora never fails to please. The new buffet is a great improvement over the old one, Sindhu was an experience worth repeating, the entertainment had been excellent throughout. We had met some lovely people (and some we would hope never to come across again!!!) and now it's back to washing, ironing and supermarket shopping. Meanwhile I seem to have half the mosquito population on the front of my car and I'm not yet sure whether to mow the lawn or combine harvest it.