International Date Line

We have three sea days between Bora Bora and Tonga.  So far we have been delighted with the weather and the seas, and have met some charming people.  The bridge lessons and games have been well attended and even I have learned a lot from Michael’s lessons.  I admit that I have actually been paying attention to them and my game has slightly improved. 

Nothing much happens on sea days, but today there were a few items that sparked my interest and I thought I would share them.  There are two older ladies who are best friends.  They dress like twins – daytime, evenings, play, on shore excursions – each and every day.  I wonder why their hair isn’t the same color.  Why in the world would grown women do this?  You can’t borrow anything different to wear!  Do they know whose blouse belongs to whom?  How do they decide which outfit to wear? It is so bizarre. 

This afternoon, the pool deck was turned into a county fair!  And guess who did not get to go because she had to play bridge?  I snuck out and ran up to the 12^th floor (I really elevated from the 4^th floor to 11 and then ran up to 12) to take some pictures.  It was loud, noisy with laughter and music, and people were playing silly games put on by the different ship’s departments.  You win tickets and there was a drawing so you can win prizes if your ticket is drawn.   I would not have been able to win anything, but I could have played.  The bridge room was so quiet, the serious players showed up and I got lousy cards all afternoon.  Bah humbug!

To extend an already good afternoon, Michael and I headed out to the pool.  The weather was perfect – warm and sunny and no wind.  The pool is filled with sea water, but only filled about ¾ full because the water sloshes out of the pool.  The water was so warm we just walked right in.  Getting into a pool that is not filled up and one that sways to the whims of the ocean means you get a wild waves ride for free.  You cannot get into the shallow end because the water swishes to the deep end leaving no water on that side, and then everything swishes back to the other side.  Up and down, back and forth.  It is an “E” ticket ride.  I didn’t stay in very long because I was afraid of doing some harm to my back as this really moved you around.

After sitting all day for bridge and lounging around the pool for awhile, we decided to skip the formal dinner and do laps on the jogging path on deck 12.  We got half way done and ran into a rain squall.  Saw it coming but was not near any cover so we got soaked.  To pass the time while waiting out the squall we decided to do laundry.  Oh boring and hot.  Fortunately, we are not too far away from the laundry room.

Tonight we cross the International Date Line.  We set the clocks back one hour and lose a day.  It is an imaginary line on the earth’s surface where the date changes from today to tomorrow or from today to yesterday, depending on which way you cross it.  Roughly following 180* longitude, the Date Line zigzags through the Pacific Ocean.  The places to the west of the line are one day ahead of those to the east, although they may be in the same time zone or only hours apart.  It wasn’t until the 19^th century that the International Date Line became widely recognized and started to appear on maps directly opposite the Prime Meridian (0* longitude) that runs through Greenwich, England.

A recent shift of the International Date Line gave the Republic of Kiribati worldwide recognition as the first country to enter the new millennium.  In 1995, Kiribati took it upon itself to move a section of the Date Line 2,000 miles east, putting all of its islands to the left of the line.  Now, the newly named Millennium Island is the first place in the world to see the sun rise on a new day.